A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 157 The Truth Revealed to the World (43)

Mu Qingcheng took a half step closer, her gaze sharp. "Why did you want the body to be discovered so sooner?"

"I, I..." Liu Pei gasped for breath, his mind in turmoil, almost losing the ability to think.

Mu Qingcheng leaned forward slightly, staring into Liu Pei's eyes, and sneered, "I've been working in the criminal underworld in Jiangnan for many years, handling countless cases and investigating countless murderers, but I've never seen a murderer who would hope that the body would be discovered sooner! Liu Pei, anything that doesn't conform to the logic of normal human behavior is mixed with lies!"

Liu Pei subconsciously turned his head, wanting to avoid Mu Qingcheng's gaze, but Li Mu's corpse lay in front of him, leaving him nowhere to avoid it. He had no choice but to turn his face back and accept the oppressive pressure from Mu Qingcheng!

He forced himself to say, "The sooner the body is discovered, the sooner the case will be closed, and the matter will be settled once and for all."

Mu Qingcheng spoke eloquently: "In that case, wouldn't it be faster to just turn yourself in to the authorities after you kill someone? Or, you could kill someone in Li Mu's study, and after you're done, just shout, and the servants of the Li family would find the body within a few breaths. Wouldn't that be even simpler and more brutal?"

Liu Pei was sweating profusely and could no longer utter a word of excuse.

Song Shuyu's approach to judging cases was like slowly boiling a frog in water, gradually simmering him like an eagle. Mu Qingcheng's approach, however, was completely different. She preferred to cut through the mess quickly and decisively, striking with deadly moves, leaving no chance for the opponent to retaliate!
Mu Qingcheng waved his hand, and the officials waiting outside the hall immediately presented the evidence box.

She took out a tattered, dark blue Shu brocade outer garment and a dagger without a sheath from the box, and announced loudly: "The deceased is Li Mu, a compiler in the Hanlin Academy. He disappeared during his leave of absence. Six days later, his body was found in the courtyard of the back garden of the Li family mansion. The body showed signs of decomposition and grotesque appearance. The autopsy determined that the time of death was between the beginning of midnight and the end of the morning on September 10th, and the cause of death was throat-slitting. The murder weapon was identified as this dagger left at the scene of the body disposal. This garment was also taken from Li Mu's body. However, according to the Li family steward, this garment did not belong to Li Mu."

At this point, she asked Song Shuyu, "Sir, may I summon Liu Xiao to court?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Pei became anxious, "Why are you looking for my brother? There's no need for him to appear in court; I'll admit it!"

"Does Liu Xiao have no right to know about the affairs of your Liu family?" Mu Qingcheng chuckled lightly. "In order to ask our Jingzhao Prefecture to investigate the Liu family's corruption, Liu Xiao didn't hesitate to commit a crime and land himself in the Jingzhao Prefecture prison! Liu Pei, can you bear to disappoint Liu Xiao?"

Liu Pei was clearly unaware of the inside story and stared in astonishment.

Song Shuyu turned his body to the side, trying to avoid looking directly at Li Mu's corpse. He said, "Coroner Mu, you are the person who knows this case best from beginning to end. I am giving you authority. You can decide for yourself who to summon, who to call, and how to conduct the trial. You do not need to ask me for instructions on everything."

Mu Qingcheng gladly replied, "Thank you for your trust, sir. I will do my utmost to fulfill my mission!"

Having said that, she ordered the bailiffs, "Summon Liu Xiao to court!"

Soon, the bailiffs forced Liu Xiao to kneel beside Liu Pei.

The two brothers exchanged a glance, and Liu Xiao burst into tears, crying out, "Brother, brother... you're still alive! You're really still alive!"

Liu Pei impatiently looked Liu Xiao up and down, rattling off a string of questions: "Brother, how are you? Were you tortured? What did they interrogate you about? Don't make up stories you don't know!"

Seeing this, Mu Qingcheng was speechless. "Liu Pei, you and Liu Changqing are really a good father and son. You even dare to instigate and imply things in front of me!"

"Coroner Mu, I confess to everything I've done. Please don't implicate my brother; he's innocent!" Liu Pei pleaded urgently.

Song Shuyu grabbed the gavel and slammed it on the desk, angrily shouting, "How dare you, Liu Pei! Do you think the Jingzhao Prefecture is a bandit's den? Do you think I'm some mountain king who can arrest whomever he wants and chop whomever he wants? Those who have committed crimes can't escape; those who haven't committed crimes want to take the blame for others? Don't even think about it!"

Liu Pei's expression was complicated, and the struggle and contradiction in his eyes could not be hidden from his half-brother Liu Xiao. "Brother, did you really kill someone?"

Liu Xiao's excitement and shock made Liu Pei ashamed to face him. His gaze involuntarily fell on Li Mu's corpse, his Adam's apple bobbing. He wanted to say yes, but it was like a fishbone stuck in his throat, difficult to utter. "This, this is... is it a dead person?"

Liu Xiao's eyes were filled with tears, and his vision was blurred. He was so focused on talking to Liu Pei that he only noticed the corpse on the ground. After wiping away his tears and looking again, he was so shocked that his eyes rolled back and he almost fainted!

The nearest constable used a water-and-fire stick to poke Liu Xiao in the back, stabbing his swaying body.

Mu Qingcheng said, "Liu Xiao, this is your sister-in-law Li Yunyao's father, Li Mu!"

Liu Xiao couldn't believe it.

His gaze darted back and forth between the corpse and Liu Pei's face, his lips trembling violently, "Was it my brother... did he kill Lord Li?"

"Liu Xiao, take a look and identify who owns this garment." Mu Qingcheng unfolded the garment, her tone becoming more serious. "You must identify the owner truthfully and not lie, otherwise you will be punished for harboring a criminal!"

Liu Pei was anxious, "Brother..."

"Shut up!" Mu Qingcheng shouted.

Liu Xiao wasn't stupid; he knew that his confession must be related to Liu Pei. However, Mu Qingcheng had already blocked his way out, and he had already identified this garment once before. If he changed his story now, Mu Qingcheng would not only not believe him, but would also further solidify Liu Pei's guilt of murder.

Therefore, after a moment's consideration, Liu Xiao replied truthfully, "These are my brother Liu Pei's clothes!"

Liu Pei visibly breathed a sigh of relief. "It is indeed my clothes. After I killed Li Mu, I exchanged outer garments with Li Mu in order to escape without being discovered."

However, Mu Qingcheng changed the subject, "Liu Pei, before you killed him, where did you go? Who were you with?"

"No, no, I haven't been anywhere, and I haven't seen anyone else." Liu Pei was taken aback and quickly denied it.

Mu Qingcheng pulled up the hem of her outer garment, pointed to a black blob the size of a thumb, and asked, "What is this?"

Liu Pei looked completely bewildered.

Mu Qingcheng curled her lips into a meaningful smile, her eyes saying, "This filth is a mixture of the stench of corpses, blood, feces, and ink!"

"Ink?" Liu Pei asked in surprise, then realized something and his expression changed visibly.

Mu Qingcheng calmly explained to him, "Coincidentally, I saw ink with this kind of smell in your father Liu Changqing's study!"

"My father?" Liu Xiao's expression hardened. "What does this have to do with my father?"

"It doesn't matter!"

Liu Pei's breathing became increasingly erratic. He stared intently at Mu Qingcheng and said, word by word, "There are countless inks in the world that are the same. I have some myself, and I just accidentally got some on myself."

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(End of this chapter)