Chapter 1598: Chapter 1605: Cai Wei Investigates (6)
The group was taken aback, not understanding what she was talking about. Psychology? What is psychology?
Cai Wei continued, "As far as I know, when someone unfamiliar or someone who has a bad relationship with you comes into physical contact with you, a person’s instinctive reaction is rejection or vigilance. Princess Zhao Yue and Fei’er did not have a good relationship. Given Princess Zhao Yue’s personality, she would not allow Fei’er to place her hand on her back without feeling repelled or guarded. At the moment Fei’er’s hand touched her, Zhao Yue should have opposed Fei’er’s actions or shown wariness toward her behavior. But Lan’er mentioned that Fei’er had her hand on Zhao Yue’s back and spoke with her for a while before pushing her into the water. At that point, not only did Zhao Yue not resist Fei’er’s touch, but she also allowed her to hold her back and talk for quite a while. When she was later pushed into the water, she showed no vigilance. This is entirely illogical, which proves only one thing—when Princess Zhao Yue was being ’touched’ by Fei’er, she had already lost the ability to defend herself."
Having said that, Cai Wei turned to Lan’er and asked, "Think carefully—before this, did Fei’er have any physical contact with Princess Zhao Yue?"
Lan’er thought hard for a moment and said, "I remember now! When the princess first arrived at the creekside, she seemed to move once, but then Madam Mo touched her shoulder gently, and she ceased to move. At the time, we found it odd. Later, when Madam Mo adjusted the princess’s cloak, we assumed she was simply attending to her."
"She wasn’t attending to the princess; she was disabling her through acupressure."
With a blank expression, Cai Wei said, "This assassin’s figure may appear frail, but their martial arts are highly skilled. To push the princess so far into the middle of the creek demonstrates incredible strength. Furthermore, the princess shouldn’t have died from merely colliding with something or drowning momentarily. There must be other injuries on her body."
As she spoke, she used her thoughts to communicate with Brother Ying, instructing him to inspect Zhao Yue’s corpse and check for any wounds on her body.
Upon receiving the command, Brother Ying quickly went to the location where Nangong Yu’s corpse was placed. Using his perspective eye, he scanned the body and quickly exclaimed, "Master, I see it! Princess Zhao Yue’s internal organs were damaged by inner strength, and there’s even a steel needle embedded in her heart. Wow, how tragic! No wonder she died so suddenly!"
Understanding the situation, Cai Wei continued questioning Lan’er, "Think carefully again—last night, did you truly see Madam Mo’s face? Is she really Madam Mo?"
Lan’er said, "When we first arrived, Madam Mo Shao had her face turned away from us and never turned to face us. Later, when the incident happened with the princess, we were too busy attending to the princess to notice her at all..."
"So, you’re saying you never actually saw that person’s face, correct?"
"Yes... I didn’t...."
Lan’er lowered her head. From start to finish, she hadn’t seen Madam Mo’s face directly. She had been misled by Ying Chun and had always assumed the one who killed the princess was Madam Mo.
Cai Wei glanced around at the crowd before resuming her questioning of Lan’er, "Tell me again, what time did Ying Chun come to find you all? Did anyone witness it and can provide testimony?"
Lan’er said, "I remember this clearly—it was just as Xu Hour arrived. The guards outside can testify to this."
"Hmm. Xu Hour. Adding the time for you all to arrive here, for the series of events to unfold, and for them to return, it would take at least one hour. In other words, Chun Liu’s attempt at hanging herself couldn’t have occurred until after Hai Hour."
She turned to Duke Li Guo and asked, "When you examined Chun Liu’s corpse, were the cadaveric spots on her body heavy?"
Duke Li Guo hesitated and replied, "I only examined the girl’s clothing and didn’t examine her body. After all, she was a girl from a family of daughters. She’s already deceased, and stripping her clothing to inspect her body would be quite indecorous."
Cai Wei pressed her fingers to her brow, exasperated by the elder’s conservative sentiments. Rubbing the center of her brow, she said, "Cadaveric spots on a corpse can help determine the time of death, which is a critical clue for this case. Therefore, this corpse absolutely must be examined. If you feel embarrassed, I’ll do it myself."
Duke Li Guo wiped the sweat from his face and reluctantly said, "I shall trouble the lady. I will send two female doctors to accompany you for the inspection."
Cai Wei chuckled and said, "I fear we may need to ask the Empress Dowager to join as well. Otherwise, if the Empress Dowager suspects that I’m tampering or engaging in misconduct, it would be most unpleasant!"
Empress Dowager Mo responded coldly, "Naturally. Even if you hadn’t suggested it, this palace would have insisted on accompanying you."