Upon hearing this, Lord Gu Nanguang wept bitterly.
“Judicial Officer Li doesn’t know—the Ministry of Justice has already concluded this case and captured the criminal. But that villain says he was at home with his wife the entire night. How could he have committed the crime? Moreover, this criminal is a local hunter who seriously injured his right arm while hunting years ago, so his right hand lacks strength. Back then, His Majesty took this case seriously and had the former Minister of Justice and the then-Judicial Officer investigate it successively. The Ministry had skilled coroners, and the Judicial Officer at that time was an expert at examining corpses. Although this old man was misled at the time and thought the corpse was Aluo, Aluo is my own niece—I loved her as much as I loved Shuangcheng. Though my pain then may not compare to now, I still remember clearly that the coroner never specifically indicated the killer was left-handed. If there had been only one or two wound marks, it might have been difficult to distinguish. However, my daughter had multiple wounds from her face, throat, chest, back, to legs and feet—every knife cut deep into flesh and bone. Whether the knife was wielded by left hand or right hand wouldn’t be hard to determine. The blade’s trajectory and cut patterns would all be different. With such an experienced examiner, how could there be a mistake?”
“Therefore, the criminal currently in the Ministry of Justice prison is not the real killer.”
Though he was a scholar, under his current passionate indignation, his voice was clear and stirring. As he explained in such detail, people were in an uproar.
Suzhen also felt a chill.
She couldn’t help but sneer inwardly. The Ministry of Justice worked quickly—a cold case that even the former Minister of Justice and the Capital Region Judicial Officer couldn’t solve was now cracked by Xiao Yue within days. It would be strange if there weren’t something fishy about it.
Finding clues from left-handed versus right-handed attacks wasn’t uncommon in past cases and wasn’t anything new. She had dealt with Xiao Yue several times. This man was quite cautious in his work and wouldn’t be so careless.
She studied Gu Nanguang and spoke lightly: “Lord Gu, based on what you’ve described, this subordinate has something unclear. Please enlighten me.”
Gu Nanguang immediately nodded, appearing extremely excited and cooperative. “Please ask, Judicial Officer Li.”
“According to Lord Gu’s account, this killer is probably innocent—possibly the Ministry of Justice found someone to substitute in order to quickly close the case.” She didn’t avoid the topic, openly voicing people’s doubts under the bright sky.
“Exactly.” Gu Nanguang smiled bitterly, his eyes blazing with light. “This time, I’m risking my life and fortune. Even if it means offending the Ministry of Justice, I won’t hesitate—”
“However,” before he could finish, Suzhen interrupted with a laugh. “Huaisu believes that if the Ministry of Justice truly wanted to find a scapegoat for merit or other reasons, finding an obedient person wouldn’t be too difficult.”
At this point, her voice carried a trace of darkness. “No matter how wealthy and strong Great Zhou becomes, there will always be people who can’t even solve the problem of basic sustenance. Who wouldn’t be willing to sacrifice their life for some money to support their family’s elderly and young? If they’re merciful, they could even use death row prisoners or buy off terminally ill patients.”
“So why would this suspect tell you the truth? Among all the people the Ministry of Justice could find, why did they specifically choose someone who cries injustice and complains? Aren’t they afraid this would cause more complications in your heart?”
Gu Nanguang was somewhat shocked by her rapid questioning. Finally, he slowly nodded.
“Your words are extremely correct,” he sighed self-deprecatingly, then suddenly raised his head, trembling as he pointed toward the sky. “But man proposes, heaven disposes. The Ministry of Justice originally found an obedient person to take the blame. When this subordinate attended the hearing that day, I saw that person appeared to be in his forties or fifties, ugly in appearance. It was said he was a local rogue who often did petty theft at people’s homes late at night. He confessed that years ago he encountered my daughter alone in village fields at night, became lustful, but when my daughter fought to the death, not knowing her identity, his evil nature emerged and he killed my daughter with a weapon he carried. After discovering my daughter’s valuable clothing and jewelry, fearing he’d get into trouble, he mutilated her body.”
“Though this subordinate was half-believing and half-doubting at the time, seeing his specific words and remorseful expression, I still believed him somewhat. However, this person was recently secretly rescued from the Ministry of Justice prison. The Ministry of Justice, seeking only to close the case quickly, found a man from the local area who resembled this person six or seven parts and had him impersonate the criminal. This impersonator is the hunter I mentioned earlier.”
