Before Li County Magistrate spoke, Wu County Wei rode forward on his horse, cracking a loud whip, and shouted to disperse the onlookers, "Onlookers, step aside! The Honorable Li County has arrived!"

  The bailiffs followed, cracking their whips and shouting, instantly majestic in all directions, fluttering in the wind.

  Magistrate Li looked very satisfied and kept instructing the various officials, "The villagers are ignorant, just disperse them, don't scare them."

  Guo Sheng stepped on the stirrup and stood up in the saddle, looking for Zhao Hongqing in the crowd.

  Zhao Hongqing stood in the middle of the crowd, more than ten feet away from the empty space where the corpse was thrown, with his hands hanging down and his shoulders slumped, looking terrified and uneasy, as if he had lost his soul.

  Near the empty circle, Zhao Hongqing's stepmother Meng held onto a servant girl, sobbing loudly.

  The bailiff had already run up to welcome him, knelt down in front of County Magistrate Li's horse and knocked his head on the ground, then got up and pointed at the empty circle. "Your Honor, the corpse is right there, I've identified it, it's Zheng Dainai, the wife of Zhao Hongqing from the town, alas, she died a pitiful death."

  Magistrate Li and others dismounted, while County Lieutenant Wu hesitated and retreated a few steps. Although he was the county lieutenant, he had an aversion to dead bodies, and besides, it was already the tenth month, so it was best to keep such inauspicious things at a distance. He needed good luck now more than ever, and didn't want it ruined by a dead person.

  Guo Sheng followed County Magistrate Li closely, carrying a stretcher, and rushed straight to the location of the corpse pointed out by Bao Zheng.

  The two righteous men from the village who were called to help by Bao Zheng saw County Magistrate Li and others approaching, hastily lifted the white cloth covering the corpse and retreated to the back.

  In the wilderness, the corpse had been abandoned for almost two days and nights, and it was already somewhat swollen. One eyeball didn't know what pecked it away, and in the rotten flesh hole, something was constantly wriggling. The tongue that was spit out had rotted, and a thick layer of insects had gathered.

  Magistrate Li was in the front, and as soon as he saw the head and face, he let out a loud "Oh!" Guo Sheng knew Magistrate Li well and had been prepared for this. He quickly pushed him around to face the other way, and Magistrate Li's vomit, which included his breakfast, fortunately did not land on the female corpse but instead splattered all over County Official Wu who was following behind.

  "Have the county magistrate rinse his mouth over there, and have the county lieutenant help him wash up and change clothes." Guo Sheng calmly instructed two bailiffs, gesturing for the coroner and the head of the local police to follow him. A few steps later, they arrived at the corpse's side and squatted down to examine it carefully.

  The coroner took out two clean white cloths, first handed one to Guo Sheng, then took out another two, wrapped his mouth and nose and one hand with them. Guo Sheng used the white cloth to support his hand, gently lifted the head of the corpse, examined it carefully, and signaled for the coroner to take a look. "Look at this," he said, "the deceased has been dead for about two days. The tongue is protruding, and there are ligature marks on the neck. This is a case of strangulation."

  The doctor nodded repeatedly, strangling this one, and saw it at a glance.

  Guo Sheng carefully examined the head, then from top to bottom, every inch was carefully checked. He signaled to the people of Shouyi Village and the coroner to turn over the body. Pointing to the back of the neck, although it had already swollen somewhat, there were still very obvious signs of strangulation. "The marks are crossed downwards, this is a case of manual strangulation. Look here, the marks are extremely deep, the person who did this must be a man, women usually don't have such strength."

  Mr. Guo nodded ceaselessly, and he was even more professional than him.

  Guo Sheng took another look and untied the white cloth wrapped around his hand, handing it to the mortician, indicating that he had finished viewing.

  The coroner finished his examination and the bailiff beckoned to a few people, who placed the body on a wooden board, waiting for County Magistrate Li's instructions on how to dispose of it.

