The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 48 reveals the shocking scene once again! (Two chapters combined)

At that moment, Qian Wenqing felt his vision go black and his head buzzing.

He didn't understand, and he couldn't figure it out.

How did things turn out like this?

Was Liu Shuyi really here to investigate with me? And did we really only investigate for less than an hour?
Look what Liu Shuyi has found out...

The unconsciousness during the self-immolation, the scars on his open eyes, the cuts in the straight-lattice window, the marks from the locust tree, and the cabinet against the door...

Moreover, all these clues can be perfectly connected.

Echoing each other.

Even more remarkably, in such a short time, Du Ying managed to find evidence that Liu Shuyi was unconscious at the time of the death!
Is this something that can be done in an hour?

If it were me, I probably couldn't do it even in a few days!
Now, with evidence of a coma, the abnormality of the deceased's self-immolation can be perfectly explained.

Why did the deceased endure such pain without screaming or crying out?

Because the deceased was already unconscious at that time, and had long since lost consciousness and awareness.

Why are straight-lattice windows cut?

Why would a cabinet block a door?

Because there was a second person present at the time, that person wanted to escape through the window and needed the cabinet to block the door and buy time.

Why was the deceased staring intently at the door?

Because this was the trick of the second person present.

He wanted to mislead all the witnesses, making others believe that the deceased was still conscious at the time, thus concluding that the deceased committed suicide by self-immolation, rather than being murdered!

All the doubts were resolved at this moment.

Liu Shuyi actually did it.

Who would have thought that the gains he just mentioned were all true!

Qian Wenqing felt dazed, as if he were dreaming.

He thought he could rise to fame by stepping on Liu Shuyi's head, and that he would be the only one to benefit. Now he realizes that he was overthinking things.

Not only did they fail to step on Liu Shuyi, but they were instead being stepped on by Liu Shuyi to establish his authority.

No!

He cannot let Liu Shuyi succeed!
Qian Wenqing's eyes flickered violently, and her brain was working frantically.

Suddenly, he thought of something!

"No!" Qian Wenqing shouted out without warning.

Upon hearing this, everyone instinctively shifted their gaze from Liu Shuyi to Qian Wenqing.

Qian Wenqing stared at Liu Shuyi with excitement and agitation, and said, "Master Liu, your deduction has flaws! There's something else you haven't mentioned, and that thing is completely contrary to your deduction!"

"What?" Zhao Feng and Wang Gui were taken aback.

Liu Shuyi raised an eyebrow: "I wonder what Master Qian is referring to?"

Looking at Liu Shuyi's composed expression, Qian Wenqing felt a surge of resentment and thought to himself, "You won't be so smug for long."

He sneered inwardly, but his face remained serious as he said, "Master Liu, you have overlooked the insane things the deceased did before he died."

"Before the deceased died?"

Wang Gui frowned and pondered for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes widened and his expression changed.

He understood what Qian Wenqing meant.

Qian Wenqing glanced at Wang Gui, whose expression had changed drastically, and said, "The reason why Xiao Er and the others came to knock on the deceased's door is because they discovered thick smoke coming out from the crack in the door."

"When they arrived at the door and looked through the crack, they found the deceased with disheveled hair, slapping himself hard in front of the door, and saying things like 'I deserve to die' as he did so."

"Finally, he noticed someone outside the door, glanced in the direction of the doorway, and then picked up the candle and lit it!"

"Master Liu..."

Qian Wenqing stared intently at Liu Shuyi, not missing a single change in Liu Shuyi's expression, and said, "As you just said, you said the deceased was murdered, and that the deceased was unconscious when he set himself on fire..."

"Then I'd like to know, if the deceased didn't intend to self-immolate, but was burned to death by someone... then what about what the waiter and the others saw—theirselves setting themselves on fire with candles?"

"Furthermore, if the deceased was indeed killed by the second person present at the time, he would have had the opportunity to go crazy and scream. Why didn't he scream for help? He knew very well that there were people outside, and if he had screamed, someone would definitely have heard him and come to his rescue!"

"But he didn't cry for help! And from beginning to end, he didn't seem to be unconscious at all. He set himself on fire and sat down facing the door... Miss Du had tried the sleeping potion, and it works almost instantly. So if the deceased had taken the drug beforehand, he couldn't possibly have gone crazy and shouted and set himself on fire. He couldn't have lasted that long!"

