The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 127 Finally found! The key to uncovering Yao Guang!
Seeing that they had already moved away from the crowd, but Liu Shuyi was still walking forward, Lu Yangyuan couldn't help but say, "Master, they can't hear us anymore."

Liu Shuyi then stopped his horse. He looked up at the sky and saw that the sun had already moved to the west. Before he knew it, it was almost dusk.

"I have indeed gained something from this trip."

Liu Shuyi said, "Wei Ji's special behavior has completely confirmed my deduction that he was the cook at the Ma residence that night, but that's all. We are still missing one crucial clue to find Yao Guang, which I have not yet obtained."

Lu Yangyuan quickly asked, "What's the most crucial clue?"

"The identity of the person who taught Wei Ji cooking."

Liu Shuyi gently rubbed the reins in his hand with the pad of his thumb and said, "In this world, there is no skill that is taught for no reason, especially this kind of special cooking skill that only a few people have mastered. It will not be taught easily."

"In the end, Wei Ji is just a powerless and morally flawed nobody. Why would someone with such culinary skills pass on their best techniques to him?"

"Therefore, Wei Ji's opportunity was most likely the work of Yao Guang."

"If we can find this person, perhaps we can find Yao Guang through him!"

Lu Yangyuan nodded knowingly and sighed, "It's a pity that Wei Ji was very secretive and cautious in learning his skills. His neighbors followed him, but they only saw him leave in a carriage and couldn't find out where he went. Otherwise, we might have solved the case by now."

He looked at Liu Shuyi and couldn't help but ask, "So what do we do next? How do we find this person who will teach us cooking?"

A thoughtful look flashed in Liu Shuyi's eyes. He was about to speak when suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from ahead.

Liu Shuyi and Lu Yangyuan subconsciously looked up and saw several riders turning the corner at the intersection ahead, galloping towards them.

"It seems to be Vice Minister Du?" Lu Yangyuan said.

Liu Shuyi's eyes flashed, as if he had thought of something, and the corners of his mouth slightly curled up: "Perhaps, our problem is no longer a problem..."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Du Gou and his entourage appeared before them.

"Uu——"

Du Gou and the others came to a steady stop.

Liu Shuyi smiled and cupped his hands in greeting: "Du Sicheng arrived much faster than I expected."

Seeing Liu Shuyi and Lu Yangyuan alone here, while Gu Wen and the others were looking at them curiously from a distance, Du Gou seemed to understand something. He said, "I met Father on the road. Father was going to the palace, so I told Father your instructions."

After hearing this, Father pondered for a moment and then said he would investigate and told me to wait at the palace gate.

"I thought I would have to wait a long time, but to my surprise, in less than half an hour, a eunuch came out of the palace and gave me this item."

As he spoke, Du Gou took out two books from his pocket and handed them to Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi took the books and curiously opened one of them.

Then his eyes flickered slightly.

This book was a roster of the staff of the Imperial Kitchen, containing information such as their names, ages, culinary specialties, and when they entered the Imperial Kitchen.

After thinking for a moment, Liu Shuyi quickly opened another book.

"really……"

Upon seeing the contents of the book, a look of "I knew it" flashed across his eyes.

The book was a record of the imperial kitchen staff's entry and exit from the palace, detailing the time and reason for their entry and exit.

These two books are so detailed and numerous that they could not possibly have been written in half an hour.

In other words... Du Ruhui didn't investigate or question the staff of the Imperial Kitchen at all; instead, he directly retrieved the palace records.

Although such records are not exactly confidential, they are still items from the imperial palace and are therefore very sensitive. Even though Du Ruhui held a high position, he could not simply take them away.

and so……

"Is this Li Shimin's intention?"

"After Li Shimin saw my memorial, he knew that I wanted to clear his name, so he fully supported me as soon as he heard my request?"

"No wonder it was a eunuch delivering the books, and no wonder they were delivered so quickly..."

This also means that the situation is developing in the direction we expected.

Li Shimin has taken this case seriously and is eager to clear his name of the blame he has carried for two years.

Once he solves the case and clears Li Shimin of the blame, Li Shimin will be overjoyed and will certainly not hesitate to reward him handsomely.

With just this one case, he might be able to leave everyone else in the dust and secure victory ahead of time!

He took a deep breath, calming his racing mind. No matter how favorable the situation was, the priority was to solve the case!

If the case can't be solved, even a good thing will turn into a bad thing!

He quickly regained his composure and reopened the roster of personnel in the imperial kitchen.

Because the roster contained detailed records of each person's strengths, Liu Shuyi quickly found imperial chefs who could prepare dishes like "Golden Minced Fish and Jade Slices".

"There are four people in total who know how to make this dish..."

"Zhang Fen, forty years old, from Bingzhou, was originally a cook in the Li family. In the first year of Wude, when the retired emperor ascended the throne, he followed him into the imperial kitchen."

