The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 204: Case Closed!

"What!?"

"The things that Physician Liu said about moving the corpse, deceiving Military Advisor Zhang, and almost framing an innocent person, were all done by Prefect Chu!?"

"This...this...really!?"

Liu Shuyi's words were like a thunderclap from a clear sky, instantly stunning everyone and leaving them speechless with shock.

Tian Kang and the others, who had been sitting comfortably, suddenly stood up, their faces filled with disbelief.

Zhang Bu's pupils contracted sharply, his head buzzed, and he stared wide-eyed at Chu Xiong, opening his mouth as if to say something, but he was too horrified to utter a sound.

Chu Xiong was stunned for a moment, then his anger surged, and his already sharp eyes became bloodshot, filled with murderous intent.

boom!
Chu Xiong slammed his palm on the table, causing the books and other items on it to jump up.

"Liu Shuyi!"

His voice was icy, almost a roar: "How dare you slander me!?"

"slander?"

Despite Chu Xiong's fury, Liu Shuyi remained calm.

He looked at Zhang Bu and said, "Military Advisor Zhang, do you still remember the question you asked me just now: since the murderer was thin and weak, not as strong as Governor Jiang, how was he able to move the stone lion?"

Zhang Bu never expected that Liu Shuyi would ask him about the past at such a solemn moment. He glanced at Chu Xiong, whose face was cold, and nodded, saying, "I remember, but Doctor Liu said at the time that we should put it aside for the time being and not deal with it."

"We didn't pay attention to it before because it had no impact on the investigation of the murder of Governor Jiang."

Liu Shuyi said, "But now, we can talk about it."

He glanced at everyone and said without delay, "During the autopsy, I and Miss Du found that Governor Jiang's hair, especially the hair stained with blood, had some dust attached to it."

"At the same time, I also noticed that there was some dust in Governor Jiang's nasal cavity."

"However, not a speck of dust could be found near or inside Governor Jiang's abdominal wound."

He asked Zhang, "Military Advisor Zhang, what do you think is the reason for this? Or rather, under what circumstances would this happen?"

"Under what circumstances..."

Zhang Bu's eyes darted back and forth, his face deep in thought.

suddenly……

He suddenly realized something, raised his head abruptly, and said, "Prefect Jiang's hair was covered in dust, and there was dust in his nasal cavity... This means that he must have been in contact with the soil under some circumstances."

“But Governor Jiang’s abdominal wound was completely clean, inside and out… Given the size and severity of Governor Jiang’s wound, his clothes would have been torn directly. If they had been in contact with the soil, it would be impossible for them to be completely free of dirt.”

"so……"

He looked at Liu Shuyi and said, "Either, Governor Jiang's head was in contact with the soil for some reason, or his abdomen was not injured when he came into contact with the soil."

After thinking about it, Tian Kang and the others all nodded in agreement with Zhang Bu's analysis.

Liu Shuyi nodded: "Commander Zhang's analysis makes a lot of sense, but there's one thing I wonder if Commander Zhang has considered..."

"What?" Zhang asked instinctively.

Liu Shuyi said, "Military Advisor Zhang has also seen Governor Jiang's corpse. May I ask if Military Advisor Zhang noticed that Governor Jiang rolled in the ground?"

Zhang shook his head: "Never."

"Why?"

“Governor Jiang looks gruesome except for being covered in blood, so…” Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Bu seemed to realize something. He paused for a moment, then his voice suddenly rose sharply, “That’s not right!”

"If Governor Jiang's nose had dust in it, it would mean that his face must have been in direct contact with the soil... But Governor Jiang's face was very clean, without a speck of dust."

"so……"

His pupils throbbed violently as he stared intently at Liu Shuyi: "Someone cleaned the dust off Governor Jiang; someone doesn't want us to know that Governor Jiang has had contact with the soil!"

Tian Kang was horrified: "Is that so?!"

Although Zhang Bu had a guess, he was still not confident. He couldn't help but ask Liu Shuyi, "Am I right?"

Liu Shuyi smiled, but instead of answering Zhang Bu directly, he brought up another matter: "Actually, at the actual crime scene, in that courtyard, my men not only found the wooden stick, the murder weapon, but also something else."

"What is it?" Zhang asked hurriedly.

Liu Shuyi said, "A shovel stained with mud and a little blood."

"A shovel?" Zhang Bu was initially bewildered, but the next moment, his expression suddenly changed, and he couldn't help but say, "Could it be...could it be that Governor Jiang's body was...buried!?"