"In other words, he could only have taken the drug after setting himself on fire... But if a second person committed the murder, could that second person really put the drug in the victim's mouth while the victim was engulfed in flames? Would the victim tolerate the murderer doing this without resisting? After Xiao Er and the others saw the victim set himself on fire, they desperately rammed the door. Although it took some effort, it didn't waste too much time. In that short time, could the murderer have forced the victim to take the drug, escaped the scene, and then burned down the window?"

Upon hearing Qian Wenqing's words, Zhao Feng's previously excited expression suddenly froze.

If Qian Wenqing hadn't mentioned it, he would have almost forgotten about it.

Wang Gui did mention these things when introducing the case.

The witnesses, including Xiao Er, did more than just see the deceased set on fire after breaking down the door.

Before the deceased set himself on fire, they also saw him through the crack in the door.

At that time, the deceased's behavior certainly didn't seem like that of someone about to be murdered by a second person...

"How could this be?"

Zhao Feng frowned deeply: "Could it be that the murderer and the victim were actually in cahoots? Is that why the victim didn't scream?"

"is it possible?"

Qian Wenqing sneered, "You all say the second person is the murderer, but what is a murderer? The one who kills is the murderer! According to Liu Yuanwailang, the deceased's self-immolation was the work of the murderer, not a self-immolation at all... But Xiao Er and so many others saw it with their own eyes; the deceased set himself on fire. There was no such thing as a murderer!"

"This……"

Zhao Feng thought about it carefully, and his expression became even more serious.

He said, "What about the sleeping drug? How do you explain that? Miss Du discovered it through the autopsy; there's no mistake about it!"

Qian Wenqing had clearly already thought of this, and upon hearing this, he said directly, "It's very simple, he took it himself!"

"Take it yourself?"

Qian Wenqing said, "Although he wanted to self-immolate, he was afraid of the pain of self-immolation, so he took a sleeping pill to avoid the inhuman pain before death. There shouldn't be any problem with that, right?"

Zhao Feng frowned deeply.

Although Qian Wenqing was trying his best to refute Liu Yuanwailang's reasoning, it cannot be denied that such a possibility does exist.

After all, the pain of self-immolation is one of the most painful methods of suicide.

Moreover, so many people, including Xiao Er, witnessed that the deceased had set himself on fire; it's impossible that everyone saw it wrong.

This completely contradicts Liu Yuanwailang's deduction.

After all, Liu Shuyi's reasoning was that the murderer was the killer...

At this moment, Zhao Feng's mind was somewhat muddled.

Was Liu Yuanwailang wrong?

He couldn't help but look at Liu Shuyi.

Qian Wenqing looked at Liu Shuyi with a smug expression, making no attempt to hide his excitement.

He wanted to witness firsthand how Liu Shuyi went from calm and composed to dejected and frustrated; that would surely be very interesting.

He was just disappointed...

Even when Liu Shuyi heard his rebuttal, he didn't show the slightest surprise or astonishment on his face, and he didn't even frown.

Instead, when he looked at him, Liu Shuyi smiled slightly and said, "Thank you for reminding me, Mr. Qian. If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten. There is another clue that I haven't shared with everyone."

"What!?"

Qian Wenqing's expression froze for a moment, then her expression changed: "You still have clues!?"

Are you kidding me?
Those clues you just saw weren't even all the clues you had!

Moreover, seeing Liu Shuyi's eerie smile, Qian Wenqing suddenly had a very bad premonition.

Are we going to have to go through what just happened again?

But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't think of any reasonable explanation that Liu Shuyi could give for his question.

Not to mention that this time, he was not deliberately nitpicking, but had actually discovered facts that were completely contrary to Liu Shuyi's reasoning.

No matter how you look at it, Liu Shuyi could not possibly solve it perfectly unless... he overturned his previous reasoning.

But if it is overturned, it means that the two of them are back to square one, and Liu Shuyi is not much better than himself.

Thinking of this, he breathed a sigh of relief.

His confidence returned, and he said, "Then I'd like to see what other 'useful' clues Liu Yuanwailang has discovered."

He specifically emphasized the pronunciation of the word "useful," the meaning of which is self-evident.

Liu Shuyi was well aware of Qian Wenqing's veiled sarcasm. He looked deeply at Qian Wenqing and said slowly, "Don't worry, Master Qian, it will definitely be 'useful'."

After saying that, he turned around and looked at everyone, saying, "When I was inspecting this private room, I actually found something strange besides the window frame."

"Is there anything else strange? Where?" Wang Gui's mind was entirely focused on the case, so he hurriedly asked as soon as Liu Shuyi spoke.

