Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

089: The Murder Case of the Buddha of Shazhou

Seeing Su Wen deep in thought, Qin Zhan said softly, "However, Imperial Envoy Su must not truly consider himself a member of the Hebei clique; he must consider himself a disciple of the sage!"

Su Wen looked at Qin Zhan with a puzzled expression. Qin Zhan said, "Please tell me, sir, why is this? I understand that the Sage wants to use the Hebei Group to weaken the Guanlong Group. The Sage wants to play the game of balancing power, but why can't I consider myself a member of the Hebei Group?"

Qin Zhan smiled slightly and said, "Because what the Sage wants is not your loyalty to the Tang Dynasty, but your loyalty to the Sage himself. If I'm not mistaken, the Sage definitely wants to support you and gradually make you the leader of the entire Hebei Group. And all you need to do is be loyal to the Sage!"

Su Wen was completely confused by what Qin Zhan said. You see, in his previous life, Su Wen had only worked as a police officer in criminal investigation for three years. It was because he was not good at politics that he switched to forensic medicine, just as his teacher said.

Dealing with the dead is so much easier than dealing with the living!

Because the dead don't have twists and turns.

Su Wen bowed respectfully to Qin Zhan, once again requesting the other party to inform him.

Qin Zhan said, "The Sage suffered greatly in his early years. Logically speaking, such a person, after gaining imperial power, should have become cruel and ruthless, a mixture of cruelty and destruction, just like the Gao family of the Northern Qi dynasty. However, after executing the Grand Princess Zhenguo, the Sage appointed Yao Chong to a high position, rectified officialdom, implemented reforms, and made good use of talented people!"

"Clearly, the sage no longer sees himself as the sage of the Tang Dynasty, but rather as his own!"

After hearing this, Su Wen finally understood something. What Qin Zhan wanted to say was that Li Longji regarded the Tang Dynasty as his own, rather than as the Li family's empire!

Su Wen looked at Qin Zhan and said, "I think I understand a little. In other words, if I want to rise in rank and remain stable, then I need to become a person of the Sage, not a person of the Tang Dynasty!"

Qin Zhan nodded and replied, "Imperial Envoy Su is indeed intelligent, understanding things immediately. I wish Imperial Envoy Su continued success in his career!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen quickly bowed to Qin Zhan and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Commander Qin. I understand now. If one day I become the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty, I will certainly give Commander Qin an important position!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Zhan was overjoyed and quickly bowed to Su Wen, saying, "Then, this humble official thanks Imperial Envoy Su in advance!"

Qin Zhan bowed and said, "Imperial Envoy Su, I have official business to attend to and will take my leave now. It would be best if you were not late for the banquet tonight, after all, Cui Lin is your father-in-law, and his daughter Cui Lingyu has already arrived in Shazhou. It would be best if you were not late. The banquet is scheduled for Hai Shi (9-11 PM) at Yan Yue Lou. Please arrive on time!"

"Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Qin. I now understand the implications and am extremely grateful!" Su Wen bowed again.

Qin Zhan smiled and turned to leave. Su Wen watched Qin Zhan's figure gradually disappear into the distance, lost in thought. This man's political acumen was extraordinary; he must be a master. But why would such a capable person be willing to settle in Shazhou and serve as a minor official in the governor's office?

Logically speaking, someone like this could easily find someone to rely on and wouldn't be in such a position. What exactly does this person want to do?

She had only met him for a day, yet he dared to say these things to her. What did he want from her?

Su Wenke is a person of the 21st century. In the future, almost everyone will understand one thing: the exchange of interests.

No one would willingly help others for free, so what does Qin Zhan want from me?

Su Wen couldn't help but frown, staring at Qin Zhan as he walked out of the government office. He seemed to be deep in thought, but for a moment he really didn't know what benefits he could offer him, or what he had that Qin Zhan valued.

Thinking of this, Su Wen even began to doubt what he said.

Time flew by, and as dusk fell, Xu Ge returned from outside. Upon seeing Su Wen, she shook her head: "Master, Lu Yao went to herd livestock after leaving the city this afternoon. I followed him for a while, and there was nothing unusual during that time. He returned at dusk. Master, do you think we should send someone to keep an eye on him?"

Su Wen waved his hand and said, "Just find someone to keep an eye on things. You come with me to Ningyue Pavilion first. I'll take you to see some acrobatics. After that, I'll take you to the banquet!"

Xu Ge was a little confused: "Master, aren't we going to investigate the case anymore? Why are we going to watch variety shows? And what about the banquet? Is it a welcome feast hosted by Qin Sima and Zhang Changshi?"

Su Wen didn't say anything, but instead pulled Xu Ge and went to Ningyue Pavilion first.

Upon arriving at Ningyue Pavilion, Su Wen bowed to the burly man at the entrance and said, "Please!"

The burly man hurriedly bowed and said, "Sir, please!"

Upon entering Ningyue Pavilion, Su Wen casually found a seat and sat down.

Ningyue Pavilion is not open-air, but rather resembles a large tent with circular seating around it. Opposite the tent is a passageway leading to the backyard, which was probably the preparation and living area for the acrobats.

Su Wen glanced around and realized that the place could accommodate about four to five hundred people, which wasn't very large.

At this time, there were still about 15 minutes before the start of the show, and there were already more than 200 people in the venue, including families, elderly couples, and couples.

However, there was no such thing as free love in the Tang Dynasty; arranged marriages were the law.

These people appear to be couples, or husband and wife, or already engaged.

In ancient times, people generally fell in love after marriage. Although the Tang Dynasty was relatively open, it still maintained extremely strict rules regarding marriage.

According to the Tang Dynasty law, parents could arrange their children's marriages, and if the children disobeyed, they would be punished with one hundred strokes of the cane!

Su Wenke had personally witnessed people being flogged. This thing, at twenty strokes, could tear the skin off the buttocks. Most people would be half-dead if they survived at thirty or forty, and at one hundred, they would definitely die. There was no way they could survive, and even if they did, they would probably be disabled for life.

Furthermore, according to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, women had to get married at the age of fifteen, otherwise they would be taxed every year, and the older they were, the heavier the tax would be!

Su Wen had seen Cui Lingyu before, but Cui Lingyu wore a jade veil and kept her head down, intentionally avoiding the man's gaze, so Su Wen hadn't really looked at her properly.

Although boys and girls developed earlier in ancient times, Su Wenhao is a member of the modern legal system. However, when he learned that the other party was only fifteen or sixteen years old, Su Wenhao's mind was still a little confused.

Su Wen is now twenty-seven, almost twenty-eight, twenty-nine, and about to turn thirty, almost thirty-one.

Marrying a minor in his thirties—just thinking about it makes Su Wen think, "This damned feudal society really ruins people!"

As time ticked by, Su Wen began to feel inexplicably nervous, even restless. The thought of meeting his future wife and father-in-law soon made him even more anxious.

With the sound of a gong, the acrobatic performance officially began.

Before we knew it, the entire venue was almost full of people.

The first to take the stage was illusion. Illusion was extremely popular during the Tang Dynasty, and there was even a debate about it in later generations. Whether illusion is magic or not, some people say that illusion is a kind of illusion created by some means, while others say that so-called illusion is actually magic.

It's just that the ancients couldn't understand it and found it strange, which is why it arose. After all, there are many magic tricks that even modern people can't figure out how they were designed, let alone the ancients!