History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

After the stern shout, Gu Kai released the dog's leash, drew his knife from its sheath, and the three jailers, armed with wooden sticks, braced themselves, waiting for a command to pounce and fight.

Sun Tu suddenly exhaled a long breath, his entire spirit contained in that breath. He looked up at the thatched hut where he slept. He thought about how he had spent half his life firing pottery and tiles, yet he couldn't bear to build a big house or lay new tiles. He felt even more desolate, and tears streamed down his face.

He looked back at Gu Kai and said, "The people will not fight with the officials. I will go with you. I will go with you."

The jailer tied Sun Tu's arms up, and Gu Kai approached the kiln stove to carefully observe the location where the hunting dogs were scratching and sniffing.

Unable to detect anything unusual, Gu Kai did not give up. He brought the air close to his nose and inhaled deeply, bit by bit.

I smell it! It has the scent of rouge or floral perfume! Only the wealthy could afford it; the fragrance could last for days. Who would leave perfumed face powder or perfumed clothes on the outside of a kiln?

Before the kiln was fired, Gu Kai took the firewood out of the stove hole. A jailer came over to help. Seeing this, Sun Tu knew he couldn't hide any longer and confessed directly: "I killed someone in this kiln."

Gu Kai and the three jailers looked at each other and guessed that the person killed was likely the missing Liu Shun. It was truly an easy find!
Before they could ask any more questions, Sun Tu continued, “In June of this year, a wealthy family in the west of the city wanted some earthenware jars. On my way to deliver them, I was hit by an oxcart and broke two jars. Even though I only broke two, I didn’t make any money from this trip.”

Just as the jailer was about to scold him for being long-winded, Gu Kai shook his head to stop him. The way the oxcart had run over people immediately made him connect it to the death of Wu Bo'an on Fuqiao South Street, and the incident of a horse-drawn carriage rushing through Tongtuo Street when Xue Zhixiao was being escorted to the palace.

The jailer dragged the body out of the kiln.

Sun Tu grinned, his dry, cracked lips covered in bloody gashes, a look that was both a smile and a cry. He pointed at the corpse and said, “The oxcart driver, that’s him. He said his name was Liu Da, and he was willing to compensate me for the broken urn. He also asked me to move the rest of the urns and the wheelbarrow onto his oxcart. He helped me deliver the goods, took me to the clinic to treat my injuries, and finally sent me back to Wenyi Village.”

"From then on, I would run into him every month."

“In this world, I’ve only ever seen the rich harm the poor, never helped the poor. He thinks… he thinks he can’t see the look of disdain and disgust he has for my appearance?” Sun Tu said, becoming agitated.

“I knew he was approaching me because he wanted to harm me, but I didn’t know how he wanted to harm me. I live here, I can’t avoid him! Five days ago, he came to see me again, and he looked like a thief. I immediately knew he was going to make a move on me!”

“He never used to stay overnight at my place, but that night he stayed to watch me make the earthenware pot. The next night I couldn’t stay awake any longer, so I pretended to be asleep in front of him to lure him in. Sure enough, he tried to kill me with the pot. Well, then he can’t blame me…”

How could an ordinary person not be afraid when they kill someone? Sun Tu's voice trembled as he recalled this, his nasal tone becoming more pronounced: "I... I really didn't want to kill him. He forced me to do it! Otherwise, I would be the one who died!"

Whether Liu Da is Liu Shun or not needs to be determined back at the imperial prison. The most urgent task is to investigate whether Sun Tu has committed any other murders. Fortunately, the prison guards, with their hunting dogs, thoroughly searched every corner of the courtyard but found no suspicious clues. They also examined all the piled-up urns, confirming that none of them had any inscriptions inside.

To Gu Kai's surprise, Sun Tu said that he had been making urns for many years, and not only had he never taken on the business of engraving words inside the urns, but he had also never heard of other potters in the neighborhood engraving words inside the urns.

