Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

037: The Strange Case of Youzhou

When the three men heard Wei Nanzi say he was going to confess, they all smiled. Su Wen also breathed a sigh of relief; he never expected it to go so smoothly.

However, the next second, Wei Nanzi decisively shut her mouth, bit her tongue hard, and tried to swallow it, but her tongue was too big to swallow, causing it to get stuck in her throat.

Seeing this, Su Wen hurriedly stepped forward and tried to pry open Wei Nanzi's mouth with his hands. However, Wei Nanzi bit her lip tightly, refusing to let Su Wen pry it open, and had a smug look on her face with a smile, as if she was mocking and ridiculing Su Wen.

Soon, blood began to gush from Wei Nanzi's mouth, and her breathing gradually weakened. She was about to fall down when she became even more resolute. Just before losing consciousness, she slammed her head hard against the ground.

With a "thump".

Wei Nanzi stopped moving, so Su Wen hurriedly turned her over. Unfortunately, Wei Nanzi's face was covered in blood and her forehead was broken.

Su Wen knew that biting his tongue wouldn't kill him directly, but he didn't expect Wei Nanzi to be so decisive as to swallow his bitten tongue, causing it to get stuck in his throat and thus leading to rapid suffocation and death!

Su Wen never expected that Wei Nanzi would rather die than betray the person behind him, and he wouldn't even reveal the truth when Su Wen used his mother as a bargaining chip.

At this moment, Su Wen felt a little scared. Judging from the current situation, it was clear that the person behind Wei Nanzi was probably not someone who was easy to deal with!

More importantly, the trail ends here once again.

Now, all Su Wen has left are the datura flower and the person who sells gastrodia powder.

However, the problem is that they have already alerted the enemy. From their perspective, they must have already moved all the datura flowers. Now, Su Wen's trail is completely cut off, unless he can find new clues, or Su Wen has to wait for their next attack.

This is the first time Su Wen has solved a case since coming to this world, and he has encountered such a setback!

However, this also completely ignited Su Wen's desire for the truth behind the case.

Li Xingguo and Cui Wuyi were both shocked by this sudden turn of events. Li Xingguo said, "This person is so decisive. Chief Commander, what should we do next?"

Cui Wuyi lowered his voice and said, "Chief Su, in my opinion, this matter should be reported to the Court of Judicial Review as soon as possible so that the Emperor may be aware of it. After all, this matter concerns Princess Taiping and is of great importance. Judging from this person's decisiveness, the person behind him must have some power. To thoroughly investigate this case, we need even greater authority!"

Su Wen ignored the two of them, and slowly closed his eyes, beginning to quickly review the entire case in his mind and searching for clues.

Su Wen, a graduate of the Criminal Police Academy, worked as a criminal investigator for three years before switching to a forensic position. He had studied under Mr. Chen Shixian, one of the "Eight Tigers of Criminal Investigation," for several years and, thanks to his photographic memory, learned quite a lot!

Su Wen quickly filtered through all the information in his mind and came up with a sentence that everyone was familiar with: There is no perfect crime in this world!

If there is a crime, there will inevitably be clues!

Suddenly, Su Wen opened his eyes and thought of something.

Su Wen looked at Li Xingguo and said, "General, first, suppress the news that coroner Wei Nanzi is dead. Tomorrow, you will come with me to a place to investigate!"

Li Xingguo asked, "Where?"

Su Wendao: "Ningxiang Temple!"

......

The next day.

Su Wen and Li Xingguo then arrived at Ningxiang Temple in Ningshui County. The temple was not large, but there were many monks and guests coming to offer incense, making it quite lively.

At the foot of the mountain, many locals were selling incense, candles, food, drinks, and toys.

Among the stalls here, many sell a delicacy called "Sushan," which is actually ice cream. It's quite popular, costing between thirty and fifty dollars a serving.

This is already considered an exorbitant price, considering that meat only costs a dozen or so yuan per kilogram.

"It's only May now. Although the weather is warm, it's not hot. Why do almost everyone who goes up the mountain have a plate of crispy mountain cake?" Li Xingguo asked the beautiful women next to him.

One of them said, "You're from out of town, aren't you?"

Li Xingguo replied, "Yes, we came from Chang'an!"

The group was quite shocked to hear this: "They're from Chang'an."

The group sized up Su Wen and Li Xingguo, one of them grinning broadly. "You don't know," he said, "most people here aren't actually here to burn incense at Ningxiang Temple, but to soak in the hot spring in the temple's backyard. So they buy some crispy mountain delicacies to enjoy while bathing—it's like paradise, making you feel like you're floating on air!"

As they spoke, one of them reached out and touched Li Xingguo's chest, saying, "Women who soak in hot springs will have smooth, fair skin, and men, it's said to have health benefits!"

Li Xingguo quickly took a few steps back, wanting to escape from the sight of these beautiful women as soon as possible, since they were all touching him inappropriately.

Seeing this, Su Wen couldn't help but smile.

Unfortunately, Su Wen didn't have much money left in his pocket, and he still had a month to live on.

Therefore, he did not buy the crispy mountain, but hurriedly caught up with Li Xingguo. When he caught up with Li Xingguo, he saw that Li Xingguo's face was as red as a monkey's bottom.

Su Wen joked, "That's right, I remember General Li isn't married yet, is he?"

Li Xingguo did not reply, but only glanced at Su Wen before silently walking towards the temple on the mountain.

Su Wen took a step to chase after him, but something suddenly came to mind.

Datura flower!

Suddenly, a thought struck Su Wen, and he frowned instantly, muttering to himself, "Hot spring, datura flower... hot spring means geothermal heat. Ningxiang Temple was built by carving into the mountain, which means there's very likely a huge karst cave nearby. Datura flowers are very likely planted here!"

"Tangquan, the coroner Wei Nanzi often comes to the temple. Could it be that the person behind the scenes and Wei Nanzi often meet at Tangquan to discuss matters?"

After muttering to himself for a moment, Su Wen called out to Li Xingguo, "General!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xingguo stopped and turned to look at Su Wen. Su Wen said, "Let's not go to the temple first. I'll go to the hot springs first. Go and send some people to ask the local people if there are any caves or similar places near Ningxiang Temple!"

Li Xingguo responded, bowed, and hurriedly went down the mountain.

Seeing Li Xingguo hurrying down the mountain, the beautiful women quickly reached out and greeted him, "Hey, sir, would you be interested in joining us for a soak in the hot springs?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xingguo's face turned even redder, and he quickly lowered his head and fled!

Upon seeing this, Su Wen couldn't help but smile, and then he headed straight for the hot spring.

The hot springs here have been renovated, with separate areas for men and women, as well as a large mixed-use hot spring. The large mixed-use hot spring is cheaper, costing only ten coins, while the separate areas cost twenty coins each.

The people collecting the fees were several monks, which surprised Su Wen quite a bit; these monks were actually collecting fees.