The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 3 Revealed! Not one case, but two! (Two-in-one)

"what?"

Everyone present was taken aback by Liu Shuyi's sudden words.

They had considered that Liu Shuyi might deny it, but they never expected that he would give such a reason.

After all, the most normal way to defend oneself is to cry foul and say that one has been wronged. But Liu Shuyi's claim that he was at the crime scene to save people is truly unique.

Even the dignified and upright Wei Zheng, the deep-thinking Du Ruhui, and the refined and profound Pei Ji were momentarily at a loss for words.

Standing behind Liu Shuyi, Wan'er looked at the tall and handsome figure in front of her and listened to Liu Shuyi's calm and composed words. A look of surprise flashed in her beautiful eyes.

Is this really my young master?

How could he be so brave?

How could you dare to give such a reason?
Saving people at a murder scene... who can believe that reason?
As expected, Pei Ji was so angry at Liu Shuyi's words that he laughed: "Liu Shuyi, are you making a fool of us?"

Although he was smiling, his tone was extremely cold, giving Wan'er a feeling that the knife would fall at any moment.

Faced with Pei Ji's fury, Liu Shuyi calmly shook his head: "I'm telling the truth."

"The truth? I think you're talking nonsense!"

Pei Ji was furious. He said coldly, "You are just like your father, vicious and selfish, spouting righteousness and morality while being dark and filthy behind the scenes!"

"The witnesses and physical evidence are all laid out before us, the facts are irrefutable, and you still dare to argue! Do you really think I need your approval to arrest you?"

With that, Pei Ji waved his hand and shouted sternly, "Men, arrest him and throw him in jail!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers did not hesitate, pointing their swords directly at Liu Shuyi and cautiously approaching him.

"Young Master, be careful!" Wan'er quickly grabbed Liu Shuyi's clothes with her delicate little hand.

Knowing that time was running out, Liu Shuyi didn't waste any time. Before the soldiers could rush forward, he shouted, "Doctor Wei, Minister Du, don't you want to know why I said I was going to save him?"

"Don't you want to know the truth about Zhao Ci and the others' murder?"

"Do you really want to be completely manipulated by the murderer, who tricked you into believing there were two separate cases, keeping you in the dark until the truth comes out, only to nail you to the pillar of historical shame and ruin your lifelong reputation?!"

The shouts pierced the silent night and suddenly echoed in all directions.

The soldiers' expressions changed immediately. They were unsure whether Liu Shuyi was telling the truth or not, and instinctively looked at Wei Zheng and Du Ruhui.

Wei Zheng and Du Ruhui both frowned at this moment.

Seeing this, Pei Ji said directly, "Don't be fooled by him. He's just like Liu Wenjing, a master of sweet talk! Once I throw him in jail and torture him, he'll tell you everything!"

But this time, Wei Zheng and Du Ruhui did not remain silent.

"Do you know the truth about Zhao Ci and the others being killed? What is it?" Wei Zheng's voice, like his appearance, was dignified and solemn.

Du Ruhui's deep eyes were also scrutinizing Liu Shuyi, his expression a mixture of surprise and interest.

He spoke slowly, his voice very gentle: "Tell me about it."

Pei Ji frowned: "How could you actually believe him?"

“Commander Pei, what harm is there in letting him speak? He can’t escape.” Du Ruhui said gently and slowly, “The truth will out, there’s no harm in listening.”

Pei Ji's face was grim. Although he was in charge of the arrest tonight, Du Ruhui and Wei Zheng were two powerful figures, one wielding immense influence and the other capable of verbally abusing someone without lifting a finger. He was unwilling to make enemies with them over such a trivial matter.

Therefore, after much deliberation, he finally said coldly, "Then let's see what kind of sophistry you can come up with! Liu Shuyi, even your treacherous father couldn't fool my eyes, so don't even think about fooling me!"

"I advise you to tell the truth and not try any tricks, or you'll regret it!"

Hearing Pei Ji constantly bringing up his own father's corpse to whip him, Liu Shuyi's gaze turned somewhat cold.

He knew that his father and Pei Ji had been the biggest political enemies in the past.

After his father's death, Pei Ji became even more proud of solving a major treason case, often bringing it up as a topic of conversation. The original owner's current impoverished and weak state was inextricably linked to Pei Ji.

Fortunately, Wei Zheng and Du Ruhui came together tonight, and fortunately, they both cared about their reputation and did not want to bear the slightest risk of being nailed to the pillar of shame. Otherwise, even if he had a thousand reasons, he would probably not have been able to escape his fate.

Liu Shuyi took a deep breath, ignoring Pei Ji's threat, and looked at Wei Zheng and Du Ruhui, saying, "May I ask, Minister Wei and Minister Du, what are your views on the disappearance of Prince Xi's body and the killing of the three officials, Zhao Ci?"

Wei Zheng frowned but did not speak.

Du Ruhui chuckled and said, "We certainly don't believe in the claim that the ghost of the Prince of Xi has reappeared in the world."

