The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 202 The truth is revealed, a shocking truth: the murderer is actually her!
"The list is already ready!?"

Upon hearing Liu Shuyi's words, everyone's gaze immediately fell upon the paper in Liu Shuyi's hand.

However, due to the distance, Tian Kang and the others could not clearly see the writing on the paper.

Zhang Bu, on the other hand, had already stepped forward subconsciously, his eyes almost pressed against the paper. He desperately wanted to know how many suspects were left after the three screenings proposed by Liu Shuyi, and who they were.

Seeing everyone's eagerness, Liu Shuyi didn't keep them in suspense and said, "Because we have limited time in Xingzhou City and are unfamiliar with the area, we cannot investigate everyone individually. Therefore, the list of people who have been in contact with Governor Jiang comes from the confession of Military Advisor Zhang in the case file..."

He looked at Zhang, who was craning his neck and staring intently at the paper, and said, "Military Advisor Zhang, I see that in addition to the statements of the people around the crime scene, you also questioned many people in Chunxiang Pavilion and the Prefectural Government Office. I wonder if these people have had contact with Prefect Jiang recently?"

Zhang was stunned for a moment, not expecting that he was involved in this.

He said with embarrassment, "They are indeed people who have had contact with Governor Jiang, but when I questioned them, I didn't suspect them much... I have made no progress for many days and the case is difficult to advance. I really don't know what to do, so I thought I would just ask everyone who has had contact with Governor Jiang recently, and maybe I can find some new clues."

"But after asking around, I didn't get any useful information from them. In the end, I was used and almost wronged an innocent person."

Liu Shuyi laughed and said, "Zhang Canjun's seemingly useless efforts have actually brought us close to the truth. It's just that the murderer is too well hidden and difficult to detect."

"Moreover, without Zhang Canjun's inquiry, I would not have been able to finalize the list in just a few hours... In the end, Zhang Canjun deserves a lot of credit for finding the murderer this time."

Zhang Bu suddenly raised his head, looking at Liu Shuyi in disbelief: "This humble official... also deserves credit!?"

Liu Shuyi smiled gently: "This list was selected based on the results of your inquiry, and Zhang Canjun naturally deserves credit."

Looking at Liu Shuyi's sincere smile, Zhang felt as if his heart was enveloped in warmth.

He had worked hard in the governor's office for many years, having to uphold his bottom line while avoiding offending the governor and the vice-governor. He was tormented by the conflict between ideals and reality every day, and in the end, he was even forced to stand on the opposite side of the court. Even so, he did not receive much praise from Jiang Rui and Chu Xiong, and his merits were even more obvious; everything that could be taken away was taken away.

As a result, even as a member of the judicial system and a soldier, he had trouble making ends meet.

Now, a high-ranking official whom he had targeted and almost wronged not only didn't blame him, but also wanted to share the credit with him...

This left Zhang with very mixed feelings.

Regret, remorse, gratitude, struggle...

A mix of emotions swirled within him.

For a moment, he didn't know how to face Liu Shuyi, nor how to face Chu Xiong.

"Military Advisor Zhang!"

Chu Xiong noticed Zhang's unusual behavior and immediately shouted coldly, "Don't forget the rules of the Prefectural Government: how can you be distracted during a case?"

Although it was meant to remind Zhang Bu not to be distracted, Zhang Bu knew perfectly well that Chu Xiong's real meaning was to remind him not to forget his identity and not to be bribed by Liu Shuyi.

"Bribery?"

Zhang Bu raised his hand and placed it on his chest, feeling the strong beating of his heart. For the first time, he regretted not being able to withstand Jiang Rui and Chu Xiong's coercion.

He took a deep breath, ignored Chu Xiong, and asked Liu Shuyi, "Dr. Liu, after several rounds of selection, how many people are left?"

Seeing that Zhang Bu did not respond to him or even look at him, Chu Xiong's expression darkened.

Liu Shuyi's lips curled slightly when he saw this.

His assessment of Zhang was indeed correct.

All those words were spoken in vain.

