Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

006: The Monk Case

Su Wen asked, "Did you encounter a man and a woman fleeing famine around 7 PM the night before last?"

Old Liu thought for a moment, then said, "Yes!"

Do you know either of them?

"I know him!" Old Liu said, head bowed. "The woman is the second daughter of the wealthy Zhang family. I don't know the other man!"

Su Wen questioned, "How did you come to know the second daughter of the Zhang family, the wealthy merchant?"

Old Liu replied, "I often deliver charcoal to Zhang Fushang's home, so I've had the good fortune to meet him and that's how we know each other!"

Su Wendao asked, "Besides that, what else?"

"I gave them a donkey to help them escape Anle County!"

Su Wen looked at Zhang Wan beside him and slowly said, "Zhang Wan, do you know who that man is?"

Zhang Wan lowered his head, about to speak, when Su Wen interrupted him, "You'd better tell the truth, otherwise... hmph..."

Startled by Su Wen's words, Zhang Wan, remembering his torn and bleeding buttocks, quickly said, "I know him! He's my second daughter Zhang Nu's fiancé!"

Magistrate Wang was startled, and even Yao Yicheng, who was kneeling on the ground to the side, was taken aback. He muttered, "Well, you bastard, your daughter has a fiancé, yet you dare to marry my son?"

Su Wendao said, "How dare you mutter and curse in the courtroom?"

Upon hearing this, Yao Yicheng immediately shut his mouth.

Su Wen continued, "Your second daughter, Zhang Nu, and that man, Chen Yun, were childhood sweethearts and had been betrothed since they were young. Seeing that Chen Yun repeatedly failed the imperial examinations and that your family had fallen on hard times, you broke off the engagement with your second daughter, Zhang Nu, intending to marry her to Yao Yicheng. However, unexpectedly, the night before last, she eloped with Chen Yun. Fearing damage to your reputation, you decided to have your second daughter fake her death as a pretext to settle the marriage!"

"Yes!" Zhang Wanying replied.

Su Wen then looked at Zhang Wan's eldest daughter and asked, "Do you know that wandering monk?"

Zhang Wan's eldest daughter lowered her head, not daring to speak.

Su Wen sneered, then turned to the sedan chair bearers and said, "Have you been carrying Miss Qingming Temple quite often lately?"

The sedan bearers nodded.

"Was the journey there relatively easy, but the return journey extremely difficult?"

The sedan bearers nodded in unison, "Yes, how did you know?"

"That day, when I passed by the Zhang residence, I happened to overhear one of you whispering, 'The sedan chair felt so heavy on the way back. Could it be the ghost of the Second Miss?'"

Su Wen looked at Zhang's eldest daughter and asked, "Every time you come back, is that wandering monk hiding in the sedan chair?"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall was shocked, except for Zhang Wan, who lowered his head even further.

The eldest daughter of the Zhang family was trembling with fear. Faced with Su Wen's questioning, she dared not deny it and could only lower her head and answer, "Yes!"

Su Wen then looked at Zhang Wandao to the side and said, "Mr. Zhang, are you still unwilling to confess the truth? Do you really want to be tortured?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wan sighed, his voice trembling with a hint of tears, "What a misfortune for our family!"

Zhang Wan said, "That afternoon, I went to the Lin residence to discuss my eldest daughter's marriage with my youngest daughter, Zhang Nu. I caught her having an affair with that monk. The monk tried to escape, but I hit him on the head with a wooden stick. I thought he was dead, so I planned to put him in the sedan chair, pretending he was my eldest daughter. After returning, I thought that since the monk was dead, I had to find a way to cover it up. So I dressed him in my second daughter's wedding dress, thinking that once the body was buried, no one would know. But, it turned out the monk wasn't dead; instead, he woke up at 1:15 PM!"

Su Wendao said, "So you said that the second daughter came back from the dead and ran away, but actually it was that monk who ran away, right?"

Zhang Wan nodded in agreement.

