The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 192 The Courtesan! The Governor! Bizarre Behavior! The Brother-in-Law, the Courtesan's Appraiser!

Hearing Liu Shuyi's words, Zhao Feng and the others were very excited. They did not expect to solve the mystery of Jiang Rui's departure so soon after arriving at the brothel.

Although we don’t yet know Jiang Rui’s specific reasons for leaving, it is undoubtedly an excellent start.

Under the intense pressure of Chu Xiong and his men's swords falling at any moment, they desperately needed such good news to boost morale.

Liu Shuyi took in everyone's reactions and nodded slightly to himself. The more critical the moment, the more important confidence and morale become.

Without delay, he continued to ask Han Si, "Is Governor Jiang a frequent visitor here?"

"It wouldn't be accurate to call them regulars..."

Han Si thought for a moment and said, "Governor Jiang has always had a good reputation and rarely comes to brothels. He only recently started visiting our Chunxiang Pavilion."

"Recently?" Liu Shuyi asked. "How long do you mean by 'recently'?"

"About twenty days."

"Nearly twenty days?"

Liu Shuyi's eyes flickered slightly: "Do you know why he, who never used to come to brothels, suddenly started visiting your Chunxiang Pavilion?"

Han Si said, "Perhaps it's because our Chunxiang Pavilion's most beautiful courtesan, Qingqing, is gentle and charming enough to attract Governor Jiang."

Upon hearing this, Du Ying asked in a cold voice, "Is Miss Qingqing a newcomer to Chunxiang Pavilion?"

"No, Miss Qingqing has been in Chunxiang Pavilion for five years."

"So she's the newly crowned courtesan?"

"No, that's not true. Miss Qingqing is skilled in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and she is also very beautiful. As soon as she arrived at Chunxiang Pavilion, she outshone all the other beauties and has been the top courtesan for four years now."

Du Ying said calmly, "Miss Qingqing is neither a newcomer to Chunxiang Pavilion nor a newly crowned courtesan. Why do you think that she didn't attract Governor Jiang in the previous four years... but suddenly attracted him in these twenty days?"

"This……"

Han Si hadn't considered this question at all. He said, "As soon as Governor Jiang came to Chunxiang Pavilion, he directly asked Miss Qingqing to accompany him. If Miss Qingqing hadn't attracted him, would he have kept her by his side all this time?"

“Yes, if you weren’t attracted to Qingqing, why did you keep having her accompany you?” Du Ying looked at Liu Shuyi and said, “I’m also very curious about this.”

Liu Shuyi understood Du Ying's unspoken meaning, and he thought about it more deeply than Du Ying did.

He asked Han Si, "In these twenty days, how many times has Governor Jiang visited Chunxiang Pavilion?"

"Three times!" Han Si answered accurately.

"Three times? Which days exactly?" Liu Shuyi asked again.

"The first time Governor Jiang came was twenty days ago, the second time was seven days later, and the last time was six days later, the day Governor Jiang was murdered." Han Si had a deep memory of Jiang Rui and spoke of him as if he knew him by heart.

That's about once every seven days... Liu Shuyi pondered. Jiang Rui had never been to a brothel before, but he suddenly came to a brothel twenty days ago, and has been doing so about once every seven days ever since...

Why would someone who has never been to a brothel suddenly decide to do so?
Why is the frequency also fixed?

And why was the courtesan Qingqing always by his side?

Liu Shuyi gently stroked the jade pendant at his waist with his fingertips. After a moment, he said to Han Si, "I want to see Miss Qingqing."

…………

"This humble servant, Qingqing, greets Physician Liu."

Dressed in a semi-transparent light gauze, Qingqing came to Liu Shuyi, bowed and greeted him in a sweet and charming voice, revealing her fragrant shoulders and a touch of white skin.

A rich fragrance emanated from Qingqing, and the surrounding air seemed to be covered with watercolor.

When Du Ying first entered Chunxiang Pavilion, she thought the fragrance was very pleasant. However, when she saw that Qingqing's fragrance was enveloping Liu Shuyi, she suddenly found the smell extremely pungent.

She frowned slightly, then subconsciously stepped in front of Liu Shuyi and said, "Miss Qingqing, we have some questions for you, and we hope you can answer them truthfully."

Xiangxiang glanced at the ice queen with some surprise. When she saw that Du Ying was blocking Liu Shuyi's view, she seemed to understand something. She pursed her lips and said with a smile, "Please ask me whatever you want, Madam. I will answer all your questions."

lady?

