Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

030: The Nightmare Chases the Murderer

As the time drew closer, Su Wen began to feel increasingly nervous. In fact, he was also a little scared. Although Li Xingguo and the others were hiding and lying in ambush on one side, Su Wen was afraid that if Yuan Tianfang pushed him too far, he would kill him right away. That would be a huge loss!

Of course, the main source of anxiety was the fear that Yuan Tianfang wouldn't fall for the trick after reading the letter!

Su Wen was gambling. This was his first case since his promotion, and General Li Xingguo of the Left Golden Guard was watching. It was a high-stakes gamble. If he won, he could make a contribution in front of the Emperor and prove that he was not a waste and lived up to the Emperor's expectations. If he lost, although he wouldn't lose everything, it would still worsen the Emperor's first impression of him.

Before long, it was 7:15 PM, and Su Wen still hadn't seen anyone on the road, so he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

The time for the second quarter of the hour of Xu (7:45 PM) arrived. Su Wen sighed inwardly, thinking: It seems that Yuan Tianfang has not been fooled!

Just as Su Wen was about to turn and leave, he saw a figure slowly walking up from above and saying, "Brother Chen Qing, where are you going?"

Su Wen looked at the newcomer and saw that he was dressed in plain clothes. However, he could not see clearly in the hazy moonlight. But as the newcomer got closer, Su Wen realized that this person was none other than Yuan Tianfang!

Upon seeing that the visitor was Yuan Tianfang, Su Wen said with displeasure, "I thought you weren't coming. If you hadn't come, I was planning to leave a letter at the county office and leave!"

Yuan Tianfang said, "There's a curfew in the city now, so I have to bypass the curfew patrols, which will take more time!"

"Alright!" Su Wen interrupted, "I have no feelings for you, no connection with you. I don't know who you are, but I know you're definitely not Yuan Tianfang!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Tianfang's expression immediately turned serious, but he still smiled and said, "Brother Chen Qing, I don't know what you're talking about?"

Su Wen tossed the portrait that Cui Lingyu had drawn earlier that day to Yuan Tianfang, saying, "Alright, although you look a lot like Yuan Tianfang, I knew you weren't him the moment I saw you!"

Yuan Tianfang opened the scroll, took a close look, and then slowly put the scroll away without making a sound.

Su Wen said, "I don't want to know who you are, nor do I want to know what grudge you have against him. In short, give me the missing half of the book and two hundred taels of silver, and this matter will be settled!"

Yuan Tianfang's eyes were full of murderous intent as he looked at Su Wen, but Su Wen couldn't see it at all. The moon was sometimes covered by dark clouds and sometimes it came out again. Su Wen didn't want to look at it either. He subconsciously moved away from Yuan Tianfang and even prepared to run away!

Yuan Tianfang said, "Brother Chen Qing, two hundred taels of silver is no small sum. I spent several hours scraping together one hundred taels, which can be exchanged for ten gold ingots. If you want them, I'll give them to you!"

As he spoke, Su Wen took a deep breath, stepped forward, and took out a book from his pocket that the scholar had written at will. He intended to hand it to Yuan Tianfang and ask Yuan Tianfang to give him the gold ingots.

Yuan Tianfang responded and then reached into his robes.

Suddenly, Su Wen sensed something was wrong and took a step back. Yuan Tianfang pulled out a dagger from his pocket and stabbed at Su Wen. Su Wen staggered back several steps in a fright and rolled down more than ten steps behind him.

At that moment, Yuan Tianfang took out a dagger and rushed towards Su Wen, intending to kill him before Su Wen could react.

Su Wen was in so much pain that he couldn't get up from the ground, so he quickly shouted, "Liu Yongqiang!"

This startled Yuan Tianfang, who was hurrying down the steps. He then tilted his head, steeled his resolve, and said, "You still know my real name. It seems I can't let you live!"

Su Wen was terrified and hurriedly shouted, "Help! Someone come quick!"

