A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 300 The Curtain Will Eventually Fall (3)

Song Shuyu scoffed coldly, "Lin Jiao, if you sincerely confess your crimes, why did you run away? You caused me to travel all night, enduring cold and hunger, suffering all kinds of hardships, before finally finding you outside the sealed cave in Eagle Beak Mountain! May I ask, is this how you repay my kindness in saving your sister?"

Lin Jiao was speechless, her expression unreadable for a moment.

"Let me give you an excuse. You don't want to die at the hands of assassins, so you want to escape? But when you ran away, the assassins had already retreated. The only people chasing you are Lu Shaoqing from our Jingzhao Prefecture and Dali Temple."

“I…” Lin Jiao swallowed hard, instinctively avoiding Song Shuyu’s gaze. “I was panicked at the time. I thought that I had just recognized my sister and had not yet shared my brother-sister relationship with her. I couldn’t die, so I… I ran away.”

Song Shuyu raised an eyebrow slightly, "Then why did you flee to Eagle Beak Mountain?"

"It was a coincidence, a lucky accident." Lin Jiao's expression was very stiff.

Upon hearing this, Mu Qingcheng couldn't help but smile slightly, "What a coincidence, you fainted outside the cave where five skeletons are hidden. Isn't that right?"

Lin Jiao remained silent for a moment, then said only, "It is indeed a coincidence, I have nothing to say."

Song Shuyu looked at Lu Xun questioningly, but Lu Xun shook his head.

Song Shuyu slammed his gavel, announcing the conclusion of the trials for the Suhe River female corpse case and the Spring Banquet corpse case, with the verdict to be announced at a later date.

Lin Jiao was detained in solitary confinement as a serious offender, with the highest level of security. In addition to the yamen runners, Liu Heng also dispatched capable constables to guard him.

From the moment he entered the courtroom to the moment he left, Imperial Censor Xu did not utter a single word. In just a few days, he had aged more than ten years.

Song Shuyu had achieved his goal in summoning Imperial Censor Xu: to make Xu witness firsthand how his two daughters met their deaths and what role he played in it. If Xu still had a conscience, he would suffer torment for the rest of his life. As for obstructing the investigation, dereliction of duty, and covering up wrongdoing, those would have to be dealt with in the imperial court.

Following up on his previous work, Song Shuyu then tried the Shenmo Village human trafficking case and delivered a verdict in court.

The twelve people, including the chieftain, were each given thirty heavy lashes, and then exiled thousands of miles away to be slaves for generations, never to leave the harsh borderlands until death!

The five girls also made their own choices.

Liao Ruyi is literate and grew up in a wealthy family. Having seen many of the wealthy family's business dealings, he wanted to learn accounting and management so that he could open his own shop in the future. Chen Qingqing is quite talented in embroidery and decided to enter the embroidery industry to earn money through hand embroidery. Zhang Yu likes to study rouge, face powder, and spices and plans to learn the production process. Ji Xiaohua loves to eat and is a good cook, aspiring to become a master chef.

As for Ruan Yue, who was pregnant, after careful consideration, she still decided to have an abortion. She couldn't bear to raise her child with hatred, and to drag her future decades into the pain of the past. That would also be unfair to the child.

Mu Qingcheng kept his word and invited doctors and experienced midwives from Chunhuitang to ensure Ruan Yue's safe and smooth delivery.

After informing the emperor, Song Shuyu obtained five new household registration certificates from the Ministry of Revenue.

The five girls' new names were chosen by Mu Qingcheng and Song Shuyu together. The girls knelt on the ground and said that the two of them had given them new life and that they deserved the names.

Bai Zhizhi had been recuperating for many days and had recovered about 70-80% of her strength. Unable to stay in the house any longer, she got out of bed and ran around everywhere.

After hearing Mu Qingcheng recount the five girls' plight, Bai Zhizhi felt great sympathy and summoned her scumbag father, Master Bai. Upon learning of the situation, Master Bai begged Song Shuyu for a chance to repay him. Song Shuyu readily accepted.

