Volume 11 - Chapter 5

The Apothecary Diaries

The Hanged Body in the Office - Part 3 #

Rahan was a bit puzzled looking at his sister-in-law who seemed to know the motive. Ryomen, Maomao’s foster father, disliked vague reasoning. He had trained Maomao not to casually speculate either.

“Well, shall I continue the explanation on Maomao’s behalf?”

Maomao had more or less guessed that the culprit was a woman.

“…No, I’ll speak.” “Oh?”

Rahan wondered what was going on. Usually, she wouldn’t butt in and would let someone else explain.

“I understood there was some change in Maomao’s feelings, but let’s not dwell on it. It’s better if I explain. Could you elaborate?” “…Understood. But I want to confirm something.” “What is it?” “What kind of woman was the culprit?” “What do you mean by ‘what kind of woman’?”

Rahan recalled the women who were among the onlookers.

“There were three of them, but I can’t specify which one.” “Three, huh.”

Maomao looked up at the ceiling beam.

“Rahan, you should know it’s impossible for a woman alone to hang that large official and disguise it as a suicide, right?” “Yeah, I suppose.” “Then, how can it become possible? If you add the motive I imagined earlier, the answer should come naturally. If one woman can’t do it, what do they need?” “If not just one woman… Ah, I see.”

Rahan clapped his hands in realization. It was extremely simple.

Without saying more, Maomao turned her back to Rahan. Perhaps because the chief medical officer Liu was watching intently. Liu seemed desperate to stop Tinyou [Tin Yu] who was keenly interested in the naked corpse.

By the way, Rakan had been quietly napping on the long chair this whole time.

Rahan looked at Rakan with a slightly complicated expression.

“Officer Onso.” Rahan called out to Rakan’s aide.

“Can you summon the three women who were among the onlookers earlier?”

“I’ll call them right away.”

“Please do.”

Checking the sun’s position, it seemed they had enough time until noon.

Rahan narrowed his eyes, feeling a bit heavy.

The three summoned women turned out to be newly appointed court ladies who had passed the examination this year. Their family backgrounds were decent - two were daughters of officials and one was the daughter of a merchant.

An official from the Ministry of Justice was also present. Although not on particularly good terms with the Ministry of Works where Rakan belonged, they would not openly pick a fight. They had been informed in advance to keep watch throughout.

“Um, why were we summoned?” Court Lady One furrowed her brow slightly. According to the brief report, she was the daughter of a local official and currently staying with relatives. She was a beautiful woman with lovely black hair.

“To be summoned to this dreadful room of all places. Don’t tell me we have to clean up the corpse?” Court Lady Two trembled as she spoke. A city-bred daughter of a wealthy merchant, she too was a beautiful woman with black hair.

“I, I want to go home soon,” said Court Lady Three, her eyes downcast and trembling. She was the youngest daughter of an official and another beautiful black-haired woman.

Although their facial features differed, their figures from behind looked very similar.

“With this, it will be difficult to identify them even if we find witnesses of the estimated time of death.” Officer Yin folded his arms.

After all, three medical personnel including Officer Liu remained.

“Are you saying one of these three is the culprit?” Officer Yin looked at Rakan, but he was still napping. Even if Rakan had said something, it would be difficult to file charges without a clear motive and method of killing. Creating false evidence to press charges was not an elegant solution for Rahan.

“It seems you three ladies object to being summoned as suspects.” Rahan wanted to be courteous to the beautiful women. At the same time, he hoped their inner beauty matched their outward appearance.

“Yes, that’s right. This was a suicide, wasn’t it? Why are you saying we killed him?” Court Lady One protested.

“To kill? That huge man?” Court Lady Three protested.

“More importantly, when did he die? If it was yesterday, shall I prove I was home?” Court Lady Two protested.

“Fair points, ladies.” Rahan looked at the three without losing his smile.

“However, there are too many uncertainties to call this a suicide. That became clear from the crime scene and the condition of the corpse. And any alibis from family or close relations won’t be accepted as proof.”

