Humans in All Heavens: Starting with Detective Dee

The next afternoon, the three of them rode fast horses and arrived at the earthen kiln in Chang'an City.

There's a plot hole in the TV series.

The subtitles next to it read "Earthen Kiln outside Chang'an City".

After the kiln caught fire, Wu Zetian ordered the city of Chang'an to be sealed off.

This was to prevent Liu Jin from escaping.

The delegation used Princess Li Qingxia's sedan chair to take Liu Jin away.

If even the envoys cannot escape the search after Chang'an is sealed off, then only Princess Yiyang's sedan chair can avoid the search.

That's their goal.

If the kiln was outside Chang'an, why order the sealing of all city gates?

Therefore, earthen kilns could only be located within the city of Chang'an.

The earthen kiln had by then become a ruin.

Rubble, charred broken wood.

Di Renjie's eyes scanned back and forth, and finally found a fragment of a white handkerchief.

……

Three days later, Wu Zetian was to offer incense at Yuanjue Temple.

Di Renjie had already left the room in a guest room inside Chang'an City.

Only Li Yuanfang and Zhou Yi are here.

Inside the guest room, Zhou Yi lay listlessly on the bed.

Li Yuanfang sat upright at the table, picked up the teapot, and poured himself some water.

After a few days, his injuries had improved somewhat.

They are all just superficial injuries.

The level of internal energy in this world is relatively low, so even if someone is injured, it's only a minor external injury.

It hasn't reached the point where internal force can cause serious internal injuries to someone.

Bored, Zhou Yi looked at Li Yuanfang, who was sitting upright to the side, and laughed, "Brother Yuanfang, why be so serious?"

Now that the master isn't here, it's good to relax a bit.

"Aren't you tired of having a long face all day?"

"Ha, Brother Di, I can't get used to it."

I served in Liangzhou and fought against the Turks.

You should know what happens on the battlefield; a moment's carelessness can lead to death.

I can't afford to be careless.

"So over a long period of time, I developed this state of high mental tension." Li Yuanfang chuckled.

"There's no need to be so tense all the time."

"How tiring!"

The other person shook their head: "Perhaps I've gotten used to this state, so I don't feel tired."

"Sigh." Zhou Yi sighed and rolled over again. He was getting tired of the previous position, so he changed it.

Li Yuanfang picked up his teacup, took a sip of water, and suddenly looked at Zhou Yi on the bed with some curiosity: "Brother Di, you are the master's steward."

"Do all the people around you have such strong reasoning abilities as you?"

"No, it's just that I've been by the master's side for a long time and have learned a little bit from him."

That's why I can deduce a few things.

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanfang laughed and said, "You've done more than just a little deduction."

Having spent these past few days with you, I've discovered that your reasoning abilities are simply terrifyingly powerful.

"Actually, it's all thanks to the master's good teaching."

"As you spend more time with the master, you'll naturally learn his logical reasoning skills."

He became interested upon hearing this and immediately said, "Oh? Could you tell me about it briefly?"

"Okay." Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi became interested and immediately sat up straight to look at him: "Then I'll tell you about the different approaches to solving a typical murder case."

"I would like to hear the details."

Zhou Yi said confidently, "After being by the master's side for so many years, I've come up with a few points."

First: The deceased was either male or female.

Second: It was either an acquaintance or a stranger who committed the crime.

Third: The murderer was either a local or from out of town.

……

Eighth: It is clear that the deceased was still alive before being killed.

Ninth: The victims are usually shy and unwilling to reveal who the murderer is.

Li Yuanfang: "...?"

After hearing this, I was completely dumbfounded.

Seeing Li Yuanfang's solemn expression and wide-eyed look, Zhou Yi immediately burst into laughter: "Hahaha."

He paused, stunned for a moment, then came to his senses: "Brother Di, you must be joking with me, right?"

"It was indeed a joke, but if you think about it carefully, you'll realize that there's some truth to what I said."

Think about it yourself; those江湖人士 (jianghu figures) don't count.

They all knew martial arts and were always flying around.

Their whereabouts are uncertain.

I don't know much about the affairs of the martial arts world, so I won't talk about it.

Let's just talk about ordinary people.

Ordinary people had to apply to the government for permission to go out, and they needed official credentials and travel permits before they could leave.

To get these two items, you need a guarantor to act as your guarantor.

Unless it's for a funeral or visiting relatives, the government won't grant these two things without a legitimate reason.

Ordinary people can't even leave their own county.

You must return on time within the stipulated time; failure to do so will result in punishment not only for yourself but also for your guarantor.

Without official credentials or travel permits, one can only wander around one's own village.

These days, everyone in the village knows each other.

If a stranger from out of nowhere suddenly appears, it will naturally attract attention.

Therefore, the space for ordinary people is actually very small.

Aside from suicide, to find out who the murderer is, we should start by analyzing and reasoning from the points I mentioned above, and consider who had a grudge against the victim.

Was it a crime of passion, a murder for money, or a murder caused by an argument?

Finding the killer in a very small space.

Following the points I mentioned above for analysis will actually be helpful.

After saying that, Li Yuanfang nodded in rare agreement with Zhou Yi's nonsense.

The Book of Changes does seem to make some sense in this regard.

By using the points mentioned above, the scope can be narrowed down.

Select a fixed group of people.

Then, after a severe torture, how many people can withstand it?

Of course, the Tang Dynasty did not allow for arbitrary use of torture; they could not resort to torture right from the start.

First, one must listen to five things: words, expression, tone of voice, ears, and eyes. After observing their words and expressions and examining witnesses and physical evidence, if the perpetrator is indeed highly suspected but still refuses to confess, then torture can be used.

The decision to impose punishment cannot be made by one person alone; it requires the joint signature of a judge of the same rank before punishment can be imposed.

Moreover, the use of torture cannot be continuous; it cannot exceed three times, with each instance spaced twenty days apart, and the total number of strokes cannot exceed two hundred.

Different crimes warrant different numbers of strokes of the rod.

If the person still does not confess after being tortured three times, the torture cannot continue. If there is no other evidence, bail should be granted.

When interrogating a suspect, one may only inquire about the crime committed and may not add any additional charges to the suspect.

Murder is a serious crime, and people usually don't use torture right away. They will question the perpetrator first, and then use torture.

If there are eyewitnesses or other conclusive evidence, a conviction can be made directly without a confession.

Wu Zetian usurped the throne and changed the name of the country to Zhou, but the laws were all similar.

They directly adopted the Tang Dynasty's system.

It's hard to say about the actual history, but analyzing and judging cases according to the nonsensical theories of the I Ching is at least better than the case-solving methods of some county magistrates in TV dramas.