The Bai family's shops are spread across all walks of life in the capital. Wherever the young ladies want to go, whatever skills they want to learn, the Bai family can provide. To support the young ladies, after selecting the appropriate shops, Master Bai personally escorts each young lady there and hands them over to the shopkeeper or master, instructing the staff to address them as "Miss" and treat them with utmost care.

Ruan Yue's dream was to become a female healer and heal the sick. Song Shuyu then contacted the head of the Imperial Medical Academy and arranged for Ruan Yue to enter the Female Healers' Workshop under the Imperial Medical Academy, where she became an apprentice and learned medicine.

After consulting Liao Ruyi, Mu Qingcheng sent someone to inform the Liao family, including Steward and his wife, and arranged for them to meet at the yamen. As for Lin Jiao, the law was impartial, and after their reunion in Shenmo Village, the siblings never saw each other again.

Wu Fei personally came to the yamen to collect the bodies of Xu Yuxiao and Xu Yuying.

It is said that after Wu Fei returned to the Pingnan Earl's Mansion that day, he had a big argument with the Earl and his wife, wrote a letter of divorce on the spot, sent it to the Xu Imperial Censor's Mansion, and demanded that Xu Yuxiao be buried in the Wu family ancestral cemetery as the principal wife.

The Earl and his wife naturally refused. Without a matchmaker, betrothal gifts, or marriage certificate, how could they be buried? If word got out, what would the whole capital think of the Earl's family?

Wu Fei approached Imperial Censor Xu and knelt down, begging him to marry Xu Yuxiao to him. Imperial Censor Xu offered two conditions: either the sisters would be equal wives and buried together in the Wu family, or they would both be buried in the Xu family.

Wu Fei harbored boundless hatred for Xu Yuying. Only by desecrating her corpse and scattering her ashes could he quell his hatred. However, in the end, in order to obtain Xu Yuxiao, he had no choice but to agree.

On the Earl's side, Wu Fei threatened to sever ties, forcing the Earl to relent.

The day after the funeral, Wu Fei went to Song Shuyu for help, requesting that he be transferred to the border to fight on the battlefield. Song Shuyu took Wu Fei to the Ministry of War, met with the Minister of War, and completed the transfer procedures.

After the legal procedures of the three judicial departments were completed, Song Shuyu delivered his verdict in accordance with the law in the cases of the female corpse in the Suhe River and the corpse found at the Spring Banquet.

Lin Jiao was sentenced to death and executed in the autumn; the five guards were each sentenced to twenty years in prison, and An Zhong was imprisoned for three years.

The following day, Song Shuyu, who had been holding back for a long time, launched a powerful attack. In the Golden Hall, he impeached Guo Xuan, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, accusing his daughter Guo Yuanke of neglecting official duties, which led to the murder of Xu Yuying; and accusing Censor Xu of protecting his daughter Xu Yuying, obstructing the Jingzhao Prefecture from handling the case, and knowingly breaking the law!

The emperor was furious and immediately dismissed Guo Xuan from his post as Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, reassigning him to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works and fining him a year's salary. Guo Yuanke was also punished by being sent to the palace as a maid!

Censor Xu has been dismissed and is under investigation by the Censorate!
The vacancy of the position of Minister of the Court of Judicial Review was filled by Lu Xun, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, who was promoted to Minister of the Court of Judicial Review!
Thus, the case that had shocked the capital for over a month—the girl abduction case and the Spring Banquet corpse case that were linked to the headless female corpse case—was completely solved and dealt with, bringing the matter to a perfect close!

During his free time, Song Shuyu invited the imperial physician Jin Zesheng to examine Mu Qingcheng's pulse.

"Do you experience headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus, weakness in your limbs, neck pain, fatigue, memory loss, or a heavy feeling of pressure like the top of a hat?" Kim Je-sung asked very carefully, his facial expression extremely serious.

Song Shuyu couldn't help but sweat from nervousness.

Mu Qingcheng replied, "I don't feel unwell in my daily life, but I always feel like I've forgotten some things. Hmm... I've had a few dreams where the scenes feel very familiar, as if I've experienced them myself, but I can't remember them no matter how hard I try.

(End of this chapter)