The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 150 Goodbye Anqing West, Good News from the Ministry of Works, Dawn Finally Appears!
Liu Shuyi had a guess, and immediately scanned the entire warehouse with his eyes.

Illuminated by dozens of lights, the vast warehouse came into clear view.

At the far end of the warehouse, there were some boxes piled up, all of which were locked, and it was unknown what was inside.

On the clean marble floor, there are many scratches, which are probably caused by moving things.

Apart from that, there were no other traces on the ground, and there were no obvious gaps between the marble floorboards. The connection between each marble slab was very tight, and there was no sign that it had been lifted.

Liu Shuyi thought for a moment, then walked out of the storeroom and said to a guard, "May I borrow your scabbard?"

The guard was stunned for a moment, not understanding what Liu Shuyi intended to do, but when he saw the scarlet official robe on Liu Shuyi's body, he realized that Liu Shuyi was an important official of the fifth rank or above, so he did not hesitate and quickly removed the scabbard from his sword and respectfully handed it to Liu Shuyi.

"Thank you."

Liu Shuyi nodded his thanks to the guard and accepted the scabbard.

He turned around and re-entered the storeroom with the scabbard in his hand. Then, under the bewildered gazes of Fu Wuwei and the others, he began to tap the ground with the scabbard.

Seeing Liu Shuyi's bizarre behavior, Fu Wuwei was completely baffled.

He couldn't help but ask, "Dr. Liu, what's wrong?"

Du Gou and Du Ying exchanged a glance.

However, unlike Fu Wuwei, who was completely bewildered from beginning to end, Du Gou and Du Ying had solved many cases with Liu Shuyi and had also personally experienced the case of the shrine stele. So after their initial confusion, they understood Liu Shuyi's thoughts.

Du Gou said, "Doctor Liu, are you suspecting... that there are secret passages and mechanisms beneath the floor of this storeroom, just like those beneath the shrine?"

"What? A secret passage or mechanism?"

Upon hearing Du Gou's words, Fu Wuwei immediately said before Liu Shuyi could speak, "Impossible! How could my Ministry of Revenue's treasury possibly contain such a thing?"

"Du Sicheng, what do you think of my Ministry of Revenue? The Ministry of Revenue's treasury is mainly used for the transfer of taxes from the imperial court. If there were really any shady secret passages or mechanisms under my Ministry of Revenue's treasury, wouldn't that imply that my Ministry of Revenue is corrupt, embezzling funds, and hiding tax silver?!"

Fu Wuwei reacted strongly, because if this matter were to get out, it would be a fatal blow to the Ministry of Revenue.

During tax collection, even taking out a single copper coin or a grain of millet would result in severe punishment by the imperial court. If His Majesty were to hear that there were hidden passages and mechanisms beneath the Ministry of Revenue's treasury... one can imagine the fate that would befall the officials of the Ministry of Revenue.

So Du Gou's slight mention was like stepping on Fu Wuwei's tail, causing him to disregard Du Gou's identity and directly refute him.

Liu Shuyi was not surprised by Fu Wuwei's violent reaction. He continued to move his hands, tapping the marble floor as he walked, and said, "Doctor Fu, there's no need to be nervous. We don't suspect that your Ministry of Revenue has any ulterior motives. I do this simply out of habit. Whenever I see this clean and tidy floor, I can't help but want to tap it."

"This is a bad habit I've developed over many years. Although I've always wanted to correct it, I just can't resist the urge to do it. I hope Physician Fu can understand my quirk."

Upon hearing this, Fu Wuwei was stunned: "This...really?"

Are there really people in this world with this kind of fetish?
He had seen people who felt restless if they didn't go to a brothel for a day, people who couldn't resist gambling even though they knew it was wrong, people who wanted to kick dogs whenever they saw them... He had seen all sorts of bizarre habits, but he had never seen anyone with a habit of banging things on the ground.

Liu Shuyi seized the time to continue tapping, a helpless bitter smile on his face: "I know this hobby is hard for people to understand, but it is related to my childhood experience. However, that experience was too embarrassing to tell outsiders... I hope Physician Fu can understand."

Seeing Liu Shuyi's sincere expression and the bitterness on his face that was even more intense than when he had been scolded by Minister Tang for making a mistake, Fu Wuwei finally nodded and said, "Everyone has their own difficulties, and I understand. Don't worry, Physician Liu, I will definitely keep it a secret and never let anyone else know."

"Thank you very much." Liu Shuyi expressed his sincere gratitude.

Seeing how Liu Shuyi had managed to fool Fu Wuwei with just a few words, Du Gou's eyes twitched.

