The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 219 A Terrifying Rumor! Dou Jiande's Soul Appears in the World, Another Case of a Vengeful Spirit?
The innkeeper and the others were taken away. Guan Feng couldn't help but say to Liu Shuyi, "County Commandant Qin, you don't really believe what they said and think they are innocent, do you?"

Liu Shuyi shook his head and said, "I can't tell whether they are innocent or not yet, so I plan to meet with the others to see if they have any problems. If they are innocent, it means that the drug was administered by the only people who had access to the food, such as the innkeeper. But if they have problems, then we need to reconsider."

"Even if they meet, with the waiter watching, no one else could possibly drug someone without his knowledge..."

Upon hearing Liu Shuyi's words, Guan Feng's subordinate said, "In my opinion, County Magistrate Qin is too trusting. The murderer must be the innkeeper and his gang! This inn is far from any village or town, a favorite spot for vicious criminals. Perhaps this inn is a den of thieves who kill and rob. County Magistrate Cao and his gang stopped here to investigate this inn, but the innkeeper and his gang found out and killed them!"

Upon hearing this, Changsun Chong raised an eyebrow. Why did these words sound so much like what he had said when he was trying to scare Zhao Feng?
"little six!"

Guan Feng shouted, frowning, "Don't say another word!"

"County Commandant Qin is cautious and doesn't overlook any possibility, which is a good thing. Don't talk nonsense!"

As he spoke, he cupped his hands to Liu Shuyi and said apologetically, "My subordinate is rather straightforward. He was eager for the case to be solved as soon as possible and did not want to waste time, which is why he offended County Magistrate Qin. I hope County Magistrate Qin will forgive him."

The young man, referred to as Xiao Liu, looked rather unpleasant, but still bowed and apologized: "This humble official is impetuous and misspoke. I beg County Commandant Qin to punish me severely."

Liu Shuyi smiled and shook his head at Xiao Liu: "I like straightforward people. Besides, you meant well and were afraid that I would be deceived by thieves. How could I blame you?"

As he spoke, he stepped forward, took Xiao Liu's arms with both hands, and helped him up: "You know the mission I have. The thieves are still on the run. If I am trapped here for even a moment longer, it may lead to the loss of the thieves' whereabouts... So I am even more unwilling to waste time than you are."

"But this is a major case involving human lives, so we can't just close it hastily. Not to mention whether we've wronged an innocent person, what if we've found the wrong murderer and the murderer wants to target us? If we think we've found the truth and let our guard down, the murderer might get away with it."

"This is a matter of our own safety. Tell me, how can I not be careful?"

Xiao Liu seemed surprised that Liu Shuyi had such deep and far-reaching thoughts. He looked somewhat ashamed and said, "It was my short-sightedness that led me to think too little."

Liu Shuyi smiled and said, "I understand you because you want the truth of the case to come out as soon as possible."

Xiao Liu nodded emphatically, having no longer held any prejudice against Liu Shuyi.

Seeing this, Guan Feng laughed and said, "If there's a misunderstanding, just clear it up. From now on, we can work together seamlessly to find the real culprit!"

Liu Shuyi smiled and nodded: "Let's go to the next room, at least there's a table and chairs we can use..."

With that, he walked outside.

Changsun Chong quickly caught up, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Guan Feng and the other man lagging behind, and said in a low, meaningful voice, "This yamen runner called Xiao Liu dares to directly contradict and question you, the county magistrate. He's really brave enough."

Are you brave?
Liu Shuyi understood what Changsun Chong meant, and he calmly said, "No one dares to take a brave but brainless person as a confidant."

Changsun Chong's eyes flickered: "What does Guan Feng mean?"

"He was convinced that the shopkeeper and the others were the murderers. As a result, I asked them all sorts of questions and even had the shopkeeper and the others taken away... In his eyes, I was clearly questioning his judgment. But as the county magistrate, he had to maintain a facade of friendliness and couldn't show his displeasure, so he could only have someone else speak for him."

The practice of having a body double speak is all too common in officialdom.