The iron spade was a shovel used in the Tang Dynasty, a U-shaped tool for shoveling soil.

At the crime scene, a used shovel, stained with blood and dirt, was found. Combined with the dust that Liu Shuyi found on Jiang Rui, even though Zhang Bu was slow to react, he finally understood what Liu Shuyi meant.

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly and said, "After my men discovered the shovel, they had the same idea as Military Advisor Zhang, so they immediately started digging in the courtyard."

"In the end, they dug these out..."

Liu Shuyi looked at Du Gou.

Du Gou nodded slightly and took out two items from his bosom.

One of the objects was soil wrapped in cloth. He said, "This soil was dug out of the courtyard. If you crush it with your hands, you can leave some red marks on your palms. It is obvious that this soil has been stained with blood."

The other item was also wrapped in cloth. Without any delay, Du Gou opened the cloth directly.

result……

“This is…” Zhang Bu looked at the contents of the cloth and hurriedly said, “This is Governor Jiang’s jade pendant!”

Inside the cloth was a grayish-brown jade pendant covered in dirt, with the character "Jiang" on it.

"When Governor Jiang was found at the crossroads, he was completely naked, and his jade pendant was also missing... However, the jade pendant was dug out of the mud, there's no mistake..."

Zhang Bu said to Liu Shuyi, "After Governor Jiang was killed, he must have been buried in the ground!"

"But later, Governor Jiang was dug up again, and the mud on his body was cleaned off. He appeared at the intersection..." Liu Shuyi coaxed, "Governor Jiang, didn't you find this strange? The murderer had limited time. Since he had already decided to bury the body, why would he dig it up again?"

"She is thin and weak, and burying the body must have already exhausted a lot of her strength. Under such circumstances, if she were to take action, it must have been a decision made after careful consideration. Why would she immediately go back on her word?"

Zhang Bu seemed to understand something: "What Doctor Liu said is right, this doesn't make sense..."

"What do you mean by 'matching' or 'not matching'! I didn't dig him up at all!" Qingqing finally emerged from her pain and struggle. Listening to the conversation between the two, she glared at them with her red and swollen eyes and said, "My original plan was to secretly kill Jiang Rui, that corrupt official, and then bury him in secret. That way, no one would know where he went, and they might investigate him as a missing person, which would buy me some time."

"The longer I can wait, the less likely I am to be caught."

"Why would I dig up his body again? I'm just afraid you won't know Jiang Rui was killed, and I hope you'll investigate quickly."

Although Qingqing's tone was unpleasant, it was a tacit admission of Liu Shuyi's deduction.

That is to say...

Zhang swallowed hard: "The murderer and the person who later dug up the body are not the same person at all!"

"Someone discovered that Qingqing murdered Governor Jiang, and then dug up the body after Qingqing left!?"

Liu Shuyi said, "It's not just that he dug it out, he also didn't want us to know that the body had been buried... Therefore, he carefully cleaned up all the dirt that could be cleaned. But the dirt on his face was easy to clean, but the dirt on his clothes was not easy to clean. If he wanted to be completely free of dirt, he had to wash it off."

"But it was nighttime, and if the clothes had been washed, they would never have dried. So the people who dug up the body had no choice but to take off their clothes to ensure that not a single speck of dirt would be discovered on the surface!"

Zhang Bu exclaimed in sudden realization, "So that's how it is! No wonder Governor Jiang was found naked at the crossroads... My initial guess was that the murderer wanted to humiliate Governor Jiang in this way, but now it seems I was completely wrong! The murderer was just trying to cover up the fact that Governor Jiang had been buried!"

Liu Shuyi was very satisfied with Zhang Bu's acting as his mouth double. Zhang Bu had rich experience in investigating cases and was also quick-witted. Therefore, as long as Liu Shuyi gave him some pointers and guidance, Zhang Bu could always quickly say what he wanted to say.

"Why does Zhang, the military advisor, think that the person who dug up the corpse would conceal the fact that Governor Jiang had been buried?"

“That goes without saying!” Zhang Bu said, “If we find that Governor Jiang was buried, we will definitely consider why the murderer buried the body and then dug it up. In that case, we might suspect that the person who buried the body and the person who dug it up are not the same person!”

"The person who dug up the body is trying to hide himself and make us focus all our attention on the murderer. He's planning to make the murderer take all the blame!"

