The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 176 Shattered! Miao Yin'er's conspiracy exposed! Crisis resolved!
Immortality, becoming an immortal...

Even though this was Liu Shuyi's deduction, he still found it hard to believe.

He never imagined that what he had only ever seen in history books and records would actually happen before his eyes, that there were actually people pursuing that elusive ascension and immortality.

However, if Yang Wanli really did pursue immortality like a madman, as I thought, then some things would be understandable.

For example... where did all the money that Yang Wanli embezzled go?
"Yuan Lingtai," Liu Shuyi asked Yuan Tiangang, "Does refining elixirs require a lot of money?"

Looking at the numerous bottles and jars on the bookshelf, Yuan Tiangang could not hide his surprise. Clearly, as someone who knew the most about Taoism, he, like Liu Shuyi, had guessed Yang Wanli's purpose.

He understood Liu Shuyi's meaning and nodded, saying, "The requirements for refining pills are extremely high. To refine high-quality pills, you not only need high-quality medicinal materials and catalysts, but also a suitable alchemy furnace."

"Medicinal herbs are relatively easy to obtain; even if you can't buy them, you can gather them yourself. However, alchemy furnaces are not sold by anyone; you have to find someone to build one yourself. And because of the different ingredients added to an alchemy furnace, the heat it can withstand varies, and the types of pills it is suitable for refining also vary."

"Therefore, just the alchemy furnace alone requires a lot of money to build, not to mention the medicinal materials. Some high-quality medicinal materials simply cannot be bought with money."

No wonder Qi cultivators serve emperors the most. Only emperors can do such expensive and resource-intensive things at will, without worrying about having a pill formula but not being able to find the medicinal ingredients, or being unable to build a suitable alchemy furnace due to financial constraints.

Looking at the bottles and jars in front of him, Liu Shuyi asked, "How much money do you think it would take to refine these pills?"

This time, Yuan Tiangang did not rush to give an answer. Instead, he carefully examined the pills and calculated in his mind before saying, "At least tens of thousands of strings of cash."

"How many!?"

No sooner had Yuan Tiangang finished speaking than Li Xinchun's astonished voice rang out.

He stared wide-eyed at Yuan Tiangang, completely dumbfounded: "Ten thousand strings of cash? Yuan Lingtai, are you sure? These bottles and jars don't need that much money?"

Yuan Tiangang understood how shocking his words were. He thought for a moment, then pointed to the red pill in Liu Shuyi's palm and said, "This pill is called the Longevity Pill. Its main ingredient is a thousand-year-old ginseng... Magistrate Li, you should know how expensive a thousand-year-old ginseng is, and it is something that can only be obtained by chance. It is not something that can be bought just because you have money."

"Not to mention that the refining of pills is a matter of timing and skill. A pill of this quality cannot be refined in one or two attempts. It is impossible to say how many batches must have been ruined before this one was successfully refined by chance. The money required for this longevity pill alone is estimated to be at least nearly a thousand strings of cash."

Li Xinchun was not a naive man, nor was he unfamiliar with major cases, such as the silver case that Liu Shuyi had previously solved, which involved a total of 200,000 strings of cash. Even so, the fact that a so-called elixir in a small porcelain bottle required thousands of strings of cash to refine still shocked him.

What really made his head spin was where Yang Wanli got tens of thousands of strings of cash from!

Didn't Yang say that Yang Wanli was incorruptible and very simple, not even repairing his house and rarely eating meat?

He had just praised Yang Wanli as an honest official and a role model for them, but then... he learned that Yang Wanli casually spent tens of thousands of strings of cash to refine elixirs. Is that what you call being frugal?
With Yang Wanli's current salary, he couldn't earn tens of thousands of strings of cash in several lifetimes, yet he just casually spent it. Can this be called being penniless?

The thought of praising Yang Wanli made Li Xinchun's face burn, especially when Liu Shuyi and Ding Feng were looking at him with complicated expressions. Li Xinchun wanted to lower his head and find a hole to crawl into.

It's so embarrassing, I could practically dig a three-courtyard house out of my toes!

"Mrs. Yang!"

Li Xinchun glared at Yang and said, "Didn't you say your master was an honest official? Then where did he get the tens of thousands of copper coins to refine these pills?"

"I……"

Yang's shock was no less than Li Xinchun's; her originally pale face was now filled with bewilderment and confusion: "I don't know either."