No sooner said than done, an extremely imposing figure burst out of the bushes in a few steps. The speed was so fast that almost at the same moment Yuan Tianfang ran down the steps and stood in front of Su Wen, this person grabbed Yuan Tianfang's hand that was tightly gripping the dagger, squeezed it hard, and twisted it backward.

With a "crack" sound, Yuan Tianfang's arm was broken on the spot.

Yuan Tianfang cried out in pain, and Su Wen then saw that the person who came was Li Xingguo. Li Xingguo grabbed Yuan Tianfang's head with his other hand and squeezed it like a watermelon, making Yuan Tianfang unable to make a sound from the pain.

Upon witnessing this scene, Su Wen shakily got to his feet with the help of several constables who arrived shortly afterward.

Su Wen wiped the blood from his forehead, and Li Xingguo hurriedly asked, "Director Su, are you alright?"

Su Wen gasped for breath, "It's nothing, just a scraped skin, a minor injury!"

Su Wendao said, "Take him to Qingfeng Temple for a night interrogation!"

Li Xingguo responded.

Su Wen saw Li Xingguo grab Yuan Tianfang's head as if he were a child and carry him up the mountain. Seeing this, Su Wen realized that ancient generals were so fierce. He had even fantasized about becoming a general himself. Now it seemed that he was just dreaming. In front of him, he would probably be as easy as Tyson beating a kindergarten child!

We arrived at the main hall of Qingfeng Temple.

While cleaning the scrapes on his face and head, Su Wen looked at Yuan Tianfang and said, "Yuan Tianfang, no... I should call you Liu Yongqiang, right?"

Liu Yongqiang sat on the ground without saying a word, simply looking quietly at Su Wen.

Su Wen grabbed a drawing from a nearby table and tossed it to Liu Yongqiang, saying, "Since you don't want to talk about it, then I will!"

Liu Yongqiang did not reply.

Su Wendao said, "This story begins forty-six years ago, with the Liu and Ming families. The youngest daughter of the Ming family fell in love with the son of the Liu family, and the two had a child out of wedlock. One night, she had a difficult childbirth and gave birth to two sons. The eldest son was born safely and was raised by the Liu family, named Liu Yongqiang. Everyone thought the second son had died, but he was actually alive. The Ming family was afraid of making a scene, so that very night, they took the body of the youngest daughter and the youngest son away. Later, the Liu family was exiled, and the coroner in charge of the autopsy gave the surviving second son to Minglan, who then entrusted him to her friend Yuan Yue, who named him Yuan Tianfang!"

"More than twenty years ago, Liu Yongqiang returned here and met Yuan Tianfang..."

At this point, Liu Yongqiang took a deep breath and said, "Forget it, you don't need to say it. I'll say it myself. Anyway, assassinating you is a capital offense, and speaking about it is also a capital offense, so it doesn't matter!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen covered his head with a towel and said, "Then tell me, 'Confess and you'll be treated leniently; resist and you'll be punished severely!'"

Li Xingguo, who was standing to the side, was somewhat surprised to hear this.

Su Wen quickly shut his mouth, shook his head, and realized he had let it slip out.

Liu Yongqiang said, "I escaped back. My family had been working as laborers in Lingnan, working day and night. The foreman beat us, and I couldn't stand it, so I accidentally killed him. At that time, Emperor Wu was in power, and cruel officials were rampant. They even sent a thousand soldiers to the mine, saying that we were rebelling. Humph, actually, it was just that the local magistrate had embezzled too much money and the army was short of funds, so he needed to settle accounts. Therefore, he pinned the blame on us. So I had no choice but to hide in the mine and escape."

"After I came out, everyone in the entire mine was killed, and the entire town nearby, with nearly ten thousand inhabitants, was wiped out!"

"I had no choice but to flee, and then I remembered what my father had mentioned: Youzhou!"

"So I ran away and came back. When I was working on the construction of the front hall for Qingfeng Temple, I ran into Yuan Tianfang. After we talked for a while, we discovered that we were actually long-lost brothers!"