The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 31 was shocked. "Master Liu, how could you say that!"

Because of the freezing weather, these words written in blood still retain the original color of the blood.

Bloody and horrifying!
The metaphor behind the date of the Xuanwu Gate Incident, in particular, is chilling!
Everyone knows that what Li Shimin least wants to be mentioned right now is the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

However, this blood-stained writing constantly reminds everyone who sees it what happened on the fourth day of the sixth month of the ninth year of Wude.

Once the blood-written words inside the coffin are revealed, one can imagine the rumors and gossip that will circulate both inside and outside the court.

No wonder, before he officially took over the case, Du Gou and Cheng Chumo both kept silent and never mentioned a single word about the blood.

I can't say, I dare not say!
The motive of the person who stole Li Jiancheng's remains, who deliberately left such bloody words, is self-evident.

Liu Shuyi took a deep breath to calm his turbulent emotions and straightened up.

As he looked around the collapsed tomb, he said, "Minister Du, please tell me in detail what happened on the night of the incident."

His understanding of the case was pieced together from information casually mentioned by some officials from the Ministry of Justice involved in the investigation, as well as fragmented information occasionally revealed by Du Gou and Cheng Chumo; it was not complete.

Now, he needs the most accurate and complete intelligence.

When Du Gou learned that Liu Shuyi had specifically asked him to come and help, he was already prepared.

On his way here, he had gone through the information he had gathered in his mind. Upon hearing this, he didn’t need to think for long before saying, “Around 5 PM that day, the wind started to blow and it began to snow. An hour later, it reached the level of a blizzard.”

"The wind howled, blowing people this way and that, and the blizzard hit their faces so hard that they couldn't even open their eyes. So the guards of the mausoleum had no choice but to go inside to take shelter from the wind and snow."

"During the brief respite from the blizzard, around 1 AM, the ground suddenly shook violently several times. The unexpected tremors, coupled with the terrifying and rare blizzard, made the soldiers of the mausoleum army feel uneasy. However, because the blizzard was howling outside and it was pitch black, they could not see anything. They were terrified but did not know what had happened."

"It wasn't until the hour of Yin (3-5 AM) that the blizzard subsided, allowing the imperial guards to leave their houses and investigate what had happened."

"Then they discovered that the previously intact tomb chamber had collapsed."

"The self-locking stones that sealed the stone gate were also overturned by the falling rocks, leaving the stone gate wide open. According to regulations, the imperial guards are prohibited from entering the underground palace without permission. However, with the tomb chamber collapsed and the stone gate wide open, they were forced to enter due to fear of accidents, and as a result..."

Du Gou looked at Liu Shuyi and said in a deep voice, "As a result, they discovered that the coffin was frozen by the falling snow and ice, and the side wall was cracked by falling rocks. Looking into the crack... the body of the Prince of Xi had disappeared."

"After that, they hurriedly sent someone to the palace to report. Before dawn, the Jinwu Guard, the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate and other government departments sealed off the area and began an investigation. At the same time, they sent people on horseback to pursue the suspect for 500 li along all the roads leading out of Chang'an and set up checkpoints to search all people and vehicles."

"But……"

He shook his head, his expression grave: "Until now, no news has come back, no unusual people have been found, no unusual vehicles have been found, and no bodies have been found."

Hearing Du Gou's words, Liu Shuyi frowned slightly, realizing how tricky the case was.

On a snowy night, it's hard for even a person to stand, let alone a horse-drawn carriage.

Therefore, if you want to transport corpses by horse-drawn carriage, you'll have to wait until the blizzard subsides.

After the snow fell, the imperial guards immediately went out to investigate. Upon discovering that Li Jiancheng's body had disappeared, they immediately sent someone to the palace to report.

After that, the various government departments began to take action.

In other words, the person who stole Li Jiancheng's body could set off at least an hour in advance.

But the speed of a carriage can never match that of a strong warhorse.

The warhorses galloped five hundred li along all the roads, and there was no way they could catch up with the carriages that had set off an hour earlier.

However, they simply couldn't find such a carriage.

After setting up checkpoints, no unusual vehicles or personnel were found.

Why is this happening?
Did the thieves not use a carriage to transport the corpses, but instead used horses directly?
However, an ordinary horse could not possibly run a distance of 500 li in one go; it would need to rest in between.

As for the cavalry, they used two or three horses in rotation, so they could travel day and night without rest.

In other words, even if the corpses were transported by horses, they could not outrun the pursuing cavalry.

Unless... the thieves were also using warhorses, and two or three of them were following them at the same time.

But this situation is too difficult.

Horses are a strategic resource, and are therefore inherently valuable and scarce.

Warhorses were directly under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War, and civilians simply could not obtain them.

Moreover, if the thieves were to transport the corpses, they couldn't just let the corpses ride on horseback; someone would have to follow them. This would require more horses. In Chang'an, right under the emperor's nose, with so many spies in the court, it was impossible for a group of people to acquire so many horses without attracting attention.

Not to mention that with so many people and so many horses, it's impossible for them to go unnoticed on the road.

But the fact is, the imperial court sent people to investigate along the way, but they found nothing.

