Episode 228

Zhao Zhi’s expression was solemn, his voice icy and his back straight. His smile was not from the heart, his authoritativeness obvious, his royal elegance outstanding. He was definitely here with an agenda that none of the people in the room welcomed, but he wasn’t going to let them go until he had achieved his aim.

Nobody dared to take him lightly.

Everyone kept their eyes to themselves. The atmosphere was incredibly tense.

“Even though the Lin Feizhou case occurred first and the Lv Mingyue case happened later, the Lv Mingyue case is a lot more complex and difficult to explain despite how simple it seems. It is hard for me not to prioritize it…”

Zhao Zhi scanned the group in front of him and both paused and dragged his words out in certain places for emphasis. He had glossed over Lin Feizhou’s name, but mentioned Lv Mingyue’s more times.

Everyone had different expressions on their faces.

They didn’t expect this case to come first. Had Zhao Zhi discovered some discriminating evidence so he could close the case already?

Only Zuo Xiuwen raised an eyebrow slightly. The rest of his body was relaxed.

But to his surprise, Zhao Zhi turned toward him and asked, “Vice commissioner of the census bureau, Zuo Xiuwen, did you kill Lin Feizhou?”

Zuo Xiuwen got a shock.

Wasn’t Zhao Zhi going to talk about Lv Mingyue’s case first? Why did he suddenly talk about Lin Feizhou, and why was he accusing him of being the killer?

Zuo Xiuwen’s change in expression was very exciting to watch, but while most others in the room weren’t looking at him, Song Caitang and Qi Yan had spotted those changes clearly, since their eye had been on him right from the start.

Qi Yan nearly leaped up from his stool and threw his fan on Zuo Xiuwen’s face. He wished he could yell, Brother Zhi, it’s him! It’s definitely him!

Song Caitang slowly put down the teacup in her hand and looked at the man sitting in the high chair.

Zhao Zhi was really clever.

While clues and evidence were very important to cracking a case, the way one questioned suspects was very important too. If you could do that well, you’d save yourself a lot of effort.

Before this, she thought that Wen Yuansi was the truly impressive one in this aspect. Wen Yuansi was always seen as a mild mannered gentleman, yet he was able to challenge others and drive a wedge between people without anyone noticing, and take control of the situation despite all the niceties he was saying…

It turned out that Zhao Zhi was no less impressive. In fact, Zhao Zhi was even better.

He was born with a domineering aura to begin with, so while it was hard for others to endear themselves to him, it was easy for him to scare others. If this trait was used well, it would help in judging and solving cases more quickly and more accurately.

Why… had she not noticed this?

When she thought about it carefully, she realized that Zhao Zhi had been extremely helpful in every case. From finding clues, confirming its veracity, digging deeper, questioning people related to the case… Any information that came to her would already have been properly sorted out. The pieces might not seem connected, but they were placed in a logical order so that she could think clearly and think of more possibilities.

This man enjoyed working behind the scenes.

For example, when he questioned some of the suspects, especially the difficult ones, he never showed her how he did it.

Song Caitang’s gaze flickered as she stared at Zhao Zhi’s profile against the sunlight. His strong jawline, his thick brows, his high nose… She suddenly realized that she rarely looked at Zhao Zhi properly.

This man had eyes as beautiful as a painting’s. He was actually really handsome.

Zuo Xiuwen was stunned for only a second and reacted fairly quickly. He furrowed his brows angrily and said, “My lord, I didn’t even know who that Lin Feizhou was. Why would I want to kill him?”

“But you were very familiar with Lv Mingyue,” Zhao Zhi folded his arms slowly and rested them on his abdomen. He narrowed his eyes and spoke with authority, “Someone so precious to you was being harassed by this unknown boy. You couldn’t stand it and killed him because of her. That makes perfect sense.

Zuo Xiuwen was even angrier. “But I didn’t know about them!”

His arms were in the air as he waved them about angrily. He was clearly furious. At the same time, he threw Li Zhengzhi a nasty glare.

That happened in less than a second, so if you weren’t watching him closely, you wouldn’t have noticed it at all.

“Lv Mingyue was the one who approached me and I thought she looked pretty okay, plus she was young and adorable, so I paid her some attention. I didn’t even accord her any status! I wasn’t serious about her! Why would I kill for her?!”