From the moment the study door was opened and the mechanical needle appeared, everything in the study kept refreshing Yang's understanding, to the point that she had the illusion that she had never been to the study before, or even that she had never met Yang Wanli.

"I had no idea these bottles and jars were so valuable; my lord never told me about them..."

Hearing Yang's evasive answers, Li Xinchun stomped her feet in anger. If it weren't for the fact that Yang's expression seemed genuine and that her husband had just died tragically, Li Xinchun would definitely have made trouble for her.

If it weren't for the Yang family, I wouldn't have been so humiliated... Of course, humiliation isn't important; what's important is that my understanding and judgment of the case have been misled. If Liu Shuyi and Yuan Tiangang hadn't noticed these bottles and jars, and if Yuan Tiangang hadn't known their specific value, I would never have known that Yang Wanli, who always presented a clean and simple image to the outside world, was actually completely different.

Liu Shuyi patted Li Xinchun on the shoulder, signaling him to calm down. He then asked Madam Yang, "Madam Yang, do you know when these bottles and jars appeared here?"

Madam Yang thought for a moment and said, "I only come to the study once every few months. Every time I come, a few bottles and jars will appear or disappear. I can't quite remember the first time the bottles and jars appeared. They must have been there a long time ago, at least ten years ago."

ten years……

The appearance of this sensitive number immediately stirred something in the hearts of Liu Shuyi, Li Xinchun, and Ding Feng.

Li Xinchun and Ding Feng quickly looked at Liu Shuyi, who narrowed his eyes and said, "Have you asked Doctor Yang what these bottles and jars are?"

Yang didn't notice the changes in their expressions and nodded, saying, "I once asked out of curiosity, and the master said that he occasionally felt unwell, and that was because the doctor prescribed medicine for him."

"Medicine prescribed by a doctor?" Li Xinchun looked at the shelves full of bottles and jars and sneered, "So much medicine, and he's been taking it for a full ten years. Isn't he afraid of dying from it?"

Yang lowered her head. She had never doubted Yang Wanli's words before, but now that she thought about it carefully, it was indeed true... What kind of illness would require taking medicine for ten years? Moreover, she had spent every day with Yang Wanli and had not noticed any discomfort in his body.

Liu Shuyi took in Yang's reaction and continued, "When was this courtyard built?"

Madam Yang said, "The year I married into this family, my husband personally led the construction."

"He personally led the construction?" Liu Shuyi's eyes flashed. "You mean, Yang Wanli didn't delegate the construction of the courtyard to servants or the steward, but personally took charge until it was completed?"

"Yes."

Did you come to see it during its construction?

“No,” Madam Yang said. “Master said that the study is for his use, and he can take care of it. Everyone else should just do what they need to do and not get involved. Because Master values ​​rules and is very authoritative, none of us dare to disobey him.”

"So... in other words... during the process of Dr. Yang building this courtyard, neither you nor any of the other servants in your Yang household participated?"

"Yes."

Upon hearing this, Li Xinchun couldn't help but look at Liu Shuyi: "Doctor Liu!"

Liu Shuyi understood Li Xinchun's meaning. As the head of the family, why should Yang Wanli go to such lengths to build a study? Not to mention, not a single servant participated in the entire construction process.

This looks completely abnormal, as if... Yang Wanli deliberately avoided the servants and didn't want the people from the Yang family to participate in the construction.

Combined with Yang Wanli's strict rule of forbidding anyone from the Yang family from approaching the study... even if Li Xinchun was slow to react, he realized that this study was probably not as simple as it appeared.

Liu Shuyi turned his gaze back to the spacious study and nodded, saying, "If I'm not mistaken, this study should contain some kind of secret room or mechanism."

"A secret chamber with hidden mechanisms?" Madam Yang was full of surprise.

Liu Shuyi said, “Think about these pills. Yuan Lingtai just said that refining these pills requires different alchemy furnaces, a lot of medicinal materials and catalysts... But in this study, we did not find any alchemy furnaces, nor did we see even a single medicinal material.”

"And as you said, Madam Yang, Doctor Yang usually stays in his study when he is not on duty at the yamen. Since he has no time to go outside, he must be refining pills in his study."

"In other words, everything needed for alchemy must be in the study, but we haven't found it, which can only mean..." Liu Shuyi looked around: "There must be a secret space in this study where those things are stored."

