The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 87: Case Closed! The Truth Revealed! (10,000 words)
Soon, Liu Shuyi and the others arrived at the room to the left of the main hall.

Pushing the door open, Liu Shuyi discovered that it was a study.

The study was not large, with an old vermilion lacquered desk placed by the window.

Behind the desk are two rows of bookshelves.

The bookshelves were filled with books, all with their spines facing outwards, and each book was placed in a different compartment according to its size and thickness.

It makes it look like a fine work of art at first glance, and it is very beautiful.

"Xu Xi's obsessive-compulsive disorder is really quite severe."

Liu Shuyi lowered his gaze, and then his eyes suddenly narrowed.

Two obvious pools of blood were visible on the ground near the desk.

One big and one small.

Because the charcoal brazier had long since gone out, the bloodstains, which had not yet dried, had frozen and now reflected a bright red light under the lantern's glow.

Liu Shuyi walked into the study, looked down at the two pools of blood of different sizes on the floor, and a thoughtful look flashed in his eyes.

Upon seeing this, Du Gou said, "It seems this is where Xu Xi was murdered."

“At the time of the incident, he was still wearing his outer robe, which meant that he was different from the others and had not yet rested. He must have been reading in this study.”

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly, agreeing with Du Gou's analysis.

He thought for a moment, then looked up, his gaze sweeping over the bookshelf before settling on the desk.

Then one sees the Four Treasures of the Study placed on the desk.

Several sheets of Xuan paper were stacked together, with a brush holder directly above it, on which several writing brushes were hanging. To the right front was a brown inkstone, the ink inside of which had frozen, and a writing brush dipped in ink was placed against the inkstone.

The splattered bloodstains stretched across half the table.

This resulted in noticeable bloodstains on the pen holder, inkstone, brush, and even the tabletop.

but……

Liu Shuyi looked at the stacks of Xuan paper and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"strangeness……"

Du Gou followed Liu Shuyi's gaze, frowned slightly, and said, "There are bloodstains everywhere else, but there isn't a single bloodstain on these white sheets of paper. Why is that? Could it be..."

He looked at Liu Shuyi and guessed, "Was it the murderer who took the bloodstained paper?"

"Did the murderer take the papers with him?"

Lu Yangyuan was startled and said, "Could this be the reason why the murderer killed Xu Xi's family?"

"not only that."

Liu Shuyi's voice rang out slowly, and everyone quickly looked at him. They saw Liu Shuyi pointing to the desk to the right of the Xuan paper and saying, "Look here..."

Everyone quickly crowded forward to take a look.

Liu Shuyi was pointing to a bloodstain.

But this bloodstain...

"broken!"

Du Gou's pupils dilated sharply. His tacit understanding with Liu Shuyi allowed him to quickly grasp Liu Shuyi's meaning. He said, "The bloodstain is only half-formed, as if it was severed by something. Could it be..."

He looked at Liu Shuyi and said, "There was something else placed here before, which caused the blood droplets to fall half on the table and half on that thing."

"And now there's nothing here, so..."

"He was also taken away by the murderer!"

Lu Yangyuan couldn't help but ask, "What could it be that would make the murderer go to such lengths to take it away?"

Liu Shuyi's eyes flickered slightly. He looked at Zhao Feng and asked, "Did Qin Wuyang say that he discovered any clues here, or took anything away from here?"

Zhao Feng shook his head: "No! From beginning to end, he only produced the so-called evidence that the murderers used to frame me, and nothing else."

Du Gou also said, "When I was investigating, I specifically asked the officials of the Dali Temple who accompanied Qin Wuyang to investigate. They said that Qin Wuyang only ordered people to carry away the body and did not take anything else with him. The only physical evidence, the murder weapon, was found at the Zhao residence."

Liu Shuyi nodded: "So it seems that the things on the table, as well as what Xu Xi wrote, were taken away by the murderer."

"Xu Xi was an Imperial Censor in the Censorate, responsible for supervising all officials. They usually did not submit memorials, but when they did, they mostly denounced the faults and crimes of officials, thus impeaching them."

"so……"

He looked at Zhao Feng and the other two and said, "Do you think it's possible that Xu Xi has evidence against someone and is preparing to impeach them, but the other party finds out and, in order to secure their position and prevent their crimes from being exposed, they ruthlessly kill Xu Xi!"

Lu Yangyuan thought for a moment and then nodded repeatedly: "That must be it! Otherwise, it would be one thing for the murderer to kill someone, but why would they take away what Xu Xi wrote?"

