Preparing for a meeting.
Discussing what crime to assign Mumu?
An accomplice?
Or a witness?
“Actually, that Mumu can’t really be considered an accomplice. After all, she didn’t know Yu Wang would kill someone, so she can’t be convicted.” Someone said.
Someone immediately responded, “But if not for her, the murder wouldn’t have happened. Though she doesn’t seem like an accomplice, ultimately this case arose because of her. So this crime cannot be light.”
Each held their own opinion.
If Mumu was merely a witness, for the Ministry of Justice to convict her would indeed be unreasonable! But looking at it from another angle, she was the one who drugged Hua Ling and sent her to Yu Wang’s room. And clearly seeing through the window that Yu Wang was strangling Hua Ling’s neck, she didn’t go in to stop it. So in this case, she also constituted a crime.
Minister Li was troubled. This case really didn’t know how to judge?
In the end, he could only turn his gaze toward Ji Yunshu, inquiring her opinion.
But Ji Yunshu had remained silent ever since entering.
“Minister Ji, since you took over this case, how should it be judged? Do you have any opinions?”
She shook her head.
Several Ministry of Justice officials looked at each other, thinking: What’s wrong with Minister Ji?
So they began discussing again.
In the end, they judged Mumu with the crime of “accomplice”—fifty strokes of the cane and three years’ imprisonment.
Decided!
Written into the case file and submitted to the Court of Judicial Review for re-examination.
But when the Ministry of Justice finished writing the case file and was about to have someone deliver it to the Court of Judicial Review, Ji Yunshu took on this task herself.
And said, “I’ll personally make a trip to the Court of Judicial Review.”
Minister Li didn’t say anything and nodded in agreement.
When Ji Yunshu arrived at the Court of Judicial Review, she discovered that although Wang Ye had only taken office two days ago, he had already replaced all the original guards of the Court of Judicial Review one by one, transferring all those who had followed Minister Yu Dali elsewhere.
A new official taking office—this wasn’t unusual.
Learning that Ji Yunshu had personally delivered the case file, Wang Ye welcomed her into the inner hall, serving fine tea and refreshments.
“For such a small matter, why did Minister Ji come personally? You could have just sent a minor clerk to deliver it.” Wang Ye was polite and courteous to her.
Ji Yunshu smiled politely. “Minister Wang has just taken office. I also wanted to come and offer congratulations.”
“Too kind, too kind.”
“I wonder if Minister Wang has adapted? After all, you previously held office in the Ministry of Works. Now entering the Court of Judicial Review, the matters you oversee are also different.”
Wang Ye said with a laugh, “His Majesty values me highly, allowing me to assume the position of Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. As a subject, naturally I must exert all my efforts.”
She took a sip of tea.
Wang Ye thought to himself: One doesn’t visit the temple without a reason. Minister Ji coming here this time couldn’t possibly be just to offer congratulations.
I’m afraid… there’s great mystery here!
Sure enough, Ji Yunshu suddenly asked with interest, “By the way, Minister Wang, I heard that the repair work on the Yu residence back then was approved by you, and you ordered people to handle it. Is that correct?”
Wang Ye didn’t know why she was asking about this, but nodded. “That’s correct. I dispatched people to do the repairs, and I supervised it. But I don’t quite understand Minister Ji’s meaning?”
“Minister Wang, don’t misunderstand. I’m just curious. This time the wall of the Yu residence’s main building collapsed—I heard it was because of problems with the wall materials. I wonder if this is true or false?” Ji Yunshu’s words carried implications, subtly mocking Wang Ye for cutting corners and embezzling funds during the process.
She just didn’t say it directly.
But upon hearing this, Wang Ye’s expression immediately stiffened. He wasn’t stupid either—of course he understood Ji Yunshu’s meaning.
As expected, Minister Ji had come with intention.
He became somewhat anxious. “I don’t know who’s spreading such nonsense, actually circulating such groundless matters. Back then, the materials used to repair the Yu residence were all top quality. This wall collapse must have other reasons.”
Ji Yunshu adopted a gossipy manner. “Oh? If it’s not a materials problem, then what would it be?”
“There are too many external factors. Minister Ji is a layperson and naturally wouldn’t understand. Moreover, when the work was completed, I personally inspected it. That wall had absolutely no problems.” He stated with great certainty.
“Are you certain?”
Wang Ye hesitated. Ji Yunshu’s successive questions made him begin to doubt himself, so he tried hard to recall. “The day we finished work and removed the scaffolding, I personally went to the site to inspect. I also carefully checked everywhere. Because there were no problems, I ordered the scaffolding removed.”
After he finished speaking, Ji Yunshu smiled.
This smile left Wang Ye bewildered. He furrowed his brow and asked, “Why is Minister Ji suddenly asking about these things?”
She said, “Minister Wang, don’t blame me for being nosy. According to what I know, that wall in the main building where the corpse was buried was already completed three days before you removed the scaffolding. But the deceased died the day before you removed the scaffolding. That means if the murderer wanted to brick the body into the wall, they would need to chisel open that wall again and then re-brick it. But when an entire wall has a hole chiseled in it and then resealed, even the blindest person couldn’t fail to see something abnormal, right? So when Minister Wang inspected at that time, you didn’t discover anything?”
Expressing doubt!
Ah!
Wang Ye wasn’t so much nervous as he seemed to have suddenly had his vital point struck by Ji Yunshu.
He: “…”
Ji Yunshu: “Minister Wang, think carefully again now. Are you still certain that wall had no problems? If you clearly knew there were problems, why didn’t Minister Wang promptly have people repair it again? Instead, you still ordered completion and removed the scaffolding. Was it because Minister Wang found it troublesome and didn’t want to start work again? Or is it… that there really were problems with the materials, and if work resumed for repairs, you were afraid people would discover the problems, so you simply let it be?”
She was clearly “leading” him, intentionally guiding Wang Ye to say what she wanted to hear!
And if he wasn’t careful, Wang Ye would fall into her trap!
Wang Ye said with a worried and distressed expression, “Minister Ji, your words are too harsh! That wall at the time indeed had no abnormalities, and it was plastered very well—flat and even. There was no sign of it having been chiseled open. Moreover, the workers at that time can all testify, and even Minister Yu was on site. He inspected it together with me. Everyone in the court knows my relationship with him is tense. If there had been the slightest problem with the wall surface, he definitely would have seized on it and not let go. How could he have let me order completion? Furthermore, it was an official residence being repaired—that made it even more important not to be careless.”
His explanation was logical and coherent!
Ji Yunshu listened carefully and carefully, following his words to ask seriously again, “Then why, when the murderer chiseled a hole in the wall and bricked a corpse inside, could none of you people from the Ministry of Works see anything?”
From the question of materials, she gradually leaped to the Yu family murder case!
Wang Ye thought for a moment. “I suppose… the murderer must be a very skilled craftsman who knows the structure of walls extremely well. Otherwise, after bricking someone inside, he couldn’t have made the wall’s surface appear without the slightest abnormality.”
Haha.
What Ji Yunshu wanted was precisely this statement from Wang Ye! This was also exactly her purpose in coming here.