He looked at Zhang Bu, said no more, and simply said, "Three people."

"Three?"

Zhang Bu's pupils dilated. As he expected, after three rounds of screening, there were indeed not many people left.

"Which three are they?" he asked quickly.

Liu Shuyi handed the paper to Zhang Bu: "Military Advisor Zhang may review it himself."

Without hesitation, Zhang took the paper and quickly looked up.

On the large sheet of paper, there were only three names.

Yuan Feng, An Qiang, Qingqing.

"It was the three of them?"

Zhang Bu had questioned all these people, so he naturally knew their backgrounds.

Yuan Feng was a yamen runner in the governor's office. Half a year ago, he failed to complete Jiang Rui's task and was severely punished by Jiang Rui as an example. He was given twenty lashes and fined three months' salary. Because Jiang Rui usually exploited ordinary officials, Yuan Feng had basically not accumulated any money.

The penalty of three months' salary directly put Yuan Feng's family in dire financial straits. Coincidentally, Yuan Feng's mother fell seriously ill and needed to buy medicine, but with his salary deducted, Yuan Feng had no money to buy the medicine.

Because he was punished by the governor and made an example of, no one dared to associate with him, which made it impossible for him to borrow money. In the end, his mother fell ill and died.

However, Yuan Feng never expressed any hatred towards Jiang Rui because of this. He only blamed himself for his poor performance and failure to complete the task, which ultimately implicated his mother...

An Qiang was a famous wealthy merchant in Xingzhou City, with businesses all over Hebei Province. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was extremely wealthy.

Jiang Rui is greedy. With such a wealthy merchant in Xingzhou City, how could he not be greedy?

So Jiang Rui found a pretext to lock An Qiang up and made him pay half of his family fortune to save his life.

Although An Qiang was greedy, he also knew the principle that the common people cannot fight against the officials, and he understood that he was now at the mercy of the officials and had no choice. Therefore, An Qiang wanted to agree.

However, when An Qiang's son heard about this, perhaps he had gone mad from studying too much, he actually cried out for justice in public and revealed the truth about Jiang Rui coercing An Qiang in court and in front of everyone. This made Jiang Rui furious, and he immediately ordered people to beat An Qiang's son.

An Qiang's son was a frail scholar, and in Jiang Rui's fury, the bailiffs dared not hold back, and An Qiang's son was beaten to death.

When An Qiang learned of this, he was heartbroken and his hair turned white overnight... But he did not shout about revenge. Instead, he sent a message to Jiang Rui, saying that he was willing to offer 70% of his family fortune in order to be released from prison so that he could attend his son's funeral.

More than ten days before Jiang Rui was murdered, he seemed to be in dire need of money. He not only had the yamen runners collect taxes, but also approached An Qiang, hoping that An Qiang would give him some more money...

As for Qingqing, the last courtesan, Zhang Bu wasn't too clear about the grudges between Qingqing and Jiang Rui.

He looked at Liu Shuyi and said, "It's much easier now that we've narrowed it down to the three of them. All we need to do is interrogate each of them in detail, and we'll have a chance to find out who the murderer is."

To everyone's surprise, Liu Shuyi shook his head and said, "There's no need to interrogate everyone."

"Does Doctor Liu mean...?" Zhang Bu asked incredulously, "You can still narrow down the suspects?"

"It can even shrink the area!?" Everyone was taken aback.

Chu Xiong looked at Liu Shuyi with a mixture of shock and solemnity.

In his view, being able to narrow down the suspects from a vast sea of ​​people to just three was already terrifying, but Liu Shuyi was able to continue narrowing it down.

Doesn't this prove that he thought he had overestimated Liu Shuyi, but in the end he still underestimated him?

And with Liu Shuyi like this, it's hard to guarantee that he won't do something beyond his imagination again.

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly and said, "We just analyzed the poisoning and the act of the murderer. There are a few other things that we haven't analyzed."

"What is it?" Zhang asked hurriedly.

"The first thing..."

