[It looks like I'll have to visit the Court of Judicial Review after the spring examinations end.]
Solving cases and arresting criminals were the duties of the Court of Judicial Review.
[Have they exchanged any letters? I need conclusive evidence to convince the chief minister of the Court of Judicial Review.]
The system: [His childhood friend wrote Chen Shisong a letter. Its contents are enough to prove they were in league.]
[Where is the letter?]
[It will arrive at the West Street mail station tomorrow night.]
Shen Yuxi lowered her eyes in thought.
She could not leave. She would have to arrange for someone to visit the Court of Judicial Review later and tell Lu Song everything in detail.
Given Lu Song's determination to get to the bottom of things, he would never overlook a single lead when a life was at stake.
The Court of Judicial Review.
At that moment, Lu Song, chief minister of the Court of Judicial Review, was poring over case files. When he heard the messenger's news, the vermilion brush in his hand stopped short.
Ink spread into a dark blot on the case file, and shock instantly replaced the composure on his face.
"Are you certain? Chen Shisong conspired with a friend to murder his first wife?"
Lu Song pressed in a low voice, his tone full of disbelief.
The messenger replied, "I wouldn't dare lie, my lord. Lord Little Shen ordered me to bring you this news and ask that you intercept the letter without fail. Once you read it, you'll know whether it's true."
Lu Song fell silent for a moment. Naturally, he believed Lord Little Shen.
The system had never been wrong.
It was simply that the news was so sudden it had caught him somewhat unprepared, and it even implicated the Duke of Dingguo's youngest daughter.
He slowly rose, his expression growing graver. "A life is at stake. Nothing must go wrong."
Not daring to delay a moment, Lu Song ordered his subordinates to ready the horses and immediately set out for the West Street mail station.
Seeing the chief minister of the Court of Judicial Review arrive in person with such an urgent expression, the mail station's manager dared not show the slightest neglect and hurried forward with a bow.
After hearing why he had come, the manager immediately ordered his staff to bring out all recent incoming and outgoing letters, then fetched the register and helped the chief minister search through them.
Before long, a bailiff held up an intact, sealed letter and respectfully presented it. "My lord! We've found it!"
Lu Song took the letter, his gaze darkening, and decisively tore open the envelope.
The contents of the letter lay fully exposed.
The letter read, "Brother Song, I don't know what madness got into Wanxue. She went back to her parents' home without a care for anything, leaving your mother with no one to look after her and not even a meal to eat. I did as you said and used your name to invite her out, looking for a chance to drown her. But that bitch not only refused to listen, she told the patrolling soldiers that I was up to no good, wandering around while the epidemic was still going on. The soldiers drove me home and forbade me from going out. Now I can't find a chance to get close to her. What should we do next? Why don't you come back yourself? She likes you, so you'd surely have an easier time killing her..."
The further Lu Song read, the colder and grimmer his expression became, and his fingers gradually tightened.
The evidence was conclusive. He could order Chen Shisong and his childhood friend arrested and imprisoned right now.
But there was no need to rush.
The spring examinations had not yet ended. The examination compound was sealed, and no one could enter or leave at will.
Especially since this case involved the Duke of Dingguo, he had to be even more measured in handling it.
With the toll of a bell, the spring examinations, which had lasted several days, officially ended.
After seeing the examinees off, Shen Yuxi hurried straight to the Court of Judicial Review without pause.
Men from the Court of Judicial Review had long been waiting outside the examination compound. The moment Chen Shisong emerged, bailiffs took him away before he could even react.
"Lord Little Shen?"
"I wish to see Lord Lu. Sorry for the trouble, but please announce my arrival."
"Yes. Please wait a moment, Lord Little Shen."
The bailiff dared not delay. He promptly agreed, then turned and strode into the offices to announce her.
Before long, the bailiff hurried back and respectfully led Shen Yuxi inside, through a corridor and straight to the door of Chief Minister Lu Song's study.
He knocked and announced, "Lord Lu, Lord Little Shen has arrived."
"Come in."
The door was pushed open. Shen Yuxi steadied herself and stepped inside, just as Lu Song raised his head and looked at her.
"Lord Lu!" Shen Yuxi offered a slight bow.
"Lord Little Shen, please, take a seat."
With a gentle expression, Lu Song personally poured Shen Yuxi a cup of tea. "Try this. A friend brought these tea leaves from Qingzhou."
Shen Yuxi lifted the cup, smelled it, and took a small sip before praising it. "Its fragrance fills the air, and it tastes sweet and mellow. Fine tea indeed."
"Have you come about Chen Shisong, Lord Little Shen?"
"That's right." Shen Yuxi set down her teacup.
Lu Song said, "I've already sent men to investigate. That letter was indeed written by Chen Shisong's childhood friend, Gao Kai."
"After Gao Kai was arrested in Qingzhou, he couldn't withstand the torture and confessed everything. He also agreed to testify against Chen Shisong."
"He kept the letters Chen Shisong wrote to him, instructing him to murder Wanxue."
"We have both witnesses and material evidence. Gao Kai will arrive in the capital in two days, and I will pass judgment on the two of them."
"As for the Duke of Dingguo..."
"Since there is no evidence proving Shangguan Niao was involved in this case..."
It was difficult to strike the right balance.
The emperor held the Duke of Dingguo in high regard. He could not arrest Shangguan Niao on the strength of a few words from Lord Little Shen.
Besides, Lord Little Shen had also said that Shangguan Niao had not participated in the plot to murder Wanxue. At most, she had known about it and failed to report it.
Shen Yuxi nodded to show she understood.
[System, Lord Lu actually didn't ask how I knew Chen Shisong was plotting to kill his wife, or how I knew about that letter! And here I made a special trip and thought up what to say, ready to explain it to him.]
[Maybe he forgot?]
After spending a short while at the Court of Judicial Review, Shen Yuxi boarded her carriage home once more.
The main street thronged with people and rang with a boiling clamor of voices. Shen Yuxi instructed the driver to take a side route home.
She was just about to close her eyes for a brief rest when the carriage stopped without warning.
"Miss, that seems to be a carriage from the Duke of Dingguo's residence."
[Host, Shangguan Niao is opposite you,] the system said.
The alley was narrow, with room for only one carriage to pass. One of the carriages would have to back up and give way.
The embroidered curtain of the ornate carriage opposite lifted, and Shangguan Niao leaned out imperiously, her brows and eyes so haughty they almost reached the sky, her tone viciously cutting.
"What lowly wretch is blocking my way? Back up at once, or I'll tear that shabby carriage of yours apart!"
She was in a towering rage.
She had been happily waiting for Chen Shisong to return so they could celebrate the end of the spring examinations.
Then her maid had suddenly told her that men from the Court of Judicial Review had arrested Chen Shisong.
Now she was going to the Court of Judicial Review to ask Lu Song what right he had to arrest someone without cause.