Gu Kai pointed to a type of urn and asked him, "Is it difficult to carve words inside the belly of an urn this size?"

"The mouth of this urn is quite large, so I don't think it's difficult to carve inscriptions. The difficulty lies in my inability to read. However, I can learn on the spot. Would you officials like urns with inscriptions?"

Gu Kai pretended not to hear the last piece of nonsense and asked the other person again, "Who is the best urn maker in Wenyi Village?"

"I! In the entire Wenyi region, the urns I make are the best."

Gu Kai pursed his lips, while the jailer frowned. They all sighed, realizing that businessmen truly had business acumen ingrained in their bones; even on the verge of jail, they were still boasting.

The jailers divided the work: two found mats to wrap the body, while the other unloaded the firewood from the cart in the yard and brought the empty cart over. Gu Kai then continued to ask Sun Tu, "When we entered your yard earlier, we met a firewood seller. What was his name, and did he also live in Wenyi Lane?"

Sun Tu shook his head and said, "His name is Chai Lang, and he lives in a place further northeast of Lanwadi. But that's what he said himself, and I don't know if he's telling the truth."

"Does he often come here to sell firewood?"

"I come every two or three days."

"How long has he been making a living by selling firewood?"

Sun Tu: "Less than a year."

Gu Kai suddenly realized something: Chai Lang's height and build were similar to Sun Tu's! If Liu Dayao were alive, he would be about the same size as Sun Tu.

There was no point in staying there any longer, so he allowed Sun Tu to leave home with his thick bedding and several strings of cash in savings, to be thoroughly interrogated in the imperial prison.

Just as we stepped out of the narrow alley, the jailer who had been tracking Chai Lang returned, soaked to the bone and so cold he could barely speak: “That man fell into the ditch. No one dared to help me rescue him. I’m not a good swimmer, so I could only look for him near the edge where he fell in, but I couldn’t find him, and he didn’t float up.”

Gu Kai gave all the money he had to the official and said, "Go and ask around to see if anyone has extra winter clothes. When you buy winter clothes, ask the potter if it is difficult for the potter to carve words inside the pot. It would be best to find out who is good at this skill. Wenyi Village is close to the county office. Go to the county office to borrow some manpower to go and search for people. Even if they are dead and their bodies are not found, you still have to search the surrounding area before you can make a conclusion."

Buying winter clothes certainly wouldn't cost that much money; most of the remaining money was used to pay the county clerks. Otherwise, who would be willing to put in the real effort during the cold winter months?

When Gu Kai and his group came out of Wenyi Village, they did not see the other group, so they took Sun Tu and the corpse to the east side of Lanwadi.

The Broken Tile Ground was not just a place to discard broken pottery and tiles; it was also a gathering place for beggars in Luoyang.

"The Court of Justice—"

Just then, the jailer finished asking for clues and ran towards Gu Kai with the beggar leader, reporting, "Minister of Justice, this beggar says he has lived here for two years and has never heard of or seen anything with words carved inside the urn."

This is the same statement as Sun Tu's.

Gu Kai sighed, thinking that it was impossible to close the case before the end of the year. Even in this Wenyi Village, he would have to come back many more times and check every household.

Undeterred, he asked the beggar, "You've traveled to many places, do you know if there are any skilled urn makers in the area north of Wenyi Lane and city?"

Sun Tu interjected, "There aren't any good urn makers outside."

The beggar chuckled and said, "Forget it. Although I don't know how to make urns, I know it's not a sophisticated craft. You know the woodcutter, right? Even he can do it."

What a twist of fate! Gu Kai said, "I know Chai Lang. When and where did you see him making urns?"

The beggar pointed northeast and replied, "He built a thatched hut over there and lives there by himself. It's quite far away; you can't see it from here. There's a small, half-buried earthen kiln there. Once, I wanted to steal it... Oh, I wanted to go for a walk over there, and I happened to see him carrying a finished urn out of the kiln." (End of Chapter)