Wen Wuhai, seeing Tuqiu Jiu’s confident demeanor, immediately ordered someone to test whether his claim was correct.
Upon hearing the order, Tuqiu Jiu quickly added, “This judgment has a prerequisite: the person must be of normal physical condition. If they have any disabilities, it might not be accurate.”
From Wen Wuhai’s reaction, he deduced that during the Warring States period, there was likely no method for determining height and weight from footprints. If this attempt succeeded, perhaps an additional entry would be added to Fengzhenshi (The Manual of Forensic Medicine). Naturally, it was better to be rigorous.
However, estimating weight was likely impossible, as too much time had passed and the footprints had become somewhat blurred. If they had examined them immediately, they might have been able to calculate it based on the depth of the impressions in the soil.
The only thing to note was that different soil types would yield different results, so estimating weight from footprints was somewhat troublesome.
Meanwhile, the tingzu (constabulary soldiers) not only measured each other but also tested the patrolling guards. The results they obtained were largely consistent.
While it was impossible to achieve absolute precision, as Tuqiu Jiu had said, this method narrowed down the possibilities to some extent.
Wen Wuhai immediately ordered a slave-official to bring the judicial records and review the testimonies of those who had attended the banquet. He then cross-referenced this information with their basic details. The height, weight, appearance, and distinguishing features of adult men were all recorded in the household registers, eliminating the need for separate interrogations.
Only three individuals matched the estimated height. Based on the measurement of seven cun and eight fen, the perpetrator’s height had to be close to five chi and five cun, which, converted to modern measurements, was approximately 1.8 meters.
This height was considered exceptionally tall for the time. Only wealthy families and nobles, who had sufficient nutritional intake, were likely to reach such stature, aside from genetic factors.
Later studies estimated the average height of men during the Qin and Han dynasties to be around 1.69 meters. Even among the nobility, few reached 1.8 meters.
The three individuals were Zhang Xiang, Sima Yue, and Wang Xi.
Tuqiu Jiu searched his memory and realized he was somewhat unfamiliar with these three. This did not surprise him, as Li Bu had invited dozens of people that day. Tuqiu Jiu had never been well-acquainted with them, and he had been too anxious and fearful of drawing attention to himself to remember many details.
After reviewing the three names, Wen Wuhai frowned slightly. While the individuals themselves were unremarkable, their backgrounds were anything but ordinary.
Zhang Xiang was a descendant of Zhang Yi, who had studied under Guiguzi, served twice as the Chancellor of Qin, and made significant contributions to the state by employing the Horizontal Alliance Strategy to counter the Vertical Alliance Strategy.
Sima Yue was a descendant of Sima Cuo, a great general of Qin who served under King Huiwen, King Wu, and King Zhaoxiang, conquering Shu and defeating Chu, thus earning immense merit.
Wang Xi was the grandson of Wang He, who had been appointed as one of the generals to assist in governance after the death of King Zhuangxiang.
Although the descendants of these figures were not particularly distinguished, they still held respectable positions in Qin. This case required extreme caution—if any of them were wrongly accused, the consequences would be immeasurable.
Wen Wuhai even began to suspect that the previous magistrate of Xianyang County had hastily closed the case, ignoring many inconsistencies, precisely out of fear of offending these individuals.
With this thought, he put away the judicial records. Looking up, he saw Tuqiu Jiu watching him intently, his dark eyes gleaming with hope in the sunlight.
He remained silent for a long moment before saying, “Go back. Rest assured, this case will certainly be reopened for review.”
Tuqiu Jiu had just been about to ask whether the individuals involved would be summoned for a retrial when he heard these words. After a brief moment of confusion, he realized: Oh, right—he wasn’t a case investigator; he was a suspect implicated in the crime!
Recalling how he had been chattering nonstop at the crime scene, practically taking over the role of the host, he couldn’t help but cringe with embarrassment.
Embarrassed as he was, since Wen Wuhai had stated that the case would be retried, Tuqiu Jiu naturally breathed a sigh of relief. He obediently allowed himself to be escorted back to his cell.
This time, however, he wasn’t alone in the cell. Two companions had joined him—Tuqiu Zhi and Tuqiu Fei.
Based on the clues uncovered so far, Tuqiu Zhi and Tuqiu Fei were clearly not the perpetrators. As a result, their sentences of Dismemberment Execution had been overturned, and they had been demoted from convicted criminals back to suspects. Naturally, their place of confinement had also been changed.
When the two arrived, Tuqiu Jiu was huddled in a corner, lost in thought. Days without any form of entertainment were unbearably dull, and the dim lighting in the cell made it even worse—he could barely see anything, leaving him utterly bored.
