Chapter 174

Chapter 174: Thirty Years, Eleven Months, and Twenty-Eight Days

Yu Zhi Yi slept well.

The next morning, when she heard that Du Zi Heng still had not returned, she was not surprised, and she did not care. To be exact, she did not put it on her mind at all. Whether he came back, or when he came back, had little to do with her. No matter when he returned, it would not change her resolve.

After morning practice and breakfast, she went as usual to the Ministry of Justice. By rights, the Cao South Village case was closed, and she should write up the file and hand it to the Court of Judicial Review. But since the prisoner was still in You Bing Yue’s custody, she decided to wait a little longer. [Most likely, You Bing Yue will arrive tomorrow.]

Before leaving for the Ministry of Justice, Yu Zhi Yi drew a Healing Talisman. Dressed in official robes, she entered the palace. The emperor was in court, so she gave the Healing Talisman to Eunuch Hu and left the palace.

At the Ministry of Justice, Yu Zhi Yi took out a dossier she had already pulled a few days ago. It was an old case from thirty years ago. The case was simple: there were witness statements and a clear motive, and even the suspect admitted the crime. The only problem was that the suspect escaped halfway through.

The suspect was named Li Qing Miao, a scholar. The dead were his own family of seven.

He had been clever since he was young. His family had some savings, so paying for his studies was not a problem. The Li clan had eight people: the grandmother Madam Wang, the mother Madam Chen, the father Li Da Niu, Li Qing Miao himself, two older brothers, one younger brother, and one younger sister. It was a proper farm family that believed having many sons brought good fortune. Because their ancestors had been hardworking for generations, they had managed to save a bit.

Only one person did not fit the image of a farm family: the mother, Madam Chen. She was not from Li Family Village. She had fled to the town years earlier. Before the disaster, Madam Chen had been a rich family’s young lady with servants everywhere. Then a natural disaster struck. On the road while they fled, some died, some scattered, and wicked servants set their eyes on the master’s household, wanting to kill them and seize the family property. Madam Chen’s parents were murdered by those servants. She survived only because her mother sent her away in time.

When she reached the town near Li Family Village, she had nothing. Her hair was messy, her face dirty, and she was so hungry she almost died. When she passed a river, she fainted from hunger into the water and was pulled out by Li Da Niu. In this era, if an unmarried woman had physical contact with a man, and they did not marry, there was only one path left for her: death. Madam Chen had no choice. Seeing that the Li clan lived decently, she agreed to marry Li Da Niu. Even so, though she married a farmer, deep down she was still the pampered young lady she had been. At the time of the crime, she was the last one killed.

Yu Zhi Yi calculated Li Qing Miao’s birth chart, then switched to Madam Chen’s and calculated again. When she finished, she sighed and shook her head.

These days, Li Rou had been following Yu Zhi Yi and had learned some words. She still could not write much, but she could recognize everyday characters. She roughly understood the dossier and drew in a cold breath: “This Li Qing Miao killed his whole family? Is there some injustice?”

She was not trying to excuse a bad man. It was just too hard to believe.

Just then, Mr. Lang from the office across the hall arrived. Hearing Li Rou, he shook his head and said, “The suspect admitted it with his own mouth. There is no injustice.”

Under Li Rou’s shocked gaze, Mr. Lang also sighed: “Girl, you are young and didn’t live through it. Back then, this case caused a big stir.”

When Yu Zhi Yi and her maid looked over, Mr. Lang grew a bit sheepish, but gossip is human nature. At his age, when he ran into something he had lived through, he was eager to share. The day after Yu Zhi Yi reported for duty, everyone in the Ministry of Justice had already prepared congratulatory gifts. Because of rules between men and women they did not hold a special banquet, but sending gifts counted as proper courtesy. Seeing that Yu Zhi Yi was willing to hear about the old case, he continued.

Mr. Lang was forty-five now. Thirty years ago, he was fifteen, the age of studying. Students liked to judge current affairs, and this case caused a storm among them. He said, “I heard Li Qing Miao was refined and kind. Even if he saw an injured dog on the road, he would help it. So after the crime, even though all the evidence pointed to him, the yamen still did not believe it. At eighteen, he had already passed as a licentiate and should have had a great future.”

“People thought he would never do something that ruined his future, and the dead were his own family. He was also the youngest licentiate in years. If he worked harder, he might have become the youngest Presented Scholar in Ning Prefecture. For any commandery, that would be a great honor. The commandery governor naturally did not want to wrong a talent. He thought Li Qing Miao had been threatened into admitting guilt. But Li Qing Miao refused his kindness and went into the street to tell everyone he was the murderer in the Li Family Village case.”

Mr. Lang shook his head and clicked his tongue: “You don’t know. Li Qing Miao used to be a model for our student cohorts. Every teacher used him as an example. After this happened, those teachers felt they had lost face and didn’t dare show themselves for a long time.”

Li Rou’s mouth fell open as confusion filled her eyes: “Why would he kill his whole family?”

Mr. Lang shook his head: “No one knows. He never said. Later, there was no chance to question him again.”

He added, “He was very clever. On the way to the yamen, he used high-level lock-picking to open the cage, and under cover of night he killed the yamen runners escorting him and escaped. And he stayed free for thirty years.”

Yu Zhi Yi corrected him: “Not thirty years, but thirty years, eleven months, and twenty-eight days.”

Mr. Lang froze. Li Rou frowned: “Miss, does that make a difference?” [Isn’t that almost the same as thirty-one years?]

Yu Zhi Yi said calmly: “Of course it makes a difference. Under the Sheng Code, if a case remains unresolved for more than thirty years, it is treated as expired. The Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice have no right to pursue it anymore.” This was why old cases were cleared starting from the thirty-year mark. To be exact, the count began on the day that marked thirty years, eleven months, and thirty days since the crime. Once that day passed, the old case expired on its own. Even if the suspect stood before the Court of Judicial Review or the Ministry of Justice, they could not be held to account.

This was also why Yu Zhi Yi suddenly changed her plan and came to the Ministry of Justice to report for duty. She had read the Sheng Code and learned this. She did not want the truth of more old cases to be buried forever, letting the wicked walk free. To redress wronged victims would be a great merit.