Liu Shuyi didn't keep them in suspense. He raised his eyes, tilted his chin slightly forward, and said, "The wall directly opposite the door."

"The wall directly opposite the door?"

Upon hearing this, almost simultaneously, everyone turned their gaze to the wall.

The walls were blackened by soot, and their original whiteness was nowhere to be seen.

But apart from that... there's nothing special about it, right?
Wang Gui asked with some doubt: "Is there something wrong with this wall?"

Liu Shuyi went straight to the wall, raised his hand, pointed to a spot four feet high on the wall, and said, "There are two iron nails here."

"Nails?"

Following Liu Shuyi's pointing finger, everyone noticed two iron nails about a foot apart on the dark wall. However, the nails were blackened by soot and blended into the wall completely. They would not have noticed them at all if Liu Shuyi hadn't pointed them out.

Wang Gui came to the wall and carefully examined the two nails. He saw that only half of each nail was driven into the wall, while the other half was left outside.

The nails are of a very common style and can be bought at any blacksmith shop; they are nothing special.

Wang Gui, completely oblivious to the problem, couldn't help but ask, "Master Liu, what's wrong with these iron nails?"

Upon hearing this, everyone subconsciously looked at Liu Shuyi.

But Liu Shuyi shook his head and said, "Let's not rush to talk about the nails. Please ask County Lieutenant Wang to call Xiao Er over."

"Little Second?"

Although Wang Gui didn't know what Liu Shuyi wanted the waiter for, he didn't hesitate and immediately ordered someone to call the waiter over.

Before long, the waiter, looking nervous, rushed over.

"Master Liu, is this my name?" the waiter asked nervously.

Liu Shuyi nodded gently and said, "No need to be nervous. I've summoned you here because I have two questions to ask you."

The waiter hurriedly replied, "Please ask, Mr. Liu. I will certainly not hide anything from you."

Liu Shuyi nodded and asked directly, "Were these two iron nails nailed in by your Wangyue Tower?"

"Nails?"

The waiter was taken aback: "What iron nails?"

Seeing the waiter's reaction, Wang Gui suddenly had an idea and quickly pointed to the iron nails on the wall, saying, "These are the two iron nails."

It was only then that Xiao Er noticed two equally charred iron nails on the blackened wall. He had entered the room several times since last night and had never noticed them.

"Where did these nails come from?" he asked, somewhat bewildered.

Wang Gui's eyes flashed: "You don't know about these nails? They weren't nailed in by your restaurant?"

The waiter nodded subconsciously: "Of course not."

"really."

Liu Shuyi chuckled.

Upon hearing this, Wang Gui immediately looked at Liu Shuyi: "Master Liu, what exactly is going on?"

Liu Shuyi's gaze fell on the iron nails, and he said, "The position of these two iron nails is too low, so they cannot be used to hang calligraphy and paintings, nor can they be used to hang clothes. Moreover, iron nails placed here can easily injure people. No matter how you look at it, this is not a height that a restaurant would use. Therefore, I guessed that these iron nails were not driven into Wangyue Tower, and now it seems that this is indeed the case."

Upon hearing this, the waiter quickly replied, "Even when hanging calligraphy and paintings, we use very beautiful copper nails instead of iron nails. As for clothes, we have special clothes racks and hangers. We would never just nail a nail into the wall and let our guests use them."

Liu Shuyi nodded: "Since they weren't nailed by the restaurant, what do you all think about them appearing here...?"

He glanced at Wang Gui, Qian Wenqing, and the others, and slowly asked, "Who nailed it?"

Who nailed it?
A thoughtful look flashed across Wang Gui's eyes. He suddenly looked at the waiter and asked, "You come in and out of this private room every day, do you really have no recollection of these two iron nails?"

"no!"

The waiter was very confident and said, "Our restaurant is very busy, and we have customers in this private room every day. So we clean it every day, and we clean it very carefully. We clean the walls and the beams carefully to ensure that no dust falls on the guests while they are dining. So I am sure that there were no nails here before."

“You clean up after the guests every day, the only thing you never stop doing is…”

Wang Gui suddenly widened his eyes and said, "Last night!?"

"So, you only failed to clean this room last night?"

The waiter nodded subconsciously.

Wang Gui quickly looked at Liu Shuyi and said, "Apart from the incident last night, they clean this room every day, and they didn't find any nails before, which is enough to prove that the nails appeared last night!"