"Judging from the disappearance of the Prince of Xi's body, the killing by the Prince of Xi's ghost, and the recent rumors that are clearly being instigated, it is highly likely that the perpetrators were loyal to the Prince of Xi and were dissatisfied with his death and Your Majesty's ascension to the throne. Therefore, they conspired to carry out this series of actions."

“They want to kill the former officials of the Prince of Xi who have pledged allegiance to His Majesty, and those whom they consider traitors.”

"By using this to make the court officials uneasy, they will ultimately be thinking of things like plotting rebellion."

As he listened to Du Ruhui's words, Liu Shuyi glanced at Wei Zheng out of the corner of his eye.

He knew why Wei Zheng hadn't spoken up. After all, Wei Zheng was the biggest traitor to Li Jiancheng. Wei Zheng and the others had tacitly agreed to these words, but only Du Ruhui, Li Shimin's confidant, could speak so freely.

Thinking of this, he then looked at the three important ministers present.

Du Ruhui was Li Shimin's confidant, Wei Zheng was Li Jiancheng's former minister, and Pei Ji was the most trusted person of the retired Emperor Li Yuan... Li Shimin arranged for representatives of these three forces to be in charge of this case, and the implications of this are truly worth pondering.

"So, Minister Du, do you think that the disappearance of Prince Xi and the murder of the three officials are the work of the same person, and that it is the same case?" Liu Shuyi said.

Du Ruhui nodded: "That's right."

"Has Minister Du ever thought about something?"

"what?"

A sharp glint suddenly flashed in Liu Shuyi's usually calm eyes.

At that moment, his entire demeanor underwent a tremendous change.

He looked directly at Du Ruhui and said, "To impersonate the ghost of the Prince of Xi and commit murder, is it really necessary to go to great lengths and take enormous risks to steal the Prince of Xi's corpse?"

"In other words... if the body of the Prince of Xi is not lost, can't we fake the Prince of Xi's ghost to commit murder?"

Du Ruhui's usually gentle gaze suddenly sharpened!
"You mean to say..."

He stared intently at Liu Shuyi: "Is the loss of the Prince of Xi's body not directly related to the killing of Zhao Ci and the other two?"

"Minister Du, don't be fooled by him!"

Pei Ji then spoke up: "Although it is true that even if the body of Prince Xi had not been lost, it would be possible to fake the ghost of Prince Xi to commit murder, it is precisely because the body of Prince Xi was lost that the matter of the ghost committing murder has caused such panic among the people! It is precisely because of this that the conspiracy of those treacherous officials was able to succeed!"

"If the body of Prince Xi hadn't gone missing, His Majesty wouldn't be putting so much pressure on us, would he?"

Du Ruhui frowned; what Pei Ji said was indeed not without reason.

Seeing that Du Ruhui did not refute, Pei Ji sneered at Liu Shuyi: "You are just like your dead father! You almost managed to twist the truth!"

"Turning black into white?"

Liu Shuyi shook his head and said, "Your so-called distortion of the truth is just that you've been blinded by the murderer's methods!"

"Enough!" Pei Ji didn't want Liu Shuyi to argue any further. He shouted, "The dead were all former officials of the Prince of Xi, and they even used the Prince of Xi's ghost as a disguise. It's obvious that this was an attack on the traitors of the Prince of Xi! Only those stubborn former subordinates of the Prince of Xi would steal the Prince of Xi's body. It's clear that they are a group of people!"

He looked at Wei Zheng and Du Ruhui: "Wei, Minister Du, you've both seen it too. He hasn't produced any concrete evidence to prove his point. He's clearly nitpicking and deliberately making excuses! Why waste our time with him? The important thing is to arrest him, close the case, and report back to His Majesty. I know the Liu family best; he and his father, Liu Wenjing, are the same kind of people—"

"Who said that all those who died were former officials of the Prince of Xi?"

Before Pei Ji could finish speaking, Liu Shuyi's voice suddenly rang out.

"What!?"

Pei Ji paused, then abruptly turned to look at Liu Shuyi.

Wei Zheng and Du Ruhui also stared straight at Liu Shuyi the moment his voice rang out.

Facing the stern and scrutinizing gazes of the three powerful figures of the court, Liu Shuyi did not bend his body even slightly.

He remained calm: "What if someone else dies, but is not a former official of the King of Xi, or even if the first person to die was not a former official of the King of Xi, or if it happened before the King of Xi's body disappeared?"

"what?"

"Weren't the first to die one of the former officials of the Prince of Xi?"

"Or was it before the King of Xi's corpse disappeared?"

"Have it?"

"I haven't heard of that! Weren't the three people, Zhao Ci and his companion, the ones who were murdered?"

The soldiers couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

Wei Zheng also frowned, pondering who else had died.

Du Ruhui stared intently at Liu Shuyi, his fingertips lightly tapping the jade belt at his waist, his mind also pondering the officials who had recently died.

