The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 177 Breakthrough! Five lives, the ultimate of the five elements! He, the cultivator, has gone mad!
"fraud!?"

"Did Yang Wanli obtain all the money he made from alchemy through cheating during the examinations back then?"

Li Xinchun looked curiously at the ledger in Ding Feng's hand, and upon seeing it, his eyes widened and his expression changed drastically.

Although both involve obtaining money through illegal means, the fraud is quite different from ordinary corruption.

Corruption is mostly a matter of greed; whoever is corrupt should be punished.

But fraud and corruption are secondary; the more important issue is fairness.

The imperial examination system was the most important way for the Tang Dynasty to acquire talent. The most important reason why students were willing to study hard for years to participate in the imperial examination was that they believed that the imperial examination was fair. As long as they studied hard and their books were better than others, they could leap over the dragon gate.

Therefore, if students knew that the imperial examinations could be passed through cheating, even if someone was a poor student and didn't work hard, they could still buy their future by having money...

At that time, the students' beliefs will waver, and the Tang Dynasty's imperial examination system will be questioned.

Although Yang Wanli cheated on the assessment, both the assessment and the imperial examination were for the court to find talent, so there was no difference in essence. In other words, the assessment was just a temporary imperial examination under special circumstances.

This is no longer just a problem for Yang Wanli personally; it is a huge problem that could shake the very foundation of the Tang Dynasty!
Li Xinchun never expected that his investigation into the murder and dismemberment of Yang Wanli would suddenly turn into such a serious case of fraud.

Ding Feng and Liu Shuyi naturally understood Li Xinchun's shock, which is why they had never told Li Xinchun.

The cheating scandal is a fact; it's impossible to pretend nothing happened, and it can't be kept secret forever. Sooner or later, the news will spread.

Therefore, what they need to do is to delay the spread of the news as much as possible before there is a breakthrough in the case.

Once a breakthrough is achieved, we must find out as quickly as possible who was involved in the fraud, arrest all those involved, and punish them according to the strictest laws...

In this way, even if the news spreads far and wide and the students learn about the cheating, they will know the court's attitude towards cheating because of the court's swift and decisive crackdown on officials who obtained their positions through cheating. They will also know that the court is doing its utmost to ensure the fairness of the imperial examinations. Furthermore, it will serve as a warning to other officials and students with ulterior motives: even if they obtained their positions through cheating in the past, they will never be forgiven if they are found out in the future!

In this way, the impact of the fraud case can be mitigated to the greatest extent possible.

Ding Feng quickly put away all the account books. He looked at Liu Shuyi and said, "Doctor Liu, I have to hurry up and deal with the fraud case. I can't stay with you to continue the investigation."

Liu Shuyi nodded: "Compared to this case, the cheating case is more important. Do you need my help again?"

Ding Feng shook his head: "With the ledger, the investigation will be much easier. The case of Yang Wanli's murder is still shrouded in mystery. Doctor Liu, please continue to investigate this case. I also want to know as soon as possible who killed him and whether he was silenced."

"Okay." Having resolved his own crisis, Liu Shuyi no longer insisted.

Ding Feng then looked at Li Xinchun, who was still somewhat dazed, and said apologetically, "Magistrate Li, in fact, I and Physician Liu have known about Yang Wanli's cheating for a long time. I came with Physician Liu to investigate the case because of the cheating case. However, this case is too special, and the information cannot be leaked in the slightest. Therefore, I asked Physician Liu not to tell anyone. That's why I didn't tell you in advance. I hope Magistrate Li will not hold a grudge because of this."

Li Xinchun suddenly realized that Ding Feng and Liu Shuyi had known Yang Wanli's true colors all along, which explained why they were not surprised at all when they saw the account books.

Seeing Ding Feng apologize to him, he quickly waved his hand: "I have also secretly investigated some cases and understand the situation. Imperial Censor Ding, please rest assured, I am not so narrow-minded as to harbor any resentment because of this."

Ding Feng smiled and nodded: "I am relieved that Magistrate Li said so. After the corruption case is over, I will host a banquet to thank you both for your support and help."

Having said that, he didn't linger any longer, grabbed the ledger, and hurried away.

