allonlinenovel Chapter 1200 Meeting with Longbow, Doing What You Would Not Want
Chapter 1200 Meeting with Longbow, Doing What You Would Not Want
In Gu Xiu's view, this locked-room murder case was not exactly perfect. At first, people might be misled and have their time wasted because of the murderer's setup. But if they kept investigating, they would definitely find the real culprit.
After all, Young Master Liu's decision to murder his father and frame someone was a last-minute change of heart, and a careful investigation could still uncover clues.
Expecting such praise from everyone based on just one case is a bit much.
more importantly.
Fei Boyuan seemed to be quite popular in the government office. Despite not being particularly capable, many people were willing to listen to him. Even Zheng Tuo, who had deliberately avoided taking credit, didn't seem to look down on Fei Boyuan.
"This Fei Boyuan seems to be even more capable than I imagined."
Gu Xiu concluded that he didn't try to take credit, but just shook his head repeatedly, saying that he was just lucky and had only offered a few suggestions. He also said that without him, solving the case would have been a piece of cake.
This attitude made everyone even more amiable, but they also shook their heads and told Gu Xiu:
“Brother Gu, you’re mistaken. According to the rules of Wuwei City, or rather, the twelve cities of Ziwei Yuan, the law does not apply to temples. If Young Master Liu really succeeds to the position of instructor, even if we suspect him afterward, he will have already destroyed the evidence and we will be unable to do anything about him.”
“Yes, once he becomes an instructor, even if we summon Shuzhi, we can’t use Legalist divine power on him. If we just rely on normal investigation, we probably won’t find anything.”
Hearing this, Gu Xiu was somewhat surprised.
Is punishment not applicable to the divine realm?
Is there such a rule?
It seems that the status of the Shinto is even higher than I imagined.
"Brother Gu, this time I really owe you a lot, you've made me proud. I won't say anything more, let's go to the brothel now, I'll treat you to a celebratory banquet, and consider it a welcome back feast for you!"
Fei Boyuan patted his chest and said, then glanced at the others beside him and raised his arm in a shout:
Everyone go!
Upon hearing this, everyone present cheered and shouted that Constable Fei was incredibly bold.
Gu Xiu naturally wouldn't refuse to investigate the clues, but he didn't go to the brothel with everyone. Instead, he made an excuse to go to the outhouse and lagged behind. After Fei Boyuan and the others had gone far away, he walked out of the yamen and turned to go into the alley next to him.
There was a young man in the alley, none other than Li Changgong, who had almost been mistaken for a murderer earlier that day. Gu Xiu took out a note and waved it:
"You came to me wanting to turn yourself in?"
This was given to Gu Xiu by Li Changgong when they left, escorting Young Master Liu away, as a request to meet him.
"Confess...confess?" Li Changgong clearly didn't expect Gu Xiu's first words to be this. He was about to bow and express his gratitude, but he swallowed them back.
But to everyone's surprise, Gu Xiu said something shocking: "I went to see Master Liu last night, intending to kill him, but I didn't expect to be outmaneuvered by Young Master Liu. If he hadn't made the first move, you would have been the one to kill Master Liu."
Upon hearing this, Li Changgong's face instantly froze: "I...I don't know what you mean, Officer Gu..."
"The short knife you took hostage to Young Master Liu today was one you brought with you. It was poisoned and would kill on contact with blood. When you had your private talk with Young Master Liu, you were actually preparing to assassinate him."
"I...I brought it for self-defense..."
“You said that when you went to see Master Liu, you didn’t see who he was clearly and were drugged in a daze. But in fact, you recognized that the person was Master Liu in disguise at first glance. Even when he gave you pastries, you just pretended to eat them, but you actually hid the pastries on your person. That is to say, you were awake all night until we went there this morning.”
“You…you…” Li Changgong’s eyes widened instantly. He stammered for a while, looking at Gu Xiu with a look of utter disbelief.
Gu Xiu remained calm and composed throughout, and even continued, "You slipped me a note and asked to meet me. It seemed like you were just waiting outside the yamen to thank me, but actually you just wanted to hear about our investigation."
"Or……"
"You want to see if we've found anything besides Liu Gong's death. You probably even prepared your lines before I came here, trying to extract information from me."
At this point, Gu Xiu looked at Li Changgong, who was already sweating profusely, and asked, "So, what is your choice now? Do you want to take the short sword you hid in your sleeve, the one you used to kill Liu Gong, and kill me?"
Clang!
The short sword fell from Li Changgong's sleeve. His face turned deathly pale, and he shook his head repeatedly, saying, "I had no such intention. This... this is what I used to kill myself... I... although I did intend to kill Lord Liu, I truly did not intend to kill you..."
Gu Xiu didn't answer, he just looked at him silently.
