Lord Shen of Great Qian’s Ministry of Justice, who supervised Zongzheng affairs, had always been strict in investigating cases and showed no mercy to the powerful. His appearance in this courtroom wasn’t strange—after all, the Lin’an yamen was also under the Ministry of Justice’s jurisdiction.

However, his arrival was so swift, even carrying a trace of anger—

Ruyi found it hard not to think he was worried about her.

Someone who seemed quite stubborn had quite a soft heart after all.

She raised her eyebrows.

“Sir!” The judge came out in panic to greet him with a bow. “What brings you here?”

“Just now, Miss Liu mentioned the Huixian Wine House case.” Shen Qiyuan walked past him, glancing at the documents on the secretary’s desk. “If I remember correctly, it was transferred to the Ministry of Justice long ago.”

“Yes, yes.” The judge nodded. “Marquis Ningyuan provided new clues for this. I was just planning to submit it along with the case files.”

He respectfully placed He Zeyou’s testimony before him.

Shen Qiyuan sat behind the bench, scanning it once before tapping the characters on the scroll: “The deceased, Manager Rong, died on the stormy night of the seventh day of the seventh month. Who was the proprietor of Huixian Wine House at that time?”

He Zeyou reluctantly stood and perfunctorily bowed: “It was me.”

Shen Qiyuan looked at him sharply: “Then why did you say the proprietor was Miss Liu, and that she instructed Manager Xu to kill and hide the body?”

He Zeyou was defiant: “The case at Huixian Wine House was reported on the ninth day of the seventh month. What grounds does Sir have for saying the deceased died on the seventh? The servers at the wine house saw it—the corpse hadn’t decayed.”

Shen Qiyuan sneered coldly: “Do you know what Huixian Wine House’s specialty dish is?”

“Of course I know—steamed white immortal fish.” He Zeyou lifted his chin. “I specifically had people transport that fish from Xiuzhou. The meat is extremely delicious.”

“White immortal fish live in cold pools and die without ice.” Shen Qiyuan said. “You must have built an ice cellar for them.”

“Exactly.” He Zeyou nodded. “It’s underground behind the kitchen courtyard.”

That was it then.

Shen Qiyuan waved his hand, and someone presented a dried fish two fingers wide.

“This is a white immortal fish I found beside the deceased’s body.” He looked up. “The server said the deceased went to the third floor that day but ordered no dishes. So, where did this fish that died of dehydration come from?”

He Zeyou frowned: “How would I know?”

The judge pondered: “Sir’s meaning is that the deceased went to that fish-keeping ice cellar, and because his clothes were loose, accidentally brought along a fish?”

“No, he was moved to the ice cellar after death.” He said.

A living person wouldn’t fail to notice movement on their body—only the dead are completely unaware.

The corpse must have been stored in the ice cellar for quite some time. A fish happened to fall into his sleeve pocket, and the murderer didn’t look carefully when moving the body.

“According to Sir’s theory, the murderer first killed the person, then moved the body to the ice cellar, then moved it back to the third floor?” He Zeyou scoffed. “Don’t you think that’s unnecessary?”

Shen Qiyuan looked at him with profound eyes: “Based on the third floor’s condition, that wasn’t the primary crime scene.”

Manager Rong died from scissors piercing his chest. Logically, there should be splattered blood at the scene, but when he searched, the floor of that third-floor private room was completely clean, not a drop of blood. The murderer seemed to have killed elsewhere, then hidden the corpse, and finally arranged a locked room.

“According to our search, the leftmost room on the second floor showed signs of struggle. Though the floor had been cleaned, some bloodstains had seeped into the stool surface and couldn’t be wiped away. We also found a large decorative red wooden chest in the room with extensive bloodstains inside.”

The judge suddenly understood: “So the murderer killed the person, used the wooden chest to hide and transport the corpse, then used the ice cellar to confuse the time of death, proving they weren’t at the scene and had no motive?”

But he was confused: “When the body was discovered, the room’s doors and windows were all barred from inside. How did the murderer place the body inside without being detected?”

Shen Qiyuan nodded: “I couldn’t figure this out either, until the thunderstorm the day before yesterday when Huixian Wine House’s roof broke again.”

According to the server, the manager had already hired a mason to repair the roof once, on the night of the eighth day of the seventh month.

In just a few days, a properly repaired roof couldn’t possibly leak again.

Unless the person who came that time wasn’t a proper mason at all.

“Someone come.” Shen Qiyuan said. “Summon Manager Xu.”

Manager Xu was brought in chains and knelt directly in the hall.

Shen Qiyuan gazed at him intently: “I charge you as an accomplice. Do you admit it?”

Manager Xu wanted to refute, but seeing who sat in the hall, his heart trembled. After stammering for a long time, he could only hang his head: “I admit it, but sir, I only took money to provide convenience. My crime doesn’t warrant death.”

Huixian Wine House had always been favored by black market sellers. Though risky, those people gave him generous rewards, so he turned a blind eye.

When he heard the whistle that day, Manager Xu knew someone had broken the rules and lost their life. But when the seller threw him a hundred taels of silver, he couldn’t refuse, so he lent his wooden chest and ice cellar for transporting and hiding the corpse.

“Sir is right—the corpse was indeed placed there on the night of the eighth when the roof was being ‘repaired.'” Manager Xu trembled. “But I didn’t kill anyone or help with the killing. I’m innocent! Now that the murderer is dead too, one life for another. Please show me mercy, sir.”

After speaking, he kowtowed repeatedly.

Shen Qiyuan remained unmoved: “According to Great Qian law, those who assist in killing, hiding corpses, transporting corpses while knowing the truth are all accomplices, punishable by fifty strokes and exile to Leizhou.”

Manager Xu panicked.

“However—” Shen Qiyuan’s tone shifted, “if you can identify several more people who regularly conducted business at your wine house, the exile punishment can be pardoned.”

Fifty strokes followed by exile to Leizhou was almost equivalent to death, but betraying those people would also cost him his life.

Manager Xu covered his face and wept bitterly.

Shen Qiyuan turned his head indifferently, looking at He Zeyou: “Since he knew, then as the former proprietor of Huixian Wine House, the marquis should also know.”

He Zeyou’s face paled: “Sir, don’t frame me out of personal grudges.”

“Personal grudges?” He was puzzled. “What personal grudges do I have with you?”

He Zeyou snorted: “All of Lin’an knows Liu Ruyi admires this marquis devotedly. Since you have designs on her, naturally, you can’t tolerate me.”

He spoke with complete confidence, even lifting his chin.

Ruyi, who had been watching the excitement with great interest, slowly developed a question mark above her head.

She looked at the proud Marquis Ningyuan, then at Shen Qiyuan, whose face had darkened halfway, and spoke seriously: “Bronze mirrors at the eastern market cost fifty wen each.”

He Zeyou frowned: “What do you mean?”

“Lord Shen has the beauty of Pan An and Wei Jie, outshining all without adornment, capable of solving strange cases through literature and eliminating treacherous officials through martial prowess, surpassing the marquis in every way.” She sighed. “For the marquis to compare himself to his lordship is truly like fish eyes seeing pearls, a dying lamp mocking the moon.”