Chapter 34: Killing Flowers

Towards Ran Meiyu this type of person, one had to be quick and firm, otherwise one would simply be looking to suffer her temper.

Ran Yan was impatient to find Wan Lu, then turn around to the Ran residence, and look for her father to solve her marriage issue with Fourth Master Qin, she had no time to waste around with Ran Meiyu.

Ran Meiyu had not expected that Ran Yan would dare to treat her this way, moreover with the sore numbness in her arm, she definitely would be stunned for a while.

Before nearing the canopy of Banks’ roses, the air was already filled with fragrance, seeping into the heart, Ran Yan’s mood calmed down slightly, she laughed involuntarily, it seems like she really was too eager to get rid of Qin Musheng, she actually became somewhat agitated.

Today she had stuck her head out, who knew how much was due to a forensic doctor’s dedication to the truth, and how much was because she was afraid that Qin Musheng would really be convicted of a crime, and that in order to protect the family name, the Ran Family would cause this matter to become irrevocable.

Ran Yan had never been mutually in love with someone before, but she had secretly been in love with many people, but it was just that every single time it would result in nothing because she would discover some of their shortcomings that she could not endure. Even though this was the case, it did not prevent her to harbour romantic hopes, she was a person that was a little fastidious, she could tolerate being with Qin Musheng, but she was absolutely not able to tolerate him being her first man, be it in essence or in name.

Even if it reaches the final moment, she would never give up, this was Ran Yan’s principle of life.

Ran Yan and the Yin residence’s maidservant split up to search in the garden, from time to time calling out Wan Lu’s name, but replying them was just the cool breeze and the fragrance of the flowers, and the rustling of the leaves.

“Seventeenth Miss, should we go to the water-pavilion to look, the sound of the water there is loud, maybe Miss Wan Lu couldn’t hear us!” The maidservant suggested.

Even though Ran Yan felt that it was unlikely that Wan Lu was there, but it was only a short distance away, thus she nodded her head.

“Is there normally no one in the garden?” Ran Yan felt it was strange, they had already wandered around for quite a long while, but why haven’t they met a single maidservant or manservant?

That maidservant replied, “On the first and fifteenth of each month the garden would be cleaned once, at other times it is mostly empty, because the Misses like to play in the garden, the residence normally do not allow manservants or those without duties to enter.

Entering the canopy of Banks’ roses, the flower petals gently fell and spun with the wind, its beauty irreproducible, the canopy of Banks’ roses formed a long tunnel, the sunlight shone inside, the whole tunnel was suffused with dark green and snow-white, it looked extremely beautiful.

As they walked further ahead, the fragments of the flower petals fell even more numerously like the rain, densely pressing down, just like heavy snow on a winter’s day! Ran Yan’s heart paused slightly, this was not right, it was not the season for the petals of the Banks’ roses to drop, but why would it fall so much? When she passed by earlier, there definitely was not so much…

Just as she was raising her head to look at the rain of petals filling the sky, the flower fragrance in the air suddenly contained an additional suspicious bloody smell, at the same time, the flower petals floating in the air actually contained bright red colours, mixed within the snow-white scene, they were especially eye-catching.

Ran Yan’s heart constricted, she walked towards the front at a fast pace.

The sound of flowing water gradually became louder, turning a corner, abruptly she could see the exit filled with light, in the flurry of the falling petals, a girl wearing a light yellow thin silk skirt, was hung on the wooden frame, in the midst of the rustling falling flower petals, gently swaying with the wind, the creaking sound of Banks’ roses’ wooden frame that was being weighed down.

Ran Yan’s mind went blank for two breaths, following the maidservant’s surprised scream that broke the silence, only did she came to herself, with a pale complexion looked at the young lady that was hanging above, red phoenix eyes that slanted upwards, a fine jade nose and full lips, a small red birthmark at the corner of her mouth, it was clearly Wan Lu!

That feeling from the past of her blood freezing, in a split second it returned again, that was the cruellest test Ran Yan had gone through as a forensic doctor, at that time the one laying on her operating table was her best friend, a pretty policewoman from the Criminal Investigation Team, a corpse that was abandoned after being attacked and humiliated by many people.

At that time Ran Yan still could remain calm and collected, even to the extent that her thoughts were clearer than normal, after catching the murderer, she fell sick for half and month, before recovering to normal, but after so many years had passed, her wound had been pulled open again, she suddenly felt pain to the depths of her bones.

“Go and get some people to come over to help!” Ran Yan stabilised her emotions, coldly shouted towards that maidservant who had lost her head with fear.

That maidservant was severely frightened, and had long since lost the ability to think, she just heard Ran Yan’s voice, and ran stumbling away, as she ran she constantly spoke to her self, “Somone died, someone died…”

The rims of Ran Yan’s eyes turned red, she lifted her head to stare at Wan Lu’s deathly pale face, recalling her long shapely eyebrows that always arched up in anger, with an expression like she was protecting her chicks, slowly coinciding that image with the one of her good friend that died tragically, both with a candid and lively personality, both hating evil with a passion, it was just as if the same person had died tragically twice!