Du Gou glanced at the neatly arranged writing implements and looked at the ink frozen on the tip of the brush. He nodded and said, "Xu Xi must have been writing something at the time, but the murderer took what he wrote away. Considering Xu Xi's identity, this possibility is indeed the highest."

Liu Shuyi thought for a moment and said, "I have another more specific guess, but it needs further verification."

"go!"

He turned around and walked out, saying, "Let's go check out the other rooms."

After leaving the study, Liu Shuyi quickly went to the next room.

Pushing the door open, you'll see a bedroom.

The bedroom was small and had no distinction between inner and outer rooms.

As Liu Shuyi approached the bed with a lantern, the blood-soaked bedding immediately came into view.

On the bed, the bedding was lying in disarray, and it was stained red with blood.

Reaching out to touch it, the blood was frozen, and the entire bedding seemed frozen into steel, extremely cold and hard.

Beside the bed is a small cabinet.

On the cabinet was a medicine bowl that had been emptied.

"This should be the bedroom of Xu Xi's seriously ill mother."

Du Gou rummaged through the wardrobe, picked up some clothes styled for elderly people, and said to Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi nodded.

Zhao Feng then said, "When Imperial Censor Xu apologized to me, he mentioned his mother's condition. His mother is very ill and is almost always in a coma. She can only wake up for about half an hour around noon each day. She is currently relying on medication to stay alive. He said he doesn't know how much longer his mother can live, but even if it costs him his life, he will make sure his mother lives one more day, and he will never let her live one less day."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yangyuan clenched his fists and said, "This murderer is truly inhuman! Xu Xi's mother was already unconscious and in such a state of illness, yet he still went so far as to kill her!"

Looking at the blood-soaked bed, Liu Shuyi pondered, "Perhaps the murderer didn't sneak into the Xu residence, but entered openly. So after killing Xu Xi, he was afraid that others would reveal his identity, so he also silenced the others."

Lu Yangyuan gritted his teeth and said, "Xu Xi's mother only wakes up at noon every day, how would she know his identity?"

"Yes."

Liu Shuyi nodded: "So, this murderer is both cautious and cold-blooded."

"Let's go."

He glanced one last time at the bloodstains on the bed, then turned and walked out: "To another room."

Next to Xu Xi's mother's bedroom was the bedroom of Xu Xi's family of three.

The condition of this bedroom was exactly the same as that of his mother's bedroom.

The bed looked as if it had been stained with blood. The once warm blankets were now cold and hard due to the frozen blood. Holding them in your hands made you feel that your heart was as cold as the blankets.

"Damn it! I have a wife and children too, that's why I can't stand things like this!"

"Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor; what does it matter if innocent wives and children are implicated?!"

Lu Yangyuan looked at Liu Shuyi and said, "Master Liu, you must arrest this bastard as soon as possible. I feel suffocated if he can stay at ease for even a quarter of an hour longer."

Liu Shuyi never expected Lu Yangyuan to be so righteous.

He nodded and said, "Don't worry, he won't be able to get away with it for long."

Liu Shuyi walked out of the bedroom and glanced down at the door latch when he reached the door.

The latch was intact, and there was no sign of any damage to the entire door.

"It seems that Xu Xi's wife left the door open for him, waiting for him to come back and rest..." Liu Shuyi said.

Du Gou nodded, glanced back at the blood-stained bed one last time, and sighed, "But little did he know, Xu Xi would never have the chance to come back. And this door, instead, gave the murderer an opportunity. Otherwise, if the murderer had killed Xu Xi's wife and children, he would have had to find a way to break down the door. That time would have been enough to wake Xu Xi's wife and make her cry for help. Perhaps the neighbors could have heard her and come to her rescue."

Lu Yangyuan clenched his fists even tighter as he listened, unconsciously drawing parallels between Xu Xi's situation and his own.

The thought of his wife and children suffering the same fate filled him with a heart-wrenching pain, and he felt an urge to twist the murderer's head off.

Standing outside the door, looking at the dark courtyard, Du Gou said, "We've checked the crime scene. What's next? Should we go to Zhao Lingshi's residence to investigate?"

Zhao Feng quickly looked at Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi shook his head: "No rush, let's go check the kitchen again."

"kitchen?"

Du Gou's heart skipped a beat, and he said, "A kitchen knife!?"

"You don't suspect that the kitchen knife the murderer used belonged to the Xu family, do you?"

Liu Shuyi walked to the right. The Xu family didn't have many rooms, and the kitchen was on the right side of the main hall.

As he walked, he said, "Why not?"

