Chapter 353 - 222: Dissociative Identity Disorder 2
"Referring to a person having two or more distinct and separate personalities, you could imagine, her body harbored two or more souls," Ran Yan deduced from Li Wanshu’s living conditions and observations during their meeting that she must be an excessively cautious and slightly timid person. Moreover, she lived under Li Shimin’s surveillance for the first fifteen years, making it unlikely for her to have any personal power. After her marriage, she scarcely left her home, and even some household servants barely saw her. Ran Yan found it hard to believe such an overly cautious person would commit murder or instigate others to do so under Li Shimin’s watchful eyes in the vicinity of the Imperial City, unless she developed dissociative identity disorder amid prolonged loneliness and conjecture.
"Is that possible?" Xiao Song was not one to believe in spirits or ghosts.
Ran Yan nodded, "The chances of such an event are slim, but we cannot dismiss the possibility. Actually, it has nothing to do with spirits or ghosts. It’s like everyone has different facets, a face for public and another in private, these types are just an extreme separation of these facets."
Li Wanshu’s lifestyle could very well have led to her dissociative identity disorder.
In modern times, "dual personalities" became a familiar concept, and almost everyone educated knew the term, with many describing their personalities as dual. However, in reality, the confirmed cases of dual personalities worldwide do not exceed a thousand, and those of multiple personalities are even less than fifty.
People with dual personalities possess different characters, thoughts, and even memories, such that what one personality knows, the other might not be aware of.
Ran Yan had never been involved in cases of multiple personality crimes before, but from the scant data available, it was exceedingly tricky. She also hoped her suspicions would not prove correct.
"Thinking too much about it naturally increases your stress. Even if the murderer was indeed Princess Wenxi, what can you do? You need only to secretly investigate the case and lay out the truth before the Emperor, letting him decide," Ran Yan knew that certain things sounded easy to say, but were very difficult to implement in reality; however, this was the unwelcome necessity.