The surrounding people listened with alarm, their voices rising and falling like waves. Suzhen was also secretly shocked, but she pressed forward step by step: “If this is the case, Lord Gu, you would have even less way of knowing everything.”
“Correct,” Gu Nanguang laughed heartily. “How could I, a mere fifth-rank petty official, learn of such secrets? Someone secretly reported this to me. Please look, My Lord.”
As he spoke, he put down the petition. Suzhen saw him reach into his chest and soon pulled out a letter.
Suzhen frowned and quickly took the letter.
Unfolding it, she saw that what was described matched exactly what Gu Nanguang had said.
The ink on the paper was bold, in excellent calligraphy. Though Suzhen was well-versed in literature, she couldn’t immediately determine whether it was written by a man or woman’s hand, let alone see more information to deduce the writer’s background.
The letter said someone had infiltrated the prison and rescued the original criminal.
Suzhen asked: “Lord Gu, do you know who wrote this letter?”
Gu Nanguang shook his head. “This subordinate doesn’t know. The letter was suddenly discovered in my study.”
Suzhen’s frown deepened.
This didn’t make sense.
Let’s call the original man who confessed Number One, and the hunter Number Two.
This case was extensively investigated years ago without finding the killer. Now, Number One was probably not the real killer at all. The Ministry of Justice wanted to fulfill their duty, but what was the purpose of whoever rescued Number One?
If it was to save someone, probably not. This person should know that the Ministry of Justice would definitely find someone else to substitute. Rescuing him like this had no meaning at all.
So what was his real purpose? Who exactly was this person, and why was he so capable that he could break into the Ministry of Justice prison to rescue someone?
Moreover, after the Ministry of Justice put Number Two in, this person also secretly visited the prison and learned many details from the wrongly imprisoned Number Two—for instance, that Number Two was a hunter with a wife and children, his right hand had been injured, and he hadn’t killed anyone and didn’t want to die.
This person and whoever wrote the letter to Gu Nanguang were probably the same person. Otherwise, how could they know such intricate details?
She suddenly instinctively glanced very quickly at Quan Feitong. Seeing her look, Quan Feitong curved his lips in a cold smile. “What does Judicial Officer Li mean by this?”
Suzhen’s heart sank slightly. As a friend, she shouldn’t suspect Quan Feitong, but as a colleague, based on her understanding of this lord, this matter was hard to say.
She said nothing, only bowed her head, then looked back at Gu Nanguang. When their eyes met, she suddenly understood some issues!
The Ministry of Justice held public trials—there couldn’t have been no observers. When that person rescued the “criminal,” since the Ministry had already closed the case, they couldn’t just randomly find anyone to substitute again. Not everyone could get plastic surgery at Huichun Hall. They could only find someone who looked somewhat similar. This way, changes would easily occur. For instance, this time the person might not be willing to die.
If this case were retried and the criminal brought to court refused to confess, it would become very “interesting.”
This case was probably not an ordinary murder case. It seemed someone hoped that some unlucky person would dig deeply into this case. Therefore, they used the letter to tip off Gu Nanguang.
From the current situation, that unlucky person was her.
She couldn’t take this case…
Gu Nanguang seemed to see her thoughts and choked as he heavily kowtowed: “Judicial Officer Li, I beg you to take this case. I don’t know why, when His Majesty issued the decree, the Ministry of Justice dared to be so sloppy…”
He didn’t finish some of his words, but Suzhen understood the subtext. Lian Yu actually didn’t care about this case, but even if the dead person wasn’t Aluo, she was still Aluo’s sister-like companion, wasn’t she? Why?
Her heart was full of doubt.
Seeing her standing with hands behind her back, motionless, Gu Nanguang kowtowed even more desperately: “Even if I visit every government office, this matter will only be left unresolved. Judicial Officer Li, in all of the capital now, only you have the ability and courage to take this case. Please understand the feelings of a father. My Shuangcheng died so miserably and was buried under a false name for years. She cannot rest in peace!”
Suzhen thought: Even if you praise me as noble and upright, it won’t work. Though previous cases were each difficult, even the grand case like the Mochou Kingdom case had Lian Yu supporting me from behind. This seemingly ordinary case, Lian Yu actually doesn’t care about, and there are forces behind it pushing things along. This time is only more difficult than before. If I take it, I’ll probably be drawn into the game.
“Lord Li, the official world has no pure land—all crows under heaven are equally black. Now that you’ve secured your position, have you put away your former hypocritical heart for the people?”