Du Gou frowned: "His methods of killing were so swift, he even silenced the entire Xu family, and then he framed Zhao Lingshi in a very thorough way... No matter how you look at it, this is a long-planned scheme. How could he possibly need to go to the Xu family's kitchen to find the weapon for such a plan? What if the Xu family hid the kitchen knife well and he couldn't find it?"

Lu Yangyuan and Zhao Feng nodded subconsciously.

But Liu Shuyi said, "I wonder if Vice Minister Du has ever considered why the murderer would use a kitchen knife to kill someone."

"Why use a kitchen knife?" Du Gou frowned in thought.

Liu Shuyi said, "You know, although a kitchen knife is sharp enough, it's still too big compared to weapons like daggers."

"And big means it's not easy to hide, and if it's not easy to hide, it's easy to be discovered."

"Therefore, from the perspective of carrying and concealing, a kitchen knife is definitely not the first choice for planned murder."

Du Gou frowned, then nodded slightly.

Indeed, compared to weapons like daggers, which are sharp enough, easy to conceal, and readily available, kitchen knives are clearly at a disadvantage.

Could it be, as Liu Shuyi said, that the kitchen knife was found in the Xu family's kitchen?
But the murderer's plan was so meticulous, how could they possibly have chosen a weapon made from readily available materials?
Du couldn't understand it.

"arrive."

As he was deep in thought, Liu Shuyi's voice rang out.

Du Gou hurriedly looked over and saw that Liu Shuyi had already entered the kitchen.

The Xu family's kitchen was very clean and tidy, with no dust on the floor and not a trace of soot from burning firewood.

The stove was polished to a shine, and the water and rice containers were covered with lids. The cutting board was placed right next to the stove, and on the cutting board was a shelf nailed to the wall, on which were placed utensils such as spoons.

A kitchen knife is hanging on the shelf.

"There's a kitchen knife!"

Du Gou quickly stepped forward and said, "There is no other place to put kitchen utensils in this kitchen, only here. The kitchen knife is hung here, which is just right. It fits Xu Xi's habit of doing everything properly and neatly."

Lu Yangyuan said, "So, the murderer didn't take the kitchen knife from here, but rather he prepared it beforehand?"

Du Gou nodded: "Although we don't know why the murderer chose a kitchen knife that is easy to expose, the facts prove that it is indeed the case."

"Is that really the case?"

To everyone's surprise, Liu Shuyi shook his head upon hearing this: "Du Sicheng, do you really believe that this kitchen knife belongs to the Xu family?"

Du Gou was taken aback: "Isn't that right?"

Liu Shuyi took the kitchen knife off the shelf, his fingers gently tracing the blade, and said slowly, "The surface of the knife is already rusty, and the handle feels sticky, clearly indicating it hasn't been cleaned in a long time..."

He laughed and said, "You can tell from this kitchen that the Xu family is very diligent and clean, so how could they let the handle of the kitchen knife they use every day be so dirty?"

"Not to mention, rust on the blade only appears if it is not used or maintained for a long time."

"The Xu family cooks every day, how could they possibly not go through a long period of time without going out of cooking?"

As he spoke, he handed the kitchen knife to Zhao Feng and said, "Zhao Lingshi, take a look and see if this kitchen knife is yours."

"My family's?"

Zhao Feng was taken aback for a moment, but quickly understood what Liu Shuyi meant.

He immediately took the kitchen knife, but after looking at it for a long time, he scratched his head and said, "This... I don't cook, so I don't know what my kitchen knife looks like."

Du Gou's expression flickered violently, and he suddenly said, "It must be your kitchen knife!"

“If the murderer wants to frame you, then by sending the real murder weapon to your home, he must have taken away the kitchen knife from your home. In this way, the murder weapon can truly become irrefutable evidence.”

"Moreover, this kitchen knife is rusty and hasn't been used in a long time, which perfectly matches the situation of your Zhao family."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yangyuan couldn't help but ask, "Zhao Lingshi, since you came back, haven't you cooked a meal for yourself? Haven't you used a kitchen knife at all?"

Zhao Feng was a little embarrassed and said, "When my father was still alive, he only let me study and didn't let me do anything else, so I don't know how to cook. In addition, I've been very busy these days following Liu Yuanwailang to investigate cases, and I've been eating out all the time... So, since I came back, I really haven't been to the kitchen even once."

Upon hearing this, Du Gou became even more certain of his guess.

He couldn't help but look at Liu Shuyi, his eyelids twitching involuntarily, and said, "Master Liu, so... it really is as you said, the kitchen knife used by the murderer was a kitchen knife from the Xu family!"

"But if he had truly planned everything meticulously, he would have prepared the murder weapon. Therefore, could it be that his plan wasn't meticulous at all? Could it be that his murder was..."

