The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 53 Liu Shuyi's First Strategic Strategy: The Shock of Everyone!
In the crowded corridor, only Bai Jinghong's cries could be heard.

Some people, like Zhao Feng, couldn't bear to look at him and turned their heads away, while others, like Wang Gui, sighed and shook their heads in dismay.

The atmosphere was terribly oppressive.

At this moment, Bai Jinghong suddenly turned her head and looked at Liu Shuyi.

His thin, sunken eyes were red and swollen from crying, and his bloodshot, tear-streaked eyes stared intently at Liu Shuyi: "Can you help me?"

"Can you help me bring Shen Rong and Wei Congyi to justice?"

"You're so smart, you've already found out the truth. If you're willing, you can definitely help me avenge my father and mother!"

Upon hearing Bai Jinghong's words, everyone instinctively looked at Liu Shuyi.

But Liu Shuyi uttered words that chilled everyone to the bone: "The truth?"

“You think it’s the truth, and I think it’s the truth too… But this truth won’t convince the public, and it won’t bring Wei Congyi and the others to justice.”

Bai Jinghong clenched his fists, veins bulging on his forehead, his expression a mixture of anger and despair: "Are you just like those corrupt officials, protecting each other among yourselves?"

"shut up!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Feng immediately rebuked, "Master Liu is not that kind of person!"

"Not that kind of person?"

Bai Jinghong roared, "Since he has already found out the truth, why can't he bring Wei Congyi and the others to justice? Isn't it because Wei Congyi is an official? He simply doesn't want to offend an official for the sake of an ant like me? In the end, he's just a coward!"

"Coward? Afraid to offend officials?"

Hearing Bai Jinghong's angry words, Liu Shuyi raised an eyebrow and said, "If you knew how many officials I've offended these past few days, you wouldn't have said such a thing."

"What?" Bai Jinghong was taken aback.

Wang Gui and others understood Liu Shuyi's meaning.

To put it simply, Liu Shuyi had just finished a battle of wits with Qian Wenqing, a sixth-rank official.

To put it another way, Liu Shuyi made Pei Ji, a high-ranking official of the second rank, apologize in front of everyone.

He offended all the officials he might never dare to offend in his entire life in just a few days. If this can be called cowardice, then there are no brave people in the world.

Wei Congyi was merely a ninth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue, even lower in rank than Wang Gui. If Wang Gui wasn't afraid of him, why would Liu Shuyi, a rising star and newly promoted assistant minister in the Ministry of Justice, be afraid of him?
Looking at the furious Bai Jinghong, Liu Shuyi calmly said, "The reason I said I couldn't punish Wei Congyi and the others is not because I'm afraid of them, nor because I want to protect them, but because... I have no evidence."

"No evidence?" Bai Jinghong was stunned.

Liu Shuyi said, "The truth I tell is based on reasoning derived from logic and motives. But reasoning is just reasoning. Without the support of actual evidence, it cannot be truly used in the trial of a case."

"And the evidence..."

He looked directly into Bai Jinghong's sunken eyes: "It's been almost two years since your parents had that accident. In such a long time, even the inn from back then has been turned into a cosmetics shop and a jewelry shop. You can imagine that even if there was any evidence left, it would have long since disappeared in the dust of time."

"Under these circumstances, I can't even pass the Dali Temple's review, so how can I possibly arrest Wei Congyi and the others?"

Bai Jinghong's pupils trembled violently, and her whole body trembled continuously.

He shook his head, as if he wanted to say something.

In the end, all that remained was to close her eyes helplessly.

This time, he didn't yell at Liu Shuyi, because he knew that Liu Shuyi hadn't lied to him.

Liu Shuyi didn't really not want to help him; he just couldn't.

It's been two years, almost two years.

The house where my parents died was demolished and rebuilt a year ago.

It's simply impossible to find even a trace of evidence.

He had already been captured and didn't have many days left to live, so he would never have the chance to take revenge himself...

Tears of blood flowed from his eyes.

A deeper sense of despair and resentment enveloped him.

"Why? Why is God so cruel to me!"

"We already know the truth, we already know that Wei Congyi and his gang killed my parents, so why aren't these evil people punished?"

"Does the fact that no evidence can be found really mean they can continue to get away with it?"

Bai Jinghong reopened her eyes and looked at Liu Shuyi: "Why didn't I meet you sooner?"

"Why couldn't you have appeared sooner..."

"If I had met you sooner, perhaps the evidence could still be found, perhaps..."

He looked down at his frail, terminally ill body, recalling the near-death experiences of the past two years, and shook his head: "Perhaps, I wouldn't have ended up like this."

Hearing Bai Jinghong's words, Wang Gui and the others were all deeply moved.

