The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 119 County Magistrate of Wannian: Qian Wenqing, what kind of monster have you provoked?
After parting ways with Du Ruhui, Liu Shuyi quickly returned to his office.

He ordered someone to summon Zhao Feng and Lu Yangyuan, while simultaneously unfolding a sheet of paper and quickly starting to write with a brush.

Just as he finished writing, Lu Yangyuan and Zhao Feng arrived.

"Master Liu." The two bowed to Liu Shuyi at the same time.

Liu Shuyi waved his hand, looked at Lu Yangyuan, picked up the letter he had just written, handed it to him, and said, "Deputy Lieutenant Lu, could you please go to the Cui residence and deliver a letter to Military Advisor Cui for me?"

Cui Lin had already resolved the aftermath in Shangzhou and arrived in Chang'an last night. Upon returning to Chang'an, he immediately sent someone to inform Liu Shuyi of the outcome of the Shangzhou matter.

Therefore, if Liu Shuyi wanted to ask Cui Lin for help, he didn't need to spend a lot of time traveling to Shangzhou; he could go directly to Cui's residence.

Lu Yangyuan took the letter and was about to turn around and leave when Liu Shuyi said again, "After you give the letter to Military Advisor Cui, you don't need to rush back. Stay at Cui's residence and wait for his result."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yangyuan quickly understood that Liu Shuyi urgently needed Cui Lin's answer. Without any hesitation, he replied, "This humble official understands."

After saying that, he quickly left.

Watching Lu Yangyuan's hurried departure, Zhao Feng couldn't help but ask, "Master, what happened?"

Seeing the worried look on Zhao Feng's face, Liu Shuyi smiled and said, "There is indeed something, but it's not a bad thing for me."

Is it not a bad thing?

While Zhao Feng breathed a sigh of relief, he couldn't help but become curious.

In the morning, he met the official, who looked relaxed, as if he had just solved a major case and had nothing to do.

Not long after, Lu Yangyuan encountered a situation that required him to deliver a message in such an urgent manner.

What happened during your time in prison?

Having seen countless people, Liu Shuyi could naturally see through Zhao Feng's thoughts at a glance. He smiled and got up, saying as he walked out, "An Qingxi has confessed and revealed some important clues. There is one person in particular that I am concerned about. Through him, we might be able to catch a big fish."

"So we're going to be busy from now on."

Zhao Feng was overjoyed: "That old fox An Qingxi has finally confessed!"

He didn't ask An Qingxi what exactly he had recruited; if he knew, Liu Yuanwailang would never have hidden it from him.

Watching Liu Shuyi leave the office, Zhao Feng hurriedly asked, "Where are we going?"

"Document archive".

According to Liu Shuyi's judgment, Wei Ji was likely involved in a case before fleeing to Bingzhou.

Even if Wei Ji leaves Chang'an, people will continue to search for him, which means that this case, no matter how big, should not be a small one.

According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, all cases involving imprisonment or more severe punishments had to be reviewed by the Ministry of Justice, and after the cases were closed, they had to be filed by the Ministry of Justice.

Therefore, this case might be found in the archives of the Ministry of Justice.

On the way to the archives, he briefly told Zhao Feng about Wei Ji's affairs, making Zhao Feng understand the cause and effect of the matter.

Zhao Feng suddenly realized, "So that's how it is. So, what we'll mainly be looking for later is the case that occurred in Wannian County, Chang'an City in March of the ninth year of Wude, to see if there's a person named Wei Ji involved?"

Liu Shuyi shook his head: "Traveling from Chang'an to Bingzhou is fine if you have horses, but without them, it's not something you can do in a short time. Besides, he might not have left immediately after encountering the case; he might have sensed danger and realized someone wanted to harm him before he left..."

"Therefore, we need to extend the timeframe, but not too long. If Yao Guang of Fusheng Tower really intends to kill someone to silence them, he won't be allowed to live for long. So, we will focus our investigation on the cases that occurred in Chang'an City between January and March of the ninth year of Wude."

Zhao Feng asked, "Chang'an City? Not just Wannian County?"

