Chapter 59: The Rigorous Genius Little Freak
Xiao Yang had a trait that could be seen as either a virtue or a flaw: her passions flared and faded in a flash.
Whether something made her furious or left her stunned, the feeling might be extreme in the moment, but in less than three minutes, all emotion would recede like a tide, leaving her calm and detached.
And this moment was no exception.
Xu Xingchen was adorable, enough to make her want to pinch his cheeks, but that thought lasted for less than a moment.
"Are you truly willing to be my study partner?"
Xu Xingchen replied, "Yes, Your Majesty. I am willing."
Xiao Yang nodded. "Very good."
Then, with a THUD, she placed a pile of case files in front of Xu Xingchen. "Organize these for me today."
’He might be cute, but he’s not an actual pet. Since I can’t keep him in a cage, I might as well put him to work!’
Xiao Lv couldn’t help but chuckle. ’As expected, Her Majesty is still Her Majesty. All those people were worried for nothing.’
The files Xiao Yang gave Xu Xingchen were from the Ministry of Justice, a collection of various cases. Most had already been adjudicated and were only sent to her for review before being transferred to the Ministry’s archives.
In truth, the Emperor wasn’t required to review these at all. But she had been giving the Ministry of Personnel a bit of a hard time recently, and the people at the Ministry of Justice probably thought their Emperor was too idle and insisted on finding something for her to do.
Xiao Yang had figured that since Xu Xingchen liked dissecting corpses, he would enjoy looking over these bloody cases.
Once he was done, they could be sent straight to the Ministry of Justice.
However, as she was passing by, she acted on a whim, picked up a random file, and flipped it open. After glancing at a few pages, she fell silent.
It was the file for a murder at an inn. It described a guest who was killed, his head completely chopped off.
The file clearly recorded the testimonies of the innkeeper, the waiter, and the other guests, as well as the forensic doctor’s autopsy report. In the end, the murderer was identified as a handyman who had been verbally abused by the victim.
The reasoning was that the wound was consistent with the handyman’s wood-chopping axe, and no one could prove he had an alibi for that night.
In the end, the handyman was sentenced to decapitation for the crime of murder.
However, in the margins, Xu Xingchen had written a slew of morbid questions in an exceptionally neat script: Time of death based on blood coloration? The forensic doctor didn’t specify. The handyman’s strength? How many blows caused the victim’s injuries? Height difference between the victim and the handyman? Where are the bloody clothes? The head?
Xiao Yang put it down and picked up another file. This one concerned a case between a human trafficker and a woman fighting over a child.
Both claimed the child was their own, and their dispute brought them before the government.
Both wept sorrowfully, insisting they had given birth to the child.
The County Magistrate was unable to make a judgment, so he called for a knife and announced he would cut the child in half and give each of them a piece.
The moment the knife came down, one person made a show of stopping him, while the other threw herself over the child, shielding him with her body.
Ultimately, the County Magistrate awarded the child to the one who had protected him, saying that only a real mother would be willing to trade her own life for her child’s.
Xu Xingchen, however, had meticulously listed various other ways to prove the mother-child relationship, from examining the woman’s body to determine if she had recently given birth, to inspecting her home, to questioning neighbors and the midwife.
He had bypassed the emotional theatrics and questioned the scientific rigor of the knife-splitting method.
After reading it, Xiao Yang had to marvel. ’This kid would be prime material for a forensic doctor in the modern era.’
’He loves corpses and has rigorous logic—perfectly suited for criminal investigation.’
But the next file instantly shattered her assessment.
It was the case of a man who, while drunk, had brutally murdered his wife and child. He was caught in the act, the evidence was ironclad, and the Inspector had sentenced him to immediate execution in accordance with the law.
For some reason, this case had struck a nerve with Xu Xingchen. In the notes, he had written down no fewer than ten different forms of punishment.
Flaying and pulling out tendons, branding irons, chili water, rat torture, snake torture... None of them would kill you outright, but they would all inflict a fate worse than death.
He was practically a living King Yan.
In disbelief, Xiao Yang read through a few more files. Sure enough, whenever he encountered a less-than-rigorous investigation, he raised questions. But if the evidence was conclusive and the crime was an unforgivable offense against nature, he felt that a simple beheading was letting the person off too easily. They had to be made to walk through the eighteen levels of hell on earth.
Xiao Yang looked from the punishments listed in the file to the earnest, baby-faced boy, and fell into thought.
’Do genius psychopaths have such high standards for their looks these days?’
"Your Majesty, Miss Xie has arrived."
Xie Liuzheng was back again, persistently delivering her soup.
Xiao Yang never drank it, but Xie Liuzheng showed up every other day like clockwork.
Xiao Yang was about to refuse, but an idea came to her, and the words on her lips changed. "Let her in."
When Xie Liuzheng entered, she didn’t even have a chance to present the soup before she saw Xu Xingchen sitting there. On the surface, she was only mildly surprised, but internally, she had already devolved into a screaming chicken.
’Ahhh, System, he’s so precious! He’s so precious! Like he walked right out of an anime! So cute I could die!!!!’
System: "..."
’The main villain, the Emperor, Xiao Lv, and now Xu Xingchen... My host gets star-struck by any good-looking person she sees, but when I tell her to actually make a move, she can’t get a single thing done.’
Suppressing her excitement, Xie Liuzheng presented the soup to Xiao Yang, who casually handed her a case file in return.
Xie Liuzheng asked, "Your Majesty, what is this?"
Xiao Yang jerked her chin in Xu Xingchen’s direction. "See for yourself. The case files he’s been marking up."
Xie Liuzheng opened it with interest. Xiao Yang watched her with leisurely amusement, and sure enough, a moment later she saw Xie Liuzheng’s pupils widen in shock.
She looked down at the file, then up at the elf-like boy scribbling furiously at his desk.
Unbelievable.
She swallowed hard, closed the file, put it back, and then grabbed another. After opening it, her heart sank.
’This one is even more brutal than the last.’
She wailed internally, ’Heavens, how can someone look so adorable and be so vicious at the same time~~’
Seeing her reaction, Xiao Yang couldn’t help but laugh.
’It’s true. Everything’s more fun when you have someone to share it with.’
He had an innocent face but a brutal nature. He seemed vicious but sympathized with the innocent. He spoke obediently but never initiated conversation, yet if you asked, he would always answer.
Despite writing such brutal words, his whole demeanor was calm, his emotions showing not the slightest ripple.
’A very contradictory... meticulous, psychopathic little genius?’
Xiao Yang asked him, "What did your grandfather originally plan for you to do?"
Xu Xingchen replied, "A physician."
Xiao Yang said, "I heard you took a forensic doctor as your master. Do you want to be one?"
Xu Xingchen replied, "Grandfather forbids it. The Xu Family has no precedent for it."
The Xu Family were a renowned line of Civil Servant Families. Grand Tutor Xu himself was a First-Grade Official, a veteran statesman who had served three emperors, and an Imperial Tutor.
How could such a distinguished family allow their own grandson to become a forensic doctor, dealing with corpses day in and day out?
Xiao Yang asked, "Do you like corpses?"
Xu Xingchen nodded, then shook his head. "The truth. I like the truth. And..."
He didn’t say what else, but the endless punishments listed in the case files were answer enough. He liked punishing criminals.
Xiao Yang discovered another one of his virtues: honesty. He answered whatever he was asked. He was a bit of a psychopath, but there wasn’t a hint of cunning in him.
’What a... fascinating person.’