  Magistrate Li was so shocked by that one glance that his soul flew away and couldn't return, he rinsed his mouth, no matter what he didn't dare to move forward again, from time to time looking at the calm and composed Guo Sheng, who was examining the corpse as if admiring flowers. For the first time, he felt that this Master Guo seemed to have some skills, at least he had a big enough nerve.

  Wu County Magistrate felt that he had a few more things to say, but didn't want to stir up trouble, so no matter what, he refused to go forward, with half of his clothes wet, two steps behind Li County Commander, frowning tightly, in a state of deep thought, yet his mind wandered afar, imagining if he were the county commander, how would he handle things at this moment, and who should take over as county magistrate...

  Guo Sheng walked up to County Magistrate Li and said in a low voice, "He's been dead for about two days. He was strangled from behind, with no other external injuries. The person who strangled Zheng Shi was very neat and tidy, with extremely great strength, so it should be a man. Let's find a place to call his family over and ask them some questions."

  "Good, good, good!" County Magistrate Li nodded continuously. The sudden fright just now had disrupted his thinking, and he was still a bit disorganized at the moment. This matter of deducing the truth from subtle clues was even more confusing.

  County Magistrate Wu only looked on without speaking, while Guo Sheng ignored him and called over the head of the local police, instructing them to first carry Zheng's body back to the Zhao residence, then find a suitable place to gather all the members of the Zhao family, as the county magistrate had questions for them.

  Bao Zheng was very efficient, and led Li Xian and others into the nearest town's teahouse, clearing out idle people, and brought Zhao Hongqing and his stepmother Meng Shi in.

  County Magistrate Wu saw Zhao Hongqing come in and couldn't stop staring at him, getting more and more annoyed. He made an excuse that his clothes were soaked through and the cold air was too severe, fearing he would get sick, so he left first.

  Seeing him leave, Guo Sheng's mouth corners seemed to have a slight upward curve, he was still thinking about how to get rid of him, just in time.

  Magistrate Li sat at the top, looking at Zhao Hongqing and then at Meng's wife. Suddenly, he remembered what Wu County Wei had told him that day: Zhao Hongqing was accused of being a lascivious cultist because his daughter-in-law kept burning incense everywhere, wasting money and not staying at home. Could this Zhao Hongqing be the same person?

  Magistrate Li suddenly remembered and asked, "Are you Zhao Hongqing? The other day didn't you submit a petition to the county government saying that licentious worship was rampant in this county just because your wife went around burning incense everywhere and you got angry?"

  Guo Sheng heard Li County Magistrate blurt out this sentence and almost fainted.

  Zhao Hongqing's eyes widened in fright, he fell to the ground, shaking his head desperately, "No... it's not... I'm just a humble commoner... not a rebel... no..."

  Meng's wife covered her face and burst into tears, "Please, sir, be the judge. I, this daughter-in-law, have always been virtuous, but after three years of marriage, I still haven't borne a child... Please, sir, be the judge. Hongqing was momentarily careless..."

  Guo Sheng was stunned, staring straight at Meng Shi. In this small town of Xigou, there were indeed many monsters and ghosts!

  "Indeed it is!" County Magistrate Li suddenly became clever, let out a long sigh, and pointed at Zhao Hongqing who was about to speak. Guo Sheng couldn't bear it anymore and raised his voice: "Your Honor! Allow me to ask a few questions. This case is complex, with lives hanging in the balance. We absolutely cannot be careless!"

  Magistrate Li heard the four words "life and death", and suddenly became cautious, hesitated for a moment, and reluctantly nodded to Guo Sheng. He was regretful in his heart, thinking that he should have brought Chen Shiye over instead. This Guo Sheng is too young...

  "Zhao Hongqing, your wife has been dead for two days. She was only discovered this morning. She hasn't been home these past two days. Have you gone to look for her?" Guo Sheng asked gently, squatting in front of Zhao Hongqing.

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