Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

084: The Murder Case of the Buddha of Shazhou

Just then, Su Wen was fiddling with the golden Buddha when he accidentally broke off its forearm.

Upon seeing this, Su Wen's eyes widened immediately. He quickly picked it up and took a look, only to find a small hole in the forearm. Su Wen reached out and poked around in the hole with his finger.

He took out a piece of paper with some numbers written on it.

At first glance, Su Wen was shocked because the numbers were Arabic numerals, not Chinese characters.

Xu Ge and Zhang Xizhou looked at the paper. Xu Ge said, "What's written on this? Master, it looks like writing, but it doesn't!"

Su Wen frowned because he wasn't particularly good at history and wasn't especially interested in it. He only knew that Arabic numerals were invented by Indians and spread throughout the world by Arabs, hence the name Arabic numerals.

But he couldn't remember at all which era it was introduced to China!

Su Wen was even more confused by the arrangement of the numbers. The first few were two-digit numbers, then three-digit numbers, and then four-digit numbers. He couldn't understand them at all; it was like a sequence of numbers.

However, after looking at it once, Su Wen realized it wasn't a number sequence sorting, so he was a bit confused.

The reason this golden Buddha was specially cast in this shape is clearly to conceal something.

Su Wen looked at Zhang Xizhou and asked, "Chief Secretary Zhang, do you know what the former governor liked to do?"

At this point, Su Wen thought for a moment and then asked, "Did the Tibetan envoy and the former governor exchange any gifts?"

Chief Secretary Zhang shook his head and said, "To be honest, Qin Zhan and I are so busy with official duties that we haven't paid much attention to the matter between the former governor and the Tibetan envoy. However, the former governor's belongings are still in the warehouse. If Imperial Envoy Su wants to know, why don't you go and check?"

Su Wen responded, "Thanks for the reminder!"

Just as the group left the evidence room, a constable came to report: "Imperial Envoy Su, Chief Clerk Zhang, and Military Commander Qin have brought the woman to the main hall. Please, Imperial Envoy Su, go and question her!"

Su Wen responded and then waved, "Let's go take a look!"

Upon arriving at the main hall, Su Wen saw Qin Zhan standing to one side, while the woman stood to the side. The constables on both sides were staring at the woman. In addition, there was an old man, about fifty years old, with dark skin and an appearance of Indians.

Su Wen sized up the woman. Her skin was slightly yellowish, but her features were extremely delicate. Her appearance was exceptional. She was about six feet five inches tall. She was the most beautiful woman Su Wen had seen since arriving in the Tang Dynasty. She could even be described as stunningly beautiful.

For a fleeting moment, Su Wen was even somewhat moved by this woman.

Su Wen asked, "What's your name?"

Upon hearing this, the woman softly replied, "My Han name is Shen Qiushui!"

"Do you remember when some Tibetans bullied you yesterday?" Su Wen asked.

After thinking for a moment, Shen Qiushui replied, "That's true!"

Su Wen said, "I hope you can tell me the whole story, from beginning to end. This matter is of great importance!"

Shen Qiushui nodded in agreement, saying, "Yesterday, when I was buying printed fabric at the market, I encountered several Tibetans who came to cause trouble!"

At this point, the old man beside him interrupted, saying, "Shangguan, my Han name is Shen Fei, and Qiushui is my daughter. Let me tell you the story!"

Su Wen nodded.

Shen Fei said, "In our outer city, the Tibetans are the worst and have the worst tempers. Yesterday, they passed by the printing stall and saw that my daughter was pretty, so they had evil intentions and came up to harass her. I argued with them and they beat me up. Fortunately, we ran into General Zhang Yi, the Xuanjie Colonel, who was on patrol at the time, and he taught those Tibetans a good lesson!"

"Later, a Tibetan arrived. He was dressed in the official robes of a Tibetan envoy. General Zhang had a big argument with him, and the two almost came to blows. However, due to the Tibetan envoy's status, General Zhang had no choice but to let it go!"

