The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 11 The Truth Revealed! The Final Secret! (5K, 2-in-1)

Liu Shuyi's words were like a bolt from the blue.

The explosion left everyone's brains buzzing.

They stared blankly at Liu Shuyi, momentarily unable to grasp the meaning behind his words.

The mastermind behind the scheme against Zhao Feng and his father...

The real culprit who brutally murdered Zhao Ci and his three companions...

He's talking about... Zhao Chengyi!?
Zhao Chengyi is the murderer? And he's even responsible for Zhao Zhuo being framed?!
real or fake! ?
The officials of the Ministry of Revenue looked at Zhao Chengyi in disbelief.

"Minister Zhao, this... did you really do this?"

"No way? How could it be Zhao Shilang who did it?"

"But Liu Shuyi... he hasn't made a mistake so far, would he make one this time?"

"This……"

The officials in the Ministry of Revenue felt like their brains were about to explode.

On the one hand, they find it hard to believe that Zhao Chengyi, who is kind and gentle to others, would commit such a vicious crime.

On the other hand, Liu Shuyi has already left a trustworthy image in their hearts through his actions.

To the point that they really don't know who to believe anymore.

Not to mention them, even Wei Zheng and Pei Ji showed surprise on their faces, and their composed expressions were hard to maintain.

Cheng Chumo was utterly dumbfounded: "This...this...is insane!"

Du Ruhui, skilled in intrigue and scheming, had a strong ability to learn and his expression did not change much.

But the fact that his back, which had been leaning back, was now leaning forward again betrayed his surprise.

"Master Liu, are you telling the truth? He really plotted against my father!?"

Zhao Feng gripped Liu Shuyi's sleeves tightly with both hands, the veins on the back of his hands bulging. His eyes were wide open, and his teeth were practically grinding to powder.

"Steward Liu! We have no past grievances or recent enmity, why are you framing me!"

At this moment, Zhao Chengyi suddenly shouted.

His eyes were filled with shame and anger, as if he had really been wronged, feeling aggrieved and confused: "Today you came to the Ministry of Revenue to investigate a case, and I did not give you any excuses because of your low rank. On the contrary, I personally received you, and I did not hesitate to answer any of your questions or ask for anything!"

"If I were truly the murderer, why would I cooperate with you like this?"

"I truly do not know what I have done to offend you that would make you slander me like this!"

Hearing Zhao Chengyi's aggrieved and confused words, and seeing his embarrassed and angry appearance, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue all nodded subconsciously.

Although they did not personally receive Liu Shuyi, they witnessed firsthand Zhao Chengyi's enthusiasm and cooperation towards him.

Moreover, Zhao Chengyi's expression seemed so sincere that they couldn't help but begin to doubt Liu Shuyi.

But to everyone's surprise, Liu Shuyi seemed to have known all along that Zhao Chengyi would say that, and his expression showed no surprise whatsoever.

He looked directly into Zhao Chengyi's angry eyes and slowly said, "Given my status, you had absolutely no reason to personally accompany me the entire time, yet you neglected more urgent official duties to accompany a lowly clerk like me in the Ministry of Justice..."

"I think your cooperation is just a pretense; your real purpose is to monitor me and find out how many clues I actually have, right?"

"after all……"

Liu Shuyi said with a half-smile, "According to your original plan, I should have been locked up in jail long ago and become a scapegoat! But instead, I was suddenly entrusted with an important task and even came to investigate. You must be very flustered, right? You have no idea where things went wrong, so you can only feel at ease if you keep an eye on me personally."

"nonsense!"

Zhao Chengyi's expression showed no panic at Liu Shuyi's words; instead, it showed even greater anger.

His mustache bristled with rage as he looked at Du Ruhui and the other two, saying, "Minister Du, Minister Pei, and Doctor Wei, please understand! I only wanted to get to the bottom of the death of an official from my Ministry of Revenue, which is why I didn't mind his lowly status and helped him with all my might!"

"I never expected that he would not only be ungrateful, but also use this opportunity to bite the hand that feeds him! He is truly a despicable and shameless ingrate! If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have given him the time of day!"

Seeing Zhao Chengyi's flawless response, even the usually deep-thinking Pei Ji couldn't help but frown.

It was impossible to determine for a moment who was lying.

Looking at Zhao Chengyi's furious expression, Liu Shuyi couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "He really is a master of disguise. No wonder no one has seen through his true colors."

but……

There's no point in just acting in front of him.

"You are indeed smarter than many people."

Liu Shuyi said to Zhao Chengyi, "You were able to detect the difference in environment between a staged suicide and a real suicide, and take precautions in advance to erase the environmental evidence of the staged suicide. Even I was in trouble at the beginning."