Liu Shuyi was already used to it.

Moreover, Xiao Liu's defiance brought him other gains.

He raised his hand and gently wiped his nose, his eyes growing even deeper.

Soon, they entered the next room.

This was the room where Cao Rui's men lived. There was a pool of blood on the floor, and two blankets were spread out on the bed. There were no signs of a struggle in the entire room.

It is certain that Cao Rui's men were also unconscious, just like him.

The killer dragged them off the bed to the floor and then killed them, one with a knife each.

The body was taken somewhere unknown.

Liu Shuyi glanced around the room, then went to the cabinet against the wall and opened the lid.

Then I saw two bundles in the cabinet.

He opened the bundle and rummaged through it... Inside were only a change of clothes and some copper coins.

There was nothing else besides that... including the past.

"Neither of their crime scenes are there... Cao Rui's crime scene is there, but the murderer changed his name..."

Liu Shuyi stroked his chin and said, "The murderer doesn't want us to know these people's real names at all, lest someone hear them and know that they are yamen runners from Wuyi County."

Guan Feng came to Liu Shuyi's side and nodded after hearing Liu Shuyi's words. "The murderer was short on time and didn't have enough time to change the names of their hideouts one by one, so he only changed Cao Rui's hideout. He just stole the others' hideouts. In this way, not only can they hide their identities, but they will also make us think that they are thieves who have no hideouts and are running around everywhere!"

"Killing two birds with one stone, that's quite a shrewd and calculating move," Liu Shuyi said.

"What do you mean by being cunning and calculating? It means being treacherous, cunning, and ruthless!" Guan Feng said coldly.

dong dong dong.

At this time, there was a knock on the door.

"County Commandant Qin, Deng Hui has arrived."

Hearing the commotion outside the door, Liu Shuyi and Guan Feng exchanged a glance. They tacitly went to the table and sat on the stools behind it. Only then did Liu Shuyi say, "Let him in."

crunch--

The door was pushed open, and a young man with slightly dark skin and a fairly decent appearance walked in.

Upon seeing this man's appearance, Liu Shuyi knew that he was the husband of that family of three.

At the time of the incident, the husband was standing outside the door. To prevent the child from seeing the bloody scene, he kept pressing the curious child's head into his arms.

"This humble one greets County Magistrate Qin and County Magistrate Guan." Deng Hui bowed to the two men as soon as he entered the room.

Liu Shuyi looked Deng Hui up and down. Deng Hui's slightly dark skin was probably from sun exposure, which meant he spent a lot of time in the sun. However, his skin was not rough. He was quite strong, but not as burly as Lu Yangyuan and Cheng Chumo.

"Deng Hui, I have summoned you here because I have a few questions to ask you. You must answer truthfully. If you conceal anything, you should know the consequences."

Liu Shuyi's tone remained as gentle as before, but his words made Deng Hui dare not be negligent in the slightest.

He quickly replied, "I will answer whatever County Magistrate Qin asks."

"it is good!"

Liu Shuyi didn't waste any words and went straight to the point: "Tell me about your origins and where you're going."

Deng Hui said, "I am a citizen of Qizhou City. Due to the decline of my family, I had no choice but to leave my hometown with my wife and children and seek refuge with my relatives."

"We intended to travel from Qizhou to Huazhou. After passing through this place, it became dark and dark clouds gathered. Because my son is young, we dared not continue to risk going forward, so we stayed here overnight."

Listening to Deng Hui's words, Liu Shuyi recalled the map of Hebei Province and confirmed the locations of Huazhou and Qizhou.

He said, “There are two routes from Qizhou to Huazhou, both by water and by land, and the water route is obviously more convenient. Why don’t you take the water route and instead take the land route?”

Deng Hui replied, "My son vomits uncontrollably when he's on a boat for too long. I couldn't bear to see him suffer, so I chose the land route."

seasick?

Liu Shuyi nodded; it was an answer that was flawless.

He continued, "What kind of business do you do in Qizhou?"

