How to work

The body of the deceased is just behind the ice cellar door, and you can see it when you open the door.Lu Li had seen too many death scenes, he remained calm and his expression didn't change, but Shen Wansha was taken aback.

Whoever walks in front will immediately see the curled up dead as soon as the door is opened... Anyone will be frightened by the impact of close-range vision, okay?

The young master has experienced a lot and is bold enough, even so, he couldn't help but take a step back, and almost didn't hide behind Lu Li.

Shen Wansha stared at the door: ... Hehe, the young master is not afraid!Where is this? If you have the ability, give him a dozen blood corpses!

Lu Li felt that his little partner was nervous and patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.

Shen Wansha resisted, and turned around—seeing many servants of the Hou Mansion backing away in shock, with white lips and trembling eyes, not knowing where to look, and that timid servant girl rolled her eyes and was about to faint...he Coughing twice, she stood up straight and walked upright, and thoughtfully blocked the sight of the maids, preventing them from facing the dead, "What are you afraid of, isn't it just a dead person!"

Lu Li: ...

Zhang sealed off the scene just to wait for Lu Li to come. Now that he and Shen Wansha have arrived, she repelled most of the servants, leaving only a few strong and courageous servants, ready to help when needed.

She also stood aside with Mother Du, quietly standing without speaking, not disturbing Lu Li, and letting him watch the scene.

Lu Li and Shen Wansha walked around the ice cellar.

There was no air conditioning in ancient times, and the ancients used ice in summer and charcoal in winter to deal with the extreme heat and cold.The method of making ice with saltpeter may not have been discovered, or it may not have been popularized yet. During the Great Xia Dynasty, wealthy families usually set up an ice cellar to store ice in winter and use it in the next summer.

As a residence of the Marquis, the Cui family's ice cellar is large and gorgeous, not to mention the neat space, even the corners are carved with flowers.

Lu Li took a look. The ice cellar is about 15 meters long, [-] meters wide, and [-] meters high. It can hold about [-] meters of ice. Now one-fifth of the ice near the door has been used. There are a lot more.

Probably because there are few masters in the house.The only masters that Lu Li met seriously were Zhang, Cui Zhi, Cui Jie, and Cui Fen, Pang’s son, who was too young to use ice. Not too many; there is only one Yan'an with an unusual status, who needs to be treated well, and no one is qualified to use ice every day.Even if Mrs. Zhang is kind-hearted and occasionally rewards his servants, the amount will not be large.

The ice cellar is large, stores a lot of ice, and consumes less in summer. The temperature of this ice cellar... can be imagined.

Shen Wansha rubbed his arms, with regret on his face: "Why did you forget to bring a padded jacket in to wear!"

"It's okay, we can go out soon." Lu Li accelerated the speed of watching the scene, but he was actually quite cold...

The footsteps quickened, and the speed of looking around was also faster, but the efficiency did not decrease. Lu Li concentrated all his energy and carefully looked at the ice cellar from front to back.

Shen Wansha forgot to call out cold for a while, and watched Lu Li walk forward step by step, his eyeballs moved flexibly, the frequency made him feel dazzled at a glance.As the eyes moved flexibly, Lu Li's head also moved, and the angle of the chin was adjusted at any time, as if dancing a dance with a strange rhythm...

He walked very fast, and his eyes were indescribably sharp, as if he walked so lightly, the whole scene of the ice cellar was loaded into his mind...

When Lu Li took the hand of the stunned little friend and walked out, Shen Wansha hadn't reacted yet, "Look, have you finished reading?"

"Ah."

Shen Wansha's eyes widened: "Really?"

As Lu Li walked towards the door, he said to him: "Aunt Zhang said that if there is no accident, the ice collection time is usually at Si in the morning and Shen in the afternoon. There is no special person guarding the ice cellar, but the keys are only the head of the front and back yards, and her. He and Mama Du have it in her hands. After the keys are locked, no one is allowed to move around, and it is very difficult to sneak into the ice cellar."

"The temperature of the ice cellar is extremely low, and there is thin frost on the ground. The footprints have not been polluted overnight, and they are very clear and easy to identify. All the footprints are concentrated in the door area. The deceased did not go inside, nor did she find her footsteps approaching the ice. She didn't seem to come to fetch ice."