Liu Shuyi nodded: "Although his travel document was issued by the Wannian County government, it doesn't necessarily mean that he encountered the case within Wannian County. After all, the jurisdictions of Chang'an County and Wannian County are only one street apart. If the case happened on Zhuque Street, then the boundary of jurisdiction would be very blurry. Moreover, it's not impossible that he would go to a government office that wasn't investigating his case to obtain the travel document in order to ensure that he wouldn't be easily discovered when he fled."

Zhao Feng nodded knowingly: "This subordinate understands."

While they were talking, the two arrived at the archives.

Liu Shuyi was very familiar with the archives and didn't need the help of the person in charge. He led Zhao Feng to the second floor of the archives and found the place where the files from the ninth year of the Wude era were stored.

Without any delay, the two quickly began searching.

They don't need to care whether the case is solved, or whether it's a murder case, a bribery case, or any other case. They only need to open the case file, find the section for the people involved in the case, carefully look through their names, and confirm whether Wei Ji is among them.

Therefore, although there were many files, they were quickly reduced as the two of them flipped through them.

In less than half an hour, the two had finished reading through all the files from January to March of the ninth year of the Wude era.

"No."

Zhao Feng looked up and said, "In all the files I've reviewed, there isn't a single one with the name Wei Ji on it."

Liu Shuyi frowned: "I didn't find his name either."

Zhao Feng was taken aback: "How could that be? Did I make a mistake just now? Should I search again?"

Liu Shuyi's abilities were demonstrated through countless cases, so when Zhao Feng heard that there was no file on Wei Ji, his first thought was not whether Liu Shuyi had made a mistake, but whether he had flipped through the files too quickly and missed it.

A thoughtful look crossed Liu Shuyi's face.

He was very careful just now and would not have overlooked anything. Zhao Feng is not a careless person either; after a thorough search, it is impossible for him to have missed anything...

But the result was that Wei Ji's name was not found.

What went wrong?
After thinking for a moment, Liu Shuyi looked up at the shelf in front of him and said, "Let's look through the files of the prefectures and counties between Chang'an and Bingzhou again."

"Although Wei Ji's transit route started in Chang'an and ended in Bingzhou, it allowed him to enter all the cities marked along the way. It was possible for him to participate in a case in these cities."

Zhao Feng nodded and was about to search for the passes of other prefectures.

"My lord, I'm back."

Just then, Lu Yangyuan's voice suddenly came.

Then he quickly went up to the second floor and came to Liu Shuyi. Before Liu Shuyi could ask, he took the initiative to say, "Military Advisor Cui asked me to tell the Assistant Minister that at the end of March of the ninth year of Wude, there were indeed officials from Chang'an who went to Bingzhou to inquire about Wei Ji."

"Because he was in Bingzhou, he rarely encountered cases involving cross-province investigations, and the people who came were from the capital, Chang'an, so he had a deep memory of them."

Liu Shuyi's eyes flashed, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

He almost doubted whether he had made the wrong deduction, and whether what Wei Ji encountered was not presented in the form of a case.

In retrospect, my deduction was correct.

He asked, "Did Military Advisor Cui specify the identities of those officials?"

Lu Yangyuan nodded: "He said that those people were several yamen runners from Wannian County, and they were under the orders of Gu Wen, the county magistrate of Wannian County."

"A yamen runner?"

Liu Shuyi frowned almost imperceptibly, thought for a moment, and then asked, "What was the result?"

"Military Advisor Cui said that he cooperated with the Wannian County government in conducting an investigation and found that Wei Ji had been arrested and imprisoned a few days earlier for theft. That night, he suddenly fell ill and died in prison. Since there was a coroner's autopsy report and no abnormalities were found in any of the procedures, he informed the Wannian County government officials of the results. The officials did not have any special reaction after hearing this and set off to return to Chang'an the next day."

Liu Shuyi stroked his chin thoughtfully and asked, "Did anyone investigate Wei Ji's case afterward?"

Lu Yangyuan shook his head: "Military Advisor Cui didn't say any of that. He only said what he just said."

"Then it seems not, otherwise Military Advisor Cui wouldn't have kept quiet..."

Liu Shuyi looked thoughtful. After a moment, he chuckled and said, "Interesting. I thought I was wrong, but it turns out I wasn't. But even though I wasn't wrong, I was also wrong."

