The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 205 Revealed! The True Truth Hidden Behind the Scheme! Liu Shuyi's Plan Exposed!
Without the protection of the yamen runners, Chu Xiong was just an ordinary man with slightly better physical strength. Lu Yangyuan easily trampled Chu Xiong under his feet with a slight movement.

With the knife tip pointed at Chu Xiong's head, Lu Yangyuan looked at Liu Shuyi: "Doctor Liu, what should we do with him?"

Just as Liu Shuyi was about to speak, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the officials from various prefectures and counties on both sides looked hesitant and unsure of what to say.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, smiled at Tian Kang and the others, and said, "Chu Xiong is not the real culprit in the murder of Governor Jiang. I really haven't figured out how to deal with him. Do any of you colleagues have any suggestions?"

Upon hearing this, an official couldn't wait to say, "Although Chu Xiong was not the real culprit in the murder of Governor Jiang, he failed to save him and even used the incident to deceive us, almost causing an irreparable disaster... His crime is several times more serious than the crime of murder!"

“That’s right!” the other officials echoed. “If he succeeds, countless innocent people will die tragically!”

"His wickedness is unparalleled in the world!"

"In my opinion, this person doesn't need further interrogation. He should be executed on the spot to uphold the prestige of our Great Tang Dynasty, deter villains, and prevent others from harboring such malicious thoughts!"

"I agree! Special people deserve special treatment! Execute them on the spot as a warning to others; only in this way can we ensure the peace and tranquility of the Tang Dynasty!"

"To let such a vicious and treacherous person live even one more day is an injustice to the people of the world!"

"kill him!"

"Yes, kill him!"

Officials from various prefectures and counties spoke up one after another, their faces filled with righteous indignation, and their anger and hatred for the country and its people were palpable.

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiong's face turned to despair, as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

He was so confident when he decided to take action against Liu Shuyi, thinking that his time had finally come, but who knew... that this would be the final result.

He never imagined that, compared to his enemy Liu Shuyi, the ones who harbored the greatest murderous intent towards him would be these so-called comrades who had sworn to live and die together!
"You... you..."

He tried to say something, but Lu Yangyuan kicked him in the stomach, causing him to curl up in pain, covered in cold sweat, and unable to speak.

"You corrupt official, who gives you the right to speak here?" Lu Yangyuan sneered.

Liu Shuyi ignored Lu Yangyuan and Chu Xiong, and looked at Zhang Bu, saying, "What does Military Advisor Zhang think?"

Zhang Bu hurriedly waved his hand: "This humble official is foolish and does not know how to handle this matter. I will follow the instructions of Physician Liu."

Liu Shuyi gave Zhang Bu a deep look and nodded slightly in his heart... Not bad, he knows how to reciprocate kindness and avoid suspicion.

He then looked at Du Gou and asked, "What does Vice Minister Du think?"

Du Gou thought for a moment: "According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty..."

"Cough cough."

Before Du Gou could finish speaking, Changsun Chong said directly, "Special times call for special measures. My colleagues are right. Chu Xiong's crimes are far more serious than murder. If anyone else follows his example, the Tang Dynasty will surely be in chaos!"

"Therefore, my thoughts are the same as yours: he should be executed as soon as possible to make an example of him and ensure the peace of the Tang Dynasty!"

Liu Shuyi and Changsun Chong exchanged a glance, then Liu nodded: "Before I left Chang'an, His Majesty granted me the authority to execute first and report later. Therefore, I can indeed make judgments on criminals directly based on the actual circumstances."

"What you all say aligns with my thoughts. Special circumstances should be handled specially. Since you all agree on the method of executing this scoundrel, then..."

Chu Xiong looked up at Liu Shuyi in terror, only to hear Liu Shuyi's cold and indifferent voice: "Tomorrow at noon, behead him and display his head to the public!"

…………

Fifteen minutes later, the crowd dispersed.

After leaving the main hall, Zhang Bu and Liu Shuyi looked at Zhang Bu and said, "Military Advisor Zhang, you already know what I mean. Are you willing to temporarily assume the position of Prefect of Xingzhou and handle the follow-up matters in Xingzhou?"

Zhang Bu's feelings were still very complicated, and he even felt ashamed to face Liu Shuyi.

When he thought back to how he had treated Liu Shuyi at the beginning, and then looked at Liu Shuyi's praise and understanding of him, and even his direct promotion of him to become the governor of a prefecture, he felt remorseful and regretful, feeling that he did not deserve Liu Shuyi's treatment.