Lu Yangyuan then thought of something and said, "No wonder Doctor Yang doesn't allow anyone to disturb him once he enters his study, not even when it's time to eat... He's hiding in a secret room refining elixirs, and he can't stop halfway through. He might not even be able to hear any noise outside, so he set such a rule."

Yang opened her mouth, as if to say something, but in the end, she couldn't utter a single word.

Liu Shuyi's reasoning was entirely based on facts. Combined with Lu Yangyuan's words and Yang Wanli's special circumstances over the years, even if Yang was unwilling to admit it, he could not help but agree with Liu Shuyi's deduction.

"Where could the secret room be?" Ding Feng couldn't help but ask.

He searched for a long time but found no evidence of Yang Wanli's embezzlement or fraud, which made him very anxious. He worried that Yang Wanli had not left any evidence, and that with Yang Wanli's death, it would be extremely difficult to find out who Yang Wanli had taken money from and who he had helped with fraud.

So now, he has placed all his hopes on this secret room.

Upon hearing this, everyone carefully observed the study, but no matter how they looked, they couldn't find anything wrong with it.

Liu Shuyi said, "When I came in, I carefully observed the position of the outer wall of the study and the space inside the study. The size of the study is basically the same as the outer wall, which means that there is a secret space hidden between it and the wall of the Ministry of Revenue's storeroom. The secret room should not be behind any wall."

"And the study is only so big. Since there's no space behind the walls, the only place that could be used to hide a secret room is..."

He lowered his head, tapped the ground with his toes, and said, "Underground!"

"underground?"

Everyone quickly looked down and saw that the study floor was made of wood, with all the planks fitting together perfectly, making it difficult to find an entrance.

"Where will the entrance be?" Ding Feng asked.

Liu Shuyi shook his head. The study was built with Yang Wanli's personal involvement. When the secret room was being built, Yang Wanli must have considered how to avoid being discovered by others. In addition, Yang Wanli was careful enough when using the secret room and did not leave any traces on the floor, which made it difficult for Liu Shuyi to find any flaws for the time being.

However, this is not really a problem.

Liu Shuyi said, "The entrance to the secret room must be on the floor of the study. Since we can't find the mechanism, let's not waste time looking for it. Let's use the simple method."

Li Xinchun asked, "What kind of 'clumsy' method is Doctor Liu referring to?"

Liu Shuyi's lips curled into a smile: "Dig!"

…………

boom! boom! boom!
Following Liu Shuyi's orders, the yamen runners moved the tables and bookshelves out and then began to dig up the floor.

They swung their axes and smashed the floorboards with a loud bang, creating a hole. Then, with a forceful pull, the once perfectly sealed and clean floorboards were quickly pulled out.

As planks were destroyed and pieces of wood still attached to the soil were hauled out, the once bright and spacious study was left in a mess, as if a storm had swept through.

Yang's eyelids twitched violently as she watched, but she already knew that her husband was likely to have committed a serious crime, so she dared not stop him. She could only purse her lips tightly and watch with heartache as the once beautiful study was torn to pieces.

"found it!"

Just then, a yamen runner suddenly shouted.

Upon hearing this, Liu Shuyi and the others outside the door all had a flicker of interest. Without any hesitation, they quickly walked into the study.

"Here!" The constable squatting by the wall waved to them.

Liu Shuyi quickly walked over, and when he reached the wall, he saw that under the floorboards that the yamen runner had just dug up, there was no longer soil, but a square iron plate.

There's a hinge-like thing on one side of the iron plate, which seems to be the door leading to the underground chamber.

"Does this mean we have to open the door manually?" Li Xinchun chimed in, "No wonder we couldn't find the mechanism; Yang Wanli didn't set any mechanism at all."

Liu Shuyi nodded: "It's possible for a mechanism to be accidentally activated, but a manually operated door cannot be opened by accident unless the bookshelf is moved or the wooden board is lifted."

Li Xinchun clicked his tongue: "Yang Wanli is extremely cautious. He would rather go to great lengths to open the secret room himself every day than give others the chance to discover it."

Regardless of Yang Wanli's caution, once Ding Feng discovered the door leading to the secret chamber, he couldn't wait any longer and hurriedly said, "Open it quickly!"

"I come!"