Zhao Feng and Lu Yangyuan were both bewildered by Liu Shuyi's tongue-twisting words.

Lu Yangyuan looked at Zhao Feng, opened his mouth, and mouthed, "What happened?"

Zhao Feng, of course, didn't know either.

He thought for a moment and said, "Sir, should we continue to review the files of other cities?"

"No need."

Liu Shuyi stood up abruptly, neatly placed the files he had just been reading back on the shelf, and then said, "Let's go, let's go to a place where we can find the files."

Lu Yangyuan couldn't help but ask curiously, "Where are we going?"

"Wannian County Government Office".

"Wannian County Government Office?" Both of them were taken aback.

As Liu Shuyi walked out, he said, "Since it was people sent by the Wannian County government to investigate Bingzhou, it means that the case involving Wei Ji must have occurred within the jurisdiction of Wannian County."

“But we haven’t found any case files with Wei Ji’s name on them…” Zhao Feng said hesitantly.

Liu Shuyi nodded: "We really couldn't find it, which means that the only way to find that file is to go to the Wannian County Government Office."

Zhao Feng still didn't understand.

Liu Shuyi glanced at Zhao Feng and the other man, and explained, "Generally, when a case is handled across state lines, it means that the case has a significant impact, either because the case is serious or because the people involved are of high status or have special identities."

"As for Wei Ji's case, although it was also handled across prefectures, Wannian County only sent a few yamen runners to Bingzhou... This shows that Wannian County did not attach particular importance to this case."

"Cross-state investigations, yet not being particularly valued—these two contradictory things happening together can only suggest one possibility..."

Lu Yangyuan subconsciously asked, "What's possible?" A look of certainty flashed in Liu Shuyi's dark and deep eyes: "The case isn't big, but the person involved has a special identity. Wannian County Government can't ignore it, but it's just to deal with this person."

"Therefore, even though they were investigating the sudden and unexpected death of Wei Ji in the Bingzhou prison, they did not react at all. After reporting back to the Wannian County government, no one went to confirm Wei Ji's death."

Lu Yangyuan suddenly realized: "So that's how it is."

Liu Shuyi nodded and continued, "The cases that the Ministry of Justice needs to review are all relatively serious cases. Cases like petty theft will not be submitted to the Ministry of Justice, so the Ministry of Justice does not have files on minor cases."

"But as long as the case occurs within the jurisdiction of Wannian County Government, regardless of its size, Wannian County Government will keep a record of it. So if you want to find this small case, you can only go to Wannian County Government."

At this point, Liu Shuyi couldn't help but feel disgusted by the treacherous and cunning nature of the people at Fushenglou.

Despite having done something significant behind the scenes, what was revealed to the public was merely a minor case that, in the eyes of the Wannian County government, could be easily resolved by sending a mere constable.

Just as An Qingxi said, they prefer to hide in the shadows, plotting everything, and when they finally make their move in the open, they are invincible.

In other words, the sudden earthquake caused a setback in their plans, forcing An Qingxi to take matters into his own hands and bring his clandestine schemes into the open. Otherwise, it was uncertain when An Qingxi would have been exposed.

Even so, if he hadn't been the one investigating the case, An Qingxi could have easily escaped the law by using Qin Wuyuan and Cui Lin as scapegoats. It's easy to imagine how difficult it would be to bring down Yaoguang, who had been plotting this for two years.

However, Liu Shuyi did not feel immense pressure because of this. On the contrary, his eyes became even brighter. Perhaps because he had investigated so many cases, he found it difficult to be particularly interested in ordinary cases. He only investigated them out of a sense of responsibility. Only major, important, unsolved, and difficult cases could reach his threshold.

At this moment, facing Yao Guang from two years ago and confronting the current Yao Guang... to him, it was like two generals facing each other on the battlefield, making his blood boil.

Liu Shuyi took a deep breath to calm his emotions. Especially at times like these, he must not let his emotions control him.

He took Zhao Feng and Lu Yangyuan with him, along with some officials from the Ministry of Justice. After leaving the Ministry of Justice, he rode his horse at full speed towards the Wannian County Government Office.