"And the only person who appeared in this room last night was..."

He didn't finish speaking, but everyone understood what he meant.

According to Liu Shuyi, besides the deceased, there was a mysterious second person present that night.

However, according to Qian Wenqing's question, there are only the dead here.

In other words, the nail was either put there by the deceased or by a mysterious second person; it couldn't have been put there by anyone else.

Whoever it was, driving nails into those two unusual locations on the eve of self-immolation must have had a purpose.

I just don't know what the intention is.

"Master Liu, who do you think nailed it?" Wang Gui couldn't help but ask.

Upon hearing this, Qian Wenqing also squinted at Liu Shuyi.

But to everyone's surprise, Liu Shuyi shook his head again: "Let's put this question aside for now. It's not too late to talk about it after I've asked Xiao Er my second question."

Upon hearing this, the waiter quickly replied, "Please ask, Mr. Liu."

Liu Shuyi looked at the waiter, his voice still gentle: "When you were outside the room, peeking into the private room through the crack in the door, how wide was the area you could see? Was it the entire private room?"

"This one……"

This was the first time Xiao Er had been asked such a question. He thought for a moment before saying, "The door gap was only so big that we could only see in with one eye. There was also thick smoke at the time, and there was a cabinet blocking the view at the door, so the area we could see was very limited."

As he spoke, he spread his arms and gestured: "We can only see an area of ​​about two feet wide. We can't even see the table any further in."

Upon hearing this, Liu Shuyi glanced at the table piled in the corner, which had been burned to the point of being only half-burnt.

He nodded, thought for a moment, and then asked, "What about the altitude? Can we see the entire ground level?"

"Not at all."

The waiter shook his head: "Because the cabinet is right by the door, blocking our view downwards, so we can't see the ground at all. At most, we can see about a foot off the opposite wall, which is the lowest point we can see."

After listening to the waiter's words, everyone made a mental calculation.

Then they all nodded.

The scene was right before their eyes, so they were able to reconstruct the situation based on the waiter's words.

Liu Shuyi stroked his chin and nodded, saying, "Everything is exactly as I expected."

As he spoke, he looked at Wang Gui: "Isn't County Lieutenant Wang curious about the purpose of these two iron nails?"

Wang Gui quickly looked at Liu Shuyi.

Then Liu Shuyi said, "Actually, there is another special mark on these two nails."

"There are still traces?"

Wang Gui quickly looked at the area above the nail.

He searched very carefully, inch by inch, when suddenly his gaze stopped.

"here……"

Three feet above the nail, on the wall, there was a mark that looked like a scratch, but also somewhat like a bump.

The mark was very faint; if Liu Shuyi hadn't reminded him, he would have had a hard time noticing it.

Wang Gui gently touched the mark with his fingertip, examined it carefully, and said, "The mark is very new; it hasn't been there long..."

Liu Shuyi looked at Xiao Er.

Before he could speak, the observant waiter quickly said, "When we were cleaning, we didn't find any scratches or dents on the walls."

"really!"

When Liu Shuyi specifically mentioned this mark, Wang Gui had a premonition.

Upon hearing Xiao Er's words, he looked directly at Liu Shuyi and asked, "Like those two nails, were they also the work of the murderer or the deceased?"

Upon hearing this, everyone's gaze turned to Liu Shuyi.

Then Liu Shuyi smiled slightly: "This question from County Magistrate Wang isn't very technical..."

Wang Gui was somewhat embarrassed: "Look at my mouth, they were the only ones in this room last night. If they didn't do it, who else could it be... That's not what I want to ask. What exactly were they trying to do? Why would they hammer nails in and leave such marks on the wall?"

Everyone looked thoughtful.

Liu Shuyi glanced at everyone and prompted, "Everyone, you might want to think about this carefully. These two nails are positioned very low, so they couldn't have been used to hang anything. And above these two nails, there are marks on the wall indicating that they were accidentally bumped... What could possibly fit both of these scenarios?"

The nail was positioned very low and had dents or scratches on it...

"Could it be..."

At this moment, Zhao Feng suddenly thought of something and said, "These two iron nails are for putting things in?"

"Put something in?"

Wang Gui's eyes lit up immediately, and he clapped his hands loudly: "That's right! How come I didn't think of something so obvious!"

"The nails are positioned very low; if they're not for hanging things, then they must be for placing things on!"

"And they have dents and scratches on them, which is obviously caused by something being placed on them accidentally!"

