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Home/ There’s A Beauty / Chapter 64 (Part 1)

After You Shu restrained a group of people with his few actions, he walked to the side of the couch and covered the Empress’ face with a white handkerchief. No matter what mistakes this woman has made, she will always be the mother of his master, who brought him into this world. Based on these two points alone, You Shu was very grateful to her and was also willing to seek justice for her.

Although the Ninth Prince tried his best to suppress it, he couldn’t help but show a hint of melancholy. He also walked to the couch and stroked the cold back of the empress’ hand.

Emperor Zhongkang waved his sleeves, intending to send everyone away so that the Empress could have a moment of peace.  

At this moment, the Sixth Prince, who had never spoken before, said word by word, “I don’t believe it! The murderer is clearly Zhao Youshu, but just because he is the Ninth brother’s person and can perform a few tricks, he is cleared of suspicion. Did my mother and the imperial sister die in vain? I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it no matter what! Unless he comes up with some concrete evidence, I will beat the drum, kowtow in front of the Zongren mansion and cry out my grievances, letting all the people in Shanjing decide for me.”

Everyone turned their heads in surprise, but the Ninth Prince had anticipated it and said in a low voice, “You’re not pretending anymore?”

“All of my relatives are already dead, so what’s the use of keeping this life of mine?” The Sixth Prince sneered, no longer regarding the Ninth Prince and Emperor Zhongkang as relatives.

Emperor Zhongkang immediately became furious and was about to reprimand people, but he heard You Shu say, “The evidence you want will be here soon.”

You Zhu then looked at his master and whispered in a low voice, “Can you send someone to bring back the body of Princess Mingzhu into the palace? Also, let them quickly release my mother, she is wrongly accused.”

The nine princes agreed and immediately sent people to bring the corpse to the palace. Upon hearing that there was still a corpse to be transported in, the ministers were a bit afraid and wanted to escape quickly but couldn’t. What is the imperial palace? How can you just come and leave as you wish? If the person who died wasn’t the Empress mother of the country, and the murderer wasn’t the future crown princess, which was a matter of country’s sovereignty, they wouldn’t have dared to make such a fuss.

Within half an hour, the bloated body of Princess Mingzhu was already placed in the cold Palace. The main hall, which was originally brightly lit with wide open windows, has now hung white flags and lit incense sticks. The whole hall was shrouded in smoke, looking a bit eerie. The courtiers were all huddled in the corner and dared not speak up, let alone look around. However, a few members of the royal family slowly walked over with a solemn expression.

During the time when the Sixth Prince went crazy, no one paid any attention to him, even his uncle’s family had never given him a meal or a silver coin. Instead, the usually arrogant and capricious Princess Mingzhu took him in without hesitation, causing frequent conflicts with her husband and mother-in-law. The Sixth Prince already had a deep relationship with Princess Mingzhu, along with the grace of giving him shelter. So, upon hearing the news of her and his mother’s death, how could he continue to pretend to be crazy? He heavily knelt down with a plop, with tears streaming down his face as he spoke.

Emperor Zhongkang also couldn’t bear it. After all, it was his own flesh and blood. How could he really not care after his temper subsided? Especially when the princess died, she was still pregnant with a child, and had a wonderful future ahead of her. The father and son did not cry out, only silently shed tears, which made the courtiers feel quite heartbroken when they saw it.

However, the Ninth Prince and the Fifth Young Master Zhao remained calm and didn’t show any sadness. That would’ve been fine, but the Fifth Young Master Zhao even took out a dagger from his sleeves, pointing it at Princess Mingzhu’s corpse. What…what is he doing?

“What the hell do you want to do?” The courtiers dared not ask, but the Sixth Prince burst into anger. He forcefully grabbed You Shu’s wrist with all of his strength, wanting to break it.

The Ninth Prince was about to step forward to help when he saw You Shu shifting the dagger to the other side at a speed that was hard to catch with the naked eye. He quickly made a cut in the middle of Princess Mingzhu’s face and said word by word, “Look carefully, is this the corpse of your sister?” As he spoke, he peeled off the skin on both sides along the edges of the knife.

