The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 41 The Truth! Substituting One Thing for Another, a Clever Escape!

Upon hearing Mo Xiaofan's words, everyone immediately looked at Liu Shuyi, their eyes filled with the same curiosity.

From the time Liu Shuyi started reasoning until now, Liu Yuanming has indeed been completely uninvolved. Everything has revolved around Wu Qi. So when did Liu Shuyi begin to suspect Liu Yuanming? And why would he suspect a person who is already dead?
At this moment, Liu Yuanming also stared intently at Liu Shuyi. Although he did not speak from beginning to end, the look in his eyes was enough to prove that he also had the same doubts about Liu Shuyi.

He also wanted to know where his meticulously planned scheme had gone wrong.

Liu Shuyi didn't keep them in suspense and said, "Because Liu Yuanming's death happened very quickly and was committed directly by the murderer... In such cases, it is often the easiest to find clues. So after rousing myself, I rushed to Liu's residence as soon as possible."

"When I arrived at the Liu residence and saw the gruesome corpse, I was both astonished by the murderer's ruthlessness and filled with doubt."

"Doubts?" Cheng Chumo asked, "What doubts?"

Liu Shuyi looked at Liu Yuanming and slowly said, "It's normal for the murderer to kill... According to Liu Yuanming, he had a book that Wu Qi gave him for no reason. Since Wu Qi's act of giving the book was very strange, it was very likely that it contained secrets. So, in our view, that book should contain Wu Qi's secrets. It's perfectly normal for the murderer to sneak into Liu's house, kill him, and steal the book to prevent the secret from being exposed. But..."

He suddenly changed the subject: "Why peel it?"

Why peel it?

Cheng Chumo said, "Didn't you say it was to provoke and threaten you?"

Liu Shuyi nodded: "Indeed, when I saw Liu Shaoqing's face peeled off and placed on the lantern, my first thought was that the thief was provoking me, threatening me, and telling me not to continue the investigation so as to avoid killing or injuring more innocent people."

"But then I thought, if he wants to provoke and threaten me, does he really have to skin me alive?"

"His killing of Liu Yuanming is itself a warning to me."

"Not to mention, he also left words in blood on the ground, and those words clearly told me his intentions!"

"With these two points, he has already achieved his goal. Is it really necessary to strip him bare?"

Cheng Chumo thought for a moment and said, "That's true, but the impact of having your face peeled off is completely different from not having it peeled off. I estimate that I won't be able to forget that scene for several months."

Liu Shuyi was pleased that Cheng Chumo had thought things through more deeply. He said, "General Cheng is right. The murderer peeling off the face is indeed more effective. However, there is one thing that General Cheng should not overlook..."

"what?"

"time!"

"Time?" Cheng Chumo paused, seemingly lost in thought.

Liu Shuyi said, "Don't forget, Zhao Feng was waiting in the side hall when the murderer started killing. Zhao Feng knew I was waiting for Wu Qi's book. He waited and waited and Liu Yuanming didn't come out, so he must have sent someone to urge him."

"The murderer didn't know when Zhao Feng would send someone to urge him, nor did he know whether anyone else would come looking for Liu Yuanming while he was committing the crime."

"Yes, the Liu family has a rule that servants are not allowed to enter the study easily. But this rule may stop the servants, but it may not stop Liu Yuanming's wife and children. What if Liu Yuanming's wife and children happen to want to see him at that time?"

"Therefore, for the murderer, the longer the murder takes, the greater the risk of exposure, and this risk is foreseeable. Zhao Feng will definitely send someone to urge him to finish!"

"In this situation, General Cheng felt..."

Liu Shuyi looked at Cheng Chumo and coaxed him, "Should the murderer choose to quickly kill the person, steal the book, and then retreat? Or should he spend time carefully peeling off the mask, tearing off the lantern paper, and then attaching it to the lantern for a better effect?"

"This……"

Cheng Chumo frowned, a thoughtful expression flashing across his dark face: "Now that you mention it, it's true! He's already achieved his goal by killing and leaving behind bloody words. There's really no need to waste any more time and take such a big risk to peel off his face."

He looked at Liu Shuyi, his face showing even more confusion: "Then why did he peel off his face?"

"Yes, why would we do that?"

Following up on Cheng Chumo's question, Liu Shuyi said, "After realizing the issue of 'time,' I've been pondering the motives behind the murderer's actions. Such a cunning and cautious person shouldn't have done something so foolish and unnecessary, yet he did it anyway. This means either he truly made a stupid mistake at that moment, or..."

