The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 225 The Scheme Revealed! It turns out everything was part of Liu Shuyi's plan!
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately held their breath and looked at Liu Shuyi.

Guan Feng, standing outside the stone gate, also subconsciously took a half step forward, his nose almost touching the stone gate, to ensure he wouldn't miss a single word from Liu Shuyi.

Then they heard Liu Shuyi's voice: "The bloodstains on the kitchen wall!"

"Bloodstains on the wall?"

Lu Yangyuan was taken aback: "What happened to the bloodstains?"

The bloodstains on the wall were discovered by him, and they were the most important factor in their discovery of the secret room and the location of this place. He had always felt that he had made a great contribution and discovered a key clue, but who would have thought that Liu Shuyi would bring this up at this moment.

Not only him, but also Changsun Chong and others looked puzzled.

I don't understand why Liu Shuyi singled out the bloodstains.

Guan Feng, standing outside the stone gate, seemed to have thought of something, and his brow furrowed slightly involuntarily.

Liu Shuyi took in everyone's reactions and said, "The bloodstains on the wall are arguably the most important clue that could lead to a breakthrough in this case and identify the murderer! Without these bloodstains, we would never have known about the existence of the locked room, at least not for a short period of time."

Everyone nodded instinctively.

Indeed, if they hadn't discovered the bloodstains on the wall, they wouldn't have focused their attention on the kitchen, and without going to the kitchen, they naturally wouldn't have discovered the secret room.

The Heshun Inn is quite large with many rooms. If they were to search every inch of the place, they would definitely start with the living quarters, not with a cooking area...

In other words, the kitchen is likely the last place they will investigate, and who knows when that will be.

"But, I wonder if you have all thought about something..." At this moment, Liu Shuyi's tone suddenly changed.

"What?" Lu Yangyuan asked instinctively, and everyone else also perked up their ears.

Liu Shuyi stared directly at them: "Why is there blood on the wall?"

"Why would it get on the wall?" Lu Yangyuan frowned and said, "Of course, it was because they accidentally got it on the wall when they were moving the corpse into the secret room."

"Did you accidentally get it on your hands while it was being moved to the secret room?" Liu Shuyi pressed further, "Before it was moved to the secret room, or during the journey?"

Before or during the move?

Lu Yangyuan did not understand Liu Shuyi's words.

Liu Shuyi thought for a moment and said, "To be more specific, was the blood on the wall before it sank down, when the mechanism to open the secret chamber was activated, or was it on the wall when it was being moved into the secret chamber after it sank down, and the bloodstains were picked up when passing by the wall?"

“Of course…” Lu Yangyuan was about to answer subconsciously, but he suddenly froze as soon as he opened his mouth.

Not only was he stunned, but Zhao Feng and the others also widened their eyes at that moment, their faces showing surprise.

"So that's it..."

Changsun Chong rubbed his fingertips against the folding fan: "Normally, if we are transporting a corpse, we will put the corpse down in front of the wall after we arrive at the kitchen, then open the mechanism, and the wall will sink down. After the secret room appears, we will then send the corpse into the secret room."

"During this process, the corpse had absolutely no chance to come into contact with the wall."

Du Gou understood Liu Shuyi's meaning and nodded, saying, "That's right. The bloodstains on the wall are scattered dots. If the murderer was carrying the corpse and stepped on the mechanism by the wall, and the corpse accidentally rubbed against the wall, the bloodstains should be a patch or have obvious scratch marks, rather than something that is obviously splattered or accidentally dripped on it."

"When the wall sinks, if blood from a corpse drips onto it, it should stain the upper part of the wall, not the lower part... And when the wall is restored and comes into contact with the floor tiles, the bloodstains will definitely be rubbed off, leaving streaks instead of small, round dots..."

"Therefore, all of this means that the bloodstains on the corpse should not have looked like that during the entire transportation process, which means..."

Du Gou and Changsun Chong exchanged a glance. Changsun Chong took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Those round, dotted bloodstains were definitely not caused by moving the corpse, but were deliberately faked!"

"Forged by human intervention!?"

Everyone's pupils dilated in surprise upon hearing the two's words.