This move was really shocking, causing the Sixth Prince to suddenly shake him off and take two steps backwards. With this retreat, his area of vision widened, and he happened to see another layer of skin exposed under the peeled skin. How could it be? What’s going on?

Emperor Zhongkang and the Ninth Prince also saw this scene and quickly stepped forward to look at it carefully. Having regained his freedom, You Shu slowly took off Princess Mingzhu’s clothes and continued to peel her skin. The timid courtiers turned their backs and shrank in the corner, while the bold ones realized that something was wrong, so they cautiously moved over to look. 

Duke Cheng’en wasn’t brave enough, but because it was his niece who died, he couldn’t ignore it, so he had to grit his teeth and step forward. When he approached closer and took a look, he was so frightened that he fell to the ground, “Why, what is this? How could there be a pair of skin bags under the princess’s skin?”

Huh? What do you mean by a ‘pair of skin bags’? Aware of the frightening meaning hidden in this sentence, the courtiers who dare not look directly at the corpse trembled and almost fainted.

“This person seems to be the second wife of the Duke Anle!” Someone from the crowd shouted, and other people also recognized this skin bag. How could the Princess’ corpse turn into the second wife of the Duke Anle? This matter has become increasingly mysterious! They didn’t have enough brains, and they were completely paralyzed because of this mystery.

The Sixth Prince originally wanted to stop You Shu from desecrating the corpse of his imperial sister. However, looking at this scene, he couldn’t even stand up and crawled back, trembling like chaff, “Who does this corpse belong to?

As brave as Emperor Zhongkang was, he also turned his head away with a livid face, not daring to look any longer.

However You Shu leisurely continued. He made a cut in the middle of the second layer of skin and slowly peeled it off, revealing the third layer. He waved and said, “Someone come and help me identify, who is this?”

No one dared to move, only the Ninth Prince leaned over to take a closer look, and speculated, “It’s been many years, and my memory is a bit fuzzy. If I’m not mistaken, it should be the eldest daughter of Lord Li. I saw her once at a palace banquet five years ago.” After the words fell, he waved to the outside.

Lord Li, who was hiding in the corner, froze upon hearing the words, but he didn’t dare to disobey the Ninth Prince’s orders. He moved step by step, trembling, and finally managed to get close to the corpse for a quick glance, before falling to the ground with a bang. The guard stepped forward to check his pulse and said that he fainted from fright.

“It seems that it is indeed Miss Li.” You Shu nodded and continued to peel, his expression always calm.

Some courtiers had already fallen to their knees and kowtowed to him from a distance, shouting hoarsely, “Young Master Zhao, please don’t peel it off anymore! Let this matter end here!” They always felt that something terrible would happen if he continued to peel it off.

Without waiting for You Shu to answer, the Ninth Prince said coldly, “Don’t you people want to see the evidence? Then let’s have a good look. Who does this corpse belong to? It must be thoroughly examined today, otherwise who will wash away the dirty water on You Shu and Mrs. Zhao?”

Emperor Zhongkang, who was also planning to stop You Shu, coughed, and then retreated to the outside. He waved his hands and said, “My chest feels a bit stuffy, I need to take get some fresh air. Old Six, didn’t you want the evidence, go over and look carefully.”

The sixth prince wanted to cry but had no tears, wishing he could knock his head into the pillar and faint. Such a corpse, such a strange thing, he had never seen even in the most terrifying nightmare. If he had known this before, it would’ve been better for him to continue pretending to be crazy, which is better than being scared into madness.

The human skin was already thin and extremely elastic, with dozens of pieces covering each piece. An hour later, when You Shu finally managed to peel off all of them, revealing the rotten and blackened skin and internal organs, he was already surrounded by a pile of human skins beside him. Each pair of human skin one was identified, with a guard writing it down on a paper.

“Looking carefully at this list, what do you see?” You Shu used the tip of the knife to pry open the sternum, showing the rotten inner cavity to everyone.

