Is “Zhou Xing's 'please enter the urn' scheme was turned against himself” true?
The Old Book of Tang, Biographies of Tang Lin, Zhang Wenguan, Xu Yougong, records that 'Zhou Xing, Lai Junchen, and others were cruel by nature.' The official history records that Empress Wu ordered Lai Junchen to interrogate Zhou Xing. Zhou Xing himself suggested using a large urn with burning charcoal to make a prisoner enter it, and Junchen then invited Zhou Xing to enter the urn. In the Sui and Tang Romance, Chapter 073, the story is adapted: Yan Enshan is ordered to interrogate Zhou Xing, asks for a large urn, and says to Zhou Xing, 'There is a memorial against you; please enter this urn.' The details differ slightly from the official history.
In the official history, Zhou Xing was a cruel official who was eventually trapped by Lai Junchen's 'please enter the urn' scheme, while the novel altered the specific presiding official in the interrogation.
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