Liu Shuyi knew that Du Gou had already guessed it.

He nodded and said, "There's one more thing I haven't told you."

"What is it?" Du Gou's breathing quickened; he felt the truth was right before his eyes.

Liu Shuyi didn't keep him in suspense and asked, "Do you still remember the wound on the back of Xu Xi's head?"

Everyone nodded in agreement: "Of course."

Liu Shuyi said, "When I was in Dali Temple prison, I questioned Qin Wuyang about my wounds, leaving him speechless. In fact, I already knew the answer."

"What is it?" Du Gou asked hastily.

"Why did Xu Xi give the killer the opportunity to accurately strike the back of her head during their fight?"

"Why would the murderer use something else to strike Xu Xi on the back of the head when he clearly had a sharp weapon like a kitchen knife at hand?"

"And...where is the blunt weapon that struck Xu Xi on the back of the head? Where did the murderer take it? And why did the murderer take it away?"

He looked at everyone and said, "The answer lies in the blunt weapon that struck Xu Xi on the back of the head."

"When examining the wound on the back of Xu Xi's head, I found some black debris."

Du Gou and the others nodded; they had also noticed the black flakes on Liu Shuyi's fingertips.

"Based on my judgment, those black fragments should be ink clumps formed after the ink dried."

"Under normal circumstances, what would an ink clump adhere to? Or in other words, what would ink be stored in?"

What kind of container will ink be used in...?

Du Gou's expression suddenly changed, as if he had just thought of something. He said, "The inkstone is naturally the container for ink! And if the ink dries and isn't rinsed off properly, it will also stick to the inkstone, so..."

Seeing Du Gou's surprised expression, Liu Shuyi nodded and said, "That's right, it's an inkstone!"

"If I'm not mistaken, the blunt object the murderer used to strike Xu Xi on the back of the head was an inkstone! And it must have been a very heavy inkstone made of stone or something similar."

"It's actually an inkstone!?" Lu Yangyuan looked surprised.

Zhao Feng frowned: "But we didn't find any bloodstained inkstone in the study. In fact, in Imperial Censor Xu's study, there was only one inkstone on the table. I didn't find a second inkstone."

"Xu Xi was frugal. As long as the inkstone didn't leak, he could continue to use it, so it was normal that he only had one inkstone."

Liu Shuyi continued, "Furthermore, if the inkstone belonged to Xu Xi, there would be no need for the murderer to take it away after hitting Xu Xi with it. In any case, the inkstone has nothing to do with him, and we cannot find him through the inkstone."

"But the fact is that he took the inkstone away and did not leave it at the Zhao residence to frame Zhao Lingshi. This shows that the inkstone used in the murder was very important to the murderer, so important that he could only feel at ease if he took it away."

"Considering all of this, can we conclude that the inkstone used in the murder was brought there by the murderer himself?"

"He brought the inkstone with him, so he certainly didn't intend to use it to kill someone. Based on our previous deductions, we believe that Xu Xi discovered the murderer's problems and wanted to impeach him, which is why the murderer killed Xu Xi."

"So, do you think the truth might be like this..."

Everyone instinctively held their breath, their eyes fixed on Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi took a deep breath and slowly said, "The murderer somehow learned that Xu Xi had information about him and was going to impeach him. In order to avoid losing his official position or even being arrested and imprisoned, the murderer specially brought a fine inkstone, or an inkstone with special meaning, to Xu Xi's residence to see him, hoping to ask Xu Xi to show leniency and let him go by giving him a gift."

"But Xu Xi was upright and incorruptible, and refused to accept his bribes, vowing to expose his crimes to the public."

"When the negotiations between the two failed, Xu Xi was unwilling to say anything more to him, or even look at him. She would simply get up, turn her back to the murderer, or go to the bookshelf to find something, so that the murderer would leave."

"The murderer did not expect Xu Xi to be so disrespectful, and was unwilling to really lose his future because of Xu Xi. So, in a fit of rage, he picked up the hard inkstone and attacked Xu Xi, knocking her to the ground."

"After he knocked Xu Xi down, seeing Xu Xi lying on the ground, he thought he had killed Xu Xi. In his panic, he remembered that he had come to visit Xu Xi and that her family knew about it."

"So, he simply went all the way and went straight to the Xu family's kitchen, took out a cleaver, and killed Xu Xi's mother, wife, and children one after another."

