The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 156 Deduction! Do you think my reputation as a detective is just empty words?
"Thump—thump, thump, thump, thump!"

The night watchman walked along the quiet, deserted streets of Jing'anfang, striking his clapper and shouting, "At dawn, early to bed and early to rise, take care of your health."

In summer and autumn, when it gets light early, the sky begins to lighten slightly at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM). As the night watchman's voice rings out, some families will get up and prepare to start a new day's work.

However, it was springtime, and the ice and snow had not completely melted. It was still early before dawn, so when the people heard the sound, most of them turned over, wrapped themselves tightly in their blankets, and continued to sleep.

The night watchman yawned. The closer it got to dawn, the sleepier he became. Fortunately, the fifth watch was the last time he would announce the time. After he finished walking through Jing'anfang, he could go home, crawl into bed, and fall fast asleep with his wife in his arms.

"This night is finally coming to an end."

The night watchman tightened his sleeves, his steps becoming lighter as he thought about how he would soon be able to hold his warm, cozy wife in his arms while sleeping.

Da da da……

Just then, the sound of rapid, crisp hooves suddenly came from the front of the previously quiet street.

The thunderous sound of hooves shattered the tranquility of the night.

The night watchman was stunned for a moment, not knowing what had happened, and quickly looked up and ahead.

Then he noticed some red dots suddenly appearing on the dark road ahead. These red dots quickly magnified, and he realized that they were actually torches.

The torches dispelled the darkness, and dozens of guards on tall horses, with swords at their waists and eyes as sharp as hawks, charged toward him with intimidating force.

He swallowed hard, quickly stepped back to the wall, bowed his head, and made way for them.

However, the guards did not ignore him. When they reached his side, a series of "whoosh" sounds rang out. Just a moment ago, they were as unstoppable as thunderbolts, but in the next instant, they all stopped silently in front of him.

The night watchman, unsure if he had somehow offended the guards, was about to apologize.

But before he could speak, a gentle voice rang out first: "Did you notice anything unusual while you were on watch tonight?"

The night watchman paused, then subconsciously looked up. He then realized that the person who had spoken to him was the leader of these imposing guards. This man was dressed in a scarlet official robe, handsome in appearance, and possessed an extraordinary bearing.

Crimson... Rank 5 or higher!?

The night watchman quickly bowed respectfully: "Greetings, Your Honor."

Liu Shuyi waved his hand: "No need to be nervous. I am Liu Shuyi, a senior official in the Ministry of Justice. I am looking for someone's whereabouts. Just answer me truthfully."

The night watchman dared not delay and hurriedly replied, "Reporting to Physician Liu, I have been walking around Jing'an Ward all night and have not found anything unusual."

Liu Shuyi nodded, then asked, "Have you ever been to Youfu Inn?"

"Of course, when the little man is on watch, he has to walk through every street."

"Have you seen any figures or heard any noises near Youfu Inn?"

"This……"

The night watchman thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, I passed by Youfu Inn at the second and fourth watch and didn't see anyone or hear any noise."

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly: "Thank you, you can continue with your work."

After saying that, he continued to lead his men forward.

As he rode forward, Liu Shuyi pondered Ren Xing's situation.

Two quarters of an hour ago, in front of Zhao Chengyi’s residence, Cui Lin told him that he had found Ren Xing’s whereabouts.

Cui Lin said that he used the Cui family's influence to learn that someone had seen Ren Xing in front of Youfu Inn around noon, but Ren Xing disappeared in the blink of an eye.

At noon... by then he had already gone from the Dali Temple to the Chang'an County Government Office, learned of Ren Xing's disappearance, and had people begin searching for Ren Xing.

In other words, Ren Xing was already considered missing at that time.

After that, no matter how the Chang'an County Government and the Wannian County Government searched, they found no trace of Ren Xing.

In other words, Ren Xing's appearance in front of Youfu Inn at noon was the last time he appeared in public.

At that time, he had already sent someone with a handwritten order to the city gate, instructing the soldiers guarding the city to check everyone entering and leaving the city. Therefore, Ren Xing's appearance in Jing'an Ward at that time meant that Ren Xing would have no chance to leave Chang'an.