He pursed his lips, bowed, and said, "This humble official is afraid he won't do a good job..."

"Can't do it well?"

Liu Shuyi said, "Jiang Rui and Chu Xiong have already ravaged Xingzhou to this extent. The people are suffering, and the officials are in agony. Apart from them, no one is living comfortably. Tell me, is there a worse situation than this?"

"Not to mention that Military Advisor Zhang has a bottom line and would never act like them, preying on the people and exploiting his colleagues..."

You will definitely do better than them!

Zhang Bu said, "But this humble official—"

Before Zhang could finish speaking, Liu Shuyi raised his hand and patted Zhang on the shoulder: "Military Advisor Zhang, I have never misjudged anyone. I believe in you!"

Zhang felt something suddenly crash into his heart.

He stared blankly at Liu Shuyi, and in that instant, he suddenly understood the meaning of the phrase "a scholar will die for one who understands him".

He took a deep breath and, without further hesitation, bowed deeply to Liu Shuyi: "I was previously misled by Chu Xiong and misunderstood Doctor Liu, which almost led to a disaster. However, Doctor Liu repaid evil with kindness, not only not blaming me, but also praising and supporting me several times. Now he has even given me this opportunity..."

"I have nothing to repay you with, but I hope to use my meager strength to govern Xingzhou well and live up to the kindness of Physician Liu!"

Liu Shuyi smiled and helped Zhang Bu up: "I trust you. After I return to Chang'an, I will recommend you to His Majesty. His Majesty will then issue a formal appointment. Until then, you can temporarily take over."

"Yes!" Zhang nodded emphatically.

"Alright," Liu Shuyi said, "It's getting late, let's go back and rest. We can talk about other things tomorrow."

Zhang Bu hurriedly said, "Doctor Liu has had a long journey and has been busy all day. I will not disturb your rest any longer. If you need anything, please send someone to call me at any time. No matter what it is, even if it is a mountain of knives or a sea of ​​fire, I will do my best for you."

Liu Shuyi nodded and said gently, "Go ahead."

Without saying another word, the two turned and left.

…………

The governor's mansion, backyard.

The yamen runner respectfully said to Liu Shuyi, "Doctor Liu, these rooms are the accommodations for distinguished guests in the prefectural government. Military Advisor Zhang said you can choose any room you like."

Liu Shuyi glanced at the row of rooms in front of him and nodded slightly: "Thank you for leading the way. You don't need to do anything else now, go and rest."

The constable felt that Liu Shuyi was really gentle, much better than Jiang Rui and Chu Xiong who only knew how to exploit them. He nodded: "I will be on night duty tonight. If Doctor Liu has any instructions, you can come to me at any time."

"Okay." Liu Shuyi nodded.

The constable bowed to Liu Shuyi, then turned and left without further delay.

"Woo...Woo..."

Just then, a muffled sound came from behind. Liu Shuyi turned around and saw Chu Xiong, whose mouth was gagged, staring at him with a face full of resentment. He struggled and made sounds as if he wanted to say something to him.

Liu Shuyi asked, "Does Prefect Chu have something to say?"

Chu Xiong nodded vigorously.

Liu Shuyi smiled and said, "But I don't want to hear it."

Chu Xiong paused, then realized that Liu Shuyi was playing him. He struggled even harder, his eyes filled with resentment and desperate rage as he looked at Liu Shuyi. However, he was bound by ropes and held down by two Imperial Guards. No matter how strong he was, he could not break free.

Liu Shuyi glanced at the outside of the courtyard out of the corner of his eye, then said calmly, "Lock the prisoner Chu Xiong in a room and keep him under strict guard. No one is allowed to have contact with him before the execution!"

"Yes!"

Without a word, the Imperial Guards grabbed the struggling Chu Xiong and carried him into the rightmost room. Liu Shuyi glanced at the bound and pitiful-looking Qingqing and said, "Miss Qingqing, come with me. I need to confirm some details of this case with you."

After saying that, he pushed the door open and went inside.

Seeing this, Lu Yangyuan stretched and was about to go to another room to rest, but he had only taken one step when Changsun Chong grabbed his sleeve: "Where are you going, Deputy Lieutenant Lu? We have finally solved the case and need to review the case, write up the case file and memorial to His Majesty. It is not time to rest now."

Lu Yangyuan was taken aback. When did they develop the habit of reviewing their performance?
After each case was solved with the help of Physician Liu, he would let them go and rest. As for the case files and memorials, Physician Liu would arrange for someone to take care of them.