"Afterwards, remembering that Xu Xi had written down his incriminating evidence, he ran to the study to take it away. However, his previous sneak attack had not killed Xu Xi, giving Xu Xi a chance to struggle. Xu Xi even hid behind the door, trying to sneak attack him. So the two of them wrestled, and in the end, the murderer used the advantage of the kitchen knife in his hand to kill Xu Xi completely."

"But because of this, Xu Xi tore a piece of flesh from his body."

Following Liu Shuyi's analysis, everyone's minds began to work with him.

After a moment, they all nodded.

Based on the clues they currently have, Liu Shuyi's analysis confirms that he is indeed the most likely candidate.

Seeing everyone nod, Liu Shuyi continued, "After the murderer finished killing people, he knew that this matter would be discovered soon. The entire family of a court official was killed, and the court would definitely investigate."

"He was afraid that the imperial court would investigate him, so he thought of framing someone else and finding a scapegoat."

“And coincidentally…” Liu Shuyi looked at Zhao Feng, who was merely pursing his lips, and said, “He knows that Xu Xi once impeached your father, that your residence is not far from the Xu residence, and even that you live alone now, with no one to vouch for you…”

"So, he decided to make you the real culprit!"

Hearing Liu Shuyi's words, Lu Yangyuan couldn't help but look at Zhao Feng.

Given how well the murderer knew Zhao Feng and the Zhao residence, he was now almost certain that the murderer might indeed be one of Zhao Feng's friends.

This very friend, after committing murder to cover it up, immediately thought of making his own brother a scapegoat...

Lu Yangyuan wanted to comfort Zhao Feng, but he didn't know what to say.

Du Gou also looked at Zhao Feng with some concern.

But this time, Zhao Feng was no longer as pained and sorrowful as before.

He pursed his lips, then looked up and met Liu Shuyi's gaze, saying, "Now that we know the whole story of the murderer, how do we find him?"

Seeing that Zhao Feng had regained his usual calm and rationality and was no longer affected by his friend's betrayal, Liu Shuyi nodded in approval.

He knew that after this battle, Zhao Feng would only be more determined and calmer in the face of adversity than before. Difficulties had not defeated Zhao Feng; they had only made him stronger.

He said, "Go to the Censorate and ask Xu Xi what he's been doing lately, and who he's investigating..."

…………

The Censorate.

The Tang Dynasty had a rule that every government office, even at night, must have someone on duty.

To prevent the government from being unable to mobilize in a timely manner in case of unexpected events.

Therefore, even though it was already midnight when Liu Shuyi and his group arrived at the Censorate, they were still received by censors.

"Master Liu..."

A censor of about forty years old walked into the reception room carrying a stack of books.

He placed these books on the table in front of Liu Shuyi and said, "These are the official documents that Imperial Censor Xu has handled in the past month."

"So many?" Lu Yangyuan couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

The Imperial Censor smiled and said, "Imperial Censor Xu is a diligent person and does more work than us ordinary Imperial Censors. Moreover, things have been quite turbulent recently, with many hidden forces plotting against us. Our Censorate has the responsibility of supervising all officials and investigating them, so we are even busier."

Lu Yangyuan nodded knowingly.

Looking at the stack of books, Liu Shuyi thought for a moment and asked, "Has Imperial Censor Xu told you who he's been investigating recently, or who he suspects?"

The Imperial Censor shook his head: "Our respective tasks are all kept secret. After all, if the people we are investigating find out about this information, it will inevitably cause unnecessary trouble."

"Then who would know the specifics of Imperial Censor Xu's mission?" Liu Shuyi asked.

Although he didn't think Qin Wuyang could close the case faster than him, he didn't want to waste time here. It would take at least until dawn to finish reading these books.

"Imperial Censor-in-Chief".

The Imperial Censor said, "Our tasks are all assigned by the Vice Censor-in-Chief, so..."

"The Censor-in-Chief?" Liu Shuyi frowned, wondering if it would be inappropriate to disturb him so late at night.

Then Du Gou's voice suddenly rang out: "Wu Bo, the Censor-in-Chief in charge of the Censorate, is my father's student. If I go to ask for the list myself, he will definitely cooperate."

Liu Shuyi's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected that this Censor-in-Chief was actually a member of Du Ruhui's faction.

Aren't they our own people?

He immediately replied, "Thank you for your trouble, Vice Minister Du."

Without uttering any unnecessary words, Du Gou immediately turned and left.

Liu Shuyi looked at Lu Yangyuan and said, "Lieutenant Lu, you go too, to protect the safety of Minister Du."

"it is good!"

Without saying a word, Lu Yangyuan ran out.

Liu Shuyi slowly exhaled. He had done everything he could; now all he had to do was wait for the results.