He is still hiding in Chang'an, and most likely in the Jing'an Ward, which has disappeared from public view.

"Whoa... Doctor Liu, we've arrived!"

Upon hearing Cui Lin's words, Liu Shuyi gathered his thoughts and stopped his horse.

He turned his head and saw that they had stopped in front of a two-story inn.

At this moment, only the two lanterns in front of the inn emitted a faint light. The night wind blew, and the lanterns swayed, making the faint light seem as if it would be extinguished at any moment.

Cui Lin said, "Ren Xing disappeared right in front of the inn. He was in a panic when he ran away and was completely unprepared. Since he didn't leave Chang'an, the best place for him to hide was the inn, and the easiest place for him to find a place to hide himself. Therefore, I suspect that he may be hiding in this inn."

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly and said, "Knock on the door."

Upon hearing Liu Shuyi's words, the guards immediately dismounted and banged on the tightly closed doors of the inn.

Before long, a faint candlelight appeared inside the inn.

The candlelight quickly approached the inn's door, while a wary voice came from inside: "Who is it? It's not dawn yet, our inn hasn't started business. If you want to stay, wait until it's light."

The curfew had not yet ended, so if someone appeared outside the inn at this time, there must be something wrong. The innkeeper and waiters, not wanting to cause trouble, would generally not receive guests.

However, since the people who come are from the imperial court, whether or not they are received is not up to them to decide.

"Ministry of Justice is investigating a case, open the door immediately!"

Upon hearing the sound from behind the door, the guard immediately spoke up sternly.

"What? The Ministry of Justice!?"

The person behind the door couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

"Is he really an official from the Ministry of Justice?"

"Enough with the nonsense, open the door! If you don't, we're breaking in!"

"Open! I'll open it right away!"

The waiter behind the door, fearing that the inn's door would be damaged, quickly removed the latch and opened the door a crack. Looking out through the crack, he saw dozens of people holding torches surrounding the inn.

These people were all dressed in government robes, and the leader was even wearing a scarlet official robe, which immediately convinced the waiter that the people outside the door were indeed officials.

He dared not hesitate any longer, and quickly opened the door completely. Then he bowed respectfully and said, "I am Lin Wu, a waiter from Youfu Inn. Greetings, Your Excellency."

Liu Shuyi glanced at the waiter, who was in his early twenties. His clothes were disheveled, and there was sleep in the corner of his eyes. He had obviously been woken up from his sleep and had come over in a daze.

He asked, "Where is your innkeeper?"

"They're probably still sleeping—"

Before he could finish speaking, a series of hurried footsteps came from behind him: "Tang Ming, the innkeeper of this humble inn, greets all the officials. I was sleeping too soundly and did not know that you would come here so late at night. I am sorry for not being able to greet you in time. Please forgive me."

As he spoke, a neatly dressed middle-aged man with an apologetic expression stepped out from behind the waiter.

He was about forty years old, slightly overweight, with a round face. When he smiled, his eyes seemed to disappear, making him look very approachable.

Liu Shuyi dismounted and looked at the innkeeper Tang Ming, getting straight to the point: "I am investigating a criminal. Someone said that they saw this person in front of your inn yesterday at noon, so we suspect that this person is hiding in your inn."

"What!?"

The shopkeeper's eyes widened in shock. He quickly said, "This...this can't be, can it?"

The waiter also looked incredulous.

"Portrait." Liu Shuyi held out his hand, and Cui Lin immediately took out Ren Xing's portrait from his pocket and handed it to Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi unfolded the portrait and asked, "Have you ever seen this person before?"

Tang Ming and the waiter examined him carefully, and the waiter immediately said, "Hey... isn't this the person that County Magistrate Wannian was looking for during the day?"

Tang Ming looked closely and said in surprise, "It really is."

He looked at Liu Shuyi: "Doctor Liu may not know, but this afternoon, around 3 PM, County Magistrate Gu from Wannian County led a group of people to our inn looking for someone. The person in the portrait he was holding was this person."