After Ding Feng left, Li Xinchun stared intently at Liu Shuyi, making Liu Shuyi's eyelids twitch.

"Magistrate Li, what is this?" Liu Shuyi asked.

"Physician Liu, you can't be biased!" Li Xinchun feigned grievance. "You helped Imperial Censor Ding find crucial evidence, which directly enabled him to solve a major case, but my case hasn't made much progress yet."

If Li Xinchun were a woman like Du Ying or Wan'er, Liu Shuyi would find him adorable even if he knew he was feigning grievance. But the Li Xinchun in front of him was a middle-aged man with a rather large face. When he winked at him and pretended to be aggrieved, he became so greasy that Liu Shuyi felt an urge to punch this monster to death.

I really can’t see it!

Liu Shuyi took a deep breath and said, "Magistrate Li, rest assured, I did not leave with Imperial Censor Ding, in order to help you investigate the case of Yang Wanli's murder."

After saying that, he quickly looked away, afraid that if he continued to look, he would really not be able to resist the impulse in his heart.

Li Xinchun was waiting for Liu Shuyi to say this. He chuckled and said, "With Dr. Liu's words, I feel relieved. Dr. Liu is a brilliant detective, and I believe he will find the decisive evidence and clues, just like in the fraud case."

Liu Shuyi ignored Li Xinchun's flattery and re-examined the secret room in front of him.

Previously, because he was preoccupied with the original owner's weaknesses, he hadn't carefully examined the secret room. Now, he could finally seriously investigate Yang Wanli's deeply hidden secret base.

The room was spotless, with not a speck of dust on the floor.

Five alchemy furnaces were placed in the secret chamber, but not in a row or a column. Instead, four were located at the four corners of the square, and one was located in the center of the square.

Is there any reason behind this?

After thinking about it, Liu Shuyi decided to consult a professional.

He turned his head to look and saw Yuan Tiangang carefully flipping through the books on the bookshelf.

Liu Shuyi walked over and asked, "Yuan Lingtai, have you discovered anything?"

Yuan Tiangang was holding a yellowed book. Hearing Liu Shuyi's words, he realized that someone had arrived. He looked up, his expression showing undisguised surprise, and said, "These books are either lost rare editions or originals that are still in circulation. I really don't know where Doctor Yang got them from?"

"A rare copy? The original?"

Liu Shuyi raised an eyebrow. Although he knew these books were old, he hadn't expected them to be so precious.

He turned to look at Madam Yang, who had followed him down, but before he could speak, Madam Yang shook her head, looking aggrieved and bewildered: "I really don't know..."

"I only know that the Taoist and Buddhist books in the study were collected by Master from various places, but I have never seen a single ancient book here."

"I really don't know anything..."

Liu Shuyi shook his head helplessly. To Yang Wanli, Yang was just a heartless blessing machine. A machine doesn't need to know anything; it just needs to do its job step by step. So, hoping that Yang could help him was no better than hoping that Yang Wanli would appear in his dreams at night.

He withdrew his gaze and said to Yuan Tiangang, "How Yang Wanli obtained these ancient books is not important. What is important is what he did in order to attain immortality."

As he spoke, he pointed to the alchemy furnace in the secret chamber and said, "Yuan Lingtai, do you know what meaning Yang Wanli had in placing the alchemy furnace like this?"

Yuan Tiangang glanced at it and said without thinking, "This is set up according to the Five Elements."

"Five elements?"

Yuan Tiangang nodded: "The five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—each have their own direction. Wood belongs to the east, fire to the south, metal to the west, water to the north, and earth to the center."

"When Doctor Yang refines pills, he selects different alchemy furnaces with different properties according to the properties of the pills, and refines them in their corresponding positions. This should increase the success rate."

Liu Shuyi nodded: "I see."

He arrived in front of the alchemy furnace and looked at the furnace, which represented the wood element.

The surface of the alchemy furnace is painted with trees, flowers and birds, and a leaf is carved in the center. The leaf is emerald green and looks just like a real leaf under the firelight, exuding a rich vitality.

Liu Shuyi lifted the lid. The lid was very heavy, and he didn't know what kind of metal it was made of. It was beautiful and exquisite.

He looked down into the alchemy furnace, which was completely empty. It seemed that Yang Wanli had not refined any wood-attribute pills before he was killed.