At that moment, his gaze suddenly fixed on something, and he uttered a name: "Assistant Director of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War!"

"Han Du?"

Pei Ji thought for a moment and said, "I remember now. He was punished by His Majesty for making a mistake in last year's tax statistics, which implicated many local officials. He felt deeply guilty and eventually couldn't bear it, so he hanged himself in the Ministry of Revenue."

Du Ruhui nodded: "Although Han Du hanged himself, he was the only official to die in the past month, apart from Zhao Ci and the other two."

"This is enough to prove that Liu Shuyi is talking nonsense!"

Pei Ji coldly stared at Liu Shuyi: "Han Du committed suicide by hanging, he wasn't murdered at all! What else do you have to say!"

"How he died is not important, the important thing is that he is dead!"

Despite Pei Ji's pressure, Liu Shuyi's voice remained unchanged: "Moreover, not long after his death, Zhao Wenyi, the warehouse supervisor of the Ministry of Revenue, and Wang Lucheng, the principal of the Ministry of Works, also died one after another!"

As he spoke, he looked at Du Ruhui and said, "Minister Du should know that I am the principal officer of the Ministry of Justice. My usual responsibility is to copy and file the case files. Because my colleagues think I am easy to bully, they have given me a lot more work. So I have seen all the case files that have entered the Ministry of Justice!"

"As luck would have it, I have a good memory and I happen to remember that there was a file in which four names appeared at the same time."

"They are..."

Liu Shuyi glanced at the three men, his voice steady, but to Du Ruhui and the other two, it sounded like thunder: "Han Du, Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue; Zhao Wenyi, Warehouse Supervisor of the Ministry of Revenue; Wang Lucheng, Principal of the Ministry of Works; and... Zhao Ci, Assistant Minister of the Water Department of the Ministry of Works who died tonight!"

The moment the words fell, the entire audience was stunned!
As Liu Shuyi clearly uttered those four names, the soldiers around him already felt their ears ringing.

"These four people...are all on the same file?"

"What a coincidence!"

"real or fake?"

"If it's true, if Han Du is really involved in the deaths of Zhao Yuanwailang and the others, then wouldn't that mean their deaths might actually have nothing to do with Prince Xi? After all, Han Du has absolutely no connection with Prince Xi!"

"Hiss..." Someone couldn't help but swallow hard: "No way."

Hearing the soldiers' shocked discussions, Du Ruhui, with his deep-set eyes, suddenly spoke up: "Which file?"

He couldn't just listen to Liu Shuyi's side of the story; he needed to verify it himself.

Liu Shuyi understood Du Ruhui's meaning and said, "The file was filed on June 18th of the first year of Zhenguan. It is located on the second floor of the file room and is numbered Bingwei 13."

Du Ruhui, who concurrently served as Minister of Justice, had a clear idea of ​​what was going on when he heard Liu Shuyi give such a precise figure, and he believed Liu Shuyi's words to the point of being 80%.

"Go find them!" he said in a deep voice.

Then came the long wait.

The soldiers still held their swords, their arms aching, but without orders from Du Ruhui and the other two, they dared not let their guard down and could only grit their teeth and persevere.

Surrounded by the crowd, Liu Shuyi glanced at the dawn breaking in the east and stretched as if no one else was around.

Seeing this scene, Wan'er, who was standing behind her, had shown surprise and confusion on her beautiful face for the umpteenth time. At this moment, even she was a little unsure whether the young master she had been with for the past two years had been deliberately hiding his true abilities.

Otherwise, how could the young master have become so calm, composed, and wise overnight, able to control even nobles like Du Ruhui and Pei Ji?

In her view, what was a dead end had actually turned into a lifeline!
Pei Ji and the other two also had different expressions at this moment.

The way Pei Ji looked at Liu Shuyi was as if he could see Liu Wenjing, whom he once hated the most and even feared, through Liu Shuyi. His refined face could not hide the chilling aura.

Wei Zheng stood in the wind, his face slapped by the howling wind, yet he remained as immovable as a mountain, standing straight like a benchmark.

Du Ruhui coughed lightly, his sickly face appearing even paler. He looked at Liu Shuyi, who was stretching and seemed to have everything under control, and a strange light appeared in his deep eyes.

It was as if he had seen something new and interesting that he rarely found.

And so, the once noisy courtyard fell silent.

Until three-quarters of an hour later—

"The case file has been retrieved!"

The soldiers ran in, panting and wiping the sweat from their faces.

Everyone's eyes immediately turned to that direction.

The soldiers dared not delay and quickly handed the dossier to Du Ruhui.

Du Ruhui quickly opened the file and looked at it—

"how?"

Even the unmoved Wei Zheng couldn't help but ask.

Pei Ji also stared intently at Du Ruhui.

At this moment, everyone saw Du Ruhui raise his head and turn his gaze from the dossier to the handsome figure in front of him.

A voice rang out: "Just as he said!"

(End of this chapter)