"What 'Complete Guide to Coroner's Examination'? She probably heard it in some opera," Shangguan Ming complained to the Minister of Personnel. "It's impossible that a celestial child told her."
The Minister of Personnel recalled that his own wife had been acting mysteriously these past few days, leaving early and returning late, bathing and burning incense at night as if waiting for something to enter her dreams. He dared not agree with Shangguan Ming.
"Prime Minister, who knows?"
"If the celestial child can enter our dreams and give us all the same warning, then perhaps it also entered our wives' dreams."
Shangguan Ming's long beard twitched. Of course, he knew this was possible.
But now he felt it was extremely unlikely. "The celestial child might enter her dreams, but would it reveal a celestial treasure to my wife and not to me?"
"Cheng Liao, how could that be possible?"
"Doesn't the celestial child know that my wife only loves to gossip over tea and meals? Ask her about any family's affairs, and she knows everything. But ask her to discern right from wrong, and she's completely clueless, barely able to read a few characters."
Yuan also believed in the saying 'A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent.'
So Shangguan Ming wasn't looking down on his wife; it was just that she had never studied much.
If the celestial child bestowed her with a celestial book, would she even understand it?
The celestial child knew everything about the world, so how could it not know that his wife could barely recognize a few words?
Shangguan Ming waved his hand, "Forget it. It's probably because I spoke lightly of her, and she's angry and deliberately defying me, throwing a tantrum."
"Let's focus on the important matters. I wrote a secret letter last night."
They were secretly investigating the causes of death of several empresses.
But soon, Shangguan Ming discovered that wherever they investigated, someone had already been there ahead of them.
"Prime Minister, your wife also came to ask about this."
"I just told the Minister of Revenue about this the day before, your wife, that is."
"Oh? A few days ago, the Inspector's wife also mentioned something similar to me."
The men were all stunned.
...
The gossip group gathered by Madam Shangguan gradually approached the truth.
Their attitude changed from initial curiosity to horror, anger, and solemnity.
Especially today, Madam Shangguan and the Inspector's wife, leading a group of sisters, used the excuse of burning incense to visit farmlands in the outskirts of the city. Their expressions had become solemn.
"Do we really need to dig her up?" The Inspector's wife had become nervous, looking at Madam Shangguan with hesitation in her eyes.
Madam Shangguan nodded, "Yes, the matter is too important. We have no choice."
"What if it really involves the Emperor..." someone said nervously, then quickly stopped.
Madam Shangguan waved her hand, looking composed, "I just bought this land and invited a feng shui master to look at it. The master advised me to relocate the graves here, which is why I'm having them exhumed these days."
"What does this have to do with the palace?"
Madam Shangguan's confident demeanor also relieved the women around her.
Soon, someone chimed in, "That's right. Even if this person was a nurse to the former empress, her family has agreed to move the grave. The divination shows that this move will benefit not only the Shangguan family but also her descendants."
Madam Shangguan nodded, "Indeed, it benefits all parties. That's why I'm doing this."
As they discussed, a Taoist priest soon began performing rituals and chanting, then men came to dig and lift the coffin.
Madam Shangguan nervously clasped her hands together.
With the celestial child guiding her in her dreams, she wasn't afraid.
As the celestial child had said, she should act as its spokesperson in the mortal world, seeking justice for these victims!
Let the evildoers be punished!
Otherwise, these buried dead could never rest in peace.
Thinking this, Madam Shangguan found courage.
Even when the lifted coffin emitted a putrid odor, she suppressed her panic and fear.
'String the bones together with hemp rope, then place them in a heated pit and fumigate with wine and vinegar. After two to four hours, remove the bones and examine them under sunlight, shielding them with a red oil paper umbrella.'
'If there are places where the bones were struck, faint red blood shadows will appear.'
'If the bones were broken, there will be traces of blood shadows at both ends of the fracture...'
Madam Shangguan recited silently, quickly instructing the servants and family members on what to do.
Soon, not only Madam Shangguan was dumbfounded, but even the deceased's family members were shocked into silence.
The bones indeed revealed faint red marks, especially a ring of red around the neck, with the cervical vertebrae fractured!
There were also several irregular blood shadows on the limbs.
"My mother was really murdered?!" The Nurse's Son stared wide-eyed, both horrified and trembling. "After the former empress passed away, my mother was rewarded with a carriage by the Yuan King and left the palace..."
The Inspector's wife and the group of women awoke from their shock, but they still maintained their rationality.
"If the carriage had overturned into a river, causing death by drowning, there shouldn't be so many bone fractures and breaks..."
But now the skeleton showed clear blood marks on the back of the neck, and even the limbs had injury marks.
Madam Shangguan took a deep breath, "That's right. If it were death by drowning, it's too coincidental that the neck bone was broken, and there shouldn't be blood marks on all four limbs simultaneously."
"This looks like... she struggled before death but was overpowered by someone stronger, causing injuries to her limbs."
The Nurse's Son turned pale, "At the time, my mother's carriage fell into the river, and it took two days to retrieve her. Her entire body was so bloated it was unrecognizable."
The family couldn't bear to look closely, so the broken neck was overlooked at the time.
"Is it possible that the damage occurred when they pulled her out of the river?" The Inspector's wife's logic was surprisingly clear.
Madam Shangguan took a deep breath and shook her head. The celestial book given by the celestial child had already told her.
"These are pre-death injuries."
"If you take bones with blood shadows and examine them in sunlight, a rosy color indicates they were struck before death. If there are no blood shadows on the bones, even if there's damage or fractures, it was caused after death."
"The former empress's nurse was probably already dead before she was put in the carriage and sent out of the palace," Madam Shangguan looked at everyone.
All the women panicked.
Doesn't this mean the former empress's death was indeed suspicious?
What should they do?
Open the empress's coffin for an autopsy?
The Yuan King would surely kill them!
Impossible!
"This matter is beyond our ability to resolve now," the Inspector's wife spoke up. "I'm going back right now to tell my husband!"
Madam Shangguan nodded in agreement, "That's right. Only with the combined effort of all officials and the voice of the people can we request the Emperor's consent to investigate the former empress's cause of death!"
Even if the other party is the monarch, so what?
Shouldn't he want to investigate whether his late wife was murdered?
"The former empress might have been killed by the favored concubine, the empress dowager, or even by palace maids and eunuchs close to her."
If the Yuan King doesn't agree to the autopsy, it means he has something to hide!
Madam Shangguan gritted her teeth and ordered people to wrap up the bones and return to the city.
But before they could get on the carriage, they saw Shangguan Ming and several other ministers hurrying over.
"What are you doing? What nonsense are you up to?" Shangguan Ming saw the exhumed bones and nearly lost his soul.
"Is this any of your business?"
Madam Shangguan squinted at him, "If I don't handle this, who will!"
After all, the celestial child had entered her dreams!
She was the chosen one by the celestial child!
The celestial child thought she had the ability and wisdom, even praised her and rewarded her with a celestial book!
Madam Shangguan felt she had never been so proud in front of her husband, Shangguan Ming.
"My lord, stop making a fuss. Don't interfere with us women's affairs."
"???"
"We've already uncovered the truth about the former empress's nurse's death, and we're about to send these bones to the Ministry of Justice for the minister to examine."
"??!"
"Oh, by the way, my lord, you said we couldn't do it, so what have you discovered?"
"...!"