Chapter 195 Who Is the Killer?

Chapter 195: Who is the Murderer

Her medical skills are far better than Imperial Physician Zhu's.

Coroner Zhang felt a pang of guilt. Had he known earlier that she was Princess Ye, he would never have stopped her.

Ji Yuntang paid no heed to this. She took out a silver needle from her space and inserted it into Imperial Physician Zhu's neck.

When she withdrew it, the needle had turned black, with a faint green glow at the tip.

Ji Yuntang said slowly, "This is not Cold Star, but a poison from the Western Regions called Hundred Flowers Yin. In short, it is a poison extracted from hundreds of toxic flowers—extremely insidious. It causes heart paralysis, making the victim suffer unbearably until death."

"The murderer smeared poison on his sword. If this princess is not mistaken, he initially intended to kill Imperial Physician Zhu with an arrow, but unexpectedly, the physician dodged it. The arrow struck the wall, leaving a hole behind."

"Having missed the first strike, he then slashed Imperial Physician Zhu's neck with the sword. He also poisoned the sword out of fear that the victim, being a physician, might be able to revive himself. This shows the murderer was determined to kill him."

"There are marks on the floor where Imperial Physician Zhu crawled. It indicates that before his throat was cut, he had been greatly shocked by something the murderer said and crawled toward the killer. He likely knew who the attacker was."

Ji Yuntang's analysis was well-reasoned, leaving Xu Muyan inwardly astonished and full of admiration.

He hadn't expected that in less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Ji Yuntang could uncover so many clues.

Coroner Zhang listened intently, and by now he was utterly in awe of Ji Yuntang.

"What Her Highness Princess Ye says makes perfect sense. How did I not think of these things?"

He walked over, analyzed the marks on the floor once more, and reached a conclusion.

"There are also traces of dragging shoes and clothes here. Since the murderer did not enter through the door, there is only one explanation: Imperial Physician Zhu crawled toward him on his own."

"Knowing full well that the other party wanted to kill him, a normal person would either hide in a corner or find a place to duck. Yet Imperial Physician Zhu actively crawled toward the murderer. No normal person would do that."

"The only possibility is that he realized who the murderer’s master was, found it unbelievable, and never expected that person to send someone to kill him. Hence, he became extremely emotional."

Ji Yuntang cast an appreciative glance at Coroner Zhang. Although his attitude earlier had not been friendly, considering he was willing to correct his mistakes and had some ability, she did not hold it against him.

"Coroner Zhang's analysis is good, but merely finding these clues is not enough. There should be other traces left at the scene. Let's search again."

Having said this, Ji Yuntang was the first to crouch down and search.

No one noticed that during her search, she took a small macro lens from her space, which allowed her to see things others could not easily detect.

When she looked up, she suddenly noticed something odd about the skylight area.

The structure of the Supreme Court prison was peculiar. The entire cell was at least five meters high, with a window every ten meters or so, yet those windows were extremely small, not big enough for an adult to pass through.

Therefore, the windows were not fitted with any bars or such.

Ji Yuntang noticed that one window glimmered faintly in the sunlight.

Unlike the other windows, a certain spot on it looked clean, free of dust.

Ji Yuntang pointed at that spot and asked, "Assistant Minister Xu, do you have a ladder? I would like to go up and take a look."

Xu Muyan followed her gaze and was momentarily taken aback.

"Princess Ye, we do have a ladder, but the window is really high. What if you get hurt?"

"Perhaps I should have someone else go up and check."

Xu Muyan knew that Ji Yuntang was not just going up for fun. Since she suggested it, she must have discovered something.

However, he could not bring himself to let a woman climb up and take such a risk.

"It's fine. I know what I'm doing. If you are really worried, just have someone hold the ladder steady for me below."

Seeing Ji Yuntang's firm resolve, Xu Muyan did not argue further. He ordered a subordinate to bring a ladder and place it under that window, then went over to hold the ladder himself.

"Be careful, Princess Ye."

Ji Yuntang nodded, grasped both sides of the ladder, and slowly climbed up.

The window was only the size of a stool top, yet Ji Yuntang discovered a very distinct handprint on it.

She quickly took the ink pad Xu Muyan handed her, wrapped it over the print, and made a replica of the fingerprint.

After doing this, Ji Yuntang slowly climbed down the ladder.

"Princess Ye, did you find something?"

Ji Yuntang nodded and handed the ink pad to Xu Muyan.

"I found a handprint. Based on the impression, it should have been made in the past two days."

"People from the Supreme Court would not scale the window for no reason, so it is very likely that this fingerprint was left by the murderer."

Chen Hu was startled. Staring at the window, which was even smaller than his face, he fell into deep thought.

"Oh my goodness, Princess! Are you saying the murderer who killed Imperial Physician Zhu came in through this window? How small must he be? Could he be a little kid?"

"Looking at this window, I feel like I can't even get one leg out. How on earth did that person squeeze through?"

Coroner Zhang suddenly thought of something and interjected, "Years ago, I did hear of a martial art called the Bone Shrinking Technique circulating in the martial world. Practitioners bathe daily in specially prepared poisons to soften and dissolve their entire skeleton, achieving a desired level of flexibility."

"Anyone who masters this technique, no matter how tall they are, can shrink their body to an unimaginable size."

"However, this technique is extremely sinister. It is said to shorten the practitioner's lifespan; none who practice it live past thirty. Typically, those with strong martial arts disdain to train in such a method."

Xu Muyan pressed his thin lips together and said calmly, "I have also heard of this technique. According to the Supreme Court's archives over the years, those who practice it are either death warriors trained by noble houses or shadow guards, who carry out shady dealings for their masters, using the Bone Shrinking Technique to leave no evidence."

Ji Yuntang was astonished. "There is such a thing?"

She could hardly believe that such a technique existed in this world to alter one's physical structure.

However, this Bone Shrinking Technique was indeed too vicious.

Ji Yuntang turned to Xu Muyan, frowning. "Assistant Minister Xu, if it really is a shadow guard or death warrior, then investigating this case will be rather troublesome."

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