He never expected that Fu Wuwei would believe such a bizarre reason from Liu Shuyi... Was Liu Shuyi too cunning, or was Fu Wuwei too naive?
Du Ying also looked at Liu Shuyi with sparkling eyes. She suddenly realized that Liu Shuyi was too good at deceiving people. She could not believe everything Liu Shuyi said in the future. She had to have a pair of discerning eyes, otherwise she would be like her sister-in-law at home, who really thought that her brother never went to brothels.

Liu Shuyi was unaware of what the others were thinking. After fooling Fu Wuwei, he seized the time to verify his deduction.

If there really is a secret passage under the warehouse, then the entrance to the passage must be empty. That is to say, you can hear a hollow thud when you tap the marble floor.

However, he spent more than fifteen minutes tapping on every marble floor he could reach, but not a single floorboard made a hollow sound.

His brows furrowed involuntarily.

There are three possibilities that could lead to this.

The first possibility is that they guessed wrong, which goes without saying.

The second possibility is that the entrance to the secret passage was covered by those boxes, and I couldn't verify it.

The third type... the thief is very cautious. The entrance is specially treated, and there may be other layers under the marble floor, making it impossible to screen out with simple knocking.

Liu Shuyi couldn't be sure which possibility it was.

But even the second, most identifiable possibility, he couldn't easily verify... After all, he knew very well how panic and resistance the Ministry of Revenue officials would feel if they found out about his search for the secret passage.

The reason he didn't use Li Shimin to intimidate people, but instead covered it up with lies, was because he didn't want to directly confront the Ministry of Revenue.

It would be very irrational to clash with the Ministry of Revenue when the existence of the secret passage is uncertain.

Liu Shuyi's mind raced. He turned to Fu Wuwei and asked, "Doctor Fu, who built your Ministry of Revenue's warehouse? Was it the Ministry of Works?"

If this warehouse truly has secret passages, then it must have been secretly constructed during its initial construction. Otherwise, as Fu Wuwei said, since the Ministry of Revenue's warehouse was officially put into use, it has always been guarded by guards, so there would have been no opportunity to build secret passages.

To everyone's surprise, Fu Wuwei shook his head upon hearing this and said, "We didn't build the warehouse."

"What?" Liu Shuyi frowned.

Du Gou also did not understand Fu Wuwei's meaning.

Fu Wuwei explained, "To be honest, Doctor Liu, this place was actually the former Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Sui Dynasty, which is now the Ministry of Revenue. After Emperor Yang of Sui moved the capital to Luoyang, this place was abandoned."

"Until the Tang Dynasty established its capital in Chang'an, the Tang Dynasty was beset by internal and external troubles and its finances were tight. Therefore, the court did not build any new government offices. Instead, it renovated the government offices of the former Sui Dynasty and moved in to work."

Liu Shuyi suddenly realized: "I see. So, these warehouses were already here before you entered?"

"Yes."

Fu Wuwei said, "However, this place has been abandoned for many years, and with the war at the end of the Sui Dynasty, no one has taken care of it, so the warehouse is very dirty and messy. We also spent a lot of effort cleaning it up, and the Ministry of Works repaired the roof, repainted the walls, and replaced the iron gate before it was put back into use."

Liu Shuyi nodded. Looking at the smooth, shiny marble floor, he asked, "I wonder if this marble floor was there originally, or if it was replaced by the Ministry of Works later?"

"It already existed."

Fu Wuwei said, "When we first entered this place, we saw that the paint on the walls was peeling and the brick walls were mottled, so we figured the ground couldn't be much better. We considered having the Ministry of Works repave the ground..."

"To our surprise, after we cleaned up the dirt and dust on the floor, we found that the marble floor was completely intact. Apart from a few scratches, there was nothing wrong with it. After the Ministry of Works inspected it, they said that even if the floor was replaced, given the national treasury's financial resources at the time, the new floor could not possibly be better than the marble floor. Therefore, we decided to continue using it."

Liu Shuyi's eyes flickered slightly as he listened to Fu Wuwei's words.

The same warehouse, abandoned for many years, has developed problems with its roof tiles, peeling paint, and faded and mottled brick walls... but the marble slab floor looks brand new... even now, many years later, there is nothing wrong with it.

Isn't the material used for this flooring a bit too good?
Even the boards used in the main halls of the imperial palace were probably of poor quality.

Why is the quality of the flooring so different from that of other areas in the same warehouse?
Liu Shuyi stared thoughtfully at the smooth, clean floor that reflected his blurry shadow.

