Chapter 174 Thirty years, eleven months, and twenty-eight days
Yu Zhiyi slept well.
When she woke up the next day and learned that Du Ziheng had not returned, she was not surprised.
To be precise, I didn't take it to heart.
Whether he comes back or when he comes back is not really of much concern to her.
No matter when he comes back, it won't change her mind.
After finishing her morning lessons and breakfast, she went to the Ministry of Justice as usual.
Logically, the case in Caonan Village should have been closed, and she should have finished writing the file and handed it over to the Dali Temple as soon as possible. However, given that the criminal was still in You Bingyue's hands, she decided to wait a little longer.
Um……
I estimate that You Bingyue should arrive tomorrow.
Before heading to the Ministry of Justice, Yu Zhiyi drew a healing talisman, put on her official robes, and went to the palace.
At that time, the emperor was holding court. Yu Zhiyi handed the healing talisman to Eunuch Hu and then left the palace.
Ministry of Justice.
Yu Zhiyi found the case file she had dug out a few days ago. It was a 30-year-old case with simple facts, witness testimonies, and motives. Even the perpetrator had confessed to the crime.
The only problem is... the prisoner escaped halfway through.
The prisoner's name was Li Qingmiao, and he was a scholar.
The deceased... were his family of seven.
He was intelligent from a young age, and his family was relatively well-off, so supporting his education was not a problem.
The Li family consists of eight people: the grandmother, Li Wangshi; the mother, Li Chenshi; the father, Li Daniu; and Li Qingmiao's two older brothers, one younger brother, and one older sister.
This is a typical farming family that believes in the saying that having many children and grandchildren brings good fortune.
Because their ancestors were hardworking people for generations, they accumulated some assets.
In this family, only one person was out of place in this typical farming household: the mother, Li Chenshi.
She wasn't from Lijia Village; she had fled to the town a few years ago.
Before fleeing, Li Chenshi was a wealthy young lady with a large household of servants.
Later, a natural disaster struck, and the family members either died or fled on their way to escape the famine. Some of the servants even plotted to kill their master and seize the property that belonged to him.
Li Chenshi's parents both died at the hands of treacherous servants; only she escaped this fate because her mother sent her away in time.
When she fled to the town where Lijia Village was located, she was penniless, disheveled, and almost starved to death.
She fainted on the riverbank because she was so hungry while passing by and fell into the river. She was rescued by Li Daniu who happened to be passing by.
In this era, once a woman had physical contact with a man outside the marriage, if she did not marry him, her only option was to commit suicide.
Having no other choice, and seeing that the Li family was relatively well-off, Li Chenshi agreed to marry Li Daniu.
However, although she married a farmer, she was still a pampered young lady at heart.
She was the last person killed when the incident occurred.
Yu Zhiyi calculated based on Li Qingmiao's birth date and time, then switched to Li Chenshi's birth date and time. After finishing the calculation, she shook her head with a sigh.
During this time, Li Rou has been following Yu Zhiyi around and has learned some characters. Although she may not be able to write them, she can still recognize some everyday characters without any problem.
She vaguely understood the contents of the case file and couldn't help but gasp: "This Li Qingmiao, she actually killed his whole family? Is there some injustice involved?"
It wasn't that she wanted to excuse the bad guys, it was just that the whole thing was too absurd.
At that moment, the official from the opposite side also arrived. Upon hearing Li Rou's words, he shook his head and said, "The prisoner confessed himself, and there is no injustice involved."
Under Li Rou's astonished gaze, the official also sighed with emotion: "Little girl, you are too young to have experienced what happened back then. You don't know how much of a sensation this event caused back then!"
Seeing that Yu Zhiyi and her servant were looking over, the official felt a little embarrassed, but gossiping is human nature.
Moreover, at his age, he always has a strong desire to share things he has personally experienced.
Furthermore, the day after Yu Zhiyi came to report on her duties, the entire Ministry of Justice prepared congratulatory gifts. Although they did not hold a special banquet due to the strict separation of men and women, sending the gifts was considered a form of social interaction.
Yu Zhiyi, seeing that the Assistant Minister was willing to talk about what happened back then, also looked back.
Yuanwailang is forty-five years old this year. Thirty years ago, he was fifteen, the age when he should have been studying.
Students love to criticize current events and talk about social ills. This incident caused quite a stir in their circle back then.
"I've heard that Li Qingmiao is a refined and cultured man. He would even lend a helping hand to an injured dog he sees on the street. So after the case was exposed, even though all the evidence pointed to him, the authorities didn't believe him. You know, he was only eighteen years old when he passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. He should have had a bright future ahead of him!"
"No one would think he would do something so self-destructive, especially since his whole family died."
"Moreover, he is the youngest scholar. If he works harder, he might become the youngest Jinshi in Ningzhou. This would be a great achievement for any prefecture. The prefect naturally did not want to wrong a talented person. He thought that Li Qingmiao was threatened and had to take the blame. Unexpectedly, Li Qingmiao directly rejected his kindness and went to the street to tell everyone that he was the murderer in the Li Family Village murder case."
The official shook his head and clicked his tongue, saying, "You don't know, Li Qingmiao was once a role model among our students. Every teacher in the school would use him as an example when educating their students. But after these things happened, those teachers who used him as an example felt ashamed and didn't dare to appear in public for a long time."
Li Rou's mouth gaped open, utterly bewildered: "Why would he kill his entire family?"
The official shook his head: "I don't know. He didn't say, and there was no opportunity to interrogate him later."
"This man was very clever. On the way to the yamen, he used his superb lock-picking skills to open the cage, and under the cover of night, he killed the officers who were escorting him and successfully escaped. And he escaped for thirty years."
Yu Zhiyi corrected: "No, it's not thirty years, but thirty years, eleven months, and twenty-eight days."
The official was taken aback.
Li Rou asked, puzzled, "Miss, what's the difference?"
Eleven months and twenty-eight days, isn't that much different from a year?
No, there's a difference. It's fair to say that thirty-one years have passed.
Yu Zhiyi said calmly, "Of course there is a difference. According to the Sheng Law, cases that have not been solved for more than thirty years will be regarded as invalid cases, and neither the Dali Temple nor the Ministry of Justice has the right to pursue them."
This is why those long-standing cases were only investigated starting thirty years ago.
To be precise, it's not thirty years ago, but rather calculated from this day, thirty years, eleven months, and thirty days ago.
Once this day has passed, previous cases are automatically invalidated, and even if the suspect is standing right in front of the officials from the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice, they cannot be pursued any further.
This is why Yu Zhiyi suddenly changed her mind and came to the Ministry of Justice to report on her work.
She learned this from reading "The Law of Sheng," and she didn't want the truth of more old cases to be buried forever, or for more evildoers to go unpunished.
It would be a great deed to seek justice for these victims.
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