kvmb Chapter 267 Ma Yuan, the Coroner of Luoyang
Chapter 267 Ma Yuan, the Coroner of Luoyang
In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an remained prosperous, but the palace was shrouded in gloom and despair.
Princess Jinyang, Sizi, was deeply loved by Emperor Taizong Li Shimin and her brother Li Zhi, but she was frail from childhood and had been waiting for a suitable heart to prolong her life. Fate played a cruel trick on her; when she was twelve years old, the life-saving heart she finally found mysteriously disappeared, and Sizi's condition deteriorated rapidly.
As the princess's closest maid, Chen Xiaoyao stayed by her bedside day and night, tears streaming down her face. When Sizi breathed her last, a mysterious force seemed to surge between heaven and earth, and Xiaoyao suddenly felt excruciating pain, transforming into a small wolf with yellowish fur.
After that, Xiao Yao often slipped out of the palace late at night and wandered the streets of Chang'an. On nights with a full moon, she would sob before the moon, reminiscing about the time she spent with Si Zi. Hearing of extraordinary people in the streets who possessed magical abilities, Xiao Yao's hope was rekindled, and she resolved to find a way to change her fate, stubbornly living on with Si Zi's expectations...
That night, a sudden, hurried sound of footsteps broke the silence of the darkness, like pebbles thrown into a calm lake.
Ma Yuan, a coroner from Luoyang, rushed to the yamen to report the case, looking anxious. It seemed as if a vengeful ghost was chasing him, its gaping maw ready to devour him at any moment...
"My lord, help me!" Ma Yuan shouted hoarsely as he ran, his voice sharp and piercing from extreme tension, like a broken gong that had been shattered by fear, sounding particularly eerie in the quiet night.
Hearing the shouts, the guards on duty rushed forward. Although they were also quite frightened, they stopped Ma Yuan and asked with a puzzled look, "Who goes there? What's going on in the middle of the night? You look so panicked, have you been possessed?"
Ma Yuan was panting heavily, his chest heaving like a bellows. He had a medicine chest slung over his shoulder. After a long while, he finally managed to say, in fits and starts, "My... my medicine chest, the valuable things inside were stolen by the female ghost. The things inside are matters of life and death, we can't delay, we can't delay!"
Upon hearing this, the constable's grave expression instantly lightened; it turned out to be just some herbs stolen from his medicine chest. "Don't make a fuss. It's the middle of the night, you're disturbing the peace. Come back tomorrow!"
As Ma Yuan spoke, he tried to rush inside, shouting, "It's a matter of life and death! The medicine box contains hearts for transplants!"
"A heart?!" This morning, the yamen runners had received instructions from "above" that there was a "heart" needed by "above" and it needed to be sent to their jurisdiction in Chang'an. At the time, the runners all thought they must have misheard, but they dared not ask any more questions. Now, upon hearing this, they suddenly realized the seriousness of the situation and dared not delay for even a moment. They hurriedly took their horses and rushed into the yamen.
Led by the constables, Ma Yuan arrived before the renowned constable, Niwan Zi. Niwan Zi was sitting at his desk, intently reviewing official documents, the flickering candlelight illuminating his stern, chiseled face.
Upon seeing Ma Yuan enter, Niwan Zi slowly put down her brush, her gaze as sharp as the coldest star in the night sky, looking directly at the medicine box on Ma Yuan's back. Her voice was steady and powerful as she said, "Coroner Ma, things have come to this point, don't panic. Tell me slowly what happened."
Upon hearing this, Ma Yuan realized that the people in the government office recognized him! It seemed that someone had given him instructions. He took a slow, deep breath, and his inner panic eased slightly. He tried to calm himself down before beginning his story.
"My lord, yesterday I traveled by carriage from Luoyang to Chang'an. Throughout the journey, I feigned engrossed in the book in my hands, but in reality, my heart was pounding in my chest and leaping into my throat. I am but a mere coroner, yet I have been inexplicably dispatched to Chang'an, burdened with the heavy responsibility of carrying a medicine chest. Although my family possesses a secret art of heart transplantation, this art has always been kept hidden, known only to the Wuji family; outsiders have no way of knowing it. I know in my heart that this mission must have been entrusted to me by some important figure in the capital..."
Niwan Zi was also acting under orders, but her task was to keep an eye on a coroner from Luoyang who carried a medicine box...
"At that time, the servants of the Wuji family reassured me with great confidence, telling me not to worry. They said that although this heart was extremely precious, no one could use it. I thought it made sense, so I agreed, but I was a little suspicious. But then I thought, who would covet this thing except for the heart-stealing demoness?"
"After the carriage arrived in Chang'an, I reached for the medicine box, but who would have thought that, like a ghost, that woman, without knowing what kind of illusion she used, switched the medicine box while I wasn't paying attention! It wasn't until I checked that I found the contents were missing..." Ma Yuan's voice was full of regret and anxiety as he said this, wishing he could slap himself.
"woman?"
"Yes, in the caravan, there was a woman wearing an extremely sexy strapless ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress)... Sigh, it's all because of her appearance, she looked like a soft and delicate fairy who stepped out of a painting... So beautiful that it was hard to look away. When the woman walked past me, she casually looked up and glanced at the medicine box next to me. At the time, I just thought it was a casual glance and didn't pay any attention to it, assuming it was just a random gesture."
Niwanzi's eyebrows furrowed tightly, his eyes filled with suspicion as he pressed, "Where exactly did you get that medicine box?"
The other party paused slightly, and after a moment's thought, replied, "It was entrusted to me by a servant of the Wuji family, who instructed me to bring it to the capital."
Niwan Zi's eyes were sharp, and she didn't miss this suspicious information. She immediately asked, "Since they knew that this medicine box was extremely valuable, why didn't they send someone to escort you?"
Upon hearing this, the man looked troubled, his brow furrowing slightly. He scratched his head, appearing utterly perplexed, and sighed, "That's exactly what's bothering me. However, since I've taken the money, I agreed. Along the way, ordinary thieves only target purses; they probably wouldn't dare to openly steal such a large medicine box. But now that it's been switched, I'm incredibly nervous, and I've completely lost my composure..."
Ma Yuan swallowed hard, making a gurgling sound in his throat. After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "In the medicine box is a heart that the Wuji family obtained with great difficulty for transplantation. Although this heart is protected by glaciers, once a certain period of time has passed, it will wither like a flower and lose its effectiveness."
At this moment, Niwan Zi and Cong Xiaoye were filled with confusion. The Wuji family, with its immense power in the world, had spent five or six years and invested countless resources in order to help the Emperor find a suitable heart for Princess Jinyang. Their meticulous planning and painstaking efforts were like weaving an impenetrable net.
What's truly baffling is that the person ultimately tasked with delivering this crucial heart was a lowly coroner from Luoyang. It's as if a humble figure had appeared after a grand and extravagant feast, completely out of place. What untold secrets and bizarre reasons lie hidden within this situation?