Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Xie Yuheng was fairly certain he had never offended Lord Censor-in-Chief. So why, when he had done nothing at all, did such fear and unease well up inside him?

Shen Si looked down at Xie Yuheng through narrowed eyes, dangerous emotions churning in their depths.

It was indeed an exceptionally handsome face.

Without saying a word, he strode past the two men. Only then did Xie Yuheng dare raise his head.

Lord Liu was equally shaken. Neither of them knew how long Lord Shen had been standing behind them or how much he had overheard. Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, Lord Liu grabbed the still-dazed Xie Yuheng and hurried him into the second hall.

It was only after entering that Xie Yuheng finally saw the extraordinarily exalted Left Censor-in-Chief he had heard so much about.

Shen Si sat high in the hall, dressed in purple court robes, his expression distant and cold. A Deputy Censor stood beside him. With his distinguished features and forbidding air, Shen Si resembled an aloof, unfeeling Buddha. The very sight of him inspired fear, making him seem utterly beyond reach.

Xie Yuheng did not dare look again. Recalling what his brother-in-law had said at noon, he still could not understand how someone of such exalted status could possibly know of Gu Xun.

The Deputy Censor instructed Xie Yuheng to present the case files. Snapping out of his daze, Xie Yuheng hurriedly lowered his head and handed them over.

Shen Si’s gaze settled on Xie Yuheng. His detached eyes betrayed no emotion, yet the extra moment they lingered was enough to make Xie Yuheng feel immense pressure.

The Deputy Censor took the files from his hands and placed them before Shen Si. Xie Yuheng stood to the side, waiting to answer any questions Shen Si might ask.

Most of these robbery and theft cases were difficult ones in which the culprits had proved elusive, or unresolved cases that had stalled for lack of evidence.

The review was meant to determine whether offenders had been summarily released without being reported, whether cases had been deliberately buried and left unpursued, whether thieves on their third offense had gone unprosecuted, or whether actual culprits had been let off on the pretext of earning merit.

The soft rustle of turning pages filled the hall. Xie Yuheng grew increasingly anxious, afraid that he might have made a mistake.

He had no idea how much time passed. By the time his legs began to ache from standing, the rustle of pages abruptly stopped.

Everything in the second hall was solemn and austere, and Shen Si was rumored to be a man of extreme rigor and severity. The sudden silence sent a stab of panic through Xie Yuheng.

Shen Si looked at him, one fingertip resting on the record. For some reason, Xie Yuheng’s heart tightened.

He could feel Shen Si scrutinizing him. The meaning behind that gaze was impossible to discern, yet it made him feel as though he had done something wrong.

A deep, cold voice broke the silence. “Court Director Xie, in the robbery case from Shilin County over a year ago, the robber killed a family of five. A neighbor identified the culprit, only to be beaten to death with fifty strokes at the county yamen, leaving the case unresolved. You found nothing wrong with how this case was handled?”

Cold sweat broke out across Xie Yuheng’s back. He bowed deeply and hastened to explain, “This subordinate reviewed the case files and made further inquiries. The neighbor and the man he accused had harbored a long-standing grudge against each other. They had been at odds for years, so there was reason to suspect a false accusation.

“The Shilin County Magistrate merely intended to have the neighbor flogged as a warning and force him to tell the truth. He never expected the man to die. This subordinate believes that although the Shilin County Magistrate was at fault, his actions were understandable under the circumstances, and the death was unintentional. Afterward, he also paid compensation and funeral expenses and placated the man’s family.”

Shen Si gave a cold laugh. “You mean that because there was bad blood between them, the man he identified could not possibly have been the real robber?”

Cold sweat beaded on Xie Yuheng’s forehead. How was he supposed to answer that?

If he insisted that the accused was definitely not the robber, what evidence did he have?

But if he admitted the man might have been, and the case was ever reopened, his own dereliction would be grave.