He was puzzled, but Changsun Chong had a strong grip and had already pulled him into the room.

Cheng Chumo walked last, and he said to the Imperial Guards, "Guard the door well, and don't allow anyone to come near."

After saying that, he went into the room and closed the door.

"call……"

Cheng Chumo let out a long breath, turned around and said, "Damn it, today was really dangerous, I almost didn't make it back."

Hearing Cheng Chumo's words, everyone else breathed a sigh of relief, their tense minds finally relaxing.

The moment they entered the lobby, none of them knew if they would come out alive. The pressure they felt was unprecedented in their lives, but thankfully, they made it through.

"Since we're all family, I won't stand on ceremony. Please make yourselves at home, and tell someone to prepare whatever you'd like to eat or drink."

Liu Shuyi said something to Du Gou and the others, then looked at Qingqing who was still tied up. He came to Qingqing and untied her while saying, "Thank you for your help today, Miss Qingqing. You have suffered a lot."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yangyuan was taken aback: "Help?"

Liu Shuyi knew that Lu Yangyuan had been by his side the whole time and didn't know what arrangements he had made, so he smiled and explained, "That's right, Miss Qingqing helped us a lot today."

Lu Yangyuan seemed to have thought of something, his eyes widened involuntarily, and he couldn't help but say, "Could it be... that Miss Qingqing isn't the murderer of Governor Jiang? Did she deliberately confess to help Doctor Liu solve the case?"

Upon hearing Lu Yangyuan's words, Qingqing looked at him with a smile in her beautiful eyes, and her sweet and melodious voice rang out again: "No, it was indeed I who killed that corrupt official Jiang Rui."

Seeing Qingqing's completely different demeanor from when she was in the main hall, Lu Yangyuan was even more confused: "Since you are the murderer, why does Doctor Liu say that you helped?"

Qingqing winked playfully at Liu Shuyi: "Should I, Doctor Liu, speak?"

Seeing this, Du Ying's handsome eyebrows furrowed slightly. She picked up a water glass, stepped between the two, and handed it to Liu Shuyi, saying, "Have some water, I'll explain."

Seeing Du Ying protecting her food like a guardian between herself and Liu Shuyi, Qingqing smiled knowingly.

"Although Doctor Liu has determined that Qingqing is the murderer, we do not have direct evidence to prove it."

Du Ying explained to Lu Yangyuan, "There is no evidence to prove that, given Chu Xiong's previous attitude, he would never agree with Liu Langzhong's analysis. Even if everyone agrees with Liu Langzhong's reasoning, as long as he is determined to oppose it, we will find it difficult to close the case smoothly and separate the court from Jiang Rui's death."

"Therefore, Doctor Liu asked me to secretly find Miss Qingqing and ask her to cooperate with us to finish this dramatic case-solving performance."

Lu Yangyuan asked, puzzled, "Don't we have evidence? Isn't that wooden stick, the murder weapon, evidence?"

Du Gou then said, "The wooden stick was indeed the murder weapon, but it cannot be used as evidence."

"Cannot be used as evidence?" Lu Yangyuan did not understand Du Gou's meaning.

Du Gou sighed, "There was blood on the thicker end of the murder weapon; there was no blood at all where the hand was gripping it."

"What!? No bloodstains?" Lu Yangyuan's eyes widened.

Zhao Feng had just learned of this and was also quite surprised.

Du Gou said, "Miss Qingqing was so well-prepared for revenge, how could she not have known about the issue of the murder weapon when choosing it?"

Zhao Feng pondered, "So, Miss Qingqing knew that it was easy to cut her hand there, so she avoided it when she attacked?"

“It wasn’t that I was trying to avoid it…” Qingqing’s soft and charming voice rang out: “I just wrapped the wooden stick with a handkerchief before I made my move, so even though it’s still a bit prickly, the handkerchief won’t hurt me.”

"Then what's the scar on the web of your right hand?" Lu Yangyuan asked, looking at the unhealed scar on Qingqing's fair palm.

"This scar?" Qingqing raised her fair, soft hand, looking at the scabbed wound, and said, "It was an accidental injury, but it wasn't on the day I took my revenge. I cut my hand the day after that."

"But not many people know about this. If it weren't for Doctor Liu's sharp eyes, I wouldn't have thought that this accident could be used as evidence."

Lu Yangyuan and Zhao Feng then understood the whole story behind the so-called evidence.

"Since Doctor Liu has no evidence, why did you agree to admit that you were the murderer?" Lu Yangyuan continued to ask.