The three court ladies grimaced.

“More importantly, don’t you ladies have a motive to kill this man?” Rahan pointed to the corpse covered in cloth, the “fragrant carriage.”

“This man, Wang Fan, was highly ambitious but also greedy. Apparently, he couldn’t help but hit on women he fancied. Many officials witnessed him approaching you three ladies.”

“…Indeed, he did hit on me more than once or twice,” Court Lady Two exhaled as she answered.

“But I’ve also been approached by other lords. As embarrassing as it is, you must know that court ladies are often used as a sort of practice for potential brides.”

The merchant’s daughter Court Lady Two seemed strong-willed, a quality Rahan didn’t dislike.

“Yes. However, choosing an unattended superior’s office as a place for trysts is rather undesirable, don’t you agree?”

Rahan’s words made the three court ladies blush. So that’s what it was.

“What are you implying?”

“You see, I have a family member with a sharp nose like a cat’s. They noticed a peculiar scent clinging to this room’s owner’s favorite long chair.”

Rahan didn’t fully understand, but those with a keen sense of smell could apparently tell right away. Especially Maomao, being raised in a brothel, was likely sensitive to such things.

In other words, the long chair Rakan was napping on had been used for trysts. No wonder Rakan, with his picky tastes, found it so comfortable to sleep on.

“This office seemed to have received minimal cleaning, but the area around the long chair was spotless, as if they had tried to remove any evidence. Their efforts were in vain thanks to someone with an animal’s keen nose.”

Maomao was glaring at them. Next to her, Tinyou was saying things like “Oops, I sat on it.” Rakan remained asleep.

“…Even if it was used for trysts, that doesn’t necessarily mean us, does it?” Court Lady One said fearfully.

“True…I’d like to say that, but…” Officer Yin stepped forward instead of Rahan.

“This is Lord Rakan’s office. Not a single court lady would approach when Lord Rakan was here in the capital. Those well-acquainted with him know better.”

Rakan was a man who did outrageous things. So other officials, let alone the court ladies, stayed away from him. The main reason, however, was that not a single official who had antagonized Rakan remained in the palace. There was an unwritten rule - don’t mess with the military’s fox, or rather, don’t even get near him.

“However, Lord Rakan has been away for a year. These court ladies, unfamiliar with him, probably didn’t think twice about using his office for trysts.”

As Officer Yin said, these three had only become court ladies within the past year and were unaware of Rakan or the unwritten rule of not approaching him. Otherwise, they would not have gathered as onlookers in Rakan’s office. No other court ladies were present.

“So, are you suggesting they killed out of jealousy? But with our slender arms, how could the three of us kill this man and make it look like a suicide?”

Court Lady Two protested, and Court Ladies One and Three nodded in agreement.

“Yes, I plan to recreate the scene.”

Rahan beckoned Maomao over. She made a deeply reluctant face. Rahan had no choice but to approach her.

“Could you lend me a hand?”

“What kind of assistance are you asking for?” Maomao asked in an intentionally flat tone.

“Well, since they mentioned a woman’s slender arms, it would be more credible if you demonstrate.”

Rahan and Maomao glared at each other.

“Maomao, just help out,” Tinyou said. “Hurry up, or we’ll never finish. Just lend a hand,” Officer Liu told her.

Maomao seemed annoyed when Tinyou spoke, but had to listen when Officer Liu gave an order.

“Understood.”

It seemed Maomao had resigned herself.

“What should I do?” “For starters, tie that rope to the ceiling beam like before and make a noose at the end.” “Got it.”

Maomao tossed the rope up and secured it to the beam, forming a noose at the end.

“And then what? Hang that huge man from here?”
Court Lady Two exhaled.

“Yes, but there’s another rope here.” Rahan handed Maomao another rope. Seeming to understand, she tossed it up to loop it around the beam as well.

And then—

“You’re making another noose to put around the victim’s neck too, Maomao! Don’t put it around your stepfather’s neck, don’t do it!”