Du Ying was stunned for a moment. When she realized that the lady was referring to her, her originally cool and fair cheeks instantly turned as red as fire.

My usually calm and intelligent mind went completely blank at this moment.

"No... I'm not some lady, don't talk nonsense." Du Ying had never been so flustered.

"Not Madam?"

Qingqing blinked: "But I think you and Doctor Liu are a perfect match. The way you look at each other is so affectionate. How could you not be husband and wife?"

The ice queen had never experienced anything like this before. For a moment, she didn't know whether to deny that the two were a good match or to deny that there was no emotion in their eyes.

Seeing Du Ying's furrowed brows, almost forming a deep frown, Liu Shuyi couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head.

Du Ying was too shy. If it were him, he would have told Qingqing on the spot, "You have such good taste! How did you know we were getting married soon? Since we've met, and we hit it off immediately, how could you not give us some money as a wedding gift?"

When you encounter a scoundrel, you have to be even more shameless than him.

However, this Qingqing girl truly lives up to her reputation as the most popular courtesan in Chunxiang Pavilion. She is able to keenly perceive the relationship between me and Du Ying, and even inadvertently helps me get together with Du Ying, making a good impression on me while chatting and laughing...

Sharp-witted, eloquent...

Liu Shuyi looked at Qingqing intently and asked, "Miss Qingqing, what kind of person do you think Governor Jiang is?"

"President Jiang?"

With Du Ying watching, Qingqing stopped deliberately exposing her shoulders. She put her clothes back on, thought for a moment, and said, "Governor Jiang is just as rumored. He is not obsessed with women and is a man of his word."

"Not obsessed with women?" Liu Shuyi raised an eyebrow: "He comes to a brothel and specifically asks you to accompany him. Doesn't that count as being obsessed with women?"

Qingqing shook her head and said, "Doctor Liu, you don't know this. Although Governor Jiang asked me to accompany him, he didn't actually touch me. He only asked me to serve him wine and food, and then to warm his bed... Other than that, we did nothing."

"You're saying Governor Jiang didn't touch you at all... How is that possible?" This was the first time Han Si had heard about what Jiang Rui and Qingqing had done in the room. He stared wide-eyed in disbelief, completely unable to comprehend how someone could not want to spend a night with Qingqing.

Is Jiang Rui really a man?

Qingqing shrugged: "What's impossible about that? That's just how it is."

Liu Shuyi, Du Ying, Zhao Feng, and the others exchanged glances; they all sensed something was amiss.

It's already strange enough that someone who never used to go to brothels suddenly starts going there frequently.

Now we've learned that Jiang Rui, who always has a courtesan accompany him, doesn't actually touch her; he only drinks and dine with her...

This is not something a normal customer of prostitutes would do.
Zhao Feng couldn't help but ask, "Jiang Rui came to the brothel, is he really looking for girls?"

A glint flashed in Liu Shuyi's eyes. He pondered for a moment and then continued to ask Qingqing, "As you said, Governor Jiang is not fond of women. If that's the case, then why do you think Governor Jiang always specifically asks you to accompany him?"

A thoughtful expression appeared on Qingqing's delicate face: "Perhaps it's because I'm the most beautiful courtesan? Only I am worthy of Governor Jiang's status?"

Liu Shuyi frowned. He didn't think that the local tyrant of Xingzhou needed a courtesan to highlight his status.

The title of "court lady" sounds nice, but in reality, she was still a woman of the night. What local tyrant would hire a woman of the night to show off his status?

Moreover, Jiang Rui didn't even touch Qingqing, clearly indicating that his intentions were not related to matters of love and sex. Why would someone who doesn't care about matters of love and sex care whether the woman accompanying him is a courtesan?

Therefore... there must be other reasons why he chose Qingqing, reasons that they have not yet discovered.

"Could you tell me in detail everything that Governor Jiang did each time he arrived at Chunxiang Pavilion and left?" Liu Shuyi asked.

"Everything I've done..."

Qingqing's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly: "That's a lot..."

"It's alright." Liu Shuyi was very patient: "Take your time, we're not in a hurry."