"Zhao Xu, thirty-five years old, ancestral home in Jiangnan, entered the Imperial Kitchen in the third year of Wude (620 AD) through Pei Ji's recommendation."

"Qin Xiguang, 46 years old, from Chang'an, was a chef at a restaurant. In the third year of the Wude era, the retired emperor ate the dishes prepared by him and praised them highly, so he entered the imperial kitchen."

“Li Xijie, 34 years old, from Luoyang, entered the Imperial Kitchen in the fourth year of the Wude era by recommendation of the Prince of Qin.”

Looking at the information of these four people who knew how to make minced fish, Liu Shuyi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

The chef from the original Li family, the chef recommended by Pei Ji, the chef recommended by Li Shimin, and the chef selected by Li Yuan from the common people... Four chefs, four different backgrounds!

This is truly a royal palace; even a cook's actions are worthy of deep reflection.

However, this has nothing to do with Liu Shuyi. He doesn't need to consider what's behind these people. He only needs to determine whether any of these four people are Wei Ji's mentors, and if so, who they are.

Liu Shuyi carefully reviewed the information of the four people again, then closed the book and opened another book.

The roster information could only help him get a basic understanding of these four people, but it was impossible to determine who had problems based on the roster alone. Fortunately, he had other clues.

Opening the record book and searching by name, Liu Shuyi quickly found the records of these four people entering and leaving the palace.

Because these people had served in the palace for many years, each of them had a lot of records of entering and leaving the palace. However, Liu Shuyi did not need to look at all the records of entering and leaving the palace. He only needed to determine whether these people frequently entered and left the palace in January of the ninth year of Wude.

"found it……"

"Zhang Fen, on the third day of the first month of the ninth year of Wude, went to purchase spices. He set off at 9:00 AM and returned to the palace at 1:00 PM."

Zhang Fen's records of entering and leaving the palace in January consist of only this one entry.

Moreover, the time allotted is only two hours.

This doesn't match Wei Ji's whereabouts at all, so it can be ruled out directly.

Liu Shuyi then looked at another person's record.

"Zhao Xu, on the fourteenth day of the first month of the ninth year of Wude, went to purchase ingredients for the Lantern Festival. He set off at Chenshi (7-9 AM) and returned to the palace at Weishi (1-3 PM)."

"On the 21st day of the first month of the ninth year of Wude, someone in my family fell ill, so I asked for a day off and returned to the palace at Chenshi the next day."

There are two records of Zhao Xu entering and leaving the palace, and the second time he stayed outside for a whole day.

However, it still didn't match Wei Ji's whereabouts.

According to the woman, Wei Ji had already been going out early and returning late every day since the New Year.

After thinking for a moment, he glanced at Zhao Xu's palace entry and exit records for December of the eighth year of the Wude era. It turned out that Zhao Xu had not left the palace in December or even November. As a royal chef, it was normal for him to stay in the palace once a month when he had nothing to do. Wei Ji's unusual behavior only occurred near the New Year and throughout January. It was impossible for Zhao Xu to have started teaching Wei Ji in October or even September.

Therefore, Zhao Xu can be temporarily ruled out.

Only two people are left.

At this moment, Liu Shuyi felt a little nervous.

If the restaurant owner misheard, or if Wei Ji was really boasting to Ma Qingfeng that he didn't learn his culinary skills from the imperial chef, then finding Wei Ji's mentor would be extremely difficult.

He slowly exhaled and continued to examine the third person's records.

The third person is Qin Xiguang.

There is no record of Qin Xiguang entering or leaving the palace in January of the ninth year of the Wude era.

Liu Shuyi frowned. This Qin Xiguang didn't even need to do any analysis.

Without delay, he quickly found the last person.

His gaze drifted to the book...

"Li analyzed that on the fourth day of the first month of the ninth year of Wude, he was ordered by the emperor to go to the Prince of Qin's mansion to do his work. He left at Chenshi (7-9 AM) and returned to the palace at Chenshi the next day."

To go to the Prince of Qin's residence to do some work?

Li Xi was recommended by Li Shimin to work in the imperial kitchen, so it wouldn't be a problem for Li Yuan to send this person to the Prince of Qin's residence to cook some good food for Li Shimin during the New Year... just kidding!
As the Prince of Qin, Li Shimin still needed a cook in his residence?
Clearly, Li Yuan's order had a deeper meaning.

As for the deeper meaning... considering the suppression of Li Shimin in the ninth year of Wude, Liu Shuyi could guess some of it.

However, Li was going to the Prince of Qin's residence, and with Li Yuan watching over him, he probably wouldn't have had the chance to teach cooking skills that day.

He continued to look down.

“Li analyzed that on the fourteenth day of the first month of the ninth year of Wude, he purchased ingredients for the Lantern Festival, departed at Chenshi (7-9 AM) and returned to the palace at Weishi (1-3 PM).