After a moment, he looked at Fu Wuwei again and said, "Doctor Fu, when the Ministry of Works was repairing this warehouse, did they find anything unusual? Or did they say anything special about this place that distinguishes it from other places?"

Fu Wuwei didn't understand Liu Shuyi's meaning. He shook his head and said, "No, I was just a minor official in the Ministry of Revenue at the time. I was busy with official duties and didn't pay much attention to this place. I don't know if they said anything... But I didn't hear any rumors, so I think there shouldn't be anything unusual."

Liu Shuyi did not detect any subtle movements or micro-expressions in Fu Wuwei when he was lying. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I am quite knowledgeable, but this is the first time I have seen such a tower-shaped warehouse. I wonder if there is any special meaning behind building the warehouse in this way?"

Fu Wuwei shrugged: "To be honest, I'm also very curious, but after the war, the records of these buildings have long since disappeared, and we don't know exactly who built them, so it remains a mystery to this day."

Liu Shuyi narrowed his eyes; even the people in the Ministry of Revenue didn't know...

Such tower-shaped buildings are rare to begin with, and even rarer to use them as warehouses.

At the time, it would have inevitably aroused the curiosity of many people and become a topic of conversation.

Even if the war destroyed the files, as long as someone has the relevant memories, they will definitely be able to find out.

However, after so many years, the Ministry of Revenue still knew nothing about it.

Did you not ask around?

Or is it that... no one knows the real reason?
Or perhaps... everyone who knows is dead?
Looking at this unique and mysterious warehouse, Liu Shuyi increasingly felt that this warehouse held a huge secret.

However, the Tang Dynasty's Ministry of Revenue, being a later entity, was completely unaware of this.

If you want to get information, you can only ask other people.

But who has the chance to know about this?

Liu Shuyi's mind raced, and the people he had ever met quickly came to mind.

One figure after another flashed before my eyes...

Suddenly, Liu Shuyi's expression changed; he thought of someone.

"Dr. Fu..."

Liu Shuyi looked at Fu Wuwei, cupped his hands and said, "I just remembered something that needs my immediate attention, so I won't disturb Doctor Fu any longer."

Upon hearing this, Fu Wuwei's eyes lit up immediately.

He was prepared to be bothered by Liu Shuyi all night, but unexpectedly, things took an unexpected turn and Liu Shuyi suddenly wanted to leave.

Although I don't know why Liu Shuyi is leaving, it's a good thing to get rid of this plague. After all, Liu Shuyi's departure means that the Ministry of Revenue has nothing to do with the salary case, and I can finally put my mind at ease.

He hurriedly said, "I hit it off with Physician Liu at first sight. I originally planned to host a banquet for Physician Liu after dawn, but Physician Liu has important official duties, and I cannot stop him."

"I'll just have to find another opportunity to drink with Doctor Liu until we're both drunk."

Liu Shuyi looked at him intently, then smiled and cupped his hands in greeting: "Perhaps we'll meet again soon..." "Huh?" Fu Wuwei didn't understand Liu Shuyi's deeper meaning.

Liu Shuyi, however, had already led Du Gou and the others out of the storeroom. After returning the scabbards to the guards, he quickly left the Ministry of Revenue.

…………

On the road.

Du Gou rode alongside Liu Shuyi, and seeing Liu Shuyi leading his horse with a clear purpose, he asked curiously, "Where are we going?"

"The Ministry of Justice prison," Liu Shuyi said without turning his head.

"The Ministry of Justice prison?" Du Gou was taken aback.

The jump between the Ministry of Justice's prison and the Ministry of Revenue's office is indeed quite significant.

But soon, a thought struck him, and he guessed, "You want to see An Qingxi?"

Liu Shuyi then turned to Du Gou and smiled, "Du, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, understands me best."

Du Ying, standing to the side with a cool and aloof demeanor, glanced at Liu Shuyi. "You're the only one who understands you, brother. What about me? What am I?"
Neither Du Gou nor Liu Shuyi noticed the cold and beautiful coroner's gaze beside them. Upon hearing Liu Shuyi's words, Du Gou said directly, "Do you suspect... that the silver coin case is related to the Fusheng Tower where An Qingxi is located?"

Floating Life Pavilion?
Upon hearing this name, Du Ying was startled, and her expression became serious.

As Liu Shuyi and his group ran, the light and shadow of the lanterns in front of each mansion kept brushing against Liu Shuyi's face, making his face alternate between black and white, as if he were caught between darkness and light.

He looked at the dimly lit road ahead and said, "We have too little useful information right now. Most of my speculations are based on logic and bold assumptions, so I am also certain that the loss of the funds may be related to Fusheng Tower."