The Imperial Censor poured Liu Shuyi a glass of water, and after confirming that Liu Shuyi did not need to be accompanied, he left the reception room to do his own thing.

Liu Shuyi didn't drink the water, but handed it to Zhao Feng, saying, "Wipe your throat."

"Thank you, Assistant Minister Xie."

Since being captured, Zhao Feng hadn't had a drop of water and was indeed very thirsty, so he didn't stand on ceremony with Liu Shuyi.

Looking at Zhao Feng's pale face, Liu Shuyi asked, "Can you still hold on?"

Zhao Feng nodded without hesitation: "No matter what, I want to see the murderer brought to justice! I want to know who it was that tried to harm me like this! I also want to see Qin Wuyang's regretful face."

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly and said softly, "Don't worry, I believe that moment won't be too far away."

"I can't bring all the bad guys in the world to justice and make them all punished, but I guarantee that no one I encounter will escape punishment."

Zhao Feng nodded emphatically: "I believe in Liu Yuanwailang."

Liu Shuyi smiled and said, "It will take at least 45 minutes for Vice Minister Du to go and return. Close your eyes and rest for a while."

Zhao Feng was indeed very tired. Upon hearing this, he did not refuse. He leaned back, closed his eyes, and began to rest.

Liu Shuyi also closed his eyes, but instead of resting, he kept his mind working, reviewing everything that had happened that night.

He reviewed the entire case to determine if he had overlooked anything.

Then he began to think about Qin Wuyang.

Judging from Qin Wuyang's attitude towards him, he could be fairly certain that his brother had been reprimanded by Qin Wuyang before his disappearance because of Bai Jinghong's parents' case.

Could this be one of the factors that led to the brother's disappearance?

Furthermore... he also sensed something was amiss with Qin Wuyang's swift retaliation.

Everyone knows he just saved Changsun Chong, everyone knows he's connected with Changsun Wuji, and with Du Ruhui's unwavering support... he can say he has a powerful background now.

If you take action against yourself, you might offend both Changsun Wuji and Du Ruhui, two formidable figures.

Qin Wuyang dared to attack his trusted confidant and retaliate against him on the very day he rejected the case file...

Was he truly so petty, arrogant, and intolerant that he couldn't tolerate anything for even a moment, without considering the support he had from Du Ruhui and Changsun Wuji? Or did he actually have someone backing him, so he wasn't afraid of offending Changsun Wuji and Du Ruhui?
If it's the second scenario, who's behind him? I haven't heard of any high-ranking officials in the court having any connection with him.

Liu Shuyi gently stroked the jade pendant at his waist with his fingertips, and after a moment, he grabbed the jade pendant.

"You'll know once you try..."

Liu Shuyi made up his mind.

…………

Three quarters of an hour later.

The sound of hurried footsteps quickly approached.

Then, a creaking sound came from the door being pushed open.

Liu Shuyi and Zhao Feng opened their eyes almost simultaneously.

"How is it, Vice Minister Du?" Zhao Feng asked expectantly.

Liu Shuyi also stood up and looked at Du Gou.

Du Gou first took off his thick cloak, then took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Liu Shuyi, saying, "This is a list that Censor-in-Chief Wu Bo wrote for me personally. The people on the list are the targets that Censor Xu will be responsible for supervising this month."

Upon hearing Du Gou's words, Liu Shuyi immediately took the paper and looked up.

The list contained detailed names and ranks of the officials, and the investigation results were written after most of them.

Some have no problem.

Some of these cases involve keeping mistresses or collusion between officials and businessmen.

For keeping a mistress, no further action was taken, but for collusion between officials and businessmen to bend the law for personal gain, the word "impeachment" was added after the sentence.

Without a doubt, this person will be thoroughly berated in the imperial court.

The list includes fifteen officials, of whom ten have been decided, while the final five are still pending.

However, none of these fifteen people had the names of the three friends Zhao Feng had mentioned.

"No friends on my list?"

Zhao Feng was taken aback: "Could it be that we made a mistake? It wasn't my friend who did it?"

Du Gou and Lu Yangyuan already knew the contents of the list, and now they looked at Liu Shuyi with furrowed brows.

But Liu Shuyi suddenly said, "It should be Guo Lü, the registrar of the Water Conservancy Bureau."

"What? Lawyer Guo?" Zhao Feng suddenly looked at Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi said, "There is a person on this list named Qin Tai, who served as the Water Conservancy Commissioner. Xu Xi found out that he embezzled a huge amount of money while managing the Yellow River floods."