"And judging from the height between them, the object placed on the nail should be about three feet tall."

Everyone listened to Wang Gui and Zhao Feng's words and suddenly realized what they meant.

"It seems that's really the case!"

Wang Gui quickly looked at Liu Shuyi and said, "But there's nothing here now. Does this prove that the things that were originally placed here were taken away after the deceased committed suicide by fire?"

"And this is also important evidence to prove that there was indeed a second person at the time!"

Zhao Feng's eyes lit up: "That's right! That's exactly it!" He looked directly at Qian Wenqing, deliberately raising his voice, and said, "Now we finally have clear evidence to prove that there was a second person at the time!"

Qian Wenqing's face was grim. He said, "What if the deceased put it here himself, and then took it away before committing suicide by fire?"

"Have you forgotten that the straight-lattice window was cut open, and there are scars on the locust tree outside..."

"According to what Xiao Er said before, the deceased committed suicide by self-immolation, which means there was no one else in the room. Therefore, he must have cut open the straight-lattice window. He may have left through the window before hanging himself."

"Maybe he left to get rid of this thing that was on the wall!"

Upon hearing Qian Wenqing's words, both Wang Gui and Zhao Feng frowned.

Although Qian Wenqing was clearly deliberately arguing with them, the deceased, in the short span of two or three quarters of an hour, was hammering nails, placing things, cutting the window frame, taking the things placed on the nails out of the window, and then returning to self-immolate... From beginning to end, the things that were painstakingly placed were of no use at all, completely inconsistent with the behavior logic of a normal person.

However, it cannot be denied that if the deceased had really done so, he could have actually done it.

Moreover, the most important problem remains unresolved... Xiao Er witnessed the deceased self-immolate, which is a confirmed fact and completely contradicts Liu Shuyi's claim of homicide.

Zhao Feng couldn't help but look at Liu Shuyi. Qian Wenqing was clearly determined to stick to the point. If Liu Shuyi didn't explain Xiao Er's eyewitness account clearly, Qian Wenqing would never let Liu Shuyi continue the investigation.

But can Liu Yuanwailang explain it clearly?

From any perspective, these two are contradictory and cannot coexist.

Zhao Feng was very worried and sighed subconsciously.

"What are you worried about?"

But then, Liu Shuyi's voice suddenly rang out.

Zhao Feng was taken aback and subconsciously looked up, only to see Liu Shuyi smiling at him: "At such a young age, what big obstacle have you encountered that makes you look so worried?"

Zhao Feng couldn't help but say, "Master Liu, I did this for you..."

"For me? Then there's even less to worry about."

Liu Shuyi gave Zhao Feng a reassuring look, then looked at Qian Wenqing and said, "What Master Qian said makes a lot of sense; even I can't find fault with it..."

Qian Wenqing was secretly delighted. Had Liu Shuyi finally given in? Had he finally stopped struggling?

Then Liu Shuyi said, "Therefore, please wait here for a moment, Mr. Qian."

"What?" Qian Wenqing was taken aback. "What does Master Liu mean? What do you mean I should wait here for a moment? What are you going to do?"

Liu Shuyi looked intently at Qian Wenqing and said, "Didn't you want to know how I would explain this, Mr. Qian? You just need to wait here for a little while, and you'll find out... I think Mr. Qian is so eager to solve this case, he shouldn't object to such a small matter, right?"

Qian Wenqing frowned subconsciously, somewhat unsure of Liu Shuyi's intentions.

However, after careful consideration, he realized that the nails and the dents were the last clues Liu Shuyi had found, yet even so, he had blocked this lead himself.

Moreover, he was convinced from the bottom of his heart that Liu Shuyi's reasoning was wrong. No matter how reasonable it sounded, if it did not conform to reality, then it was wrong!
Since it's wrong, no matter how much Liu Shuyi struggles, it's all in vain.

On the contrary, it helped me, allowing me to obtain more clues.

Next, if we can get rid of Liu Shuyi and continue investigating along the clues that Liu Shuyi helped us find, we might be able to solve the case directly.

Thinking of this, Qian Wenqing felt much more at ease.

He said calmly, "As long as it helps solve the case, I will naturally not object, but Assistant Minister Liu..."

Qian Wenqing narrowed his eyes and looked at Liu Shuyi, saying, "If you still cannot explain your reasoning and what Xiao Er and the others witnessed, then may I assume that... you investigated in the wrong direction and almost misled my investigation, causing the truth of the case to be buried?"