Zhao Feng felt the same way.

Because he knew very well that if Zhao Chengyi hadn't framed Liu Shuyi when he committed the crime, he would have inevitably become Zhao Chengyi's scapegoat.

In that case, he would surely die without a burial place for the crime of murdering an official of the imperial court.

He was very fortunate to have met Liu Shuyi before everything was too late.

Otherwise, Bai Jinghong today would suffer the same fate as him.

Looking at Bai Jinghong's desperate and helpless expression, Zhao Feng pursed his lips and couldn't help but ask, "Master Liu, is there really no way out? Are we really just going to watch them continue to bully and oppress us?"

Liu Shuyi pondered for a moment and said, "It's not that there's absolutely no way."

Upon hearing Liu Shuyi's words, everyone's gaze immediately fell upon him.

Bai Jinghong's previously lifeless eyes suddenly lit up, making him appear as if he were experiencing a final burst of energy before death, despite his terminal illness.

"any solution?"

Bai Jinghong asked impatiently.

Liu Shuyi didn't rush to answer, but instead glanced at the people around him.

Seeing this, the quick-witted Wang Gui immediately instructed the yamen runners, "You may all go and rest now. I will call you again if needed."

Liu Shuyi was very satisfied with Wang Gui's insight. He also looked at the officials from the Ministry of Justice who had come with him and said gently, "You have been running around with me all day without even having a proper meal. Now that the case is clear, you don't need to go hungry anymore. Go to the first floor of the restaurant and find the manager. Ask them to prepare food for you. Eat as much as you like. This is my way of thanking you for your help today."

Those who can navigate the officialdom, even if they are not particularly intelligent, are certainly not foolish.

So when they saw Liu Shuyi clearing the area, they knew that what was about to happen was not something they could hear.

In this situation, they naturally expressed their gratitude to Liu Shuyi, saying that it was all they should do as subordinates, and then quickly left, taking advantage of Liu Shuyi's offer.

Soon, the once crowded corridor was reduced to only Liu Shuyi and three others.

Wang Gui was unsure whether he should stay, and tentatively asked, "Liu Yuanwailang, shall I also leave first?"

Liu Shuyi smiled and shook his head: "This case was originally under the jurisdiction of County Lieutenant Wang, so naturally County Lieutenant Wang should stay."

With that, he walked directly into the room.

Upon entering, a strong smell of kerosene hit you.

Three steps from the doorway, Lu Yangyuan lay unconscious on the floor.

A silver mirror, even larger than the one Du Ying had borrowed for him, was placed on the wall. Its surface was polished to a high shine, and as he approached, he could clearly see himself in the mirror.

Everything in the room was exactly as he had predicted.

Liu Shuyi sat down at the table, looked at Bai Jinghong who had been brought in by Wang Gui, and asked, "How long will it take for Lu Yangyuan to wake up?"

Bai Jinghong said, "It will take at least two more hours."

"Two hours?"

Liu Shuyi raised an eyebrow and said, "You've used quite a dosage."

"Of course I need to administer a higher dose to prevent him from waking up midway and having an accident."

"That's true."

Bai Jinghong didn't want to talk about these irrelevant things. He stared intently at Liu Shuyi and asked impatiently, "You said you have a way to punish Wei Congyi and the others. What way?"

Wang Gui also looked at Liu Shuyi curiously, while Zhao Feng, who was guarding the door to prevent outsiders from eavesdropping, also perked up his ears.

Liu Shuyi's gaze was deep as he slowly said, "I just said that I have no evidence to prove that my reasoning is the truth, but sometimes... proving the truth does not necessarily require evidence."

"Is evidence necessarily required?" The three frowned in thought.

Liu Shuyi didn't keep them in suspense and said directly, "If Wei Congyi and the others confess that they were responsible for the deaths of Bai Ju'an and his wife, then they can be convicted just the same!"

"Tell me on their own initiative!?" Wang Gui was stunned for a moment: "How is that possible? One of them committed arson and murder, and the other embezzled the family fortune. Their relationship was very secretive and difficult for outsiders to know. Obviously, they were afraid of being suspected, so they were determined to never admit it."

"In this situation, let alone confessing voluntarily, they probably wouldn't admit it even if someone held a knife to their throat."

Bai Jinghong also frowned. Although he didn't speak, his expression was enough to prove that he shared the same thoughts as Wang Gui.

Liu Shuyi was not surprised by their reaction. He said, "That's why you can't ask them the questions in the normal way; you have to use... deception!"

"A scam?" The group was taken aback.

Liu Shuyi's gaze swept over them, and he slowly said, "The bond between Shen Rong and Wei Congyi is his sister, but now his sister is just a mistress, and she is not even qualified to enter the Wei family's gate."