Shen Fei then looked at Su Wen and said, "I heard everyone in the outer city saying today that the Tibetan envoy is dead. Good riddance!"

"Shangguan, yesterday those Tibetans harassed my daughter, and you did nothing about it, but today you summoned my daughter and me to the government office. Are you so afraid of the Tibetans, Shangguan?"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen couldn't help but chuckle. Goodness, they were originally talking about something, but suddenly the topic changed, and the focus shifted directly to Su Wen.

Su Wen said, "Alright, I've called you two here simply to ask you a few questions, that's all!"

At this point, Su Wen looked at Shen Qiushui and asked again, "Shen Qiushui, I ask you, do you know that Tibetan envoy?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Qiushui looked up at Su Wen and shook her head: "I don't know him, but these past few days I've noticed that he often passes by my printing stall intentionally or unintentionally. Lu Yao also said that he often peeks at me from the room across from the market and warned me to be careful of him to avoid any mishaps!"

Su Wen quickly looked at Shen Qiushui and asked, "Who is Lu Yao?"

Shen Fei said, "It's a slave who sells garlic next door. That kid accused others of peeping, but he's the one who's been peeping at you every day. I told you to cover your face with gauze, but you wouldn't. Look at you, because of your face, we've moved so many places. You cause trouble wherever you go!"

Shen Fei suddenly started lecturing his daughter, and Su Wen couldn't stand it anymore, saying, "Alright, the bad guys are those people, not your daughter. What's the point of lecturing her? What woman in our Great Tang Dynasty would willingly cover her face? Since you've come to our Great Tang and are residing in our Great Tang Sandbar, you should abide by our Great Tang laws. Women don't need to cover their faces!"

As he spoke, Su Wen looked at Xu Ge to the side and said, "Xu Ge, order Zhang Yi, the Colonel of Xuanjie, to come here. Tell him I need to speak with him!"

Xu Ge responded, "Yes!"

After Xu Ge walked away, Su Wen looked at Qin Zhan to the side and said, "Commander Qin, take some men and bring Lu Yao here for questioning!"

As soon as Xu Ge stepped out, he encountered Zhang Yi, dressed in armor, entering the courtroom and saying, "Imperial Envoy Su, I have arrived. There's no need to invite him!"

With that, Zhang Yi strode into the main hall. Shen Qiushui glanced at Zhang Yi, then lowered her head. Zhang Yi merely glanced at Shen Qiushui and Shen Fei before bowing to Su Wen and saying, "May I ask what business Imperial Envoy Su has with me?"

Su Wendao said, "This imperial envoy orders you to arrest all the Tibetans who harassed Shen Qiushui yesterday. Shazhou is within the territory of our Great Tang Dynasty. Since they have violated the laws of our Great Tang Dynasty, they should be dealt with according to the laws of the Great Tang Dynasty. According to the laws of the Great Tang Dynasty, they harassed women and should be punished with thirty strokes of the cane!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yi immediately bowed to Su Wen and said, "This subordinate obeys the order!" Then, with a smile on his face, he turned and left.

Su Wen looked at Shen Qiushui and Shen Fei and said, "You two can rest assured. This is within the territory of our Great Tang Dynasty. No one can break the law and escape punishment. You can go back now. If anyone comes to harass you again in the future, you can report it to the authorities directly. The officials of the Great Tang Dynasty will stand up for you!"

Shen Fei bowed and said, "Thank you, sir!"

After they finished speaking, the two left. Su Wen looked at Shen Qiushui's retreating figure, lost in thought.

Seeing this, Xu Ge couldn't help but step forward and tease, "Master, this Lady Shen is so beautiful, why don't you marry her? I think I'm still missing a master's wife!"

Su Wen glanced at him sideways and said, "You brat, I think you're asking for a beating, daring to make fun of your master!"