At first, Tuqiu Zhi and Tuqiu Fei didn’t notice Tuqiu Jiu. It was only when Zhi Yuli brought meals for the three of them that they saw Tuqiu Jiu emerge, swaying slightly, from the corner.
The two were startled by his sudden appearance and even shrank back in fear.
Tuqiu Jiu glanced at them casually and noticed that Tuqiu Zhi and Tuqiu Fei were roughly the same height and build, though their faces were too shadowy to make out clearly.
Drawing from his memories, he realized that the two were twins—not only did they look alike, but their temperaments were also strikingly similar.
While Tuqiu Jiu was recalling this, Tuqiu Zhi and Tuqiu Fei also recognized him, and their courage immediately swelled.
Previously, they had been held in a death row cell alongside other condemned prisoners. Compared to them, the other inmates were vicious and ruthless, and Tuqiu Zhi and Tuqiu Fei had suffered no shortage of bullying, to the point where they wished they could simply disappear.
But facing Tuqiu Jiu, they felt not the slightest fear—in fact, they were somewhat excited. Finally, they had encountered someone they could bully.
After Zhi Yuli left, Tuqiu Zhi and Tuqiu Fei quickly wolfed down their meals. By the time they finished, Tuqiu Jiu was still eating slowly and deliberately.
It couldn’t be helped—the food given to prisoners was far from good. The vegetables, for instance, were nothing more than plain boiled greens, bland and unseasoned. Tuqiu Jiu suspected they hadn’t even added salt, as salt was still a precious commodity in these times and clearly not something to be wasted on prisoners.
That was tolerable—boiled vegetables were at least edible. What was truly unbearable was the rice. Tuqiu Jiu had no idea what it was made of, but it seemed to contain bran and sand. Every bite felt like stepping on a landmine, with these impurities mixed in with the grains. He couldn’t spit them out, so he had no choice but to swallow them whole.
Tuqiu Jiu was forced to learn to chew slowly and carefully. He feared that eating too quickly might cause these coarse particles to scratch his esophagus—a death that would be far too unjust.
Besides, life in the cell was so monotonous that eating slowly at least gave him something to do. Otherwise, once he finished his meal, he’d have nothing left but to stare blankly into space.
However, halfway through his meal, Tuqiu Zhi and Tuqiu Fei, having already finished theirs, approached him together and declared with an air of entitlement, “Eldest Brother, give us your food.”
Tuqiu Jiu nearly choked to death when he heard the words “Eldest Brother.”
He wasn’t sure if it was because his imagination was too vivid, but as soon as he heard “Eldest Brother,” he thought of Wu Dalang. It took him a moment to realize they were calling him.
Well, he was the eldest in the family, so it made sense to call him Eldest Brother.
Tuqiu Jiu glanced up at them but didn’t respond. He knew these two little brats were used to bullying others, but now wasn’t the time to cause trouble.
In this prison, even raising your voice could earn you a whipping, and fighting would surely result in even harsher punishment.
To avoid having his meal snatched away by these two little brats, Tuqiu Jiu had no choice but to finish his food quickly.
Tuqiu Zhi and Tuqiu Fei exchanged a glance, then crouched down and surrounded him, saying, “So what if you finish this meal? There’s still the next one. If you have the guts, swallow all the food in one go!”
Tuqiu Jiu realized they had a point. So, to serve his sentence in peace, he’d have to teach these two little brats a lesson first.
Ever since arriving in this era, he had been holding back his frustration. Anyone suddenly thrown into an unfamiliar time, nearly starting off as a slave, probably wouldn’t be happy either.
But he had been too busy searching for a way out to find an outlet for his anger—not that there was one even if he wanted to.
Now these two little brats had walked right into the line of fire… perfect.
As Tuqiu Jiu was pondering how to deal with them, Tuqiu Fei suddenly said, “Where did you get that robe? Give it to me!”
They were all in prison, but while the two of them were barely clothed, Tuqiu Jiu was wearing a robe that, though not brand new, was in decent condition and looked better than what they had on. How could they stand it?
Their mother had said that Tuqiu Jiu was born with a lowly fate—destined to go hungry and cold, forever crushed under the feet of her two sons.
Tuqiu Jiu lifted his eyelids and glanced at Tuqiu Fei. “It won’t fit you. You’re too fat.”
Indeed, Tuqiu Zhi and Tuqiu Fei had clearly been well-fed. At twelve years old, they weren’t exactly round, but they were far from thin. This was likely the result of losing some weight after enduring hardships in prison.
Tuqiu Zhi snorted and reached out to grab Tuqiu Jiu’s collar. “If you don’t behave, don’t blame us for being rough.”
