Jiang Yunxin took a deep breath, then let it out. “My lord, I have absolute confidence in my skills. If you can give me a case on the spot and let me examine it here and now, you’ll know at a glance what I’m capable of. Performing an autopsy is a matter of skill with one’s hands, not an argument won with one’s tongue. As for being a newcomer—everyone starts out as a newcomer. Some newcomers are gifted, born prodigies.”
Those words surprised everyone.
Jiang Yunxin was a little nervous. She had not wanted to boast, but at a time like this, a bold claim could show that she had confidence in herself. If she acted timidly, how could anyone else believe in her?
So she continued, “If I fail to determine the cause, I am willing to accept punishment and bear the same guilt as the murderer. I will submit to whatever sentence my lord sees fit.”
Jiang Yunxin looked firmly at Fang Mingyan.
Give me one chance, and I’ll return an experienced forensic examiner to you. You won’t lose out.
In the end, Fang Mingyan nodded. “Take Jiang Yunxin into the mortuary. I will personally watch you reexamine the corpse. If you truly possess the skills you claim, this official will believe you.”
The Judicial Review Office always needed forensic examiners. If Jiang Yunxin’s words were true, then Lian Tianlu’s problem was not merely one of skill or carelessness. That man could no longer be kept.
Lian Tianlu’s expression changed drastically. Jiang Yunxin let out a long breath of relief.
She was not afraid of examining a corpse. She was only afraid she would never be given the chance.
In the brightly lit mortuary, Mu Ziqi’s corpse had already lain there for two days. Fortunately, it was late autumn, and the weather was cool, so the body had not yet begun to decay.
Jiang Yunxin lifted the white cloth covering the corpse. Holding a sharp dissection knife in one hand, she pressed the other against the dead man’s abdomen. The small knife spun deftly between her fingers out of habit, then followed the line of the muscles as she made the incision.
Lian Tianlu’s earlier work had been far too crude. The incisions and sutures were in the wrong places, and the opening was neither deep nor wide enough. He might merely have made a show of it to fob everyone off, without even examining the organs.
As the skin split open with a wet puff, Fang Mingyan’s gaze shifted from the wound on the corpse to Jiang Yunxin’s face.
Her heart was as still as water, her body unmoving as a mountain.
At that moment, if Jiang Yunxin had claimed to be a senior forensic examiner with thirty years of experience, everyone present would have believed her.
The incision opened, revealing blood-red, glistening organs. The foul smell of blood rushed into their noses.
And it was not merely the smell of blood.
After a person died, the blood stopped circulating as well. The blood remaining in the organs could no longer be expelled from the body, and consequently clotted together.
Certain bacteria living in the human body also began to multiply rapidly. They reproduced by consuming nutrients such as the body’s proteins, and the clotted blood became their food. As these bacteria multiplied rapidly, the corpse began to rot and decompose.
Although Mu Ziqi’s corpse showed no obvious changes on the outside, the changes within had begun at the very moment of his death.
Even Fang Mingyan’s trusted aide could not help feeling a little nauseated. Jiang Yunxin merely frowned slightly as she complained inwardly, 【Couldn’t you give me a face mask? Honestly…】
【I’ve worked as a forensic examiner for twenty years, and even I rarely see a work environment this poor.】
But this was no time to complain. After making a brief examination, Jiang Yunxin turned and said, “My lord, could you have someone bring me a large platter?”
I can’t exactly put the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys all over the floor. I don’t mind, but I’m afraid you people won’t be able to take it.
Fang Mingyan nodded, and one of his men hurried away.
“I just examined the wounds on the surface of the deceased’s body,” Jiang Yunxin said. “The wound is narrow, with the upper and lower edges aligned. That indicates the murder weapon entered the victim’s abdomen almost parallel to the body. Judging from the weapon’s position and how deeply it penetrated the abdomen, I estimate that the organ most likely to have been pierced was the liver.”
Jiang Yunxin gestured, indicating the liver’s position within the body. Although an invisible knife still hung over her head, now that she was standing at a dissection table she knew well, she was completely calm.
She only had to be a little careful not to use too many terms Fang Mingyan would not understand.
“Continue,” Fang Mingyan said with a nod.
Although he was not a forensic examiner, he felt that Jiang Yunxin’s explanation was calm and fluent, completely unlike a newcomer’s halting, stammering speech.
“The abdomen contains the intestines. Unlike the chest, it has no major vital organs. An abdominal stab wound generally will not kill someone instantly. When an abdominal injury results in death, it is usually because of excessive blood loss. That takes a certain amount of time.”
Jiang Yunxin did not even need to look at Fang Mingyan to know that she was right. The victim, Mu Ziqi, had certainly not died on the spot. He must have struggled for quite some time.
At that moment, one of Fang Mingyan’s men, Long Qiao, returned with a large platter.
The abdominal cavity had already been opened. Jiang Yunxin said, “Although the blood has clotted, we can still see that a large amount of blood has pooled inside the abdominal cavity.”
A large amount of blood collecting in the abdominal cavity because of an external injury generally indicated damage to the liver or spleen.
Jiang Yunxin regretted once again that she had no gloves. Then she resolutely thrust her hand inside. After a while, she lifted something out of the cavity.
Fang Mingyan’s men were all dumbfounded.
They had seen forensic examiners before, but they truly had never seen a female forensic examiner. Nor had they ever imagined that Jiang Yunxin would look so calm and composed while lifting an organ out of a body.
Her expression was almost the same as when she held a bowl while eating with them.
“This is the deceased’s liver,” Jiang Yunxin said. “My lord, look. There is an obvious wound here… Please have someone bring some clean water.”
Long Qiao soon returned with the water.
Jiang Yunxin then washed the bloody, sticky liver as if she were washing clothes.
The wound became extremely clear.
“My lord, the wound is here,” Jiang Yunxin said. “By comparing the shape of the wound with the shape of the murder weapon, we can determine whether they match.”
Fang Mingyan nodded.
He was not the sort to nitpick, and he certainly would not look for faults merely because Jiang Yunxin was a newcomer. If something was done well, then it was done well; if it was done poorly, then it was done poorly. Judging from the series of movements she had just made while opening and examining the corpse, everything had flowed as smoothly as water. If she was merely a new student, then she truly deserved to be called a born prodigy.
For the sake of caution—or perhaps to show off her skills—Jiang Yunxin also removed and examined several other important organs from the victim’s abdomen, including the spleen and kidneys. None showed any injuries.
Jiang Yunxin washed her hands, then went to examine the wound on the deceased’s neck.
That slash had been vicious too.
“The trachea was severed,” Jiang Yunxin said. “My lord, simply cutting open the trachea is not necessarily enough to cause death, because air can still pass in and out through the severed opening, allowing the person to continue breathing. What is fatal is that blood can be drawn into the lungs through the open airway, obstructing respiration until the victim eventually suffocates.”
Fang Mingyan pondered for a moment. “You mean the throat-slitting was not actually the cause of death. The abdominal wound was.”
“That isn’t quite what I mean.” Jiang Yunxin thought for a moment. “If we absolutely must say which of the two injuries would cause death more quickly, we would have to look at the circumstances and the emergency treatment given to the victim at the time. But both injuries are fatal. In my experience, when someone stabs another person in the abdomen during a fight, it is usually because tempers have flared. That does not necessarily mean they intended to take the other person’s life. But when someone slashes another person’s throat during a fight, that is an unmistakable intent to kill.”
The initial motive was different, and that would affect the sentence as well.
One was a killing in the heat of a mutual brawl, caused by an impulsive mistake. The other was intentional murder.