PCA Chapter 87

In an instant, the crowd scattered and fled. Upon hearing about an assassin, everyone retreated. Su Cen’s mind went blank for a moment, and when he came to his senses, he had already rushed against the flow of people to the front of the imperial presence. Only after seeing that person sitting safely in the palanquin, dressed in full ceremonial robes, did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

 

The young emperor was stunned for a moment, then burst into tears with a loud wail.

 

Su Cen then noticed a burnt smell of flesh permeating the air, and the figure surrounded by the Imperial Guards was vaguely human-shaped.

 

The Empress Dowager Chu was also clearly frightened, her face turning pale. She let the young emperor cry for quite a while before remembering to send someone to bring him over and comfort him.

 

It seemed that the ceremony couldn’t continue that day. The orphaned emperor and widowed mother were both badly frightened, and for a moment, Prince Ning was the only one holding the situation together. Li Shi frowned at the tear-stricken young emperor and waved his hand, saying, “Escort His Majesty back to the palace.”

 

After the imperial procession was escorted away by the Imperial Guards, Su Cen stepped forward and bowed to Li Shi, saying, “Your Highness.”

 

Li Shi descended from the palanquin and, accompanied by Su Cen, walked to the charred corpse. The fire had been extinguished, but the thick smoke had not completely dissipated. The body was visibly curled up, with most of the skin and flesh burned away, even revealing a small section of blackened leg bone. The deceased’s mouth was wide open, indicating a painful death.

 

Su Cen frowned, “Was this person burned alive?”

 

“In front of everyone’s eyes, so many people saw it, there’s no faking being burned to death,” Li Shi said, lightly covering his nose and mouth with a handkerchief. “The question is why he didn’t burn earlier or later, but chose to die in front of the Emperor on the day of the heaven worship ceremony.”

 

Li Shi stepped back and ordered, “Summon the people from the Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Justice, Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Dali Temple, and the Capital Prefecture.”

 

The relevant personnel had been waiting on the outskirts for some time. Upon receiving Li Shi’s summons, they hurried over, kneeling on the ground in the blink of an eye.

 

The heaven worship ceremony was jointly managed by the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. The leading Vice Minister of Rites and Junior Guardian of the Imperial Sacrifices Court were trembling like sieves. Naturally, the Prefect of the Capital couldn’t escape blame for such an incident occurring among the observing crowd. Prince Ning’s imposing presence was overwhelming; before he even spoke, just standing there made everyone hold their breath.

 

“Who will give me an explanation?”

 

Li Shi fiddled with his thumb ring, slowly pacing in front of the group, looking down at these officials who had buried their heads like quails. He couldn’t help but smile, “Do you think lowering your head means you’re off the hook?”

 

Before the officials could raise their heads, Prince Ning swept his sleeve, his regal aura bursting forth: “In front of all the citizens of the capital, the imperial family has lost all face. Tell me, who will take responsibility for this?!”

 

The Vice Minister of Rites, brushed by the sleeve, collapsed on the ground, then quickly scrambled up to kneel again, “Your Highness, please calm your anger. This subject deserves death!”

 

Everyone followed suit, kowtowing: “We all deserve death!”

 

The Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard stepped forward and said, “The identity of the deceased has not yet been confirmed, and we don’t know if there are any accomplices. Please, Your Highness, return to the palace temporarily to prevent any further mishaps.”

 

Li Shi’s face was as cold as a frozen river. He gave the man a cold glance, and the latter dared not speak further.

 

Finally, Su Cen braved the icy atmosphere and stepped forward, cupping his hands in salute: “Your Highness’s safety is paramount, and His Majesty still needs your comfort. The investigation here will also take time. As soon as there are any leads, we will inform Your Highness immediately.”

 

Li Shi’s expression softened slightly, and he said in a deep voice, “This matter will be handled by the Dali Temple. I want to know who this person is, what their purpose was, if they had any accomplices, and why they burned to death in front of the emperor on the day of the heaven worship ceremony. You have three days.”

 

Everyone immediately agreed.

 

After Li Shi left, these people helped each other stand up, their inner robes soaked through despite the cold winter month. The Vice Minister of Rites nearly lost his balance as he stood, only managing to stay upright with the support of the Junior Guardian of the Imperial Imperial Sacrifices Court.

 

The group looked at Su Cen with gratitude, then turned to Zhang Jun with sympathy.

 

Only Zhang Jun wore an expression as if he had eaten bitter herbs, silently cursing Su Cen’s ancestors to the eighteenth generation.

 

This young master was truly something, casually accepting such a big case for the Dali Temple with just a few words. What kind of sweet deal was this, that he would foolishly volunteer? The Ministry of Justice and the Capital Prefecture were all kneeling here, each acting like a quail for a reason!

 

Apparently, he wouldn’t be the one taking the blame and punishment when the time came.

 

Three days? What could be investigated in three days?

 

Not even a hair’s worth of information!

 

Just as he was about to turn back to reason with that young master, he saw that the person had already gone towards the corpse.

