The Slender Waist-Chapter 730 - 524: A Tangle of Mystery

Xiaoman’s words struck like a bolt from the blue.

Feng Yun took a moment to regain her composure.

Awan...

She turned her head, "What happened to Awan?"

Xiaoman’s voice choked up, "She’s dead. My lady, you should hurry and see for yourself."

Not injured, not ill, but dead...

She had already stopped breathing.

Her body was covered with a straw mat, lying on the grass outside the village’s surrounding wall.

For fear of bringing bad omen to the village, Awan wasn’t even carried inside, not returning to the place where she lived.

A few servants stood by, sighing with lament.

They said Awan was such an unlucky girl, just as her days were looking up, she suddenly passed away...

Feng Yun turned around the corner, and the servants all bowed their heads.

"My lady."

Feng Yun said nothing, approaching with a pale face.

Her complexion was eerily frightening.

The servants involuntarily held their breath in tightness.

Feng Yun stopped beside Awan’s body, "Lift the straw mat, let me have a look."

Aunt Xu from Xing Bing’s household wrinkled her brow upon hearing this, "My lady, maybe you shouldn’t look. It’s frightful..."

Feng Yun: "Let me see."

She raised her voice, startling Aunt Xu.

The nearby retinue hurriedly lifted the straw mat...

Feng Yun slowly squatted down.

Awan was still in the new dress she had prepared for the banquet, the vivid colors drenched from head to toe, paired with her face and the putrid stench wafting from the straw mat, Feng Yun’s complexion changed instantly.

"Where was she found?"

Aunt Xu said, "In a water storage pit..."

Outside Changmen Village was a vast expanse of land, where many storage pits of varying sizes had been dug for irrigation. Excrement produced in the village and the kitchen wastewater would be thrown into them to ferment into fertilizer, giving off a very unpleasant smell.

Because water storage pits are quite deep, they would often be covered with a mix of bamboo and straw, and villagers would warn their children not to play around the pits...

So, the places with water storage pits were no-go zones for children.

"Who discovered it?" Feng Yun asked again.

A member of the retinue named Huang Gong said, "It was I."

Feng Yun gave him a piercing look.

He tensed up, "With everyone all over the village today, the latrines were crowded. I was in a hurry... so I ran out looking for a secluded spot to relieve myself, and I saw the bamboo pole of the water tank askew and its cover turned over, so I took a closer look..."

Feng Yun slowly bent over, grasped Awan’s hand, and scrutinized her face again.

Aunt Xu looked at her expressionless face, as if not afraid at all, and felt completely numb.

"I had them fetch two buckets of clean water to wash Lady Wan, but the smell still couldn’t be subdued..."

She paused, then asked, "Today happens to be General Wen’s day of great joy, we dare not make a decision without permission... My lady, what do you think we should do..."

"Report to the authorities." Feng Yun’s voice was as cold as if devoid of emotion.

"Awan died unjustly, the Government Office must make the call."

Aunt Xu was taken aback, "Wasn’t Awan... didn’t she just accidentally fall in?"

Feng Yun looked at Awan’s face, and examined her mouth, nose, and eyes again more closely.

"She was thrown in after she died."

Aunt Xu was startled.

How could this be discerned?

Feng Yun said, "Her mouth has no filth."

Aunt Xu inhaled deeply, "My lady actually knows the skill of examining a corpse?"

"No need for skills in examining a corpse. If a person falls in accidentally, they would definitely cry for help before drowning... Who wouldn’t open their mouth?"

"Indeed." The crowd had a sudden realization.

Aunt Xu was about to instruct her servants to report to the authorities, but Feng Yun stopped her.

"Xiaoman, go to General Wen’s residence and quietly summon Magistrate He. Remember, do not disturb the wedding feast."

Xiaoman’s voice was hoarse with a sobbing tone, "Yes."

Magistrate He was He Chuandong.

At the beginning of this year, he had just been promoted to the position of Magistrate of Anren County under the administration of Andu County. A new official has to make an impression with his first acts and this case should rightly be decided by him.

Add to that a lady of rank such as Feng Yun, that is sufficient.

Xiaoman left quickly and returned just as fast.

Following behind her, along with He Chuandong and Wen Hui, was the Governor of Andu County, Shi Wentai, who had also come over.

A few people rushed over hastily, and before even arriving, Wen Hui had already started crying out loud.

"I just dined at the same table with Awan at noon; how is it that by dusk, she is gone... what exactly happened..."

Xiaoman went to comfort her.

Then the two of them, embracing, burst into tears.

Feng Yun looked at Shi Wentai and He Chuandong, her voice also slightly strained and hoarse.

"Governor, County Lord, Awan was murdered."

Shi Wentai’s face grew stern, walking up to the body with a furrowed brow.

He Chuandong, who had previously dealt with some internal affairs of Andu County under his father Magistrate He, had been exposed to quite a number of cases. He examined the condition of the body and nodded.

"The Princess’s words are very true, Lady Wan was cast into the water tank after death."