Xie Yuheng had personally reviewed this case. He had carefully gone through its files at the Ministry of Punishments and had even sought out the circuit official responsible for inspecting Shilin County to question him about it in detail. He had been told that someone from one family had accidentally knocked the other family’s son into the water, where he drowned. It was a deep feud, and the two families had been at odds for years. The accusation was most likely false, so Xie Yuheng had believed it.
When the Left Censor-in-Chief questioned him, Xie Yuheng grew uneasy again and did not dare answer.

But matters had already come this far. If he claimed ignorance and that response was reported, he would still be impeached for dereliction of duty. All he could do was bite the bullet and say, “I questioned the officials who handled the case. They all believed it was most likely a false accusation. Moreover, no one else saw any bandits. I believe the matter should be treated as an unsolved case.”

Shen Si regarded Xie Yuheng impassively. The man stood bent at the waist before him, his gaze anxious and evasive, a fine sheen of sweat on his brow. The slightest pressure seemed enough to make him buckle.

This was the man Ji Hanyi had once loved.

The man who was now Ji Hanyi’s husband.

The man who had abandoned her in the snow for another woman.

What, exactly, had she ever seen in a man like this?

Even over a matter as small as Gu Xun’s, she had been unable to persuade the man who shared her bed and had instead come to Shen Si for help.

A derisive smile touched Shen Si’s lips. He said coolly, “Since Court Director Xie believes there is no issue with this case, I will set it aside for now. However, for the sake of thoroughness, I will send men to Shilin County to investigate it.”

“As for what they find — if it truly is as Court Director Xie says, I will report that to His Majesty as well. Court Director Xie conducted the review ably. I am sure a bright future awaits you.”

Xie Yuheng did not feel the slightest joy upon hearing this.

Six people had died in this case, making it a major one. Yet the evidence was insufficient, the dead could not testify, and there was no way to investigate further. Even if the neighbor had been telling the truth, he was dead now. How could anyone determine whether his words were true or false?

The matter should have been left unresolved. Xie Yuheng had never expected Shen Si to investigate it again.

It was like a blade suspended above his neck. What would he do if it came down?

His heart was filled with unease, but he did not dare voice a single objection now.

Standing beside Xie Yuheng, Censor Liu could only feel relieved after hearing this exchange. Fortunately, he had not been the one tasked with reviewing this case.

Anything serious enough for Lord Left Censor-in-Chief to question was likely riddled with problems. Xie Yuheng clearly had no idea how meticulous their superior was. He would never let even a single miscarriage of justice slide, much less a case with such obvious holes.

First, how could the accused family’s one-sided account be accepted as the truth? Second, how could the neighbor who had identified them — a man in robust health — have died after only fifty strokes of the paddle?

Third, the mere fact that the two parties held a grudge had been used to dismiss the allegation as false. The Shilin County Magistrate had actually believed it and even ordered the accuser beaten. That was suspicious in itself.

Moreover, Xie Yuheng spent his days at the Court of Judicial Review examining case files and had never witnessed corporal punishment himself. Fifty strokes should have been nowhere near enough to kill a man. There was also a rule in court that a beating had to stop as soon as blood was drawn. Yet those constables had long since mastered the art of administering punishment. Every stroke could cause internal injuries without ever breaking the skin.

The Censorate investigated cases regularly and knew all these methods inside out. This case was likely far from simple. Officials and commoners might have colluded to create two miscarriages of justice. No wonder their superior had taken an interest. Had Censor Liu been responsible for reviewing the case, he would also have found it suspicious.

Shen Si glanced at Xie Yuheng again, closed the case file he had compiled, and tossed it back into his hands. “Go over the rest carefully. Bring them back only after you have confirmed there are no errors.”

When Xie Yuheng walked out of the Censorate’s inner hall in a daze, his legs felt weak beneath him.

For some reason, he could not shake the feeling that disaster was coming.

Inside the Censorate’s inner hall, Shen Si accepted the case file from Censor Liu. Even before he opened it, his gaze was already ice-cold.

He glanced sidelong at Censor Liu and gave a cold laugh. “You certainly devote a great deal of thought to keeping up with this sort of news.”

Censor Liu’s heart instantly chilled.

Those few remarks he had exchanged with Xie Yuheng earlier merely to pass the time — he had never expected his superior to actually overhear them.