Lu Yangyuan felt a chill run down his spine, as if a coldness was shooting from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

After all, it was he who discovered the bloodstains, and he was the one who gave them to Liu Shuyi as an important clue.

If the bloodstains are faked, doesn't that mean he was used by the murderer and became an accomplice?
Lu Yangyuan quickly looked at Liu Shuyi, wanting to know if it was really true.

Then... he saw Liu Shuyi nod slightly and say, "Your analysis is correct. The distribution, size, and shape of the bloodstains on the wall directly determine that it couldn't have been accidentally caused while moving the corpse..."

"It really is so!" Lu Yangyuan's face turned pale. He thought he had done a great service, but who would have thought that he had fallen into the murderer's trap!

Liu Shuyi understood what Lu Yangyuan was thinking, and he comforted him, "You don't need to blame yourself. The scheme devised by a clever and cunning person like Guan Feng is not something that ordinary people can easily detect."

"Not to mention that at the time you were focused on helping me find clues as soon as possible. Under such circumstances, it was even more difficult for you to analyze things calmly, and it's quite normal for you to be deceived by him."

Changsun Chong fiddled with his folding fan and said, "Even someone as clever as me didn't notice anything unusual. Don't blame yourself, otherwise wouldn't we all have to blame ourselves with you?"

Lu Yangyuan understood what Changsun Chong and Liu Shuyi meant. He took a deep breath, cupped his hands, and said, "This humble official understands."

Changsun Chong smiled nonchalantly, then looked at Liu Shuyi and asked, "When did you notice the bloodstains? Was it after entering the secret room, or before finding the mechanism, that you had your suspicions?"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately looked at Liu Shuyi.

Guan Feng, Xiao Liu, and the others listened intently, holding their breath.

Then they heard Liu Shuyi say, "Before finding the mechanism... or rather, when Lu Da told me that bloodstains were found on the kitchen wall, I had already begun to suspect something."

"So early!?" Lu Yangyuan exclaimed in surprise.

Du Gou and the others were also quite astonished. If they had seen the bloodstains on the wall in the kitchen and had any doubts about them, they would not have been surprised at all. With Liu Shuyi's abilities, it was perfectly normal for him to realize the problem the moment he saw the bloodstains.

But Liu Shuyi said that he only heard that there was bloodstain on the wall, and he didn't even look at the bloodstains before he became suspicious... Even Du Gou and the others found it unbelievable.

Guan Feng, Xiao Liu, and the others outside the stone gate felt that this was utter nonsense.

Just as Xiao Liu was about to say that Liu Shuyi was talking nonsense, he heard Liu Shuyi slowly say, "Everyone might as well think about it: in this case, was the murderer a cautious person or a careless person?"

“Of course, he’s a cautious person!” Zhao Feng said without hesitation.

"Besides the room where Cao Rui and the others stayed, have we found even a single drop of blood anywhere else?" Liu Shuyi asked again.

Zhao Feng shook his head and said, "No."

Liu Shuyi laughed: "Judging from the bloodstains on the floor of Cao Rui's men's room, the murderer killed five of Cao Rui's men first, just to be on the safe side, and then moved them..."

"But we didn't find a single drop of blood in the third-floor corridor, on the stairs, or on the kitchen floor. What does that mean?"

Before anyone could answer, Liu Shuyi said, "This means the murderer must have been concerned about bloodstains. Otherwise, given the stab wounds to the chests of these five people and the bloodstains on their clothes, blood would have dripped down if they weren't careful..."

"At the same time, we also know that the murderer is a very cautious person..."

He glanced at everyone and said, "This is interesting. A very cautious person, who was extremely careful about the bloodstains on the corpse when moving it, failed to control the bloodstains at such a crucial moment and in such an important place when hiding the corpse in a secret room... and it wasn't just an accidental drip on the floor, but rather it got on the wall..."

What do you think the probability is?

Hearing Liu Shuyi's words, everyone swallowed hard and looked at each other in bewilderment.

Liu Shuyi didn't say any of this; they would just think it was normal for the murderer to make a mistake when he was nervous.