Even if people were brave enough, they finally couldn’t bear it at this moment. A group of courtiers rushed out of the hall and vomited on the railing, angering Emperor Zhongkang, who was standing in the corridor to breathe fresh air. Seeing the miserable state of the crowd, he was even more resistant to go in, but he said righteously, “Go in and continue to investigate the case after vomiting. Don’t you want to avenge the Empress? Don’t you want the murderer to be brought to justice? I will give you this opportunity.”

“We thank Your Majesty for this opportunity.” Everyone was frightened but they had to kneel down and accept the decree, then the situation became ‘you pushed me’, ‘I pushed you’, squeezing each other as they entered the palace again tremblingly. Just a few steps away, they saw the Sixth Prince paralyzed on the ground, with some yellow and white residue sticking to the front of the clothes, and they thought he had probably just vomited.

“Come over and look.” You Shu cut open the corpse’s chest and waited for everyone to see. He frowned as his eyes swept over the crowd, “Why didn’t the Sixth Prince come? This evidence is specially for him to look at, otherwise I would’ve just burned the body without much trouble.”

Why didn’t you say it earlier? Burn it! Hurry up and burn it! The courtiers shouted in their hearts, but didn’t dare to reveal it on their faces. They all lowered their heads and remained silent. It’s not that they don’t want to speak, but if they do, they will end up vomiting again. You Shu wanted to ask again, but the Ninth Prince had already raised his hand and ordered the guards to bring the Sixth Prince over.

The Sixth Prince’s hands and feet were soft, hanging on the guard’s body like a piece of noodle, and his head tilted 180 degrees as he refused to look at the corpse. The Ninth Prince pinched his jaw to turn his head, but he immediately closed his eyes and resisted to the end.

“Old Six, the imperial sister’s death was unjust, you should take a look.” The Ninth Prince couldn’t help but speak up, wanting to persuade him.

The Sixth Prince trembled violently, and it took him a quarter of an hour before he finally calmed down and opened his eyes to take a look. He saw a mass of rotten internal organs in the open chest cavity, black and bloody, smelly and indistinguishable. The scene and smell was truly horrifying, causing the Sixth Prince who had just mustered up his courage to throw up again with a crash. Fortunately, the guards were already prepared and immediately placed a copper basin under him.

The courtiers standing by the side had already covered their faces with their hands, not daring to look directly. They also blamed the Sixth Prince and Duke Cheng’en in their hearts. What does the immortal master say about this matter? Just bury the Empress and the princess, and let Mrs. Zhao go, wouldn’t the matter be over by now? Why bother making such a big fuss!

After the Sixth Prince finished throwing up, You Shu picked up the dagger and pointed it at the internal organs, “How much can you see and understand?”

The Sixth Prince repeatedly waved his hands and vomited, wanting to kneel down to him, begging him to let go of himself.

You Shu shook his head, expressing regret for his low intelligence. He turned to the official of the Dali Temple, who came with Duke Cheng’en to investigate the case, and said, “I remember that you are very good at autopsy?”

The usually bold official of the Dali Temple trembled suddenly and then waved his hands stiffly. However, with a wave of the Ninth Prince’s sleeves, two guards also grabbed him and carried him over, almost pushing his head onto the corpse, leaving him no choice but to take a quick look.

“Can you determine the time of death based on the degree of internal organ decay?” You Shu asked in a low voice.

The stench from the corpse was too strong, not knowing how the Fifth Young Master Zhao and Ninth Prince could bear it. The people above are indeed powerful! As his mind was full of thoughts, the official of the Dali Temple said quickly, “Judging from the degree of the decay of internal organs, this person has been dead for at least two months.”

“However, it is covered with dozens of layers of skin, more or less protecting the internal organs, so the death time may be longer.” You Shu added. It was precisely because of these skin bags tightly covering the rancid smell of the internal organs that he could not identify the monster in the first place. Now, the skinned monster is no longer as fat as before, turning into an emaciated skeleton with no fetus in its belly. The so-called pregnancy was just to cover up the rapid swelling and deformation.

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