Liu Shuyi shook his head, somewhat disappointed. He wanted to see what the so-called "immortal pills" that were freshly made or not yet made looked like, whether they were as radiant as the cultivation novels he had read in later generations, and even had their own consciousness and could fly around.

After putting the lid down, Liu Shuyi turned to go and check other places.

"Hmm?" Just then, Liu Shuyi seemed to notice something and suddenly stopped moving.

"What's wrong?" Li Xinchun asked quickly when he noticed that Liu Shuyi's behavior was different from before.

Liu Shuyi took a step back, then squatted down and looked at the floor beneath the alchemy furnace.

"When I walked over just now, the floorboards shifted slightly when I stepped on them..."

After thinking for a moment, he raised his finger and tapped it lightly.

Then a hollow, "thump" sound rang out.

Li Xinchun was taken aback, and quickly followed suit by knocking a few times.

"Boom! Boom!"

The sounds were also very hollow.

His eyes widened: "It's hollow underneath!?"

"Open it and take a look," Liu Shuyi said directly.

Li Xinchun directly told the constables, "Get to work quickly."

The constables quickly moved the alchemy furnace aside, then one of them drew his sword, inserted it into a crack in the floorboards, and pressed it down forcefully—

The sword bent.

The constable was somewhat embarrassed.

Liu Shuyi said, "The floor just moved slightly, which means it's working. One horizontal blade isn't enough; try a few more."

Upon hearing this, the other constables also quickly drew their swords from their waists, inserted them into the gaps, and then pressed down simultaneously... The floor, which had been tightly sealed, was finally lifted up by the combined force of the swords.

Lu Yangyuan reacted quickly, grabbing the stone slab that had been lifted and flipping it over with force.

boom!
The stone slab flipped 180 degrees and crashed into the floor on the other side with a loud bang.

Dust flew up, and the ground shook.

Ignoring the noise and dust caused by the stone slab, everyone quickly looked down at the area beneath it.

Sure enough, the area beneath the stone slab was hollow.

This is a square space, about half a foot deep.

There is a jar inside.

A piece of yellow paper was pasted on the top of the jar.

There was a very strange pattern drawn on the yellow paper. Liu Shuyi couldn't understand it; it must be some kind of talisman.

"What is this?" Li Xinchun asked curiously.

Liu Shuyi looked at Yuan Tiangang, who examined it carefully and said, "What is drawn on the yellow paper should be some kind of talisman for the purpose of suppression and sealing."

"Suppression and sealing? A witch's talisman!?"

Upon hearing these two terms, Li Xinchun's heart skipped a beat, as if they had discovered something terrifying again.

Liu Shuyi also looked thoughtful: "Suppressing the seal...suppressing what? Sealing what?"

Yuan Tiangang said, "It's usually ghosts, evil spirits, and demons." Li Xinchun got goosebumps and said, "Doctor Liu, could there really be something terrifying in this box? Maybe we shouldn't touch it."

Li Xinchun is not afraid of anything, except for mysterious things like ghosts, gods, and demons.

Liu Shuyi narrowed his eyes as he looked at the jar beneath the talisman and said, "Doesn't Magistrate Li want to know why Doctor Yang was murdered? Opening the jar might provide the answer."

Li Xinchun suddenly raised his head: "Really?"

Liu Shuyi stared intently at the jar on the ground and said, "This secret room was already the safest and most mysterious place for Yang Wanli, but he still set up an even more hidden and secure place in this secret room... This can only prove that what's inside is extremely important to him, a secret even more important than his cheating in the exams and his embezzlement and bribery."

"So far, we have not found the motive for the murderer to kill Yang Wanli so cruelly... It is very likely because we have not found out Yang Wanli's deeper and more shameful secrets."

"So tell me, should we open this jar or not?"

Gum!

Li Xinchun swallowed hard. He was genuinely afraid of ghosts, gods, demons, and the like, but Liu Shuyi was right. They had gone to great lengths to find this place in order to uncover Yang Wanli's hidden secrets and to find out the murderer's motive.

If the answer really is in this jar, but he missed it because of his fear, not only Liu Shuyi, but he himself could not forgive himself.

Li Xinchun took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and said, "Open!"