“I’m not very capable. My family owns a little land, but these past two years have been dry and there’s not enough to cover our taxes. To support my wife and children, I have to work hard to earn a meager living, which is just enough to keep my family from starving.”

Farming? Physical labor?

Liu Shuyi nodded and said, "With constant natural disasters and a rather severe situation, you have indeed worked very hard." Deng Hui remained silent, as if he had heard these words too many times and was no longer moved by them.

"Alright, let's get down to business!" Seeing that Liu Shuyi was asking all sorts of questions without getting to the most important matter, Guan Feng couldn't help but ask directly, "On your way here from Qizhou, did you hear any interesting rumors?"

"An interesting rumor?" Deng Hui frowned.

Liu Shuyi said, "It might not be interesting; it could be something bizarre, terrifying, or it could sound like a false rumor, that rumor..."

After thinking for a moment, Liu Shuyi said, "It might be related to this inn or the surrounding area."

"It's related to the inn and the surrounding area..."

Deng Hui looked thoughtful, and Changsun Chong and the others were all intrigued.

Qizhou is not close to here, but it's not far either, only a two or three-day journey. If Deng Hui hadn't heard any rumors, he could have answered directly.

But the way he's deep in thought now, seemingly still filtering through information, clearly indicates he's heard something...

Is it...

They immediately held their breath and stared intently at Deng Hui.

next moment……

Deng Hui indeed spoke up: "I have indeed heard a rumor, but I don't know if it is the rumor that County Magistrate Qin mentioned."

Upon hearing his words, Liu Shuyi and Guan Feng exchanged a glance.

Liu Shuyi immediately said, "Tell me about it."

Deng Hui dared not delay and said, "The other day, when I passed through the last county town, I ate at an inn and heard people talking about it there."

"they said……"

Deng Hui looked up at Liu Shuyi and Guan Feng, and said, "They said there are rumors circulating recently that someone saw Dou Jiande in our area..."

"What!? Dou Jiande!?"

Before he could finish speaking, Cheng Chumo exclaimed in surprise.

Cheng Chumo's dark face was filled with surprise. His eyes widened as he asked, "Which Dou Jiande? The Dou Jiande of the Xia Emperor?"

Deng Hui knew how surprising his words were, so he understood Cheng Chumo's reaction. He said, "They said it was Dou Jiande, who seized the Hebei region and established the Xia regime."

"It really is him!?"

Cheng Chumo was utterly astonished: "How could anyone have seen Dou Jiande? Didn't Dou Jiande die in Chang'an in the fourth year of the Wude era? That's been seven years! This is utter nonsense!"

Liu Shuyi also showed a strange expression.

The predecessor had some memories of Dou Jiande.

Dou Jiande was a member of the separatist forces at the end of the Sui Dynasty. He mainly controlled the area around Hebei and established the Xia Dynasty, declaring himself king.

Later, when Li Shimin attacked Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande feared that the Tang Dynasty would threaten him after swallowing Wang Shichong's territory, so he decided to support Wang Shichong and fight against Li Shimin.

During the Wude era, Li Shimin, the Grand General of the Heavenly Strategy, was invincible. Who could be his opponent?

Therefore, Dou Jiande was not surprised to be defeated by Li Shimin, and was eventually taken to Chang'an by Li Shimin and beheaded in front of everyone.

The predecessor had also joined in the fun and witnessed Dou Jiande being beheaded and displayed to the public... Therefore, how could Dou Jiande, who died seven years ago, suddenly appear?

Deng Hui hurriedly said, "Since my home is in the Hebei region, I also know Dou Jiande's fate, so I don't believe it either... But later they said that the person was Dou Jiande they saw at night, so they said that it wasn't Dou Jiande himself at all, but his vengeful spirit!"

"Resentful soul!?"

Cheng Chumo gasped.

In his life, he feared nothing but these intangible, supernatural beings that couldn't be killed with a single axe stroke.

