The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 20: A shocking unraveling of the mystery – we've found your hiding place!

Chapter 20: A shocking unraveling of the mystery – we've found your hiding place!
Let's rewind to the moment when Du Gou saw Du Ying approaching Liu Shuyi.

After hearing Liu Shuyi describe how the time of death could be deduced from the degree of digestion of food in the stomach, Du Ying couldn't wait to turn around and try it.

At this moment, Liu Shuyi called out to Du Ying.

"Miss Du, wait a moment. Take a look at this. Do you know what this powder is?"

Liu Shuyi raised his fingertip, gesturing for Du Ying to look at the multicolored powder he had just discovered on the floor of the Sanqing Hall.

Because there wasn't much powder on Liu Shuyi's fingertips, Du Ying couldn't see it very clearly, so she leaned down slightly and got a little closer.

"It looks a bit like powdered medicinal herbs..."

After thinking for a moment, Du Ying took another step forward, bringing her crystal-clear nose close to Liu Shuyi's fingertips, and gently sniffed the powder.

The goal is to identify what these powders are.

But there was too little powder, and with the cold air and relentless north wind, the scent had long been dissipated, and it was impossible to smell anything at all.

Du Ying frowned slightly, then simply stuck out her tongue and licked the powder into her mouth.

This lick was completely unexpected by Liu Shuyi.

In fact, when Du Ying bent down and sniffed with the tip of her nose, Liu Shuyi's view was already blocked by Du Ying's soft hair.

A faint lotus fragrance wafted into the forensic doctor's nostrils as he approached.

Those strands of hair brushed against my arm, sending a tingling, numb sensation through me...

Just then, the tip of her tongue touched her fingertip.

Liu Shuyi tensed up almost instantly.

Considering his two lifetimes, in his previous life he was a workaholic who felt that women would waste his time investigating cases. In this life, his previous self was oppressed and humiliated, and no decent woman would choose to marry him.

So, he had never been treated this way by a woman, especially one as beautiful and with such a unique temperament.

"Miss Du, what's wrong with you!?"

Liu Shuyi almost instinctively took a step back.

Seeing Liu Shuyi's shocked expression, like a respectable man who had been harassed, Du Ying belatedly realized what she had done.

A blush crept onto her cool and beautiful face.

"Just find out exactly what the powder on your fingertips is, don't overthink it."

Although her cheeks were already flushed, she still held her head high, with an air of nonchalance that this was normal and should be the case.

Seemingly afraid that Liu Shuyi wouldn't believe her, she explained further: "In ancient times, Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs, and my master is also revered as the King of Medicine. I often follow my master to taste various herbs myself, which is a very normal thing. Don't worry about it."

The more you say that, the more I wonder what to do… Liu Shuyi naturally wouldn’t let Du Ying lose face, so he said, “I didn’t think much about it. I’m just worried that if it’s poison, what if you hurt yourself by tasting it?”

He's concerned about me... Du Ying's cold gaze softened a bit: "Don't worry, I know very well whether it's poison or not. Besides, I've been tasting herbs with my master every day for the past ten years, and I've accumulated a lot of medicinal properties in my body. Many drugs pose no threat to me."

Seeing that Du Ying's face was indeed rosy and did not appear to be poisoned, Liu Shuyi breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Miss Du, can you tell what these powders are?"

Du Ying nodded: "Apart from the gold ones, which are gold powder, the rest are powders made from ground herbs."

"The ones I can distinguish are opium, ambergris, sappanwood, nutmeg, and cinnabar."

Hearing Du Ying's words, Liu Shuyi couldn't help but look down at the little powder left on his fingertips and said, "There are so many medicinal herbs... It can't be a coincidence that they are mixed together."

He asked, "Miss Du, do you know what the purpose is of mixing these medicinal herbs together?"

Upon hearing this, Du Ying shifted her gaze from Liu Shuyi's face to the last rays of the setting sun in the west, and said, "These drugs have multiple effects, including aphrodisiac, soul-soothing, and hallucinogenic effects."