Ran Yan tried hard to get rid of everything influencing her emotions, rapidly observed present scene.

The Banks’ roses frame was not especially tall, about eight to nine feet, amongst the scattered flower petals on the ground there were fragments of footprints, it was clearly left behind by a group of women passing through, a high stool was overturned at the side, eyeballing it the height seemed exactly high enough to reach Wan Lu’s feet.

Whereas Wan Lu, the hair on her temples in a mess, her clothing spread open, exposing her shabby undergarments that sported mended patches, her undergarment was intact and undamaged. Ran Yan’s gaze fell on the cloth strip that she was hanging on, that was probably Wan Lu’s belt.

This situation was known as mechanical asphyxia in forensic terminology, and referred to asphyxia caused by the use of mechanical force to obstruct breathing. Hanging, smothering, garrotting, throttling, drowning could all be called mechanical asphyxia, this term was even more commonly used in homicides.

Wan Lu’s circumstances clearly belonged to the category where after being murdered using the aforementioned method, it was disguised as a suicide by hanging.

The arrangement of this scene was even more meticulous than that spectacle at the Magnolia house, only the murderer seemed to forget to create the most important condition, that was the motive, regardless of whether it was a suicide or homicide, there should ultimately be a reason! A fine person, why would they commit suicide, why would they commit suicide at someone else’s residence!

A strand of fresh blood flowed down from Wan Lu’s legs, dying the flower petals red, Ran Yan circled round to the back of her body, raising her head to look up, she could clearly see a large expanse of blood abundantly flowing out from the back of Wan Lu’s neck. Ran Yan’s eyes trembled slightly, a thread of hope that could not be restrained rose up in her heart.

There was still so much blood flowing, it was possible that Wan Lu had not been hung up there for too long, and it was even more possible that there was still blood circulating.

Realising this issue, Ran Yan’s heart became faintly anxious, if Wan Lu had not died yet, every moment of being hung up there increased the danger she was in! But she alone could not guarantee that there would be no mishaps in carrying out the rescue.

As for why Wan Lu’s neck would be wounded, for the moment Ran Yan did not have the inclination to guess, it would not be late to investigate after she got her down.

Time seemed to pass especially slowly, Ran Yan gradually lost her calmness, but she still retained some measure of rationality, and knew that if she tried to rescue Wan Lu alone, the probability of failure would be even higher, thus her heart was suffering while at the same time calculating using various features the probability of Wan Lu surviving.

Finally, a cacophony of footsteps rung out from within the canopy of Banks’ roses, a group of people hurriedly ran over, these people included the runners and bailiffs of feudal yamen, and the influential officials that stayed behind and had not left yet.

Leading the group was an elderly man in dark red clothes of a government official and Yin Wenshu.

“Come quickly and help!” Ran Yan could not be bothered right now, it was more important to first rescue a life, she randomly grabbed a bailiff, “You carry her down…”

“Nonsense! The government officials have not inspected the scene yet, how can you casually touch the corpse!” The elderly man in dark red official clothes was already unhappy in his heart, moreover he had determined in his heart that Ran Yan appeared like a married woman, could not help but angrily rebuke loudly.

Liu Pinrang endured for decades, racked his brains, and with difficulty he transferred to be Suzhou’s provincial governor, he had not taken up the post for even a year yet, such a huge case actually happened, a case involving a person’s life happened at the Yin residence, that was already disastrous, who knew that not even an hour later, there would actually be another death, naturally he would not dare to neglect it.

“I am a doctor, she’s not completely dead, if she is able to be saved, isn’t that even more valuable!” Ran Yan said in an even tone. The last time, when she saw her good friend’s corpse, it was already too late, so she could only put all her effort in searching the corpse for clues that would benefit the investigation, whereas this time, a chance was right in front her, no matter what she would snatch back Wan Lu from the death god!

“Please don’t hesitate further! Her life is slipping away!” Ran Yan knew, if she could not persuade this important official, the bailiffs would not dare to act on their own.

Liu Pinrang pinched his brows and looked at her quietly, radiance and rage mixed together in his eyes that were not large, incomparably terrifying.

Ran Yan met his gaze directly, without the slightest degree of weakness.

For a moment, invisible smoke filled the air within the canopy of flowers, their gazes met for the time of about five breaths, however the crowd felt as if two hours had passed.

“Alright! I allow it.” Liu Pinrang did not come from a powerful background, being able to drift to this position, his ability to read people were naturally top quality, the seriousness and determination in Ran Yan’s gaze, was something he had never seen before, inexplicably induced trust.

“Provincial Governor Liu!” Yin Wenshu immediately stopped him, in his eyes, this was absolutely insane, to actually so easily trust a little Miss that had just reached marriageable age!

The faces in the crowd also sported astonishment, only a few old men assumed a state of contemplation, and would not speak out to prevent it, but also did not approve it yet.