Liu Shuyi asked, "How did the murderer poison the body?"

"How was the poison administered?" Zhang Bu frowned in thought.

Liu Shuyi looked at everyone and said, "I only mentioned that the Three Poisons is an oral poison. In addition, the Three Poisons has another characteristic that I did not mention."

"What are the characteristics?" Director Zhang asked.

"It's not a tasteless poison; on the contrary, it's somewhat bitter."

"It tastes bitter!?" Zhang Bu seemed to understand something, and his eyes widened suddenly.

He quickly glanced at the list in his hand and, almost without hesitation, said, "Yuan Feng can be ruled out!"

"Exclude? How can it suddenly be excluded?" Tian Kang didn't understand what Zhang Bu meant.

It's just that the poison tastes bitter, how can that immediately rule out a suspect?

Zhang Bu frowned and said, "Since the poison of the Three Poisons has a bitter taste, it means that it cannot be mixed into ordinary food for Governor Jiang to take."

"Although Yuan Feng had been working in the governor's office and had the opportunity to poison him, the meals that Governor Jiang ate in the governor's office were all ordinary and common foods. If they had even a hint of bitterness, he would definitely be able to taste it."

“But Governor Jiang never said the food tasted wrong, which is enough to prove that Yuan Feng did not poison it.”

"And the other two..."

He looked at Tian Kang and the others: "Prefect Jiang went to An Qiang to demand money. An Qiang held a banquet in his mansion to entertain Prefect Jiang. Qingqing also dined with Prefect Jiang many times at Chunxiang Pavilion. Naturally, they also drank with Prefect Jiang."

"Everyone knows that alcohol tastes very strong. If a little bit of the bitter poison Sanzhen is added to the alcohol, the strong and pungent smell of the alcohol will make it difficult to taste."

"Furthermore, after Governor Jiang drinks, his senses are not as sharp as usual, which makes it easier to deceive his perception and make him unaware that he has taken poison."

"Even if Governor An finds the taste strange, they can just say that the wine is a specialty wine from another region that was purchased by a merchant caravan, and Governor Jiang probably won't think much of it."

Tian Kang and other officials from various prefectures and counties nodded, looking enlightened: "So that's how it is."

Zhang hesitated for a moment, then looked nervously at Liu Shuyi and said, "Doctor Liu, is my analysis correct?"

Liu Shuyi smiled and nodded: "Military Advisor Zhang's analysis is reasonable and I can't find any fault with it." With Liu Shuyi's affirmation, Zhang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he felt his analysis was correct, he couldn't put his mind at ease until Liu Shuyi confirmed it with him.

He said, "In that case, the suspects are only An Qiang and Qing Qing! Choosing one of them is much simpler than choosing one of three."

"pick one of two?"

To his surprise, Liu Shuyi shook his head upon hearing this, saying, "There's no need for that."

"Not necessary?"

Zhang Bu's eyes widened, his expression one of horror: "Could it be that Doctor Liu can narrow down the search area?"

No! If we narrow down the choices to two, it would be equivalent to directly revealing the true culprit's identity!
The truth is essentially revealed!

Tian Kang and the others were no less shocked than Zhang Bu, and they were all staring intently at Liu Shuyi.

Chu Xiong almost stood up; he couldn't sit still any longer.

Liu Shuyi's repeated surprises instilled in him an unconscious, unfathomable fear of Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi took in everyone's reactions, and without further ado, said, "There's no second thing we've analyzed..."

"How did the murderer ensure that the timing of the three poisons' effects coincided precisely with the time when Governor Jiang left alone late at night?"

Zhang Bu seemed to be deep in thought: "The time the poison took effect, the time I left..."

Liu Shuyi said, "I asked Han Si, who guards the gate of Chunxiang Pavilion, and Han Si said that Governor Jiang was in a good mood when he left, which shows that Governor Jiang's departure was his own initiative."

"If that's the case, how could the murderer be sure when Governor Jiang would leave Chunxiang Pavilion?"

