Nan Shiying no longer interfered with the Ministry of Justice's cases. She stayed in her study, occasionally hearing about events in the imperial court. After the morning court resumed, neither the civil nor military officials brought up the palace coup that day. As for the Ministry of Rites, Liu Ling's death had left Liu Yujing in such deep grief that he had not attended court for several days.
The matters concerning the year-end sacrifices were fully handled by the Vice Minister of Rites. Taking into account his sorrow over his son's death, Ji Hong did not overly reprimand him. After offering some comfort, he let the matter rest.
The Vice Minister of Rites managed the Ministry of Rites commendably, ensuring that the year-end sacrifices would not be delayed.
Zou Cheng, having been reprimanded at the morning court, had not rested well for days and looked extremely haggard. However, the deeper they investigated Liu Ling's case, the more convoluted it became, like a deep well from which skeletal remains could be unearthed at any moment, leaving him increasingly unable to sleep.
Feng Quan began by targeting Wang Er and managed to find some suspicious individuals. Further digging unearthed a trafficking ring. While this was an achievement, it seemed somewhat tangential at this point.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the Ministry of Justice's investigators, while probing Liu Ling's past, uncovered something.
Liu Ling had been involved in a murder.
Two years ago, Liu Ling had driven a respectable woman to her death. That woman had a brother who worked as a caravan guard.
The Ministry of Justice began to search for the whereabouts of the woman's brother and eventually discovered that he had gone into hiding, changed his appearance, and was now serving as a guard at the Liu residence.
Feng Quan immediately led his men to the Liu residence and apprehended the man. In his dwelling, they found a package wrapped in yellow paper, with a slip of paper attached bearing the words 'Floating Days Scattered'.
Caught red-handed.
Liu Yujing never expected that the murderer of his son was hiding within his own residence, and he was overcome with grief and rage.
Ministry of Justice.
Zou Cheng's pupils constricted instantly upon seeing the poison found by Feng Quan, as the calligraphy on the container struck him.
He took out the poison formula written by Feng Luan and compared the handwriting.
It was identical!
He concealed the tempest raging within his heart and began interrogating the prisoner, who did not quibble and directly confessed.
"Yes, I killed Liu Ling, but he deserved to die!"
"Two years ago, I was escorting a caravan, transporting a box of valuables to Lingnan. Shortly after I left home, Liu Ling saw my sister at Ba Shang. My sister... she was beautiful, and because her heart meridians were damaged at birth, she was frail. He... that beast, seeing that there was no man at home and my sister was... he wanted to forcibly assault my sister, which caused her to have a sudden relapse."
"But, but even so, that beast, that beast did not let my sister go. Even after my sister died, he still..."
"Shut up!"
"You are slandering my son, and I will make you wish you were dead!"
The man looked up sharply at Liu Yujing, and seeing his rage-filled, grief-stricken eyes, suddenly burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, slander? Do you not know what you have done, Lord Liu? You, our public official in Linyuan, to cover up your son's crimes, what did you do?"
"You threw my sister's body into the river!"
"Liu Yujing, is your son's life the only life that matters? Are the lives of us ordinary people not lives? Are we only meant to be bullied and toyed with like ants? Even in death, are we to be discarded like trash? You are angry? Grieving? On what grounds?"
Liu Yujing's reason had long been clouded by anger and grief. His eyes widened in fury as he roared, "My sister's life is not worthy of being compared to my son's life!"
Hearing this, Zou Cheng frowned.
"Hehehehe, but your son is also dead!" The man stared at Liu Yujing with a sinister gaze, a vicious smile on his face. "Do you know how much pain he was in before he died? Do you know how he begged me for mercy like a dog?"
"His screams were truly the most beautiful sound in the world!"
"I'll kill you!"
Listening to the man's account, Liu Yujing pictured Liu Ling's pained face at the moment of his death. He went mad, drawing the long saber from a constable's waist and lunging at the man.
The man made no move to dodge, only laughing maniacally.
Feng Quan, with quick reflexes, seized Liu Yujing's wrist and flicked his hand upwards, causing the saber to fly from Liu Yujing's grasp. Feng Quan caught the saber in return and flung it back towards the constable's waist.
"Lord Liu!"
Zou Cheng's face darkened, his voice chillingly stern: "I shall overlook Lord Liu's disruption of the court and attempt to commit assault, considering your grief over your son's passing. I also implore Lord Liu to control his emotions and refrain from impulsive actions, lest he be stripped of his official post."
Liu Yujing looked up abruptly at Zou Cheng, but in the face of Zou Cheng's almost icy gaze, he conceded.
He abruptly waved his sleeve and retreated to the side.
Seeing that Liu Yujing had calmed down, Zou Cheng continued his inquiry: "Since you claim your sister's body was thrown into the river, how did you come to know all this?"
"You should ask Lord Liu. With such a commotion, who in the vicinity doesn't know?"
"Moreover, although they threw my sister's body into the river, Heaven has eyes, and my sister's body got lodged in the rock crevices downstream."
Zou Cheng remained silent for two seconds before asking, "Do you know that Yuan Yi's body also got lodged in the rock crevices downstream?"
"Is that so? What a coincidence!"
"Did you kill Yuan Yi?"
"I did!"
"Why?"
"My sister's body was lodged in the rock crevices. After the villagers near the suburbs reported it, her body was sent to the Jingzhao Yin's office, where Yuan Yi performed the autopsy. The result of the autopsy was that my sister drowned!"
"That's impossible!"
The man chuckled, then turned to Liu Yujing and asked, "Lord Liu, did you bribe him or threaten him? I threatened him, using his granddaughter's life as a threat!"
"Then why did you kill him!"
"A dead man's mouth is the surest way to keep a secret, isn't it?"
"One last question... where did you get the poison?"
"I refined it myself."
"Where did you get the medicinal ingredients?"
"I bought them from a former colleague at a caravan company."
"Guards, bring him paper and brush."
Feng Quan placed the paper and brush before the man. Zou Cheng said, "Write down the formula for the poison."
The man glanced at Zou Cheng. He snapped the brush in half, gripped the broken section with its exposed sharp tip in his left hand, and forcefully plunged the brush into his right wrist.
The brush pierced his wrist, and blood dripped onto the ground. As if feeling no pain, the man smiled at Zou Cheng and said, "My hand is injured, so I cannot write."
"You..."
Zou Cheng suddenly stood up, his eyes wide with fury as he glared at the man.
"Guards, summon Feng Luan!"
Upon hearing that Zou Cheng intended to summon Feng Luan, a cold glint flashed in the man's eyes. He pulled out the brush, turned it, and forcefully plunged it into his own neck. Feng Quan, prepared, swung his saber, and with a flash of cold steel, the man's hand and wrist were severed, falling to the ground with a thud.
The man let out a pained howl.
At the same moment, a constable rushed in to report: "My lord, a woman claiming to be the prisoner's wife wishes to see you."
"Bring her in!"