Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

011: The Strange Case of Youzhou

"What did you say?" Cui Wuyi said angrily, "Someone like you who believes in ghosts and gods can be an official? Oh, I forgot, you're not an official. You're just a lowly coroner with some title of 'Doctor of Criminal Justice,' which is nothing more than a minor official post!"

Su Wen stood up and walked towards the drain, completely calm, showing no sign of anger or any other emotion.

"Solving a case isn't about what you believe, but about what the murderer believes. Solving a case requires putting yourself in the murderer's shoes. Only then can you crack any case!" Su Wen said slowly as he walked past Cui Wuyi. "If you don't even put yourself in the murderer's shoes, how can you know what the murderer is thinking, and how can you solve this case?"

"The Cui family of Qinghe was once the most prestigious aristocratic family in the land. As a scion of an aristocratic family, having read so many books, don't you know that Confucius once said, 'Among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me'?" Su Wen glanced at Cui Wuyi and continued, "Learning without thinking is futile; thinking without learning is dangerous!"

Su Wen strode towards the exit of the drain, turning back to Cui Wuyi as he left, and said, "Today I will teach you a lesson, and I hope you will gain some insight from it!"

Cui Wuyi was furious and muttered, "I, a member of the prestigious Cui family of Qinghe and a county magistrate, do I need a lowly official like you to teach me?"

"Learning is not about social status, but about the endless pursuit of knowledge!"

After saying that, Su Wen waved to Zhao Qing and He Fang and said, "Come on, I'll take you to find the other half of the body!"

After Su Wen walked out of the drainage ditch and reached a higher point, he looked around and pondered for a moment before pointing to a nearby earthen slope: "Go dig over there, we should be able to find it!"

Zhao Qing and the other constables bowed and replied, "Yes!"

As Su Wen watched the constables walk away, he became thoughtful. The murderer's information network was so efficient that he quickly thought of using other cases to disrupt their investigation. He must be an extremely capable murderer.

We need to find a way to force him to reveal more weaknesses!

Ghost Market!

......

A short while later, Zhao Qing ran towards Su Wen and said, "Dr. Su, you're amazing! You were right! We really did find hands, feet, and a head at the bottom of the slope, but there was only one body; we didn't find the other one!"

Su Wen frowned and said, "Let's go take a look!"

After Cui Wuyi, He Fang, He Yan, and several other constables came out of the drainage ditch, they heard that Su Wen had indeed found another pair of hands, feet, head, and body, so they naturally followed to check.

Seeing this, Cui Wuyi didn't say anything more, remaining silent. He Fang stepped forward and said, "Dr. Su, you're truly amazing! You found the other half of the body so quickly!"

Su Wen slowly stood up and said to He Yan, who was standing behind him, "Officer He, you work in the household registration department all year round. Have any people reported missing persons in the past few days? I just examined them carefully. Both of these female corpses have marks on their wrists indicating that they have been tied up. In my opinion, they have been tied up for the past few days, but were killed and brought here to be disposed of around midnight yesterday!"

After pondering for a moment, He Yan said, "In the past few days, only the madam of the Qingyi Pavilion reported that two courtesans had gone missing. Could these be the two corpses?"

Su Wen did not answer, but slowly said, "Please, Officer He, take me to the Green Robe Pavilion to inquire and investigate!"

"Yes!" He Yan bowed and said.

Su Wen said, "I request that Magistrate Cui order these bodies to be brought to the county office and stored there. If I'm not mistaken, these two bodies were deliberately thrown out by the murderer to divert our attention from the investigation. They should be ignored and investigated together!"

Cui Wuyi did not respond, but simply bowed casually to Su Wen with his fists clasped.

Su Wen didn't say much, but bowed to He Yan and said, "Please, Lord He, lead the way!"

He said, "Please!"

......

Before long, the two arrived at a restaurant.

"This is the largest restaurant in the entire Youzhou City!" He Yan said to Su Wen.

Su Wen looked up and saw that the brothel was brightly lit with red lanterns and bustling with activity. Following the soft or clear laughter of the women, his eyes were suddenly drawn to the brothel. Upstairs and downstairs, there was a scene of sensual and charming women, men and women embracing and hugging. They were dressed in red and green silk, singing and dancing, with women of all shapes and sizes, wearing short jackets and long skirts. A faint fragrance accompanied the decadent music.

As soon as he entered, a middle-aged woman, slightly plump with a curvaceous figure, a plum blossom painted on her eyebrow, and Tang Dynasty makeup on her face, approached He Yan with great delight and said, "Oh, it's He Shangguan! I haven't seen you for the past two days. Did you hear that Nu'er and Qing'er are missing and you haven't been thinking about them? He Shangguan, don't worry. I have two new beauties here. You can take them to Ningxiang Temple to soak in the hot springs!"

Upon seeing Su Wen standing to one side, He Yan quickly pried the woman's hands away and said with an air of righteous indignation, "Dr. Su, please forgive me. I only come here occasionally. This is the madam of the Green Robe Pavilion!"

Su Wen didn't say much, but smiled slightly and said, "Madam, I am a criminal investigator sent here by the Dali Temple to investigate murder cases. Su Wen, I would like to ask, when did Nu'er and Qing'er, whom you just mentioned, go missing?"

Seeing Su Wen's serious expression, the madam glanced at He Yan beside her. He Yan gave her a look, and the madam chuckled, "A few days ago, about four or five days ago, Nu'er and Qing'er said they were going out to get flowers tattooed on their backs. So they went out together, but they haven't come back since. I asked the tattoo artist, and he said he'd never seen Nu'er and Qing'er. I was afraid something had happened to them, so I reported it to the county government, but we still haven't heard from them!"

Su Wen frowned, remaining silent for a moment before slowly asking, "Where is the Thorn Flower Gentleman? Does Lord He know?"

"Understood!"

Su Wen responded, then looked at the madam and said, "Tomorrow, go to the county office and identify whether those two are Qing'er and Nu'er!"

Upon hearing this, the madam's smile vanished abruptly, and she looked at He Yan with a serious expression, saying, "Sir He, what...what does this mean?"

He Yan looked at Su Wen, who said, "We discovered two female corpses today. Their faces were stripped and disfigured, but I can restore them to about 70-80%. We'll need you to identify them so we can confirm if they are indeed Qing'er and Nu'er!"

Upon hearing this, the madam was stunned for a moment, then took two steps back, as if she almost couldn't exhale.

Su Wen was quite surprised to see the madam's eyes filled with pain.

He Yan didn't focus her attention on the madam, but rather on Su Wen, saying, "Dr. Su, the corpse is in such a state, do you really think you can restore it?"

Su Wen nodded in agreement: "A person's appearance mainly depends on their facial bones. As long as you understand facial features well enough, it's not difficult!"

He said, "Dr. Su is truly learned; I admire him!"

After a moment's pause, tears welled in her eyes and slid down her cheeks as she said, "I thought they had simply grown tired of this place and run away, but could it be that they...?"

Seeing the madam's reaction, Su Wen couldn't help but feel a little suspicious and said, "Two girls are nothing to your Qingyi Pavilion, why are you so upset?"

Faced with Su Wen's questioning, the madam remained oblivious, only saying sadly, "The girls in my brothel are all unfortunate souls. Some were sold here by their families, others were found by me. They are all desperate, just trying to survive. They say they're earning money, but really they're just trying to get a bite to eat and stay alive in this world. They've already done everything they can to survive. Heaven..."

Su Wen didn't say anything, but looked at the boss thoughtfully, his eyes even glancing at He Yan standing to the side from time to time.