"The three poisons take different amounts and the timing of their effects is completely different. In this case, if the murderer wanted Governor Jiang's poison to take effect precisely after he left, he would have to determine in advance when Governor Jiang would leave, or even know in advance where Governor Jiang would go, so as to carry out the ambush and sneak attack."

He looked at Zhang Bu: "Military Advisor Zhang, who do you think is more likely to do these things, An Qiang or Qingqing?"

"This……"

Zhang Bu's eyes flickered, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "Qingqing is more likely."

Liu Shuyi asked, "Why do you say that?"

Zhang Bu pondered and said, "First of all, it is extremely difficult to make the poison take effect at a precise time over a period of more than ten days. At least I have never heard of anyone having done such a thing."

"Secondly, Governor Jiang is well aware of the extent of his hatred for An Qiang. I don't think Governor Jiang would risk meeting with An Qiang alone late at night."

“Even if the two had any agreement, Governor Jiang would definitely bring his trusted guards with him, rather than going alone.”

After he finished speaking, he looked at Liu Shuyi with a mixture of nervousness and anticipation, wanting to know if there was anything wrong with his analysis.

Seeing this, Liu Shuyi smiled and said, "Commander Zhang's analysis is very logical and basically consistent with my thoughts."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Bu breathed a sigh of relief.

Liu Shuyi continued, "As Zhang Canjun said, not only with poisons, but with any medicine, the more you take, the easier it is to determine when the medicine will take effect. The less you take and the longer it takes, the less accurate it is to grasp its effect."

"After all, the person who poisoned him couldn't be sure what Governor Jiang would eat or do during that time... There's a saying about the interaction of medicines. If Governor Jiang ate something that interacts with or is incompatible with the poison during that time, it would directly cause the poison to take effect earlier or later. Furthermore, a person's physical condition also has a significant impact on the medicine. Sleeping a few more hours or a few less hours... many factors will affect the effect of the poison."

"More than ten days is too long, and the possibility of accidents is too high. Given the caution the murderer exercised when committing the crime, it is impossible for him to have designed such an uncontrollable plan."

Zhang nodded repeatedly. His analysis was entirely based on his own experience and feelings, while Liu Shuyi supplemented and analyzed it with more practical details, making the originally subjective analysis more objective and credible.

"And then there's the departure of Governor Jiang..."

Liu Shuyi continued, "Prefect Jiang is a very cautious person. He knows how many people in Xingzhou City are dissatisfied with him. Under such circumstances, he would never easily leave alone in the middle of the night."

"So his departure was probably planned long ago."

“If he were to travel alone late at night, his safety would be endangered if others found out. Therefore, Governor Jiang would certainly keep this matter strictly confidential and would not easily leak it out.”

"So, under these circumstances, when and to whom is Governor Jiang most likely to proactively tell him about his intention to leave?"

Zhang Bu seemed to have thought of something, his pupils suddenly dilated, and he said, "When he's about to take action, even if others know, it won't be of any use..."

"As for who I'll tell..."

He looked into Liu Shuyi's deep eyes and said, "He is most likely to tell Qingqing! Because Qingqing will be serving him that night, and he will not be able to spend the whole night with her. Governor Jiang will surely tell Qingqing in advance so that she can be mentally prepared and know that Governor Jiang will not stay with her all night."

"The timing matches up, and the reason is reasonable..."

"After learning that Governor Jiang was leaving, Qingqing's hatred burned uncontrollably. So, taking advantage of the opportunity to drink with Governor Jiang, she directly poisoned him..."

"Because of the short time, and because Qingqing knew the exact time Governor Jiang left, she was able to accurately determine when the poison would take effect..."

"Qingqing is a weak woman with limited strength, and she is definitely no match for Governor Jiang, so she could only resort to a sneak attack from behind..."

Zhang Bu became more and more excited as he spoke: "It matches up! Everything that Doctor Liu analyzed about the murderer matches up! There's absolutely no mistake, the murderer is Qingqing!"

Hearing Zhang Bu's excited voice, Tian Kang and the others also started discussing it amongst themselves.