Shen Wansha answered, "Well, that's why I said she committed suicide!"

Lu Li didn't speak when he heard this, but raised his eyebrows slightly.

"You don't agree?" Shen Wansha thinks about what Pang's Cui Jie said before, and then thinks about the signs of the deceased Mei Xiang's corpse, "But she has Gao Cheng's room key with her, and there is arsenic in her purse, before and after the marriage... she looks very similar Suicide in fear of crime!"

It's not that Shen Wansha is partial to Pang's Cui Jie, it's just the current situation, there seems to be only one explanation, Mei Xiang brought all the important things, doesn't it mean that he can't let go of Gao Cheng, has he taken revenge?

The young master raised his eyebrows high, "That guy He Lianyu made a mistake this time, Mei Xiang didn't like Yan Fufu, she has a crush on Gao Cheng!"

Lu Li laughed.

Shen Wansha tilted his head, "But you can't just rely on guesswork, little Lizi, what did you see? I only believe you!"

"No autopsy yet, I don't have any conclusive opinion, but—" Lu Li's ending sound was a bit long, "I've heard of people who hanged themselves, threw themselves into a lake, wrote suicide notes and fell to their deaths, but I've never heard of them. Said that when anyone wants to die, find a place to freeze to death."

The process of freezing to death is long and painful. A person who wants to die wants to end his life quickly. They just don’t want to live anymore, not masochists looking for torture, unless this matter has special meaning to them.

Most of the freeze-to-death cases that Lu Li saw were accidental, and suicide freeze-to-death is very rare.

Besides, it is still summer, Mei Xiang really wants to commit suicide, what method can't work, must do everything possible to get the key to the ice cellar door when the conditions are not allowed, and then try to slip in after unlocking the key at each door, and commit suicide?

Shen Wansha really thought about it, "Didn't Mei Xiang commit suicide? Did someone kill her and let her come here?" Then this person also put Gao Cheng's room key and arsenic... It's even more complicated!

"Let's do the autopsy first."

The two were talking and walked back to the door of the ice cellar.Because the door is now open, there is hot air coming in from outside, so the two of them are not so cold.

They didn't avoid people when they spoke just now, and they didn't deliberately lower their voices. Everyone at the door heard it. Zhang Shixiu frowned slightly, "Mei Xiang...couldn't it be suicide?"

Lu Li smiled at her, "Aunt Zhang, don't worry, I'll find out after I finish the autopsy."

Since the scene has been watched, Lu Li is going to do an autopsy on the deceased.The deceased was already dead, and his whole body was stiff due to living in the ice cellar for a long time. This kind of test is definitely not acceptable. Lu Li asked his servants to help him move the deceased out of the ice cellar, and let the body gradually return to the room temperature to defrost...

Because it was summer, this time didn't take long. After asking Mrs. Zhang what she meant, Lu Li prepared to dissect it.

Before the autopsy, he inspected the deceased's belongings and took off his clothing.

The purse containing the arsenic on her body had been removed before, and the arsenic had no smell, but the white powder was too conspicuous, and part of it leaked on her skirt, which was found to be quite normal.

The deceased wore a summer light silk dress, because she was a woman, with sleeve pockets, handkerchiefs, sewing kits and other things in her arms, and a delicate bag in her arms containing a few pieces of silver.

Lu Li took out these things, made sure that there would be no fragments on the body of the deceased, and went to untie the belt of the deceased... This untie, he untied one thing.

"Huh?" Lu Li took out the small thing that fell on the autopsy table, "Master, come and see, is this red lacquerware?"

Lu Li didn't know much about ancient techniques, but Shen Wansha was a master, and he knew it at a glance, "That's right, it's red lacquerware!" The young master took Lu Li's hand and moved the small thing into the sunlight for a closer look. , "This craftsmanship is quite good... Look, the texture of this cup noodle is not rigid at one side, and it can be carved so well at such a small size. It's a good thing!"

This is an exquisite red wine cup with a cup and a bottom. It is very small, smaller than the shallow cups that ordinary men use to drink white wine, and it only reaches half of Lu Li's index finger. It is very difficult for people to pinch.

Such exquisite things are probably not used for adult men to drink alcohol, not for children, or for entertainment.Children generally don't drink alcohol... so this wine cup should be a set, specially made for enjoyment?