Maomao was trying to slip the hanging noose around the still-sleeping Rakan’s neck. Disliking her father was one thing, but Rahan hoped she wouldn’t go so far as to kill him.

“Maomao, we have the perfect thing right here!”
This time, Tinyou tried to pull out the corpse hidden under the cloth, but Officer Liu knocked him on the head to stop him.

“Please use this.” Officer Yin brought over a sand-filled bag with a groove for the rope.

The ceiling beam was simply a log, allowing the ropes to move like pulleys.

However—

“It’s not budging at all, is it?” Court Lady Two laughed.

Maomao, Rahan’s sister-in-law, was weak. The sand bag weighed twice as much as her body weight, matched to the murdered official’s size. If it were a movable pulley, the weight would be halved, allowing even Maomao to lift the bag. But with the fixed beam only acting as a dead pulley, the lifting weight remained the same.

Maomao tried her hardest to pull the rope, but her body just floated up instead.

“I see. Then I’ll lend a hand too.” Rahan joined Maomao in pulling the rope. The sand bag gradually rose.

After suspending it for over ten seconds, the two became exhausted and the bag dropped with a thud.

Rahan and Maomao panted heavily. Though not fond of physical labor, Rahan was the most convincing candidate, so he had no choice.

“There were scratches on the corpse’s neck, apparently from trying to pull off the noose with his hands. The officer said this wouldn’t happen if he jumped off a chair to hang himself instantly.”

At Rahan’s explanation, the three court ladies’ faces stiffened.

“While impossible for one person, two could manage it, right?”

Rakan had indicated a “white go stone” - but did not specify which “white stone.”

In other words, there was more than one “white stone.”

“Then how did you supposedly lift him up to hang him?” Court Lady Two contorted her face but still protested.

“You’re right. Two people can barely lift him, so staging it as a hanging would be difficult. To pull that off, you’d need a third person—”

The court ladies’ expressions completely froze.

Rahan placated Maomao as they lifted the sand bag again. When it reached the pre-installed hanging noose, Officer Yin stepped onto a chair to slip the noose around the bag.

By releasing the other noose, the sand bag hung suspended from the beam.

“As you can see, I never claimed there was only one culprit. The three of you were accomplices.”

At Rahan’s words, the three court ladies lost their composure - one fainted, one broke down in tears, and one lashed out by kicking the floor.

They eventually confessed their guilt peacefully.

The three had become close friends after being assigned together this year. Perhaps due to clashing with their seniors, they developed a strong camaraderie, going so far as to use the same hair pomade, explaining their beautiful black locks.

All three had been told by their families to find good matches for marriage. That’s when they encountered Wang Fang.

Wang Fang approached each of the three women.

The rest can be imagined.

Wang Fang probably thought he was being clever, but a woman’s intuition is sharp. They realized he was two-timing them.

When infidelity is discovered, a woman’s resentment is often directed at the other women involved. However, since Wang Fang had prior relations with all three, their resentment focused solely on him.

So the three conspired to murder him. Anticipating Rakan’s return, they lured Wang Fang out the day before he was due back at the office.

“Women can be truly terrifying.” Rahan exhaled deeply. If only Wang Fang had been more skillful. If only he had chosen more mature women comfortable with casual affairs.

The only ones left in the office were the still-napping Rakan, Rahan, and Officer Yin.

The medical officers had gone home, and the court ladies were taken away by officials from the Ministry of Justice. The corpse remained in the corner, so the young attendant Shunji [Junji] was asked to stay behind.

“However, I was expecting a reason other than jealousy for Wang Fang’s murder.” Officer Yin exhaled as he prepared Rakan’s change of clothes, carefully ironed so Rakan could change before meeting his lord.

“Well, there may be more to it.” Rahan examined the court ladies’ profiles. Certain numbers related to their backgrounds seemed to stand out in his mind.

“You noticed something else?”

“If so, it’d be troubling, so I should investigate.”

Rahan regretted saying that as soon as the words left his mouth. This would waste an entire day. But it was still within his expectations, so there was no helping it.