Because the Wannian County Government Office was not far from the Ministry of Justice, they arrived at the Wannian County Government Office in less than a quarter of an hour.

When the yamen runners saw Liu Shuyi wearing a green official robe, they immediately stepped forward to pay their respects and inquired about his purpose.

Before Liu Shuyi could speak, Zhao Feng said, "This is Liu, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice. We are here to investigate a case. Quickly summon the person in charge of your department to see us."

"Master Liu? The legendary detective!?"

As fellow constables in the Chang'an prison system, they had naturally heard of Liu Shuyi's legends, but they never expected to see him in person today.

Looking at Liu Shuyi's handsome face and outstanding temperament, the yamen runner couldn't help but think to himself that the man lived up to his name.

He dared not delay and hurriedly said, "Please wait a moment, sir, I will go and report right away..."

With that, he quickly ran into the yamen (government office).

Zhao Feng originally thought that with Liu Shuyi's current reputation, the people in Wannian County would come out to greet him soon after hearing that Liu Shuyi had arrived.

But to their surprise, a quarter of an hour passed while they waited.

Even the burly Lu Yangyuan frowned, realizing something was wrong. He said, "Is it so slow to call someone?"

Zhao Feng frowned slightly and asked Liu Shuyi, "Master, what are they doing...?"

Liu Shuyi understood Zhao Feng's meaning. He went directly to the yamen runner, looked at the nervous-looking runner, and said, "Please pass on a message to the magistrate, saying that I am here to investigate the follow-up of the case of An Qingxi, the former governor of Bingzhou, who plotted a rebellion. The Wannian County yamen is so negligent that I have reason to suspect that you are trying to prevent me from finding out the truth."

"In that case, I will report the truth to His Majesty."

After saying that, he turned around and was about to leave.

The constable was terrified by Liu Shuyi's words and broke out in a cold sweat. He hurriedly said, "Please wait a moment, Master Liu. I'll go and deliver the message right away. Please don't leave, Master Liu..."

After saying that, he left almost as if he were running wildly.

But Liu Shuyi completely ignored him and mounted his horse again.

Zhao Feng couldn't help but ask, "Are you really leaving?"

Liu Shuyi glanced at the imposing and imposing Wannian County Government Office and said indifferently, "Some people deliberately try to disgust me. If we don't make them understand the consequences of disgusting me from the beginning, how can we use the Wannian County Government Office to conduct our investigation?"

Lu Yangyuan grinned and nodded emphatically: "That's how it should be! We won't be humiliated like this!"

Liu Shuyi smiled and rode away.

They hadn't walked far, and hadn't even turned the corner onto Zhuque Avenue, when a voice called out from behind, "Please wait a moment, Mr. Liu..."

Zhao Feng glanced back and whispered, "Someone from the Wannian County government office has come out."

"Ignore it and continue."

Liu Shuyi didn't look back and continued walking.

The group of people who rushed out of the county government office couldn't help but change their expressions when they saw that Liu Shuyi didn't stop at all.

The yamen runner who had just delivered the message couldn't help but say, "County Commandant Gu, this..."

County Lieutenant Gu Wen's face was grim, but when he remembered what Liu Shuyi had just sent someone to convey, he couldn't help but tense up.

He and Qian Wenqing were classmates and close friends. He had just helped Qian Wenqing solve a case yesterday, helping Qian Wenqing to gain merit. Therefore, he knew very well how much Qian Wenqing hated Liu Shuyi and how much of a threat Liu Shuyi posed to Qian Wenqing.

Therefore, upon hearing from the yamen runner that Liu Shuyi was coming to Wannian County to investigate a case, he deliberately kept Liu Shuyi waiting under the pretext, hoping to delay Liu Shuyi's investigation time, give Qian Wenqing some advantages, and at the same time vent his anger for Qian Wenqing.

But to everyone's surprise, Liu Shuyi was unwilling to suffer any loss. Seeing that no one paid attention to him, he said something that terrified him and then left.

This immediately startled Gu Wen, who was unsure whether Liu Shuyi was speaking out of anger or stating the truth.

Regardless of the reason, he dared not make things difficult for Liu Shuyi any further, and quickly came out, wanting to simply apologize and resolve the misunderstanding.

