The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 10 Identification! You're the Murderer! (5K, 2-in-1)

Hearing Liu Shuyi's deep voice, everyone felt a chill instantly rise from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads!
The thought that the real culprit was right there at the scene, watching them argue and kill each other the whole time, sent chills down their spines.

The officials in the Ministry of Revenue, in particular, felt their scalps tingling.

After all, the murderer was someone from the Ministry of Revenue.

And they, after committing the murder, spent more than ten days together with the killer, and may even have discussed Han Du's death enthusiastically with the killer...

hiss……

Gasps of astonishment filled the air.

An eerie silence fell over the room.

Almost simultaneously, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue quietly distanced themselves from the fifteen people who remained at the Ministry that night.

In an instant, a vacuum zone was formed around these fifteen people.

They didn't even need Du Ruhui and the others to specifically search for them; they could find out who these fifteen people were.

At this moment, even Pei Ji stopped making things difficult for Liu Shuyi. After all, he was the one who was most deceived by the murderer. Just thinking about how his behavior just now might have seemed like a monkey being played with to jump around in the murderer's eyes, he wished he could kill this despicable murderer with his own hands!
I've been so wise all my life, but I never imagined it would all be ruined here!
His cold eyes swept over the fifteen officials from the Ministry of Revenue, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "Who is the murderer? Who is so insidious and vicious!"

Upon hearing Pei Ji's words, Zhou Mo immediately grabbed Zhao Feng, who was curled up on the ground, by the collar and lifted him up. He stared fiercely at the pale-faced Zhao Feng and shouted, "Didn't you hear what Pei Sikong said? Speak up now! Who is the murderer? Who ordered you?"

Upon hearing this, everyone quickly looked at the emaciated Zhao Feng.

Zhao Feng shook his head weakly: "I...I don't know."

"Don't tell me yet!"

Zhou Mo was furious: "Zhao Feng, are you really not afraid of death?"

Pei Ji coldly said, "Why waste words with him! Torture him severely. If he's not afraid of death, then let him suffer a fate worse than death! I want to see if his bones are as hard as his father, Zhao Zhuo's!"

Zhou Mo naturally wouldn't disobey Pei Ji's order, and immediately said, "Guards, break his fingers one by one—"

"No need!"

Before Zhou Mo could finish speaking, Liu Shuyi interrupted him: "He probably really doesn't know. Even if you crushed every bone in his body, he still wouldn't be able to tell."

"What?" Zhou Mo frowned.

Even the thin Zhao Feng couldn't help but look at Liu Shuyi.

Then Liu Shuyi said, "After all, the price of this lie is that Zhao Feng will also die! Just think, how could a murderer who is so cautious and cunning let someone who is destined to die because of his own scheme know his true identity?"

"What if Zhao Feng suddenly gets scared and changes his mind before he dies, and decides to tell the truth? Wouldn't that expose him and make him look bad? With the abilities he's shown, how could he leave such a problem or flaw?"

“This…” Although Zhou Mo really didn’t want to agree with Liu Shuyi, he couldn’t find any fault with him.

He frowned and said, "If the murderer doesn't know him, is Zhao Feng stupid? Would he do something like this for the murderer? Would he die in the murderer's place?"

Cheng Chumo nodded repeatedly, but being straightforward, he couldn't understand Zhao Feng's thoughts at all.

But Liu Shuyi shook his head: "Stupid? No, I prefer to call it repaying a debt of gratitude and being forced."

Upon hearing the words "repaying kindness and being forced," Zhao Feng, whose face was pale with despair, suddenly widened his eyes, his face showing disbelief.

"you you……"

"how could I know?"

Liu Shuyi calmly replied, "Is it that hard to guess?"

“In your eyes, the murderer killed the four instigators who caused your father’s death, which is considered revenge for your father, so of course you would be grateful to him.”

"At the same time, you are not too bad-hearted... Just now when you were framing me, you hesitated many times, and it was obvious that you struggled with your conscience many times. This shows that you did not want to frame me, but you had no choice but to do so."

"If it were just about repaying a debt of gratitude, at most you would take on everything and die in his place, but you wouldn't go so far as to kill another innocent person... So, there must also be coercion, coercion against your family who are far away in exile!"

He looked at the increasingly pale young man and said, “I think the murderer must have found you a long time ago. He told you that he could avenge your father, but he could also make your whole family die without a burial place… He only needs your cooperation, only to sacrifice your life at the critical moment. As long as you listen to him, you can not only avenge your father, but also make your family live a good life and not have to worry about dying in that bitter cold place at any time.”