"What do you think..."

Liu Shuyi squinted and said, "Would Shen Rong's sister really be content to be just a mistress who can't even get into the Wei family?"

"Would Shen Rong really be satisfied? He helped Wei Congyi so much, giving him such a large mansion, yet his own sister isn't even qualified to enter the mansion he gave her?"

“This…” Wang Gui hesitated for a moment, then said, “Normally speaking, Shen Rong and his sister should feel resentful.”

Liu Shuyi said, "Shen Rong is a merchant, and merchants have a very low status. They are not even qualified to participate in the imperial examinations. Wei Congyi, on the other hand, has already risen from a clerk to an official. It can be said that his social class is no longer on the same level as Shen Rong's."

"Under these circumstances, the two of them can probably no longer interact as equals as before..."

"Moreover, if Wei Congyi wants to continue climbing the ladder, his involvement in murder will always be a threat to him. Once Shen Rong turns against him and reveals the secret from back then, he will fall directly from the clouds to the abyss."

"So, in this situation..."

He looked at Wang Gui and said, "Tell me, if someone dressed in black arrested Shen Rong, pretended to kill him to silence him, and mentioned Wei Congyi's name during the fight... how would Shen Rong react?"

Wang Gui's eyes widened immediately, and he felt goosebumps rising on his skin.

Looking at Liu Shuyi, who spoke of such a vicious scheme so casually, he couldn't help but swallow hard and said, "Is that even a question! Shen Rong will definitely think that Wei Congyi killed him to silence him, that Wei Congyi was afraid that he would reveal the secret of their joint murder of Bai Ju'an and his wife, and that he would affect Wei Congyi's future, so he killed him to silence him."

"What do you say……"

Liu Shuyi chuckled and said, "At this point, if we guide Shen Rong to reveal the details of the case from back then, will Shen Rong continue to conceal it?"

"He's about to be silenced by Wei Congyi, how could he possibly still be hiding anything?"

Wang Gui said, "He can only angrily curse Wei Congyi!"

"Look!"

Listening to Wang Gui's words, Liu Shuyi smiled and said, "The truth, wasn't it just revealed by Shen Rong? In this situation, is evidence still needed?"

Wang Gui, of course, shook his head vigorously.

"The murderer has already confessed, so of course there's no need for further explanation!"

Liu Shuyi smiled and continued, "We can use the same method on Wei Congyi as well."

"About Wei Congyi?" Wang Gui hurriedly looked at Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi said, "We don't need to care how good the relationship between Shen Rong and Wei Congyi is, or whether there is any rift between them... We just need to know that from Shen Rong's perspective, he has every reason to be dissatisfied with Wei Congyi."

"So, you're saying... if we send a secret letter to Wei Congyi in Shen Rong's name, demanding that Wei Congyi marry his sister in a grand wedding procession, or else we'll reveal the secret of murdering Bai Ju'an and his wife."

"you say……"

He looked intently at Wang Gui: "What will Wei Congyi do when Shen Rong threatens him with the secret he fears most?"

Wang Gui's pupils suddenly contracted, and he felt a tightness throughout his body. He said, "I'm afraid... he will really kill me to silence me, so that he can be free from coercion once and for all!"

Liu Shuyi laughed: "This makes things even easier. We don't even need to fake a cover-up to silence them."

“If Wei Congyi wants to silence them, he will not use others to do it, so as not to let others know their secret. Therefore, he will definitely do it himself. In this case, we only need to send people to keep a close eye on the two of them, and we will know exactly when he will make his move.”

"In the previous plan, when faced with the truth revealed by Shen Rong, Wei Congyi could perhaps still use the excuse that Shen Rong was trying to frame him."

"But what if we catch him committing murder himself, then what do you say..."

Liu Shuyi said in a deep voice, "Does he still have a chance to argue?"

As Wang Gui listened to Liu Shuyi's elaborate scheme, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Liu Shuyi's plan was based on the actual situation of Wei Congyi and Shen Rong. He used facts as a basis and the different identities and circumstances of the two as a starting point. The whole plan was not complicated, but it was absolutely able to hit the mark with Wei Congyi and Shen Rong.

He used the horror of human nature and the greed and evil of the human heart to the extreme.

Just listening to it, Wang Gui knew that he would definitely succeed.

After all, it's impossible for Wei Congyi and Shen Rong to be completely without any grudges. Even brothers can fight to the death for profit, let alone two partners bound together by a not-so-solid marriage.

In particular, the two partners are no longer in the same position.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel grateful that Liu Shuyi was his partner in the investigation; otherwise, if Liu Shuyi had committed the crime, probably few people in the world would have been able to solve it.

Meanwhile, Bai Jinghong, who was standing to the side, listened to the two of them, and the despair and death in her eyes had long since burst forth with new life.