How to erase environmental evidence of a fabricated suicide by hanging?

Du Gou suddenly thought of Liu Shuyi's strange behavior before.

He couldn't help but ask, "Could it be that Steward Liu climbed onto the crossbeam?"

Liu Shuyi gave Du Gou an approving look. As expected of Du Ruhui's son, he was quick-witted and understood things immediately.

He nodded and said, "I have read the coroner's autopsy report. There were no other ligature marks on Han Du's neck or any other injuries on his body, which is consistent with the characteristics of hanging... But Han Du obviously did not really hang himself, so he would have the characteristics of hanging himself. It must be that the murderer first found a way to knock Han Du unconscious, and then hung him up to fake a hanging."

"And this kind of forgery will leave certain flaws in the environment."

flaw?

Du Gou looked thoughtful.

"Yes."

Liu Shuyi said, "Room beams are usually hard-to-clean corners, and dust often accumulates on them, so when a rope is tied to them, it will inevitably leave marks on the dust."

“Those who actually hang themselves, whether or not they really want to die, will instinctively struggle after hanging themselves from the rope. This struggle will inevitably cause the rope to sway, leaving corresponding marks on the dust on the roof beam.”

"But if the suicide was staged, and the body was strangled while unconscious, then he wouldn't have struggled noticeably, and naturally wouldn't have left many traces."

He looked at Du Gou and explained, "Therefore, it is possible to indirectly determine whether someone committed suicide by hanging by looking at the dust on the roof beams."

Du Gou listened to Liu Shuyi's very clear explanation and then suddenly realized what was going on.

Only then did I understand why Liu Shuyi would do such a strange thing as climbing someone's roof beam for no reason.

He frowned and said, "But unfortunately, the roof beams have already been cleaned."

Liu Shuyi nodded: "Yes, the roof beams have been cleaned and all the dust is gone. I can't determine Han Du's real cause of death based on that, which is why I said before that the murderer is more troublesome than I thought. After all, most people wouldn't notice these kinds of details."

"but……"

He then changed the subject: "It was precisely because he ordered people to clean the roof beams, which most people would overlook, that I began to have doubts about him for the first time... So, whether what he did was a good thing or a bad thing is really hard to say."

As Wei Zheng listened to Liu Shuyi's well-organized words, a glint of light appeared in his dignified and solemn eyes.

"This Liu Shuyi... can think what ordinary people cannot think, discover details that ordinary people cannot discover, and can also draw inferences from one instance to another. He certainly has the ability to solve cases."

He thought for a moment, then turned to look at Du Ruhui and said, "The Censorate needs such talent."

Du Ruhui was watching the two young men's conversation with a smile when he heard Wei Zheng's words. He didn't even glance at Wei Zheng and said indifferently, "The Ministry of Justice needs it more."

They've stolen people and encroached on their own territory!
joke!

Pei Ji, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but darken his expression as he listened to their conversation.

He knew that Liu Shuyi was about to have a stroke of incredible luck.

"I've already explained. I did it to ward off bad luck and let my colleagues feel at ease continuing to handle their official duties. It wasn't about erasing any evidence at all!"

Zhao Chengyi's eyes sharpened further as he stared at Liu Shuyi and said coldly, "Liu Shuyi, stop making these baseless accusations! It's pointless!"

"If you can't produce any evidence, I'll arrest you directly! As the Vice Minister of Revenue, I am not someone a mere clerk in the Ministry of Justice can slander!"

Hearing Zhao Chengyi's threat, Liu Shuyi's gaze deepened: "Do you really think you've erased all the evidence? Do you really think I have no substantial evidence?"

Zhao Chengyi, with a confident expression, sneered, "You couldn't possibly have done that! Because I didn't!"

"Okay! I hope you can say that again later."

Liu Shuyi looked at Du Ruhui and the others again and said, "The method Zhao Feng used to fabricate the ghost of the King of Xi when he framed me is indeed true."

“I examined the scene after the ghost appeared at the Zhao residence and found bloodstains on the ground, as well as this object…”

As he spoke, he took out a small, jade-like object, stained with a few bloodstains, that he had found under the wall of the Zhao residence. "What is this?" Cheng Chumo asked.

"Fragments of a luminous pearl."

"A fragment of a luminous pearl?" Everyone was taken aback.

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly and said, "In order to make the ghost of the King of Xi appear more realistic, the murderer specially inlaid these fragments of luminous pearls on his robe. In this way, at night, even if the light is dim, people on the ground can see the so-called ghost of the King of Xi floating in the air more clearly."