How could Liu Shuyi not know? After all, it was his order for Gu Wen to find someone.

However, he didn't explain, only asking, "Did he find it?"

Tang Ming shook his head: "Neither the common people nor the guests in the inn have ever seen this person."

Liu Shuyi was not surprised by this result. If Gu Wen had been found, he would have sent someone to inform him long ago. Why did it take Cui Lin to use the power of the aristocratic families to find Ren Xing's whereabouts in the end?

He asked the question simply to see Tang Ming and Xiao Er's reaction.

"This person is very dangerous."

Liu Shuyi said to Tang Ming, "Moreover, he is very good at disguising himself. He may be able to change his appearance through some means to deceive your eyes. Therefore, I will be searching your inn. I hope you can understand."

Upon hearing this, the waiter hesitated and said, "The guests are all sleeping. If we wake them up at this time, they might be unhappy."

"Let them be dissatisfied. We can compensate them. It's more important to cooperate with the court to catch the criminals than to complain about this."

Without the slightest hesitation, Tang Ming stepped aside and said, "Physician Liu, please search... I will cooperate fully."

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly: "Thank you, Manager Tang."

After saying that, he waved his hand, and the guards rushed into the inn.

The first floor of the inn is the kitchen and dining hall, while the guest rooms are on the second floor.

The guards had a clear objective. After entering the inn, they climbed the wooden stairs to the second floor, followed by loud knocking on the door and the dissatisfied shouts of the inn's guests.

However, these shouts vanished as soon as they saw the guards' official robes, as if their throats had been choked.

Liu Shuyi casually found a stool and sat down. He looked at Tang Ming and said, "Manager Tang, may I take a look at your inn's registration book?"

"of course."

Tang Ming quickly turned around and found the hotel registration book.

Liu Shuyi took the register and flipped to the last page.

Tang Ming stood aside and said, "This page contains the registration information of the new guests who checked in yesterday. A total of ten guests checked in yesterday and occupied six rooms. Adding the six guests who checked in a few days ago and have not yet left, our inn currently has a total of sixteen guests."

"I have written down their specific information very clearly, so Doctor Liu can understand it at a glance."

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly; the contents written in the register were indeed very complete.

The names, identities, and origins of all guests were clearly recorded.

In the Tang Dynasty, or even in ancient times, staying at an inn wasn't simply a matter of having money; one needed to provide the inn with proof of identity or a document to stay at.

If someone is a commoner in Chang'an, even if they are poor, the innkeeper might take pity on them and let them stay at the inn.

However, if one is not a citizen of Chang'an and has no way of passing through, the innkeeper will not dare to accept any amount of copper coins offered.

The imperial court used this method to control the flow of people and capture escaped criminals... Without a place of refuge issued by the government, one would truly have nowhere to go, not even a place to sleep.

Looking at the information in the book, Liu Shuyi could directly exclude those who checked in before yesterday from among the sixteen people.

I made the decision to investigate the salary case suddenly yesterday morning. Ren Xing couldn't have been prepared in advance. Even if he checked in, it was yesterday.

Of the ten people who checked in yesterday, three were women who came with their husbands, so these three can also be ruled out.

So, there are only seven people left who might be Ren Xing.

None of these seven people had the surname Ren, and most of them came from other places to Chang'an. Their identities included merchants, street performers, and people who came to seek refuge with relatives.

Liu Shuyi lightly traced the pages with his fingertips and asked, "When Manager Tang was receiving them, did he notice anything unusual about anyone?"

Tang Ming shook his head: "They all looked travel-worn and had been on a long journey. I didn't notice anything wrong with any of them."

"Among these people, who checked in around noon yesterday?"

"Yesterday at noon?" Tang Ming thought for a moment, then pointed to a person and said, "This guest named Zheng Hao arrived at the inn at noon."

"Zheng Hao?"

Liu Shuyi followed Tang Ming's finger and looked at Zheng Hao's information.

Zheng Hao, aged thirty-nine, is a silk merchant who came from Jiangnan.

"A silk merchant..." Liu Shuyi asked, "Did he bring any silk with him?"

