Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

042:5 Prison

After Su Wen opened the corpse, he carefully examined the internal organs. Yu Linyun couldn't help but cover his mouth with his hand and turn his back. He was a weak scholar who had never seen such a scene before.

Even Li Xingguo, a man who kills like chopping melons and vegetables, couldn't help but feel nauseous when he saw Su Wen turning over and digging inside people's bodies.

Just then, Su Wen took a fish bladder out of the corpse's stomach and opened it with a knife. Inside was a very small roll of yellow paper. Su Wen placed the yellow paper aside, then put the organs back in their original positions and sewed them up with needle and thread.

Su Wen then looked at Li Xingguo and said, "General, note that there was fish bladder wrapped in yellow paper in the stomach. None of the deceased's internal organs were damaged. Preliminary examination suggests the deceased likely froze to death!"

Yu Linyun and Li Xingguo both stared wide-eyed, unable to help but turn back to look at Su Wen, asking, "Frozen to death?"

"This...this...how is this possible? She froze to death without wearing clothes? She's not stupid, how could she..."

In response to Lin Yun's questioning, Su Wen explained, "When a person's body temperature drops to a certain level, the brain will think they are very hot. Therefore, she would take off her clothes, thus accelerating the loss of body temperature and leading to death!"

Su Wen slowly said, "Look at her, her expression was so peaceful before she died, with a slight smile on her face. These are actually typical characteristics of someone who froze to death!"

Yu Linyun and Li Xingguo had no idea what Su Wen was talking about, and they couldn't even understand what Su Wen was saying.

Su Wen ignored the two of them and slowly unfolded the yellow paper on the table. What was revealed to them was a talisman!

Upon seeing the talisman, Li Xingguo looked at Su Wen and said, "Could it be...?" He didn't dare continue. Su Wen didn't answer, but instead looked at Li Xingguo and said, "That case has already been cleared up. I think the case here must be something else. Go find a Taoist priest to ask him!"

After speaking, Su Wen looked at Yu Linyun to the side and asked, "County Magistrate Yu, how many Taoist temples are there in Luoyang City?"

Yu Linyun said, "There are too many Taoist temples in Luoyang!"

"Shangqing Palace is located in Beiman Mountain outside Luoyang City, Longxing Temple is located in Mingjiao Ward, Hongdao Temple is located in Xiuwen Ward, Jingyun Temple is located in Xiuye ​​Ward, Jinglong Palace is located in Daode Ward, Quanzhen Temple is located in Xuanjiao Ward, Taiwei Palace is located in Jishan Ward, Shengzhen Temple is located in Lixing Ward, Kaiyuan Temple is located in the Imperial Palace, and Tongxuan Temple is located in Dunhua Ward."

Hearing Yu Linyun list out the locations of all the Taoist temples as if they were his own treasures.

This gave Su Wen a headache. He never expected that there would be ten Taoist temples crammed into the city of Luoyang.

Actually, this is normal. During the Tang Dynasty, Taoism was the state religion, so it was normal to have so many Taoist temples. But how do you check so many Taoist temples?

Shortly after the three men stepped outside, a thug rushed in and, upon seeing Yu Linyun, cried out, "Magistrate Yu, something terrible has happened! Another murder!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen immediately frowned and asked Lin Yun, "Where?"

"In Jiaofufang!"

Yu Linyun looked at Su Wen and said, "Magistrate Su..."

Su Wen said, "Take me there!"

Su Wen couldn't help but complain in his heart: This is terrible! What's going on? I'm almost dead myself, and wherever I go, I die!

Before long, Su Wen and Li Xingguo arrived at a brothel under the guidance of this scoundrel. At this time, there were more than a dozen scoundrels maintaining order in the brothel, and a boy of seventeen or eighteen years old was standing in the middle of the crowd with a frown, carefully looking around.

The rogue said, "Boss, the magistrate is here!"

The young man turned to look at Su Wen and Li Xingguo, who were walking out of the crowd. He first bowed, then asked, "May I ask who you two are?"

Su Wen said, "I am Su Wen, the Magistrate of Luoyang County, the Chief Justice of the Criminal Justice Department, and a Doctor of Criminal Justice!"

Li Xingguo: "General of the Left Golden Guard, Li Xingguo!"

Upon hearing this, the young man immediately bowed and said, "This humble servant is Xu Ge, an elder of Luoyang County. Greetings to Magistrate Su and General!"

Su Wen responded, "You did a great job, knowing how to maintain order at the scene and protect the primary crime scene!"

Xu Ge bowed and said, "This is what this humble servant should do!"

"Where is the deceased?" Su Wen asked.

Xu Ge said, "Upstairs!"

Su Wen responded and started walking upstairs, with Li Xingguo following closely behind.

Upon entering the room, Su Wen found it in complete disarray. The table was overturned, the bed was a mess, and the floor was littered with broken cups and wine jugs, with food spilled all over the place.

The deceased was lying where he had run towards the door. Su Wen examined the deceased closely; he was wearing open-crotch pants and his upper body was naked.

Su Wen put on a pair of cloth gloves and said, "Remember, the deceased was male, approximately six feet five to six feet six inches tall, obese, around forty years old, with a minor scratch on his left abdomen, likely from a broken wine glass during the fall, not fatal!"

"The deceased showed no signs of poisoning; there were no signs in the mouth, but powder was found in the nose!"

As Su Wen finished speaking, he suddenly frowned and looked at Xu Ge, saying, "I heard from County Magistrate Yu that you took the powder to investigate today. How did it go? Did you find any clues?"

Xu Ge bowed and said, "Reporting to the magistrate, I had just heard the news and was about to return to report when I heard someone shouting that someone had died. I immediately brought my men in and secured the scene. No one has left!"

Su Wen asked, "What is this powder?"

Xu Ge said, "A shopkeeper said that this is something called Diyejia, which was recently introduced to the Tang Dynasty from the Western Regions!"

"The pharmacy owner said this is medicine used to treat dysentery!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen frowned immediately, quickly recalling what he had learned in school. He then stood up and looked at Li Xingguo, saying, "Poppy, opium!"

Li Xingguo asked, "What is this?"

Su Wendao said, "This is harmful! Immediately write a memorial to the Emperor, informing him to list this substance as a prohibited drug and forbid anyone from using it!"

Li Xingguo responded, "Yes!"

Su Wen looked at Xu Ge and said, "Xu Ge, immediately order the confiscation of all this medicine. Anyone who sells it privately will be severely punished!"

Xu Ge responded, "Yes!"

At this moment, Su Wen looked back at the deceased again. The deceased's body was curled up, which looked very much like he had been burned to death. However, there was no sign of his skin being burned by flames. Could it be that he had overdosed on marijuana, causing hallucinations that made him think he was being burned?

But this makes no sense at all!

Su Wen called out, "Who was he in this room with today? Call her up for questioning!"

One person replied, "Yes!"

After saying this, the man went down and brought up a woman dressed in a light gauze dress. The woman bowed to Su Wen and said, "This humble woman, Yan'er, greets the magistrate!"

"Who is the deceased?" Su Wen asked.

Yan'er said, "His name is Ding Yuan. He's a merchant who deals in silk and satin, and he often comes to our Flower Pavilion!"

Su Wen said, "I need you to tell me everything that happened before he died!"