"Before Xu Xi's investigation, not a single word was leaked. You know, with so much money embezzled, the materials needed for flood control could not possibly be purchased normally. But the fact that no news came out could only mean that those who were in charge of flood control with him were probably in cahoots and helped to cover it up."

"Therefore, after Xu Xi discovered Qin Tai, he would likely continue to investigate further, but this was something outside the scope of the mission, so he may not have reported it to the Censor-in-Chief."

As he spoke, he looked at Zhao Feng: "Guo Lu is the chief clerk of the Water Conservancy Bureau, and he will most likely be involved in flood control..."

"It's not just a very high probability, he was involved!"

No sooner had Liu Shuyi finished speaking than Zhao Feng's voice rang out.

The group immediately turned to look at him.

He closed his eyes briefly, took a deep breath, and said, “The four of us brothers talk about everything. We never hide anything from each other, so… I know that he participated in the Yellow River flood control last year, and during the time when my father had the accident, he was so busy that he barely had time to rest. He only met with me once before I was exiled.”

Lu Yangyuan's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed excitedly, "That's it! It must be him!"

"He embezzled money with Qin Tai last year, but he didn't expect that Qin Tai would be investigated by Xu Xi, and he also caught Xu Xi's attention. That's why he wanted to bribe Xu Xi to escape the law!"

Du Gou nodded in agreement: "That must be it."

“Master Liu!” Lu Yangyuan looked at Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi understood what he meant. He glanced at Zhao Feng and saw that although Zhao Feng was somewhat disappointed, he was not too discouraged. He nodded slightly and said, "Let's go find him! Take more people with us, so that he doesn't take the opportunity to escape."

…………

Two quarters of an hour later.

Guo Lu's residence.

Lu Yangyuan knocked on the door and asked where Guo Lu was.

However, the Guo family said that Guo was not at home, but had gone to his mistress's place to spend the night.

"A mistress?"

Lu Yangyuan looked at Madam Guo with suspicion and said, "Really? You haven't hidden Guo Lu away, have you?"

Madam Guo, who had a somewhat sharp and sarcastic appearance, raised her eyebrows immediately upon hearing this and said, "Why would I lie to you? That bastard Guo Lu runs off to that vixen every few days!"

“He stayed there last night, and he went there again tonight. Does he even care about our family anymore?”

Lu Yangyuan was momentarily speechless after being confronted by Guo Lu's wife.

Liu Shuyi, perched atop his horse, looked down at her and asked, "How do you know that Lawyer Guo went to an outer chamber and not a brothel or other places? Did he tell you?"

Although Madam Guo did not recognize Liu Shuyi, she knew what rank Liu Shuyi's green official robe represented. She did not dare to be as forceful as she was with Lu Yangyuan. She said, "This morning when he returned to the mansion, I met him. I noticed that his clothes were not the official robe he wore yesterday, so I questioned him about whether he had gone to that vixen's place again. He said yes, and that he would be staying there for the next few days, so I did not need to wait for him."

"I'm so angry! Do you know how long it's been since he last shared a bed with me? I..."

"stop!"

Liu Shuyi, too lazy to listen to their trivial matters, asked, "Where does Guo Lü's mistress live?"

"East of Xuanpingfang..."

Xuanpingfang?
Upon hearing these three words, Lu Yangyuan and the others' eyes flashed.

Lu Yangyuan couldn't help but say, "The Xu residence and the Zhao residence are both in Xuanping Ward, and his mistress is also in Xuanping Ward. This time there's no doubt about it..."

Liu Shuyi turned his horse around: "Let's go find him."

…………

Xuanpingfang.

Lu Yangyuan knocked on the gate of Guo Lu's outer room.

After knocking for a while, a woman's wary voice finally came through: "Who is it?"

Lu Yangyuan said loudly, "I'm from the Ministry of Justice. I need to see Lawyer Guo."

"Criminal Department?"

The woman's voice paused abruptly, but she quickly said, "Guo Lu isn't here with me. Go look for him elsewhere."

"It's not with you?"

Lu Yangyuan frowned, turned to look at Liu Shuyi, and saw Liu Shuyi narrow his eyes and say, "Her tone is off! If we go through the back door, Lawyer Guo might try to escape!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yangyuan didn't hesitate and led his men to rush towards the back door.

Liu Shuyi thought for a moment, then dismounted and went to the closed door.

He said, "Attorney Guo stayed at your place last night, so you should know what he did last night. Are you really going to cover for him?"

"I..." A hesitant voice sounded from behind the door: "I don't know what you're talking about."

"do not know?"