Liu Shuyi turned his head and looked again at Liu Yuanming, who was dressed in a disheveled manner and had a cold expression: "The murderer has other motives that forced him to do this!"

"But at first I had no clue what the conspiracy was, until..."

He changed the subject, saying, "When I was examining the corpse's hands, I found some things that shouldn't have been there. These things were like a wake-up call, instantly sobering me up!"

"The contradictions within Wu Qi! All the questions I couldn't understand about Wu Qi suddenly became clear to me at that moment!"

"I suddenly understood why the murderer would peel off the face after killing the victim, and how the murderer disappeared without a trace from the Liu residence!"

"All the questions and doubts were resolved in that moment!"

Upon hearing Liu Shuyi's words, everyone's spirits immediately lifted.

They never expected that Liu Shuyi would understand all the inexplicable questions and perplexing doubts the moment he examined the corpse's palm!
What did he discover?!

Cheng Chumo, unable to contain his curiosity, quickly asked, "What did you find?"

Everyone instinctively held their breath, looking at Liu Shuyi with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness.

Even the usually indifferent Liu Yuanming was now staring intently at Liu Shuyi, wanting to know what it was that had caused Liu Shuyi to reverse the situation so quickly, when he had the upper hand!
Then, they heard Liu Shuyi slowly utter two words: "Cocoon!"

"A cocoon!?" Cheng Chumo was taken aback.

Liu Yuanming was taken aback at first, then his pupils suddenly narrowed, and for the first time, the expression on his cold face changed: "The cocoon! It was it! So it was it!"

Seeing Liu Yuanming's reaction, Cheng Chumo couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with the cocoon?"

Liu Shuyi looked intently at Liu Yuanming and calmly said, "When I examined the corpse's hands, I discovered that they were covered in calluses..."

"You must understand, Liu Yuanming is the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, a very high-ranking official. His residence is magnificent and he has many servants. It is absolutely impossible for him to do hard and tiring work himself. Moreover, he is a civil official and a scholar who has never been on the battlefield and does not know martial arts. How could such a person have calluses on his hands?"

Listening to Liu Shuyi's words, Cheng Chumo looked at his hands, which were covered in calluses.

He grabbed Zhao Feng's hand again, turned it over to look at the other's palm, and saw that Zhao Feng's palm was also covered with calluses, which made him frown.

Seeing this, Zhao Feng hurriedly said, "I suffered a lot when I was exiled, so you can't treat me like a normal scholar. General Cheng, you have to look after Vice Minister Du."

Cheng Chumo suddenly realized what was happening and reached out to grab Du Gou's hand.

But Du Gou easily dodged Cheng Chumo's paw and said, "No need to look, my hands aren't covered in calluses. Only the two fingers that I use to hold a pen often have some calluses."

Seeing that Liu Shuyi's words were indeed true, Cheng Chumo quickly said, "Liu Yuanming, like Du Sicheng, spent most of his time writing, so at most, like Du Sicheng, only the two fingers that frequently held the pen had calluses! Therefore, you suspect that the dead person was not Liu Yuanming?"

Liu Shuyi nodded: "That's right, at that time, I began to have doubts about the identity of the deceased."

"But that raises another question."

He looked at everyone and said, "That face that was peeled off!"

Du Gou's eyes flashed, and he quickly understood Liu Shuyi's meaning: "That peeled-off face looks a lot like Liu Yuanming's!"

Liu Shuyi nodded: "That's right. Although the face was badly damaged, we could still make out some of Liu Yuanming's features. That's why we were so sure that the faceless corpse in the pool of blood was Liu Yuanming!"

"So, although I had doubts about the identity of the corpse because of the cocoon, I wasn't entirely sure."

"What if Liu Yuanming, even if he is of noble status, just likes to secretly do hard and tiring work? Therefore, in order to truly confirm the identity of the deceased with evidence, I asked Miss Du to do something for me."

"My sister?" Du Gou knew that his sister had taken the body away, but he did not know exactly what Du Ying had done.

Liu Shuyi said, "When I examined the corpse, I found that it was very thin. It looked similar to Zhao Feng's current condition, giving me the feeling that he hadn't been eating for a long time."

Upon hearing this, everyone instinctively looked at the thin Zhao Feng.

Seeing everyone staring at him, Zhao Feng touched his stomach, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Liu Shuyi looked at Zhao Feng: "It is not your fault that you are so thin. All the suffering is over. Do not feel ashamed because of the painful past caused by the fault of others."

