novelSusiti 021: The Weixian County Five-Corpse Wrongful Murder Case
021: The Weixian County Five-Corpse Wrongful Murder Case
Before Su Wen could fully wake up from his dream, there was a rapid knocking at the door.
Su Wen asked, "Who is it?"
"Dr. Su, Magistrate Wang sent me to tell you that Hu Lang was arrested around midnight last night. Magistrate Wang didn't want to disturb your rest, so he sent me to wake you up now!"
"Understood!" Su Wen replied, "I'll go to the government office right away!"
After saying that, Su Wen hurriedly began to tidy up his clothes. In the Tang Dynasty, there were no underwear, only open-crotch pants. For Su Wen, who did not like to sleep naked, it was very uncomfortable. Su Wen thought that when he was done with his work and had some free time, he would definitely find someone to sew him a pair of underwear!
After washing up, Su Wen came to the door. As the door opened, he saw that the person standing in front of him was none other than the local elder, surnamed Wu!
Su Wen said, "Let's go!"
In fact, Su Wen thought that in ancient times like the Tang Dynasty, it would be very difficult to catch someone who had escaped. But today, he realized that this might just be Su Wen's misconception.
That makes sense. Apart from the fact that the Tang Dynasty was relatively open, although there were travel permits, they were generally not needed to leave the city.
In other dynasties, especially the Song, Ming and Qing, roads were needed to lead people out of and into the city. Therefore, in feudal times, it was actually several times more difficult for people to escape than in modern times!
After leaving the tavern, Su Wen and the constable headed straight for the county government. Su Wen did not look for a place to stay that was too far away, but instead chose one that was close by.
Before long, the two arrived at the county government office.
Su Wen and Wang Weifeng went directly to the death row. When Su Wen saw Hu Lang, he saw Hu Lang sitting on a stool, bound, with shackles on his feet and his body tied up. He was also pale.
Because his hands had been cut off, and sitting on one side of the cell door was a young man dressed in black, who looked to be in his early twenties, about 1.7 meters tall, dressed like a man, holding a knife in his hand, and with several two-finger-wide throwing knives tucked into his waistband.
Su Wenchao glanced at the man and asked, "And who is this?"
Wang Weifeng said, "The one who wielded the knife, this hero, is the one who captured Hu Lang. He said that although Hu Lang wasn't particularly strong, he resisted fiercely, so in order to make him behave, he chopped off both of his hands!"
Su Wen swallowed hard, stepped forward, clasped his hands in a respectful bow, and said, "Thank you, heroine, for bringing this criminal back!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Weifeng was taken aback: "A heroine? She...she...she's a woman?"
Su Wen frowned and said, "Ah, this... can't you tell?"
The woman ignored Su Wen and murmured, "Magistrate Wang, this Dr. Su you mentioned has arrived. Now you can give me the reward!"
Wang Weifeng looked at Su Wen, who nodded. Wang Weifeng said, "Alright, Elder Wu, take this heroine to the government office and have the county magistrate give her the money. Remember to ask the judicial officer of Youzhou for the ten thousand coins after the reward is given!"
Wu Qizhang responded.
Wang Weifeng said, "Wei County's annual tax revenue is pitiful; we should save wherever we can!"
Su Wen simply smiled slightly, then instructed a constable to open the cell door, and Su Wen and Wang Weifeng entered.
Wu Qizhang bowed to the woman and said, "Let's go!"
The woman asked curiously, "What did that person inside do wrong?"
Elder Wu shook his head. The woman said, "Let's wait a bit, watch it first, then we'll collect the reward. We've already waited all night, so a little extra time won't matter!"
Su Wen looked Hu Lang up and down and noticed that the color of his clothes was different from the color of the clothes he wore in the tree. He then looked for the clothes in the package but found none.
Just as Su Wen was feeling puzzled, Wang Weifeng, who was standing to the side, became extremely anxious and looked at Su Wen in a low voice, "Dr. Su, why not conduct the interrogation?"
Su Wen reached out his hand and said, "Wait a minute, we need to find evidence!"
Wang Weifeng was shocked. He thought to himself, "Do we still need to find evidence? He killed the constable and had his hands chopped off. What evidence do we need? Just interrogate him directly. If he doesn't confess, torture him!"