Zuo Xiuwen felt like his explanation wasn’t enough, so he threw Madam Yu a glance to motion to her to help.

Madam Yu knew what to do. No matter how messy her family situation really was, as long as they were in the public eye, she had to stand on her husband’s side. After all, if something untoward happened to her husband, how was she going to live in the future?

She took a step forward and bowed deeply to Zhao Zhi. “My lord, please hear me out. My husband really did not know anything about Lv Mingyue and Lin Feizhou. If you don’t believe us, you can ask Li Maocai.”

“He had accepted payment from me to help me follow Lv Mingyue around. He would have seen my husband from time to time as well. If my husband knew about their relationship, he wouldn’t have behaved this way.”

“Oh, I see.” Zhao Zhi turned toward Li Maocai. “You tell me then. Did Mr. Zuo know about Lv Mingyue and Lin Feizhou?”

Li Maocai’s face was pale as he fell to his knees. “I… this has to do with a murder case, I… dare not speak…”

Madam Yu’s hands were trembling. “Li Maocai, you’re standing before the commandery prince in the court! You must not lie!”

Zhao Zhi tapped a finger against the back of his other palm and said in a gentler voice, “No need to panic. You just need to tell me the truth.”

Li Maocai raised his head to look at Zhao Zhi and nodded. “Based on my observations, Mr. Zuo doesn’t know about this at all. When he met with Lv Mingyue in that house, he did not express any knowledge of this matter. There was also once when Mr. Zuo and Lin Feizhou ran into each other on the streets. They bumped into each other by accident and Mr. Zuo did not seem affected at all… If he knew, he wouldn’t have let Lin Feizhou off so easily. Mr. Zuo just kept walking and didn’t even take a second look at Lin Feizhou.”

Zuo Xiuwen stroked his black beard and seemed rather pleased. “My lord, as you can see, I have nothing to do with this case. When Lin Feizhou died, I merely happened to be there. As for Lv Mingyue’s case, accusing me would be even more ridiculous because I have an alibi. You can check – I was at home all night and did not go out at all.”

“I heard that Lin Feizhou died because Lv Mingyue had killed him out of anger toward him or something, then she killed herself because she couldn’t take the shock of what she had done and left a suicide note behind. The facts are all there and we could have closed this case a long time ago. Why do you insist on digging further and questioning us? Is there a point?”

He narrowed his eyes and gave Zhao Zhi a vicious glare. “Are you so obsessed with this case because you have some other special aim in mind?”

There could be some political infighting going on, so people were splitting into factions and putting certain people down in order to climb the ladder…

Zuo Xiuwen was implying that Zhao Zhi had a personal agenda for doing this. That he was deliberately stepping on other officials for personal gain.

The atmosphere in the hall was already very tense. It only got worse after he said these words.

Madam Yu even gasped and stared at her husband in horror.

Zhao Zhi was a relative of the emperor, a favorite of the emperor, a close brother to the crown prince. This was a man with tremendous power! How could her husband say something like that?!

But Zhao Zhi’s lips curled into a smile and he started applauding the man.

“Interesting. This is the first time I’ve seen someone go all out for another person. You’ve been manipulated and played out, yet you’re still so loyal and you’re still fighting so hard.”

Zuo Xiuwen looked wary. “What do you mean?”

Could it be…

He simply could not help but look at Li Zhengzhi.

Li Zhengzhi folded his arms and kept his arms inside his sleeve. He did not look at Zuo Xiuwen or anybody else. He seemed completely relaxed.

Zhao Zhi raised his left arm and shouted, “Bring it in!”

Guards brought a tray forward.

A dagger lay on a light brown wooden tray. It was four inches long, less than an inch wide. The shape of the blade was smooth and seemed even sharper as it reflected the sunshine. The handle was three inches long and a complex design was carved into it. It wasn’t the most intricate or the most luxurious of knives, but it was clear that this made for a good weapon. If stabbed into a body, that person would die.

Everyone connected to the case recognized this knife. This was the knife that killed Lin Feizhou.

Zuo Xiuwen’s gaze darkened. “What do you mean by this?”