So this possibility exists, but it's very low!

But if it wasn't even a horse carrying people, how were they transported?

Or perhaps it wasn't transported away and is hidden near Chang'an?
"Has the area around Chang'an been searched?" Liu Shuyi asked, voicing his suspicion.

Du Gou nodded: "Father considered that the thieves might want to confuse the situation, deliberately creating the illusion that the corpse was being transported away while actually being hidden right under our noses. So he sent people to search every house in the surrounding villages and county town, posted reward notices, and even offered a reward to attract people to dig in the fields. If anyone could find the corpse, there would be a big reward..."

"But the result..."

He shook his head again: "The people dug day and night for the reward money, but they didn't find any buried unidentified corpses. They searched house to house, but to no avail."

Du Ruhui was smart and cautious enough that he had considered all the possibilities that he could think of and had already put them into action within the past twelve days.

However, there was still no clue.

No wonder even someone like Du Ruhui said he saw no hope.

Li Jiancheng's body truly disappeared without any apparent reason.

When the body went missing, Chang'an was already under curfew and the city gates were closed. After the body was discovered missing, the city gates were strictly checked. All people coming and going had to be searched and their identities verified, and vehicles were also carefully inspected. Therefore, it was impossible for the body to have entered Chang'an.

There couldn't be any inside the city, nor in the surrounding area, and the pursuit yielded nothing either...

Adding to the fact that this newly built underground palace collapsed inexplicably, it really does feel like seeing a ghost.

Liu Shuyi had thought it would be difficult before he came, but he didn't expect it to be this difficult.

No wonder he could be promoted to the sixth rank once the case was solved; such a difficult case was well worth the reward.

Liu Shuyi took a deep breath to calm himself down.

The thieves couldn't have made the corpse disappear without a trace. There must be some place that we, Du Ruhui, and the others overlooked or failed to discover.

He looked around the tomb chamber again, at the collapsed area, the piled-up rocks, the snow-covered landscape; the once dark underground palace now resembled an open-air snow-capped mountain.

After thinking for a moment, he lowered his head again and looked at the coffin in front of him.

The surface of the coffin was covered with fallen snow, and the lid was still firmly nailed to the coffin. There were only a few scratches on the surface caused by falling rocks.

Of the entire coffin, only the side section showed obvious signs of damage.

And these marks were caused by falling rocks.

The black wood chips clinging to the surface of the fallen rocks suggest that there shouldn't be any problem.

"The coffin showed no signs of damage, and the cracks caused by the falling rocks were not large enough to remove the remains..."

"Not to mention, they had to write such neat blood characters inside."

Liu Shuyi stroked his chin, deep in thought.

"How did the thief manage to remove the remains and write the blood-written words without prying open the coffin lid?"

"besides……"

He looked at the collapsed part of the tomb chamber, then at the cracked floor, and the stone door that was almost shattered...

"Were all of these done by thieves?"

"Just to get into the tomb, they made such a big fuss that they even collapsed the tomb?"

"Moreover, what method could have been used to transform the underground palace into this state?"

"Gunpowder? But it seems that the Tang Dynasty didn't have gunpowder with such power at that time, right?" "Even if they secretly concocted powerful gunpowder by chance, there should be obvious traces of a gunpowder explosion... But here..."

Liu Shuyi's gaze swept across the tomb chamber inch by inch, not missing a single detail.

He found no traces of shockwaves from the gunpowder explosion, no blackening marks, no crater, let alone sulfur crystals or saltpeter frost.

"Could it be that they were buried by falling rocks?"

Liu Shuyi's eyes flickered, then he looked at Cheng Chumo and said, "General Cheng, please send someone to clear these rocks."

"Do you want to know what's under these rocks?" Cheng Chumo said, "We cleared it before, and there was nothing there. Minister Du was afraid of destroying the clues, so he didn't let us move it again."

Liu Shuyi knew that Du Ruhui would not leave this pile of rubble unchecked, but what he was looking for was different from what Du Ruhui was looking for.

The absence of anything doesn't mean there are no clues.

He said, "Go, I have my uses."

Seeing Liu Shuyi's insistence, Cheng Chumo no longer hesitated: "Alright! I'll have someone clean it up right away."

With that, he personally led the Imperial Guards, rolled up their sleeves, and got to work in a flurry of activity.

"Master Liu."

At this moment, Zhao Feng, who was following behind Liu Shuyi, said, "I'll go help too. I don't have any special skills. The only thing I can do to help Manager Liu right now is to use my strength."

Upon hearing this, Liu Shuyi turned to look at Zhao Feng.

He knew that Zhao Feng had just started working with him today, and he was afraid that if he did nothing, he would seem useless and eventually be disliked by him.

Zhao Feng was originally the son of the Vice Minister of Revenue, and his status was not much lower than that of Cheng Chumo and the others.

However, because his father's position was coveted by Zhao Chengyi, he died unjustly, and his whole family was exiled. This turned the once confident man into the sensitive and humble man he is now, who is afraid of being disliked and abandoned.

At this moment, Zhao Feng is remarkably similar to his former self.

