"Dig!"
Qin Qiancheng gave the order, and the soldiers plunged their shovels into the earth.
Luo Zhong’s eyes turned crimson. Gritting his teeth, he struggled to restrain himself until his entire body trembled. He watched with his own eyes as the Jiyang army dug open Shen Zizhou’s grave.
After the soil was cleared to reveal the coffin lid, the soldiers controlled the direction and force of their digging, avoiding the coffin itself. The coffin was the most ordinary and cheapest fir wood coffin, bought with the meager coins the Huai City border guards had pooled together. Shen Zizhou was considered fortunate to have a coffin. The soldiers later massacred by the Wei City border guards were wrapped in a mat or even a tattered cloth before being buried.
Prying open the coffin lid, the soldiers lifted Shen Zizhou’s body out.
Only seven days had passed since Shen Zizhou’s death, the outbreak of border conflict, the arrival of the imperial report in the capital, and Qin Qiancheng’s arrival in Huai City. It was now the dead of winter, so Shen Zizhou’s body had not undergone significant changes; it had not rotted beyond recognition.
The accompanying military surgeon stepped forward to examine the body. The wounds on the corpse were already somewhat decayed, but it was still possible to distinguish the type of weapon that inflicted them. Shen Zizhou had indeed died from severe injuries, and the direction, location, and depth of the wounds on his body made it absolutely impossible for him to have inflicted them on himself.
The surgeon stood up and shook his head at Qin Qiancheng.
"Continue digging!"
The Jiyang army received the order and dug open the graves of the fallen soldiers.
"General Qin, if you suspect us, so be it. But why must you disturb the peace of the deceased again and again!" Luo Zhong could bear it no longer. He watched as the bodies of his comrades were unearthed, and how, after sacrificing their lives for the country, they received not the respect they deserved, but such humiliation. His eyes, sharp as knives and seemingly stained with blood, questioned and roared with all his might. The Jiyang soldiers, on his left and right, seized his shoulders, pinning down his struggling body.
Qin Qiancheng paid no attention to Luo Zhong; he didn't even look at him. He looked at each body that was dug out, at the surgeon’s repeated examinations.
"Hmm?"
The surgeon uttered a soft sound of inquiry.
After examining dozens of unearthed bodies, the surgeon discovered a problem.
"General!"
The surgeon turned back to look at Qin Qiancheng. "This one, this one, and this one—the wounds on their bodies are from the same type of weapon as the previous corpse. As for the other bodies, their injuries are from the same type of weapon but with different degrees of damage. But these two types of weapons are different!"
Qin Qiancheng heard this and looked at Luo Zhong.
Luo Zhong found it inexplicable. Gritting his teeth, he roared, "Is there something wrong with that!"
Qin Qiancheng ignored Luo Zhong’s anger, nor his disrespect. After all, if he were in the same position, seeing the bodies of his comrades dug out, he would undoubtedly be enraged and go mad. He was silent for a moment before slowly opening his mouth. "Perhaps the surgeon did not explain it clearly… I believe you should know that whether it is Da Li or Lin Yuan, the weapons used by the army are standardized. Standardized weapons will only show variations in damage, but both the invading vanguard and the subsequent hundred soldiers should be using the same weapons."
"In other words, no matter what, the weapon that caused the wounds on the bodies can only be of one type, and there absolutely cannot be two different weapons."
"So, General, you mean to say that some of them did not die at the hands of Da Li soldiers?" Luo Zhong’s entire body trembled, feeling as if his mind had been struck by something powerful.
Qin Qiancheng nodded. "It is highly possible. So, what I want to ask you is, were these individuals members of the small team that patrolled the border with Shen Zizhou?"
Luo Zhong struggled to step forward, but his shoulders were held firmly. Qin Qiancheng raised his hand, and the soldiers then released his shoulders. He stumbled forward, identified them carefully, and then nodded vigorously, "Yes, it’s them!"
"Then, General, were those who killed Zizhou and the others not the Da Li border army? But… but this was the message Zizhou desperately passed back! I believe Zizhou; he wouldn’t lie. When he came of age this year, he said his elder brother was a high-ranking official in Jiangnan Commandery, and that he would soon be transferred to Jiangnan. He also said the beauties of the Huai River were beautiful, and that he would definitely go to see them in his lifetime. He wouldn't… he couldn't have falsified military intelligence, General, Zizhou wouldn't!"
Luo Zhong knelt on the ground, looking blankly at the bodies around him. Shen Zizhou’s face was pale and swollen, but his original appearance could still be vaguely discerned. He remembered how, before dying, Shen Zizhou had held on to his last breath to pass the news of Da Li's invasion to him. He would not betray his country, nor would he harm his brothers in arms with whom he had spent day and night.
Luo Zhong first murmured, then almost roared. The strong man cried tears of misery.
Qin Qiancheng walked to Luo Zhong’s side, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and patted his shoulder, saying softly, "I understand!"
Perhaps the patrol team that day truly saw soldiers wearing Wei City border army armor, but who’s to say that soldiers wearing Wei City armor were necessarily Wei City border troops?
Qin Qiancheng ordered the bodies of the Huai City soldiers to be reburied. With the general outline of the matter clarified, Qin Qiancheng returned to the Huai City Magistrate’s mansion. He wrote a detailed imperial report of everything he had seen and heard and his suspicions and verifications since entering Huai City. This report was then sent to the capital via express horse by the post station.