Cut Open Zhao Gengtian’s Head?
Yan Tongshu pressed a finger against the bruise: “Your Honor, when a person is alive, blood flows through the vessels. If they are beaten or suffer a collision, the blood vessels rupture, causing blood to accumulate and form a bruise. The bruised area will appear swollen.
After death, the blood coagulates, and the bruise will feel hard to the touch. Bruises sustained while alive appear in varying shades of blue-purple or red-purple, and their color ceases to change after death.
However, look at the bruises on Zhao Gengtian’s body. Their edges are smooth, and when pressed, there is no swelling, nor any feeling of hardness. The color of each bruise is almost identical, with no variation.”
Yan Tongshu removed her finger, and indeed, the bruised area showed no change.
She looked up, her gaze sharp as a blade, and her words stunned everyone in the courtroom: “Therefore, these bruises are fake.”
Fake?
Judge Li was jolted and angrily demanded, “Who performed the autopsy on Zhao Gengtian’s body?”
The bailiff Xu Qiu stepped forward and replied, “Your Honor, it was Liu Jiu.”
Judge Li ordered, “Bring him here.”
Xu Qiu responded, “Yes.”
Shortly after, Liu Jiu was summoned.
Judge Li’s brows were cold, and though his voice was not loud, it carried immense pressure: “Liu Jiu, I ask you, did you thoroughly examine Zhao Gengtian’s body?”
Liu Jiu had no idea what had happened but sensed that Judge Li’s expression was unusually severe today.
He replied tremblingly, “Your Honor, I examine every corpse meticulously and carefully.”
Judge Li questioned, “Then why did you fail to notice that the bruises on Zhao Gengtian’s body were fabricated?”
“Fabricated?”
Liu Jiu was bewildered: “That’s impossible. I examined them thoroughly.”
Judge Li glanced at Yan Tongshu, and Liu Jiu immediately understood: “May I ask, sir, on what grounds do you claim that the bruises on Zhao Gengtian’s body are fake? Do you have evidence? Making baseless accusations is slander.”
Yan Tongshu whispered a few words to Xu Qiu.
Xu Qiu brought over a bowl of vinegar, and Yan Tongshu dipped a cloth in it, applying it to the bruises on Zhao Gengtian’s body. After a moment, she gently wiped the cloth over the area, and the bruises disappeared.
Yan Tongshu explained, “These bruises were painted on using elm tree sap.”
Liu Jiu immediately fell to his knees in fear: “Your Honor, I had no idea. I didn’t know bruises could be faked. Please investigate thoroughly…”
Yan Tongshu interrupted Liu Jiu: “You’re lying. Faking bruises with elm tree sap is not uncommon; there have been precedents. You thought this was a simple case, straightforward at a glance, so you didn’t take the autopsy seriously. That’s why you overlooked this and caused a miscarriage of justice.”
These words were a devastating accusation against Liu Jiu’s professionalism as a coroner, and he naturally refused to accept them.
He retorted angrily, “How dare you claim I wasn’t serious?”
Yan Tongshu’s gaze turned icy as she pointed at Zhao Gengtian and demanded, “Then tell me, what was Zhao Gengtian’s fatal injury?”
Yan Tongshu’s imposing presence and piercing gaze made Liu Jiu falter, and he instinctively stepped back: “It… it was the injury to the back of his head.”
Yan Tongshu pressed on relentlessly: “Are you certain? The bleeding from the injury on Zhao Gengtian’s head was minimal, and his skull wasn’t fractured. Can you swear with certainty that the injury to the back of his head was the fatal one?”
“But Zhao Gengtian only has this one wound on his body now…” Liu Jiu looked up and saw the interrogative scrutiny in Yan Tongshu’s eyes, growing even more flustered. He blurted out incoherently, “Anyway, it couldn’t have been poisoning. I checked, and he showed no signs of poisoning.”
Yan Tongshu: "It is indeed not poisoning."
Liu Jiu: "You—"
Liu Jiu was about to argue further, but when Judge Li shot him a warning glance, he immediately shrank back and dared not speak.
Judge Li said coldly, "Stand aside. I'll deal with you later."
Liu Jiu shrank like a quail: "Yes."