Upon hearing Liu Shuyi's words, Zhao Feng felt a surge of energy, as if a force had risen from his heart, causing him to instinctively straighten his back. Liu Shuyi nodded slightly and continued, "But how could Liu Yuanming, as a fourth-rank official of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, possibly go hungry for so long? Therefore, I asked Miss Du to dissect the corpse's stomach to examine its contents."

"If there is normal food residue in the stomach, it means that Liu Yuanming may simply have no appetite or be sick and have poor digestion and absorption."

“If there is no food in the stomach, or if the food is not the kind that someone of Liu Yuanming’s level would eat, then the situation is completely different.”

Du Gou looked directly at his sister and asked, "Aying, what was the result?"

Everyone turned to look at Du Ying.

Du Ying said calmly, "The deceased's stomach was smaller than a normal person's stomach, showing signs of shrinkage, and there was almost no food residue in the stomach, indicating that he had not eaten for at least a day."

"but……"

She paused for a moment, then said, "Although there was no food in his stomach, I discovered something else."

"Something else?" Cheng Chumo frowned. "What?"

Du Ying said, "Tree bark."

"Tree bark?" Cheng Chumo blinked in confusion. "Why would there be these things?"

“I think I can guess…” Zhao Feng’s voice rang out.

Cheng Chumo quickly looked at him and saw Zhao Feng purse his lips and say, "During our exile, we often went hungry. Sometimes when we were so hungry that we would eat wild grass, but in the spring and winter, when it was snowing and there was no grass, we would peel off tree bark and boil it in water to barely survive."

"But sometimes, there wasn't even tree bark to eat. Some people were so hungry they were dizzy and would grab dirt and stuff it into their mouths..."

"But tree bark can barely sustain life, while soil can hardly fill an empty stomach. So those who eat soil often end up..."

Zhao Feng shook his head and didn't continue, but the outcome was obvious to everyone without much thought.

Du Gou felt a heaviness in his heart. He took a deep breath, suppressed his complicated emotions, and said, "No matter what, Liu Yuanming could not possibly have survived on tree bark. Therefore, based on this, we can be absolutely certain that the deceased is not Liu Yuanming!"

"But the murderer clearly wants us to believe that the deceased was Liu Yuanming, and that's why..."

He looked at Liu Shuyi and said, "Do you think that Liu Yuanming is the real mastermind behind all this, and that he wants to escape by dying?"

Liu Shuyi nodded: "Although the deceased was not Liu Yuanming, his face was similar to Liu Yuanming's. This is not something that can be found easily, so it is obvious that this must have been a stand-in prepared in advance!"

"Perhaps the deceased and Liu Yuanming only looked somewhat similar, but not exactly the same, so the murderer misled our judgment by peeling off the face."

"After all, the face was damaged after it was peeled off, and then it was violently stuck into the lantern, which further damaged the face. Under these circumstances, it is difficult for us to see the original complete appearance of the face. We can only identify it based on its outline and features."

"Furthermore, because he died at the Liu residence, and was wearing Liu Yuanming's clothes, we subjectively believe that he is Liu Yuanming. Therefore, when we look at this damaged face, we subconsciously associate it with Liu Yuanming's face, so naturally, it looks exactly like him, without any doubt..."

"But how could we possibly know..."

Liu Shuyi looked at Liu Yuanming, who was dressed in tattered clothes, and slowly said, "By the time we have this understanding, the real Liu Yuanming has already changed his identity and is hiding away without any worries."

Hearing Liu Shuyi's words, everyone felt their hearts pounding like drums, a feeling of suspense and lingering fear.

If Liu Shuyi hadn't noticed the details of the cocoon and had Du Ying dissect the deceased's stomach for final confirmation, perhaps no one would have ever known that the dead person was not Liu Yuanming!
Without knowing that Liu Yuanming was still alive, how could they possibly conduct further investigations? How could they possibly uncover the truth and catch the culprit?
It's fair to say that without Liu Shuyi, this case might never have been solved.

Liu Yuanming will forever remain at large!

Thinking of all this, Cheng Chumo couldn't help but say, "Liu Yuanming, you are truly insidious, ruthless, and full of tricks! But no matter how much you scheme, you didn't expect that Manager Liu could see through your tricks! Even if you are good at plotting, what can you do? In the end, you will still end up with nothing!"