Upon hearing this, Qingqing's phoenix eyes glared angrily, and she stomped her feet in fury: "That damned bastard! Who is so insidious and vicious that he would even use a pitiful and weak woman like me?"

Cheng Chumo grinned and said, "Didn't Physician Liu just say the name? All of this was done by Prefect Chu, so Miss Qingqing, why don't you curse again?"

Qingqing then remembered Liu Shuyi's earlier words and angrily said, "Chu Xiong, you insidious and vicious bastard! You even used a pitiful and weak woman like me! Bah! Are you even a man?"

"You're asking for death!" Chu Xiong stared fiercely at Qingqing with his tiger-like eyes.

Qingqing wasn't afraid at all. She put her hands on her hips and spat, "I killed someone, so I'm not going to live anyway. I'm going to die either way, so why should I be afraid of you?"

Chu Xiong's anger faltered.

Indeed, Qingqing is doomed to die, and death cannot threaten her.

This made Chu Xiong even more frustrated and angry. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked like a demonic cultivator who had gone mad. He gritted his teeth and said, "Liu Shuyi, what exactly are you planning to frame me for?"

Liu Shuyi ignored Chu Xiong as if he hadn't heard him. He continued to Zhang Bu, "There shouldn't be anyone in this world who would be so idle as to dig up a corpse in the middle of the night, then painstakingly move the stone lions of the yamen to the crossroads, then cut open Governor Jiang's abdomen, take out his intestines, and hang them on the stone lions' fangs..."

"What does Military Advisor Zhang think is the purpose of those who dug up the corpses?"

“This…” Zhang hesitated.

But this time, he wasn't without ideas; on the contrary, he had a lot of ideas.

Considering their suspicions, anger, and terror after discovering Jiang Rui's body at the intersection, and their previous actions towards Liu Shuyi, he could understand what the person who dug up the body was really thinking.

There's no need to guess anymore; the facts have already given him the answer.

However, this involves a dispute between the former subordinates of the Prince of Xi and the imperial court. This dispute is only hidden beneath the surface and is not suitable to be discussed openly.

Not only him, but Tian Kang and the others also understood Liu Shuyi's meaning, and their faces all darkened. Liu Shuyi took in everyone's reactions, a smirk playing on his lips, and said, "This person who dug up the corpse really has a clever plan."

"He didn't kill anyone himself, and he completely erased any trace of his actions, making it impossible for us to trace him back to no matter how hard we investigated the case."

"And this second party, whom we knew nothing about, managed to fool everyone with just two small things: moving a stone lion and digging up a corpse. He almost caused an irreversible disaster that was not the best option for anyone..."

"What a brilliant scheme!" Liu Shuyi said. "I have handled many major cases and dealt with many treacherous and cunning people, but they are still far inferior to the corpse digger. After all, even I almost died because of his scheme this time!"

Upon hearing this, Tian Kang and the others' expressions grew even more gloomy.

It wasn't just Liu Shuyi who was framed; they were all framed!
Moreover, it is obvious that if this person's scheme succeeds, they will mistakenly believe that Jiang Rui was killed by the imperial court and rise up in rebellion without being prepared... One can imagine the kind of crisis they will be in, and in the end, it would be good if one or two out of ten survive.

Most people would die under the wrath and blades of the Tang Dynasty.

If it were truly because the imperial court wanted to kill them, they would have no choice but to resist. But now, someone has deceived them with insidious means and made a fool of them. How can they accept this?
"This scoundrel is truly despicable!"

"Damn it!"

Tian Kang and other officials from various prefectures and counties gritted their teeth and said angrily.

Liu Shuyi's eyes flickered slightly as he continued, "This person's purpose is to incite conflict between the court and you all... Therefore, although he is very well hidden, he is not without clues."

"Think about it, everyone. After the murder of Governor Jiang was discovered, who kept saying that Governor Jiang was killed by someone from the imperial court? Who kept inciting you all to take action against the imperial court? Who tried their best to stop me when I revealed the truth? That person is the most suspicious!"

As soon as Liu Shuyi finished speaking, Zhang Bu and the others almost instinctively turned their heads and looked directly at Chuxiong under the "Upright and Honorable" plaque.

When Chu Xiong saw that everyone was looking at him, he was first stunned, and then his face turned pale instantly.

He finally understood the purpose behind Liu Shuyi's wasted words and going through all that trouble!
Chu Xiong quickly shook his head and said, "Don't be fooled by Liu Shuyi! He's deliberately trying to make you doubt me! Don't believe him!"