Zhao Zhi looked back at him. “This is the weapon from Lin Feizhou’s case. Do you recognize this knife?”

“I don’t. Never seen it before,” Zuo Xiuwen denied it immediately. “It has nothing to do with me.”

Zhao Zhi’s lips curled upward slightly. “Didn’t the person who gave you this knife say… ‘I bought this from elsewhere through a secret channel, so nobody will be able to find out. And even if we’re unlucky enough to be found out, any traces would lead only to me and will have nothing to do with you.’”

When he said these words, Zuo Xiuwen’s heart instantly started pounding wildly and his eyes widened.

How could Zhao Zhi have known about this? It came out during his investigation?

But how? That was impossible. Zhao Zhi couldn’t have found out…

“If you don’t want someone to find out what you’ve done, the only way is to not do it at all. There’s nothing that can’t be found. This knife uses ordinary materials and the workmanship is average. It’s not expensive and it’s common in the marketplace, but the person who made it is special. It was made in a shop that belongs to a man who used to be a servant of the Zuo household but was allowed to leave and start his own business.”

Zhao Zhi raised his brows and continued, “The fact that you willingly released this servant and his business is doing well shows that he’s a very special servant. You trust him more than anybody else and he’s very loyal to you.”

Zuo Xiuwen flew into a rage. “No! I don’t believe you! Someone must have planted this evidence!”

“According to law, every metalsmith must mark their work with a logo. Even if one tries to erase it, traces of it can still be found.”

As Zhao Zhi said these words, a guard showed the logo on one end of the blade as well as the bottom of the handle to Zuo Xiuwen.

Zuo Xiuwen’s eye twitched and he overturned the tray. “I don’t want to see it! You’ve arranged for this!”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Mr. Zuo.” Qi Yan couldn’t hold it in anymore. His eyes sparkled as he interjected gleefully, “We didn’t actually find this, really. The authorities have so much work to do and it would have taken too much time to slowly investigate every detail. We found out where this knife came from thanks to Mr. Ji Yuanjia.”

Zuo Xiuwen narrowed his eyes. “Ji Yuanjia?”

Madam Gu’s son?

Qi Yan sighed as he shook his head. “He’s trying to save a loved one from the death sentence. Of course he’d do everything it takes.”

Zuo Xiuwen’s pupils trembled as he did his best not to turn toward Li Zhengzhi. But it was clear that he was already emotionally affected.

Zhao Zhi smiled. Half his face was in the light but the other half was in the shadows, making his smile look very sinister. “Mr. Zuo, have you ever thought about why Ji Yuanjia was able to find this shop? Besides the fact that he’s clever and he’s determined to save his mother, what else is there?”

Zuo Xiuwen did not speak.

“Because it wasn’t difficult to. Perhaps some people involved in this case didn’t want to hide any of these things to begin with.”

Zhao Zhi tapped his fingers against the table. His expression clearly said, we’ve caught you this time.

Zuo Xiuwen froze, then glared nastily at Li Zhengzhi.

But Li Zhengzhi kept his hands in his sleeves and closed his eyes. He remained expressionless.

Zuo Xiuwen clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He let out a snort, but did not speak.

Qi Yan exchanged glances with Zhao Zhi. Zhao Zhi gave him a nod and Qi Yan got really excited.

He stood up and fanned himself as he walked toward Zuo Xiuwen and looked the older man up and down. “Speaking of which, on the day that Lin Feizhou died, what did you wear to Zhaoze temple? What color was it? What style was it in?”

Zuo Xiuwen narrowed his eyes. “I’m not as vain as a woman like you are, Mr. Qi. You might remember exactly how many clothes you have and what color they are. As for me, it’ll be faster to check with my servant instead.”

“Oh, sure!” Qi Yan folded his fan again. “Summon Zuo Xiuwen’s servant!”

The veins on Zuo Xiuwen’s temples throbbed when he saw his servant being led into the court with an uneasy look on his face and restless arms.

Qi Yan squatted down in front of the servant who had knelt down. “Tell me then. On the day of the ritual at Zhaoze Temple, the day that Lin Feizhou died. What was your Master wearing, what color was it, what style was it in, where are those clothes now. Do not try to lie to me. Many people saw your Master that day.”