“If you don’t take this case, it doesn’t matter if my daughter died, but there’s still an innocent person serving as a substitute!” Seeing Suzhen remain silent, Gu Nanguang began to despair and suddenly stood up.
His forehead was bruised purple and red, flesh and blood a blur, but he paid no attention. Gripping the petition he’d dropped earlier, his gaze nearly mad, both hands clenched into fists, shouting loudly.
“Judicial Officer Li, please help this lord. He looks so pitiful…”
“Is Judicial Officer Li afraid of offending the powerful?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. How could Judicial Officer Li be that kind of person? Which of the previous cases wasn’t a major case? How few powerful people has he offended?”
“But why this time…”
“Be at ease. Judicial Officer Li will definitely take the case. He’s just judging the case situation now.”
People on both sides, with doubtful expressions, stared intently at Suzhen.
“What kind of character and decisiveness your father had in his conduct—how are you so unlike him…” Gu Nanguang, weeping bitterly, glared angrily at Suzhen.
Suzhen’s identity was well known to court officials, but openly stating it on the street for common people to know wasn’t good—the Feng family were traitors!
Li Zhaoting’s gaze moved as he spoke to stop him: “Lord Gu, your love for your daughter has made you mad!”
“Since you two are guards of the Court of Judicial Review, why don’t you pull him away?” He looked lightly at Zhuiming and Tieshou.
Having accompanied Suzhen all this way, those two had long ceased to be the young men who acted only on hot blood years ago, without considering consequences or the big picture. Seeing Suzhen not move, knowing she must have concerns, they immediately stepped forward to pull the man away upon hearing this.
Only after restraining him did they realize they had somehow followed Li Zhaoting’s orders.
“Let’s go. We’ve seen enough of this show. If we don’t go to court soon, we’ll be late.”
Quan Feitong also spoke to call Suzhen, his voice somewhat cold, his gaze deep and dark, not knowing what he was thinking.
Suzhen didn’t immediately step forward, her brows furrowed so tight they seemed able to wring out water. The surrounding people were no longer as noisy as before, seeming to look at her with some fear. Because this Judicial Officer Li who pleaded for the people was indifferent this time, becoming unfamiliarly calculating.
“You wonder why Judicial Officer Li won’t take this case? It’s simple. Previous cases all had the Emperor’s protection. This time, the Emperor’s attitude is so strange—how dare he take it?”
A loud voice rang out. At this moment, someone laughed and emerged from the crowd.
“When they need people’s support, from ancient times to now, from rulers to ministers, they’re probably all full of talk about serving country and people. But when it really involves their own interests, then it’s every man for himself.” With that, the laughter stopped.
This was a scholar who looked to be in his early forties, extremely handsome, quite striking. Looking closely, he had a somewhat powdered air, but unlike those weak men with effeminate behavior and appearance who made people uncomfortable.
This person had very sharp eyes that gave Suzhen a very bad feeling. Moreover, she clearly noticed that Quan Feitong and Li Zhaoting beside her had both slightly changed expressions, especially Quan Feitong.
What made her even more uneasy was that in the crowd, someone seemed to have been staring at her. When this person emerged earlier, she thought it was those eyes, but it clearly wasn’t. That slippery, sinister coldness like a poisonous snake’s tongue still felt like thorns in her back.
Imperial Palace
In the Golden Phoenix Hall, today Wei Chenghui, Grand Tutor Wei, was also late, but at least arrived before court began.
Lian Yu said coldly: “Since we’re late, let’s not wait. Prepare for morning court.”
The ministers secretly glanced at the three empty positions in the hall—two in the civil official ranks, one in the military official ranks.
The struggle between the Quan faction led by Quan Feitong and the Royalist faction led by Lian Yu was becoming increasingly murky. From initial sparks to Lian Yu’s growing strength making it more intense, to now seeming to tend toward calm, everyone understood that the undercurrent had never subsided and could surge up at any time, just waiting for the day when momentum would explode. It just depended on who struck first.
But no matter how fierce the open and covert struggles, no matter how wild Quan Feitong usually was, he wouldn’t absent himself from court without reason and without reporting. Moreover, today’s court discussion would probably be far from simple.
Behind the dragon throne, pearl curtains hung down. Empress Dowager Xiao’an came out to listen to government, with Princess Imperial Lian Yue on her right and Princess Lian Xin on her left. Beside Lian Xin also stood Murong Jin and Gu Xiluo.