Tian Kang glanced at Liu Shuyi out of the corner of his eye, then said coldly to Chu Xiong, "If I remember correctly, you were the one who sent us the news of Governor Jiang's murder... Moreover, in the letter, you were implying, both openly and subtly, that Governor Jiang's murder was the work of the imperial court, so you hoped that all our prefectures and counties would send people to Xingzhou to discuss countermeasures!"

Other state and county officials also nodded in agreement.

“That’s right! And judging from the timeline, you wrote to us almost on the very day Governor Jiang was killed.”

"After Physician Liu arrived, you prevented us from seeing him. You said that Physician Liu was not there to investigate the case at all, but to find a scapegoat for the court. So we should not see Physician Liu so that we could catch him off guard. From this, we can see that you were convinced from the beginning that the murderer was a person of the court!"

"When Doctor Liu was telling the truth, you kept obstructing him and finding fault with him. If Doctor Liu hadn't been so well prepared, you might have ruined the truth!"

"Prefect Chu, how do you intend to explain all this?"

The fierce look in Chu Xiong's eyes turned into panic amidst these questions.

He never imagined that Liu Shuyi would turn against him after finding the murderer.

He never expected that these allies would rather believe Liu Shuyi than him at this moment!
"Liu Shuyi! You are a despicable and treacherous villain!" Chu Xiong gritted his teeth.

"Despicable and insidious?"

Liu Shuyi looked at Chu Xiong with a sneer: "Right and wrong are clear to everyone. As for who is more despicable and treacherous between me and Prefect Chu, I believe my colleagues will have their own conclusions."

"And Prefect Chu, you don't need to pretend to be wronged."

He looked at Chu Xiong and said calmly, "If a normal person saw Qingqing kill Governor Jiang, he would either shout and try to stop her, or he would run away in fear, not wanting to be implicated."

"So, what kind of person would stand by and watch Qingqing murder Governor Jiang, and then use that incident for their own benefit?"

"Within our criminal justice system, there is a set of commonly used logical thinking... that is, whoever benefits the most from the death is most likely to be the perpetrator!"

"And you, Chu Xiong, the Prefect of Xingzhou, although your rank is only slightly lower than Jiang Rui's, making you the second highest-ranking official in Xingzhou, in reality, apart from managing a few public security cases, you have absolutely no real power!"

"Your power has been usurped by Governor Jiang; in reality, your authority in Xingzhou is not even as great as that of Military Advisor Zhang!"

"Under these circumstances, how could you not resent or hate Governor Jiang?"

"And shortly before Governor Jiang was killed, you had another major conflict with him..."

Liu Shuyi's eyes were like sharp swords, piercing Chu Xiong: "You've been sidelined for so many years, yet you never truly turned against Governor Jiang. But one day you suddenly did, and it became known to everyone in the government. This only shows that you've reached your limit and can't endure it any longer!"

"Coincidentally, during those days, Governor Jiang did something..."

Liu Shuyi stared intently at Chu Xiong and slowly said, "He ordered the release of half the prisoners from the jail..."

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiong's pupils contracted sharply, and his entire expression was filled with horror: "You...you..."

Seeing Chu Xiong's drastically changed expression, Liu Shuyi's lips curled up; he had guessed correctly after all!

Liu Shuyi said, "To others, the order to release prisoners is at most something to be curious about, wondering what Governor Jiang intends to do."

"But for you... the prison is the only place where you can demonstrate your power, yet Governor Jiang wants to release half of the prisoners at once, most of whom were arrested with your approval!"

"Therefore, in your view, Governor Jiang's actions are undoubtedly a slap in the face to you in front of everyone! Governor Jiang is stripping you of your last vestige of power; he's not even giving you a chance to save face!"

"Therefore, you could no longer tolerate it and had a big argument with Governor Jiang... But in the end, Governor Jiang's order was still carried out!"

"You must consider this a great humiliation! Your hatred for Governor Jiang must have reached its peak..."

"In this situation, if you witness someone murdering Governor Jiang..."

Liu Shuyi looked at Chu Xiong, whose face had turned pale: "Will you try to stop him?"

"I..." Chu Xiong opened his mouth, wanting to give a definite answer.

But before he could even utter a word, he saw the extremely hostile and furious expressions on the faces of Zhang Bu and Tian Kang.

This made him feel a bone-chilling cold that instantly enveloped his entire body.

