Chapter 7 Corpse (Update )
The deceased was a woman in her thirties, wearing a light green jacket and a pea green folded skirt, with a tall figure. She was lying face up in the alley, with blood all over the back of her head, and a blood-stained stone the size of two men's fists next to her.

Next to the corpse, there was a little old man squatting. He was wearing gray cloth and had white hair. He was examining the corpse carefully. Judging from his appearance, he should be the coroner hired by Jingzhao Prefecture.

Su Liuyue's attention had just been on the shopkeeper Yuan. This was the first time she looked at the deceased carefully. She found that although her clothes were intact, they looked a little messy. There were wrinkles on her aqua green jacket and folded skirt. Although the belt around her waist was still tied well, the knot was tied very roughly. It was not any of the popular tying methods at the time, as if it was tied casually in a hurry.

Su Liuyue's eyes darkened slightly. When she saw the deceased's embroidered shoes, she was startled and leaned forward unconsciously.

The pair of embroidered shoes on the deceased's feet were clean and exquisite, and they were obviously new shoes that had been worn for a short time. However, there were very obvious wear and tear on the heels of the shoes, which looked extremely abrupt compared to the whole pair of shoes.

She looked for a while, then suddenly turned her head to look at Shopkeeper Yuan standing beside her.

Shopkeeper Yuan was wearing a pair of ordinary gray-blue cloth shoes. They looked a bit worn, but they were well preserved and there was no obvious damage or dirt on the uppers.

Su Liuyue looked thoughtful. There were obvious wear and tear on the heels of the deceased's shoes, but there were no such wear and tear on Manager Yuan's shoes.

This shows what?
At this moment, Zheng Yaozu, who was being interrogated by Lu Shaoyin, spoke, "Reply...Reporting to the magistrate, our shopkeeper's wife came to the study this morning. At that time...at that time, the humble man and Ergui were both in the store. Miss Sun took a short leave in the morning because her mother was ill. She came here when the lady was about to leave..."

Lu Shaoyin immediately asked, "When exactly did your wife come? Does she often come to the study?"

Zheng Yaozu frowned and thought for a while, then said, "I... I don't remember the exact time when Madam came over, probably... not long after the Si hour (about nine o'clock in the morning)... Madam didn't come to the study often before, but she has been coming more often recently..."

Lu Shaoyin frowned. This statement was the same as Liu Ergui's. It seemed that Liu Ergui was not lying.

"Why has your wife been coming here more often lately?"

Zheng Yaozu shook his head. "I don't know either. Every time Madam comes here, she asks about the whereabouts of the shopkeeper. Today was no exception. After Ergui told Madam about the whereabouts of the shopkeeper, she left... She must have come to see our shopkeeper for something..."

"Why isn't your shopkeeper in the study today?"

Zheng Yaozu: "The shopkeeper said yesterday that he had an appointment with someone to discuss a deal at Jinyanglou today, and he will come in the afternoon..."

Before he finished speaking, Liu Ergui, who was standing next to him, suddenly asked in surprise: "Boss, you're here?"

But he was staring at Miss Sun who was standing opposite him. Miss Sun sensed something and turned around. She saw a tall and thin man wearing a moon-white gown, who looked very gentle and refined, standing a hand's length behind her.

The man was followed by a yamen runner. At this moment, one of his hands was being held by the runner and he was breathing heavily, obviously having been brought here in a hurry by the runner.

Miss Sun was stunned for a moment, then quickly stepped aside and said with her head down, "Manager Cao, you are here."

The yamen runner who brought Shopkeeper Cao came forward and saluted, saying, "Reporting to Lu Shaoyin, I followed Liu Ergui's instructions and took a shop assistant nearby who could recognize Shopkeeper Cao to Jinyang Tower to look for him. Before we even got to Jinyang Tower, the assistant recognized Shopkeeper Cao who was coming this way, so I immediately brought him here."

