The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 22: Suicide or Murder?

The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty. 《成化十四年》Chengnian Shisi Nian
The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 22: Suicide or Murder?

A/N Due to some confusions I have decided to use Da-ren instead of Master and the Woman who is married will have -shi at the end of the name to denotre that the name accompanying the -shi means she is from that clan of family example Zheng Sun-shi willl mean this woman is married to someone with a surname Zhang and her maiden surname is Sun... Sorry for the confusion andI will redo the earlier chapters to clear this mishap.

Speaking of which, of course, Li Man couldn't offend Tang Fan too much, so he took him to Zhang-shi's residence and let Tang Fan go in to examine it.


Zhang-shi's body has been moved to the side hall, which is the scene of the crime, but since Zhang-shi's body has been removed, the scene has been contaminated, and it is difficult to find any useful clues at first glance.

A-Chun followed behind and recounted to Tang Fan what she had seen and heard since she came in. When Tang Fan heard her talk about closing the window, she went behind the screen, opened the window sill and looked at it carefully before walking to the inner room.

The rope from Zhang-shi's hanging beam was still tied to the beam, and it was estimated that after they had carried Zhang-shi's body down, they could not even untie the rope, and the stool next to it for hanging Zhang-shi was also kicked to the ground.

A-Chun followed him anxiously watching Tang Fan rummage around on the messy bed, lifted the sheet from the bed, bent down to look at it for a moment, and reached out to touch it again.

When Tang Fan straightened up again, he had an extra jade ear pendant in his hand. The jade was carved in the shape of a lotus flower, and a silver tassel was draped underneath.

"Do you recognize this?" Tang Fan asked.

A-Chun nodded: “This is the Madam thing."

Tang Fan asked, “This is what I found under my pillow."



A-Chun let out a sigh, "I think my madam forgot to take it off before she went to bed and left it on the bed by accident. And it accidentally fell on the pillow.”

Tang Fan asked again, “Then how come there's only one, and where is the other one?"

A-Chun was unsure: "Maybe in bed too?"

Tang Fan nodded and handed her the earrings: “Then you can put them away."

Li Man stood outside the house, saw Tang Fan come out, and asked, "What can Da-ren gain from there?"

Tang Fan shook her head: "No luck, maybe she really hanged herself."

Li Man sighed, disappointment evident on his face: "Honestly, I wish she had been killed by someone. So we can find out the murderers punish them and comfort her soul in heaven."

Tang Fan said, "If you can think that way, Zhang-shi must be comforted, and I am sure she won't care about bringing your concubine back from outside."

Li Man was a bit embarrassed, and then a bit annoyed, even though Tang Fan was a court official, but concubinage was a family matter, when did it become the other side's turn to talk about it?

Tang Fan didn't bother to pay attention of Li Man's mood, so he left the Li Family and went to the Wanping County, found the Wanping County order, told them about the matter, and asked them to send someone to check Zhang-shi's body.

Although the Li Family didn't want to sue, he still wanted the Wanping County people to go there, for no other reason than the fact that the Li Family's wife was nice to him, if she really died injustice, then he had to seek justice for her.

Official people tend to overdo things and Tang Fan was only the Lower Sixth Rank, but he was also a member of the Shuntian Prefecture, the Shuntian Prefecture was in overall in charge of the Wanping County, and the Wanping County order dared not be lax even after hearing his words. And they sent the county commissioner and the chief clerk over there.

Tang Fan, on the other hand, left the Wanping County courthouse and returned to the Shuntian Prefecture.




As soon as he stepped into the gate of the court, he saw his Du Jiang hurrying up: “Da-ren, you are back, the governor is looking for you everywhere!

Tang Fan asked, "Do you know what it is?"

Du Jiang said, "I don't know, but the governor seems to be in a hurry."

Tang Fan laughed, "I know, thank you very much, you go and get busy with yours."

Pan Bin was walking around the side hall with his hand in hand, when he saw Tang Fan come in to greet him, he waved his hand impatiently: "Come on, stop talking about these false manners, just look at this post!”

He handed this post in black and red, with gold scattered on it, and it looked very delicate.

Tang Fan took a look at it, and his face looked strange: “The Depot Commander Eunuch Wang invited you to dinner?"

"Yeah!" Pan Bin looked sad, "I didn't mess with him, so why should I be invited to his dinner?"

Tang Fan saw that he was anxious, and said, "Da-ren, don't worry, do you know why the Depot Commander Eunuch Wang invited you? How many people have you invited before?"

Pan Bin was depressed: "How could I know all this, since the last case of the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion, Wang Zhi has become more and more arrogant, daring not to say anything about others, not visiting the Three Treasures Hall, and this time there will be no good banquet, nor do I know what trouble the Shuntian Prefecture is in!”

Wang Zhi is a eunuch, first of all, eunuchs and civil officials are natural opposing classes, their interests can never be aligned, unless there is a collusion, but even then, the civil official himself would have to be ready to be defeated by machination, and have the mental preparation for years of bad reputation for associating with a eunuch.

Pan Bin is not a court official he is a local government official, but he doesn't want to be a traitor, he just wants to be a justice of the peace. But there are no such beautiful things in the world, and people have to deal with all kinds of people in the official world.

With civil officials, we are all peers, can use the rules of civil officials to play, but with eunuchs, civil officials set of machinations will not work, Pan Bin did not understand the purpose of Wang Zhi also he only did not want to get involved with him, and he does not want to offend Wang Zhi, so the tangle is very confusing.