Seeing this, Qingqing nodded and said, "Every time, Governor Jiang does something that is pretty much the same..." "He always comes to Chunxiang Pavilion around 7 PM. Every time he arrives at Chunxiang Pavilion, he asks me to accompany him. Because Governor Jiang is of noble status, even if I am still with other guests at that time, I can only apologize to the guests and go to find Governor Jiang immediately."

“Governor Jiang never lingers in the main hall; he always finds a private room, and the first thing he does upon arriving there is to have dinner…”

"correct."

At this point, Qingqing remembered something: "Every time Governor Jiang comes to Chunxiang Pavilion, he will arrange for his servants to arrive in advance so that we can prepare dinner. This way, Governor Jiang can eat directly after he arrives without having to wait."

Upon hearing this, Liu Shuyi suddenly interjected, "Prefect Jiang always arranges for his servants to notify you in advance to prepare dinner, but he doesn't have his servants notify you to wait for his arrival. Instead, he calls you over after he arrives each time, is that right?"

“That’s right.” Qingqing nodded.

Liu Shuyi narrowed his eyes: "That's a bit strange."

He said to Zhao Feng and Du Ying, "Since Jiang Rui always specifically asks Qingqing to accompany him, why doesn't he just have a servant inform Qingqing to prepare?"

"Given his status, if he were to speak up, I believe Chunxiang Pavilion would absolutely not dare to have any complaints."

Zhao Feng thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "It is indeed strange. If Jiang Rui hadn't arranged for someone to come to Chunxiang Pavilion in advance, it would have been fine. But since he did arrange for someone, he only had them inform Chunxiang Pavilion to prepare the meal, without sending any message to the most important person, Miss Qingqing. And when Jiang Rui arrives at Chunxiang Pavilion, he immediately calls Miss Qingqing over, even if she is still entertaining other guests, he doesn't want to wait any longer..."

Du Ying nodded in agreement: "If Jiang Rui didn't care about Qingqing, he would have snatched her away from others immediately. If he did care, he wouldn't let Qingqing wait for him... It feels like Jiang Rui just likes to snatch Qingqing away from others."

"Does he enjoy the feeling of stealing people?"

Many people in this world do have unusual hobbies, but Liu Shuyi didn't think that Jiang Rui stealing people was Jiang Rui's hobby.

If Jiang Rui really enjoys stealing girls from other men, then Qingqing isn't the only girl he could steal from in the brothel. Given Jiang Rui's status, he could easily have multiple girls accompany him... In that case, his fetish would be even more satisfied.

Moreover, he had never done this before, only in the last twenty days... If it's a fetish, how could he have never shown it in the past few decades?

Therefore, the possibility of it being a quirk is unlikely.

Since it's not a fetish, his strange behavior can only be explained in other ways...

Liu Shuyi's eyes flickered slightly. He looked at Qingqing again and said, "Miss Qingqing, whenever Governor Jiang summons you, do you come directly from another guest's place to see him, or do you go back to your room to freshen up and dress before going to see Governor Jiang?"

“Normally, I should go back to my room to wash and dress up, since when I’m serving other guests, I’m bound to be touched and groped…” Qingqing said, “But Governor Jiang doesn’t like to wait, and he always makes me go directly to see him, so I can only tidy up my clothes at most, and I can’t wash and dress up.”

"You don't even have time to wash and dress up..." Liu Shuyi seemed to be deep in thought. He was wondering if he could tolerate a girl still smelling of the previous customer if he came to a brothel and wanted a girl to accompany him.

the answer is negative.

He believed that any normal man would make the same choice as him.

As the governor of Xingzhou, how could Jiang Rui tolerate Qingqing still carrying the scent and even body temperature of another man?
"Something's not right... Jiang Rui's attitude towards Qingqing is very abnormal."

Liu Shuyi pondered to himself, "He doesn't even give Qingqing time to wash and dress, nor does he inform her in advance, making her wait for him..."

Why is his behavior so contradictory?

“Snatching people… but it’s not a fetish, yet we did indeed snatch Qingqing from other customers…”

Liu Shuyi's eyes flickered. Suddenly, he thought of something and said, "Miss Qingqing, I wonder if the guest you were serving when Governor Jiang summoned you was the same person?"

"same person?"

Qingqing didn't understand why Liu Shuyi would ask that, so she shook her head and said, "No."

“Not the same person…” Liu Shuyi continued, “Are you familiar with these three guests? Are they regulars who come to your Chunxiang Pavilion often?”