He smiled and said in as gentle a voice as possible, "I have other tasks for you to do, so you don't need to help General Cheng."

"Other tasks?"

Zhao Feng's eyes lit up, and he eagerly asked, "What mission? Don't worry, Manager Liu, even if it means going through fire and water, I will definitely do it well."

Liu Shuyi laughed and said, "It's not that serious. Go and confirm some things for me."

Then, he explained in detail to Zhao Feng what he needed to do.

After hearing this, Zhao Feng looked somewhat confused, as if he didn't understand how this had anything to do with the case at hand.

But since it was something his benefactor had asked him to do, he wouldn't hesitate no matter how strange it seemed.

"I'll do it right away."

After saying that, he took off running outside, as if afraid that if he was a step too slow, he would affect Liu Shuyi.

Watching Zhao Feng's departing figure, Du Gou said, "I met him before his father's accident. At that time, he was a student at the Imperial Academy. With his excellent painting skills, he was praised by the instructors of the Imperial Academy many times. He was full of vigor and ambition."

"I never expected that when we met again, he would be a completely different person. His former high spirits were nowhere to be seen."

Du Gou felt a mix of emotions, including regret and a sense of loss.

Upon hearing this, Liu Shuyi calmly replied, "After experiencing great ups and downs, people's temperaments inevitably change, and painful pasts are not so easy to get over. He has just gained his freedom and needs time for his wounds to heal slowly."

"But I believe..."

Recalling the bright eyes Zhao Feng had when he looked at him, he said, "Sooner or later, he will regain his former glory."

Hearing Liu Shuyi's words, Du Gou couldn't help but look at Liu Shuyi, who was dressed in a blue official robe and appeared calm and composed.

He knew very well that Liu Shuyi's past was not much better than Zhao Feng's.

Oppression from colleagues, plunder from others, dislike from Pei Ji's faction, the stigma of being the son of a disgraced official, open and covert attacks, rumors, and sarcastic remarks never ceased.

But Liu Shuyi, contrary to his words, did not recover so easily...

He is very similar to Zhao Feng, yet completely different from him.

Zhao Feng needs encouragement and pity from others.

Liu Shuyi, however, never needed any of these.

"Minister Du, is it normal for people to be able to enter this tomb chamber?"

Lost in thought, Liu Shuyi's voice rang out.

Du Gou quickly calmed himself down and said, "No! Ever since the coffin of the King of Xi was sent to the tomb, the stone door closed and the self-locking stone fell down, making it difficult to open the stone door."

"Moreover, our Great Tang Dynasty has laws that strictly prohibit anyone from entering the underground palace without permission, otherwise they will be punished for treason. Therefore, neither the imperial guards stationed here nor the household slaves responsible for cleaning will enter the underground palace."

"Furthermore, the entrance to the underground palace has always been guarded by the imperial guards, and no one has been able to sneak in."

Liu Shuyi nodded and said, "So, only during the few hours of the blizzard were the entrance to the underground palace unguarded?"

"Yes."

Du Gou said, "But even if there is no one guarding it, the door to the underground palace is locked. As you just noticed when you came in, there are several doors along the way that cannot be entered without a key. The stone door that is held up by the self-locking stone cannot be opened by human power."

Liu Shuyi nodded again, stroking his chin, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.

After a moment, he let out a soft breath and said, "Let's see what happens to General Cheng and his men first."

Cheng Chumo and the other Jinwu Guards acted very quickly, and in less than a quarter of an hour, all the fallen rocks were cleared away.

"Manager Liu, look, isn't there nothing there?"

As Cheng Chumo wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, he walked toward Liu Shuyi and said this.

Liu Shuyi looked toward the collapsed area and saw that there were no more fallen rocks there.

The stone-paved ground was very smooth, with only a jagged crack running through it.

"Master Liu, I'm back."

Just then, Zhao Feng's voice came from behind.

Liu Shuyi turned his head and saw Zhao Feng running over anxiously.

He stopped in front of Liu Shuyi and couldn't stop panting heavily.

"Don't worry."

Liu Shuyi smiled and said, "Take a breath and speak slowly."

Zhao Feng took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly before he could recover.

He said to Liu Shuyi, "Just as you said, I inquired and found that the well water here was indeed murky the day after the incident, with obvious mud and sand visible, and there were cracks in the well walls. Also, I went to ask around in the nearby villages, and although they didn't feel any shaking, their livestock did behave very strangely that night..."

Upon hearing Zhao Feng's words, Cheng Chumo's dark face immediately went blank with confusion.

"What well water is muddy? What livestock is strange? Manager Liu, why did you send him to find out these things?" Cheng Chumo asked, puzzled.

Du Gou also looked at Liu Shuyi with a puzzled expression.

Liu Shuyi's eyes flickered for a moment, then the corners of his mouth slightly turned up.

He noticed that everyone was looking at him with confusion.

He said slowly, "Do you think there's such a possibility..."

"What?" Cheng Chumo asked.

Then Liu Shuyi said meaningfully, "Wasn't the remains of the Prince of Xi lost here?"

(End of this chapter)