Deng Hui said, "They said that around midnight, when the man passed through this area, he saw a person covered in blood, standing alone in the shadows. The person looked a lot like Dou Jiande... At the time, the man couldn't believe his eyes, so he examined him very carefully. Because Dou Jiande was the emperor of the Hebei region, many people had seen Dou Jiande, including the man himself, and that's how he confirmed that the person covered in blood was indeed Dou Jiande."

"At the time, that man, like us, believed that Dou Jiande had been dead for seven years and couldn't possibly be here, so he boldly went forward to look, and what he found was..."

Deng Hui swallowed hard and said, "Dou Jiande's feet weren't even on the ground; they were floating!"

"Floating!!" Cheng Chumo's scalp began to tingle.

Deng Hui said, "The man was terrified on the spot and sat down on the ground. However, Dou Jiande's spirit ignored him and kept gazing at this area... The man was both frightened and curious, so he mustered up his courage and asked Dou Jiande's spirit what it was looking at."

"Did Dou Jiande answer?" Cheng Chumo was already intrigued by the rumor and asked subconsciously.

Deng Hui nodded: "Dou Jiande's voice was like crying and laughing, sometimes near and sometimes far, as he said to that person... He was not reconciled! He would not rest in peace! He wanted to choose someone to inherit everything he had and to avenge him!"

"Inherit everything he had? Seek revenge for him?" Guan Feng frowned. "What do you mean? He was a loser, what did he have left for anyone to inherit? Who would seek revenge for him?"

Deng Hui shook his head: "That man said that Dou Jiande's soul seemed to be crying and laughing. After saying this, a puff of white smoke rose from the spot and disappeared... He didn't understand what Dou Jiande meant either."

"This is all the rumor I've heard... I don't believe it at all. If you two officials hadn't asked, I would have almost forgotten about it."

After listening to Deng Hui's account, Guan Feng looked at Liu Shuyi and asked, "How credible do you think this rumor is, County Magistrate Qin?"

Liu Shuyi shook his head directly: "I don't believe in any gods or monsters."

“Me too!” Guan Feng agreed. “What Dou Jiande’s soul, what unwillingness to rest in peace… this is pure nonsense. It’s probably just someone making up this obviously fake rumor to attract attention and show off their specialness.”

“I’ve seen plenty of people like this. They talk a good game, but if you scare them a little, they’ll admit it’s all made up! You can’t believe a single word they say!”

Can't we believe a single word?
Liu Shuyi tapped the table lightly with his fingertips. If this was the rumor that Cao Rui wanted to know, why would Cao Rui care so much about a completely fabricated rumor that couldn't be believed at all?
Should we question everyone coming from the direction of Cangzhou?
Therefore, either the rumors Deng Hui mentioned are not the kind of rumors Cao Rui expected.

Or perhaps this rumor, which seems fabricated and mysterious, actually contains a great secret.

So... which possibility could it be?
Liu Shuyi pondered for a moment, then continued to Deng Hui, "Cao Rui asked you the same question, didn't he? How did you answer?"

Deng Hui hurriedly said, "County Commandant Cao did ask me if I had heard any rumors on the road, but he didn't give me any hints like County Commandant Qin did. I saw that they looked unfriendly and was afraid of getting into trouble, so I didn't think much of it and said that I hadn't heard any rumors."

Did they not tell Cao Rui and the others?

Did you really not tell him, or were you deliberately hiding it from him?

Liu Shuyi glanced at Deng Hui, who looked nervous and kept his head down, not daring to look directly at Liu Shuyi and Deng Hui.

After a moment, Liu Shuyi looked away and said, "The waiter said that he ran into you when he was delivering food to Cao Rui and the others last night, is that right?"

Deng Hui was taken aback for a moment: "Such a trivial matter... I didn't pay much attention to it."

"The stairs, he goes up, you go down," Liu Shuyi suggested.

Deng Hui thought for a moment before saying, "What County Magistrate Qin said seems to make sense."

"Do you remember why you went down the stairs?" Liu Shuyi asked again.

"This……"

Deng Hui recalled for a moment and said, "My son was thirsty during the meal and wanted to drink water, so I went back to my room to get him a water bottle."

(End of this chapter)