But to everyone's surprise, Liu Shuyi completely ignored him and headed straight for the capital.

Gu Wenxin felt a chill run down her spine.

He dared not utter another word and ran after Liu Shuyi, shouting as he ran, "Wait a moment, Assistant Minister Liu! I am the County Commandant of Wannian County, and I have something to say..."

But Liu Shuyi and his group seemed to be deaf, and no one paid any attention to him.

Only when he finally caught up with Liu Shuyi and the others, exhausted and panting heavily, unable to even finish a sentence, did Liu Shuyi stop his horse and ask in surprise, "What's going on here?"

Why are you pretending to be deaf?
So many people on the street heard it and gathered around. Can you honestly say you didn't hear it?

Gu Wen inwardly grumbled, but dared not show the slightest dissatisfaction on his face.

He said with a forced smile, "This humble official is Gu Wen, the county magistrate of Wannian, and greets Assistant Minister Liu."

"It is my fault for keeping you waiting, sir."

"Upon hearing of the arrival of Assistant Minister Liu, I went to find the magistrate immediately. However, I searched the entire yamen but could not find him. I finally learned that the magistrate had gone to the palace to meet the Emperor, which caused the delay. I hope Assistant Minister Liu will forgive me."

Sitting atop his tall horse, Liu Shuyi looked down at the county constable, who was covered in sweat, and said with a sudden realization, "So that's how it is. I thought you didn't want me to investigate the aftermath of the Anqingxi case, that it was related to Anqingxi, or that you were even his accomplices."

Gu Wen trembled and hurriedly said, "Master Liu, you are wise. I have no connection with Anqingxi. I did not mean to delay."

As he spoke, he looked up at Liu Shuyi, and when he did, he was met with Liu Shuyi's dark and deep eyes. Under the gaze of those deep eyes, Gu Wen felt as if all the secrets in his heart had been seen through.

This made his expression change, and he quickly lowered his head, his whole body tensing up even more.

Seeing Gu Wen's nervous expression, Liu Shuyi's lips finally curled up slightly.

He knew that given Gu Wen's relationship with Qian Wenqing, he would definitely not cooperate with him properly. So on his way here, he was still thinking about how to warn and intimidate Gu Wen so that Gu Wen would not dare to play tricks on him.

Unexpectedly, before he could even find an opportunity, Gu Wen offered himself up.

Seeing that Gu Wen was completely frightened and would not dare to have any other thoughts for a while, Liu Shuyi said calmly, "Since it is a misunderstanding, then County Magistrate Gu should cooperate with my investigation, right?"

Gu Wen nodded repeatedly, as if pounding garlic: "Of course! This humble official will do his best to cooperate with Assistant Minister Liu and will not slack off."

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly, not wanting to waste any more time, and said, "Then let's go."

With that, he turned his horse around and galloped towards Wannian County.

The thunderous sound of horses' hooves fading into the distance left only a cloud of dust and Gu Wen standing there, stunned.

Seeing that Liu Shuyi and his men were almost at the yamen, Gu Wen finally realized...

"You guys, wait for me..."

But no one paid any attention to him. Gu Wen didn't dare let Liu Shuyi wait outside the yamen any longer, so he gritted his teeth, slapped his thigh, and started running again.

When he reached the gate of the county government office, Liu Shuyi also dismounted.

Looking at Gu Wen, who was pale with exhaustion and panting heavily, Liu Shuyi nodded slightly and commented, "County Lieutenant Gu has good stamina."

After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and calmly entered the Wannian County Government Office.

Upon seeing this, all the yamen runners of Wannian County immediately bowed and saluted, no longer daring to look directly at Liu Shuyi.

At this moment, the sunlight was at its brightest, as if a golden road had been laid out in front of Liu Shuyi.

Panting heavily, Gu Wen stared at the scene, his expression momentarily stunned.

He felt that Liu Shuyi's entry into the Wannian County government office was not like someone coming to an unfamiliar place to investigate a case, but rather like the master returning to his own territory.

The way he overpowered himself with every gesture, the powerful aura that controlled everything, and the striking presence that made him impossible for anyone to ignore...

His heart tightened. What kind of monster had Qian Wenqing provoked?
(End of this chapter)