"generally……"

She pursed her lips slightly and said, "It is generally used to make sachets, which are hung on the bed and used in the bedroom."

Hang it on the bed and use it between the beds...

Liu Shuyi raised an eyebrow.

Isn't this just some kind of aphrodisiac?

Why are you here?

Who brought it?

After thinking for a moment, he turned around and re-entered the Sanqing Hall.

He looked down and carefully searched the spot where he had just found the powder.

It was then observed that there wasn't much medicine powder left on the ground, and there wasn't much dust nearby either; it was cleaner than other places.

"This...has been cleaned?"

Squinting, Liu Shuyi approached Zhao's corpse again.

Du Ying had already put Zhao's clothes back on.

While carefully examining Zhao's corpse, Liu Shuyi asked Du Ying, who had followed him, "Miss Du, when you examined the body just now, did you find any sachet containing these medicinal powders on her body?"

"No."

Du Ying shook her head: "Besides her clothes, she only had two jade bracelets on her wrists. That was all she wore."

Nothing else...

Liu Shuyi hesitated for a moment, then suddenly raised Zhao's hand.

At this point, he noticed that Zhao's fingernails were noticeably broken.

The tips of the index and middle fingernails, where they were covered in dust, seemed to have something unusual about them.

He said, "Miss Du, look at her fingertips. Besides dust, isn't there something else on them?"

Upon hearing this, Du Ying immediately squatted down next to Liu Shuyi.

Strands of hair, carrying the fragrance of lotus blossoms, brushed against Liu Shuyi's arm once more.

"It really is……"

"However, the amount was too small, hidden in the dust. If you hadn't pointed it out, I wouldn't have noticed it at all..."

Du Ying looked at Liu Shuyi and said, "It's still the same powder, but there's a lot of it, it's like..."

Liu Shuyi said directly, "It looks like it was deliberately wiped clean and then covered up with dust?"

"Yes, that's what it means."

Du Ying looked at Liu Shuyi with her clear, cold eyes, a hint of light in them, as if she hadn't expected that Liu Shuyi and she would have such a tacit understanding.

"As expected..."

Liu Shuyi stroked his chin, a smile appearing on his face.

He let out a long sigh of relief; the case was finally showing signs of progress.

Liu Shuyi stood up again and saw that Du Ying had already taken out a sharp dagger from the wooden box beside her.

Seeing the forensic doctor eager to dissect the corpse on the spot in front of him, Liu Shuyi quickly said, "It would be better to take the corpse back to the Ministry of Justice for dissection. The dust here might interfere with the results."

Du Ying frowned. She liked to do things cleanly and efficiently and disliked being slow and indecisive, but what Liu Shuyi said was not without reason.

After thinking for a moment, he turned around and said to his elder brother, who had appeared at the door at some point and had a strange expression, "Brother, have someone take the body back to the Ministry of Justice, and be quick!"

Du Gou listened to his sister's words, his expression hesitant and unspeakable.

He really wanted to say something about his sister's earlier flirting with Liu Shuyi, but both of them looked normal, as if it was just a normal interpersonal interaction.

This made him swallow the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

"it is good."

He was not one to drag things out; after calming himself down, he immediately ordered his men to take action.

As the group walked out of the Sanqing Hall, Du Gou asked Liu Shuyi, "Master Liu, how did it go?"

A thoughtful look flashed across Liu Shuyi's face. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "We've made a lot of progress, but to determine who the murderer is, we still need to clarify some things."

As he spoke, he told Du Gou about the medicinal powder he had just discovered.

He asked, "Since you are so knowledgeable, does Mr. Du know what kind of people would use such aphrodisiac sachets?"

“This…” Du Gou looked at his younger sister with some hesitation.

Du Ying glanced at her brother and said in a cold tone, "If you know, just say so. What are you afraid of me finding out?"

After being rebuked by his younger sister, Du Gou could only sigh and say, "The most common ones are courtesans."