Su Wen then walked over to Old Liu and said, "So, at 3:45 PM, you, Old Liu, saw a monk in wedding attire knock on your door and exchange his wedding robes for a blue robe, right?"

Old Liu nodded in agreement.

At this point, Su Wen stepped to the side of Zhang the butcher's wife, the Zhang who had splashed water!

Su Wen smiled and said, "The monk was frightened, so he tried to escape back to the temple. He took a side path to get back, but the temple closed early, and it was cold, eerie, and terrifying there. So the monk thought of going to the residence of Zhang's eldest daughter, which is the Lin residence. However, that night, Zhang's eldest daughter was called home by her father, Zhang Wan. So the monk had no choice but to go back to the city first and try again at dawn!"

"When I passed by Butcher Zhang's house, I happened to see you, Zhang, taking a bath, didn't I?"

Faced with Su Wen's pressing questioning, Zhang could only lower her head but did not answer.

Su Wen smiled slightly, reached out and grabbed Zhang's right wrist, saying, "The injuries on your wrist and neck must have been caused when that monk forced you, right?"

Zhang was startled. Su Wen continued, "That monk had scratches on his left arm; it must have been from your fingernails!"

"You dress and look very beautiful, so you must like beautiful women. You're in contact with prostitutes every day, so you must smell like them. That's why you must bathe every day. I can tell from the road in front of your house. Yesterday, Zhao Qing and I were investigating a case on a side road when you splashed us with your bathwater. We almost froze to death!"

Zhang pulled her hand away and said, "Yes, that monk tried to rape me, and he almost succeeded. Luckily, my husband came back in time and beat him out!"

Su Wen smiled slightly and said, "That's right, the monk has many bruises, which is enough to prove that he was beaten!"

Su Wen looked at Butcher Zhao and said, "Butcher Zhao, after you chased that monk away, he fled along the path. You saw your wife being bullied, and you couldn't stand it, so you grabbed a butcher's knife, chased after him, killed him, and dragged him into the village well and threw him away, didn't you?"

Butcher Zhao swallowed hard and raised his voice, "I didn't kill him. I just chased him away. I chased him for a while, but I couldn't catch him, so I stopped!"

Su Wen smiled slightly and said, "I found blood in the monk's wound that wasn't human blood. It was animal blood. Human blood and animal blood are completely different. Even if they were stuck together, they wouldn't mix because they are completely different. That must be the animal blood from the butcher's knife you used when you killed him!"

Zhao the butcher's breathing became rapid, but he still didn't admit it or reply.

Su Wen patted Zhao the butcher on the shoulder and said, "Although you've slaughtered animals for years, this is your first time killing someone, so you're understandably flustered. After you killed the monk, you chose to throw the body into the well. You probably instinctively threw the butcher's knife into the well as well, right? I've already ordered people to retrieve it from the well. Once it's retrieved, I believe everyone who has bought meat from your shop will be able to recognize whose knife it is!"

As Su Wen finished speaking, Butcher Zhao completely lowered his guard, collapsing to the ground in a daze, and replied, "I confess, I killed him. That day, after I got home, I saw that monk trying to rape my wife, so I fought with him and chased him away. But the more I thought about it, the angrier I got, so I grabbed my weapon and chased after him, killing him. After killing him, I was scared, so I dragged him to a well in a nearby village and threw him in. I originally wanted to take the machete back, but then I thought I couldn't let anyone find out, so I threw the machete into the well too!"

After Zhao the butcher confessed, Su Wen rose and bowed to Magistrate Wang in the courtroom, saying, "Magistrate Wang, this case has been solved as expected!"

Magistrate Wang looked at Su Wen, stood up, and couldn't help but clap his hands, saying, "Impressive! I admire you. To solve this mysterious case in just one day is truly remarkable!"

Su Wendao said, "Magistrate, I know how to solve cases, but the rest I can only entrust to you!"

Magistrate Wang replied, "No problem. Detain Zhang Wan and Butcher Zhao first, and let the Dali Temple decide their case once the case files arrive!"