The waiter quickly replied, "Yes, he brought it. He came in a carriage with some silk inside. After he checked in, I helped him move the silk to his room."

"You two have already moved all the silk. It seems he didn't bring much."

The waiter said, "The customer said he came to show their new products to the nobles in Chang'an, so he brought a small quantity. If the nobles like them, he will send them in large quantities."

Liu Shuyi nodded: "I see."

As soon as the two finished speaking, footsteps sounded on the stairs, followed by more than a dozen people with disheveled clothes and messy hair, led down by guards.

"Doctor Liu, these are the guests staying at the inn," the guard said to Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly and asked, "Have all the rooms been searched?"

"The entire area has been searched, but no one was found hiding there."

After receiving the results, Liu Shuyi looked at the sixteen people.

Of the sixteen people, some were yawning, some looked nervous, and some were completely bewildered. They all looked at Liu Shuyi cautiously, wanting to know what had happened, but dared not ask.

“Those who checked in before yesterday, please step forward,” Liu Shuyi said.

Six people immediately came out.

Liu Shuyi's gaze swept over them: two elderly men with white hair and beards, three middle-aged men, and a woman.

The six men, having been singled out by Liu Shuyi, thought they were about to be in trouble and turned pale. However, before they could panic, Liu Shuyi said, "You can rest over there. This has nothing to do with you."

The six people were stunned for a moment, then their eyes lit up, as if they had escaped death. They didn't dare to delay and quickly walked to the side, but they didn't dare to go too far, stopping only behind the shopkeeper.

Liu Shuyi then looked at the remaining ten women. He slowly stood up and paused in front of three women in turn, carefully examining them. This made the women feel tense and their bodies taut, fearing that Liu Shuyi would force them to serve him in bed.

They were struggling internally: if the handsome official before them wanted to serve him in bed, would they rather die than submit, or would they reluctantly agree...?

Then they heard Liu Shuyi say, "You should also go and rest over there."

"what?"

The three women were stunned for a moment, and after they came to their senses, they all felt a strange sense of loss.

Liu Shuyi ignored the three married women. He had just been trying to determine whether they were real women or men dressed as women, and it turned out they were indeed real women.

Since she is a real woman, she couldn't possibly be Ren Xing in disguise.

There are only seven people left.

Liu Shuyi looked at them, and as nine people were eliminated, the remaining seven people became increasingly nervous.

"Du Si Cheng."

After glancing at them, Liu Shuyi asked Du Gou, "How is it? Is Ren Xing among them?"

He had never met Ren Xing before, and the original owner of this body had only met Ren Xing a few times, so his impression of him was not deep. Therefore, the task of identifying Ren Xing could only be entrusted to Du Gou, who knew Ren Xing best.

Du Gou walked past the seven people one by one, carefully examining their appearance, expression, and physique.

Then he looked at Liu Shuyi, frowned, and shook his head, saying, "No."

"No?"

Upon hearing this, Cui Lin frowned: "How could there not be? He disappeared right outside this inn! If he didn't hide here, where else could he have hidden? Could he have run to other shops or residences nearby?"

The innkeeper said, "Although I don't know who you are looking for, Doctor Liu, all the people in my inn are here. If that person is not here, then he is definitely not in our inn."

Liu Shuyi gently stroked the jade pendant with his fingertips, listening to Cui Lin and Du Gou's words, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the seven people again.

Suddenly, he asked, "Who is Zheng Hao?"

A man in his thirties subconsciously looked up and said nervously, "It's a villain."

Liu Shuyi sized up the man. He was dressed in rich clothes, had a strong physique, a slightly hunched back, and his whole body was tense.

"Are you a silk merchant?"

"Yes, the Xiaomin family has always made a living from silk and is somewhat well-known in Yangzhou."

"When you arrived at Youfu Inn today, did you see this person in front of the inn...?"

As he spoke, Liu Shuyi brought out Ren Xing's portrait again.

Zheng Hao glanced at him and shook his head, saying, "An official came to inquire yesterday afternoon, but I have never seen this person."