"What?" Zhao Feng's expression changed: "Investigating cases is inherently prone to errors..."

"you shut up!"

Qian Wenqing shouted directly.

He said coldly, "What do you know? One person set themselves on fire the night before last, and another set themselves on fire last night. At this rate, it's very likely that something like this will happen again tonight!"

"We've gone in the wrong direction... You make it sound so easy, but the price might be that we spend even more time and energy on the wrong path, making it impossible to solve the case before tonight, leading to the loss of another life!"

“Master Liu came to investigate the case to help me! But if Master Liu causes the case to go astray, making it difficult to solve and resulting in one death after another, then Master Liu…”

Qian Wenqing stared intently at Liu Shuyi and said meaningfully, "Is this considered helping or causing trouble?"

Zhao Feng's heart tightened. He hadn't expected Qian Wenqing to use this excuse to attack Liu Yuanwailang at this moment.

Unfortunately, they couldn't refute it.

After all, if he refuted it, and another self-immolation incident occurred later, wouldn't Liu Yuanwailang have to bear the responsibility?
Moreover, Qian Wenqing's words sounded nice, and he kept saying that he hoped to expedite the investigation and prevent the self-immolation incident from happening again, but he kept finding fault and picking fights. It was clear that he was the one obstructing Liu Yuanwailang and wasting time.

He knew this, but he couldn't say it.

After all, the current situation is that Liu Yuanwailang's reasoning is in fatal conflict with reality. If this problem is not resolved, Liu Yuanwailang will always be at a disadvantage.

Zhao Feng, Wang Gui, and the others looked at Liu Shuyi with worried expressions.

However, when Liu Shuyi heard Qian Wenqing's morally superior attack, he did not refute it like Zhao Feng did. He simply said calmly, "Fine."

"Okay?" Everyone was taken aback.

What answer is this?
Qian Wenqing stared at Liu Shuyi with a dark look in his eyes. Liu Shuyi said, "What Master Qian said is right. Time is of the essence, and we cannot waste time... So, let's do as Master Qian said. If I still cannot explain my reasoning, I will automatically withdraw from the investigation and no longer participate in this case."

"What!?"

Zhao Feng was startled: "Master Liu, how can this be?"

Regardless of whether Liu Shuyi's reasoning was correct, those clues alone were something Liu Shuyi had worked very hard to find.

If Liu Shuyi were to withdraw from the investigation, wouldn't he be handing over these clues to Qian Wenqing?

Wouldn't that just let Qian Wenqing get all the credit for nothing?
Wang Gui was also greatly alarmed. Compared to Qian Wenqing, he preferred to investigate cases with Liu Shuyi. If Liu Shuyi withdrew, Qian Wenqing would find ways to humiliate him.

Liu Shuyi was well aware of what everyone was thinking, but he didn't explain. He simply looked at Qian Wenqing and asked, "Is that alright?"

Qian Wenqing was initially suspicious of Liu Shuyi's quick agreement, wondering if there was a trap, but seeing Wang Gui and Zhao Feng's tense expressions, she calmed down.

Their behavior clearly showed that they had no confidence in Liu Shuyi. Under these circumstances, they didn't believe Liu Shuyi could pull off any more tricks.

He pretended to say, "I did not force Mr. Liu; it was Mr. Liu who brought it up himself."

"nature."

Liu Shuyi looked at him calmly: "Then, please wait here patiently, and don't let your men secretly follow me anymore..."

Qian Wenqing's face stiffened. Had Liu Shuyi discovered that he had arranged for someone to monitor him?

However, given the current situation, there's no need to keep an eye on Liu Shuyi anymore. He knows all of Liu Shuyi's clues and all his trump cards, and none of them can break the deadlock.

He said calmly, "Don't worry, Mr. Liu. Since I have promised you, I will not do anything unnecessary."

Liu Shuyi nodded, stopped wasting words with Qian Wenqing, and looked at Wang Gui, saying, "County Commandant Wang, I'll trouble you to keep Qian Yuanwailang company here as well."

“Okay.” Wang Gui naturally had no objection.

"Zhao Feng, come with me..."

Liu Shuyi didn't delay any longer. Seeing that everything was arranged, he led Zhao Feng directly out of the room.

As Liu Shuyi left, the curious officials of the Ministry of Justice could no longer contain themselves and began to whisper among themselves.

"What is Liu Yuanwailang going to do?"

"I don't know, why are you being so mysterious?"

"Does Master Liu really have a way to reasonably explain this as murder?"

