Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 205 is full of loopholes
Shao Qingqing broke down in tears when she mentioned her mother.

Zhou Zhao stood up and raised an eyebrow at Li Mu standing at the door. "Lord Li, are you stopping me from reopening this old case because you know you were tortured into confessing?"

"Zhou Zhao, what are you saying? Chang Zuoping of your Left Academy is famous in Chang'an for his torture techniques. Are you going to say he's wrong?"

Upon hearing this, He Tingshi stroked his goatee with schadenfreude.

Chang Zuoping is in charge of the Left Courtyard. If Zhou Zhao says something wrong, she will offend him. Then we'll see how she handles herself in the Left Courtyard.

Zhou Zhao listened, his eyes widening in surprise. "Is Chang Zuoping your father? What does he do, you do? If he eats shit, would you eat it too? Can't you tell the difference between torture and forced confession? Tsk tsk, He Tingshi, no wonder your Right Court lost to the Left Court in the recent competition. You've got someone to drag you down!"

He Tingshi's smile froze on his face, and he almost bit off a tooth.

Since Zhou Zhao came to the Court of Justice, Li Youdao's backache and leg pain have disappeared, and he even has more energy to walk.

Their right courtyard even lost to the left courtyard for the first time ever, and Zhou Zhao bringing this up really hit a nerve.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, her expression turned serious. With a flick of her sleeve, she addressed Li Mu without any politeness.

"The case of Shao Qingqing's locked-room murder has many suspicious points, and I have taken on this case. Lord Li, you had better start praying for her safety in prison with three sticks of incense every day from now on, otherwise I will say that you killed her to cover it up."

Li Mu was instantly humiliated.

He stormed into the house in anger and walked up to Zhou Zhao. His once dark and honest face now looked extremely distorted.

“Zhou Zhao, you can overturn the case if you want. Besides Shao Qingqing’s unreliable testimony, do you have any other doubts or evidence? I, Li Mu, am upright and have nothing to hide. I have a clear conscience in this case and can withstand scrutiny.”

Li is upright and honest, why are you so petty? If you want to overturn the case, produce evidence and follow the rules. The Court of Justice is not a place for you to act recklessly.

"I may not be as skilled in martial arts as you, and I may not be as eloquent as you, but this is the Court of Judicial Review, a place for preaching the law."

Li Mu spoke with righteous indignation, his back straight and his hands clenched into fists.

If he were a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl, he would be the stubborn heroine in a storybook, but he is a middle-aged man.

Zhou Zhao, unusually, did not refute her. There was one point she agreed with: arguing with people was just to vent one's anger, but investigating cases still required adhering to the law.

"Lord Li, only you know whether you have a conscience or not. I originally intended to save face for you as colleagues, but since you asked, I will speak frankly. This case is full of loopholes, and your investigative methods also have many problems."

While Zhou Zhao was talking about Li Mu, his gaze was fixed on He Tingshi.

He Tingshi frowned in thought, not refuting Zhou Zhao, but instead reaching out to stop Li Mu, "What leakage is there?"

When the Court of Justice discusses cases, the main focus is on the severity of the sentence. For example, in this case, given that Shao Qingqing is the murderer, whether she should be sentenced to death is what they need to discuss. This is because each case becomes a precedent for similar cases, determining the leniency or severity of punishment in the Great Qi Dynasty.

They do not allow a person's life or death to be decided by any one person.

Unless that person is His Majesty.

This raises the question: the sentencing of Shao Qingqing to death cannot be interpreted as the Court of Justice members endorsing Li Mu.

"Shao Qingqing suddenly recanted her confession. If Li Mu had been so inclined, he could have determined when her confession was true by examining the order in which she killed the Cao family members and the details of the murders. But he didn't. After Shao Qingqing confessed, he immediately closed the case and concluded that she was the murderer."

When Zhou Zhao talked about the case, his expression was exceptionally serious.

"It's not that torture is unacceptable in investigations, but everyone involved in an investigation should keep the concept of 'forced confessions' etched in their mind. Murderers will lie to conceal the facts of the crime, and suspects will naturally confess indiscriminately because they cannot withstand the torture."

This needs careful verification, and clearly Lord Li did not. This is the first flaw in the investigative methods, and you have already heard the consequences.”

"Secondly, after Shao Qingqing confessed, the case file was closed and sentencing was determined."

Lord Li, have you figured out how Shao Qingqing, a weak woman who doesn't know martial arts, could sneak into the Cao family every three days and kill the men of the Cao family so quietly? Where did the copper basin come from? Where did the water come from? And where did the murder weapon, the handkerchief, come from?
The case file states that the victim was murdered in a locked room. When the body was discovered, the doors and windows were tightly closed. How did Shao Qingqing escape from the locked room?

What special method did she use to create this secret room?
The case file is very vague on this point. It seems that Lord Li, relying solely on catching her in the act, having a motive for murder, and Shao Qingqing's confession, concluded that she was the murderer without ever understanding the details of the killing.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he looked intently at Li Mu.

"Lord Li has been investigating cases in the local areas for many years, so he should know that this method of murder is very unusual. Ordinary people have never heard of it before. It is a secret method known only to the inner court and experts like us."

How did Shao Qingqing find out? Who guided her? Is there a second murderer in this case?

If you had asked, you would have known that Shao Qingqing simply couldn't have fabricated how she killed six male members of the Cao family.

He Tingshi listened, his expression growing increasingly solemn. He turned to look at Li Mu, then looked at Zhou Zhao with a complicated expression.

"Thirdly, as you just said, after the murder in the Cao family, you immediately blocked the news. Even someone like Shao Qingqing, who is deeply involved with the Cao family, didn't know that something had happened to the Cao family. This shows that you had already taken over the case when the first person died."

You didn't understand the first case, you didn't understand the second, and you still didn't understand the third. So by the fourth case, hadn't you figured out the pattern and set up an ambush?
The murderer committed the crimes every three days, at roughly the same time each day. He would first use sleeping powder to knock the victims unconscious, then cover them with layers of cloth to suffocate them. This wasn't a simple throat-slitting or chest-stabbing; the murderer spent a considerable amount of time in the house.

So why didn't you set up an ambush to catch the murderer earlier, and only started when the seventh person was involved?
So many lives were lost in the Cao family; clearly, someone is retaliating against them. Why didn't you move them out of the Cao family compound and assign officers to protect them? Knowing the location and time of the murders, why did you allow the killer to leisurely commit the acts and then disappear without a trace…

Lord Li Mu, now that you've put your hand on your conscience, can you still say you have a clear conscience?

Zhou Zhao paused, then looked up at Li Mu. "Do you want me to continue? This case clearly involves more than just Shao Qingqing as a lead, and she's not the only suspect. Have you considered this possibility?"
Cao Yuanxu murdered six elders to seize control of the Cao family business. Shao Qingqing was a scapegoat he brought in… otherwise, how could things have stopped just as easily with him, allowing him to escape with his life after so many deaths?