Lu Yangyuan arrived at the iron gate. There was a round pull ring embedded in the iron plate. Lu Yangyuan pulled the ring and lifted it with force. His thick arms bulged instantly, and the veins on his arms coiled like steel bars. With Lu Yangyuan's effort, the iron gate creaked open. Before long, the seemingly heavy iron gate was easily opened by Lu Yangyuan.

Below the iron gate was a dark, bottomless passage that stretched vertically downwards like a well, but a ladder was embedded in the stone wall, allowing one to climb down.

"You all follow behind me, I'll go scout ahead."

Seeing that he couldn't see clearly what was below, Lu Yangyuan volunteered to lead the way.

Liu Shuyi did not stop him. Lu Yangyuan's martial arts skills and reaction speed were the strongest among them. If there was really danger below, only Lu Yangyuan could solve it.

"Be careful, go slowly, we're not in a rush," Liu Shuyi said, handing Lu Yangyuan a lantern.

Lu Yangyuan grinned and said, "Don't worry, Physician Liu, I value my life very much and will be very careful."

After saying that, he took the lantern and climbed down the ladder.

Seeing this, Li Xinchun said directly to the constables, "What are you all standing there for? Deputy Lieutenant Lu has taken the greatest danger. Are you going to hide behind us?"

The constables shrank back, not daring to hesitate, and quickly followed Lu Yangyuan down.

"Let's go quickly too." Ding Feng was preoccupied with the cheating case and couldn't wait to enter the secret room to investigate.

Liu Shuyi's eyes flickered slightly, and he said, "Imperial Censor Ding doesn't know martial arts and is much older than us. He would be in greater danger than us if something unexpected happened, so it's not advisable for him to take the lead. You should go last. I'll go first, and Magistrate Li, Yuan Lingtai, and Miss Du will go in the middle. You go last."

Upon hearing this, Ding Feng felt that Liu Shuyi was truly a good person worth getting to know, who cared about him at all times.

A warm feeling washed over him, and he said, "Alright, I'll listen to Physician Liu. Physician Liu, you must also be careful."

Liu Shuyi smiled and said, "With Deputy Lieutenant Lu and the constables leading the way, even if there is danger, it shouldn't be our turn. However, it's always better to be cautious than not. When facing the unknown, it's always good to be careful."

After saying that, he didn't linger any longer, and carrying a lantern, he climbed down the ladder.

Before they even reached the bottom, they heard Lu Yangyuan's voice from below: "There's no danger down there, so don't worry."

Liu Shuyi breathed a sigh of relief. Yang Wanli had set up a steel needle trap at the entrance to the study, which made him always worried that Yang Wanli might have hidden some other dangerous traps.

Fortunately, Yang Wanli probably thought that with two layers of security ahead, this place would not be discovered and was actually the least guarded place.

Quickly descend to the bottom, and you'll see a doorway in front of you, behind which is a room.

Liu Shuyi looked up and saw that Li Xinchun and the others were still slowly climbing down, while Ding Feng was at the back and would need a little more time to get there.

Without delay, he seized the precious time and quickly entered the doorway.

After passing through the doorway, you will find a secret room that is half the size of the study, but not too cramped.

The secret chamber is said to be 1.5 feet high. Even though it is located underground, it does not feel cramped. The walls on all sides are made of stone and look very sturdy.

There were many things inside the secret room.

Right next to the right wall was a row of bookshelves, against the opposite wall were several cabinets, and against the left wall was a desk... These pieces of furniture were not small. It was unclear whether Yang Wanli had brought in the parts and assembled them himself, or whether he had placed them in advance when building the secret room.

The furniture was placed close to the wall, while the spacious area in the middle contained individual stoves.

These stoves come in various shapes, some resembling animal heads, others shaped like auspicious clouds and flying cranes, and still others in the form of square tripods. Just by looking at them, you can tell they are quite expensive.

"An alchemy furnace?"

Just as Liu Shuyi had predicted, all the tools used for alchemy were here.

However, he only glanced at the alchemy furnaces before quickly looking away. Right now, nothing else mattered to him; the evidence left behind by the original owner of the body was what mattered.

His gaze swept across the secret room, and he quickly went to the bookshelf, carrying the lantern as he rapidly scanned the bookshelf.

"no!"

Many of the books on the bookshelf were very old, with yellowed paper, and some were even bamboo slips. They were clearly books on Taoist metaphysics that Yang Wanli had found somewhere.

"Not on the bookshelf... then it is..."

Liu Shuyi turned his head directly to look at the cabinet against the wall.

