#128: Reenacting the Case

Feng Chunming sneered, “If it wasn’t you, who else could it be? Wu Meixue, even if you talk yourself hoarse today, you won’t escape punishment!” Turning to Magistrate Qin, he urged, “Your Honor, a life for a life. Please sentence Wu Meixue to death to console the spirit of my deceased sister!”

Magistrate Qin didn’t rely solely on his testimony. He ordered the box of pearls from the Wu household to be brought in for comparison. After careful examination, he found that the pearls matched in size, color, and luster.

Having made his assessment, he declared, “Wu Meixue, both eyewitness testimony and physical evidence point to you. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“This humble citizen doesn’t know how this pearl or the night watchman’s testimony came about, but I swear I didn’t kill anyone. Even if Your Honor asks me a hundred or a thousand times, my answer will remain the same.”

Magistrate Qin’s expression hardened. “If you don’t confess the truth, I’ll have you subjected to torture!”

Yunyi pressed her lips together, her expression shifting as she wrestled with her thoughts. Finally, she sighed quietly, opened her mouth to speak—but Wu Laosan beat her to it. “Your Honor, please don’t torture her! Chunxiu’s death has nothing to do with Meixue. She… she…” He gritted his teeth and forced out the next words. “It was I who killed her!”

Everyone was stunned. No one expected him to confess to the murder. Feng Cheng was the first to react, pointing at him and shouting, “You wretched Wu Laosan, how dare you spout lies in court! The murderer is clearly Wu Meixue.”

“No, it’s me! I…” Wu Laosan began, but Yunyi interrupted, “Father, I didn’t kill anyone. You don’t need to take the blame for me!”

Wu Laosan raised his trembling hand to caress Yunyi’s face. “My child… my dear child… When I’m no longer by your side, you must take care of yourself.” Every deep wrinkle on his face radiated worry and sorrow.

Feng Cheng glared at them and scoffed, “Your Honor, this father and daughter duo are exceptionally cunning. They won’t tell the truth unless tortured.”

Magistrate Qin stared at the pearl in his hand for a long moment before coldly declaring, “Bring out the instruments of torture!”

“Your Honor…” Before Yunyi could get another word out, a voice rang out from behind her. “Magistrate Qin, might I have a word?”

Magistrate Qin looked up in surprise at the tall, elegant young man standing outside the courtroom. This person… seemed familiar, as if he’d seen him somewhere before. Where?

After a moment of thought, Magistrate Qin finally remembered and hurriedly rose to greet him. “Ah, it’s Second Young Master! I apologize for not welcoming you properly. Please forgive me.”

Li Shimin bowed respectfully. “It was presumptuous of me to interrupt your proceedings, Magistrate Qin. Please forgive me.”

After exchanging pleasantries, Li Shimin continued, “Since my father entered public service, he has always disapproved of extracting confessions through torture, as it often leads to wrongful convictions and harms innocent people.” As Magistrate Qin nodded in agreement, Li Shimin added, “I’ve listened to this case for quite some time and find many unresolved questions. The murderer may not necessarily be Wu Meixue. Your Honor should proceed with caution.”

Although Magistrate Qin didn’t entirely agree with Li Shimin’s reasoning, he dared not offend him and replied, “Second Young Master speaks wisely. It was my oversight.”

Just as they were about to torture Wu Meixue, Li Shimin intervened. Feng Li’s wife, seething with anger, blurted out, “The murderer is obviously Wu Meixue! What else is there to question?”

Li Shimin fixed his gaze on her and asked, “Then tell me—what was Wu Meixue’s motive for killing Chunxiu?”

“She and Chunxiu had longstanding animosity. Chunxiu always complained about it whenever she returned home. On the ninth day, Chunxiu secretly watched her bathe, which enraged her, so she killed Chunxiu.”

Li Shimin replied calmly, “If everyone resorted to murder over petty grievances, wouldn’t there be thousands of murders every day?”

Feng Li’s wife was left speechless, her mouth agape. Feng Cheng, however, quickly recovered and retorted, “Ordinary people wouldn’t kill over minor disputes, but who knows with someone as cruel-hearted as her? Besides, we have both eyewitness testimony and physical evidence. Can it still be false? Although Second Young Master holds a noble position, you cannot show favoritism to Wu Meixue.”

“Rest assured—I won’t show favoritism to anyone!” With that, Li Shimin approached the night watchman and asked, “You claim to have personally witnessed Chunxiu and Wu Meixue arguing on the street. Is that true?” After receiving an affirmative response, he asked a few more questions about the scene before turning to Magistrate Qin. “Magistrate Qin, I’d like to recreate the scene of the incident. May I?”

“Of course, but…” Magistrate Qin hesitated. “How exactly would we recreate it?”

Li Shimin smiled and called over Duan Zhihong, instructing him briefly. After Duan Zhihong bowed and withdrew, Li Shimin approached the bailiff who had spoken earlier. “What’s your name?”

The bailiff hesitated, then replied, “This humble servant’s surname is Li, and my given name is Feng.”

“So we share the same surname,” Li Shimin remarked. Suddenly, he asked an unexpected question. “What is your relationship with the Feng family?”

Li Feng quickly regained his composure and answered honestly, “Feng Cheng’s wife is my older sister.”

Hearing this, Magistrate Qin ventured cautiously, “Second Young Master, is there something amiss?”

Li Shimin shook his head. “Nothing at all. I was just asking casually.”

A short while later, Duan Zhihong returned, reporting that everything was ready. Li Shimin immediately instructed the night watchman to lead them to the spot where he claimed to have seen Feng Chunxiu and Wu Meixue arguing. Based on his description, they positioned themselves approximately four zhang apart.

Li Shimin nodded slightly and said to Duan Zhihong, “Begin.”

“Yes.” At his command, Duan Zhihong unfurled a large black cloth and leapt into the air. As figures darted across rooftops on either side, the dense, light-blocking fabric gradually enveloped the street, blotting out the sky. Once both ends were covered, the area plunged into complete darkness, as if it were suddenly nighttime, pitch-black and impenetrable. Then, a lantern hanging from a tavern pole flickered to life.

The crowd watched in confusion, unsure of what was happening. Feng Cheng, summoning his courage, asked, “Second Young Master, what are you doing?”

Li Shimin ignored him and instructed Duan Zhihong, “Take Wu Meixue and Jiang Caiping to the previously indicated locations.”

Once everything was arranged, Li Shimin had Li Feng bring another lantern, lit it, and handed it to the night watchman. “The brightness of the lantern above should approximate the moonlight you observed that night when you saw them arguing. Take a look and see if you can identify the two figures standing ahead.”

The night watchman raised the lantern high, squinting as he strained to see the figures several zhang away. Despite his efforts, the darkness made it nearly impossible to discern anything clearly.

“Well? Can you see them?” Li Shimin asked.

The night watchman hesitated before replying softly, “I… I can see them. It’s Wu Meixue and Jiang Caiping standing there.”

“Are you certain?” After the night watchman nodded, Li Shimin called out, “Remove all the cloth!”