Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 82 - 81: A Peculiar Wound

It is presumed in everyone’s heart that at this moment, no one has believed that Cao Chenfeng is innocent.

Now, suddenly hearing someone say "I believe," caused everyone present to be stunned for a moment, subconsciously looking in the direction of the voice, they saw the Chief Historian next to Prince Xiaoyao, standing outside the crowd with a determined gaze looking at General Cao in the middle of the crowd.

Cao Tianbao did not expect someone would say they believed Cao Chenfeng and was even more surprised when he saw it was Zhu Yu who spoke.

Cao Chenfeng heard it too. He endured the pain to prop himself up, wanting to see who was willing to believe in him.

"You believe him?" Cao Tianbao suspiciously looked at Zhu Yu. He previously thought that this person seemed to have some skills, given that he was able to save a guard whom the forensic examiner had already determined to be dead from poisoning on the night of Prince Xiaoyao’s wedding, which is why he agreed to let him help examine Zhuang Lanlan’s body.

But after all, he was Lu Qing’s person, and he couldn’t quite figure out what was going on between the two of them.

"I believe him." Zhu Yu nodded confidently.

Zhuang Zhi took two steps forward, wanting to rush to Zhu Yu, but was quickly stopped by governmental officials from Jingzhao Mansion.

"You believe him?! On what grounds?!" He couldn’t get past them, but his fiercely glaring eyes were still fixed on them, questioning loudly.

"Based on this." Zhu Yu, facing Zhuang Zhi, remained very calm, pointing to the ground beside her.

She had encountered far more emotional family members of the deceased and handled situations more irrational than this, so Zhuang Zhi’s anger was nothing to her.

Everyone, including Zhuang Zhi, looked in the direction she pointed to and saw the murder weapon, a sword, she had placed under the sunlight.

A moment ago, when Cao Tianbao was whipping Cao Chenfeng, that sword had been lying in the sun for quite a while, so much so that it had grown warm under the exposure, with a couple of flies buzzing around it.

The onlookers were puzzled, except for the Capital Governor, who seemed most experienced in such matters. He frowned and asked: "That sword, exposed under the sun, attracted flies, which indicates it’s the murder weapon that had blood on it, hence the smell, no?

How does this become proof of Cao Chenfeng’s innocence?"

Due to his doubts, he blurted his question without much thought, and after speaking, he realized his words seemed to have confirmed Cao Chenfeng as the true murderer. Afraid of displeasing Cao Tianbao, he quickly glanced over at him.

But Cao Tianbao, at this moment, ignored him, instead casting a puzzled look at Zhu Yu, waiting for her to clarify.

Cao Chenfeng finally realized that someone was speaking for him, seemingly believing in his innocence. With a mix of surprise and joy, it felt akin to someone throwing him a rope while he was clinging barehanded at the edge of a cliff.

Ignoring his own bloodied and painful body, he crawled quickly towards Zhu Yu, wanting to hug her leg like he did his uncle Cao Tianbao earlier, pleading with her, this possible benefactor, to continue to vindicate him.

Just three feet from grasping her the edge of her clothing, a figure suddenly blocked his path.

Lu Qing, who had been observing coldly from the sidelines, stepped forward to stand before Zhu Yu, asking with a face full of interest, "Chief Historian, though I’ve always trusted your abilities, isn’t it a bit too hasty to conclude Cao Chenfeng isn’t the murderer based merely on the number of flies?"

"The Prince is right; concluding based on flies alone would indeed be hasty." Zhu Yu nodded to him, then turned to Cao Tianbao and said, "General Cao, earlier you asked if I found anything else on Zhuang Lanlan’s body during the examination.

This is what I hadn’t mentioned."

She pointed at the sword on the ground: "The sword you gave your nephew is too wide for the fatal stab on Zhuang Lanlan’s body."

Cao Tianbao was taken aback, his expression growing more puzzled at her words.

To his side, the Capital Governor also looked quite perplexed, exchanging glances with the governmental official next to him.

That governmental official, responsible for transporting the body that day, quickly said to Zhu Yu after getting glared at by his superior, "Ma’am, this sword was indeed embedded in that woman’s body by us personally and then kept separately; this is absolutely correct."

"I know," Zhu Yu nodded to the official, "but the sword was inserted after Zhuang Lanlan was already dead."

Her words caused everyone present to show expressions of surprise, even Lu Qing slightly raised his eyebrows.

"If a person is cut with a blade while still alive, the edges of the flesh naturally curl inwards slightly, and the cut would look dark red from the bleeding blood.

But if the person is already dead, blood solidified and ceased flowing, flesh gone cold and stiff, a cut made then would not curl, and the cut would be akin to slicing a piece of pork, with no difference.

Because the blood will have already clotted, the wound would appear pale."

Zhu Yu saw the time was ripe and revealed her other finding, "The middle part of the wound on Zhuang Lanlan’s chest curled, showing dark color, while both ends didn’t curl, appearing pale.

The exit wound on the back was overall narrower than the front, and similarly, the entire wound showed slight flesh curling and dark red coloration.

So, I speculate, the murderer killed Zhuang Lanlan, then waited until she was completely dead before pulling the original knife out to insert Cao Chenfeng’s sword left behind in the embroidery tower.

Afraid of controlling poorly the direction of the sword within the body, which might create a new exit wound at the back and expose flaws, the perpetrator only inserted the sword without penetrating through Zhuang Lanlan’s body, thus leaving the original exit wound unchanged."