TGCFNM -Chapter 13 Who Treats Their Residence Like a Morgue?

As Chu Ling walked, she read through the autopsy report in her hand. Su He led the way in silence ahead of her. About a quarter of an hour later, he suddenly stopped.

“We’re here.”

Chu Ling gave a casual hum. When she looked up, she turned to Su He in confusion. “The Su Residence?”

“It’s a morgue.”

“Who treats their residence like a morgue?” Chu Ling couldn’t understand it.

“My family does.” Su He rarely curved his lips into a faint smile. Then he pushed the door open first and led Chu Ling inside. Passing through the garden ahead and turning left, they arrived at the temporary room where Wu Lianzhi’s remains were being kept.

Wu Lianzhi floated there silently, her head lowered as she looked at her own bones.

Chu Ling walked over slowly. Wu Lianzhi turned to look at her. Before she could speak, bloody tears streamed down her face—horrifying and tragic. “My lord, I died such a miserable death.”

Chu Ling felt her chest tighten as she took a breath. Based on Su He’s examination results, Wu Lianzhi had indeed died horribly.

Her leg had first been broken. Then she had been force-fed poison. After that, both her arms and legs were smashed. She was wrapped in a mat and thrown into Master Zhang’s ancestral grave. Covered with yellow earth, with even a coffin placed on top of it.

If Master Zhang hadn’t suddenly decided to relocate the graves this time, Wu Lianzhi’s wrongful death would likely have remained buried forever.

Su He walked to the skeleton and said to Chu Ling, “The bone age of this skeleton is around thirty. There’s wear on the waist area—the deceased likely had a back injury while alive. Also, the kneecaps are somewhat protruding. So I roughly speculate that this woman was probably a peasant wife.”

Chu Ling nodded. That was indeed the case.

“My lord can start by investigating missing peasant women in the surrounding area. Perhaps you’ll be able to identify her,” Su He suggested.

After thanking him, Chu Ling left the morgue with Wu Lianzhi and returned to the county office.

The first thing she did upon returning was to put away the three hundred taels of silver she had earned. Then she drafted a recruitment notice, found Qi Da, and had it posted outside the county office.

Chu Ling’s handwriting wasn’t pretty, but it was barely legible. She was recruiting a shiye (a private legal advisor). It wasn’t through official court channels, nor did she specify whether the candidate needed to be a xiucai or a juren. She simply posted it as it was, which immediately drew quite a crowd of onlookers.

Meanwhile, Chu Ling went to the archives section of the county office and found the household registry book for Sishui County.

Under Sishui County’s jurisdiction were three villages: Zhangjia Village, Chengjia Village, and Linjia Village. Zhang Dongji and his younger sister Xiao Hua had originally lived in Zhangjia Village.

But in these three villages, there were no families with the surname Wu.

“My lord, this household registry is very new—likely revised within the past two years. You might try looking for older ones,” Ghost Scholar reminded her.

Chu Ling stepped aside to let Ghost Scholar look at the shelves. “The books here are all new. Even the case files only go back about two years. Everything from before has disappeared.” She didn’t know whether the previous county magistrate had thrown them away.

Chu Ling put the registry book back. Since the household records yielded nothing, the only option left was to conduct on-site investigations.

With that thought, she first went to the constables’ office and found Qi Da and the others, instructing them to split into teams starting the next day to investigate the three subordinate villages for any missing women. At the same time, they were to discreetly inquire whether there had been anyone with the surname Wu named Wu Lianzhi.

That night, Chu Ling trimmed the oil lamp and once again began flipping through the household registers of Sishui County.

“This doesn’t make sense. None of the three villages below have anyone with the surname Wu. There’s no Wu in Sishui County either. Could she have come from another region?”

Ghost Scholar sat to the side. “Has Your Honor forgotten? When Steward Zhang from Master Zhang’s household came to deliver the payment this afternoon, didn’t you ask about it? Old Master Zhang died suddenly after failing to catch his breath. How would an outsider know such details?”

Chu Ling pinched the bridge of her nose. “That’s right. And he’s been dead for fifteen years.”

“My lord! My lord!” Zhang Dong knocked urgently at the door. “Coroner Su has something important!”

“Let him in,” Chu Ling responded.

When she turned her head, she noticed Wu Lianzhi staring at the household register. Almost instinctively, she asked, “You can read?”

Wu Lianzhi blinked blankly and nodded. “I… seem to recognize a few characters.”

Ghost Scholar looked surprised. “There aren’t many peasant women who can read, are there?”

Chu Ling pressed her lips together and spoke in a low voice. “Not just ‘not many.’ Perhaps you don’t understand, sir, but for women to become literate is as difficult as ascending to heaven. Unless her family was wealthy or noble—or she was originally from an official’s household—why would anyone allow a woman to study?”

Even then, what women were taught were merely Lessons for Women and moral codes.

At that moment, Su He hurried in. Before he had even caught his breath, he blurted out, “I’ve just discovered something. This skeleton must have borne a child.”

“Borne a child?!” Chu Ling immediately turned to look at Wu Lianzhi.

Su He continued, “I’ve dissected many bodies. I’m certain she gave birth before. Also, there’s something in the autopsy report I need to overturn—she may not have been around thirty years old, but rather in her early twenties.”

“Even the bone age was wrong?” Chu Ling studied Wu Lianzhi carefully. She didn’t look like someone in her early twenties—she appeared to be in her thirties.

“Years of exhausting labor without proper rest. Severe wear in the lower back, and varying degrees of damage in other joints. She must have come from an extremely poor household. Your Honor can narrow the investigation further,” Su He explained.

Ghost Scholar was stunned. He turned directly to Wu Lianzhi. “Do you remember how old you are?”

Wu Lianzhi slowly turned her head. Bloody tears streamed down her face. “I am twenty-three. I only gave birth to my daughter when I was twenty-one…”

“Do you remember anything else?” Ghost Scholar pressed.

Wu Lianzhi clutched her head in agony, shaking it desperately. She didn’t remember. She didn’t remember anything—nothing at all!

Chu Ling was the first to recover her composure. After thanking Su He and asking Zhang Dong to escort him out, she shut the door tightly and stared at Wu Lianzhi.

“I know you’re in pain. But you must recall carefully. You have a daughter. What if something happens to her?”

Wu Lianzhi suddenly raised her head. Her face was as terrifying as a vengeful ghost. “I won’t let anyone touch my daughter!”

Chu Ling sat upright again and said slowly, “Since you can read, your family was either scholarly or at least somewhat well-off. So you likely married beneath your status.”

“You endured years of hardship and labor—yet you were once a young lady. The only reason you would willingly bear that is because your husband was a scholar, and one with official credentials. You likely also had a mother-in-law who didn’t want you distracting her son. That’s why you didn’t have your daughter until you were twenty-one. In that year, your husband must have…”

“…become a juren (provincial graduate),” Ghost Scholar finished.

At the very least, someone marrying beneath her status would have wed a xiucai (licentiate scholar). According to Great Zhou marriage customs, women were usually married by seventeen or eighteen at the latest. After marrying into that family, perhaps three or four years later, her husband passed the provincial examination and became a juren.

Chu Ling nodded. Now it all made sense.

She narrowed the scope of investigation again. Early the next morning, she ordered Qi Da to gather all the information on juren in Sishui County—including those in the three subordinate villages.

They would definitely find that man.