Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

003: The Monk Case

Back home, Su Wen washed the meat, put it in a pot, and then added some coarse salt.

Unfortunately, spices were extremely expensive in this era, far beyond the reach of ordinary people. Su Wen had considered making some fine salt himself while cleaning, but he had no power, no money, and no one to back him up, so he decided against such a risky business as salt and would wait for another opportunity.

It took quite a while, until the meat was cooked, Su Wengang ate two bites and took a sip of wine.

The wine from this period was yellow wine, which had a sweet taste, was smooth to the throat, and was very good!

Su Wen looked at the wine. He had actually thought about making some distilled spirits that afternoon, but then he thought it was not very realistic. After all, he had only liked drinking baijiu for a few decades. Most of the time, he preferred huangjiu. In fact, baijiu was not as good as huangjiu at all!

Su Wen considered making ice again, but when she asked a passerby while cleaning in the afternoon, she learned that saltpeter was incredibly expensive, and the ice that could be made would be unaffordable for ordinary people except for the wealthy.

Thinking of this, Su Wen couldn't help but sigh.

It's so hard to do business these days!

Just then, there was a very urgent knocking on the door!

Su Wen quickly put down the meat in his mouth and the wine in his hand, and hurriedly ran out of the room, calling out, "Who is it?"

"It's us, Brother Su!"

Su Wen opened the door and saw Zhao Qing and two constables. He asked with a puzzled look, "What's going on?"

"Brother Su, the newly appointed magistrate, Magistrate Wang, has arrived. He has just reviewed the case files and the autopsy report, and now orders you to go to the county office as soon as possible!"

Su Wen was taken aback: "County magistrate? Isn't the county lieutenant the county magistrate?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? A county magistrate is one rank higher than a county lieutenant!" Zhao Qing said, "Brother Su, have you been drinking?"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen pondered for a while before realizing that a county magistrate is equivalent to a county official, and a county constable is equivalent to a county head. Although they seem similar, the former is the top leader and the latter is the second-in-command!

Su Wen hurriedly closed the door and followed Zhao Qing closely behind.

......

Before long, the two arrived at the magistrate's residence.

Zhao Qing led Su Wen to a room in the hall and bowed, saying, "This humble servant greets Magistrate Wang. Coroner Su Wen has been brought here!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Magistrate Wang slowly put down the coroner's record in his hand, then looked at Su Wen and said, "You are Su Wen, the coroner of this county?"

Su Wen replied, "Yes, Magistrate Wang!"

"Did you dictate this coroner's statement and then have someone else write it down?"

"yes!"

Magistrate Wang frowned, threw the record in his hand at Su Wen, and shouted, "Look at what you've written! What does '1.78 meters' mean? What does '15 to 20 centimeters' mean? What does 'major artery' mean? What does '11:10 to 11:30 pm' mean?"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly knelt down to pick up the autopsy report from the ground.

He was immediately alarmed: "Oh no! I've gotten so used to it that I completely forgot these words didn't exist in the Tang Dynasty. They used 'chi' and 'cun' during that period, and I should have been writing the time. I forgot all about it when I was examining the body!"

Magistrate Wang glared at Su Wen, his anger undiminished. "This case is riddled with doubts. That County Lieutenant Ma was tortured into confessing without any investigation. He's a complete incompetent official. I just reviewed over a dozen files, and they all show the same thing. Such blatant disregard for human life! I've already submitted a memorial to the Ministry of Personnel to impeach him. Looking at the files, what you wrote in the past was all normal. Why is it so incoherent today? I have no idea what you're trying to say. Reporting such a case to the Court of Judicial Review would be a violation of the laws of our Great Tang Dynasty!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen lowered his head, his palms sweating, but his mind was racing.

The magistrate was so enraged; he must be a good official. I had no way out; I had to take a gamble. If I lost, I would die! If I won, I would have a future!

Thinking of this, Su Wen clasped his hands and said, "Reporting to Magistrate Wang, I have been a coroner in this county for several years, and I know I have never made a mistake. However, County Lieutenant Ma has never listened to my words. Coroners are lowly people, and no one is willing to believe what they say!"

"Today in court I questioned and tried to dissuade him, but County Magistrate Ma not only ignored me, but also warned me that if there was a next time, I would be punished. I, a lowly person, could not refute him and could only remain silent."

"The autopsy report I wrote today is solely for the purpose of reporting it to the Dali Temple. This way, the Dali Temple will take the case seriously and send people to investigate. Only in this way can we save Old Liu's life, bring the real culprit to justice, and let the deceased rest in peace!"

Magistrate Wang looked at Su Wen and pondered, "Alright, since you say so, do you have any clues?"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "I wonder if Magistrate Wang is willing to believe the words of a lowly person like myself?"

Magistrate Wang looked at Su Wen, while Zhao Qing and the others standing to the side watched Magistrate Wang and Su Wen.

Magistrate Wang said, "Tell me about it!"

"Yes, Magistrate Wang!" Su Wen breathed a sigh of relief!

"The deceased was a monk, dressed in blue robes, but according to Old Liu, the charcoal seller, he saw this monk at 3:45 PM, and the monk was wearing wedding clothes at the time."

"The day before yesterday, there was a wealthy merchant in our county named Zhang Wan. Today, he and another wealthy merchant, Yao Yicheng, were arguing in the county government office. I heard that Zhang Wan's second daughter was originally to be betrothed to Yao Yicheng's son, but Zhang Wan's second daughter died of illness the day before yesterday."

"At the hour of Hai (9-11 PM), there was even talk of a corpse coming back to life. When I heard this, I understood that the monk that day must have been the corpse of Zhang Wan'er's daughter. Considering the bruises on the monk's head, he must have been hit and fainted. He woke up in the mourning hall. When Zhang Wan'er's servants saw this, they thought it was a corpse coming back to life and they all ran away."

"The monk was in a state of shock when he heard that the corpse had risen from the dead, so he naturally fled. Of course, there may have been other reasons for his escape. I traveled this route once today, from Zhang Wan's house to Old Liu's charcoal seller's house, which takes about 3 quarters of an hour."

"But if it's a panicked escape, it only takes about two quarters of an hour. Today I asked Old Liu, the charcoal seller, in the hall when he saw the monk, and he said it was three quarters past 9 PM. So the time matches up!"

"For now, we only have these many clues. The rest require further investigation and a second autopsy. However, I am a lowly person and cannot perform an autopsy without the orders of the county magistrate. Therefore, we have to abandon this plan!"

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Wang frowned and couldn't help but look at Su Wen again, quite surprised. Not only him, but also Zhao Qing and the others standing to the side were astonished.

It's truly impressive that you were able to connect two events and deduce such clues just by listening to a few people talk about what happened this morning!

Magistrate Wang asked, "You are truly capable. Why would you stoop to the lowly position of coroner?"

"Your Honor, though the position of coroner is minor, its importance is immense. Although in everyone's eyes, coroners spend their days with the dead, thus diminishing their virtue, they fail to realize that without coroners, who would examine corpses? And without examining corpses, who could seek justice for them? The ancients said, 'The dead are paramount,' and the responsibility of the coroner is especially heavy and significant. In my opinion, coroners are not lowly people, nor do they diminish virtue; rather, they are noble individuals who not only do not diminish virtue but also accumulate great merit!"