"You are a filial and kind person, and you have no way to refuse, so you can only accept it."

Listening to Liu Shuyi's words, which sounded as if he had witnessed everything he had gone through, Zhao Feng couldn't help but ask, "You, how do you know all this?"

Liu Shuyi looked at him calmly: "Because I know who the murderer is, I know how ruthless he is, and I know what his attitude is towards you and your father, so it's not hard to guess. That's why I've always felt sorry for you. You're like me in the past, full of despair and helplessness towards everything."

Zhao Feng stared blankly at Liu Shuyi. He could clearly feel the pity in Liu Shuyi's eyes. It was not hypocrisy or pretense; Liu Shuyi truly understood him. The tears he had been holding back finally burst forth at this moment.

He broke down in tears.

"I didn't want to, I didn't want to hurt you!"

"But I have no choice!"

“If I don’t listen to him, my mother, my little sister, and all my family members will die!”

"What can I do?" He grabbed his head and banged it hard. "Tell me, what can I do?!"

Zhao Feng's cries were heart-wrenching, filled with despair and helplessness.

Looking at his emaciated appearance from hunger, and the bruises covering his body from being bullied, the kind-hearted Du Gou couldn't help but ask, "So, you really don't know the murderer's identity?"

"I don't know."

Zhao Feng shook his head: "After he brought me to Chang'an, he locked me up and gave me food at fixed times every day. He never talked to me and had no idea what he wanted to do."

"Until noon today, the door, which had been locked, was suddenly opened, and a letter was left at the door."

"Everything I say today is required by the letter."

"And what about the letter?" Du Gou asked.

Zhao Feng pursed his lips tightly: "He burned it. He wouldn't allow me to stay... I... I didn't dare disobey him. I was afraid he would harm my family."

As he spoke, he looked at Liu Shuyi, tears streaming down his face, and apologized, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I almost killed you."

Liu Shuyi shook his head and said calmly, "No need to apologize. Just find a way to make it up to me later."

He was a pragmatist who didn't need words of gratitude or apology.

Zhao Feng nodded emphatically: "I will. As long as I live, I will definitely make it up to you."

Liu Shuyi then smiled again: "Let's get back to the case..."

He looked at Zhao Feng and suddenly said, "Do you really think the murderer is avenging your father?"

"What?" Zhao Feng was taken aback.

"Didn't you ever think about why the murderer wanted to kill Zhao Ci and the other three? Even you, his son, never thought of avenging your father by killing Zhao Ci and the other three. Why would the murderer be willing to take the risk to kill them?"

“This…” Zhao Feng’s tears suddenly stopped. He frowned and shook his head, saying, “I, I never thought about these things.”

Liu Shuyi was not surprised by Zhao Feng's answer.

He turned his gaze to Du Ruhui and the others, and said, "Murder requires a motive! Not to mention, the murderer went to such lengths this time, even risking impersonating the ghost of the King of Xi. If his secret is discovered, you can imagine that he will have a hard time dying peacefully!"

"But even so, he still wanted to kill Zhao Ci and the other three. Why? He harbored ill intentions towards Zhao Feng, and it was clear that it wasn't to avenge him. But if it wasn't to avenge Zhao Zhuo, then what was it?"

Upon hearing Liu Shuyi's question, Du Ruhui and the others frowned slightly, showing signs of contemplation.

Indeed, after it was determined that the murderer was not Zhao Feng, even the murderer's motive for committing the crime became elusive.

If it wasn't revenge, what other reason could have made him kill all four people who reported Zhao Zhuo?
Strange...

"Could it be..."

At this moment, Du Gou seemed to have thought of something. He suddenly looked at Liu Shuyi and said, "Could it be related to Zhao Ci and the others' unusual behavior?"

"abnormal?"

"What's abnormal?"

Everyone looked puzzled upon hearing Du Gou's words.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Du Gou immediately asked Liu Shuyi, "Master Liu, may I speak?"

Liu Shuyi smiled and nodded: "Of course."

Upon receiving confirmation from Liu Shuyi, Du Gou took a deep breath and said, "Today, while investigating at Zhao Yuanwailang's residence, Master Liu asked me to secretly investigate a few things, and the results of these things... were beyond my expectations."

"Which things? What were the results?" Pei Ji stared intently at him and asked.

Du Ruhui gave his son a deep look.

He knew very well how outstanding his son was, and he also knew that his son had an inner pride due to his rich knowledge and excellent background. Even if he treated people peacefully, he could not hide the pride in his bones.

