The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 160 The Truth Revealed! An Unbelievable Truth: The Accomplice Hidden in the Three Departments Was Actually Him!
As Ren Xing finished speaking, the entire Ministry of Justice hall fell into a deathly silence.

Guan Qi and other officials from the Ministry of Revenue were already taken aback by Ren Xing's words.

Although they were somewhat prepared and knew that the truth about the cash embezzlement case would not be as they had imagined, they never expected that the truth would be so shocking!

First, he stole credit from his subordinates. After discovering the error and reporting it to the high-ranking officials of the Three Departments, the officials unanimously decided to perpetuate the mistake.

Knowing full well that Feng Mu and the others were innocent, he still personally sent them to the execution ground...

And in the end, they even said that it was an honor for Feng Mu and his comrades to die for them, the high-ranking officials of the three departments...

"This...this...is too despicable and insidious!"

Even though Guan Qi was a historian who believed he had seen the wickedness of people and the shamelessness of others, those people were nothing compared to Mu Ping and his ilk.

"nonsense!"

Upon hearing Guan Qi's words and seeing the change in the expressions of Xue Ming and other officials from the Ministry of Revenue, Mu Ping and other high-ranking officials from the three departments also changed their expressions.

Mu Ping immediately glared angrily at Ren Xing and said sternly, "Ren Xing! When have we ever offended you? Why are you slandering and framing me like this?"

Wu Chenyang also said coldly, "Have you been bribed by someone? Are you plotting against us?"

Wei Qian's expression flickered violently. He said to Liu Shuyi, "Doctor Liu, you must not listen to the slander of petty people. What Ren Xing said is not true at all."

Dai Fei, who looked like an old farmer, shook his head and sighed, "I never thought that even though I'm far away from the court and observing mourning for my parents, I still can't avoid trouble. Ren Shaoqing, have I offended you in the past?"

As Ren Xing listened to Mu Ping and the others' angry rebukes and rebuttals, he was about to speak, but before he could say anything, Liu Shuyi's voice rang out.

“I just said I was deliberately wasting time and talking nonsense with you… but I only said half of it. I didn’t explain why I did it.”

Liu Shuyi calmly swept his gaze over Mu Ping and the others, and slowly said, "Now, I can tell you."

Mu Ping and the others quickly looked at Liu Shuyi.

Then Liu Shuyi clapped his hands and said, "Bring the physical evidence!"

"Physical evidence!?" Mu Ping was taken aback.

Then they saw Lu Yangyuan walk in with two clerks from the Ministry of Justice. Each of the clerks was carrying a tray with some books on it.

"What is this?" Wei Qian asked warily.

Looking at their puzzled and wary expressions, Liu Shuyi smiled slightly and said, "In order to get leniency, Ren Shaoqing has been very cooperative with me. He not only told the truth about what happened back then, but also said that he has some things that can testify to his words."

"Therefore, I will split up with him. I will return first to see you all, so as not to make you feel dissatisfied by waiting for too long. At the same time, I will send someone to accompany Ren Shaoqing to retrieve the evidence he mentioned."

"It's just that Ren Shaoqing is a bit slow. If he doesn't come back, I can't produce any real evidence. Even if I tell you the truth, you won't accept it. So I can only delay for a while."

Fortunately, Ren Shaoqing did not keep us waiting long.

Upon hearing this, Mu Ping and the others' expressions changed. They hadn't expected that Liu Shuyi's earlier maneuvering with them was actually a deliberate delay, waiting for Ren Xing's evidence.

They never expected that Ren Xing would betray them so thoroughly, even preparing evidence for Liu Shuyi.

And that piece of evidence...

They looked at the books on the tray, seemed to realize something, and their faces turned deathly pale in an instant.

Liu Shuyi took in everyone's reactions, smiled, stood up, and walked over to Ren Xing.

He casually picked up a book from the tray and said with a smile, "Ren Shaoqing, please introduce what I have here to everyone."

Ren Xing glanced at Mu Ping and the others, and saw that they were all looking at him with murderous eyes. He sneered. He was probably already dead, and the others would only be worse off than him. Why should he be afraid of their threats?
Do you really think they have something on you?

Ren Xing took a deep breath and said, "Although the agreement regarding the salary case states that I deserve the main credit and they deserve the secondary credit, we must all work together to maximize our benefits..."

"But after the salary case, they came to me and told me that I was the lowest-ranking and lowest-status person during the case, and that the reason they framed Feng Mu was because I chose Feng Mu..."

“I’m the one who harmed them, made them make such a mistake, and yet I got the biggest benefit. They feel it’s very unfair, so they want me to compensate them.”

"Because they have something on me, and even if I am promoted to Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, I am still no match for Ministers and Ministers like Mu Ping, so I can only be coerced by them."

He looked at the book in Liu Shuyi's hand and said, "The book in Doctor Liu's hand is the account book that I have been forced to hand over to them over the years. It clearly records how much money I gave them on which day."

Guan Qi never expected that Mu Ping and others would go back on their word and demand compensation from Ren Xing after the salary case.

This was even more shameless than he had originally anticipated.

He couldn't help but say, "You said all these years... wasn't it enough that you compensated them once? Have they been demanding from you ever since?"

Ren Xing sneered at Mu Ping and the others: "Ha! Once?"

“These people are insatiable! Especially after His Majesty ascended the throne, they were marginalized and their power was not as great as before. They were also afraid that His Majesty would discover their greed, so they dared not make money as before... But they had become accustomed to a life of luxury. What would they do if they ran out of money? So they set their sights on me.”

Guan Qi listened to Ren Xing's words and looked at Ren Xing with some pity.

Although Ren Xing was promoted to the fourth-rank Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review by relying on the silver treasury case, he was also targeted by bloodsuckers like Mu Ping and could not get rid of them no matter what he did... In terms of bad luck, he could be compared with Deng Chengren who was demoted, after all, no one was there to keep sucking Deng Chengren's blood.

Liu Shuyi casually flipped open the ledger, his gaze sweeping over the entries. With a half-smile, he said to Mu Ping and the others, "Doctor Mu, Vice Minister Wu, Vice Minister Wei... can you explain this ledger?"

Mu Ping was shocked to find Ren Xing so cunning that he had even kept a record of the account. He said coldly, "If you want to find fault, you can always find a reason!"

"I have never taken a single penny from Ren Xing. This is clearly a frame-up, slander, and a trap!"

"Didn't take a single penny?" Ren Xing was so angry at Mu Ping's shamelessness that he laughed.

He sneered, "Mu Ping, you're really shameless, but I'm not someone to be trifled with. I knew you were so insidious and despicable that you might harm me in the future... so I kept a close eye on things."

"What did you do?" Mu Ping's heart tightened.

Ren Xing coldly retorted, "You really think my money is easy to take?"

“I not only wrote down every single penny I gave you, but I also had someone secretly watch you to see what you did with my pennies.”

"So, I remember exactly what you did after you took my coins."

“For example…” He stared at Mu Ping: “Last March, you took ten strings of cash from me and used it to buy a jade ruyi as a birthday gift for Minister Changsun… After you became Grand Master of the Palace, your monthly salary was limited, barely enough for your household’s needs. Where did you get the money to buy a jade ruyi? Doctor Mu, can you explain that?”

"I—" Mu Ping's pupils shrank suddenly. He never expected that Ren Xing, whom he usually suppressed at will, would have such a scheming mind.

Ren Xing then looked at Wei Qian and the others and sneered, "What I gave you was not only money, but also shops under my control... Now those shops are all managed by your people or your relatives. This can be easily investigated. You don't really think that I gave you shops so that your money would make more money and so that you would come to me less often to ask for things, do you?"

At this moment, even the composed and refined Wei Qian could not sit still.

He couldn't help but exclaim, "You're truly despicable!"

"mean?"

Ren Xing said in an icy voice, "Compared to the oppression and exploitation you've inflicted on me over the years, what's so despicable about this? I'm just being cautious to prevent you from denying your past actions. If you really want to harm me in the future, I'm just leaving myself a way out!"

As Du Gou watched the confrontation between Ren Xingping and Mu Ping, a phrase suddenly popped into his mind—dogs fighting.

Ren Xing embezzled the credit of his subordinates and colluded with Mu Ping and others, so he was not a good person. Mu Ping and others fabricated a false case for their own benefit and then exploited Ren Xing, so they were even less good people.

When two treacherous and despicable villains meet and scheme against each other, it's quite a show.

"It's time for the farce to end."

Liu Shuyi put down the account book in his hand, glanced at Mu Ping and the others again, and said, "Doctor Mu, Vice Minister Wei... now, do you have anything else to say about this account book?"

Mu Ping and the others looked pale and ashen. They looked at each other, hoping the other could come up with a solution, but they never expected Ren Xing to be so despicable, having a way to verify every penny they had received.

This left them with no way to refute it in a short time, and they could only remain silent.

Silence means acquiescence.

Liu Shuyi returned to his seat and said, "If you all remain silent, I will assume that you are tacitly acknowledging that you have been receiving money from Ren Xing all these years."

“That’s interesting. You say you didn’t do what Ren Xing said, but over the years you’ve been coercing Ren Xing and taking so much money from him. And the first sum of money was taken after the salary case was over.”

"Then I am curious..."

He looked at everyone with a half-smile: "Since you didn't do what Ren Xing said, then why did you keep asking Ren Xing for money after the silver case?"

Mu Ping's eyes darted around, about to open his mouth to make excuses.

"If you're going to say that Ren Xing is trying to curry favor with you and is giving you money on his own initiative, then there's no need to say anything more..."

Before Mu Ping could speak, Liu Shuyi seemed to have seen through his thoughts and said directly, "After all, Minister Dai is not an official and has returned to his hometown to observe the mourning period, yet he is still accepting money from Ren Xing... You can't say that Ren Xing is giving money out of affection and habit, and that even if you don't have power, he will continue to give it, right?"

Mu Ping's open mouth was thus sealed shut.

If the emperor hadn't changed, they would all still be in high positions, and their reason would be flawless. But alas, times have changed, and only Wu Chenyang and Wei Qian are still in high positions. The others are no longer as powerful as before and are no longer worthy of Ren Xing's flattery.

Seeing this, Xue Ming and other officials from the Ministry of Revenue understood everything.

As Ren Xing said, the so-called truth about the salary case back then was a complete frame-up!

The tragic deaths of Feng Mu and over a hundred others, and the exile of over a thousand others, were all due to the selfishness and self-interest of Mu Ping and others!

This made Xue Ming and the others, who were used to seeing the world, sigh in disbelief, wondering how they dared to do it!
Seeing Xue Ming and the others' increasingly cold and disgusted expressions, Mu Ping and the others felt a chill creeping into their hearts!
"No! We can't confess! Otherwise, we'll all be dead!"

Mu Ping and the others exchanged glances, each of them looking extremely anxious.

Suddenly, Dai Fei, who looked like an old farmer, said, "Although we do not have enough evidence to prove that Feng Mu is a thief... that does not mean that we have wronged Feng Mu."

He looked at Liu Shuyi with his wrinkled face and said, "After all, the case of the salary payment has not been solved, and it is still unknown who the thief in the case is."

"Looking at the transportation of the military pay, only Feng Mu and others who escorted the pay were most likely to steal it... So, it's possible that we just didn't have enough evidence, but perhaps the truth is still that Feng Mu and others were behind it."

"We may just not want to be punished, and the process may have been wrong, but the result may not necessarily be wrong."

Dai Fei's sudden words startled everyone.

But soon, Mu Ping and Wei Qian's eyes lit up.

They never expected that they could defend themselves in this way.

“That’s right!” Mu Ping said, “Although we made mistakes in the process, it’s understandable that we would make mistakes under those circumstances! But as long as the result is correct and we didn’t kill the wrong person, then our mistakes aren’t that big!”

Wei Qian looked at Dai Fei with admiration, thinking to himself, "As expected, the old fox is shrewd." He also said, "Before the truth of the salary case is found out, we certainly cannot say that we have wronged Feng Mu."

Although they have been proven to have used some methods, as long as the case of the embezzled funds remains unsolved and Feng Mu cannot be completely proven not to be the thief, their conclusion may not necessarily be wrong.

The officialdom is a place that values ​​results. As long as the results are consistent, even if they are punished, it will not be the death penalty.

Even if Feng Mu really wasn't the thief, they could still use the time during the investigation of the salary case to maneuver around the situation and perhaps find another way out.

In short, as long as they are not investigated and prosecuted immediately, they still have hope.

Wu Chenyang also figured out the key point, and the thing that made him better off than others was that he had his mentor Pei Ji behind him. As long as his mentor had time, he would definitely find a way to rescue him.

By then, even if it's proven that Feng Mu wasn't the thief, he probably won't be affected. What he lacks now is time, and Dai Fei has bought him that time.

Thinking of this, he raised his chin again, looked at Liu Shuyi with a sneer, and thought that Liu Shuyi was being delusional, thinking that he could be crushed by this one case alone.

Once he resolves this matter and he and his mentor are free to deal with it, they will definitely teach Liu Shuyi a lesson!
Sensing the change in atmosphere, Xue Ming narrowed his eyes slightly. He hadn't expected that even at this moment, Dai Fei would still be able to find a way to survive.

"Truly worthy of being the former Minister of Justice..."

What would you do?

Xue Ming looked at Liu Shuyi: "Are you angry and embarrassed? Or should you know when to stop and think of another way?"

At this moment, not only Xue Ming, but everyone was staring intently at Liu Shuyi. They all wanted to know what choice Liu Shuyi would make in the face of Dai Fei and the others' blatant cheating, yet not entirely impossible situation.

Then they saw Liu Shuyi shake his head and actually laugh, but that laugh sent chills down Mu Ping and the others' spines: "You really are the most eloquent and shameless people I've ever met..."

"Unfortunately, your scoundrels won't have a chance to make a difference."

"What do you mean?" Wu Chenyang looked at Liu Shuyi's ambiguous smile and suddenly had a bad feeling.

"What do I mean?"

Liu Shuyi's lips curled up, and he said meaningfully, "There's something I haven't had a chance to tell you yet."

"That is……"

His gaze swept over the crowd, then over Xue Ming and the other officials from the Ministry of Revenue who had been watching the show, and he slowly said, "Tonight, I went to the Ministry of Revenue to conduct an investigation..."

"Then, I discovered that there was a hidden passageway in the Ministry of Revenue's storeroom. Beneath the storeroom was an underground space that was just as big as the storeroom!"

"Furthermore, in that underground space, I discovered many boxes. After being identified by the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, those boxes were found to be exactly the same as the boxes used to store the military pay back then. Moreover, those boxes had unlocked locks and broken seals... Those locks and seals were also exactly the same as those on the boxes used to store the military pay!"

"So, got it?"

His voice suddenly rose, exploding like thunder in everyone's ears: "The salary was not lost during transport at all. It... was in the Ministry of Revenue's treasury. It was stolen and replaced by thieves before it even left the treasury!"

"In other words, Feng Mu and the others have absolutely no connection whatsoever to the loss of the funds! And the Ministry of Revenue..."

Liu Shuyi's gaze swept over the Ministry of Revenue officials, whose eyes were wide with surprise and astonishment, and he said calmly, "On the contrary, it is inextricably linked to the loss of the military pay!"

Brush it!
Except for Liu Shuyi, everyone who was sitting suddenly stood up.

Whether it was Dai Fei and other former high-ranking officials from the three departments, or Xue Ming and other former high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Revenue, at this moment, they were all shocked and even incredulous.

The disbelief of Dai Fei and the others stemmed from the fact that only a few hours had passed since Liu Shuyi took over the silver case.

In such a short time, the fact that they were able to find out that they had framed Feng Mu was already a miracle in their eyes.

Who would have thought that he could even find out exactly how the salary was lost?

With Feng Mu completely cleared of suspicion, it no longer matters to them who the thief is, regardless of who it may be.

Their framing of Feng Mu is now a done deal!

Liu Shuyi didn't even give them a little bit of time to maneuver.

"It's over."

Wu Chenyang trembled all over, his eyes filled with despair.

As for Xue Ming and the others, their heads were buzzing. They never expected that they, who were just watching the show, would actually get caught up in it.

And more importantly... the salary was lost before leaving the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Revenue is inextricably linked to the loss of the salary, which means... they have become the suspects!

"This……"

Guan Qi was stunned by Liu Shuyi's overwhelming information and couldn't recover for a long time: "How could there be a secret passage beneath the Ministry of Revenue's treasury? How could the military pay have been lost from the Ministry of Revenue?"

Deng Chengren, who had been harboring malice and wanting to see others suffer, was now feeling cold in the air.

He remembered that the military pay was stored in the tax silver transfer warehouse, which was responsible for the Ministry of Finance because it only stored copper coins, gold and silver. He was the director of the Ministry of Finance at the time, which meant that no matter who the thief was, he, as the former director of the Ministry of Finance, was responsible for him.

"It's over."

He thought he was already unlucky enough to be demoted, but now he realized that his misfortune was far from over.

He had just been hoping to see Liu Shuyi fall from grace, but little did he know that the real joke was about himself!
Even Xue Ming, the current Vice Minister of Revenue, was stunned for a long time. He couldn't help but ask, "Doctor Liu, is what you say true?"

Liu Shuyi laughed and said, "Does Vice Minister Xue think I would joke about such an important matter?"

Xue Ming's expression kept changing: "How is that possible? How could the salary have been lost at the Ministry of Revenue?"

They never even dreamed that the pay would be lost before it even left the treasury.

Guan Qi couldn't help but ask, "Who did this? Who in the Ministry of Revenue is so audacious as to commit such an outrageous act?"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately looked at Liu Shuyi.

Mu Ping and the others just wanted to know which despicable person had led them down the evil path of framing others, resulting in their current predicament.

Xue Ming and the others were even more eager to know who had carried out this daring act right under their noses.

"This..."

To everyone's surprise, Liu Shuyi shook his head upon hearing this: "I'm not sure yet."

"However, barring any unforeseen circumstances..."

He then changed the subject: "I'll soon find out who it is."

As he spoke, he looked at Ren Xing and said, "Ren Shaoqing, you haven't finished your story about the silver treasury case yet, have you? Continue."

"what?"

"It's not over yet?"

Wu Chenyang and the others were taken aback.

Ren Xing has exposed their true colors, revealed their collusion, and told them everything about how they framed Feng Mu. Why isn't it over yet?

What else can he say?

They looked at Ren Xing with confusion.

Ren Xing glanced at them and said, "After I discovered that Feng Mu and the others might have been wronged, I angrily went to find Liu Shuzhong. I believe Liu Shuzhong is the one who ruined me. If Liu Shuzhong hadn't made up stories about Feng Mu, I wouldn't have been forced to participate in their conspiracy to frame innocent people..."

"When I found Liu Shuzhong, he said he wasn't lying to me. He said he did see Feng Mu outside the city, and that he was on a mission at the time. Besides him, two other colleagues also saw Feng Mu. I didn't believe him, so I went directly to find those two officials, and then..."

Ren Xing shook his head: "Their answer was the same as Liu Shuzhong's. They did see Feng Mu, which made me realize that Feng Mu was really lying, but Feng Mu wouldn't confess... I didn't understand why this was, so I went to see Feng Mu."

At this point, Ren Xing paused for a moment and said, "Because of Feng Mu's special status, since Feng Mu was imprisoned, it has always been people of the rank of Minister who have questioned him. I did not have the opportunity to question him. That was the first time I met Feng Mu."

"The reason I was able to question Feng Mu was because Mu Ping and the others bribed me, believing that I was in the same boat as them, and thus gave me new authority."