"At the same time, in order to make the killing by the ghost of the King of Xi more convincing, the murderer deliberately stained his clothes with blood, so that when the ghost floated above his head, blood droplets would fall, making it look as terrifying as if blood rained down from the sky."

Cheng Chumo nodded in realization: "So that's how it is. No wonder Madam Zhao and the others saw it so clearly and were so terrified that they fainted."

Liu Shuyi nodded and continued, "But precisely because of this, these blood drops will leave clear blood spots on the ground, and through these blood spots, we can determine the direction of the King of Breath's ghost's movement."

He looked at everyone and said, “The bloodstains at the Zhao residence are roughly in a straight line, only some parts are thick and some parts are thin. In addition, the ghost of the Prince of Xi appeared from the east and disappeared from the east... All of this is consistent with the trajectory of a kite, that is, a paper kite.”

"For a kite to fly, it can only fly in the direction of the wind, and because of the control of the string, it can only fly in a straight line and cannot turn arbitrarily... The blood spots are of varying widths, which perfectly matches the fluctuating wind strength that night."

“I also looked at the files for the other two people who were killed. The files contained information about blood spots, the appearance and disappearance of ghosts, and the wind direction at the time, which was basically consistent with the situation last night.”

"Therefore, I am certain that the so-called ghost of the King of Xi was created by the murderer using kites, luminous pearls, the King of Xi's python robe, and drops of blood!"

When Zhao Feng said that the ghost was faked by Zhiyuan, no one doubted it, but they also didn't have any direct experience of it and didn't understand how Zhiyuan had become the ghost of the feared King Xi.

Now, thanks to Liu Shuyi's account, they finally have a very intuitive and vivid understanding.

It was as if the previously hazy membrane had been pierced in an instant.

"You are indeed very good at reasoning, but there are still no clues about the murderer here. Even if we knew how the murderer forged the ghost, what use would it be?"

Zhao Chengyi crossed his arms and said coldly, "You're just wasting your time."

Was it all for nothing?

Liu Shuyi met Zhao Chengyi's icy gaze and said meaningfully, "You don't think I'm explaining this in such detail just to explain the origin of ghosts, do you?"

Zhao Chengyi frowned, not understanding what Liu Shuyi meant.

Then Liu Shuyi turned to Du Ruhui and the other two and said, "You can think about the manner, order, and time of the deaths of Han Du and the other three."

"Han Du was the first to die, because he faked his suicide by hanging, so no one suspected or investigated him."

"Afterwards, the body of the Prince of Xi disappeared without a trace overnight, which enraged His Majesty and caused widespread panic."

"After that, news spread that the ghost of the Prince of Xi was killing people. Everyone's attention was focused on the fact that the former subordinates of the Prince of Xi were killed by the ghost of the Prince of Xi. No one paid attention to the fact that these victims had appeared in the same dossier."

Listening to Liu Shuyi's words, Cheng Chumo, whose face was dark, couldn't help but show a thoughtful expression. He felt that he seemed to understand something vaguely, but he didn't fully understand what Liu Shuyi meant.

The others had similar expressions, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"The plan has been changed at the last minute!"

At this moment, Du Ruhui's voice suddenly rang out.

Liu Shuyi looked at Du Ruhui and saw the sharp glint in Du Ruhui's deep brows, and knew that Du Ruhui had completely understood everything.

He nodded slightly: "That's right, the plan was changed at the last minute."

"Judging from the way Han Du died, the murderer did not want their deaths to attract the attention of others. So, in the beginning, he probably wanted to eliminate Han Du and the other three through suicide or an accident."

"Unexpectedly, the disappearance of the Prince of Xi's body suddenly occurred... and this gave the murderer an opportunity!"

He glanced at the crowd, noticing their unconscious swallowing, and slowly said, "The shattering of the Prince Xi's coffin and the disappearance of his body... were already suspicious enough, and rumors were already circulating. If he had used this incident to further fuel the fire and kill the three people who happened to be former officials of the Prince Xi, who would have thought about the dossier?"

"So he changed his plan at the last minute and adopted a more convenient plan that did not require him to kill people himself."

"And in this way, all the blame was placed on the former subordinates of the Prince of Xi, and he naturally withdrew from the scene after achieving his goal..."

Cheng Chumo couldn't help but say, "This murderer is too cunning! Not to mention us, I even suspect that the person who actually stole the Prince of Xi's body would be dumbfounded after hearing that the Prince of Xi's ghost had committed murder!"

"They'll probably all suspect that their accomplices did it!"

This statement is somewhat laughable, but even Du Gou believed it to be highly likely.