Liu Shuyi smiled and gave Lu Yangyuan a wink.

Without saying a word, Lu Yangyuan reached out and took the jar out.

He placed the jar on the floor, grasped the talisman, and even he felt a little nervous at that moment.

From the moment Yang Wanli dismembered the body until now, the entire case has been bizarre and strange. Now there are even witch talismans used to seal and suppress evil spirits. Even if Lu Yangyuan is bold enough, he can't help but feel a little uneasy.

But he was ultimately a passionate warrior, and with a determined heart, he used his strength directly.

Here——

The talisman was quickly torn apart.

Li Xinchun subconsciously took a half step back, clenched his fists and held them in front of him, nervously watching the mouth of the jar, afraid that something might rush out of the jar at any moment.

But as time passed, nothing happened; there was no black fog, no eerie wind, and everything remained as usual.

Only then did Li Xinchun truly breathe a sigh of relief.

He quickly asked, "What's in the jar?"

Lu Yangyuan took the lantern closer to the jar, then looked down at it carefully, his expression somewhat puzzled.

“Some powder,” he said.

"powder?"

Li Xinchun paused for a moment, then quickly walked over and looked down as well.

Sure enough, as Lu Yangyuan said, the jar was not large or particularly deep, but the mouth of the jar was quite wide, so when the lantern shone on it, one could clearly see what was inside.

The jar was filled to the brim with grayish-white powder.

"What is this?"

Li Xinchun reached out and grabbed some, gently rubbing them between his fingertips; some were smooth, some were rough.

Yuan Tiangang examined it carefully, and his expression immediately changed. He said, "This... looks like ashes."

"What!? Ashes!?"

Li Xinchun froze abruptly, his pupils contracting sharply.

He stared blankly at the grayish-white powder in his palm, feeling it suddenly turn incredibly cold, as if it had transformed into dense needles that pricked his hand painfully.

He quickly threw the powder back into the jar, jumped to his feet, and stared at the powder inside, his voice stammering, "Re...really? Is it really ashes?"

Du Ying squatted down, picked up the grayish-white powder with her fingertips, looked at it, and nodded, saying, "It's ashes. My mentor and I once treated a small plague. The corpses of those who contracted the plague needed to be burned immediately. The ashes after burning those corpses look like this."

“It really is ashes… Why would Yang Wanli hide ashes here?” Li Xinchun frowned.

Lu Yangyuan and the others were also puzzled.

"Can't you figure it out?"

At this moment, Liu Shuyi's voice, seemingly calm yet containing a terrifying storm, resounded deeply.

Everyone instinctively looked at Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi stared at the urn filled to the brim with ashes and said in a deep voice, "If these ashes belonged to Yang Wanli's relatives, would he need to affix a witch's talisman to suppress and seal them?"

"The fact that he used so carefully to suppress and seal the ashes means that he is wary of them."

"And whose ashes could make someone well-versed in Taoist arts so fearful? I think only he believes that the owner of these ashes might turn into a vengeful ghost and seek him out. Why would he turn into a vengeful ghost and seek him out?"

Liu Shuyi looked at everyone: "Only...this person was killed by Yang Wanli!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's pupils contracted!
Previously, they only thought that Yang Wanli's problem was corruption and embezzlement, and never thought that Yang Wanli had also killed people!

The worst part is that not only did he kill the person, but he also burned the body to ashes and hid them right under his nose while he was refining elixirs every day, and even sealed them with witchcraft talismans...

Is Yang Wanli out of his mind? Since he's afraid this person will turn into a vengeful ghost and seek revenge, why not throw his corpse and ashes far away instead of keeping them under his nose?
They couldn't understand it at all.

Li Xinchun couldn't help but ask, "Why would Yang Wanli want to kill him? Who could this person be?"

Liu Shuyi did not answer Li Xinchun, but instead looked up at the other exquisite and valuable alchemy furnaces and said, "Move all these alchemy furnaces aside and see if there is anything underneath them."

Upon hearing this, Li Xinchun and the others' expressions changed.

Li Xinchun swallowed hard and couldn't help but say, "You don't suspect...?"

Liu Shuyi did not hide his conjecture. He said, "Since the five elements need to be balanced, if there is something under this wood-attribute alchemy furnace, then there will probably be something under other attribute alchemy furnaces as well."