Qingqing shrugged: "I don't want to admit it either, but Doctor Liu is really heartless..."

As she spoke, she looked at Liu Shuyi with a resentful expression, her voice filled with grievance: "Doctor Liu told Miss Du to tell me that even if I don't admit it, since he has already deduced that I killed Governor Jiang, he will never let me go. He will arrest me and torture me severely..."

"He also said that the government needs a murderer to stabilize public sentiment and appease the officials and people of Xingzhou. In this case, as long as a person with sufficient suspicion is found, the government will do everything possible to make that person confess... Therefore, no matter how much I deny it, the result will not change."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yangyuan and Zhao Feng couldn't help but show surprise. They really didn't expect that Liu Shuyi would say such a thing.

After all, in their understanding, Liu Shuyi had never threatened anyone in order to investigate a case, nor had he convicted anyone without sufficient evidence.

Seeing Lu Yangyuan and Zhao Feng's hesitant expressions, Liu Shuyi said impatiently, "Miss Qingqing, besides these words, I must have said something else, right?"

"Others?" Lu Yangyuan and Zhao Feng were taken aback. Was Qingqing hiding something?
Seeing Liu Shuyi's helpless expression, Qingqing chuckled and said, "I haven't even mentioned these things yet."

As she spoke, she looked at Lu Yangyuan and Zhao Feng and continued, "In addition, Doctor Liu also asked Miss Du to tell me that he understands my desire for revenge. If it were him, he would also choose to kill his enemy."

"He also said that Jiang Rui intended to rebel and was a traitor. Therefore, although I killed someone, I actually eliminated a treacherous official for the court. So I am not only innocent, but also meritorious."

"He said that as long as I cooperate with him and the case is closed smoothly, he will do everything in his power to ensure my safety, take me away from Xingzhou, take me to Chang'an, give me a stable and decent life, let me say goodbye to all the pain and misery of the past, and let me be reborn..."

At this point, Qingqing looked at Liu Shuyi again. Her eyes, which were used to showing fake smiles, revealed a genuine smile for the first time since her family was destroyed. Her eyes were bright, as if the dust on a pearl had finally been brushed away. Her voice was unconsciously gentle and sincere: "I cannot refuse what Doctor Liu said, so even if I don't know if Doctor Liu's promise can be fulfilled, I am willing to take a chance for that chance of a new life."

"So that's it..."

Lu Yangyuan and Zhao Feng finally understood the whole story.

Knowing the truth now, and recalling what happened in the hall earlier, they suddenly realized that Qingqing always spoke at crucial moments.

The initial denial led Liu Langzhong to produce the murder weapon, filling the gap in physical evidence.

After seeing the physical evidence, his desperate confession allowed the case to be closed smoothly.

His subsequent revelation of burying the body further confirmed Liu Langzhong's deduction that "the person who buried the body and the person who dug it up were two different people."

Lu Yangyuan couldn't help but say, "The cooperation between Doctor Liu and Miss Qingqing is truly seamless. If I didn't know the truth, I would never have guessed that your seemingly confrontational exchanges were actually to advance the case."

Zhao Feng was also convinced and said, "So it turns out that there were so many secrets behind our ability to resolve the troubles in Hebei Province so peacefully. Doctor Liu has really worked hard."

Liu Shuyi shook his head: "It's not hard work, but the situation is urgent and the time given to me is extremely limited, which forces me to use some means to close the case quickly... To be honest, this time I violated my previous principles and used coercion and bribery to make Miss Qingqing confess her guilt, which is really embarrassing."

Qingqing looked at Liu Shuyi with bright eyes: "Doctor Liu's method has given me a new life and allowed me to get rid of punishment. I think this is the best result."

Lu Yangyuan nodded and said, "I also think this is a win-win situation! And most importantly, we not only solved the case, but also exposed the deeply hidden Chu Xiong... This Chu Xiong has been making things difficult for us openly and secretly, and even tried to take action against Doctor Liu. It's really infuriating. Originally, I thought I could only swallow this anger, but I didn't expect that he would be the one who dug up the corpse. Now that Doctor Liu has exposed him, he's really unlucky. He tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead, losing both his wife and his army."

Zhao Feng and Cheng Chumo both nodded emphatically; it felt so good to finally vent their anger!

But to everyone's surprise, Liu Shuyi looked at them meaningfully and said, "Do you really think that Chu Xiong is the one who dug up the corpse?"

(End of this chapter)