Shopkeeper Cao slowed down his rapid breathing, took two quick steps forward, and said in a panic, "Where is my wife? The official who brought me here just now said, my wife..."

A yamen runner next to Lu Shaoyin glanced at him and stepped aside, so that the dead body lying on the ground came directly into the man's sight.

Shopkeeper Cao turned pale and took a step back, with a look of disbelief on his face, "Impossible... Impossible... How could Yue Niang... How could it be..." The onlookers saw the husband of the deceased coming, and the fire of gossip was immediately ignited, and whispers rose one after another -

"Oh my, has Manager Cao gone crazy doing business? His own wife has cheated on him and even lost her life, but he still doesn't know anything..."

"That's right! The clerk named Zheng just said that his wife often comes to his study to see him recently. I think his wife is not coming to the study to see him, but is taking the opportunity to see her lover! I work in the clothing store opposite, and I saw it clearly. Every time his wife comes, she must go to Man Yi Fang next door to buy cakes!"

"Are Man Yifang's cakes so delicious? Do we have to buy them every time? Tsk, look at his wife's wrinkled clothes. Could she have been hanging out with her lover before she died?"

Shopkeeper Cao's face suddenly turned even paler. He glanced at the chattering crowd with a bewildered look on his face, then suddenly looked at Shopkeeper Yuan, whose face was becoming increasingly unsightly.

Shopkeeper Yuan said in a panic, "You...you guys, don't talk nonsense. Madam Ding just came to our shop to buy cakes. Madam Ding's little daughter likes to eat the mung bean ice cream and snowflake crisps in our shop. If you don't believe it...if you don't believe it, you can ask the maid next to Madam Ding!"

Mrs. Ding is the deceased.

The world is full of people who only want to create chaos. Someone immediately shouted, "Do you think we are stupid? The maidservant beside Madam Ding must be her confidant. How could she possibly say something that is detrimental to Madam Ding!"

"Speaking of which, why is the maid who usually accompanies Madam Ding not here today? Could it be that Madam Ding sent her away in order to have an affair with Shopkeeper Yuan?"

Shopkeeper Yuan was already injured, and after hearing all these dirty words, he was so anxious that he was sweating profusely, and he didn't know how to prove himself.

Finally, it was Lu Shaoyin who shouted impatiently, "The government is investigating the case, everyone else, shut up!"

The discussions around him died down.

Lu Shaoyin glanced at the bewildered and lost Shopkeeper Cao next to him, chose to ignore him for the time being, and looked at Miss Sun and said, "According to what Zheng Yaozu said, you saw the deceased when you came to the study today?"

Miss Sun looked flustered and bit her lip hard, saying, "Yes... yes, I... when I came to the study today, I happened to see... saw Madam hurriedly walking out of the study, as if... as if she was in a hurry to do something..."

"Where did the deceased go after he left the study?"

Miss Sun trembled slightly, and suddenly turned her head to look at Shopkeeper Yuan who was not far away, and said, "Madam... the direction Madam was walking was exactly... the direction of Man Yifang..."

As soon as she said this, the eyes of the people around her immediately turned to Shopkeeper Yuan, with an expression of "as expected".

Manager Yuan's face turned pale in an instant, he knelt on the ground and wailed, "Your Excellency, Your Excellency, please be wise! I really have never seen Madam Ding today! I was framed! Around the end of the Si hour today (about 11 o'clock in the morning), a... a little beggar gave me a note, which said that I should go to the alley next to me to have a talk, otherwise Man Yifang would be in great trouble.

I hurried to the alley, but as soon as I entered the alley, I saw Mrs. Ding lying on the ground. I was about to go over to see what was going on when I felt a pain in the back of my head. When I woke up, I was... I was lying next to Mrs. Ding, and the note on my body was gone...

If I lie, then... I will be struck by lightning and become a pig and dog for generations. If you don't believe me, I can find the beggar who delivered the letter..."

(End of this chapter)