After listening to Liu Shuyi's reasoned analysis, they felt that anyone could make a mistake at this time, but the murderer should never have made such a mistake.

Du Gou said, "So, back then, you already suspected... that the bloodstains were deliberately left for us by the murderer?"

Liu Shuyi nodded: "Yes!"

Outside the stone gate.

Hearing what Liu Shuyi and the others said, Xiao Liu, who had just opened his mouth, closed it again.

He couldn't help but swallow hard. "Boss, isn't Qin Yu a bit too clever?" he said.

Guan Feng frowned, his eyes flickering. He didn't speak, but stared intently at the stone door, as if his gaze had passed through the door and reached behind it, where Qin Yu stood calm, wise, and terrifyingly intelligent.

Liu Shuyi seemed to have guessed what Guan Feng was doing, and his gaze returned to the stone gate.

He continued, "Before I saw the bloodstains, I suspected there might be something wrong with them, but after I saw them, I was absolutely certain that the bloodstains were deliberately left to us by the murderer."

"At that time, I was not sure what the murderer's intention was, but one thing I was sure of was that since the murderer left these bloodstains, he definitely had something in mind."

"Therefore, I kept a close eye on who, besides myself, would use the bloodstains to advance the case or guide us in doing something..."

"Then……"

Liu Shuyi paused for a moment, then said, "Xiao Liu, you've discovered the mechanism to open the secret room!"

Xiao Liu, standing outside the door, widened his eyes and exclaimed in surprise, "You mean... the moment I found the secret chamber mechanism, you suspected us?"

Guan Feng's brows were also furrowed.

Changsun Chong's eyes flashed, and he said, "So that's how it is... I knew that with your skills, finding the mechanism wouldn't be difficult at all, but you didn't even try. It turns out you deliberately gave up the opportunity to see who would step forward when we were helpless!"

"Is that so?" Everyone was shocked. They never expected that Liu Shuyi could turn such a trivial matter as finding a mechanism into an opportunity to find the murderer.

Xiao Liu felt a chill run through his body. He couldn't help but say, "But you didn't do nothing. Didn't you come up with a way to have your men violently destroy the wall?"

Liu Shuyi said calmly, "My time is precious. Since I know there's a secret room behind the wall, I can't waste all my time figuring out how to get in... So instead of finding the mechanism directly, I had my men violently destroy it. One reason was to buy some time and give the murderer a chance to make his move, and the other was to make a judgment..."

"What is it?" Xiao Liu asked instinctively.

Guan Feng frowned and glanced at Xiao Liu. He realized that Xiao Liu had been led by the nose by Liu Shuyi without Xiao Liu's knowledge.

However, he did not interrupt the two of them, as this was indeed something he was very curious about.

"I want to know, is this secret room important to you? Or rather, is it still of any use to you?"

brush!
As Liu Shuyi finished speaking, before Xiao Liu could even react to what Liu Shuyi meant, Guan Feng's pupils suddenly contracted.

He instinctively stepped forward, his nose bumping directly into the stone door, but ignoring the stinging pain, he stared intently at the door: "What's your guess?"

Hearing the first change in Guan Feng's tone, Liu Shuyi's lips curled up slightly: "Brother Guan, what do you think I could possibly guess?"

Guan Feng stared intently at the stone gate, his expression constantly shifting, but he did not reply.

He was horrified to realize that he had followed in Xiao Liu's footsteps and was being led by the nose by Liu Shuyi.

Guan Feng took a deep breath and gave Xiao Liu a look, signaling Xiao Liu to speak for him.

Xiao Liu had already deeply sensed Liu Shuyi's terror. He thought to himself that it was fortunate they acted quickly and closed the stone door, trapping this terrifying guy inside. Otherwise, if they had faced him directly, who knows what might have happened.

Even so, he couldn't help feeling nervous. He swallowed hard and asked, "So what was the result you got?"

"What do you say?"

Liu Shuyi calmly said, "Just as my men had found the tools and were about to break down the wall, you came at the perfect moment to say that you had discovered the mechanism... What do you think will happen to me?"

Xiao Liu's face turned pale.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but didn't know what to say.