“I’m not familiar with them.” Qingqing had a good memory for her patrons. She said, “I’ve never seen them before. According to them, they are merchants passing through Xingzhou City, so this is their first time visiting Chunxiang Pavilion.”

"Trading merchants? And all of them are visiting Chunxiang Pavilion for the first time..."

Liu Shuyi seemed to have grasped something and continued, "When Governor Jiang summoned you away, did these three guests express any dissatisfaction?"

Qingqing shook her head: "As soon as they heard that Governor Jiang wanted to see me, they readily let me go."

"Not even the slightest complaint?"

"At least I didn't find anything... I think they probably wouldn't dare to express any dissatisfaction, since if they offended Governor Jiang in Xingzhou City, they wouldn't have a good ending."

Liu Shuyi looked thoughtful and then asked, "After you went to see Governor Jiang, did they replace the girls with other maids, or did they simply leave?"

Qingqing recalled for a moment and said, "Although I had reasons to leave, I did not make the guests feel comfortable. So I asked Chunxiang Pavilion to arrange other girls to accompany them. But later I heard that they did not stay with the other girls for long and left Chunxiang Pavilion soon without spending the night there."

Liu Shuyi's eyes flashed: "In other words, you spent some time with these guests, then Governor Jiang arrived, and after Governor Jiang called you away, these guests left Chunxiang Pavilion..."

"Yes."

"Did these guests say anything special to you?"

"No."

Do you know their names?

"They didn't tell me, and I didn't feel comfortable asking."

"Do you remember what they looked like?" Liu Shuyi asked again.

Qingqing thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "I do remember that when Governor Jiang first came to Chunxiang Pavilion, the guest I accompanied was very young, only sixteen or seventeen years old, and very handsome. The second time I accompanied the guest, he was over thirty years old, a bit thin, but very tall."

"As for the third guest, he was also in his thirties, a bit overweight, but with a robust build."

Young, fat, thin... each with different features, Liu Shuyi looked at Qingqing: "I heard from Han Si that you are proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting?"

Qingqing was a little embarrassed: "How dare I say I am an expert in front of Doctor Liu? I only know a little bit about him."

"Can you draw what these three guests look like?" Liu Shuyi asked.

"Draw it?" Qingqing was taken aback: "This... I've never drawn a portrait before."

"Then try it."

Liu Shuyi said, "I won't let you paint for nothing. If you can finish the painting, I'll introduce you to a distinguished guest. This guest is well-known in brothels all over Chang'an, extremely learned, and of noble status. If you can spend a night with him, I guarantee your fame will soar to new heights—"

hiss……

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Shuyi instinctively gasped.

Without even looking, he knew it was Du Ying pinching him.

There was no other way. Given Qingqing's status as the top courtesan, she certainly wasn't short of money. So, if she wanted to win the other party's heart and get them to do everything they could to help her, she had no choice but to push her brother-in-law forward.

With his status as the brother-in-law, his knowledge, and his experience as a seasoned connoisseur of brothels, he would surely be able to impress Qingqing.

Moreover, since Du Gou enjoyed visiting brothels so much, he must have wanted to experience the brothel atmosphere of Xingzhou City...

This can be considered a two-way street, where each party gets what they want.

He knew this in his heart, but he couldn't explain it to Du Ying, so he could only bear the cold and beautiful woman's attacks alone.

"Is the distinguished guest that Doctor Liu mentioned really there?" Qingqing's eyes lit up, but she was still hesitant, unsure whether Liu Shuyi was lying to her.

Liu Shuyi secretly reached out and grabbed the soft hand that was pinching the flesh of his waist, and said indifferently, "With so many people watching, do you think I would lie about such a trivial matter?"

Qingqing got the answer she wanted, and her face lit up with a smile: "Of course I believe Doctor Liu. I'll go draw it right away. Doctor Liu, please wait a moment..."

After saying that, she grabbed her skirt with both hands and ran quickly upstairs.

After Qingqing left, Liu Shuyi turned to look at Du Ying behind him. Du Ying sneered, "Recommend a distinguished guest? I wonder who this distinguished guest is that Physician Liu is referring to?"

Liu Shuyi did not answer this potentially fatal question, but instead said, "It doesn't matter who the distinguished guest is, what matters is... I have already cracked the secret behind Jiang Rui's contradictory behavior."

…………

P.S.: Here's a 5,000-word post. Requesting monthly votes at the beginning of the month.

(End of this chapter)