"In order to better serve the guests and to give them a better experience, they will place these sachets in the room and give them to the guests to carry with them, in order to arouse the guests' desires."

"Because these sachets are not very harmful to the body and are not eaten directly, many customers do not object to them."

"Yo!"

Upon hearing Du Gou's words, Du Ying raised a cold eyebrow and said, "I didn't expect my brother to know so much about the affairs of courtesans. It seems you've experienced quite a bit while I was away."

Is this something a lady from a respectable family should say?
Du Gou's eyelids twitched; he knew this would be the result if he said these things to Du Ying's face.

"Brothel..."

Liu Shuyi ignored the witty banter between the siblings beside him; his mind was racing, processing Du Gou's words.

Suddenly, he looked at Cheng Chumo and shouted, "General Cheng, map!"

Cheng Chumo was arranging for people to move the corpses when he heard Liu Shuyi's words and ran over immediately.

Without saying a word, he unfolded the crumpled map again and spread it on the snow.

Looking at the location of the Taoist temple on the map, Liu Shuyi asked, "Which of these nearby neighborhoods have brothels?"

Du Ying looked directly at Du Gou and said, "Experienced brother, speak."

Du Gou's eye twitched, but he still said, "...The most numerous are naturally in Pingkang Ward. Sixty percent of the brothels in Chang'an City are gathered here."

“Then there are two brothels in Changxingfang to the south, and further away, you’d have to go to the West Market, where there are more foreign women and a unique atmosphere…” “No need to consider places as far away as the West Market.” Liu Shuyi shook his head directly.

Looking at the map, he said, "The murderer, like Zhao Chengyi's wife and children, also faced the same predicament as last night. The curfew, the closure of every ward gate, and the fact that General Cheng arranged so many people to search along the streets last night—the farther away he was, the greater the risk of being exposed. Therefore, the place where he hid last night could not be too far from here."

Hearing Liu Shuyi's words, Du Gou suddenly raised his head and said, "You mean... this powder fell from the murderer's body?"

Upon hearing this, Du Ying and Cheng Chumo both quickly looked at Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi then curled the corners of his mouth and slowly said, "There are traces of medicinal powder under Zhao's fingernails, which means that Zhao must have personally touched these medicinal powders."

"But there were obvious signs that the powder under her fingernails had been cleaned out and then covered with dust... If the powder belonged to Zhao herself, she would have no reason to do such a thing in a life-or-death situation."

“They were the only ones who came here with the murderer last night. If it wasn’t her, then it could only have been the murderer.”

"besides……"

He turned around and looked at the floor of the Sanqing Temple, saying, "The place where I just found the powder has significantly less dust than other places, which means that someone cleaned it. Given the situation of the Zhao mother and son last night, they would never have had the leisure to clean, let alone clean that place alone."

"All of this is enough to prove that the person trying to clean up and cover up the powder is the murderer! And why would the murderer waste time doing this..."

He narrowed his eyes, a cold smile appearing in his dark pupils: "There's only one reason, and that is... these powders made him feel threatened!"

"In other words, he sees these powders as posing a danger to his safety, meaning they... can help us find him!"

Upon hearing Liu Shuyi's words, Cheng Chumo was first delighted, and then he clapped his hands, which were as big as palm fans.

He was beaming with excitement: "We found it! We've really found a direct lead pointing to the murderer!"

"Manager Liu, you are truly amazing!" He looked at Liu Shuyi. "I knew it, trusting you was the right thing to do."

Seeing Cheng Chumo's excited expression, Liu Shuyi smiled gently and continued, "I think the situation last night was like this... During the struggle with the murderer, Zhao tore open the sachet on the murderer's body, causing the medicinal powder to spill out."

"Because these powders are very special, ordinary people would not carry them. The murderer was worried that if we found these powders, it would help us find him, so he cleaned and covered them up. However, the visibility was poor at night, and he did not have any handy cleaning tools, so no matter how carefully he cleaned, he still could not clean up all the powders, and ultimately left these few powders behind."

Upon hearing this, Du Gou and the other two nodded in agreement.