Judge Li had personally overseen this case and was naturally clear about the circumstances. Now that Yan Tongshu mentioned that the bruises on Zhao Gengtian's body from the beating were fabricated, he understood upon reflection: "It seems he intended to use the bruises to extort the gravy recipe for the noodle soup, but he never expected to lose his life during the altercation."
Judge Li's meaning was that even without the fight, Zhao Gengtian's death was still inextricably linked to Zhao Sheng.
Zhao Sheng was unwilling to accept this and immediately panicked, crying out loudly: "Your Honor Li, I've been wronged! I never touched that old bastard… I mean, my grandfather. I really didn't touch him. He suddenly stopped moving and died after hitting the cabinet himself."
Yan Tongshu looked at Zhao Sheng and reassured him, "Don't panic yet. The case isn't over."
Tears streamed down Zhao Sheng's face.
He was afraid of death, terribly so.
Judge Li looked at Yan Tongshu with admiration.
This student, though young, was knowledgeable and quite capable.
He wondered what level of imperial examination Yan Tongshu had achieved.
If Yan Tongshu had not yet entered officialdom, he could serve as a recommender.
Judge Li's tone softened considerably, no longer as severe as before.
He said to Yan Tongshu, "Explain your judgment."
Yan Tongshu replied respectfully, "Yes. This student learned that seven days before the incident, Zhao Gengtian had already calmed down and avoided conflicts with others. He deliberately wore thick clothing, likely to conceal the bruises he had drawn on his body in advance. His continuous shouting and cursing, along with closing the door after entering the room, were probably meant to create the illusion of a fight with Zhao Sheng to extort the Yang family's gravy recipe."
Judge Li: "That inference is plausible."
Yan Tongshu: "But he never expected to suddenly fall ill and die."
Judge Li: "Fall ill?"
Yan Tongshu: "Yes, Zhao Gengtian was ill."
Yan Tongshu reached out to Zhenzhu, but nothing was placed in her hand.
Yan Tongshu looked over and saw Zhenzhu trembling as she hid behind Yang Dama, her eyes tightly shut, appearing weak, pitiful, and helpless.
Yan Tongshu awkwardly smiled at Judge Li, then hurried over to Zhenzhu and whispered, "Zhenzhu, the testimony."
Zhenzhu still kept her eyes tightly shut, trembling as she pulled two pieces of paper from her bosom and handed them to Yan Tongshu.
Yan Tongshu presented the items to Judge Li with both hands: "Your Honor Li, this is the testimony of Doctor Li, who treated Zhao Gengtian. Doctor Li is currently outside. If you don't believe it, you can summon him for questioning."
Judge Li nodded to the bailiff, who went to fetch Doctor Li.
After Doctor Li arrived, he repeated what he had told Yan Tongshu.
Yan Tongshu said, "Your Honor Li, Zhao Gengtian's symptoms included headaches, neck stiffness, occasional vomiting, limb weakness, numbness, declining vision, blurriness, double vision, and were accompanied by epilepsy and convulsions. Based on this student's judgment, it was likely liver and kidney yin deficiency, deficiency of both qi and blood, and internal obstruction by phlegm and stasis. When emotions ran high, it was easy for hyperactivity of liver yang and upward reversal of qi and blood to occur, leading to the rupture of intracranial blood vessels and causing sudden death."
In truth, Yan Tongshu had originally wanted to say it was spontaneous cerebral hemorrhage.
But in this era, there was no such term, so she had to phrase it differently.
If Yan Tongshu truly managed to overturn the case, Liu Jiu’s career as a coroner in Kaifeng Prefecture would come to an end. He interjected, “This is merely speculation. Even if the bruises on Zhao Gengtian’s body were fake, and Zhao Sheng didn’t brawl with him, it’s still possible that Zhao Sheng pushed Zhao Gengtian in a fit of rage, causing him to hit the cabinet and die.
Zhao Sheng is, after all, a street thug who has always been fond of fighting and brawling, and lies come easily to him. How can we trust his words?”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Sheng realized the coroner was determined to see him dead and immediately glared fiercely at Liu Jiu.
Judge Li turned to Yan Tongshu. “What he says makes sense.”