Tuqiu Jiu grabbed his wrist and clicked his tongue. “Looks like you’re asking for a beating.”
With that, he twisted Tuqiu Zhi’s arm forcefully. Tuqiu Zhi let out a sharp cry, the sound echoing through the cell and startling even Tuqiu Jiu.
While keeping a firm grip on Tuqiu Zhi’s arm, Tuqiu Jiu lowered his voice and said, “Aren’t you afraid of disturbing the prison warden with all that noise?”
Tuqiu Zhi’s second cry abruptly stopped. But pain didn’t disappear just because of fear. After a moment, he couldn’t help but whimper softly.
Meanwhile, Tuqiu Fei reached over to tug at Tuqiu Jiu’s collar, saying, “How dare you lay a hand on us! I’ll report you to the prison warden!”
Tuqiu Jiu kicked Tuqiu Fei directly. In the dim light, he couldn’t tell where he had hit, but he heard Tuqiu Fei cry out in pain and immediately let go of his collar.
Tuqiu Jiu gasped for breath twice. This body was truly weak—just these two simple actions had left him dizzy and panting.
After steadying his breathing, he said, “If you dare provoke me again, do you believe I’ll beat you up?”
Tuqiu Zhi and Tuqiu Fei truly didn’t believe it. From childhood, they had always been the ones doing the beating. Although Tuqiu Jiu was two years older than them, he was thin and small, no match for them at all. How could they possibly be intimidated by Tuqiu Jiu’s words?
Ignoring the pain, Tuqiu Fei charged forward again. At this moment, he no longer cared whether he would be punished by the prison warden. They had endured severe bullying before, holding back all along. Now, they had finally found someone they could oppress, yet this person, for some unknown reason, dared to fight back.
Driven by youthful impulsiveness, he couldn’t be bothered with the consequences. All he wanted was to beat Tuqiu Jiu into submission.
In terms of height and strength, Tuqiu Jiu was naturally no match for them, let alone facing two opponents at once. No matter how you looked at it, he was at a disadvantage.
However, he wasn’t relying on brute force alone. He had been twisting Tuqiu Zhi’s arm the whole time without letting go, leaving Tuqiu Zhi essentially incapacitated. Of course, this also meant he couldn’t free his hands to defend against Tuqiu Fei.
So when Tuqiu Fei charged at him, Tuqiu Jiu simply yanked Tuqiu Zhi in front of him as a shield. Tuqiu Zhi instantly suffered a critical hit from his own ally.
Meanwhile, Tuqiu Jiu, hiding behind Tuqiu Zhi, kicked Tuqiu Fei with all his might. He didn’t know where he landed the kick, but he put his full strength into it, even stumbling back two steps himself.
As they fought fiercely, the commotion alarmed the neighboring cells. Someone immediately shouted, “Prison warden, there’s a group fight!”
The prison warden’s voice echoed from a distance, “Who dares cause trouble in the prison, not caring for their own life?”
Upon hearing his voice, Tuqiu Jiu immediately released Tuqiu Zhi’s wrist, gave him a push, and decisively dropped to the ground.
At that moment, Tuqiu Fei happened to charge forward with his fists raised, ready to strike. Tuqiu Jiu’s smooth drop to the ground caused Tuqiu Fei’s punch to miss completely. Meanwhile, Tuqiu Zhi, pushed aside, staggered and turned around, ready to seek revenge on Tuqiu Jiu with a fierce expression.
Seeing Tuqiu Jiu lying on the ground, Tuqiu Zhi raised his foot.
By then, the prison warden had rushed over and immediately spotted Tuqiu Jiu lying on the ground, with Tuqiu Zhi and Tuqiu Fei standing over him, fists clenched and feet raised.
To anyone witnessing the scene, it looked like those two brats were ganging up on the frail Tuqiu Jiu!
The prison warden roared angrily, “How dare you, you little rascals!”
Tuqiu Zhi and Tuqiu Fei froze in place, turning to look at the prison warden with terrified expressions.
They were so frightened that their minds went blank, unable to think of anything to say.
Meanwhile, Tuqiu Jiu, lying on the ground, slowly turned his head toward the prison warden. In a weak yet clear voice, he spoke haltingly, “Please, prison warden, inform the physician for me. I can only repay his kindness of gifting me clothes in the next life.”
After saying this, he slowly closed his eyes, lying peacefully on the ground.
Facing the prison warden’s furious gaze, Tuqiu Fei and Tuqiu Zhi couldn’t help but tremble, their legs giving way as they knelt on the spot.
Author’s Note:
Tuqiu Jiu: As long as my mind stays sharp, even the prison warden can become my ally! Happy bunny lying flat.jpg