"But if my speculation is correct, and the salary was indeed lost in the Ministry of Revenue's treasury, and there really is a secret passage inside the treasury... then this matter may really be closely related to them."

"After all, the warehouse was built by the former Sui Dynasty. If anyone could know the secret of the warehouse, it could only be Fushenglou, who inherited the will of the former Sui Dynasty."

"So I'm going to find An Qingxi and ask him if he knows the secret of the warehouse."

Du Gou thought about it carefully and nodded, saying, "Indeed, and Fusheng Tower has every motive to restore the former Sui Dynasty..."

"But didn't you say before that before the case of the Prince of Xi's remains, their main focus was on hiding themselves and plotting in secret? If such a big case as the theft of the military funds was really their doing, doesn't that contradict their plan to hide themselves?"

Liu Shuyi gently stroked the reins with his fingertips and shook his head: "We still have too little information... We'll only know the specifics when we meet An Qingxi."

A quarter of an hour later.

Liu Shuyi and others arrived at the Ministry of Justice prison.

Given Liu Shuyi's current status, he could easily enter prison simply by using facial recognition.

"Doctor Liu, what brings you here so late at night?" the jailer asked respectfully and nervously.

Liu Shuyi got straight to the point: "I want to see An Qingxi."

"Prefect An?"

The jailer hesitated for a moment. An Qingxi was different from ordinary prisoners; not just anyone could see him.

However, since Liu Shuyi had arrested and imprisoned An Qingxi, and Du Ruhui had taken the initiative to let Liu Shuyi see An Qingxi several times, the prison warden thought it over and decided that Liu Shuyi should be a special person who could see An Qingxi at any time. So he did not stop him and directly ordered someone to take An Qingxi to the interrogation room.

"No need."

Liu Shuyi stopped the jailer and said, "I only have a few simple questions to ask him. Just take me to his cell."

The jailer naturally dared not disobey and immediately led the way for Liu Shuyi himself.

Liu Shuyi and his two companions passed through a cold and dark passage, turned a corner, and arrived at the innermost part of the Ministry of Justice prison. There was a specially made iron door here, guarded by prison guards.

The jailer ordered the guards to open the iron gate from the inside, and everyone felt as if they had entered another prison, which was even more damp, dark, and oppressive.

Liu Shuyi remembered that when he came before, there wasn't that door yet. He asked the jailer, who said, "Minister Du said that An Qingxi and the others have special status and cannot be imprisoned like ordinary prisoners. Security measures need to be increased to prevent accidents. So we specially asked the Ministry of Works to make that iron door. Without the key, no one can easily enter or leave."

Liu Shuyi nodded. It seemed that Zhao Chengyi's death had served as a wake-up call for Du Ruhui, making him pay more attention to the safety of these special prisoners.

He asked, "Are Miaoyin'er and the others also imprisoned here?"

"Yes," the jailer replied respectfully. "However, Minister Du said they should not be given the opportunity to communicate with each other, so they have been separated and their cells are not adjacent to each other."

Liu Shuyi was not surprised by this. If they were allowed to stand side by side, wouldn't that give them an excellent opportunity to collude and give false testimony?

"This cell is where Miaoyin is being held."

The jailer pointed to a cell on the left. Liu Shuyi realized that this was not the cell where Miaoyin'er had been imprisoned before. The door of this cell was a single piece of iron plate with a window through which food could be sent in, but the window was blocked at the moment, so Miaoyin'er inside could not see anyone passing by outside.

Now is not the best time to see Miaoyin'er. Liu Shuyi did not stop. As he walked, he asked, "Have you ever mistreated Miaoyin'er?"

The jailer shook his head: "Apart from the interrogation, Miaoyin'er was injured, but no one has been harsh on her since. After all, she has a very good attitude and answers all questions. Minister Du specifically instructed that we should take good care of her and make sure she doesn't break down and something unexpected happens."

They answered all my questions and were very polite... but their answers were so honest that it was impossible to tell if they were true or false.

Of the forces to which Miao Yin'er belongs, only she has been captured alive so far. If something happens to her, there will be no chance to investigate the forces behind her. Therefore, Miao Yin'er absolutely cannot be allowed to get into trouble.

Now that he knows Miaoyin'er might have some connection with his brother, Liu Shuyi feels that he can't let Miaoyin'er suffer any longer before the truth is revealed. If Miaoyin'er and Liu Shuzhong really have an affair, he won't be able to explain it to Liu Shuzhong...

He said, "Minister Du is right. Miaoyin must not be harmed. We must take good care of her."

The jailer nodded hurriedly, "Your Excellency understands."