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly. Seeing that Liu Shuyi had not gotten any useful clues, Du Gou said, "Ren Xing may have just made a feint to draw our attention here. Let's hurry up and search along the street. As long as he hasn't left Jing'anfang, we can find him by searching every house."

Seeing that his information had yielded no results, Cui Lin was somewhat discouraged. He took a deep breath and did not object: "Du Sicheng is right. Since we can't find it here, let's quickly go somewhere else."

Liu Shuyi hesitated for a moment, just about to say something...

"Dr. Liu!"

Suddenly, a figure rushed into the inn.

The man, dressed in the uniform of a yamen runner, saw Liu Shuyi and hurriedly said, "County Lieutenant Gu has discovered Ren Xing's whereabouts!"

"what?"

Upon hearing this, everyone quickly looked at the constable.

Liu Shuyi was also somewhat surprised. Either Ren Xing had vanished into thin air and no one had heard from him, or how come there was news of everyone at once?

He asked, "Where is Ren Xing?"

"Outside the city, at Cuihua Mountain!" the constable announced.

"Cuihua Mountain!? It has left Chang'an City?"

Cui Lin was stunned: "How is that possible? Ren Xing was here at noon. The city gates were already under martial law at that time. There was no way Ren Xing could have left. How could he be at Cuihua Mountain?"

Du Gou also found this matter strange.

Cui Lin's investigation results clearly conflicted with Gu Wen's results.

Was someone's investigation wrong, or did Ren Xing really change his appearance and sneak out of the city gate?
Liu Shuyi narrowed his eyes and said, "I didn't ask County Lieutenant Gu to leave Chang'an to investigate. How did County Lieutenant Gu know that Ren Xing left Chang'an, and that he was on Cuihua Mountain, which is quite a distance away?"

“That’s right!” Cui Lin and Du Gou also looked at the yamen runner with a puzzled expression.

"It wasn't us who went out to investigate..."

The constable said, "Yesterday evening, someone reported that they found fragments of a carriage and the dead horse at the bottom of a cliff on Cuihua Mountain. After identification, we found the insignia of Renxing Prefecture on the carriage, confirming that it was Renxing's carriage."

"After County Magistrate Gu learned of this matter, he ordered me to report it to Physician Liu immediately. I went to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Revenue to inquire, and that's when I found out that Physician Liu was here."

"Beneath the cliff, the fragments of the carriage..." Du Gou pondered, "Ren Xing was afraid we would find him through the carriage, so after fleeing Chang'an, he deliberately destroyed the carriage to hide himself completely?"

Cui Lin frowned deeply: "But how did he leave Chang'an? The information I gathered can't be wrong."

Du Gou said, “These things are not important. The most important thing is that Ren Xing has already left Chang’an and has even searched Cuihua Mountain. If we want to find him, we can only send people to pursue him along the direction of Cuihua Mountain immediately... But after leaving Chang’an, the world is vast, and it will probably not be possible to find him in a short time.”

Upon hearing this, Cui Lin and the others felt a chill in their hearts.

They finally found this place, thinking they could find Ren Xing right away, but to their surprise, they learned that Ren Xing had already left Chang'an.

No wonder Ren Xing wasn't at the inn... Ren Xing ran away long ago, how could we possibly find him!

Cui Lin pursed his lips, his face grim as he looked at Liu Shuyi and said, "Doctor Liu, it was my intelligence that went wrong, causing you to waste so much time here. I will personally leave Chang'an to find Ren Xing, and I will not return until I find him!"

Cui Lin was extremely proud and arrogant, and he could not allow himself to fail so badly in the first thing he did for Liu Shuyi after being promoted to the rank of Assistant Minister.

After saying that, he turned around without hesitation and set off that very night to find Ren Xing for Liu Shuyi.

"Wait a moment!"

Before Cui Lin could even leave the inn, Liu Shuyi called out to him.

Cui Lin said, "Doctor Liu, there's no need to comfort me. I didn't do a good job, and I won't shirk responsibility. I will definitely give you an explanation for this matter."