He could naturally see that Li Changgong had never intended to kill him; otherwise, he wouldn't have wasted any words.
"thump."
Finally, Li Changgong knelt down helplessly and said bitterly:
"Actually, seeing how Officer Gu handled the case today, I knew that with my little tricks, I probably wouldn't be able to hide them from you, but I still held onto a sliver of hope..."
"Since Officer Gu has already pointed this out, I presume the other officers who were blocking my way are already in position. I will not resist and will accept the judgment."
Having said that, Li Changgong waited quietly.
He had truly given up arguing and resisting.
Gu Xiu, however, couldn't help but narrow his eyes at his posture of offering his neck for execution:
“I heard before that Master Liu was your mentor, that he enlightened and supported you, and that he even planned for you to succeed him as his instructor after his death. You have always been filial to him. Why do you want to kill him? And why are you here eavesdropping? What are you worried we will find out?”
“I…I’m sorry to my mentor.” Li Changgong looked pained. “But I have reasons to kill him. As for the rest…I won’t say. Officer Gu, just arrest me.”
“Once you’re arrested, whether you talk or not seems to be out of your control,” Gu Xiu said, raising an eyebrow.
Li Changgong shook his head: "The Legalist way is indeed powerful in interrogation, but I have the Confucian ability to 'do not do to yourself'. I am unwilling to speak, and even if a sage of the Legalist way were to come in person, it would be impossible for me to speak."
What you do not want for yourself?
It doesn't sound like a path in Confucianism or Taoism, but more like a certain ability.
It seems to be something that prevents people from forcing him to do or say anything?
I wonder if soul searching would work?
Looking at Li Changgong, who seemed fearless even in the face of death, Gu Xiu couldn't help but narrow his eyes. After a moment, he waved his hand:
"You go."
"what?"
I said, "You can leave now."
"You...you just...let me go like that?" Li Changgong was incredulous, clearly not expecting that this new, insightful constable would release him directly after realizing he was suspicious.
"Otherwise what?" Gu Xiu shrugged, turned around and walked away, saying as he went:
"Although you had the intent to kill, you ultimately did not carry out the act, so you are not a murderer. As for your knowledge of the crime but not telling... that charge can be serious or minor, but at least in my opinion, I don't think it's a big deal."
"What's more..."
At this point, Gu Xiu paused and glanced back at Li Changgong:
"You were in great pain, and even today, when you were there, you were planning to take the blame for your mentor's bloodline with your own death, weren't you?"
As soon as these words came out.
Li Changgong's pupils suddenly dilated.
The new constable was incredibly perceptive, able to uncover the truth from the slightest clues, which was already unbelievable. But what was unexpected was that he could even see through his own thoughts.
indeed.
At the murder scene today, Li Changgong seemed to be desperately defending himself and resisting, trying to clear his name. But in reality, he was not telling the truth and was only resisting because he had no intention of living.
He wanted to die.
Once he dies, as a murderer, the case will be closed. He won't be brought back to the Six Doors for trial, and his mentor's only bloodline in this world can continue.
Even though that bloodline was the murderer who killed his mentor.
"I……"
“I did intend to kill my mentor last night, but actually, at first, I didn’t understand what had happened…”
Li Changgong finally called out to Gu Xiu, who was almost out of the alley:
“I never expected Young Master Liu to kill my mentor. At first, I just thought... I just thought it was a trap set up by Master Liu for me. Even when I pretended to faint, I was still hesitating. If my mentor wanted to kill me, should I accept it calmly or fight back?”
"But I didn't expect... I didn't expect..."
"Young Master Liu would actually kill his mentor. He actually did it, and while the mentor was unconscious, he was killed by his own son..."
At this point, Li Changgong burst into tears.
This is the truth.
He kept the truth bottled up inside, a truth he deeply regretted.
He witnessed his mentor being killed, and even in the moments before his mentor died, he was still wary of whether it was a setup by his mentor.
Gu Xiu paused slightly.
But after a moment, he still stepped forward and walked out of the alley completely. After watching him leave, Li Changgong shouted again, "Don't you really want to know what the secret between me and my mentor is?"
Unexpectedly, the newly appointed constable simply waved his hand:
"Not interested in."
After saying that, he disappeared completely into the alley, leaving Li Changgong in disbelief. After hesitating for a long time, he could only suppress his grief, wipe away his tears, kowtow three times heavily in the direction Gu Xiu had left, and then turn and leave.
only……
Unbeknownst to Li Changgong, the instant he turned around, a wisp of divine soul silently leaped onto his clothes.
But Officer Gu, who had already left with an air of nonchalance, clapped his hands:
"Even a fool knows that your secret is quite significant. If you really expect me to honestly confess, I'd rather investigate it myself."