As soon as he finished speaking, the jailer stopped. He looked at the iron door in front of him, which was exactly the same as Miao Yin'er's cell, and said, "An Qingxi is being held here."

As he spoke, he removed the window shutter and pounded on the iron door, shouting, "An Qingxi, wake up! Doctor Liu wants to see you!"

The prison was already deathly quiet, but now the jailer was banging on the iron door. The clanging sound was like a demonic chant, constantly echoing in the cramped prison, causing Du Yingxiu to frown slightly.

An Qingxi, who was lying on the straw mat, was also awakened by the noise.

He stared at the light streaming through the small window of the iron gate, listened to the jailer's words, and remained stunned for a long while before he understood what had happened.

An Qingxi sat up, his tone filled with surprise: "Liu Langzhong... Liu Shuyi, you've been promoted to a fifth-rank Langzhong!?"

Liu Shuyi laughed and said, "I was just lucky."

"You've actually been promoted to physician? This... you've only been a junior official for a short time, and you've already become a physician?"

An Qingxi's eyes widened, his face filled with shock. He knew all too well what Liu Shuyi's rapid promotion meant and how difficult it was.

Liu Shuyi had seen too much astonishment and flattery, and at this moment he no longer felt that his promotion to physician was a big deal. He said directly, "Prefect An, I have a question for you."

An Qingxi took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart, and said, "Ask away. I knew you didn't come to me to show off your promotion."

Liu Shuyi looked at An Qingxi, who was sitting slumped on the straw mat. An Qingxi seemed to have lost all his energy and spirit, and no longer had the dignity and arrogance he once had. However, this was a good thing for him.

He no longer needs to outwit and outmaneuver Anqing Xi.

Liu Shuyi asked, "Do you know what secrets are hidden in the Ministry of Revenue's treasury?"

"The Ministry of Revenue's treasury?"

An Qingxi was taken aback.

He had considered the questions Liu Shuyi might ask and had prepared in advance to avoid displeasing Liu Shuyi and affecting his future survival. But he never expected that Liu Shuyi would ask about the Ministry of Revenue's treasury.

He had always lived outside of Chang'an, only coming to Chang'an for a short period of time each year to report on his duties. He would never even enter the Ministry of Revenue, and he didn't even know that the Ministry of Revenue had any warehouses. How could he possibly know what secrets the Ministry of Revenue's warehouses held?
He couldn't help but ask, "Dr. Liu didn't ask the wrong question?"

Liu Shuyi narrowed his eyes as he observed the change in An Qingxi's expression: "You're not mistaken, it is the Ministry of Revenue's warehouse."

An Qingxi shook his head: "I don't know. I've never been to the Ministry of Revenue, nor have I heard anyone mention it."

do not know……

Liu Shuyi frowned, thought for a moment, and then said, "Have you ever heard your companions mention that there are very secret underground chambers in Chang'an City where you can hide?"

An Qingxi still shook his head: "Never..."

"However, just because I haven't heard of it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. If you can get Tianquan to talk, you can ask him. He has been staying in Chang'an all along, so he must know."

Tianquan... Liu Yuanming...

Liu Yuanming was captured earlier than An Qingxi, but apart from deliberately deceiving them at the beginning in an attempt to use them to eliminate his rivals, he never spoke again. He was like a mute. Getting Liu Yuanming to talk was no less difficult than investigating the silver treasury case.

Unless absolutely necessary, Liu Shuyi was unwilling to waste a lot of time on Liu Yuanming.

"Dr. Liu..."

At this moment, a jailer suddenly came over and said to Liu Shuyi, "Vice Minister Wang of the Ministry of Works has come to the Ministry of Justice and says he wants to see Physician Liu."

Wang Kun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works?
Why did he suddenly want to contact me? And why is it so late?
Liu Shuyi's mind raced, and suddenly, he remembered something.

During the stone tablet case, he asked Wang Kun to help him investigate the aftermath of the stone tablet incident. Wang Kun was a straightforward person and had a good relationship with him, so he readily agreed.

Why would someone come looking for me now? Do they have something to offer?

The stone tablet was built by Fushenglou. According to Wang Kun, the craftsmen who built the stone tablet were extremely skilled, and even now, only three people in the Ministry of Works can compare to them.

So, could this stone tablet have been made by a craftsman from the Sui Dynasty who was hidden inside the Floating Life Pavilion?
If that's the case, did this craftsman participate in the construction of the Ministry of Revenue's warehouse?
Thinking of this, Liu Shuyi immediately turned around and said, "Let's go see Vice Minister Wang."

(End of this chapter)