That evening, the eyewitnesses in the East Market did indeed see the carriage I was in. During the ride back to the Prince Mansion, I did indeed have the coachman stop to pick up a woman. However, that person was not Meng Ying, but a maid from my household."
Li Shenbin pointed to one of his household’s servants, singling out a maid of a similar age and stature to Meng Ying. "Her name is Xiao Ai," he continued. "For the Dragon Boat Festival, I gave all the servants in my house some money and let them have the day off, including her. While riding back home in the carriage, I saw her walking alone and stopped to give her a ride. Perhaps the eyewitnesses were mistaken and mistook her for Meng Ying."
Li Ang narrowed his eyes. Many of the witnesses who identified the carriage were shopkeepers, clerks, and stall owners from the East Market. That night, their attention was caught by the luxurious carriage; they didn’t get a clear look at the person inside. As for this maid Li Shenbin has produced—she’s a servant from the Prince Mansion. It wouldn’t have been difficult for them to coordinate their stories in advance.
"My father and Meng Ying’s father, Meng Chengye, have business dealings, and I’ve seen Meng Ying before," Li Shenbin stated, his face a mask of sincerity. "But truly, I did not meet her in the East Market that night." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ ɴovᴇl(ꜰ)ir(e).nᴇt
He then faced the eyewitnesses calmly. "All of you," he said, "could try to take another look. See if Miss Meng Ying’s remains bear any resemblance to Xiao Ai, which might have led to a misidentification."
"...Don’t you know?" Minister Yun Hanchi of the Ministry of Justice interjected, his voice heavy. "The killer scarred Meng Ying’s face with a jade hairpin. Although the body is now preserved in the ice room and hasn’t decomposed, her original appearance is unrecognizable. Her identity was confirmed by her jewelry and a birthmark."
Minister Yun Hanchi took a deep breath. Below, many of the eyewitnesses looked at the maid Xiao Ai, their faces etched with confusion. That night in the East Market, they had only caught a fleeting glimpse, and their impressions weren’t very strong.
Fifty percent of the eyewitnesses said they might have been mistaken, thirty percent said they couldn’t remember clearly, and only twenty percent felt that Xiao Ai and the girl who had boarded the carriage were not the same person.
"Think carefully again!"
Meng Chengye, who had been waiting outside the Ministry of Justice, could no longer contain himself and rushed inside. He first stated his identity as the victim’s father to Minister Yun Hanchi, then addressed the crowd of eyewitnesses, "I implore all of you to recall carefully! This concerns whether justice can be served for my daughter!"
"You must be Manager Meng." Upon seeing Meng Chengye, Li Shenbin immediately adopted a sorrowful expression. "I have heard about what happened to Miss Meng, and I am deeply sorry."
Meng Chengye swept a red-eyed glare at him but said nothing, clearly having lost all trust in the Commandery Prince’s son.
Nie Shilei, who had been kneeling on the ground, suddenly lifted his head. He stared blankly at the maid named Xiao Ai, then abruptly pointed at her and the tall, sturdy servant. "It was her and him! After talking it over, they lured me into the alley!"
A hush fell over the Ministry of Justice, only to be broken by a renewed wave of clamor.
The fool’s testimony was entirely subjective and unreliable, but there were also numerous suspicious points surrounding Li Shenbin. The crux of the problem lay in the evidence. The carriage had been dismantled and burned, and both the maid Xiao Ai and the tall, sturdy servant were from the Prince Mansion, rendering their words untrustworthy.
"If any of you can prove that it was indeed Meng Ying who got into the carriage, then my involvement in this case can be confirmed," Li Shenbin stated bluntly. "If there is no such evidence, if you cannot prove it, then I must ask you, Minister, to allow me to return home and care for my ailing father."
After speaking, Li Shenbin glanced back at Yun Hanchi and then turned to leave. He was the son of a Commandery Prince, a member of the Li Imperial Family. Without solid evidence of his involvement, his willingness to cooperate with the Ministry of Justice’s investigation was already a considerable show of deference. At this moment, it seemed no one could stop him from leaving.
Li Ang stepped forward from the crowd, blocking Li Shenbin’s path. "As long as there’s evidence to prove that the woman the eyewitnesses saw getting into the carriage was indeed Meng Ying, that should suffice, right?"
Li Shenbin narrowed his eyes slightly. "And you are?"
"Li Ang of the Academic Palace."
Li Ang unfastened the waist token from his belt and showed it to everyone in the Ministry of Justice. He then turned to Yun Hanchi and said, "Minister, I have a way to prove it. I just need a little time."
A slight commotion rippled through the Ministry of Justice once again. Li Ang’s reputation was widely known in Chang’an. Moreover, recent rumors spoke of an ambiguous relationship between him and Princess Guanghua, and of Emperor Yu repeatedly offering to make him a son-in-law, only to be refused each time.
Paying no heed to the crowd’s astonishment, and with Yun Hanchi’s consent, Li Ang went to the ice room in the Ministry of Justice. He saw Meng Ying’s disfigured body, then found some charcoal and drawing paper. After that, he spoke with the victim’s father, Meng Chengye, for some time.
Based on Meng Chengye’s description and the contours of the body’s face, he drew a portrait of Meng Ying. He then drew more than a dozen portraits of other women. Mixing all the portraits together, he presented them to the eyewitnesses and asked them to identify the woman they had seen getting into the carriage on the night of the Dragon Boat Festival.
Out of thirteen eyewitnesses, ten correctly pointed out Meng Ying’s portrait.
"This means that the person they saw getting into the Prince Changxiang Mansion’s carriage that night was, indeed, Meng Ying."
Li Ang looked toward Li Shenbin, whose complexion had turned ashen, and said calmly, "I have a theory.
"Fifteen minutes past Haichu, Meng Ying got separated from her friend at the eastern entrance of the East Market. At that moment, you were in your carriage and saw Meng Ying on the road.
"Since you knew her father, you offered to take the lost girl home. Meng Ying agreed and boarded your carriage.
"Subsequently, overcome by lust, you instructed your coachman to take a detour, intending to defile Meng Ying.
"Meng Ying resisted fiercely, escaped from the carriage, and fled into the East Market."