"Is it really this courtesan named Qingqing?"

"It sounds like she's the prime suspect!"

"It's unbelievable! It's truly unimaginable that Governor Jiang would be murdered by a lowly courtesan!"

Tian Kang couldn't help but ask Liu Shuyi for confirmation: "Doctor Liu, is the murderer really Qingqing?"

As soon as he spoke, the noisy crowd fell silent and all turned to look at Liu Shuyi.

Zhang swallowed hard; he truly couldn't bear the blow of wrongly accusing someone a second time.

Chu Xiong clenched his fists tightly and stared intently at Liu Shuyi.

Du Gou and the others exchanged glances at the scene before them, their lips curving into barely perceptible smiles.

Unbeknownst to him, Liu Shuyi had completely taken control of the situation in the hall.

Tian Kang and his men seemed to have forgotten that not long ago, they were going to take action against Liu Shuyi, denounce Liu Shuyi and the imperial court, and want to kill Liu Shuyi as soon as possible.

It hadn't been long, and without Liu Shuyi's approval, they dared not believe anything.

Liu Shuyi took in the expressions of everyone and knew that his goal was about to be achieved.

He chuckled softly and said, "Although I don't know why Governor Jiang left so late at night, everything else is just as Military Advisor Zhang said—a logical loop, with all the clues and details corroborating each other. The murderer should be Qingqing from Chunxiang Pavilion!"

"It really is her!"

"That vile woman! She dared to murder Governor Jiang!"

"She should be torn to pieces!"

The officials were still talking about it. Chu Xiong could not hide his astonishment. He had never expected that Liu Shuyi would actually find the murderer directly, nor had he expected that the murderer who had been so hard for Zhang Bu to find would be a prostitute.

Lu Yangyuan also sighed with emotion: "This ending was truly unexpected."

Lost in thought, he didn't notice that Zhao Feng and Du Ying beside him had strange expressions.

Because they had accompanied Liu Shuyi to Chunxiang Pavilion, they knew very well that Jiang Rui's departure, and the truth about Qingqing knowing about Jiang Rui's departure, were not at all what Zhang Bu had analyzed.

Zhang's seemingly reasonable analysis completely contradicts the truth they know.

But Liu Shuyi agreed with Zhang's analysis...

Liu Shuyi seemed to sense their gazes, turned around and glanced at them, then gave them a barely perceptible shake of his head.

He naturally knew why Jiang Rui had left.

She also understood that Qingqing knew about Jiang Rui's departure not because Jiang Rui told her on his own initiative, but because she discovered the connection between Jiang Rui and the illegitimate son of the Prince of Xi, and took the opportunity to directly modify the content of the connection.

I was wrong to say that Qingqing hadn't noticed anything.

Qingqing is so clever that she might not have noticed the first time, but if the same method is used on her a second time, it will be hard to hide it from her.

Therefore, when Jiang Rui went to Chunxiang Pavilion for the second time, Qingqing may have already discovered their secret and devised a plan to turn the tables on them.

Therefore, Jiang Rui's departure was all part of Qingqing's plan from beginning to end.

However, he couldn't let Tian Kang and the others know about these things.

They were unaware that the illegitimate son of the Prince of Xi was hiding in Xingzhou. Under these circumstances, if the secret of the illegitimate son of the Prince of Xi being exposed here, who knows what kind of accident it would cause.

If they want to impress the illegitimate son of the Prince of Xi, or try to replace Jiang Rui and get the illegitimate son of the Prince of Xi to choose them... then we will be in danger.

Therefore, he must conceal all information about the illegitimate son of the Prince of Xi in this case, as if the illegitimate son of the Prince of Xi had never appeared.

Fortunately, Zhang Bu was a good mouthpiece. Under his guidance, he said everything he wanted to say... Because Zhang Bu was from the Xingzhou Prefectural Government, his words were more easily accepted by Tian Kang and the others.

And so, everything unfolded as I had predicted.

The crisis in Hebei Province has been resolved!

(End of this chapter)