Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

009: The Strange Case of Youzhou

Before long, several constables led a group of people in. Su Wen said without hesitation, "Wait here for a moment so we can identify the body!"

Su Wen was very confident, and the others did not hesitate when they heard this, but they immediately burst into tears.

A moment later, the Registrar of Household Registration arrived in the main hall. Upon seeing Su Wen, he immediately bowed and said, "Registrar of Household Registration, He Yan, greets your superior. May I ask your honorable surname?"

"Su Wen has met with the Registrar of Household Registration. Su Wen would like to ask Official He if he knows the birth dates, zodiac signs, and birth dates of the three people who died half a month ago!"

After pondering for a moment, the registrar of the household registration slowly said, "I remember, it should be..."

Su Wen blurted out, "Tiger, Rabbit, Horse!"

After pondering for a moment, the registrar of the household registration nodded in agreement, saying, "Indeed, Officer Su is truly remarkable!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen took a deep breath. He was now certain that the murderer was using killing as a sacrifice and was setting up the Twelve Zodiac Animals Formation!

After quite some time, the county magistrate hurriedly led a group of people in. Upon seeing Su Wen, the magistrate immediately bowed and said, "Dr. Su is indeed amazing! Following the map's directions, I found one body in the dry well and another body in a patch of grass!"

Without any hesitation, Su Wen strode towards the corpse and said, "I'll tell you, County Magistrate, you'd better write this down!"

"Note: The deceased was male, with an abdominal wound, and his stomach had been removed!"

"Note: The deceased was male, with an abdominal wound, and his spleen was removed!"

At this point, Su Wen looked at the group of people who were still crying and said, "Go and see if they are your family members!"

Several people stepped forward to identify the body. Two of them immediately burst into tears upon seeing the corpse. Su Wen looked at the household registration registrar and said, "Check if their zodiac signs are one Dragon and one Snake?"

The head of the household registration office stepped forward immediately.

Before long, the household registration registrar approached Su Wen and said, "They were born in the years of the Dragon and the Snake. Dr. Su, how could you have foreseen this?"

After pondering for a moment, Su Wen said, "It's not that they were prescient; rather, this murderer is killing people according to the twelve zodiac animals to take their offerings as sacrifices!"

"What?"

Everyone was shocked!

Su Wen murmured, "January is the month of the Tiger, so kill the tiger and take its lungs; February is the month of the Rabbit, so kill the rabbit and take its large intestine; March is the month of the Dragon, take its stomach; April is the month of the Snake, take its spleen; May is the month of the Horse, take its heart; June is the month of the Sheep, take its small intestine; July is the month of the Monkey, take its bladder; August is the month of the Rooster, take its kidneys; September is the month of the Dog, take its heart meridian; October is the month of the Pig, take its chest cavity; November is the month of the Rat, take its gallbladder; December is the month of the Ox, take its liver!"

Upon hearing this, the county magistrate was shocked and asked in utter terror, "Dr. Su, are you saying that this murderer killed five people and now intends to kill seven more?"

Su Wen responded, "Of all the cases, the hardest to solve are those involving murderers who kill without any pattern or method, simply out of interest. Murderers with patterns and methods are much easier to catch!"

The county magistrate asked, "So, Dr. Su, where should we begin our investigation?"

Su Wen smiled slightly, saying nothing, but bowed and said, "It's getting late. I've traveled a long way, so I'll rest for a day. Tomorrow, I will go and look for clues!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Cui Wuyi walked over from the side and said, "Hey, Dr. Su, now that you've found a clue, please solve the case quickly to prevent anyone else from being harmed!"

Su Wen looked at Cui Wuyi and said, "No rush. If I'm not mistaken, the next time the murderer will strike should be around the 1st, 6th, 12th, or 18th of June. There's still more than half a month left, plenty of time. There's no need for Magistrate Cui to worry about it!"

Cui Wuyi frowned and angrily rebuked, "You lowly coroner, how dare you be so disrespectful to this magistrate! Do you even know that I am a member of the Cui family of Qinghe?"

"I know!" Su Wen rolled his eyes at Cui Wuyi, then turned around and said, "The Five Surnames and Seven Noble Families, who in the entire Tang Dynasty doesn't know them? They're powerful clans! Hmph..."

Cui Wuyi clenched her fists in anger.

Su Wen ignored him and turned to leave in a hurry.

Su Wen knew the power of the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families during the Tang Dynasty, as well as the power of aristocratic families. But Su Wen was, after all, a person who had traveled from the past. As a modern person, who would care? Moreover, Su Wen also had a temper. They knew that he was born a coroner, so naturally they looked down on him.

Since they look down on me, I have no intention of trying to win them over. I just need to focus on doing my own thing.

After walking a few steps, Su Wen glanced back at Cui Wuyi and said coldly, "Everyone says the Cui clan of Qinghe is the number one clan in the world, but after seeing it today, they're nothing special. It's just a surname, what's there to brag about? My Su clan also comes from the Gaoyang clan of the ancient emperor Zhuanxu. We're just down on our luck today. As time goes by, the world changes, and your Cui clan of Qinghe might also decline one day. At that time, who will look down on whom is still uncertain!"

After speaking, Su Wen turned and left. Cui Wuyi, enraged by his words, gritted his teeth and roared, "Hmph, I'm going to write to the Ministry of Personnel and send you back to work as a coroner!"

Su Wen smiled slightly and said, "Whatever, I'm carefree and content!"

......

Governor's Office.

A servant rushed in to report.

"Governor, Su Wen, the criminal investigator sent by the Court of Judicial Review, is indeed quite capable. He only examined the body at the county magistrate's office in Lu County, then casually drew a map and ordered a search, whereupon two more bodies were found!"

Upon hearing this, Xue Ne frowned and said, "Oh, could it be that I really underestimated this kid?"

The newcomer deliberately lowered his voice and said, "Furthermore, Dr. Su Wen refuted and ridiculed Cui Wuyi in front of everyone in the main hall today!"

Upon hearing this, Xue Ne was quite shocked and quickly said, "Oh, how did he refute it? Tell me!"

The visitor relayed everything Su Wen had said to Xue Ne, who laughed heartily upon hearing it: "This lad is quite arrogant, truly extraordinary. The Sage told me to keep an eye on him, and now it seems this lad has indeed exceeded my expectations!"

The middle-aged man beside him said, "Father, offending Cui Wuyi in public is not a good thing. Cui Wuyi is from the Cui clan of Qinghe, and his family..."

Xue Ne said, "That's why the Sage instructed us to observe him and see if he can handle it himself. If not, then you should step in and select a few skilled individuals to protect him, in case of any unforeseen circumstances!"

The middle-aged man replied, "Yes, Father!"

Xue Ne looked at the case files in his hand and said, "This lad is just a coroner, yet he's so highly regarded by Wang Yu, the magistrate of Anle County. Look at his case files; he solved a mysterious case in just one day. He certainly has some skills and is incredibly intelligent. I initially thought Wang Yu was exaggerating, but seeing it today, he's truly remarkable. He arrives at the county office from the Governor's Office in just an hour, yet he's already guessed the murderer's intentions and predicted that the murderer would commit the crime again on the 1st, 6th, 12th, and 18th of June. He even knows the murderer's motive. Truly impressive!"

The middle-aged man looked at the servants below and asked, "Do you know what the Twelve Zodiac Animals Formation is?"

The servant shook his head and said, "I don't know. Should we send someone to investigate?"

The middle-aged man looked at Xue Ne, who nodded: "Investigate!"

"yes!"