But just now, when everyone looked at him with suspicion, waiting for his explanation, his first reaction was to ask Liu Shuyi if it was alright, instead of making the decision himself and revealing everything on the spot...

This is somewhat different from his usual behavior.

This made Du Ruhui realize that in just one day, his son had developed respect for Liu Shuyi.

This was no easy task, so he was very curious about what Liu Shuyi had his son do to make such a proud man develop respect for him in such a short time.

Du Gou looked at Liu Shuyi with admiration and said, "Master Liu asked me to secretly investigate what Zhao Ci and the other three do after they finish their shifts, and whether they encountered any difficulties last year."

"The result..." He met everyone's gaze and said, "I found out that Zhao Ci is a gambler! He goes to the gambling den at least four times a month to gamble big! But every time he goes to gamble, he wears a bamboo hat and changes into ordinary clothes to deliberately hide his identity."

"If it weren't for Steward Liu's suggestion that I take the three dice I found in Zhao Ci's study to various gambling dens to inquire, those gambling dens would never have known that the person who frequently gambled there was actually the current Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works!"

"And during the questioning, I also learned something..."

He looked at everyone and said, "Zhao Ci lost big several times last year. The worst time was when he even had to mortgage his house to borrow money!"

Hearing Du Gou's words, everyone couldn't help but show surprise.

"You lost the house deed?"

"real or fake?"

"I've never heard of that!"

"Yes, we haven't seen anything unusual about the Zhao family. They're still living just fine, aren't they?"

The officials of the Ministry of Revenue whispered among themselves.

At that moment, a glint of shrewdness flashed in Du Ruhui's deep brows.

He leaned forward slightly and asked, "And then? Was the property deed redeemed?"

Liu Shuyi's eyes flashed, and he secretly praised him, thinking, "As expected of 'Du Judgment,' it seems that Du Ruhui has figured everything out."

Du Gou nodded: "That's right. Not long after, he redeemed it with money, so the Zhao residence was not taken away."

"Where did you get your money?" Du Ruhui asked again.

Du Gou shook his head: "Even the gambling den doesn't know."

Du Ruhui's gaze deepened.

At this point, Liu Shuyi interjected, "There's another very interesting thing."

He looked at Du Ruhui and said, "I once asked Zhao Ci's wife if Zhao Ci was a gambler. She said that Zhao Ci never gambled and that he had said that gambling was the poison of the family and strictly forbade any member of the Zhao family from gambling."

Du Ruhui understood Liu Shuyi's implied meaning almost instantly.

"So that's how it is. He even kept it from his family. No wonder we couldn't find any problems with his family."

Du Ruhui, unusually devoid of his gentle expression, sneered, "You spout 'gambling is poison, and family members are forbidden from gambling,' yet you yourself gamble every month, even losing your house and nearly getting your whole family kicked out... What a hypocritical person, spouting nothing but benevolence and morality!"

This was no longer a veiled criticism from Du Ruhui.

Even Cheng Chumo understood it.

He couldn't help but ask, "So, this Zhao Ci isn't as good as he seems on the surface? He's a hypocrite?"

A hint of anger flashed across Wei Zheng's dignified and rigid face.

He was already considering how to write a memorial to the throne, vehemently criticizing hypocritical officials like Zhao Ci.

I can't vent my anger without writing a long article of 10,000 words and cursing them to the bone!

Liu Shuyi glanced at the crowd, some deep in thought, others furious, and said to Du Gou, "Du, please continue."

Upon hearing this, Du Gou nodded and continued, "Besides Zhao Ci, I also discovered three other people who are also very different from the images that others perceive them to be."

"Zhao Wenyi, the warehouse supervisor of the Ministry of Revenue, frequented brothels. In the latter half of last year, he often spent lavishly on courtesans. However, like Zhao Ci, he also concealed his identity. If I hadn't had someone bring him a portrait, the people in the brothels wouldn't have known that such a generous person was Zhao Wenyi."

"There's also Han Du, an assistant minister in the Ministry of Revenue. He secretly kept several mistresses outside the home and bought residences for them. These residences were in good locations and were extremely valuable. The purchases were made after the middle of last year."

"Only Wang Lucheng, the chief clerk of the Ministry of Works, failed to uncover such a matter of poor reputation, but last year..."

He looked at everyone and said, "His mother was seriously ill, and with his salary as the head of the Ministry of Works, he couldn't afford to treat her at all. But after the middle of the year, his mother's illness was cured."

Du Gou has finished speaking.

But the main hall of the Ministry of Revenue was completely silent.