"Probably." Shen Wansha felt that the possibility was very high.Because it was red lacquerware, the young master couldn't help thinking of what he found when he looked at Gao Cheng's room a few days ago, "Is this—"

After Lu Li finished undressing the deceased, he began to put on a mask and gloves. "There is not enough evidence to know."

……

When Shen Wansha took the pen and paper and was about to write the autopsy grid, Lu Li already had the autopsy in his hand.In order to avoid the fear of others, Lu Li did not let Mrs. Zhang and others come in. There were only him, Shen Wansha, the government officials who had received the message and the guards sent by Zhao Zhu in the room.

Lu Li exhaled lightly, and began: "Experiment——"

"The deceased, Mei Xiang, female, was eighteen years old. She was scattered, her clothes were messed up, her body was curled up, and her nails were bloodstained..."

"The deceased's complexion was pale, the hairs on his body stood up, his bare hands, feet, forearms, and calves had a lot of 'goosebumps'..."

"The breast of the deceased (river crab, yes, that sensitive spot) shrinks."

"There was no sign of frostbite on the deceased."

"The color of the corpse spot is bright red..."

……

After looking at the body surface, Lu Li cut open the skin of the deceased with a scalpel and began to examine the inside.

"The deceased's stomach was empty, the gastric mucosa was eroded, and there was maroon spotting bleeding under the mucosa..."

"The right heart is dilated, filled with blood, dark red..."

"Lung congestion, edema, bleeding, bright red..."

……

After the whole process was over, Lu Li heaved a long sigh, "The deceased died of freezing during his lifetime. Due to the freezing environment, it is difficult to determine the time of death. It is speculated that it was around the third watch."

"It was really frozen to death..." Shen Wansha lamented, he thought he was deliberately killed by someone else, and the body was thrown away after death!

"The living person freezes to death, and the body is curly; the metabolism in the body is reduced, the oxygen in the blood cannot be used by the tissue cells, the oxygen and hemoglobin content become high, so the corpse spots are bright red; the oxygenated hemoglobin in the pulmonary circulation is not easy to separate, and the lungs and left heart The blood is also bright red, and the blood in the right heart is dark red..."

Lu Li explained little by little, and as he spoke, he realized that his wording was wrong. Shen Wansha and the people around him were stunned, with 'don't understand' all over their faces.

He smiled, "Well, just now my teacher made terminology, some of you may not understand, but these symptoms show that the deceased was indeed frozen to death during his lifetime."

The most important point he hadn't had time to say was that the gastric mucosa of the deceased was eroded, and there was maroon spot-like bleeding under the mucosa. This was the 'Wisniewski's spot', and [-]% of the victims who died of freezing would have this symptom.It's a pity that he doesn't have any equipment, so he can't observe in slices, but he is very sure about the results of the autopsy after condensing all the appearances.

Shen Wansha and others have absolute trust in him. Lu Li is an expert in this area. He said that he froze to death during his lifetime, so he must have froze to death during his lifetime!

……

Lu Li finished sewing up the corpse, took off his overalls and gloves, and cleaned his hands. Shen Wansha jumped over and couldn't wait to say: "I thought of something! The key!"

The young master's eyes lit up: "Mei Xiang only has the key to Gao Cheng's room. Where is the key to the ice cellar door? How did she get in? If she went by herself, she would have to get the key to the ice cellar first. There is no one on the corpse, which means that she must not be Alone! She's going with someone else, who has the key!"

Lu Li nodded, little friend, you finally figured it out: "Mei Xiang was frozen to death during her lifetime, so she must experience long-term pain while she was alive. People have survival instincts. No matter how strong the will to die is, they may not be able to survive this time. If She has the key to open the ice cellar door by herself. If she can't stand it, she will probably leave. If she can't leave, there must be a second person at that time. No matter whether Mei Xiang got the ice cellar key or not, the key must be in the hands of the second person at that time. This person locked the door of the ice cellar and trapped Mei Xiang."

Mei Xiang must have struggled strongly, otherwise why would her nails be damaged and bleeding?

"In this case, there will be more doubts..." Shen Wansha rubbed his chin, "There is the key to Gao Cheng's room next to Mei Xiang's body, and there is arsenic in his purse... It seems that he is nostalgic for Gao Cheng and avenging him. Shi and Cui Jie are arguing, Gao Cheng's death looks like what they did! If Mei Xiang didn't commit suicide, then the murderer did everything..."