Yan Tongshu lowered his gaze and clasped his hands respectfully. “Your Honor, the principle is ‘innocent until proven guilty.’ All evidence proving that Zhao Sheng beat Zhao Gengtian to death has now been overturned, and no one witnessed Zhao Sheng striking him. Even if I cannot prove that Zhao Gengtian died from a sudden illness, can Kaifeng Prefecture prove that Zhao Gengtian died at Zhao Sheng’s hands? There is neither witness testimony nor physical evidence.”
Hearing this, Zhao Sheng felt a surge of hope.
He exchanged a glance with Yang Dama, and both saw the wild joy of having narrowly escaped death in each other’s eyes.
Liu Jiu sneered, “Ha! You simply lack evidence.”
Yan Tongshu’s tone turned stern. “I do have evidence.”
Liu Jiu retorted, “See? A young fool spouting nonsense…”
He suddenly froze. “You have evidence?”
Yan Tongshu’s sharp gaze swept past Liu Jiu and settled on Judge Li. “Your Honor, I request permission to perform a cranial autopsy.”
A cranial autopsy?
Cutting open Zhao Gengtian’s head?
Not only were the others shocked, but even Zhenzhu, who had kept her eyes closed since Zhao Gengtian’s body was brought out, pretending not to see, suddenly opened them wide.
Zhenzhu cried out, “Young Master, you mustn’t!”
Cutting open a dead person’s head?
No!
It’s too terrifying!
Absolutely not!
Judge Li’s expression grew solemn as he pondered, then his sharp eyes locked onto Yan Tongshu like an eagle’s. “Will opening the skull reveal the truth?”
Yan Tongshu straightened his back, his gaze clear and resolute. “Opening the skull can determine the source of the hemorrhage. If Zhao Gengtian truly died from hitting the wooden cabinet and injuring the back of his head, the severity of the injury would not be as minor as it appears now. At the very least, there should be a skull fracture or subarachnoid hemorrhage…”
Judge Li asked, “Subara… what?”
Yan Tongshu bit his tongue in frustration. He had spoken too quickly and slipped up.
But he couldn’t be blamed for this.
There was no alternative term for the structures inside the brain.
“It’s…”
Yan Tongshu wasn’t sure how to explain. After a moment’s thought, he simply borrowed paper and a brush from the clerk and sketched a simplified diagram of the brain. “Your Honor, please look. If the death was caused by traumatic hemorrhage from an impact, the bleeding would occur here…”
Yan Tongshu used the brush to circle the location of the subarachnoid space, then moved it downward to another area. “If it was a sudden illness leading to sudden death, then it would be intracranial medullary hemorrhage, meaning this location. Actually, this is quite easy to understand.
Zhao Gengtian’s bruises were fabricated, and the only injury was the impact from hitting the cabinet. Since it was external, the bleeding would certainly be closer to the surface…”
Yan Tongshu tried to explain in understandable terms. “If the death was due to intracranial rupture and hemorrhage from emotional agitation, the bleeding would be internal and not connected to the external injury.
Moreover, after opening the skull, we can examine the extent of bleeding from the impact wound. If the wound is shallow, with minimal bleeding, or if it doesn’t even reach this area, it would indicate that the impact was not the cause of death—the illness was.”
Judge Li was left utterly bewildered.
He turned to the coroner Liu Jiu: "Liu Jiu, tell me, is this method effective?"
"This… this…"
Liu Jiu desperately wanted to dismiss Yan Tongshu's words as nonsense, but the field of autopsy was not something only he understood.
Previous mistakes could still be brushed off as carelessness or lack of thoroughness.
But if he were to deny Yan Tongshu's claims now, and Yan Tongshu were to call upon other, more experienced coroners as witnesses, it would expose him as both unskilled and morally deficient.
Coroners could only serve in government offices. If he made a mistake now, at worst he might be transferred from Kaifeng Prefecture to a local office. But if he were deemed morally deficient, who would dare employ him in the future?
Liu Jiu hesitated and said, "Sir, what this man says holds some merit, but I have never used such a method myself. Moreover…"
Liu Jiu glanced at Yan Tongshu: "Sir, our bodies and hair are gifts from our parents. Even dissection must be approached with extreme caution and requires the family's understanding, let alone a craniotomy? This truly goes against human ethics!"
Indeed, even dissection had to be handled with the utmost care, and now they were considering a craniotomy for the autopsy.
Judge Li found himself in a dilemma.
Author's note: