The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 173 The Events of That Year! Li Xinchun's Shock: The Suspect Was Discovered So Quickly?

"Who are you talking about!?"

"Liu Langzhong's father!?"

"Is this...really?"

Upon hearing Gu Wen's words, Li Xinchun and the others were all taken aback.

Even Du Ying, who was usually aloof and seemingly untouched by anything, showed a noticeable change in expression at this moment. Her beautiful eyes widened slightly, and almost immediately she turned to look at Liu Shuyi.

It's no wonder they were so surprised; they simply couldn't have imagined, no matter how hard they racked their brains, that the strange encounter of the wealthy family ten years ago could be connected to the long-deceased Liu Wenjing.

Not to mention Liu Wenjing's son, who was right beside them at this moment, and was the one in charge of the investigation.

This was the first time that even the experienced Li Xinchun and Ding Feng had encountered such a situation.

Not to mention them, even Liu Shuyi's ears rang for a moment when he heard the name Liu Wenjing. He really didn't expect to hear Liu Wenjing's name here.

"Give me the case file," Liu Shuyi said directly.

When Gu Wen uttered the name Liu Wenjing, he was terrified, afraid that he had said something he shouldn't have and angered Liu Shuyi. Fortunately, although Liu Shuyi was also somewhat surprised, his expression was much calmer than that of Li Xinchun and the others, which relieved Gu Wen.

Without the slightest hesitation, he quickly took out a thin file from his pocket.

Liu Shuyi took the case file and looked at the cover first. He saw that it read "Case of the disappearance of the children of wealthy merchant Yang Hui in August of the first year of Wude".

Looking at the somewhat casual naming of the dossier, Liu Shuyi shook his head. In the first year of the Wude era, the Tang Dynasty had just been established, and various rules and regulations were not yet perfect. In addition, with serious external threats, the court's energy was focused on conquering the country. Therefore, various government departments did not have unified requirements for details, which resulted in the dossier being written however one wanted back then. It was very different from the dossiers of today, which have clear requirements in all aspects.

Liu Shuyi could hardly hope for the completeness of such a case file.

He opened the file and looked up...

really!

Just as Liu Shuyi had predicted, the contents of the dossier were quite limited.

Or rather, the scope of the investigation conducted by the Wannian County government back then was quite limited.

The case file only states the time when the wealthy businessman Yang Hui reported the case, and then investigates Yang Hui's report in chronological order.

After three days of investigation in Wannian County, the following information was obtained:

First, Yang Hui's daughter, Yang Wenwan, disappeared on the second day of the eighth month of the first year of Wude. According to the investigation, Yang Wenwan was in a daze before she disappeared and occasionally did not recognize her family members. Later, she left home and disappeared on her own.

The county government determined that Yang Wenwan fell ill after leaving home, couldn't remember the way home, and didn't remember who her family members were, thus she got lost. The case of Yang Wenwan's disappearance was due to her own reasons, not because she was kidnapped by thieves.

Secondly, Yang Hui's son, Yang Xingwu, went missing on the fifth day of the eighth month of the first year of Wude. When asked, the servants of the Yang family said that Yang Xingwu kept shouting that he wanted to find his sister and that he would fight anyone who tried to stop him. Because he had been searching day and night for three consecutive days, Yang Hui and his wife were afraid that his body could not withstand it, so they forced him to go back to the mansion to rest.

That evening, Yang Xingwu disappeared inside the Yang residence.

An investigation revealed that no outsiders entered the Yang residence that night, and the servants did not hear any unusual noises. Based on Yang Xingwu's previous behavior, the county government suspected that Yang Xingwu was dissatisfied with Yang Hui and his wife for preventing him from finding his sister, so he secretly left the Yang residence under the cover of night to search for Yang Wenwan.

He later encountered some unknown accident outside and did not return... Therefore, the county government determined that Yang Xingwu's disappearance was also his own voluntary act, and not that he was kidnapped by thieves.

Neither Yang Wenwan nor Yang Xingwu were kidnapped by thieves. The county government has many other cases to handle, so the investigation ends here.

The case file contained only these records: no specific testimonies from the servants, no corresponding evidence... The details were severely lacking, and the chain of evidence was not closed at all. If this case file were sent to the Ministry of Justice today, Liu Shuyi would not say a word and would send it back to the county government for a re-examination.

But the situation was special back then, and the case files for minor cases were basically recorded in this way, so there was no way to cause trouble for anyone.

Moreover, in cases like this where the authorities determine that the disappearance was not due to abduction, the seriousness of the case is not even as great as that of theft. Liu Shuyi believes that the fact that a case file was specifically written for this one is probably due to Liu Wenjing's influence.

His gaze fell on a passage in the middle of the file, which read: "On the first day of the eighth month of the first year of Wude, Attendant Liu Wenjing went to the Yang residence and met with Yang Hui. He left half an hour later. Attendant Liu did not have any contact with Yang Wenwan or Yang Xingwu from beginning to end. Therefore, the disappearance of the two has nothing to do with Attendant Liu."

The only record about the original owner's father, Liu Wenjing, is this short sentence.

There is no explanation for Liu Wenjing's visit to the Yang residence, nor are there any records of her being questioned...

Clearly, either the Wannian County government learned of what happened from the Yang family and felt there was no need to confirm with Liu Wenjing, or they simply didn't dare to ask Liu Wenjing at all.

At that time, Liu Wenjing was Li Yuan's right-hand man during the uprising, and his status was no less than that of Du Ruhui today. Since there was no conclusive evidence to prove that the disappearance of the Yang family children was related to Liu Wenjing, and the county government judged that the disappearance of the Yang family children was their own problem, it is likely that the county magistrate and county constable of Wannian County would not dare to ask Liu Wenjing about this matter.

Because Liu Wenjing happened to have visited the Yang residence at that time, the Wannian County government was unsure whether Liu Wenjing would pay attention to the disappearance of the Yang family's children. Therefore, even though they considered the case to be extremely minor, they still wrote a case file specifically for it.

Thinking of this, Liu Shuyi couldn't help but feel emotional. If that were really the case, his current opportunity to see the case file was thanks to his father, Liu Wenjing, whom he had never met. Thinking about it, it really felt like cause and effect and fate.

"How is Doctor Liu?"

Seeing Liu Shuyi lift his gaze from the case file, Li Xinchun couldn't help but ask.

Ding Feng and Du Ying also looked at Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi nodded: "Although the dossier is very brief, it has given me a general understanding of what happened back then. However, to find out the specific reasons for the strange encounter of the Yang family back then, the dossier alone is not enough. Further investigation is needed."

Li Xinchun nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then carefully asked, "What about your father?"

Liu Shuyi understood Li Xinchun's meaning and said, "My father did appear in the case file, but according to the case file, my father just happened to come to the Yang family mansion to meet with the wealthy merchant Yang Hui the day before the Yang family's daughter disappeared. He had nothing to do with the disappearance of the Yang family's children."

"So that's it."

Li Xinchun breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that Liu Wenjing's strange encounter with the Yang family was related to this. If so, it was uncertain whether Liu Shuyi would continue to investigate the case and whether he would investigate it diligently.

If it were any other case, it wouldn't matter, but the person who died was a fourth-rank official of the imperial court. Even if he was just a minor official without real power, his rank was still a genuine fourth-rank.

Yang Wanli died in his own jurisdiction, and in such a tragic way, being torn to pieces while still alive... If this news spreads, it will surely cause panic among officials. After all, most officials live in Wannian County. With Yang Wanli dying so tragically, who can be sure they won't be the next?
In this situation, they will inevitably put pressure on themselves. If they are unable to find the real culprit, one can imagine the pressure they will bear and the accusations they will face.

Fortunately, Liu Wenjing is not involved in the case, so Liu Shuyi will not hold back because of Liu Wenjing.

Li Xinchun breathed a sigh of relief and laughed, "I knew it. Given your father's status and position back then, it was impossible for him to be involved in the case of a small-time businessman's child going missing. It was just a coincidence that your father got involved."

Liu Shuyi nodded and said, "It was indeed a coincidence. It's just a pity that I was too young back then and don't remember why my father came to the Yang residence. Otherwise, I might have been able to find some clues."

Li Xinchun waved his hand and said, "This is not Liu Langzhong's problem. If it were me, even if I am old enough, I would not remember anything about what happened ten years ago."

Liu Shuyi smiled, handed the case file to Li Xinchun, and said, "Magistrate Li, you should take a look too."

Li Xinchun had long been incredibly curious about the case file, so he immediately opened it to take a look. Ding Feng also stood on tiptoe behind Li Xinchun and flipped through it together.

Seeing this, Du Ying whispered to Liu Shuyi, "Uncle, are you really not involved in the case?"

uncle?

Liu Shuyi raised an eyebrow. Du Ying's way of addressing him was much more affectionate than Li Xinchun's.

He knew Du Ying's worries and nodded, saying, "Don't worry, I'm not lying to you. Although I don't know why my father came here to see Yang Hui, given my father's status and position, if he really wanted to do something to the Yang family, he wouldn't need to do it himself. A single word from him would be enough to make the Yang family disappear completely."

“Therefore, the fact that he was able to appear here and be included in the files of the Wannian County government, letting everyone know that he had been to the Yang family, is enough to show that he has nothing to do with the Yang family’s affairs.” Du Ying thought for a moment and said, “That’s good.”

Liu Shuyi smiled. Du Ying was becoming less and less like the icy beauty she used to be when facing him.

At this moment, Li Xinchun and Ding Feng finished reading the case file. Li Xinchun frowned and said, "This case file seems to contain no useful information. It's full of judgments, guesses, and opinions. We can't use it at all."

As an imperial censor, Ding Feng was unusually calm and did not get angry or nitpick when faced with such a case file: "There's nothing I can do. The situation back then was quite special. Things were much better by the second year of the Wude era."

“But this case just so happens to have occurred in the first year of the Wude era!” Li Xinchun looked at Liu Shuyi and said, “Doctor Liu, this case file isn’t very useful. What should we do next?”

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Liu Shuyi expectantly.

Liu Shuyi thought for a moment and said, "Besides the case file, we also have the testimonies of the surrounding people. We might as well wait for the testimonies, as they may give us the clues we need."

Upon hearing this, Li Xinchun immediately nodded: "That's right, we also had people questioning the neighbors... It's been so long, why haven't we finished questioning them yet?"

As he spoke, he turned around and wanted the bailiffs to urge them on.

"Magistrate Li, we're back..."

Just then, several constables, covered in sweat, hurried in.

Upon seeing them, Li Xinchun's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Why did it take so long? Have you finished asking all the questions?"

The constables quickly explained, "Some people don't remember very clearly and need time to recall. Also, some family members gave different accounts of certain events, leading to discrepancies in their memories. We had to double-check with each other, which caused the delay."

While explaining, they handed over the statements they had just obtained to Li Xinchun.

Li Xinchun looked down at the confessions, which were much thicker than the dossier, and asked, "Are these all confirmed confessions?"

The constable nodded: "Yes, that's basically their consensus."

Once Li Xinchun received confirmation, he handed the confession directly to Liu Shuyi: "Liu Langzhong, you take a look first."

Liu Shuyi didn't stand on ceremony with Li Xinchun. He took the confession and quickly flipped through it.

Because these confessions were written in a hurry, the handwriting was very messy, but fortunately Liu Shuyi was able to make them out by considering the context.

He read quickly, skimming the text while mentally comparing it with the contents of the dossier and organizing his confession.

With this multitasking, he finished reading all the confessions in less than fifteen minutes.

"call……"

Liu Shuyi let out a long breath and looked away from the confession.

Upon seeing this, Li Xinchun and the others quickly asked, "How is it?"

Meeting the tense yet hopeful gazes of Li Xinchun and the others, Liu Shuyi smiled and said, "We've made some progress."

Everyone's eyes lit up immediately, and Li Xinchun hurriedly asked, "What did you find?"

Liu Shuyi didn't keep them in suspense and said directly, "It's mainly in three aspects."

"First, the neighbors said that before Yang Wenwan went insane, forgot her family, and started behaving strangely, she had suffered a serious illness..."

"In other words, Yang Wenwan's problems arose after that serious illness, which was a major turning point in her dramatic transformation!"

"So, were her subsequent strange occurrences related to her serious illness? Or perhaps..."

Liu Shuyi's gaze swept over everyone, finally landing on the beautiful Du Ying's face: "Did someone take advantage of this serious illness to turn her into that?"

Du Ying understood Liu Shuyi's meaning. She pondered for a moment and said, "There are actually many ways to make a person's personality change drastically and lose their memory. The simplest way is to let them experience the biggest change in their life."

"After experiencing great sorrow, joy, or terror, some people's personalities will change, and their memory may also be affected by the mental stimulation."

"But that kind of change requires an extremely strong stimulus. I wonder if Miss Yang experienced such a stimulus back then?"

Liu Shuyi asked, "Does a serious illness count?"

"What kind of serious illness put her on the verge of death?"

"No, not really. The neighbors said it was a rather severe cold that took a whole month to cure."

“That shouldn’t be the case…” Du Ying said, “From the way her parents searched for her after she disappeared, it can be seen that her parents must have loved her very much. Under such circumstances, if she fell ill, her parents should have taken even more meticulous care of her, so she wouldn’t have suffered much psychological torment and wouldn’t have changed her personality so drastically.”

“Since illness can’t make her like this…” Liu Shuyi’s eyes flickered as he asked, “What about medication?”

Without hesitation, Du Ying nodded directly: "Hallucinogenic drugs can induce hallucinations. In that case, her behavior may seem strange, but it's actually just a normal reaction to being trapped in a hallucination..."

"So the drug works?"

"It can work! However, this kind of medicine is very rare, and there are probably not many people in the world who can formulate it."

"The number of people doesn't matter, as long as it can be done." Liu Shuyi turned to Li Xinchun and said, "Magistrate Li, have someone investigate who the doctor who treated Yang Wenwan ten years ago was."

Li Xinchun's heart skipped a beat: "Does Doctor Liu have doubts?"

Liu Shuyi nodded: "Yang Wenwan had just recovered from a serious illness, and then she suddenly went mad and left the Yang residence. The timing was so coincidental that it's hard not to wonder."

"Furthermore, since she lost her mind right after recovering from her illness, it conveniently prevents anyone from suspecting whether her problems are related to her previous condition..."

"The combination of these two factors inevitably raises suspicions that the doctor who treated her may have taken advantage of the treatment to do something to Yang Wenwan."

Li Xinchun was surprised that Liu Shuyi could find the suspect so quickly. He nodded excitedly and said, "Good! I'll have someone investigate right away! As long as he's still in Chang'an, he'll definitely not escape our grasp!"

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly and continued, "The second aspect..."

He glanced at everyone: "This is something that wasn't recorded in the files."

"Yang Wenwan was once engaged, but before she could get married, her fiancé died in an accident."

"And the day Yang Wenwan disappeared happened to be..."

"The wedding date she and her fiancé had originally agreed upon!"

"So some neighbors say that Yang Wenwan didn't lose her mind, but rather that her fiancé's spirit came to marry her, and that she didn't disappear..."

Li Xinchun felt a chill run down his spine, and subconsciously swallowed, saying, "If she's not missing, then what is she?"

Liu Shuyi looked at him with his dark eyes and said, "The neighbors say she went to be buried alive with her fiancé."

　My child has a terrible cough, and I took him to the hospital today, but they couldn't find anything wrong. I'm exhausted and not feeling well, so I really can't write anymore. Sorry.

　
(End of this chapter)