He looked at Liu Shuyi, his face full of gratitude and excitement: "I knew it! Master Liu is so smart, he would definitely be able to help me! Master Liu, please accept my bow."

As he spoke, he knelt down on the ground and kowtowed deeply to Liu Shuyi.

With three loud thuds, Bai Jinghong's forehead was a bloody mess.

Looking at Bai Jinghong, who was full of gratitude towards him, Liu Shuyi said in a deep voice, "As an official of the Ministry of Justice, since I have encountered a case where the truth has been obscured, I naturally have to find a way to bring the real culprit to justice. I am not doing this for you alone."

Bai Jinghong said, "Whether it was for my sake or not, I only know that without Liu Yuanwailang, Wei Congyi and the others would probably never have paid the price!"

Wang Gui and Zhao Feng both nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

Putting aside everything else, without Liu Shuyi, the names of Wei Congyi and Shen Rong would never have come into their sights, let alone been able to use clever schemes to capture them.

Seeing Bai Jinghong's persistence, Liu Shuyi didn't say anything more.

He pondered for a moment, then suddenly turned to Wang Gui and said, "County Commandant Wang, are you interested in giving the plan I just proposed a try?"

Wang Gui was taken aback at first, then realized what was going on and looked surprised: "Does Master Liu mean... that I should also be involved in this case?"

Liu Shuyi laughed and said, "The case of the murder of Bai Ju'an and his wife is an extension of the self-immolation case. The self-immolation case was handled by County Commandant Wang, so the case of the murder of Bai Ju'an and his wife should naturally also be under the jurisdiction of County Commandant Wang."

Wang Gui couldn't help but say, "But I didn't do anything from beginning to end. Moreover, if I had participated, I would have taken some credit. How could I, Liu Yuanwailang, possibly..."

“What County Magistrate Wang said makes no sense.”

Liu Shuyi shook his head, interrupting Wang Gui: "No matter what I want to do, County Lieutenant Wang has always been very cooperative and has helped me a lot. How can it be that he did nothing?"

"Moreover, if it weren't for County Lieutenant Wang requesting support from the Ministry of Justice, I wouldn't have come here and wouldn't have been able to solve these two cases. So, both morally and logically, County Lieutenant Wang deserves credit."

How could Liu Shuyi not know that involving Wang Gui in the follow-up matters would mean taking some credit, but he didn't care.

On the one hand, the case of Bai Ju'an and his wife was, in essence, a simple murder case motivated by greed, and the credit for solving the case was very limited.

On the other hand, he wanted to build his own network of relationships and influence.

His enemies were either the high-ranking Pei Ji or the mysterious master behind Miao Yin'er. Du Ruhui alone was not enough to contend with them.

Moreover, relying on others is unreliable; only by having his own power can he have real confidence.

Although Wang Gui's rank is not high, as the county constable of Chang'an County, he has a certain amount of real power. Compared with many officials of higher rank, he can do more. Moreover, as the governor of the west, he has a lot of cases to deal with. If I can get along well with Wang Gui, he will definitely be the first person Wang Gui thinks of when he encounters a difficult case.

In this way, he would have more opportunities to make meritorious contributions without worrying that Qian Wenqing would intercept the case midway.

Not to mention that if she did this, Wang Gui would be grateful to her and respect her even more, and she would be able to take the lead in their future interactions.

The effort put in far outweighed the reward.

Wang Gui was unaware of Liu Shuyi's thoughts. He only knew that Liu Shuyi had solved the case and devised the solution. As long as he followed Liu Shuyi's plan, Wei Congyi and Shen Rong's capture was only a matter of time, and he would surely gain credit...

At that moment, he couldn't quite articulate his thoughts; they were incredibly complex.

When investigating cases with Qian Wenqing before, if the case could be solved, Qian Wenqing would immediately take the credit; if the case could not be solved, Qian Wenqing would quickly shift the blame onto me.

Over time, he almost got used to it.

Subconsciously, they felt that the credit had nothing to do with them, and all the responsibility belonged to them.

So much so that Liu Shuyi suddenly took the initiative to give credit to him, who hadn't done anything, which made him feel a little teary-eyed.

Damn it! This is the first time in all these years that I've felt so favored.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and solemnly bowed to Liu Shuyi, saying, "I will remember your kindness today, Mr. Liu. In the future, I promise that I will do whatever you ask, no matter if it means going through fire or water!"

Liu Shuyi looked at Wang Gui's swearing expression and chuckled and nodded.

He finally made friends not through Du Ruhui's connections, but solely through his own efforts.

　I didn't sleep well last night, and some things came up, so I wrote late and slowly, hence the late update. Please forgive me.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)