“Many thanks.” Ran Yan actually already prepared the next step of persuasion, but had not thought that Liu Pinrang actually agreed immediately, at that moment she uttered a sentence of thanks, then immediately turned her head to say quickly to the bailiff beside her, “Pick up this high stool, stand on it, be careful not to touch her body, then carefully hold her, another person then go up to slowly untie the knot, after that do not move and listen to my commands.”

“You guys follow what she says.” Liu Pinrang ignored Yin Wenshu’s attempt to stop him, and instructed them.

“Yes!” Two bailiff’s quickly agreed in unison, and then with flying haste carried out Ran Yan’s instructions.

After saying that, he turned and said to Yin Wenshu, “I heard that this maidservant is not from the Yin residence, whose maidservant would be depressed, and run to another person’s residence to commit suicide? This is clearly a murder! As for the scene and what not, it’s only occupying a space, and it’s no big obstruction.”

“But this is against the rules, moreover, this maidservant has already been hung for a long time, I’m afraid she’s long dead, this is an incident that has happened at my Yin residence, how can Provincial Governor Liu not carefully look for evidence, and on the contrary listen and trust this little Miss’s nonsense!” Yin Wenshu’s complexion was ashen.

The people present at the time, was biased towards Yin Wenshu’s opinion, and each spoke out to dissuade (Liu Pinrang).

Ran Yan did not have the time to pay attention to their dispute, as if a layer of cold frost had spread across her delicate and beautiful features, her pink and tender lips pulled tightly into a straight line, her deep and dark eyes stared unblinkingly at the movements of those two runners.

Ran Yan, clad in purple clothes, standing upright in the faint wind, with her head lifted up, her dress lightly fluttering, white petals falling down like rain, the dazzling sunlight shone in through the entrance, shrouding her body with a hazy halo, for a moment it made many men there stare in stupefaction.

Even a person like Liu Pinrang who had seen much in his life, also could not help but exclaim in admiration, the beautiful looks of this Miss before him was secondary, when she was serious, the radiance emitted out from within, could not help but make one feel ashamed of their inferiority.

In a moment, the clamour gradually died down.

“That’s right, don’t rush, slowly let her down, another person get ready to receive her.” Ran Yan motionlessly stared at the movements of the bailiffs, and continued, “Softly lie her flat on the ground.”

After finishing doing this, Ran Yan immediately went forward to investigate Wan Lu’s circumstances, just now she spoke with certainty to Liu Pinrang, but in reality she did not have complete confidence. However, when she saw the wound on Wan Lu’s neck, she could not help breath out a sigh of relief. The ligature marks were not obvious, but the major artery in her neck was hurt, and her blood flow weakened by a lot.

The scene of when she first rushed here flashed past in Ran Yan’s mind, she saw the petals that had been dyed red in the air, there was a high possibility that when the major artery had been compressed, the blood sprayed out in a spurt, and dyed the flowers above.

Ran Yan lifted her head to look at the canopy roof, sure enough she saw traces of elongated blood spatters, in her heart she was even more certain, the time Wan Lu was hung was not long, she stretched her hand out to feel Wan Lu’s solar plexus and neck, her heartbeat had already stopped, but her body still emitted faint warmth…

At the moment, Ran Yan drew out from the bun in her hair something thin and long that was wrapped in white silk, she unfolded it in her palm, shockingly it was about 10 silver needles!

Everyone present at the scene could not help but wear an astonished expression on their faces, a little Miss actually hid silver needles in her hair!

When the crowd was still amazed, Ran Yan had already with flying speed inserted a silver needle into the acupuncture point near the artery. Acupuncture and moxibustion, could not immediately stop blood flow, but it could slow down the rate of blood flow, so that it would not be so severe that a person would immediately lose too much blood and die.

Immediately after, Ran Yan sat at Wan Lu’s head, both thighs pressing on Wan Lu’s shoulders and pushing them open, this posture was extremely unsightly, but the people present were mostly attracted by her strange new methods of rescue treatment, and did not care about her actions.

Ran Yan speedily untied the bun in Wan Lu’s hair, grabbed her hair with her hands, used her legs to press on her shoulders, and lifted Wan Lu’s head up, her mouth instructing, “Two people come over here, massage her throat and chest, another person massage and stretch out her hands and feet.”

After Wan Lu’s head was lifted up, the blood in her neck suddenly flowed out more violently, Ran Yan’s complexion was a little pale, if this continues on, not only she would not be saved, she could bleed to death!

“Please help me find some Panax pseudoginseng powder!” Ran Yan said.

Even though Yin Wenshu was dissatisfied from the bottom of his heart, he still instructed a manservant, “Go and find Panax pseudoginseng powder! See if there is any in the residence’s pharmacy!”

The official residences of influential clans would prepare private pharmacies, even though there might be a complete collection of medicine, but a little bit of commonly used medicines would be stored, in preparation for emergencies.

Ran Yan lifted Wan Lu’s neck up, while instructing the two bailiffs the method of massaging. The both of them also had emerged from rains of blood and winds carrying the smell of blood, and were very familiar with some simple rescue treatments, thus they learnt fast, and this was also the reason why Ran Yan pulled two bailiffs, instead of carelessly pulling runners to help.