Everyone frowned and pondered, thinking about the meaning behind the results that Liu Shuyi had Du Gou investigate.

Liu Shuyi glanced at everyone and laughed: "I wonder if any of you have noticed that these four people have one thing in common."

Upon hearing this, everyone instinctively looked at Liu Shuyi.

Then Liu Shuyi said, "That's money!"

"Whether it's Zhao Ci's gambling, Zhao Wenyi's extravagant spending, Han Du's affair and purchase of a mansion, or Wang Lucheng's efforts to treat his mother's illness..."

"It all requires a lot of money!"

"But with their salaries, it's already difficult enough to maintain the dignity of their own families, let alone get a lot of money."

"Moreover, there's another interesting point in time."

"Zhao Ci redeemed the house deed after the middle of last year, and Wang Chenglu also cured his mother after the middle of last year... I wonder if anyone knows what happened at that time last year..."

Liu Shuyi met everyone's gaze and said meaningfully, "Does this sound familiar?"

In the middle of last year...

Mid-year, which is June...

Last June...

Suddenly, an official from the Ministry of Revenue raised his head sharply, his face filled with horror: "Last June, wasn't that the month when Zhao Ci and his group exposed Zhao Zhuo's embezzlement, Zhao Zhuo was arrested and imprisoned, and ultimately convicted?"

His exclamation was like boiling water thrown into a pan of oil, instantly causing a stir among the crowd!
"Is it a coincidence that they suddenly acquired a large sum of money and simultaneously reported Zhao Zhuo?"

"How could it be a coincidence!"

"That's right. If only one person suddenly acquired a large sum of money, that would be one thing, but the fact is that everyone acquired wealth after the middle of the year!"

"Yes, Zhao Ci had the money to redeem the house deed, Zhao Wenyi started spending lavishly after the middle of the year, Han Du bought a house, Wang Lucheng sought medical treatment... all of these happened after the middle of the year, it can't possibly be a coincidence!"

Where did their money come from?

"This……"

The question immediately silenced the previously noisy crowd.

They had a rather bold guess in their hearts, but they dared not say it aloud.

"Disaster relief funds! It's disaster relief funds!"

At this moment, the emaciated Zhao Feng suddenly broke down in tears: "So that's how it is! So that's how it is!!!"

“Father did not embezzle the disaster relief funds at all! Father is not lying, he really did not embezzle them!”

"It was Zhao Ci, it was Zhao Ci and the other three who embezzled the money, but they pinned all the blame on Father!"

"It was them! They did it!"

"My father is innocent! My Zhao family is innocent! We are all innocent!!!"

"But Father is already dead, and my family is on the verge of ruin..."

Zhao Feng's heartbreaking cries touched everyone present.

Cheng Chumo, his face dark, sighed deeply and turned slightly away, unable to bear looking at Zhao Feng's pitiful state.

Du Gou also shook his head, his expression complicated.

Who would have thought that the truth behind the corruption case that enraged His Majesty, who personally ordered the execution and nearly destroyed the Zhao family was actually like this!

Vice Minister of Revenue Zhao Chengyi gritted his teeth: "These despicable fellows! How could they frame Vice Minister Zhao like this! Vice Minister Zhao was kind and hardworking, and he never bullied us just because he was of higher rank! But in the end, such a good Vice Minister Zhao was killed by them!"

Zhao Chengyi shook his head, his face full of regret: "If we had known that Vice Minister Zhao was wronged, we should have believed him back then!"

The other officials from the Ministry of Revenue nodded in agreement.

"Yes, now that I think about it, Vice Minister Zhao really doesn't seem like the kind of person who would do something like embezzlement."

Why didn't we believe him?

Zhao Chengyi looked at Zhao Feng, who was crying so hard he was almost convulsing, wiped his eyes, and said, "Zhao Feng, don't worry, now that we know the truth, we will definitely get justice for your father!"

"Minister Tang is not in Chang'an at the moment, so I, on behalf of the Ministry of Revenue, will submit a petition to His Majesty! I request that His Majesty restore your father's reputation and bring your entire family back to Chang'an!"

Upon hearing Zhao Chengyi's words, Zhao Feng nodded emphatically.

He struggled to his feet, intending to express his gratitude to Zhao Chengyi.

But before he could even bow, Liu Shuyi grabbed his arm and stopped him.

Zhao Feng looked blankly at Liu Shuyi with teary eyes, only to hear Liu Shuyi say something that shocked and surprised everyone.

"Are you sure you want to thank the mastermind behind your father's scheme, the real culprit who murdered Zhao Ci and the other three?"

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(End of this chapter)