He had no answer. If he said he would try to stop it... who would believe him? If he said he wouldn't, wouldn't that be exactly what Liu Shuyi wanted?

Chu Xiong had never encountered such a dilemma.

For a moment, I had no idea how to answer.

His silence was interpreted by everyone as an admission of guilt.

"Well, Chu Xiong, I never imagined that you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, could be so treacherous and vicious!"

Tian Kang pointed at Chu Xiong, his hand trembling with anger: "If it weren't for Doctor Liu exposing your true colors, wouldn't we have been deceived by you for our entire lives? Even if we died, we would never have known that it was all because of you!"

Zhang Bu shook his head, his face full of disappointment: "Prefect Chu, I trusted you so much, how could you treat me like this?"

"No! I didn't!" Chu Xiong shook his head vigorously. "Although I won't stop him, this was definitely not something I did—"

"Chu Xiong! How long are you going to keep making excuses?"

Liu Shuyi interrupted Chu Xiong with a loud shout, saying coldly, "Who do you think will believe your sophistry? Do you really think we'll all fall in the same place twice?"

Chu Xiong stared blankly at everyone. Just as Liu Shuyi had said... Whether it was Tian Kang and other officials from various prefectures and counties, or Zhang Bu and other officials from the government office, or even the yamen runners, their expressions as they looked at him were filled with surprise, disappointment, and disbelief.

Nobody believed in him.

He had been betrayed and abandoned by everyone!

And all of this is because of one person—

Chu Xiong shouted fiercely, "Liu! Shu! Yi! You deserve to die! Kill him! Kill him!"

He ordered the constables in the hall, who had already drawn their swords, "Kill Liu Shuyi!"

"Who dares?!" Cheng Chumo and Lu Yangyuan immediately drew their swords and stood in front of Liu Shuyi.

"Stop!" Zhang Bu shouted, trying to stop them. "Didn't you hear what Doctor Liu said? Chu Xiong has deceived us all. He wants to make you all pay for his ambition. Are you going to follow him and make the same mistake again?"

Zhang was one of the few officials who still maintained his principles, so he held a certain position in the hearts of the yamen runners. As soon as he spoke, the yamen runners hesitated.

Tian Kang also said coldly, "Even if you kill Liu Shuyi now, we will not let Chu Xiong go unless you kill us all. But if we die here, you can expect an attack from all the surrounding prefectures and counties. At that time, none of you will survive!"

"That's right!" The other county and state officials also realized that Chu Xiong wanted to kill them to cover up the secret. Under these circumstances, they had to stand with Liu Shuyi, otherwise they would be the next to die after Liu Shuyi died.

"Why aren't you putting your weapons away right now?"

"Do you really want to die?"

Where had the yamen runners ever been reprimanded by so many officials? Where had they ever experienced such a scene?
He became increasingly hesitant and indecisive.

Liu Shuyi then said, “I know you are kind-hearted and do not want to help him. You are being coerced by him… If you lay down your weapons now, I guarantee that I will not blame you.”

"Moreover, I know that Chu Xiong and Governor Jiang often exploit you, making your salaries far lower than those of normal officials, making it difficult for you to support your families... After Chu Xiong is arrested and brought to justice, I will recommend Military Advisor Zhang to temporarily take over the position of governor."

“You know Zhang Canjun’s character. He would never exploit you like Chu Xiong did. When that happens, your salaries will return to normal, you will never again experience the suffering that Yuan Feng endured, and your families will never again face the despair of dying because they couldn’t afford medicine!”

The constables hadn't reacted much to Liu Shuyi's earlier words, but their expressions clearly changed when he mentioned the matter of salaries.

A glint of light flashed in their eyes, as if a parched person had suddenly seen a spring of sweet water appear...

Then, a series of banging sounds were heard.

The swords in their hands all fell to the ground.

"You... you..."

Chu Xiong looked at the constables who had laid down their weapons and were no longer obeying his orders, and roared, "You traitors! You're going to betray me too!"

The constables hesitated for a moment, and finally one of them said, "Prefect Chu, we just want to give our families a better life, we just want them to be able to afford medicine..."

"you--"

Liu Shuyi said calmly, "Chu Xiong, when you were exploiting them, when you were only thinking about your own enjoyment, did you ever think about how much they suffered?"

"Selfish and short-sighted... You think you can achieve great things?"

He snorted coldly, waved his hand, and said directly, "Men, seize him! This farce should end!"

(End of this chapter)