Although Liu Shuyi's theory was based on deduction, it corresponded perfectly with everything at the scene, which was enough to prove that it was true.

“If we don’t consider the more distant wards in the West Market, then we’re left with Pingkang Ward and Changxing Ward,” Du Gou said.

He looked at Liu Shuyi and asked, "Where should we investigate first?"

"Not urgent!"

Liu Shuyi shook his head: "Let's think about another matter first, and then we can make a decision."

"Another thing?" Everyone looked puzzled.

Liu Shuyi looked at everyone and said in a deep voice, "How did the murderer know that Zhao Chengyi was in trouble?"

How did we know that Zhao Chengyi was in trouble?

Du Gou's eyes flickered, as if he were deep in thought.

Liu Shuyi said, "My revelation of Zhao Chengyi last night was completely unexpected. Even Zhao Chengyi didn't know he would be taken away, so the murderer certainly couldn't have known in advance."

As he spoke, he looked at Cheng Chumo: "General Cheng told me that apart from Zhao Chengyi's wife and children, no one else in the Zhao residence was missing, and no one disappeared midway. Because the master was taken away, the servants in the residence dared not continue to rest, so these things can be verified."

Cheng Chumo nodded repeatedly: "That's right, I interrogated every servant, and indeed no servant left alone after Zhao Chengyi was taken away."

"Since no one else left, it means that Zhao Chengyi couldn't have sent his subordinates to deliver a message to the murderer."

Liu Shuyi looked at everyone and asked, "How did the murderer know that something had happened to him?"

“That’s right!” Cheng Chumo scratched his head and asked in confusion, “Zhao Chengyi didn’t arrange for anyone to deliver the message, and he didn’t leave alone in the middle of the journey. How did the murderer know that Zhao Chengyi was in trouble? And how did he find Zhao Chengyi’s wife and children?”

There are only four possibilities.

Liu Shuyi didn't keep them in suspense and said directly, "First, the murderer had been hiding near the Zhao family's house and witnessed Zhao Chengyi being taken away."

"But there are two problems. One is that Zhao Chengyi is not even sure if he will be exposed, so what reason would the murderer have to hide near the Zhao family to confirm whether Zhao Chengyi is safe?"

"And the other one is the powder we found."

Liu Shuyi looked down at the powder remaining on his fingertips: "This powder came from a brothel. The fact that the murderer cleaned it up so carefully is enough to prove that he must have been to a brothel before he committed the murder last night, and that he obtained such a sachet last night... Only in this way would he worry that we would find the powder and then follow it to find him."

“But there are no brothels in Xuanyang Ward, where the Zhao residence is located. Besides, if he had been keeping watch around the Zhao family, he would not have had the opportunity to go to a brothel.”

"Therefore, this possibility need not be considered."

Cheng Chumo listened to Liu Shuyi's words and nodded repeatedly.

"So that's it!"

"I never expected this powder to be so effective."

Liu Shuyi smiled and continued, "The first possibility is ruled out, so let's move on to the second one."

Cheng Chumo continued to look at Liu Shuyi.

Then Liu Shuyi said, "Zhao Chengyi's wife and children came to our door in person to tell us what happened to the murderer."

Before Liu Shuyi could finish speaking, Du Gou shook his head and said, "It can't be that!"

Cheng Chumo asked doubtfully, "Why is it impossible?"

Du Gou said in a deep voice: "As Manager Liu speculated, the murderer hid in the brothel before committing the murder. Brothels are crowded and noisy, and many people seek pleasure at night. There are many who don't sleep. If Zhao Chengyi's wife and children really come to the door, given their special status as a girl and a child, they will not be able to go unnoticed in the brothel. They will be exposed directly!"

"You sent people to investigate since last night, but they haven't found anything, which means that's not the case."

Cheng Chumo suddenly realized: "So that's how it is."

Liu Shuyi laughed and said, "Du Sicheng is right. If we take brothels as a given, this possibility cannot stand up, so it can be ruled out."