Liu Shuyi narrowed his eyes and said, "When Lawyer Guo came back last night, he was covered in blood. You're not telling me you have vision problems and didn't see anything, are you? Besides, we've already found this place. You don't think we don't have enough evidence to come here looking for him in the middle of the night, do you?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Shuyi clearly felt the door move.

It was as if there was a body in front of me, and I was so terrified that I couldn't stand up and could only lean against the door to stay upright.

But this time, no sound came.

Liu Shuyi continued, "You've followed Lawyer Guo without even a proper title, yet you're going to suffer imprisonment for protecting him. Do you really think it's worth it?"

“I just met Madam Guo. She enjoys the wealth and luxury that Guo Lu brings her, and she keeps calling you a vixen. But when Guo Lu got into trouble, she was unaware of it and won’t be affected at all. On the contrary, you are looked down upon and insulted. You don’t have a proper identity, yet you have to bear such a serious crime. I feel sorry for you. Are you really willing to do this?”

“I…” This time, a voice finally rang out again.

Liu Shuyi didn't stop, continuing, "Even if you don't think about yourself, what about your family? What about your father and mother? Because of you, they haven't enjoyed much happiness. On the contrary, because you became a mistress, countless people have gossiped about them behind their backs. In the end, before you even had a chance to repay their kindness in raising you, you've caused them to bury their child, and they'll never be able to hold their heads high again because of you, their accomplice's daughter. You..."

"do not talk!"

Before Liu Shuyi could finish speaking, the woman behind the door finally shouted, interrupting him.

"Don't say anymore, I...I..."

She choked back tears and said, "Does he really... really have no chance?"

Liu Shuyi calmly said, "You should ask whether he deserves to be executed by slow slicing or torn apart by five horses for cruelly murdering four people!"

clang--

The door shook violently.

Liu Shuyi seemed to hear a sound of something falling.

Through the crack in the door, he saw a figure leaning against it, sitting on the ground. Liu Shuyi knew that his psychological warfare strategy had taken effect.

Guo Lu is an official, ruthless, and determined, making it difficult to get him to talk. But this mistress is just a woman with little ability and experience in the inner quarters, making it much easier to break through her defenses.

Guo, the lawyer, stayed here after committing the crime last night and told his wife that he would be staying here for a while...

After the murder, he didn't return to his familiar home, but instead stayed here. Without a doubt, it must have been his mistress who knew his secret.

He feared his mistress would betray him, so he kept a close eye on her.

He was also afraid that his mistress would worry and be afraid, and that she would act abnormally, so he had to stay with her and comfort her.

Therefore, as long as Guo's mistress can testify, this case can be completely closed.

Although Liu Shuyi found Guo Lu, he did not have any irrefutable evidence directly pointing to Guo Lu. The woman in front of him was his opportunity!
“If you are willing to abandon darkness and embrace the light now, and put aside your own family for the greater good, I can guarantee that you will not be punished in this case.”

“I understand you. You are just a weak woman. After giving yourself to Lawyer Guo, you had no choice but to listen to him.”

"But now, I'm giving you a chance to choose your own future. Give yourself and your loved ones a chance..."

In his past life, Liu Shuyi had interrogated countless suspects and communicated with many witnesses, so he was very skilled at guiding people's thoughts and breaking down their defenses...

Judging from Guo Lu's mistress's reaction, she has feelings for Guo Lu, but her feelings for her parents and relatives are even deeper. This is his chance.

"real……"

At this moment, Guo Lu's mistress finally spoke up: "I really have a choice. I really won't be in any trouble. I really won't die for him?"

To be buried with him?

Liu Shuyi raised an eyebrow: "Was it Lawyer Guo who told you you would be buried with him? He's lying to you. What does a mere registrar of the Water Conservancy Bureau know about the laws of the Tang Dynasty! I am an Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and I can tell you very seriously that as long as you abandon your evil ways now and tell me everything, you will be fine. But if you remain obstinate, then you really might have to die with him—"

"No! I don't want it!"

Suddenly, Guo Lu's mistress shouted loudly, stood up abruptly, and immediately opened the tightly closed door.

Only then did Liu Shuyi and the others get a clear look at Guo Lu's mistress.

She was in her early twenties, with fair skin and a beautiful face, but her eyes were red and swollen, as if she had cried countless times, and she looked delicate and frail.

She stared intently at Liu Shuyi and said, "I'm willing to say it, sir, you must save me. I don't want to die, and I don't want my parents to be scorned and never be able to hold their heads high again..."

Hearing what Guo Lu's mistress said, Liu Shuyi's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down completely.

He knew that at this moment, the case was closed and there would be no more surprises.

(End of this chapter)