Su Wen carefully examined Hu Lang's body, and finally focused his attention on his shoes. The shoes looked brand new, but their color was somewhat similar to that of the cloth.
Su Wen looked at the constable beside him and said, "Take off his shoes!"
The constable responded, stepped forward, took off Hu Lang's shoes, and handed them to Su Wen. Su Wen took the shoes, examined them carefully, and then took out the piece of cloth from his pocket to compare them.
Hu Lang watched Su Wen busily comparing items on the side, then sneered, "No need to compare, it's mine!"
Su Wen slowly stood up and looked at Hu Lang, saying, "Did you rape and murder Qian Yin and Zhu Shi?"
Hu Lang showed no remorse whatsoever. Instead, he looked up at Su Wen with disdain and said, "Hmph, I didn't want to run away in the first place. But then my father heard that Magistrate Wang was planning to invite a criminal investigator named Su Wen to investigate the case. To be honest, I don't know him at all. But Magistrate Mo heard from his friend that you are incredibly skilled at solving cases. You solved a mysterious case in just one day, and you even solved a case in Youzhou that had been without any leads for half a month in just one day!"
"My father was afraid, so he sent me with Magistrate Mo. I didn't expect you to be so resourceful. In just one day, you managed to get the Judicial Advisor of Youzhou to come and arrest me!"
Su Wen, expressionless, looked at Hu Lang and said, "I heard from Qian Jin that you harassed her a few months ago and were injured by her. Afterwards, you were beaten by the county magistrate and then kept under the watch of Elder Wu. I asked Elder Wu, and he said that you had been very well-behaved during the months you were under his watch, so Elder Wu relaxed his guard, and then you wanted to take revenge, is that right?"
"Yes!" Hu Lang sneered, "Elder Wu had a happy occasion at home that day, his mother's birthday, so I found an opportunity to get revenge. That bitch Qian Jin, I just wanted to have some fun with her, so what? She actually dared to hit me, leaving a scar on my face!"
"That noon, I was planning to get revenge on Qian Jin when I saw her throw water on Zhou Yunlu. That old man Qian Bin even started arguing with Zhou Yunlu. So that afternoon, I stole the clothes Zhou Yunlu was hanging out to dry and pretended to be Zhou Yunlu whistling at Qian Jin's door. That old man Qian Bin came out and chased me all the way. Then I went home, grabbed a knife, and planned to kill that bitch Qian Jin!"
"After I climbed over the wall, I didn't see that bitch Qian Jin, but I saw Qian Yin instead. Although she was only twelve years old, this little girl was even prettier than her older sister Qian Jin. So I went up to her and thought I'd have some fun with her. Since I didn't see Qian Jin, having fun with Qian Yin would be just as good."
"As a result, that brat hit me on the head with something, and in a fit of rage, I chased her and killed her!"
"Then, I thought since they're all dead, might as well have some fun. I was having a great time when her mother came back. When she saw me, she started screaming. I was afraid someone would hear me, so I went up and killed her too. Turns out, this woman was over thirty, but upon closer inspection, she was still quite attractive. So I thought, might as well go all the way, and I had my way with her too. I played with them for a long time until I got a little tired, so I turned around to leave. But when I looked back, I saw that they were dead with their eyes wide open. Hey, so I just took a knife and chopped their heads off."
"After cutting off their heads, I got angrier and angrier looking at them, so I wrapped their heads in a cloth, kicked and smashed them on the ground. After venting my anger, I climbed over the wall and left. Around 11:45 a.m., I passed by a tofu shop and thought I would give them a surprise, so I hung their heads on their door!"
Upon hearing this, Su Wen simply shook his head slightly: "Let him sign and put his fingerprint on it. He's a thoroughly evil person. I suggest the Dali Temple use extreme torture on him!"
Upon hearing this and seeing Hu Lang's smug expression, Wang Weifeng gritted his teeth in anger, pointed at Hu Lang, and said, "You're a devil crawled out of hell! I will definitely report you to the Dali Temple and have them subject you to the most severe punishment!"
Upon hearing this, Hu Lang burst into laughter: "Hahaha... What am I afraid of? I'm not afraid of anything. I've already had my fun. It's just a pity that I should have chopped their corpses into mincemeat and fed them to the dogs by the roadside. That way, you wouldn't have been able to catch me!"