"Then, the third possibility is next."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Liu Shuyi again.

Then Liu Shuyi lowered his voice a few decibels, his gaze sweeping over the busy Imperial Guards, and said in a deep voice, "There is an inside agent of the murderer in the investigation team who passed on a message to the murderer, letting him know that Zhao Chengyi has been taken away."

Upon hearing this, Du Gou and Cheng Chumo's expressions changed.

Cheng Chumo couldn't help but ask, "Really?"

Liu Shuyi's gaze was deep and he shook his head: "I'm not sure. I have no evidence or clues to prove this guess, so I'll leave it at that for now."

He looked at everyone and said, “Next, I will talk about the fourth guess. If the fourth guess is confirmed, then the third guess can be disregarded. If the fourth guess is also ruled out along with the first two guesses, then it must be the third guess.”

Although Liu Shuyi's explanation was somewhat convoluted, Cheng Chumo understood it all, not to mention Du Gou and Du Ying.

Du Gou asked directly, "What is the fourth guess?"

Cheng Chumo held his breath, knowing that the most crucial part had arrived.

This will directly determine the source of the murderer's intelligence.

The aloof and beautiful Du Ying also stared intently at Liu Shuyi with her clear and pretty eyes.

Then Liu Shuyi slowly said, "If it wasn't a message, it wasn't tailing the Zhao family, it wasn't the Zhao mother and son coming to our door, and it wasn't an inside agent betraying our information, then there's only one possibility for the murderer to know that Zhao Chengyi was in trouble..."

He met everyone's gaze, took a deep breath, and said, "He saw Zhao Chengyi with his own eyes elsewhere."

"Elsewhere?" Cheng Chumo was taken aback.

Du Gou's eyes flickered, then his expression suddenly hardened as he looked at Liu Shuyi: "You mean... on the way!?"

He couldn't help but say, "Could it be that the murderer was hiding on Zhao Chengyi's usual route, and saw Zhao Chengyi pass by with his own eyes, and only then did he realize that Zhao Chengyi had been taken away?"

"On the way!? Is this... really?" Cheng Chumo asked hurriedly.

Liu Shuyi did not answer directly, but slowly said, "If I remember correctly, there are three roads from Xuanyang Ward to the Ministry of Revenue, one of which should pass through Pingkang Ward..."

Upon hearing Liu Shuyi's words, Du Gou's gaze sharpened, as if he had been struck on the head with a hammer.

He quickly looked at Cheng Chumo and asked, "General Cheng, which road did Zhao Chengyi take when he went to the Ministry of Revenue last night?"

"This... don't worry, I'll go ask right away!"

Last night, the Imperial Guards summoned the Ministry of Revenue officials one by one, so the Imperial Guards who went to summon Zhao Chengyi knew his route best.

Cheng Chumo's loud voice echoed for miles around, instantly summoning the Imperial Guard.

"General, what can I do for you?" This was a burly, honest-looking man.

Cheng Chumo asked directly, "I'm asking you, which road did you take when you went to call Zhao Chengyi last night?"

The man scratched his head, not understanding why Cheng Chumo would ask such a question, but still honestly answered, "Originally, I wanted to take the road through Wubenfang, which would be faster, but Zhao Chengyi said Wubenfang was too dark and that I should take Pingkangfang instead, saying that Pingkangfang was bright enough because the lights were always on at night. At the time, he was still the Vice Minister of Revenue, so I naturally dared not disobey and took Pingkangfang—"

The man had just finished speaking.

I sensed that something was off.

Because no one paid any attention to him, whether it was the burly General, the gentle Du Gou, or the aloof Miss Du.

At this moment, all eyes turned to Liu Shuyi.

Their eyes held an undisguised admiration and excitement.

Du Gou couldn't help but say, "Master Liu—"

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly.

"I heard."

He smiled slightly: "It seems that everything is now clear."

"The fourth guess has been confirmed."

"Then let's go..."

He turned around abruptly and strode towards the door: "To Pingkangfang!"