To everyone's surprise, Liu Shuyi said, "Master Cui, I don't think I said your intelligence was wrong, do I? Nor did I say that Ren Xing left Chang'an?"

"What?" Cui Lin was taken aback, and Du Gou and the others looked at Liu Shuyi in confusion.

Did Liu Shuyi make some other discovery?
Then, they saw Liu Shuyi turn around, look at the silk merchant in front of him, and slowly say, "The distance from Jiangnan to Chang'an is several thousand miles."

"It's not summer now, the rivers in the north are frozen, so you can't travel by water. And if you travel by land, the terrain is complicated and the ice and snow make it difficult to travel. It will take you at least a month to travel from Jiangnan to Chang'an."

"This round trip takes two months, and the expenses during that time are countless."

"After investing so much time and money, you, a merchant from a family of traders for generations, have only brought back a few bolts of so-called new silk, and it's not even certain you can make a profit..."

Liu Shuyi stared at Zheng Hao: "Businessmen are driven by profit! You couldn't even properly disguise this core issue. You think you can fool me like this? Do you think my reputation as a detective is just for show? You underestimate me so much?"

Zheng Hao suddenly raised his head, looking at Liu Shuyi with a shocked expression: "You...I, I'm not..."

“I know your name isn’t Zheng Hao.”

Liu Shuyi looked at him intently: "You should call him..."

"Han Liu!"

"The one who went to the Chang'an County government office to deliver a message to Ren Xing was Han Liu, the so-called Dali Temple clerk!"

brush!
Zheng Hao's pupils suddenly narrowed, and he stared at Liu Shuyi in disbelief, his face turning deathly pale.

He opened his mouth, wanting to deny it, but Liu Shuyi had already looked away and turned his gaze to the shopkeeper, Tang Ming.

He said calmly, "Manager Tang, you actually know where Ren Xing is hiding, don't you?"

"what?"

"The shopkeeper knows?!"

The waiter looked at Tang Ming in disbelief, while Cui Lin, Du Gou, and the others also looked at the friendly-looking shopkeeper with surprise.

Tang Ming was surprised that Liu Shuyi would suddenly confront him, so he was about to deny it outright.

But Liu Shuyi's voice rang out: "When you saw me just now, you said you were sleeping too soundly and didn't greet me from afar in time... Were you really sleeping too soundly?"

Tang Ming was taken aback, not expecting Liu Shuyi to bring this up.

Liu Shuyi said, “Look at the others, whether it’s the waiter or the other guests, their clothes are not neat, they have sleepy eyes, they are all sleepy-eyed, and their hair is messy… This is consistent with the situation of being suddenly woken up in the middle of the night and not having time to tidy up.”

"But what about you?"

Liu Shuyi looked Tang Ming up and down: "Your robes are perfectly neat, your hair is perfectly styled, and your face is oily and shiny... This doesn't look like someone who's been suddenly woken up from a deep sleep, it's clearly..."

"I didn't sleep!"

"You clearly didn't sleep, yet you claim to have slept too soundly... Can you tell me why you lied?"

Tang Ming's expression changed drastically. He hadn't expected that Liu Shuyi would discover so many flaws in his casual remark.

His eyes flickered, and he was about to speak in his defense.

But Liu Shuyi didn't give him a chance: "There's one more thing, I almost forgot to mention."

Tang Ming quickly looked at Liu Shuyi and saw that Liu Shuyi's eyes were deep and his expression made Tang Ming feel as if he could see through his heart and directly see his biggest secret.

This made him subconsciously swallow, and then he heard Liu Shuyi say, "Since I came here, I have never introduced myself... So, how did you know my identity? Why did you call me 'Liu Langzhong' directly?"

"My memory is pretty good; I can remember most of the people I've met... but I don't remember seeing you before, and this is my first time in Jing'an Ward!"

"A place I'd never been before, a person I'd never met before, yet they recognized me at a glance..."

Liu Shuyi said with a half-smile, "Manager Tang, weren't you just recently having some internal debate about me with someone? When you actually met me, you accidentally blurted out the title you used to refer to me when you talked about me with others?"

…………

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(End of this chapter)