Miss Truth
Chapter 325 - 204: The Little Leg Bone in the Snow_2

Chapter 325: Chapter 204: The Little Leg Bone in the Snow_2

"I wasn’t injured, just tripped over something, thank you for your concern, my sisters." Liu Si Niang kicked the snow off her feet and bowed in thanks to everyone around.

Ran Yan’s gaze shifted to her feet and she saw a white object mixed with the snow, revealing itself. The ground was trampled and chaotic, the bone mingled with mud and snow was barely noticeable unless looked at closely.

With Ran Yan’s experience, she immediately recognized it as a piece of bone, and moreover, it was a human shinbone!

The human shinbone is different from those of other animals and consists of the tibia and fibula. The tibia is situated on the inner side of the shin, its upper end is bulky, protruding to both the interior and exterior as the medial and lateral condyles. Each condyle has an articular surface that connects to the femur. From the outside, it looks like a bone split into two, hollowed in the middle.

Considering that all present were ladies who might be faint-hearted, Ran Yan did not make a fuss but rather urged, "It gets dark early in snowy weather, and you’re all soaked through; better hurry back into the carriage to warm up. It’s a small matter to fall ill, but it would be bad to get scolded!"

Ran Yan said this earnestly, causing everyone to giggle, but they all empathized and quickly hurried back to their carriages. The maidens noticed that several more carriages had appeared on the road, and a few young men brazenly stared at them, causing them to blush and hurriedly board the carriages to leave swiftly.

Ran Yan hesitated over what to do. With her current status, it was not convenient to directly dig out the corpse for examination or to report to the authorities. After thinking it over, she felt it might be better to tell Xiao Song...

Just as Ran Yan was about to get into her carriage, she heard a stable, magnetic voice call her, "Miss Seventeen."

Speaking of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives! Ran Yan turned to see the man standing tall like a pine in the snow. Their eyes met, and she felt slightly panicked; his gaze was too dazzling to look straight into.

"Did you attend... the banquet at the Cheng residence today..." Xiao Song was somewhat nervous, dreading that she would tell him she was with her future husband.

Thinking of the bone, Ran Yan walked over to him.

By that time, most of the carriages had left, and the few remaining ones were just about to depart.

"There is a corpse in the snow," Ran Yan stated bluntly.

Xiao Song had not anticipated that Ran Yan would start with that. He paused for a moment, then asked, "Where?"

Ran Yan led Xiao Song towards the snowy area they had just left. She bowed her head to precisely identify the spot but suddenly felt a weight on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Xiao Song had taken off his cloak and placed it on her.

A fresh, masculine scent enveloped her in an instant.

Xiao Song, as if not noticing Ran Yan’s embarrassment, reached out to pull out the hood of her cloak from behind her and placed it on her head, "Your head is sweaty; you could easily catch cold."

That pleasant voice, like an electric current from her ears to her heart and limbs, made her entire body feel slightly weak.

"I don’t want it," Ran Yan quickly tried to take off the cloak.

Xiao Song chuckled softly, "Don’t be stubborn."

Ran Yan was stunned for a moment. How many years had it been since someone had talked to her like this? No, perhaps never; she had always been a compliant and well-behaved child since she was young.

"Let’s go, there are important matters to attend to," Xiao Song interrupted her thoughts and urged.

Ran Yan nodded and continued to look down, eventually spotting the shinbone blended with the color of the snow. Instinctively, she started to clear the snow covering it and Xiao Song did not stop her.

Wan Lu knelt down to help, and the surrounding snow was quickly cleared away to reveal just a piece of shinbone.

"The bone is small and frail, lightweight, probably a female’s," Ran Yan commented casually.

Xiao Song looked around and spotted a grove about several hundred steps away, then said, "These bones might have been brought here by a wild animal from somewhere else."

Ran Yan agreed because the area was flat all around, not a good place for murder and burial. Moreover, the location was very close to an official road; even if someone had collapsed or died suddenly, lying here would quickly attract attention.

"Can you discern anything else?" Xiao Song asked.

Ran Yan carefully observed the shinbone and noticed some marks, "These marks here might have been left by an animal gnawing at it, and this one..."

Ran Yan pointed to a neat shallow cut mark, "Around this injury, there are no signs of shattered bones, likely caused by a sharp weapon, something light yet very sharp. Also, based on the size and length of this shinbone, the woman was probably about five feet five tall. It’s hard to judge her age, but from the healing condition of the bone ends, she was probably between seventeen and forty years old. The bones show almost no signs of weathering, so she must not have been dead for very long."

In the Tang Dynasty, one chi equals approximately 30.7 centimeters, so five chi five would be about 1.68 to 1.69 meters, a rather tall stature.

"Hmm," Xiao Song nodded, a faint smile in his eyes. He enjoyed watching her confidently examine the corpse. Confident but not arrogant, meticulous and serious in her treatment of the body, her attitude filled him with trust, "It’s getting late, you should go back first, I’ll have someone search for the body and then call you to examine it."

Ran Yan paused for a moment, then nodded.

Back in the carriage, Ran Yun stared at her oddly. Only then did Ran Yan realize she was still wearing Xiao Song’s cloak.

"Sister Seventeen, you and the Assistant Minister..." Ran Yun said gossiping.

Ran Yan was at a loss for words and, after thinking for a while, slowly said, "There are some matters to discuss."

Ran Yun let out a sigh, "That level of excuse isn’t even sufficient to count as perfunctory!"

The carriage slowly moved forward, and on a hill in the distance, a figure in dark clothes stood; his cold gaze followed Ran Yan’s carriage, lost in thought. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for a recommendation ticket, a monthly ticket, your support is my greatest motivation.)