Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

065: The Lianhua Case in Qingzhou

Chen Gou lowered his head and said, "The first time was about ten days ago. That day, we were patrolling the neighborhood as usual. Because we had drunk some alcohol at noon, we saw a woman near dusk. She was beautiful, so the sergeant took a liking to her and led us to rape her. Afterward, we pretended to be the murderers and killed her. After that, the sergeant led us to start selecting young and beautiful women!"

At this point, Chen Gou looked up at Su Wen with a hint of regret and said, "I was forced into it. I didn't even touch it. I was just standing guard for them. I..."

Upon hearing this, Su Wen looked at Du Yu to the side and asked, "Captain Du, what do you think?"

Du Yu didn't reply, but looking at his clenched fists and bulging veins, he was clearly furious!

Su Wen simply looked at Chen Gou and said, "So, it was the sergeant who led it?"

Chen Gou nodded: "Yes, the sergeant led the way!"

At this point, Chen Gou lowered his head and said, "I have a childhood sweetheart. My family has already proposed marriage to me. They'll let us get married in two years when I can go home. So there's no way I could do such a thing, but..."

Chen Gou burst into tears, saying, "I...I couldn't resist...I deserve to die, I should have resisted..."

As he spoke, he slapped himself in the face. Seeing this, Su Wen remained expressionless and said, "Alright, I understand. Xu Ge, take him away!"

Xu Ge responded and took Chen Gou away. A moment later, he brought the last person to the courtroom.

Su Wen, holding up two confessions, said, "Two people have already confessed. What about you? Will you confess, or will you, like the other two, stubbornly refuse to admit anything? But even if you don't confess, it's useless. These two confessions are enough to convict you all!"

Upon hearing this, the man hesitated for a moment, but then, remembering that Sun Si had been released, his face immediately filled with rage. He exclaimed, "Damn it! That scoundrel Sun Si actually betrayed us to save himself!"

As he spoke, the man looked up at Su Wen, his face full of anger, and said, "Anyway, we're all going to die, so I'll confess. It was the corporal who led the way in making us rape and kill four people. You can't let that bastard Sun Si go; he's an accomplice. I originally didn't want to go on guard duty like Chen Gou, but that bastard Sun Si threatened me, so I had no choice but to go. Of the five of us, only Chen Gou didn't participate; he was just on guard duty because he has a fiancée at home and didn't want to. We didn't force him. Chen Gou is usually quite honest; we knew he wouldn't talk. After all, we could cause trouble for his fiancée, so he wouldn't say anything. That bastard Sun Si!"

"Alright, take him away, and bring the corporal back up!"

Xu Ge responded.

A moment later, Xu Ge brought the sergeant up again.

Su Wen sat in the hall, his eyes narrowed, looking at the sergeant with murderous intent, and said, "Sergeant, will you confess now?"

The sergeant glanced at Su Wen, then at Du Yu, whose face was now contorted with rage. He already knew the answer. His body deflated like a punctured balloon, and he instantly knelt on the ground, head bowed, saying, "I confess!"

......

Su Wen is now the acting governor of Qingzhou, with judicial and adjudicative power, and he himself is the vice minister of prison, possessing the right not to report to the Dali Temple.

Su Wen had searched through the Tang Dynasty Code for a long time. There were provisions for rape and murder, but no suitable articles for the extremely heinous crime of raping and then killing.

Xu Ge watched as Su Wen spent a long time studying the Tang Dynasty law, and said softly, "Master, you don't need to follow the Tang Dynasty law too strictly. You can punish according to your own understanding. My father said that in the past, Grand Secretary Di made his own judgments and did not completely follow the provisions of the Tang Dynasty law!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen smiled slightly and said, "Grand Secretary Di is Grand Secretary Di, how can I compare myself to him? We must still follow the laws of the Tang Dynasty. However, you have given me some inspiration!"

That night, Su Wen ordered people to post notices everywhere, saying that they had to find a way to bring the whole city back to life, because it was like a dead city, which was unacceptable.

It has been about six days since the most recent crime, which means that, based on the previous times the perpetrator committed the crimes, they did so three, five, and seven days apart, following a pattern of committing crimes in the past.

The city is now like a ghost town, with almost no one walking on the streets. While this may limit the killer a little, it also gives the killer more opportunities to kill. Since no one is on the streets, the killer can easily break into homes and kill people. And because no one is moving around, no one will report the crime. In this way, the killer can commit murders when no one reports them.

Therefore, Su Wen had to first find a way to revitalize the city.

The only way to bring them back to life is to try dealing with these five soldiers!

According to the corporal's full confession, the corporal was guilty of heinous crimes and was sentenced to be torn apart by chariots. Sun Si killed two people and was the executor and the first accomplice, and was sentenced to be cut in half at the waist. The other two were sentenced to beheading. As for Chen Gou, he did not follow along but was just on guard duty. However, he did not report the case and condoned the murderers, thus becoming an accomplice. He was sentenced to three years in prison and thirty strokes of the cane.

In addition, Su Wen also wrote in the notice that he already had some clues about the killer in the Lotus Case!

When Xu Ge heard what Su Wen said, he looked puzzled and asked, "Master, do you really have a lead?"

Su Wen responded, "Yes, this is actually quite similar to the case we handled in Luoyang!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Ge pondered and asked, "You mean someone wants to become an immortal?"

Su Wen shook his head and said, "The motive is still unclear, but this murderer must be an extreme Buddhist, and it's even highly likely that he belongs to a cult!"

Xu Ge asked, "Master, what do you mean by that?"

Su Wendao said, "The eyes of all the deceased were gouged out. I guess it's because the eyes represent the supreme in Buddhism. The reason for choosing women was probably to perform a sacrifice. Moreover, without exception, all of these women were young girls, and young girls represent purity. This means that the murderer must have wanted the objects of the sacrifice to be pure."

"This also fits the fact that the murderer cleaned the victims very thoroughly, and the lotus flower on the eyebrows represents purity and rebirth."

"And the most important point is that the numbers three, five, and seven have different meanings in Buddhism. Three represents the three times: past, present, and future. Five represents the five Buddhas of the Vajradhatu Mandala in Tibetan Tantric Buddhism: the five Buddhas of the five directions (east, west, south, north, and center). Seven represents perfection and infinity!"

"However, this murderer killed so many people, which is clearly not normal Buddhism. It is very likely a cult, and I even think of the Mahayana sect that arose during the Yanchang era of the Northern Wei Dynasty!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Ge felt a chill run down his spine, because he knew absolutely nothing about this kind of thing.

Su Wen remembered it so clearly because he had handled a case before where the murderer was obsessed with Mahayana Buddhism and committed murder. However, the murderer at that time did not commit the crime with such precision, but instead gouged out the victim's eyes.

After gouging out the eyes, there was no other thought but to eat them, because in Mahayana Buddhism, it is believed that whoever kills one person becomes a Bodhisattva of One Pillar, and whoever kills ten people becomes a Bodhisattva of Ten Pillars. By eating the eyes of the other person, one can communicate with the spirit world and gain the power of the other person.