If Liu Shuyi hadn't told him everything, he would never have imagined, no matter how hard he tried, that the moment he discovered the mechanism and before he even opened the secret room, the guy opposite him already knew some of their thoughts, knew that they didn't want the secret room to be destroyed, and wanted to use its secrets.

"Brother Qin is truly remarkable! His ability to investigate and analyze cases is truly admirable!"

At this moment, Guan Feng's voice rang out again, his tone now calm as he said, "However, Brother Qin, in the end, there is still an element of gambling involved."

"Oh?" Liu Shuyi raised an eyebrow.

Guan Feng said, "Brother Qin said you've cracked the secret of the bloodstains, so you want to use them to make the murderer appear on his own... But what if Xiao Liu is really lucky and happens to discover the mechanism?"

"Even if it's not Xiao Liu, what if your people are lucky enough to discover the mechanism? What will you do then?"

"So, you suspect us because Xiao Liu discovered the mechanism... Ultimately, you're gambling that there's a higher probability that Xiao Liu is the murderer."

Upon hearing this, Deng Hui and the other guests looked at each other and nodded.

Although Guan Feng is now their enemy, it cannot be denied that Guan Feng's words make a lot of sense.

The murderer must hope that someone can discover the secret room and find the mechanism, but the mechanism is right there, and anyone who is lucky can find it. Therefore, the person who finds the mechanism is not necessarily the murderer.

"Brother Guan has always looked down on us with an air of superiority, as if he held our lives in his hands, and didn't care about our thoughts at all... Why is he suddenly going to compete with me now? Is it luck or skill?"

Liu Shuyi said meaningfully, "Brother Guan, are you feeling guilty?"

"what?"

Feeling guilty?

Everyone was taken aback for a moment, but after thinking about Guan Feng's shameless attitude before and what he had just said, it was indeed different from his previous style.

Could it be... that he's really feeling guilty because of what this County Magistrate Qin said?
"Hehe!" Guan Feng said indifferently, "Brother Qin is overthinking it. I'm saying all this because I want to gain experience from you. I don't want the experience I gain to be related to your luck... It won't allow me to make a reference for the future, after all, I can't be sure if my next opponent will be lucky."

"Is that so?"

Liu Shuyi stroked his chin: "That is indeed very reasonable, but Brother Guan need not worry, because my suspicion of you has nothing to do with luck."

"In fact, even before the locked-room incident, I already considered you almost the murderers!"

"The matter in the secret room can only be considered as the final confirmation, and a test and judgment of your ultimate purpose."

"What did you say?!" Xiao Liu's heart jumped when he heard Liu Shuyi's words.

Before Guan Feng could give any instructions, he couldn't help but say, "What do you mean? What do you mean by 'before the locked room, we were practically the murderers'... Didn't you only suspect us because we lived on the third floor? How come now it's become that we're practically the murderers?"

The others also looked puzzled, sharing the same thought as Xiao Liu.

Guan Feng glanced at Xiao Liu, but didn't scold him for being talkative. He frowned and waited for Liu Shuyi's explanation.

Then they heard Liu Shuyi calmly say, "This is the third point I'm going to talk about next!"

The third aspect?
The last weakness?
Xiao Liu and the others immediately listened attentively.

But then Liu Shuyi said, "This third aspect is different from the first two; it doesn't fall under the flaws in your plan..."

"Or rather, it wasn't something you did intentionally, and you weren't even aware of your own problem."

It wasn't a flaw in the plan, nor was it something we did intentionally... Guan Feng's eyes flickered. The shouts in the first aspect and the bloodstains in the second aspect were things they did voluntarily to carry out the plan.

Therefore, what Qin Yu said was different...

Guan Feng raised his head and said, "You mean... we left some clues during the murder that made you completely suspicious of us?"

"Left clues?" Upon hearing this, Xiao Liu immediately shook his head: "How is that possible? Our plan is flawless. How could he possibly find any clues in such a short time, right under our noses?"

"Flawless?"

Unexpectedly, Liu Shuyi said meaningfully, "Let's look at your sleeves first, then we can talk about other things..."

(End of this chapter)