"The murderer knows everything in the Hou's mansion like the back of his hand." Lu Li said the following words for him.

Shen Wansha beat his palms with fists, "Yes, that's what he said! Pang's poisoning of Gao Cheng may be done by this person, and it is possible that Gao Cheng's death was also done by this person!"

The two looked at each other, and they had a tacit understanding, "Go and ask Mei Xiang's roommate first!"

After asking, you can prove whether their guess is right or not!

Shen Wanshale's brows and eyes were crooked, and his smiling teeth couldn't see his eyes.He knew that he and Xiao Lizi were the most in tune and the most tacit understanding!The one who hates King Ping has been sticking around Xiao Lizi, beating himself up all day long, and just when that person is not around, he finally understands that he is not stupid, he is the smartest!

Hahahahahaha!

The young master's temperament is already lively, cheerful, and very contagious, so the joy from the heart is even more dazzling, the little face is flushed, the big eyes are clear and bright, and the small eyebrows are almost flying out... Lu Li's heart is about to melt, what about the young master? Can be so cute!

His hands were itchy, and he rubbed Shen Wansha's head.

Shen Wansha took advantage of the situation and hugged his hand, "Little Lizi, from now on, it's just the two of us, and we won't play with that stinky face King Ping, or that flamboyant prince Motuo!"

Lu Li couldn't bear to refuse, "Yes."

While speaking, Shen Wansha waved his fists into the air and shouted slogans: "We are an invincible detective team! Although we are not as small as martial arts...there is no case that cannot be solved!"

Lu Li: ...

When the emotions calm down, he will continue to solve the case.Lu Li and Shen Wansha met the maid who lived in the same room with Mei Xiang, Qiu Lian.

Qiu Lian was an ordinary-looking girl with a quiet personality. After Mrs. Zhang called her over, she stood outside and waited. Lu Li didn't come out for a long time after the autopsy. She was not in a hurry, saluted and spoke very peacefully.

Lu Li asked her how her relationship with Mei Xiang was, who Mei Xiang was close to on weekdays, and if she had a sweetheart.

Qiu Lian replied, Mei Xiang is a very easy-going girl, she can chat with anyone, she can talk to everyone, but if she is particularly close to anyone...it seems not.She is about the same distance from everyone, and most of them can be called acquaintances, but they are good enough to tell the truth...Anyway, she doesn't know.

If you want to say that it is a little more obvious and walks more, it is Gao Cheng.Gao Cheng is in charge, sometimes when things are too busy, Mei Xiang will help him; when Gao Cheng is empty, he will also buy food from outside to bring to Mei Xiang;

"My servant saw them quarreling with my own eyes." Qiu Lian said, "Mei Xiang is smart and has never blush with anyone. She can quarrel with Gao Cheng...My servant thinks, maybe they have a special relationship."

"Do you think Mei Xiang likes Gao Cheng?"

This question made Qiulian a little embarrassed. She felt that Mei Xiang and Gao Cheng had a special relationship, and they seemed to be interested in each other, but they didn't have much affection when they got along...

"The servant girl is not married, so I may have misunderstood it, but the servant girl has seen the two loving each other, it seems to be different from Meixiang and the others..." Qiu Lian blushed a little, "The maidservant didn't want to say this, but the madam said that the maidservant You have to tell the truth, whether it is correct or not, you have your own guests to judge, so..."

"Hmm." Lu Li waved his hand to tell her not to be nervous, "Mei Xiang and Gao Cheng are close, only you know?"

Qiulian shook her head, "Everyone can see it."

So almost all the servants have this misunderstanding: Mei Xiang has a crush on Gao Cheng.

Lu Li's eyes flickered slightly, and he asked again: "Has Mei Xiang bought arsenic recently?"

"I bought it," Qiu Lian nodded, "I said there are many rats in the house."

So it's not a secret that she has arsenic.

"Mei Xiang usually shows that she likes someone?"

"No."

Lu Li thinks this is normal.According to the analysis of the available information, Mei Xiang is a very smart person, if there is something she doesn't want to be discovered, she can hide it very well.But that day when Li Tui asked the case in the official hall, he was in an excellent position, and he was sure that he read it right. Mei Xiang told the master...

