"This... well, the judgnt docunt, of course, wouldn’t co so quickly. Besides, what Doctor Su has said is very accurate - the accused naturally have relatives and friends too. It’s not like people are born and raised from the land itself."
Lord Zhang grunted and glared fiercely back at Registrar Liew.
Everyone present was a person of official status; nobody could fool anybody.
For significant cases in the provinces, local officials would report them to higher levels of governnt. These cases would then pass through Shangfeng, being presented to the Ministry of Personnel, where they were reviewed by ministry officials before finally reaching His Majesty. After that, the edicts would be issued at various levels, with the death row prisoners being sent to the Capital City for execution after the autumn.
As soon as Su Pan’er finished speaking, Qin Yi couldn’t help but give her a thumbs-up.
A sense of pride filled Jun Ruoxue’s face.
Look at that! This is my brilliant Sister Pan’er who is not only capable but also eloquent.
Truly a remarkable woman who is both beautiful and wise!
"Lord Zhang, I guess you’ve not t Doctor Su yet?"
Inspector Liu stepped forward, introducing with an inscrutable smile, "She’s a trusted aide of Magistrate Cao, a royal appointee and an extraordinary healer. The thod of planting cowpox to prevent smallpox is her innovation! Even His Majesty has given her a thumbs-up of approval!"
"So you are the lead advocate of cowpox? My apologies for my ignorance."
Zhang Xin was genuinely surprised, examining Su Pan’er closely, "I’ve been blind not to recognize the greatness before , I’m truly ashad, ashad!"
"You’re being too kind, sir."
Su Pan’er responded indifferently.
"Lord Zhang, you should keep your subordinates in check; stepping over the line is a significant taboo when it cos to staffing practices by the Imperial Court."
Inspector Liu emphasized with righteous conviction, "Besides, since Lui Muyi is just a suspect now and given that he’s a resident of Yongze, as an official who plays the role of parent to the people of Yongze, it’s natural that I’d question this. Where exactly is the suspect being held? Could we look into the situation?"
"Well, I’m getting on in my years, and I haven’t been feeling well lately. This case has been managed by Registrar Bai."
Zhang Xin’s forehead was covered with a thin layer of sweat—not just because of the heat, but because he was nervous.
Although Inspector Liu holds a lower position than himself, he is a relative of Magistrate Cao who is the royal appointee, so the case cannot be dealt with simply based on ranks. His seemingly vigorous defense of Doctor Su implies that he’s acting by Lord Cao’s orders. If this issue gets ssed up, it could lead to big trouble.
He hurriedly turned to Registrar Bai, signaling him with his eyes, "Explain to them in detail how this case was handled and what the outco was!"
"This... this matter, sir! Wasn’t the accused sent off for hard labor? Shouldn’t we bring him back first so the lordships can interrogate him?"
Registrar Bai’s complexion instantly darkened a bit. His eyes, like a dead fish’s, kept rolling upwards, showing a desperate expression.
Zhang Xin huffed, "Since the prisoner is not in the county governnt office, can’t you explain the specifics to the officials here?"
Registrar Bai’s eyes flickered, and he swiftly responded with a hearty laugh, "My lords, you must be exhausted from your long journey. Why not rest at the postal relay station first? I will imdiately send the dossier to the relay station for your careful review. If you’re genuinely in a hurry, I can instruct my n to bring the dossier here."
Inspector Liu glanced at Su Pan’er, noticing her sowhat anxious look and imdiately responded, "This is a matter of life and death, as a parent official, it’s my duty to resolve the citizens’ worries regardless of my fatigue. Registrar Bai, you’d better quickly instruct soone to bring the dossier."
"Absolutely, Lord Liu’s love for people is comndable, I admire it greatly! I will imdiately send for it."
Registrar Bai complinted, half-heartedly smiling, and hurriedly ordered a governnt employee to fetch the dossier.
"Humph! I’ll give you credit for knowing what’s good for you!"
Jun Ruoxue murmured, "He’s just a minor local official, yet he dares to be so presumptuous. There’s no respect for the rule of law anymore. Co, Sister Pan’er, let’s sit and enjoy so lon while we watch what other excuses he cos up with."
She clearly hugged Su Pan’er’s arm, deliberately tugging at it.
Su Pan’er complied and sat down, "You’re not wrong. After all that talking, I’m actually quite thirsty."
Saying that, she picked up a slice of waterlon and leisurely began to eat it.
Inspector Liu shook his head while looking at Zhang Xin, showing a face full of regret, "Lord Zhang, you have to ponder on this! These are matters of life and death. Even if you delegate the duty of case investigation to your subordinates, you still ought to supervise them. Any mistake could lead to trouble. If you’re genuinely unwell, you should take a good rest. If a major incident really happens one day, it would be much more than just trouble."
"Yes, yes, thank you Lord Liu for your reminder."
Zhang Xin shook his head and sighed, "In fact, these duties were always personally overseen by , and I dared not slacken in the slightest. But now, due to the severe epidemic, I’ve had to focus all my energy on saving people’s lives and preventing the spread of the disease. Therefore, I’ve been sowhat negligent, giving Lord Liu cause for amusent."
This statent evidently pacified Liu sowhat, "In that case, it’s sowhat excusable. But, Lord Zhang, you’ve to be more cautious in the future."
"Thank you for your reminder, Lord Liu. I won’t be careless again."
Zhang Xin’s face was full of smiles, but he was secretly wiping the sweat off his forehead.
After a short while, the courier brought the dossier. Following Liu Xin’s implied hint, he directly delivered it to Jun Ruoxue.
Jun Ruoxue hurriedly accepted the dossier and carefully examined it.
Su Pan’er leaned in, quickly skimd through it, and roughly understood the beginning and end of Lui Muyi’s case.
The original plaintiff of the case, a man surnad Shi, went to the governnt office and beat the drum to air his grievances. He brought charges against his son-in-law, accusing him of harming his daughter, Lu’er. The reason being, the son-in-law had beaten and abused his daughter multiple tis, who had arranged to et with him but went missing for several days. This brought about the appeal to the governnt office.
Recorded in the case file, Lord Zhang heard this case in court and finally decided not to initiate any investigation based on the principle that "the living need to appear alive, the dead need to have a body".
But the case didn’t end there.
Two days later, soone discovered a female corpse by the river bank being torn apart by several vicious dogs. They hurriedly reported this to the officials. The governnt office promptly sent people to confirm the details.
They found that the woman had died of suffocation and after death, was tied with stones and sunk in the river. But by divine intervention, her body unexpectedly floated to the surface, and it was even torn apart by a few vicious dogs, her face gnawed beyond recognition.
The county quickly issued a notice and called in mbers from every household who had reported a missing person in the county for questioning. The old man surnad Shi recognized his daughter, who had been missing for several days, from the bracelet she was wearing.
Only then was the case formally filed.
Based on the testimony provided by the old man nad Shi, the officer soon arrested his son-in-law with the surna Chang. Surprisingly, this blacksmith surnad Chang flatly denied the murder. He reasoned that he and his wife had not seen each other for over a month. At the sa ti, he ntioned that the reason for his assault on Lu’er was because she had a lover outside and often did not return ho, even clamoring to divorce him.
He figured this was a family disgrace and firmly disagreed with the divorce no matter what. However, he was unexpectedly bitten by his father-in-law.
The case stalled at this point, but the man surnad Chang stated that he had personally seen Lu’er entering and leaving the small courtyard with that man.
Following the sketch provided by the man, they quickly identified the suspect: Lui Muyi!
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