The scorching sun hung high above the rooftops, cicadas chirped merrily in the trees, and the cries of street vendors filled the bustling avenue.
On the road, a carriage adorned with black and gold ornaments was moving slowly forward. Suddenly, another carriage rushed out from the corner. The driver of the first carriage reacted quickly, yanking the reins to force the vehicle aside, but the speeding carriage could not stop in time. The two carriages collided with a loud crash that echoed through the street.
“Ahhh! Someone’s been killed!”
“What a disaster, in broad daylight—such bad luck!”
Amid the noisy commotion, Yao Shu felt a flood of unfamiliar memories crash into her mind like waves. Her temples throbbed painfully as she opened her eyes and looked around.
A pair of dark eyes suddenly leaned close to her. The man asked calmly, “Coroner Yao, are you feeling unwell?”
Yao Shu touched her aching forehead and was stunned by the man’s striking appearance: long brows slanting into his temples, eyes bright as stars, black hair bound with a golden crown—an elegant figure like jade and pine.
“N-no… I’m fine,” she replied dazedly, as if still in a dream.
“Let’s talk after you get out of the carriage.” With that, the man quickly opened the door and stepped out. Yao Shu’s heart was in turmoil.
It seemed she had transmigrated. In her original life, she had been stabbed to death by a criminal in revenge for presenting a cause-of-death report in court. Now she had awakened in the body of another woman with the same name—a junior coroner. And the man before her was her superior, Prince Su, Fu Xiujin, head of the Court of Judicial Review.
She might just be the unluckiest yet most coincidentally placed forensic doctor in the world.
Outside, the crowd was already thick around the carriages. Some covered their eyes, others stared wide-eyed. Following their gaze, Yao Shu saw a body lying between the two vehicles.
To be precise—a corpse.
“Lord… Lord?!” A woman with her hair pinned up stepped down from one of the carriages. At the sight of the body, she screamed in terror, nearly collapsing if not for her maid’s support. She tried to rush forward to grab the corpse, but a handsome man stopped her, preventing her from disturbing the scene and destroying evidence.
Yao Shu recognized him as Zhao Shaobai, an assistant minister of the Court of Judicial Review. It was he who had borrowed the original coroner—on her very first day of work—to deliver remains to the local magistrate’s office. Who could have expected such an accident before they even arrived?
“It doesn’t look like he was killed in the crash. I saw him fall out from under the carriage,” muttered a man in gray from the crowd. Several others nodded in agreement.
“What’s going on?” Fu Xiujin’s brows furrowed. Zhao Shaobai immediately approached the man and asked him to repeat what he had seen.
“I was just sitting nearby eating noodles with a friend. The lady’s carriage couldn’t stop and slammed into that gentleman’s carriage. Then I saw this man fall out from underneath, lying motionless on the ground. He didn’t move at all after that. It looked like he died instantly from the fall…”
The crowd erupted in shock. A corpse falling out from beneath a carriage in broad daylight was beyond belief.
“Coroner Yao, can you examine the body?”
Still sorting through the jumble of memories in her head, Yao Shu heard her name called. Instinctively, and in line with her new identity, she nodded.
The carriages were surrounded three layers deep. Yao Shu crouched down and turned the body over. Gasps rippled through the crowd.
The corpse’s eyes bulged wide, its face twisted in horror.
She quickly examined it—touching the hyoid bone, pressing the joints of the fingers, then gently pressing the chest and abdomen. Soon she reached a conclusion.
“The deceased died about a day ago from strangulation, not from the carriage collision. His hands and torso bear continuous ligature marks, suggesting he was bound and hidden beneath the carriage. The crash merely dislodged the body. Further details should be confirmed with a more thorough examination later.”
Zhao Shaobai immediately checked the carriages and indeed found ropes still tied to the axle beneath the lady’s vehicle.
With the cause of death established, Fu Xiujin ordered the crowd to disperse and the body to be removed. But the woman refused, causing a commotion.
“Where did this little girl come from, spouting nonsense? What do you know of autopsies! My husband couldn’t have died yesterday—he was in his study at noon, checking accounts! Until the magistrate arrives, no one is allowed to touch the body! Wangfu, hurry, go fetch the officials!”
Zhao Shaobai sneered and pulled out a black-and-gold badge from his sleeve, engraved with the character “Jing.” At once, the woman fell silent.
“Do you think the Court of Judicial Review is less efficient than the local magistrate’s office?” Fu Xiujin’s voice was cold as winter wind, chilling everyone who heard it.
“This… this humble woman was blind and ignorant. I’ll trouble the Court of Judicial Review to handle it.”
The crowd buzzed even louder. Who would have thought the collision involved the Court of Judicial Review itself? Truly, fate played strange tricks.
From her inherited memories, Yao Shu understood their awe. The Court of Judicial Review was the empire’s central investigative authority, handling cases too complex for local offices. No case ever remained unsolved once it reached them. The killer was in deep trouble now.
The woman ordered her servants to lift the body onto her carriage, then tearfully approached Fu Xiujin and his group.
From their exchange, Yao Shu learned the woman was Madam Guo, the deceased’s wife. The victim was Cao Hongfa, a tavern owner of modest wealth. He had no known enemies—after all, tavern-keepers preferred harmony to make money.
“My lord, I don’t mean to doubt the coroner of the Court of Judicial Review, but my husband couldn’t have died yesterday. He was alive in his study at noon, checking the accounts. Surely he couldn’t have turned into a ghost overnight?” Madam Guo sobbed, her eyes darting suspiciously toward Yao Shu.
Fu Xiujin’s face had been stern since leaving the carriage. Seeing Madam Guo question Yao Shu’s judgment, his tone suddenly grew harsh.
“Madam Cao, are you questioning the ability of the Court’s coroner?”
Inside, Yao Shu chuckled. Zhao Shaobai had already explained to her: Fu Xiujin might look cold and merciless, but he was fiercely protective of his subordinates. Madam Guo had just stepped on his tail.