Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

025: The Nightmare Chases the Murderer

At least this can be considered a clue that isn't really a clue!

The best place to check for twins is the household registration office, but that still requires going to Magistrate Cui Ziyan. Su Wen immediately deflated at the thought of Magistrate Cui.

Just then, a thought flashed through Su Wen's mind: at the banquet hosted by Cui Wuyi, Cui Wuyi had introduced a woman.

Su Wen began to ponder the matter of that woman!

Suddenly, his brows lit up. That's right. Cui Wuyi had said that she was Cui Lingyu, the great-granddaughter of Cui Renshi. Combining this with what Magistrate Wang had said earlier, that Cui Ziyan's granddaughter was Cui Lingyu, and that both of them were skilled in painting, they should be the same person.

Yes, the Cui family of Boling, it matches up, it matches up completely!

Su Wen was extremely excited. Since he knew Cui Lingyu, he would borrow Cui Lingyu to check the twins in the household registration book!

Thinking of this, Su Wen was very excited. However, after walking a few steps, Su Wen stopped. Now the biggest problem was that he had been so busy drinking and trying to get rid of the powerful families' attempts to win him over that day. He was worried that Cui Lingyu might not remember him at all. If that happened, he would be in trouble!

Su Wen found a place to write letters, spent two coins to have someone write a letter, and then ran to the Cui residence to have a servant deliver it to Cui Lingyu.

Su Wen talked to the servants for a long time, but they all disagreed with sending the letter. Su Wen forgot that the Cui family was the Cui clan of Boling, the most prestigious family in the world. How could the young lady of the family accept letters from others? If word got out, it would be a disgrace to the family.

Su Wen tried to pay for the letter, but his servants refused. Just when Su Wen was at his wit's end, he remembered that the letter was written by Cui Wuyi, the magistrate of Lu County. Upon hearing this, the servants accepted the letter and returned to their residence.

This busy work lasted until dusk, leaving Su Wen exhausted. Little did he know that delivering a message could take several hours.

As night approached and a curfew was imposed, Su Wen had no choice but to head to the inn. On the way, he encountered Amu again.

Amu walked along the road, sometimes stopping, sometimes squatting, sometimes grinning. It took a long time for Su Wencai to follow Amu to his home.

Su Wen stepped into the room, while Amu sat on the bed to one side, staring at the ground in a daze, without saying a word!

The room wasn't very big, about the same size as the house Su Wen had lived in before, but it was very clean, as if someone came to clean it regularly. There were traces of drawing on one of the walls.

Su Wen stepped forward and examined the painting on the wall. It was a mess, like scribbles.

Su Wen looked at Amu and said softly, "Amu, are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?"

Amu stared blankly at Su Wen, remaining silent. Although Su Wen had some suspicions that Amu probably knew something, it seemed impossible to get anything out of him now.

Just as Su Wen got up to leave, his foot bumped into an iron basin, which fell to the ground with a loud thud.

This startled Su Wen. Just as Su Wen squatted down to pick it up, he heard Amu scream and start shouting. He kept shouting but didn't speak. Su Wen quickly looked at Amu and saw that Amu was curled up with his hands covering his head, looking extremely terrified.

Su Wen asked softly, "Amu, what's wrong?"

Before he finished speaking, Amu suddenly seemed to have become a different person. He turned his head, picked up a small stone, and began to draw on the wall.

Su Wen watched as Amu drew a square, then three stick figures, then a stick figure standing not far away looking at the square, and then suddenly drew many slanted lines, and then suddenly reached out and erased them all.

In short, the drawing is a complete mess, a haphazard attempt!

Su Wen was a little confused by what he saw, and hurriedly stepped forward to comfort him. It took quite a while to calm Amu down.

Although Su Wen is a forensic doctor, he still has some medical knowledge. Judging from Amu's condition, he should have been frightened, which led to dementia and insanity. His mind is stuck in his childhood, and his body has gradually stopped developing and atrophied. His cerebellum or cerebrum has probably also suffered great damage!

After seeing that Amu had fallen asleep, Su Wen decided to leave. Seeing that it was getting dark, he returned to the inn, intending to rest for the night and talk again the next day.

Back in his room, Su Wen couldn't sleep all night, tossing and turning. He had absolutely no clues whatsoever, except that he knew Yuan Tianfang wasn't the real Yuan Tianfang.

Silent all night.

The next morning at dawn, Su Wen woke up early, washed up, and once again paid someone to write a letter. He then went to the Cui residence and gave it to a servant. This time, Su Wen was still using the identity of Cui Wuyi. Of course, Su Wen gave the servant a small amount of money.

Su Wen couldn't help but feel fortunate that the servant accepted the gift this time; it was Cui Wuyi's name that was useful!

Su Wen waited quietly by the outer wall of the gate for news from the Cui family.

The wait lasted quite a while, probably more than an hour. As the door was slowly opened, Su Wen hurriedly stood up from the ground and saw a woman peeking her head out of the door.

With just one glance, Su Wen's mind flashed through images, and he saw that the woman was none other than Cui Lingyu, the woman Cui Wuyi had introduced at the banquet that day.

Upon seeing Su Wen standing at the door, Cui Lingyu was somewhat curious. She glanced at Su Wen and said, "This humble woman, Cui Lingyu, greets Dr. Su!"

Su Wen bowed to Cui Lingyu and said, "Su Wen greets Miss Cui!"

With a slight smile, Cui Lingyu handed a book to Su Wen, saying, "I secretly took this from the household registration office last night. Take a look, and give it to me when you're done so I can return it!"

Su Wen bowed with both hands and said, "Thank you very much, Miss Cui!"

Su Wen took the book and quickly opened it to look at it. Su Wen wanted to know if twins had ever been born in Ningshui County more than forty or nearly fifty years ago!

Cui Lingyu stood quietly at the door, waiting for Su Wen to quickly check the household registration.

Not long after, Su Wen actually saw that forty-six years ago, a family surnamed Liu in Ningshui County had twins, but the younger son died at birth due to a difficult labor.

More importantly, according to the household registration information, after the youngest son died, the bodies of his mother and the youngest son were fought over between the Liu family and the Ming family.

Apart from that, there is no other information on the household registration.

As a highly experienced forensic doctor, Su Wen suspected almost instantly that there must be something being concealed in this incident.

Su Wen handed the book to Cui Lingyu and said, "Miss Cui, I would like to trouble you with something else. Could you please get me the case file for this matter? This incident involves a struggle over a corpse, which must have been recorded in the case file at the time!"

Cui Lingyu glanced at the book, then secretly looked at Su Wen and asked, "Dr. Su, are you investigating some case? Why don't you go and tell the magistrate?"

Su Wen smiled awkwardly and didn't continue, saying, "I would be grateful if Miss Cui could help me out!"