They were also buying Lantern Festival ingredients, and the timing was the same as Zhao Xu's, so it seems that the two of them probably went shopping together.

Under these circumstances, it would probably be difficult for Li to leave alone.

Li Xi also only had these two records of entering and leaving the palace in January of the ninth year of Wude. In December of the eighth year of Wude, although there was also one record of entering and leaving the palace, it was on the first day of December, and he was only gone for two hours.

Not to mention that two hours is simply not enough time, on the first day of the twelfth month, Wei Ji had not yet begun any unusual behavior...

Therefore... Li's analysis can also rule it out.

Liu Shuyi's heart sank, and his brows furrowed involuntarily.

All four imperial chefs were ruled out.

This proves that Wei Ji was indeed fabricating lies in front of Ma Qingfeng!
Under such circumstances, finding Wei Ji's mentor in the vast city of Chang'an was like finding a needle in a haystack.

"This is really troublesome."

"Is there any way to quickly find all the chefs who know how to make Golden Shredded Fish and confirm that they are Wei Ji's mentors?"

"Are we really going to use Li Shimin's authority to make all the officials and gentry reveal what their cooks can do? Not to mention, wouldn't that seem too frivolous if word got out? What if someone is afraid of getting into trouble and deliberately hides it?"

Liu Shuyi's eyes flickered, and he felt that the mist that had been gradually dissipating was beginning to gather before his eyes once again.

And this time, there's a strong tendency to wrap myself up as well.

"wrong!"

Suddenly, Liu Shuyi seemed to remember something and abruptly turned the book forward.

While searching through the records of these four people, he overlooked one person's situation because he was fixated on the data from December of the eighth year of Wude and January of the ninth year of Wude.

The pages flipped quickly, and soon stopped on a certain page.

Liu Shuyi looked at the name on this page—Qin Xiguang.

While reviewing Qin Xiguang's records, he found no entries or exits from Qin Xiguang in December of the eighth year of Wude and January of the ninth year of Wude, so he immediately ruled him out.

However, he overlooked one thing.

Those are the other three people. Besides the records from these two months, there are some other records, at least five or six.

This means that from the ninth year of the Wude era to the present, the least number of times any of them has left the palace is five or six.

But what about Qin Xiguang?
Qin Xiguang not only has no records of entering or leaving in December of the eighth year of Wude and January of the ninth year of Wude, but also no records after that!
What does this mean?
He hadn't left the palace even once in two or three years!

It was rather strange compared to others.

Qin Xiguang was just a regular cook in the Imperial Kitchen, not a chef on duty in front of the emperor. He was allowed to leave the palace to buy ingredients and spices, but he hadn't stepped out of the palace for so many years. Why?
Liu Shuyi traced the timeline upwards to find Qin Xiguang's last entry and exit records, wanting to know when Qin Xiguang last entered and exited the palace.

then……

"Ok?"

"I made a mistake..."

Looking at the records in the book, a look of astonishment appeared on his face.

Lu Yangyuan had been quietly observing Liu Shuyi. Seeing Liu Shuyi's furrowed brows, so different from before, he couldn't help but ask, "Master, what's wrong? Have you discovered something?"

Du Gou also kept a close eye on Liu Shuyi.

Then they saw Liu Shuyi raise the book in his hand, point to the contents of a page, and say, "I made a mistake."

"Wrong?" Lu Yangyuan was taken aback.

Liu Shuyi said, "Because I couldn't find any subsequent records of his entering and leaving the palace, I assumed that he had been staying in the palace all these years and had never stepped out, which made me suspicious."

"But now I realize that he didn't just not step out of the palace, he didn't even step into it!"

"He has been outside the palace all these years!"

Lu Yangyuan's eyes widened in surprise. "He's been outside the palace the whole time? How is that possible? Even if an ordinary imperial chef can leave the palace, there are time restrictions, right? How could he have been outside the palace the whole time?"

Du Gou was also puzzled.

Liu Shuyi said, "Because he is observing mourning."

"Mourning!?"

Lu Yangyuan and Du Gou were both somewhat taken aback.

Liu Shuyi took back the book, looked at its contents, and said, "Qin Xiguang, on the thirteenth day of the seventh month of the eighth year of Wude, due to the death of his mother, is permitted to observe three years of mourning before returning home..."

Three years of mourning!

This means that he has plenty of time to do whatever he wants between July of the eighth year of the Wude era and July of this year.

This naturally includes teaching a student how to cook!
Therefore... Wei Ji was not lying; what he said to Ma Qingfeng was not an exaggeration.

He really did have a royal chef.

And now, I've found this royal chef!

The opportunity to uncover the secrets of Yao Guang has finally been found by myself!

　Please forgive the short word count today.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)