Upon hearing Cheng Chumo's sarcastic words, a flash of hatred crossed Liu Yuanming's cold eyes.

He clenched his fists, veins bulging on the backs of his hands, and stared intently at Liu Shuyi with his brown eyes, saying resentfully, "Heaven is unjust, why did it give you such damn luck!"

"Shit luck?"

Hearing Liu Yuanming's unwilling words, Liu Shuyi calmly said, "It seems that you still refuse to face reality. I thought you were at least someone who could afford to lose, but it seems I was wrong."

Liu Shuyi's words provoked Liu Yuanming to struggle violently.

He stared intently at Liu Shuyi: "What are you so smug about?! Do you really think you're so great? If I hadn't made this mistake, do you think you could have found me? Liu Shuyi, I didn't lose to you, I lost to myself. I was too clever for my own good!"

"If I hadn't made this mistake, you would never have found me in your entire life!"

Hearing Liu Yuanming's words, Liu Shuyi shook his head.

Liu Yuanming was too arrogant and proud, so even after he was exposed, he was unwilling to admit that he was inferior to others.

He summed up all his efforts with the phrase "luck."

His failure was explained by making the wrong choice...

Belittling others to make excuses for oneself...

They dare to do it but not to take responsibility; they can't even afford to lose!
Liu Shuyi despised this kind of person the most.

"You keep insisting that it wasn't my achievement; you simply made the wrong move..."

He looked at Liu Yuanming with deep, unfathomable eyes: "Liu Yuanming, you don't really think you have any other options? You don't have to take this step, do you?"

"what?"

With fierce eyes and a look of resentment on his face, Liu Yuanming suddenly paused.

Seeing this, Cheng Chumo couldn't help but ask, "Master Liu, is there anything else we don't know?"

Liu Shuyi gave Liu Yuanming a deep look and said, "General Cheng, you've been investigating with me all this way. Do you think this cautious and cunning person behind the scenes would do something like 'golden cicada shedding its shell' for no reason?"

"You know, while the plan to shed his skin like a cicada's shell sounds impressive, the result is that he can no longer live under the title of Liu Yuanming, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, no longer enjoy his privileged position, and no longer appear openly in front of others..."

"The difference between before and after is like heaven and earth..." Liu Shuyi said in a deep voice, "Did he choose this path because he likes to avoid hardship?"

"This..." Cheng Chumo thought for a moment and said, "It really is. Then why would he do this?"

Liu Yuanming also stared intently at Liu Shuyi, his whole body tensing up instinctively, and the veins on his forehead throbbing.

It seems that only at this moment did Liu Shuyi's reasoning truly touch the part of his heart that he least wanted to be touched.

“Yes! Why would you do that…” Liu Shuyi looked at Liu Yuanming, taking in Liu Yuanming’s reaction, and said with a half-smile, “Could it be that you’re scared?”

"Afraid?" Cheng Chumo was taken aback.

Liu Shuyi said, "He wanted to frame Wu Qi, hoping to end the case with Wu Qi so he could completely hide himself. But he didn't expect that I would discover the truth about Wu Qi's murder so quickly. He also didn't expect that I would start to suspect whether Wu Qi was the thief..."

"General Cheng, put yourself in his shoes. If you were him, and you discovered that your scapegoat's secret had been exposed, wouldn't you panic? Wouldn't you worry that if I investigated further, it would lead directly to you, leaving you with no chance to escape?"

“This…” Cheng Chumo listened to Liu Shuyi’s words, thought about it carefully, and said, “It seems that I really am worried.”

"ridiculous!"

No sooner had Cheng Chumo finished speaking than Liu Yuanming retorted impatiently, "You never suspected me at all back then, and you clearly had no clue about Wu Qi's case. How could I possibly panic? Liu Shuyi, stop trying to glorify yourself! I've said it before, I just overthought things and made a mistake. It has nothing to do with you!"

"I never doubted you? I had absolutely no clue?"

Liu Shuyi listened to Liu Yuanming's words and said with a half-smile, "Liu Yuanming, you don't really think your crime is flawless, do you?"

Liu Yuanming stared at Liu Shuyi with a gloomy look in his eyes, without saying a word.

Seeing the undisguised hatred and disbelief in Liu Yuanming's eyes, Liu Shuyi finally became serious and slowly said, "Liu Yuanming, do you know that the moment I confirmed that Wu Qi did not commit suicide but was murdered... you were already on my list of suspects?"

(End of this chapter)