“It’s very difficult. The statements of Xiao Er and the others are completely opposite to Liu Yuanwailang’s reasoning. If Xiao Er and the others are not the problem, then Liu Yuanwailang’s reasoning is wrong.”

“But Liu’s reasoning seems very reasonable to me.”

"No matter how reasonable it is, if it conflicts with reality, it is wrong!"

"If Master Liu is wrong, then he will have to withdraw from the case. In that case, Master Qian will be the final winner!"

"If that's the case, then Master Liu will never be able to hold his head high in front of Master Qian again."

"Yes, experience counts, and Liu Yuanwailang is still too young and not steady enough..."

As Qian Wenqing listened to these discussions, a smile crept onto his lips. It seemed that everyone had realized that Liu Shuyi was really going to capsize here today.

"A master detective?"

Ah!
Today he will personally end the legend of Liu Shuyi!
And so, the crowd discussed and waited curiously, and a quarter of an hour quickly passed.

During that fifteen-minute period, no news came from Liu Shuyi.

This made Wang Gui, who had initially trusted him, uneasy.

He paced back and forth unconsciously.

He paced back and forth, peering towards the door, his brow furrowed.

"Why haven't they returned yet? Where has Master Liu gone?"

Wang Gui couldn't contain his anxiety. The longer it dragged on, the more trouble it would cause Liu Shuyi. Otherwise, given the speed at which Liu Shuyi had reasoned, it would have been impossible for it to take so long.

As time went on, Qian Wenqing became increasingly relaxed and self-satisfied.

He glanced at the anxious Wang Gui and said meaningfully, "Some people are like weather vanes, unable to see the right direction. Now look what's happened, the wall they relied on has collapsed, and it's too late for regrets."

Wang Gui froze, his face turning pale.

He knew that Qian Wenqing truly resented him, and if Liu Shuyi really withdrew from the investigation, Qian Wenqing would definitely not let him off easily.

He felt a chill run down his spine and was about to say something.

"Ok?"

Where did the cigarette come from?

Just then, the waiter, who had been standing quietly to the side, suddenly frowned, and then his expression changed: "That's not right! Our restaurant has no business today, the kitchen hasn't even been lit, there shouldn't be any smoke!"

"What!?"

Everyone was stunned.

Just then, the acrid blue smoke increased.

"Could there be a fire somewhere?"

"Why do I get the feeling that it's right next door?"

"Oh no, could what happened last night be happening again?"

Upon hearing what everyone said, Qian Wenqing's expression immediately changed.

He jumped up and walked straight out.

Regardless of the cause of the thick smoke, he would never put himself in danger.

Seeing this, the others also hurriedly followed. What did it matter if they agreed to Liu Shuyi's promise? Their own safety was more important.
As they left the room and entered the corridor, they were astonished to discover that the thick smoke was coming from another private room, just one room away from theirs.

The smoke was coming out from under the door.

Seeing this scene, the images from last night immediately flashed through Xiao Er's mind. His face changed drastically, and he pointed at the room, his voice trembling: "Last night, last night was just like this, just like this!!"

"What!?"

Everyone was shocked.

Wang Gui's expression changed drastically: "Has someone else self-immolated?!"

He quickly walked over and started banging on the door.

"Who's inside? Open the door!"

But no matter how much he knocked on the door, there was no response from inside.

"Bump the door!"

Wang Gui made a decisive decision and shouted loudly.

The yamen runners of Chang'an County and the officials of the Ministry of Justice didn't have time to think and joined Wang Gui in banging on the door.

Only then did they realize that the door was locked from the inside, and as they pushed the door open a crack, they discovered that there was another cabinet blocking the doorway.

The waiter trembled all over at the sight, terrifying memories flooding back: "Same, all the same!"

Wang Gui felt a chill and quickly peered through the crack in the door.

But this one look struck him like a thunderbolt, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

Not only him, but everyone else who saw the scene inside the room through the crack in the door turned pale at that moment.

Through the narrow crack in the door, thick smoke billowed out.

The thick smoke choked them, bringing tears to their eyes.

And when their vision pierced through the thick smoke, they saw this scene—

A man in a green official robe, with disheveled hair, was angrily looking up at the sky and saying something.

They couldn't hear very clearly.

But the words "I deserve to die" could still be heard.

Just then, the disheveled man seemed to notice that they were spying on them.

He suddenly turned around, his face completely obscured by his hair, but everyone could feel that he was staring coldly at them through the gaps in his hair.

then……

The man picked up the candlestick and lit it directly on himself...