"I saw Feng Mu. He had been tortured beyond recognition, barely breathing, as if he were about to die. I asked him why he lied about his whereabouts. He had clearly left Chang'an, so why did he say he hadn't? And then..."

Ren Xing recalled the situation at the time and felt his scalp tingle.

His voice tightened slightly as he said, "In the end, Feng Mu told me that he wasn't lying; his answer was that he had left Chang'an..."

"What!?"

As soon as Ren Xing finished speaking, Wu Chenyang's eyes widened, and the refined Wei Qian immediately exclaimed in surprise.

Even officials from the Ministry of Revenue like Xue Ming felt goosebumps rising on their skin!
Feng Mu wasn't lying about his whereabouts at all. He clearly said he left Chang'an, but the written record of his testimony stated that Feng Mu had never left Chang'an...

What does this mean?
Someone deliberately tampered with the testimonies.

They deliberately lured people who knew Feng Mu's whereabouts to expose his lies!

In other words... Liu Shuzhong's ability to discover Feng Mu's whereabouts was not a coincidence at all, but a conspiracy!
Liu Shuzhong was being used!

Ren Xing, having embezzled Liu Shuzhong's credit, made a foolish mistake by willingly stepping into this conspiracy.

As for Wu Chenyang and the others... they were similar to Ren Xing, except that they thought they were in control of everything and that they were the ones who wanted to frame Feng Mu. Little did they know that they were just puppets of others.

Everything they did was pre-planned!
They had already fallen into someone else's trap!
Wu Chenyang couldn't help but swallow hard, staring intently at Ren Xing: "Who? Who fabricated Feng Mu's testimony?"

Wei Qian also subconsciously clenched his fists, staring intently at Ren Xing.

Then, they saw Ren Xing's gaze sweep over them one by one, finally landing on one person.

Ren Xing took a deep breath and said, "Feng Mu told me that only one person asked about his whereabouts, and that person is... you, Dai Fei!"

"what?"

"Minister Dai!?"

Wu Chenyang and the others looked at Dai Fei, who was dressed in hemp clothing, had a tanned complexion, and looked like an old farmer, in disbelief.

Even Mu Ping, who had always stood on the same side as Dai Fei, changed his expression and quickly moved away from Dai Fei.

Upon seeing this, Liu Shuyi leaned forward slightly, his face finally showing a serious expression. He stared intently at Dai Fei and said, "Minister Dai, please explain?"

"Why did you fabricate Feng Mu's testimony? And why... why did you choose my brother?"

"Is it because you happened to know my brother's whereabouts and had an encounter with Feng Mu? Or is it..."

Liu Shuyi squinted: "You chose my brother first, and then fabricated a testimony based on my brother's situation?"

　I've seen all the comments from the previous chapter, and I apologize for the "water" issue.

　　To be honest, I didn't mean to pad my writing; rather, I didn't realize that what I wrote was a bit sloppy. My habit is to avoid a flat, straightforward narrative in any plot, and to create some ups and downs to enhance the reading experience and interest.

　　Therefore, I tried my best to create some emotional ups and downs to get more people involved, and the result was what everyone said: it was watered down.

　　I wasn't aware of this issue before, but since everyone pointed it out, I will consciously pay attention to it in the future, and while enhancing the fun, I will also make sure that the plot of each chapter progresses further.

　　Secondly, some people have mentioned that the update time is too late. I can only try to update earlier. It's not that I want to post late, but as the plot is halfway through and the number of cases increases, in order to avoid cases being similar, and also to bring various plot lines to a close, my writing difficulty is much higher than before. In addition, my typing speed is not fast to begin with, and I often get stuck, so it is late every time I finish writing.

　　This is before I checked it and sent it immediately after writing it. If I had checked for typos and content, it would probably have been even later.

　　So I can only try my best to write more during the day and update earlier at night, but I really can't guarantee how well it will go.

　　Finally, I apologize for the poor reading experience this has given everyone, and I will try my best to improve in the future.

　　that's all.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)