Bone Painting Coroner

Marquis Hou’s Mansion.

Everybody in the ancestral hall was shocked to receive the news of Granny Lin’s death.

The face of the servant girl who delivered the news was as white as paper. She went into the room looking for Granny Lin, but when she pushed open the doors, what she saw was a person laying face down on the floor.

She went forward to check if she was breathing, and found her dead. With the recent haunting already weighing on their minds, the sudden death naturally caused panic. They were afraid that they would end up as the next victim of the ghost.

Ji Yunshu was shocked, but she was not afraid.

She had just seen Granny Lin the night before. Despite her skinny, stooped back, the old lady’s steps were firm. She was quite healthy, so why did she die just like that?

“How did she die? Where did you find her?” she asked the terrified maid.

“In...in her room. I saw her laying on the floor. She was not moving.” The maid replied with a trembling voice, as tears began to well up in her fear-filled eyes. “I walked up to her to check on her, and discovered that she was dead. It was so scary!”

“Bring me to her room.” said Ji Yunshu.

“Eh?”

“Was I not clear? Someone’s dead, I want to have a look.” Her voice was firm.

Isn’t Teacher Ji here to investigate the haunting? Why is he involving himself in this now? Thought the maid.

Despite her fear and her doubts, the cowering maid led Ji Yunshu and Jing Rong to Granny Lin’s room.

Marquis Kang had already arrived by then, and had entered the room ahead of them.

A crowd had already gathered and had started discussing the death. “Could it be the work of some evil spirit?”

“It could be. Granny Lin was in the ancestral hall the whole night. She might’ve attracted the attention of a ghost or something.”

“Well I say it’s the spirit of the young master.”

“Come on, don’t scare me like that!” The man crossed his arms and rubbed his shoulders, a shiver running down his spine.

The brawny man standing next to him creased his eyebrows, “See, ever since the young master’s shoes went missing, the household had never known peace. I heard him laughing again yesterday! I was so afraid that I didn't even dare to go to the toilet.” He visibly gulped. Even he could not help the shiver that rocked his body!

Ji Yunshu ignored the gossipping crowd and entered the room with a calm expression.

It was a small, sparsely furnished room, housing a bed, a wardrobe, a table and a chair, as a pair of worn couches. There was nothing much in the room, but it was well tidied and cleaned.

Just an ordinary servant’s room.

Marquis Kang shook his head and sighed at the frail corpse lying on the ground, “Madame Lin had been with my family since we first moved into the capital from Jingzhou. It’s been ten years since then, and for her to pass away just like this… Haiz!” He lowered his head and wiped away his tears.

The corpse of Granny Lin lay facing the ground. Her head was facing her bed, while her legs were pointed towards the door .

There was also a tray and some broken cups on the ground beside her.

At first glance, it appeared that she had tripped and fell, and she died after smashing her forehead against the ground.

It was something that was very common for elderly people.

A figure brushed past the crowd before Ji Yunshu could inspect the corpse, causing a commotion.

She turned around to find a burly man in his forties standing in the doorway. The man gaped at Granny Lin who was laying on the ground with an expression of shock while the surrounding crowd gave him looks of sympathy.

The man stood in a daze for a long while before finally walking into the room with unsteady steps despite his well-built frame, and knelt beside the corpse of Granny Lin with a loud thud . A heart-wrenching yell rang out. “Mother!”

The man held on to the corpse of his mother as he sobbed in agony. Even a strong man would crumble helplessly at the loss of a loved one.

“Mom, what happened to you? I’ve only just went out, and you…” The man began sobbing like a child.

“My deepest condolences, Cai Da.” Marquis Kang consoled the man, “Don’t be sad. Your mother must’ve slipped and fell. Don’t worry, this marquis will give her a proper burial.”

Cai Da ignored his words as he continued to weep.

“You mother is already elderly. Things like this are bound to happen.”

His words were ignored again!

“Madame Lin has worked for this household for years. I will send her off with the proper rites. I’m sure that she does not want to see you like this.”

The grieved sobs of the man continued reverberating in the room.

Jing Rong, who was not comfortable with occasions like this, stood a few meters away from the entrance, and the servants of the household maintained a very respectful distance away from him.

Ji Yunshu on the other hand, had been staring at the wound on Granny Lin’s forehead since the arrival of Cai Da. Something is amiss. She narrowed her eyes and knelt beside the corpse to inspect the wound.

But Cai Da held on tightly and would not let go. “May I have a look?” her voice was gentle.

Cai Da glared at her with bloodshot eyes, “My mother is dead! What is there to look at?”

“This one thinks that something else might have caused her death. And I want to find out what that is.”

Oh!? This caused an uproar among the people who were inside and outside of the room.

There is a wound on Granny Lin’s head, and there was a platter and broken cups scattered all over the floor. It’s obvious that she had slipped and fell.

So why does Teacher Ji sound like there’s something else behind her death?

“How did you come to that conclusion, Teacher Ji?” asked a perplexed Marquis Kang.

Ji Yunshu was troubled by their reaction. I said that it might be something else. Why are they looking at me like that? It’s just a possibility! Why are they acting like I’m certain about it?

Really! Damn it!

“I just wanted to have a good look at the wound on Granny Lin’s forehead. I don’t mean to imply anything else.” A slight frown appeared on her face.

“What about the wound?”

“I haven’t had the chance to inspect the wound yet, milord. I’ll know after having a closer look if she slipped and fell to her death or… if it could be something else.”

Marquis Kang wasted no time in speaking out, “Cai Da, let go of your mother. Let Teacher Ji have a look.”

But Cai Da refused to let go. He was still bawling over his mother as he held on to her corpse that had begun to go into rigor mortis.

It was a normal display of emotion by someone who had lost his mother.

Marquis Kang ordered his servants to drag him away.

“Mother…” Cai Da was hauled out of the room.

Ji Yunshu rolled up her sleeves, turned Granny Lin’s head towards her, and began inspecting her forehead wound.

The flesh around the wound was split open by the impact of her fall. Some of the skin had bunched up, with loose flesh dangling. She could almost see her skull through the gory open wound. Blood poured out from the wound everywhere onto Granny Lin’s hair, ears, and eyes...

There was also a pool of blood on the ground.It was apparent that she had indeed died from her fall.

But...