Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

082: The Murder Case of the Buddha of Shazhou

At this moment, a person dressed in green official robes was asking questions in the main hall.

Did you hear any noises around 1-3 AM this morning?

One of the workers shook his head and said, "I didn't hear anything!"

Su Wen ignored him and went upstairs, intending to check the body and the crime scene first.

"Has the Tibetan envoy recently made enemies with anyone? Or perhaps had an argument with someone?"

The waiter thought for a moment and said, "I wonder if having a conflict or argument with Zhang Yi, the Colonel of Xuanjie, counts?"

Upon hearing this, the official repeated in a low voice, "Zhang Yi, the Colonel of Xuanjie?"

The waiter responded!

The official was momentarily speechless and stopped talking, instead turning to ask about other things!

Su Wen entered the room.

There was only one window at the back of the room. Su Wen went to the window and opened it. Outside was the market. Although it was still early, many people had already started setting up stalls and organizing their goods.

Looking down from the window, it was at least five or six meters high, and the wall was a right angle and vertical, with no protrusions, so it was obviously impossible to climb up from below!

Su Wen carefully examined the window but found nothing unusual or suspicious, so it was clear that the murderer could not have come up from outside the window.

The room wasn't very big, and the decoration was very simple: a bed, a table, a cabinet, and nothing else.

Su Wen walked to the bedside where the deceased was.

The deceased was male, about seven feet tall, and of slightly overweight build. He died from a severe blow to the head. Next to him was a Buddha statue, which was covered in blood, suggesting that he was killed by the Buddha statue.

Su Wen glanced at the door again. There were signs that the door had been kicked open, and the bolt must have been broken from the outside!

Su Wen walked down the corridor and called out to the people in the lobby below, asking, "Who broke down this door, and why?"

A waiter raised his hand and whispered, "We broke down the door. It was around 1:15 AM. I came to the lobby to serve a Hakka person some food, and then we heard a loud scream from a room upstairs. I rushed upstairs, went to the room, and knocked on the door, but there was no response. I sensed something was wrong, so I broke down the door and saw the Hakka person lying dead on the bed, with a Buddha statue beside the bed!"

Su Wen asked, "How long did it take from when you heard the scream to when you broke down the door?"

The waiter said, "About fifteen minutes!"

Su Wen seemed to be deep in thought, then turned around to examine the body. The money bag in the body's arms was still there, indicating that the murderer had not come for the money.

In other words, the murderer had other motives!

Judging from the room, it is clearly a completely enclosed secret room.

Su Wen frowned. A murder in a locked room?

Su Wen said, "Take the body back to the county office first. Also, I just heard you say that this Xuanjie Colonel Zhang Yi had an argument with him? Have him come to the county office for questioning!"

After speaking, Su Wen looked at Qin Zhan to the side and asked, "Who is Zhang Yi? Those people down there all seem afraid to mess with him!"

At this moment, Qin Zhan, standing beside Su Wen, spoke softly: "Imperial Envoy Su, this Zhang Yi is from the Zhang family of Dunhuang, the grandson of Zhang Gongjin, and the son of Zhang Da'an, the former prime minister!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen nodded.

After the officers took the body away, Su Wen carefully examined the room again, but there was nowhere to hide.

Su Wen came to the cabinet, which was similar to a medicine cabinet and was probably used to store things for guests. Su Wen opened one of the cabinets. The cabinet was not big, and could only fit a ball at most.

There was nowhere else in the room to hide.

As Su Wen went downstairs, the shop owner said to his assistant, "Have someone throw everything out of that room later. It's really bad luck to have someone die in the shop. Also, remember to go to the market and buy some rat poison. These past few nights, the rats have been squeaking incessantly, and the customers in the downstairs rooms are cursing them every day!"

"And tell the kitchen to hide the leftovers properly; there have been signs of mice stealing food every day for the past few days!" the shop owner cursed. "Damn mice, they even steal garlic!"

The waiter replied, "Got it!"

Back at the government office, Xu Ge hurriedly ran up to him and asked, "Master, what's wrong?"

Su Wen glanced at Xu Ge and said, "The Tibetan envoy has been killed!"

Xu Ge was greatly shocked and said, "Ah, Master, how come someone has died again after you've only been here for less than a day?"

After saying this, Xu Ge immediately whispered, "Master, are you perhaps the reincarnation of Yama, the King of Hell? Wherever you go, murders happen!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen almost burst out laughing. Yeah, how come he's ended up like Conan? Could it be that he also has a passive ability that automatically refreshes a dead body wherever he goes?

Su Wen was filled with surprise and doubt: Could this be the cheat code that allowed him to transmigrate here?

Su Wen arrived at the morgue of the government office and removed all the clothes from the Tibetan envoy. There were many bruises on the body of the deceased, which were obviously marks of being beaten, but none of them were fatal!

The real fatal wound was the mark on his head where he had been hit by that golden Buddha statue. Judging from the bloody and mangled wound on his head, it must have been hit many times violently, as if he hated this person very much!

Su Wen carefully examined the deceased's clothes, which were very clean. He then turned around and rubbed the deceased's skin with his hands, finding no dirt or grime.

Su Wen carefully examined the chest area of ​​the deceased's clothing. There was a little bit of dirt. For someone as clean as the deceased, it was absolutely impossible for them to have even the slightest dirt on them. Su Wen had already noticed this when he was checking the room earlier.

The room was unusually clean, suggesting that the deceased had an extremely severe case of mysophobia and a great fondness for cleanliness!

Such a person would never allow a stain to appear on the chest of his clothes. Therefore, the murderer must have wanted to take something from him, which is why the stain was left there!

Su Wen brought the clothes to his nose and smelled them; they had a very pungent odor.

The two left the morgue and went to the back of the government building.

Su Wen frowned and looked at Xu Ge, saying, "Go and call a few of the restaurant's waiters over to answer questions!"

Xu Ge responded and left the government office.

Then, a man dressed in a fine brocade robe, extremely handsome and over seven feet tall, stepped into the government office. Upon seeing Su Wen, who was in the hall, he bowed and said, "I am Zhang Yi from Dunhuang. I greet the Imperial Envoy. May I ask why the Imperial Envoy has summoned me?"

The Tang Dynasty had five prominent families and seven prestigious clans, but Dunhuang also had nine prominent families. Among them, the Zhang family of Dunhuang was extremely powerful. During the Sui Dynasty, they even had ancestral halls in twenty-six prefectures, and the Qinghe Hall was known as the Zhang Family General Hall.

The ancestor of the Zhang family in Dunhuang was Jie Zhang, a high-ranking official in the state of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period. His courtesy name was Zhang Hou, and his descendants adopted his courtesy name as their surname, thus becoming the Zhang family.

In addition, the Zhang family of Dunhuang was extremely prosperous during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Many people of other ethnic groups changed their surname to Zhang, and even many royal families intermarried with them, thus forming a situation of multi-ethnic unity.

It could even be said that the Zhang family of Dunhuang was no less powerful than the Five Surnames and Seven Noble Families. In some areas, there was even a saying that they only recognized the Zhang surname and not the imperial family!

Su Wen bowed to Zhang Yi and said, "Zhang Yi, I am Su Wen, Imperial Envoy of the Great Tang Dynasty, Acting Prefect of Shazhou, Acting Prefect of Qingzhou, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, concurrently Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, former Magistrate of Luoyang County, Chief of the Ministry of Justice, County Commandant of Jiaoshui County, and Doctor of Criminal Justice!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yi frowned. He didn't understand why Su Wen would rattle off such a long list of titles!