CHAPTER 204: CHAPTER 170: FINGERPRINT (4K)_2

If one could witness the classic scenario where a prince who breaks the law is treated the same as a commoner, there would be nothing more thrilling.

In anticipation, the gates of the Ministry of Justice slowly opened.

The highest-ranking official, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, sat in the chief seat. He was flanked by the Minister of the Ministry of Justice and the Imperial Censor. Li Ang, representing the Academic Palace, also had a seat.

Li Shenbin, one of the suspects in the case, stood below, calm and composed. Beside him lay Nie Shilei—or rather, Nie Shilei’s body.

"Officials, now that Nie Shilei has killed himself out of fear of punishment for his crimes, may I leave?"

Li Shenbin stood below, asking with a smile.

"..."

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice took a deep breath and exchanged a glance with his colleagues on either side, their expressions somber.

Nie Shilei had hanged himself in his cell a few hours before the trial was to begin. An old guard from the garrison had inspected the scene and confirmed there were no signs of coercion or poisoning.

This was very odd. After the trial seven days prior, the Ministry of Justice had moved Nie Shilei to a more secure solitary cell, with no other prisoners in the adjacent cells.

Moreover, during this period, prison management had become stricter, preventing any prison guards or constables from speaking alone with Nie Shilei or torturing him for a confession.

"Last night, no one visited Nie Shilei. However, someone visited a prisoner in the cell diagonally across from Nie Shilei’s."

The Imperial Censor said emotionlessly, "That prisoner had only recently been incarcerated for highway robbery. His visitor, who had no familial ties to him, was a gang member. And that same visitor was just found drowned in a street ditch."

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice beside him turned livid.

The truth was not hard to guess: Prince Changxiang, who was rumored to be on his deathbed, had mobilized all his resources in a desperate attempt to save his son. He had likely found a gang member to visit another prisoner at the Ministry of Justice and, during that visit, convey a message to Nie Shilei. Street thugs, more vicious than jackals or tigers, could easily drive Nie Shilei to such extremes by threatening his family.

The three officials on the dais, all of whom had risen from humble beginnings, knew all too well the schemes the wealthy and powerful used to persecute common people.

"Li Shenbin!"

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice slammed the table. A death on his territory had caused him to lose face before his colleagues. He disregarded any thought of protecting the Imperial Family’s dignity and said darkly, "Nie Shilei left no confession letter. The case is not over."

"You are right, Minister."

Li Shenbin nodded and smiled gently, the very picture of harmless obedience. "However, my father is still bedridden at home, and I must return quickly to care for him. If there is no more evidence..."

Li Ang stared coldly at him and suddenly said, "You want evidence, is that it?"

"Yes."

Li Shenbin, looking slightly surprised, continued to smile. "However, it would be best if it’s not the method you proposed, Mr. Li—the one that would damage the royal family’s reputation."

"Bring up the deceased’s body," Li Ang ordered with a wave of his hand, and constables from the Ministry of Justice brought up Meng Ying’s body.

Over ten days had passed since Meng Ying’s death. However, because her body had been preserved in the Ministry of Justice’s underground ice room, and her father had purchased many talismans to protect it, there were still few signs of decay.

Li Ang stood up, took a white coat, mask, and gloves from his nearby medical kit, put them on, and approached the body.

Li Shenbin smiled. "Is Mr. Li planning to raise the dead and flesh out white bones? Or are you also skilled in the examination techniques of a forensic doctor?"

Li Ang ignored him. After ensuring his mask was secure, he lifted the white cloth, revealing Meng Ying’s horribly disfigured face.

"AH!"

The crowd outside the Ministry hall gasped involuntarily, but Li Ang remained unaffected and began his explanation.

"The deceased’s neck shows brownish-red strangulation marks—four distinct lines on each side. There is subcutaneous bleeding and fractured laryngeal cartilage, proving that before death, the assailant used both hands to apply pressure, strangling her.

"Due to the strangulation, the deceased was unable to breathe. This resulted in facial swelling and cyanosis, turning her skin bluish-purple. There are scattered petechial hemorrhages in her eyes and bite marks on the tip of her tongue.