Tang Fan understood his feelings very well, so he expressed his deep sympathy.

But Pan Bin didn't need any sympathy, he said to Tang Fan, "Don't you know the Jinyiwei people very well, maybe they know something, why don't you ask them for the meaning of this whole thing!”

Tang Fan was a bit speechless: “Da-ren, the Western Depot is also a secret agency, their intelligence may not be as lax as the Jinyiwei, and it’s useless to ask."

Pan Bin said: "It's no use to not to for the time being, you go and ask, maybe they'll get some news!"

Tang Fan knew that no matter what he said, he could not listen to him, so he said, “Thanks Da-ren, I'll go and inquire, but I may not be able to find out anything, please forgive me before most!”

Pan Bin was so happy: “That's my good teacher teaching, what is this calling me a Da-ren, are you an outsider!"

Tang Fan could only smile bitterly, but he could not do anything about this senior brother.

Since the last case of the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion, Tang Fan and Sui Zhou did have some friendships, but the Northern Administrative Court was busier and less free than the Shuntian Prefecture, because the Jinyiwei not only had to inspect the officials, but also had to investigate major cases and be in charge of the imperial ceremonies. In charge of the imperial guards of honor, even to those without permission cannot enter the palace, and there was even a person who wanted to win connections to this palace of rich people, but the Jinyiwei arrested him for that and after that there were not many of his kind plotting things.

In fact, the Jinyiwei was doing a lot of work that the Shuntian Prefecture should be doing, and the Jinyiwei was also doing work that the Shuntian Prefecture should not be doing, so Sui Zongqi was no less busy than Tang Da-ren as the chief of the Northern Administrative Court.

However, when Tang Fan went to the Northern Administrative Court, he was still given special treatment. Sui Zhou's deputy, Xue Ling, welcomed him personally, and this man, who seldom smiled, was quite enthusiastic about Tang Fan, but his news was a bit disappointing: “Runqing, Baihu Da-ren is out on an errand now, and will not be back until a few days later."

Tang Fan let out a cry: "Guangchuan brother has been promoted? That's a big congratulations!"




Zongqi still had to go on a series of trials before he is promoted to being a Baihu, and then he will be the equivalent of deputy Baihu, before he came to Baihu position, but Sui Zhou skipped the trial Baihu and went straight to being a Baihu, firstly because of his outstanding performance in the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion case, and secondly because he was different from the Jinyiwei. [1] A Baihu like a Zongqi is a military position only  Baihu is a rank higher than a Zongqi which is above  Xiaoqi

So Sui Zhou's promotion, although a bit unexpected, but when you think about it, you will find that it makes sense.

Of course, as a friend, Tang Fan is naturally happy for him, not to mention that having a Baihu friend in the Northern Administrative Court will also make things easier.

Xue Ling smiled: "No, Big Brother doesn't think it's a big deal, and he was annoyed to be sent on a mission before we have time to celebrate with him. So does brother Runqing brother has a work to be done with Sui Baihu?”

Tang Fan laughed, “This is a happy event, so why don't you let me be the host of the celebrations? I have to thank you all for your help in the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion case."

Xue Ling said, “Brother Runqing is a man of great courage, but there is no need, this time it is the Northern Administrative Court who will foot the bill, a few brothers paid for the banquet for big brother, it would be good if you come then!"

Tang Fan naturally agreed to come down and said, "Lao Xue, I have something I want to ask you."

Xue Ling: "But it doesn't hurt to say."

Tang Fan said, "Do you know what's going on at the Western Depot?"

Xue Ling thought for a moment, "No, why do you ask?"

Tang Fan laughed bitterly: “The Depot Commander Eunuch Wang suddenly invited my family to dinner, I don't know what the purpose is, my prefecture governor was upset, so I came to bother you, hoping to get some information, so that the Depot Commander Eunuch Wang wouldn't be offended if Da-ren didn't know why he went to dinner."

Wang Zhi's murderous name was well known in the capital, not only the Shuntian Prefecture were terrified of him, the Jinyiwei were also terrified of him, Xue Ling had a sympathetic face: "I haven't heard of anything happening, but I can inquire for you, when will Pan Da-ren go to the banquet?"

Tang Fan said: “Two days later."

Xue Ling nodded, “There's still time then, I'll let you know if there's any news."

Tang Fan said gratefully, “That's very much appreciated!"

Xue Ling:" Brother Runqing, don't be so polite, it's just a favor! If I were you, you would help me too, at least I've never heard the general praise anyone. You, Runqing, are the first one to do it. So how can I not help?”

Tang Fan said, "What did he say about me?"

Xue Ling laughed and said: "Said you don't talk nonsense, you do things."

Tang Fan laughed bitterly, this is really like Sui Zhou's style of complimenting people!

After a few more pleasantries, Tang Fan left Xue Ling, left the Northern Administrative Court and returned to the Shuntian Prefecture.

Pan Bin heard that the Jinyiwei was willing to inquire for him, and he was satisfied, he was not as sad as before. Tang Fan solved his affairs, and just after returning to his duty station, he heard the bailiff come to report that the Wanping County had sent someone about the Li Family's affairs, and that Zhang-shi had been strangled to death, not as a suicide as previous thought.





- The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty -



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