Lu Li twirled his fingers, and changed the way of asking, "Aside from Gao Cheng, has Mei Xiang gotten too close to any man recently? It's not out of love, but something."

Qiu Lian opened her eyes slightly, as if she remembered something: "Yes!"

Shen Wansha was anxious: "Who!"

"Banquet master." Qiu Lian tilted her head and recalled, "One day Gao Cheng didn't know what to think, and wanted to invite banquet master to drink, but banquet master refused, so he brought two jars of good wine to banquet master's room. Gentleman, I didn't drive him out. But the room was quiet for a long time, and there was a sound of broken porcelain inside, and the two had a quarrel. Immediately afterwards, Gao Cheng came out in a panic, and his face was scratched by a piece of porcelain, bloody... When Mei Xiang heard about it, she was very unhappy, and went to find Master Yan twice. After Gao Cheng passed away, maybe thinking of it again, Mei Xiang went to see Master Yan several times."

"Master Yan..." Shen Wansha murmured, "Why is there Master Yan everywhere? Is he suspected?"

He hadn't intended to ask this question at first, but he didn't want this sentence to almost make everyone present look sideways.Everyone spoke one after another, Mr. Yan is a gentleman, everyone has been together for more than ten years, it is impossible not to see through...

Recalling Yan An's appearance and temperament, Shen Wansha was a little discouraged.How could such a person with a beautiful body, a pearl of celestial dew, and an incomparable manner be a murderer?Nothing like it!

But since Qiulian said that Mei Xiang and Yan Fuzi had an intersection, she had to ask.

In the main hall of Hou Mansion again, Lu Li and Guang Wansha, accompanied by Mrs. Zhang and Mrs. Du, met Yan'an.

Yan'an has a Tsinghua temperament, every move seems to be natural, elegant and indistinguishable.He first saluted Mrs. Zhang when he entered the door, his eyes were calm and his expression was solemn, and he didn't see anything wrong.Mrs. Zhang turned sideways, pointed at Lu Li and Shen Wansha, and said that they had questions to ask.

Yan An gave a reasonable explanation: Mei Xiang came to him just to make peace with Gao Cheng, he always does things according to his heart, and he doesn't want to force anything, so he just says everything is according to fate.Mei Xiang was obviously dissatisfied with this, so she approached him many times.

Yan An is really a gentleman, his appearance and demeanor are appropriate, and he won't make people feel uncomfortable or misunderstood.For example, to Zhang Shi... At this moment, Lu Li couldn't see that he was interested in Zhang Shi. The previous feeling was like a misunderstanding, as if he had misunderstood the content in Yan An's eyes.

Lu Li felt strange and was about to ask again when Zhao Zhu came.

Zhao Zhu felt that it was getting late, so he came to pick him up and go home...

Lu Li had no choice but to say goodbye to Mrs. Zhang and make an appointment to come back tomorrow.Mrs. Zhang sent them off with a smile, saying that there was nothing to do tomorrow, she personally cooked two dishes for Lu Li to taste, they were Miao Hongxiao's favorite food in the past, to see if he liked it or not.

……

But on the second day, when Lu Li and his party came over, they didn't eat the dishes cooked by Mrs. Zhang.

Because Yan An Guo surrendered himself.

He found Lu Li and said directly: "I killed Gao Cheng, and I killed Mei Xiang."

Lu Li and the others were all startled, Shen Wansha was stunned for a long time before returning to his senses, "You really killed it?"

Yan An's eyes were slightly closed, and the breeze brushed the ends of his hair, revealing a long scar on his left eyebrow, "Yes."

Is this worth it?Lu Li and the others hurriedly found an empty room to talk to Yan An, and the Hou Mansion exploded in an instant.

Yan'an was very quiet, with no ups and downs in emotion from beginning to end, and told the story of the murder.Even the questions of Lu Li and others were well answered, it was flawless!

Shen Wansha opened his mouth and didn't close it for a long time, "It's really you..."

The corners of Yan An's eyes drooped slightly, and the corners of his lips curled into a gentle smile, "Yes."

……

Everything was right, and even the details were rigorous. Although Shen Wansha felt it was a pity, he still thought that the case could be closed.

Just as he was speaking and suggesting closing the case, a voice came from outside the door: "You are lying!"