Liu Shuyi smiled and continued, "But that's not my main point. My main point is—the word 'temporary'!"

"Temporary?" Du Gou asked, puzzled.

Liu Shuyi nodded: "If you want to fake the ghost of the Prince of Xi, then the Prince of Xi's python robe is an indispensable thing. As I just said, the murderer changed his plan after the Prince of Xi's body disappeared and wanted to use the ghost of the Prince of Xi."

"In other words, he needs to obtain a garment exactly like the King of Xi's python robe within just a few days. I would like to ask everyone, do you think the murderer can create an identical python robe from scratch in three to five days?"

Without even thinking, Du Gou shook his head: "Impossible!"

"First of all, the silk used for the python robe is not something ordinary people can obtain! Secondly, even if they could get their hands on it, no tailor would dare to sew it."

"Not to mention, given the complexity of the python robe, even the most skilled weaver in the palace would find it difficult to weave in less than a month."

"Moreover, the style of that python robe has been sealed and banned since the passing of Prince Xi. The python robe used by the current crown prince is completely different from the python robe that Prince Xi once wore. Even if the murderer wanted to sew one, he would not be able to find a style to imitate!"

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly: "Du Sicheng is right. For many reasons, it is impossible for the murderer to make an identical python robe in such a short period of time."

"and……"

He looked at everyone and said, “When I was at the Zhao residence, I specifically confirmed with Madam Zhao. Madam Zhao said very clearly that the ghost was wearing the real python robe of Prince Xi, exactly the same as the one she had seen before, and even the details of the gold thread on the cuffs were exactly the same!”

"So, here's the problem..."

His tone suddenly changed, and his eyes narrowed as he said, "This is so real, it might even be the real King Xi's python robe, not something hastily sewn together. So... where did it come from?"

This……

Everyone fell into deep thought.

At this moment, Du Ruhui, who had participated in the aftermath of the Xuanwu Gate Incident, suddenly said in a low voice, "After the death of Prince Xi, everything in the former Eastern Palace was confiscated."

"Money, silks and satins, jewels and jade... all precious items were sent to the national treasury under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue."

"in……"

His deep gaze fell on the Vice Minister of Revenue, whose expression had finally changed: "Including the python robe of the Prince of Xi!"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of everyone in the Ministry of Revenue changed drastically.

They looked at Zhao Chengyi almost immediately.

Because after Minister Tang Jian left, the key to opening the national treasury was in the hands of Zhao Chengyi, who was the Vice Minister of Revenue!
In other words, only Zhao Chengyi can open the door to the national treasury!
Seeing everyone looking at him, Zhao Chengyi's face grew even paler. He shook his head, about to say something, when he heard Liu Shuyi's voice ring out unhurriedly.

"General Cheng, now you can tell me about the matter I asked you to investigate secretly at the Zhao residence."

Cheng Chumo?
Is there anything else about him?
Everyone instinctively looked at Cheng Chumo.

Then Cheng Chumo, his face dark, patted his hands, which were not covered in dust, in a very affected manner, with a look that said, "It's finally my turn to show my power."

He raised his chin slightly, the axes on his back clanging together with a crisp sound. His voice finally broke through the noise: "Secretary Liu sent me to the Ministry of Revenue to secretly confirm two things with the guards of the national treasury and the palace guards..."

"The first thing to do is to check if the King of Xi's python robe, which is kept in the national treasury, is missing."

"The second thing is who went in and out of the national treasury during the period between the disappearance of the King of Xi's body and the first time the King of Xi's ghost killed someone."

"And the result..."

Cheng Chumo looked at Liu Shuyi, a hint of admiration flashing in his large, round eyes.

He said, "As a result, when the people from the Ministry of Revenue went in to take inventory, they indeed found that the dragon robe of the Prince of Xi, which had been hidden at the bottom of the chest and had been ignored, was missing... and there was no record of the missing dragon robe being taken out, which means that the dragon robe was taken secretly!"

"As for the second matter... during those three days, only three people were ordered to enter and leave the national treasury."

"in……"

He turned his head and stared at Zhao Chengyi: "You're the one!"

Zhao Chengyi's pupils suddenly contracted, and the confident expression on his face vanished.

He quickly said, "Even if... even if that's the case, it only means I'm a suspect. What about the other two? Aren't they suspects too?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Shuyi calmly replied, "But the other two people aren't on the list of fifteen you personally wrote for me..."

"You're the only one whose name overlaps between the two lists..."

Suddenly!

Zhao Chengyi froze, as if struck by lightning, completely stunned.

(End of this chapter)