Chapter 176 You're Too Late

Li Qingmiao looked at the woman before him, his refined face shifting for a moment before revealing, "You are... Yu Zhiyi, the fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Justice, appointed by the Emperor himself?"

Yu Zhiyi raised an eyebrow: "You are just as described in the case file, quick-witted."

He immediately shook his head: "It's a pity it wasn't used for the right thing."

Li Qingmiao scoffed, "What right does a mere woman like you have to judge me?"

He looked at the constables in the courtyard with a half-smile, then his gaze returned to Yu Zhiyi's face, and he said with a smile, "Unfortunately, you're too late."

Yu Zhiyi exclaimed "Ah," somewhat confused, "Is it too late?"

A bright smile appeared on Li Qingmiao's refined face.

The orphan girl on the bed was completely bewildered. Seeing his smile, she suddenly realized that he seemed to look better when he wasn't smiling.

"What...what exactly is going on?"

Yu Zhiyi stepped forward and pulled down the bed curtains: "You should get dressed first."

The orphan was grateful for her thoughtfulness.

There was a rustling sound coming from the bed, but neither of the two people in the room paid any attention. Yu Zhiyi looked at Li Qingmiao again: "It's not late."

Li Qingmiao looked at her with disdain: "Little girl, the fact that you were able to find this place shows that you do have some ability. It's a pity that you are still too green. The statute of limitations for all major criminal cases in Sheng Kingdom is thirty years. Just a quarter of an hour ago, the last day of the thirty years passed, and now we have officially entered the thirty-first year."

He smiled smugly: "You have no reason to arrest me again."

Yu Zhiyi looked at the smug look on his face.

That's the kind of smile that only a clever person wears after they've thought they've manipulated the rules and all the fools.

This smile revealed his extreme joy and excitement, and was also filled with contempt for the rules he had manipulated and for other fools.

It's as if he's the center of this world, able to toy with everyone whenever he wants.

At this moment, the orphan girl also came out after changing her clothes.

She overheard their conversation while inside, but was completely baffled.

However, she keenly sensed danger, so she walked towards Yu Zhiyi's side: "What... what exactly is going on?"

Li Qingmiao didn't speak, but just smiled at Yu Zhiyi.

Yu Zhiyi looked at him coldly: "Li Qingmiao is from Meng County, Liusha Prefecture. Her father is from Li Family Village in Meng County, and her mother fled from the south."

“You grew up in a large family. Although you were from a farming family, your family was well-off because your ancestors were hardworking and your siblings were also hardworking. While other people in the village were still living in thatched huts or mud houses, your family lived in a brick house and had the means to support your education.”

"Because you are the only one in the family with a good education, the family has high hopes for you. Everyone tells you that they will do everything they can to earn money for your tuition. You don't have to worry about anything, just study hard and make something of yourself in the future."

"Your mother used to be a lady from a wealthy family, with a large number of servants. After being forced to marry your father, she never stopped thinking about restoring her former glory. But your grandparents and father were just ordinary farmers, and your brothers were not good at studying. Only you... were praised by the teacher as a child prodigy from a young age."

"So your mother placed all her hopes on you."

“From a very young age, your mother has been very strict with you. If your handwriting is even slightly bad, she will hit your palm. If you fail to meet the standards in the year-end school assessment, she will cry and express her disappointment in you while punishing you severely.”

"In such a family atmosphere, your mentality gradually became distorted, and you hated everyone in the family! Among them, the one you hated the most was your mother."

"In the midst of extreme psychological distortion, a thought arose in your mind: you would take revenge on your mother and make her regret it."

"After much deliberation, the best outcome for your mother would be for you to fail the exam. But if you fall behind in your grades or fail the exam, your mother will definitely vent all her disappointment and resentment on you, and may even cause unrest in the household. And if others don't have peace, they will blame you for not satisfying your mother."

"Therefore, your thoughts have gone to the other extreme."

Yu Zhiyi looked coldly at Li Qingmiao.

As she recounted these events as if she had witnessed them firsthand, Li Qingmiao's smile faded slightly, but her gaze became intense.

It seems that for him, Yu Zhiyi's ability to see through everything was more attractive than his impending capture and execution.

Yu Zhiyi didn't understand the mentality of this kind of person, but he knew that Li Qingmiao relied on his intelligence and scheming ability.

They mobilized a large number of constables to arrest him, but in the end they had no choice but to release him because the statute of limitations had expired. They could only watch helplessly as this murderer was right in front of them, unable to bring him to justice.

This realization would excite him.

To this, Yu Zhiyi could only say that it was nothing more than some petty cleverness.

The orphan girl beside her was completely engrossed in listening.

Seeing that Yu Zhiyi remained silent for a long time, she asked curiously, "What extreme?"

Yu Zhiyi glanced at him and said calmly, "He feels that his mother has only urged him to study and take exams since he was a child, placing all her hopes on him, as if as long as he passes the exams, they can also rise above others. What if, after he rises above others, she cuts off their hope of rising to prominence with him?"

"Nothing is more despairing than losing everything just when you think your wish is about to come true."

"So he did it."

"After the county examination results came out, he passed the exam as his family had hoped and became a Xiucai (a scholar who passed the county-level imperial examination)."

“At this point, as long as he continues to take the exams, even if he can't become one of the top three in the imperial examinations that year, he still has a good chance of officially becoming a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations).

"Just when the whole family was full of hope, thinking that their grandson/son/brother would soon become a scholar and that they could also benefit from it, their hopes turned into a butcher's knife."

"That day, Li Qingmiao brought home a lot of good wine and food. When his family saw him like this, they thought he was just happy because of his good grades."

"Little did they know, this hope of their entire family had been added to their food and drink with a drug that would drain their strength."

"Eating these spiked dishes and drinks won't kill them or make them lose consciousness, but it will make them weak and limp to the ground."

"Thus, those who had placed their hope in him watched helplessly as their hope turned into a demon, wielding its sword against them."