Flames instantly filled their eyes.

"not good!"

Wang Gui's scalp tingled, and he almost instinctively shouted, "No!"

He knew who it was without even thinking about it—the green official robe!
Inside the Wangyue Tower, only Qian Wenqing and Liu Shuyi were qualified to wear green official robes.

Qian Wenqing is currently beside him, while Liu Shuyi has been missing for more than fifteen minutes.

And that familiar voice...

Therefore, there's no need to even think about who that person is.

"Master Liu, no!"

Wang Gui shouted, and the other officials followed suit instinctively.

Even Qian Wenqing was stunned at this moment, completely unaware of why Liu Shuyi would suddenly set himself on fire.

Could this self-immolation be something really eerie?

"Break down the door!"

They dared not delay any longer and immediately tried to ram the door.

A series of banging sounds rang out, and the previously tightly closed door was gradually forced open.

First the latch broke, then the cabinet behind the door was knocked over...

Finally, with a loud "bang," the door was smashed open!

Driven by inertia, the crowd rushed directly into the room.

Wang Gui instinctively shouted, "Quickly save Liu Yuanwailang—what!?"

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Gui's voice abruptly stopped when he saw the scene inside the room.

Then, I was completely dazed.

Not just him.

The yamen runners of Chang'an County, the officials of the Ministry of Justice, and even the cunning Qian Wenqing, were all stunned when they saw what was happening in the room.

Because they discovered that Liu Shuyi was sitting on the ground three feet away from the door, wearing his undergarments, and looking at them with a smile.

There were no flames on his body at all.

Not to mention self-immolation, Liu Shuyi didn't even have a speck of ash on his body.

As for the thick smoke that made their noses sting, it was simply coming from the damp, burning wood in the charcoal brazier in front of the door...

"How could this be?" Wang Gui's brain was completely unable to comprehend the scene before him.

Qian Wenqing was also unable to recover for a long time.

At this moment, Liu Shuyi's voice rang out unhurriedly: "Brother Er, was the scene you saw through the crack in the door the same as what you saw last night?"

The waiter was taken aback for a moment before realizing what he meant and quickly nodded, "Exactly the same! There's not a single difference!"

He looked at Liu Shuyi and couldn't help but ask, "Why is this happening? Why are you alright? I clearly saw you set yourself on fire!"

"Ignite yourself?"

Liu Shuyi shook his head and said, "Before you arrived, I was sitting here quietly watching you bang on the door without ever moving. How could you say I set myself on fire?"

"What? You didn't ignite yourself?"

Wang Gui was stunned: "Impossible, we clearly saw you with our own eyes—"

He paused mid-sentence because he had noticed something.

"Liu, where is your official robe? You were clearly wearing it just now..."

Upon hearing this, everyone noticed that Liu Shuyi was wearing an undergarment, not the green official robe they had just seen through the crack in the door.

"Official robes?"

Liu Shuyi glanced at everyone, then raised his chin and looked towards the door, saying, "Are you talking about this official robe?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously looked out in the direction Liu Shuyi was pointing.

then……

"what?"

"Zhao Feng!?"

Why are you wearing Liu Yuanwailang's official robes?

"How did you end up wearing Liu Yuanwailang's official robe?"

Hearing the shouts and commotion of the crowd, Zhao Feng slowly walked in while tidying his disheveled hair: "I've always been the one wearing Liu Yuanwailang's official robes, so naturally they're on me."

"What? You've been the one dressing all along?"

Everyone was still in shock: "But we just saw that Master Liu set himself on fire in his room..."

"That one?" Zhao Feng glanced at everyone, finally settling on Qian Wenqing, whose brows were furrowed as if she had realized something. He said meaningfully, "That's me too!"

Qian Wenqing's pupils suddenly contracted.

"what?"

"It's you too?"

Zhao Feng nodded, walked behind Liu Shuyi, faced the crowd, and said, "That's right, the person you just saw setting himself on fire was me, and the person who made the gesture of looking up to the sky and howling was also me... Liu Yuanwailang has been sitting here the whole time and has never moved."

"In other words, you thought that when Liu Yuanwailang set himself on fire, he was the only person in the room."

"But actually, I was there too!"

As he spoke, he looked at Qian Wenqing, deliberately raising his voice, and said, "Master Qian, do you understand? I was there too! At that time... it wasn't just one dead person as you said, but... there were two of them!"

(End of this chapter)