Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

018: The Weixian County Five-Corpse Wrongful Murder Case

After the old man left, Wang Weifeng walked to Su Wen's side and sighed, "During the Wu Dynasty, cruel officials ran rampant. This Magistrate Mo is a problem left over from that time. Although the Emperor has been relocating former cruel officials in recent years, some counties still suffer from a shortage of personnel, so the people in these areas are extremely afraid of the government!"

Su Wen nodded. Although he was not a history major, he had at least studied history. During the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, cruel officials ran rampant, and the sale of official positions was rampant. Many incompetent people obtained official positions through various means, and it was commonplace for them to oppress and beat the people.

Even worse, without any explanation, as long as the matter is reported to the authorities, the offender will be given twenty strokes of the cane first, and only after that will the next step be taken. This is called: disobedience!

If the defendant is not convicted, the plaintiff will face more serious consequences.

Therefore, the common people dared not report to the authorities, and they didn't even dare to look at the government officials. They would take a detour when they encountered government officials to avoid being beaten!

Su Wen walked to the mud pit and said, "Magistrate Wang, I hope you can govern this place well in the future. Otherwise, if the people lose trust in the government, it will be no small matter and could easily shake the foundation of the country!"

Wang Weifeng nodded in agreement, "Yes, fortunately, the current emperor understands the suffering of the people, and therefore has been transferring all the former cruel officials to other positions in recent years..."

Su Wen ignored Wang Weifeng's continued rambling. As a transmigrator, did Su Wen not know the current emperor's situation?

Now, in the third year of the Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty, Li Longji, a half-emperor throughout the ages, in this prosperous Kaiyuan era, which emperor dares to say that he can compare to Li Longji?

Li Longji now would be easily ranked among the top three in history, but of course, that won't be the case in thirty years!

Thinking of this, Su Wen couldn't help but feel a little worried about his future. Yes, he had come to the Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty, and there were less than thirty-seven years left before the An Lushan Rebellion.

I'm sure I won't die by then. Well, am I going to have to go through the An Lushan Rebellion all over again?

That was the An Lushan Rebellion, which killed nearly 30 million people in eight years, more than the death toll of World War II. What would I do then?

Thinking of this, Su Wen sighed deeply.

Wang Weifeng asked, "Dr. Su, why did you sigh?"

Su Wen snapped out of his reverie and said, "It's nothing, just a spontaneous thought!"

"Take notes, I'll explain!"

A constable pulled out paper and pen from his pocket. Su Wen first carefully examined one of the corpses and said, "Record: The deceased is male, about six feet tall, around thirty-five or thirty-six years old. There are no other injuries on his body, but he suffered a severe blow to the back of his head. It must have been a very hard object that pierced through his skull, causing his death!"

"Record: The deceased was male, approximately 6 feet 7 inches tall, and around 42 or 43 years old. He had a stab wound to the abdomen and multiple lacerations on his body, indicating a fierce struggle with the assailant before being stabbed in the abdomen. Judging from the wounds, the weapon was likely a knife about two or three fingers wide, probably a kitchen knife!"

"These two heads were disfigured and unrecognizable, but based on the brow bones, bridge of the nose, and jaw bones, we can roughly deduce that they were two women. The wounds on their necks were smooth and clean, with no curling of the flesh, indicating that they were severed after death!"

Su Wen frowned, stood up, and said, "Magistrate Wang, these two heads should be Qian Yin's and Zhu Shi's heads!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Weifeng was immediately shocked and exclaimed, "So, the murderer didn't just kill those two, but also these two?"

Su Wen was also a bit confused at this moment. What was going on? How did two more corpses suddenly appear?

Su Wen said, "First, take the body back to the county office. By the way, deal with things one by one. Have you caught the woodcutter yet?"

Faced with Su Wen's question, the men exchanged bewildered glances. Just then, the elder rushed back and reported, "Reporting to Magistrate Wang, the woodcutter has been captured, and in his backyard, we found traces of freshly turned soil. My brothers dug out a body from it and brought it back to the county office!"

Su Wen responded and climbed out of the pit, saying, "Alright, go interrogate the woodcutter first, cover these corpses with white cloth, and take them all back!"

......

Back at the county office, Su Wen carefully examined the head brought by the woodcutter, the corpse found in the woodcutter's house, and a series of knives and axes brought from the woodcutter's house.

Su Wen compared and carefully examined each knife and axe. In this era, bloodstains could not be detected after washing, since in modern times, all it takes is to shine an ultraviolet light on them.

However, since that tool is not available now, we can only identify the infection by comparing wounds, which increases the workload several times over.

It took Su Wen about ten or twenty minutes to arrive at the courtroom with a machete. At this time, the woodcutter was kneeling on the ground, with eight constables holding stern rods standing on both sides.

The woodcutter was so terrified that he was trembling all over, and cold sweat was pouring down his forehead, just by kneeling there.

Su Wen, holding a machete, followed Wang Weifeng out. The woodcutter trembled with fear upon seeing the machete in Su Wen's hand.

Wang Weifeng slammed his hand on the wooden table, about to speak, when Su Wen spoke first: "Woodcutter, how did you find that head?"

The woodcutter, trembling, said, "I...I found it while chopping wood on the mountain!"

"Could it be wrapped in cloth?"

The woodcutter shook his head: "No!"

"You audacious woodcutter, how dare you lie here! The head clearly shows signs of being wrapped in cloth, why do you say there's no cloth?" Su Wen shouted. "It's obvious you saw the cloth used to wrap the head was expensive and therefore embezzled it, that's why you say there's no cloth, isn't it?"

The woodcutter shook his head and raised his voice, "No, I absolutely did not embezzle any cloth!"

"Still refusing to confess? Looks like you don't want your ass anymore!"

Su Wen turned around and said, "Give him twenty lashes!"

Wang Weifeng was truly taken aback by Su Wen's words. Hadn't he just said earlier that cruel officials were too much and needed to be improved? Why was he about to punish them with a rod right off the bat!

Not much, Wang Weifeng still trusted his uncle's words, so he slammed the gavel and said, "Beat him!"

Two constables immediately grabbed the woodcutter, pinned him to the ground, and began beating him with sticks. Each of them struck him once, and the woodcutter, crying out in pain, said, "I confess, I confess! That wasn't a piece of cloth, it was a garment that I soaked in water to wash and then hung out to dry in the backyard!"

Su Wen looked at a constable beside him and said, "Go find it!"

"yes!"

Just as the constable was about to leave, Su Wen walked up to him and whispered in his ear, "Go find the clothes and ask the neighbors if the clothes belong to the woodcutter."

The constable acknowledged the order and turned to leave.

Su Wen then looked at the two men, gesturing for them to step back, before turning to the woodcutter and asking, "Who was that person who was dug out of your house?"

The woodcutter, clutching his recently slapped backside, cried out in pain, "My mother!"

"How did your mother die?"

The woodcutter said, "My mother has always been ill; everyone in the village knows it!"

Su Wen asked, "When did you die?"

The woodcutter pondered for a moment and said, "A few days ago!"

"Where's the head?"

Faced with Su Wen's question, the woodcutter paused for a moment, then said, "According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, I placed my mother's body in the backyard for three days. On the day I returned home after chopping wood on the mountain, my mother's body had been devoured and dragged away by a wild bear!"

Su Wen sneered, "Still lying!"