Without any hesitation, he went to the cabinet, opened the lid, and looked down.

Upon seeing this, his eyes narrowed.

Inside the cabinet were many gold and silver jewels, all of which were extremely valuable.

Meanwhile, a small wooden box was located to the side.

Liu Shuyi took out a wooden box, which was not locked. He opened the box and found several books inside.

Pick up the book, quickly open it, and then...

Liu Shuyi's eyes flashed, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

"The ledger!"

On each page of the book was a person's name, followed by a certain amount of money, and below that money were the details of the matter.

For example, the page that Liu Shuyi turned to reads:
"Zhao He, a scholar from Nanyang, has 450 strings of cash."

"If I pass the assessment in the seventh year of the Wude era, I will be granted an official position."

This is the evidence that Ding Fengxin has been longing for!

Unexpectedly, Yang Wanli actually left behind this irrefutable evidence, not only accepting money but also making detailed records.

It's unclear whether Yang Wanli was afraid he'd forget to do the job after taking the money, or if he wanted to leave evidence to use as leverage if he ran out of money later when seeking immortality...

Given Yang Wanli's current extravagant spending habits, often involving tens of thousands of coins for alchemy, Liu Shuyi felt the latter was more likely.

But now is not the time to think about that.

He could already hear Li Xinchun and the others; they had all arrived, and Ding Feng would be there soon as well.

He quickly turned the pages and soon put the book down.

He discovered that the ledger recorded events from the seventh year of the Wude era, meaning that Yang Wanli had kept records by year.

He took the exam in the eighth year of the Wude era and needs to find the records from that year.

He picked up the next book, opened it, and this time, he found the right one.

"This secret room is so spacious. I never imagined that Doctor Yang could secretly build such a secret room," Li Xinchun exclaimed.

Li Xinchun has already come in, and Ding Feng should have come down by now.

Liu Shuyi flipped through the ledgers faster and faster, but his expression remained unchanged. He used the cabinet to block the view of others, so to them it looked like he was looking for clues, unaware that he was struggling with his fate for the rest of his life, his hands almost blurring as he turned the pages.

"found it!"

At this moment, Liu Shuyi stopped what he was doing.

On this page of the book, it was clearly written:

"Liu Shuyi, a native of Chang'an, son of Liu Wenjing, with four hundred strings of cash."

"Seeking a candidate who has passed the eight-year martial virtue assessment, regardless of the government office."

Miao Yin'er's forces had indeed secretly bribed Yang Wanli, planting a hidden danger that could lead to his death without the original owner's knowledge.

Fortunately, I discovered this potential problem in advance.

"The alchemy furnace is indeed here. Yang Wanli must have embezzled a lot of money!"

At this moment, Ding Feng's voice rang out: "Search quickly! See if you can find any evidence or clues about Yang Wanli's embezzlement."

Since Yang Wanli's embezzlement was a fact that everyone had seen, Ding Feng no longer concealed it.

Upon hearing this, Li Xinchun immediately ordered the yamen runners to search the premises.

"No need."

Just then, Liu Shuyi walked over.

He looked at Ding Feng, casually handed him a book, and said, "Imperial Censor Ding, I have found the evidence you requested."

Upon hearing this, Ding Feng quickly took the book and flipped through it.

next moment……

Ding Feng's eyes lit up instantly, and his hands trembled with excitement.

"The ledgers! The evidence!"

"Found it! Finally found it!"

"Thank goodness! Yang Wanli really did leave behind evidence. I can now report back to His Majesty!"

He looked at Liu Shuyi with excitement, his eyes full of gratitude: "Dr. Liu, thanks to you. If it weren't for you, I would never have found these account books, and I would have been in deep trouble this time."

Liu Shuyi smiled gently: "We're all colleagues and close friends, why bother with thanks?"

Ding Feng nodded vigorously, vowing in his heart that he would definitely repay Liu Shuyi in the future.

Unbeknownst to him, Liu Shuyi's loose sleeves were drooping slightly, and one of his hands was hidden inside the sleeve.

In the palm of his hand, he was tightly clutching a ball made of crumpled paper.

While Ding Feng and the others were focused on the ledger, Liu Shuyi casually stuffed the paper ball into his money pouch at the waist, and at the same time gently exhaled a breath of stale air.

This crisis, which began four years ago outside of Chang'an, has finally been resolved.

(End of this chapter)