Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

001: The Monk Case

A musty smell mixed with the stench of urine jolted Su Wen awake from his deep sleep.

Su Wen had just dreamt of looking for a toilet, so he quickly reached out to touch the bed. When he touched it, there was no dampness at all, and Su Wen breathed a sigh of relief.

But when Su Wen regained consciousness, he was stunned. It was a wooden bed, and the quilt on it faintly smelled sour. Looking around, he realized that he was in a wooden house. There was a wooden bucket on the ground next to the bed that smelled of urine. It looked like a urinal.

Su Wen frowned, trying hard to recall what had happened to him.

Yesterday I went to a bar with a friend and drank a bit too much. Could it be that my friend sold me to some remote mountain village?

Before Su Wen could figure it out, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, and a surge of memories rushed into his brain like a tidal wave, leaving Su Wen no room for resistance.

Su Wen, a 26-year-old coroner from Anle County, Youzhou, was invited to a drinking party by the county magistrate yesterday. Although he was not qualified to attend, the magistrate was in a good mood and invited him as well. As a result, he drank too much and died when he got home!

Thinking of this, Su Wen guessed that he might have drunk himself to death, which led to him transmigrating into the body of someone with the same name.

"Ugh!"

A sigh escaped Su Wen's lips. This was truly bad luck. In his previous life, he was a forensic doctor, and now he had transmigrated into a coroner. It really was a case of birds of a feather flocking together.

But their statuses are worlds apart!

According to my memory, it is now the second year of the Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty. The status of coroners is extremely low, and their descendants cannot become officials. They are comparable to people of low social status. However, at least one good thing is that they will not starve to death, since the government will pay them wages.

But... this is... so unlucky!

Just as Su Wen was sighing, he suddenly heard a loud shout from outside the door: "Coroner Su, Coroner Su..."

Upon hearing this, Su Wen hurriedly got up and opened the door. He saw a constable, about 1.8 meters tall and dressed in official uniform, standing in the courtyard. The constable exclaimed anxiously, "Coroner Su, quick, we've found a body!"

"A corpse?" Su Wen was stunned. Good heavens, he had just transmigrated and hadn't even recovered his senses when a corpse appeared.

However, there's no time to think about other things right now. We need to deal with these matters first, and we can talk about the rest later when we have more free time!

He left home and followed the constables straight to a nearby village.

When he arrived, there were many onlookers nearby, and seven or eight constables were responsible for maintaining order at the scene and protecting the body. Su Wen hurriedly ran over.

A constable said, "The body was pulled from the well. The person who found it was an old man who came to fetch water and that's when he discovered the body!"

Su Wen stepped forward, but did not rush to examine the body. Instead, he first checked the area around the well, where the footprints were messy and had ruined the surrounding environment. Then he went to examine the body.

Su Wen examined the body, muttering to himself, "Could someone help me take notes?"

Everyone shook their heads, saying, "Normally, it's always Counselor Su who writes these!"

Su Wen was stunned for a moment, then borrowed paper and a pen from someone in the crowd. Looking at the calligraphy brush, Su Wen was about to explode.

How could I possibly know how to write with a calligraphy brush? That's pure nonsense.

I type on a computer and mobile phone all year round. My handwriting with a fountain pen and ballpoint pen looks like scribbles. I can't even write anything with a calligraphy brush!

Su Wen took a deep breath. At that moment, a boy of about ten years old raised his hand and said, "I can help the Emperor write!"

Su Wen seemed to have seen a savior and quickly handed the banknotes to the boy, saying, "Thank you, little friend!"

"Little kid?" The boy looked at Su Wen, his face full of doubt.

However, Su Wen did not notice anything strange, and instead squatted down to examine the body.

"Write down everything I said: the corpse was male, about 1.78 meters tall..."

The boy looked up at Su Wen, his face filled with surprise and doubt. He wanted to ask, but seeing that Su Wen ignored him, he could only lower his head and continue writing on the paper.

"The deceased was wearing a long, light blue robe with no undergarments. There were multiple slash marks on his neck, ranging from 15 to 20 centimeters in length. The wound was inflicted by a sharp weapon, likely a kitchen knife or cleaver, with the force applied from top to bottom, severing his major artery and causing death. The preliminary time of death is estimated to be between 11:10 PM and 11:30 PM last night. He was bald with scars on his head, suggesting he was a monk!"

"There are marks on his hands, back, and chest, indicating a fight. There are bruises on his head, which, judging from the wounds, are likely from a collision!"

"The shoes on the feet have obvious drag marks, indicating that the person was dragged here after death and thrown into the well. This is not the primary crime scene!"

After speaking, Su Wen stood up and looked at the constable beside him, saying, "You can draw a sketch and ask at a nearby temple if any monks recognize this person!"

The constable responded.

The boy beside him handed Su Wen a pen and paper, which Su Wen accepted, saying, "Thank you, little friend!"

The boy looked puzzled and wanted to ask, but Su Wen still didn't notice anything amiss. Instead, he turned to the constables and said, "Please take the body away. Thank you!"

After saying this, Su Wen left the place, intending to return to the county office to meet with the county magistrate.

......

When Su Wen returned to the county government office, he saw the county magistrate sitting in the high hall, with eight constables standing on either side. Kneeling below the hall were two elderly men, both over fifty years old, dressed in fine clothes, who looked like two wealthy merchants.

County Commandant Ma said, "What is it? Tell me!"

After bowing, the two men said, "My name is Zhang Wan, and his name is Yao Yicheng!"

"Reporting to Shangguan, Zhang Wan's second daughter was originally slated to marry my son. We've already given the betrothal gifts, and the wedding was supposed to take place yesterday. But the day before yesterday, he told me that his second daughter had died of illness!"

"As the saying goes, death is a great loss, so I wanted to go and pay my respects. But Zhang Wan absolutely refused to let me go, and he wouldn't let me see his daughter's body!"

"I suspect that Zhang Wan deliberately had his daughter fake her death so he could break off the engagement and swindle the betrothal gifts!"

Upon hearing this, County Commandant Ma was furious and roared, "You bastard Zhang Wan, how dare you do such a thing! Give him twenty lashes!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen was startled. Just as he was about to speak, two constables stepped forward without saying a word, pinned Zhang Wan to the ground, and began to beat him with a board. The beating continued until Zhang Wan's skin was torn and his cries for help were constant.

Seeing this, Su Wen swallowed hard. He had forgotten that this was not the 21st century, but an ancient feudal dynasty where a single wrong word could cost him his life.

Su Wen chickened out and stood to the side, too scared to say a word.

After the beating, County Commandant Ma said, "Zhang Wan, confess the truth! Tell me, did you fake your daughter's death to break off the engagement and swindle the betrothal gifts?"

Zhang Wan, drenched in sweat from the pain, cried out, "No, Shangguan, my...my daughter has risen from the dead and run away!"

"What?" County Commandant Ma exclaimed in surprise, and everyone, including Su Wen, was terrified. Su Wen even had a thought flash through his mind: Could it be that he had transmigrated to another world? And there were demons and monsters in it? Could it be a world of cultivation?

"The night before last, my servant was on watch when he suddenly saw my daughter's body sit up from the bier and run away!" Zhang Wan said with a look of fear on his face, glancing at County Commandant Ma above the court. He continued, "I was afraid to speak out because I was ashamed and worried that my daughter's body might rise from the dead and run away, letting everyone know!"