"Furthermore, injuries consistent with a struggle during suffocation are present on her chest, back, and limbs."

Li Ang continued his analysis, "And another cause of death is here."

He used Telekinesis to gently lift Meng Ying’s body, revealing the entirely sunken back of her head.

"If any of you have read the Agricultural Science paper I published in the Academic Palace’s Natural Science journal half a month ago," Li Ang explained, "you would know that in some parts of Yu Country, when slaughtering livestock, people strike the animal’s head with a club to fracture the skull and cause rapid death, preventing excessive blood spillage.

"Differences in the striking object’s size, shape, weight, and the point of impact result in different skull fracture characteristics. These can be broadly categorized as linear fractures, depressed fractures, puncture fractures, comminuted fractures, burst fractures, and so on.

"There are traces of a comminuted fracture at the back of the deceased’s skull. Based on the direction and intersection of the fracture lines, it’s clear the point of impact was the back of the head, and there was only a single blow."

Li Ang took a piece of drawing paper from his medical kit, on which he had sketched an image of the narrow alley. It was marked with red paint, indicating the direction of blood spatter.

"Based on the direction of the blood spatter on the wall," Li Ang continued, "it’s clear that the object causing the fatal injury was the stone wall itself.

"In other words, on that night, the murderer grabbed the deceased by the neck. Infuriated by her struggle, he tightened his grip and slammed her head against the wall, fracturing her skull and causing instant death. To achieve such an impact, the murderer must be very physically strong."

Li Ang pointed to Nie Shilei, who had died by hanging. "Nie Shilei came from a poor family, was in poor health, frail, and thin. Even if his strength surpassed that of Meng Ying, a woman, it would be impossible for him to fracture her skull with a single blow."

Li Shenbin’s expression flickered. He said coldly, "So what? That only proves the murderer is very strong. It doesn’t prove it was me."

Li Ang responded indifferently, "I recall that Prince Changxiang’s father forbade his children from practicing martial arts for certain reasons, correct? Have you undergone Body Refinement?"

"No..."

Before Li Shenbin could finish speaking, Li Ang drew the Triangular Spear fastened at his waist. He infused it with Spiritual Power, causing the spear to extend, then brought it smashing down towards Li Shenbin’s face.

Li Shenbin instinctively raised his hands to grab the spear.

With a dull THUD, he caught the heavy metal spear barehanded, his arms not bending in the slightest.

Li Ang coldly retracted the spear. "So, you have been practicing martial arts."

"So what?!" Li Shenbin retorted through gritted teeth. "My grandfather’s ban was imposed on my father and my uncles, not on me! And practicing martial arts doesn’t prove I murdered Meng Ying. When it comes down to it, you still have no direct evidence."

"You’ve already given me the evidence," Li Ang said. His hands gloved, he took a hairpin from Meng Ying’s stretcher. "Do you remember this jade hairpin?

"The murderer used this to disfigure Meng Ying’s face by scratching it, to prevent Nie Shilei, upon waking, from realizing that Meng Ying was not the same woman who had lured him.

"It has the murderer’s fingerprints on it."

Since Meng Ying’s father, Meng Chengye, was a very close friend of Jin Wusuan, her belongings naturally had not been tampered with. As for fingerprints, the people of Yu Country already had the custom of signing documents by pressing their handprints, so Li Ang didn’t need to explain the uniqueness of fingerprints.

The only remaining problem was how to make the fingerprints on the jade hairpin visible.

Li Ang took a small bottle from his medical kit. It contained iodine crystals he had prepared using kelp, sulfuric acid, and other substances.

He held the jade hairpin above the heated iodine crystals. As fumes swirled around it, clear fingerprints appeared on the hairpin.

A comparison with Li Shenbin’s fingerprints on the Triangular Spear confirmed they were a match.

"It’s over."

Li Ang didn’t even glance at Li Shenbin, whose face had turned ashen. He indifferently pulled out a white cloth, wiped the iodine traces from his spear, and strode out of the Ministry of Justice.