Li Xinchun felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head. He looked at the yamen runners who were still standing there and shouted, "What are you all standing there for? Didn't you hear what Doctor Liu said?"

The constables then realized what was happening.

They dared not delay and quickly followed suit, moving the other alchemy furnaces aside, then using a horizontal knife to pry open the gaps in the stone slabs, and finally overturning all the stone slabs.

Then, they looked down at the bottom of the stone slab...

"There are jars here too!"

"This is also available!"

"There really was a jar under each alchemy furnace!"

Hearing the bailiff's words, Li Xinchun couldn't help but gasp.

"Five jars, five lives..."

"Yang Wanli actually killed five people!"

Lu Yangyuan clenched his fists tightly and cursed, "First he embezzled and cheated, and now he's killed five innocent people. He deserves to die!"

Listening to Li Xinchun and Lu Yangyuan's words, and seeing the jar being carried out by the yamen runners, Yang's mind went completely blank.

She felt her head buzzing.

"How could this be?"

"Five people, five people... Master, how could he, how could he do such a thing!?"

Too many unexpected things happened that day, and Yang was already overwhelmed.

Liu Shuyi glanced at Madam Yang, who was swaying and pale as a candle in the wind, and said, "Madam Yang, you should go and rest. You don't need to help with the rest."

After she finished speaking, the yamen runners forcibly took Yang out of the secret room.

After Yang left, Li Xinchun could no longer contain himself. He said to Liu Shuyi, "Doctor Liu, do you know what's going on here?"

Liu Shuyi looked at Yuan Tiangang, whose face was pale. This was the first time he had ever seen the usually venerable Yuan Tiangang look so bad.

"Yuan Lingtai, do you know what the purpose of these ashes is?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xinchun immediately looked at Yuan Tiangang.

Yuan Tiangang took a few deep breaths to calm his turbulent heart.

His voice was somewhat low as he said, "If I am not mistaken, Yang Wanli, in order to enhance the power of the five elements, just like he changed the feng shui before to turn this place into a blessed land... He used evil magic to suppress five people with the most extreme attributes here, using them as a medium to forcibly enhance the five elements attributes here."

Although Liu Shuyi didn't understand any evil magic, he had already guessed this possibility.

He slowly exhaled: "As expected, Yang Wanli has gone mad in his pursuit of immortality. He has lost all humanity and will stop at nothing!"

Li Xinchun and the others felt a chill run down their spines upon hearing this.

They couldn't understand how Yang Wanli, a seemingly upright and unassuming official, could have such a face behind the scenes. How could Yang Wanli do such a horrifying thing for the sake of that elusive immortality?
“So, these five people are all individuals with special abilities related to the Five Elements…” Li Xinchun said, “Then who are they? And when did Yang Wanli kill them?”

"Who could they be...?"

Liu Shuyi looked at Li Xinchun and said slowly, "I don't know the identities of everyone, but I think... I should be able to guess the identities of one or two of them."

"Who!?" Li Xinchun asked hurriedly.

Then he saw Liu Shuyi staring straight at him: "Yang Wanli was brutally murdered and dismembered in the Yang Mansion. There was a ceremony to mourn the deceased at the scene. The murderer was extremely cruel to Yang Wanli, not only making him suffer in life, but also not letting him rest in peace after death. It was obviously revenge against Yang Wanli!"

"The Yang family mansion, a memorial service, revenge... and the murderer dismembered and disposed of the body according to the Five Elements method. How similar is the Five Elements to the five innocent people being suppressed within them?"

"With all these circumstances combined, Magistrate Li, don't you have any ideas?"

Li Xinchun felt a chill run down his spine and exclaimed in shock, "You mean... Yang Wenwan, who mysteriously disappeared from the Yang family back then, is here?! Was she murdered by Yang Wanli?"

　I recommend a good modern crime drama.

"You're supposed to be a security officer, what case are you solving?"

Summer of '97, torrential rain! Dismemberment! Murderer!
Yang Jinwen is reborn in 1997. Faced with the torrential rain and the dismembered female corpse in the reed marshes more than 20 years ago, he is determined to catch the murderer!

(End of this chapter)