 

“Su Cen, stop right there!” Zhang Jun shouted in a low voice at Su Cen’s back after everyone else had left.

 

Su Cen turned his head, “What’s wrong?”

 

Zhang Jun angrily stepped forward, looking at Su Cen’s calm expression. He took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and finally said with resignation, “Ancestor, do you know what kind of case this is? An assassination attempt in front of the emperor—if not handled well, it could cost us our heads! Next time, before you accept a case, could you at least give me a heads up? At least leave me a chance to resign and return home, alright?”

 

Su Cen looked at Zhang Jun innocently, “Doesn’t the Dali Temple handle cases of assassination attempts in front of the emperor?”

 

Zhang Jun thought that for major cases in the capital, especially those involving the imperial family, the Dali Temple should indeed be responsible. Su Cen’s actions were not unreasonable… Zhang Jun slapped his hand, almost fooled again by this little brat. With a pained expression, he said, “This isn’t about who’s in charge. An assassin appeared among the observing crowd, so the Capital Prefecture is also responsible. They don’t dare to speak up, so why should we take the lead? At the very least, we should involve the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Censors for a joint investigation. The way you’ve done it, won’t the Dali Temple end up taking all the blame?”

 

While listening to Zhang Jun’s complaints, Su Cen noticed two civilians whispering nearby. One of them, who must have witnessed the incident, was describing it rather dramatically. He said that smoke suddenly appeared on the person’s body for no reason, and then their sleeve caught fire. If it had been just the sleeve, the fire could have been put out easily, but the flames spread incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, the entire person was on fire. Then, the person ran out, rushing right in front of the young emperor, and within moments, they had burned away completely.

 

Finally, the person lowered his voice and said, “This is divine punishment. How else could a fire burn so quickly? Heaven has sent down celestial fire to warn the people. Our Great Zhou is about to face calamity!”

 

Su Cen was brought back to reality by a light cough. Facing Zhang Jun’s ashen face, he managed a forced smile and said, “It might not be our responsibility yet. We still have three days, don’t we?”

 

“Three days? Even if you packed your bags and left now, you couldn’t get out of the capital region in three days. You really think you can solve the case in that time?”

 

“I’ll report to Prince Ning after three days,” Su Cen patted the man’s shoulder. “If you keep talking, Lord, I’ll only have two and a half days left.”

 

“You…” Zhang Jun knew that once this ancestor had made up his mind, even nine oxen couldn’t pull him back. He sighed and advised, “You’ve heard it just now. No matter what the truth is, stabilizing public opinion is the most important thing. You need to protect the imperial family’s face and give an explanation to the whole country. That’s the most difficult part. For these three days, the entire Dali Temple is at your disposal. Whatever you need, just ask.”

 

“Thank you for your guidance, Lord. I do have one request,” Su Cen looked at the blackened corpse not far away. “I need a coroner now.”

 

The new coroner was named Ning Santong, reportedly the nephew of the old coroner who had just returned to his hometown. He was quite efficient, arriving from the Dali Temple in no time. However, he looked young, only in his twenties or early thirties, wearing a white robe with refined features. His hands were particularly delicate, more suited for writing poetry or flirting with girls than examining corpses.

 

Su Cen frowned, wondering what kind of person Zhang Jun had sent.

 

Sure enough, Ning Santong used a cloth to lift the charred corpse’s chin for a look, then examined the badly burned clothes on the body. After a short while, he stood up, and the first thing he did was to thoroughly clean his hands with a wet cloth.

 

Su Cen stepped forward and asked, “How is it?”

 

Without looking up, still meticulously cleaning between his fingers, Ning Santong casually replied, “Burned to death.”

 

Su Cen: “…”

 

Su Cen’s face darkened as he coldly asked, “Anything else?”

 

Noticing the displeasure in his voice, Ning Santong looked up. Seeing Su Cen’s cold face, he smiled and said, “Oh, also, the deceased was male.”

 

Su Cen: “……”

 

As Su Cen turned to leave, Ning Santong finally stopped cleaning his hands and grabbed Su Cen’s wrist, saying with a smile, “I know you. You’re the new top scholar who has solved several major cases. I’ve admired you for a long time, Lord Su, and I’ve gone to great lengths to get a chance to see you in person.”

 

Su Cen disliked physical contact and frowned as he pulled his hand back. Without looking back, he told a nearby officer, “Tell Zhang Jun to send someone else.”

 

“It doesn’t matter who comes,” Ning Santong leisurely followed, “This corpse can only tell me this much here. For anything else, I’ll need to take the body back for a thorough examination.”

 

Ning Santong leaned close to Su Cen’s ear, “Surely Lord Su doesn’t want me to dissect the body right here on the street?”

 

Su Cen frowned and turned his head away, “How long will it take?”

 

“Tomorrow morning.”

 

Su Cen nodded, “I’ll come to the mortuary to find you tomorrow morning.”

 

“By the way, Lord Su,” Ning Santong called out from behind, “I have something here that might help you identify the deceased.”

 

Su Cen turned his head slightly, and saw that Ning Santong was holding a blackened jade pendant.

 

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