Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 253 Male and Female Thieves
The next morning bell rang, and it was a misty day. The mountains were hazy, and the trees were green, and the heat of the past few days was swept away.

This is the eighth day at Jubao Mountain. In five days, the old abbot Zhihai of Jubao Temple will be able to come out of seclusion, and Zhang Xiru and the Wang brothers will be able to go down the mountain.

Xiaocai got up early to practice Ba Duan Jin, but the branches of the Chinese jujube planted in the courtyard soaked his head with dew. He said to himself, "It seems that God also wants me to be a lazy person."

Wang Heng sneered: "Jiuluo enjoys a peaceful life. You are a person who enjoys happiness."

Xiao Wu came from the east wing to look for them. He heard the saying that one snail makes you poor, two snails make you rich. He spread out his hands and saw that there were seven snails, and all seven snails were officials.

Xiaocai said that it made sense. If Xiaowu returned to the Li Dynasty, he would most likely get an official position, or at least become a subordinate official in Jinyang Jun's fiefdom.

Xiao Wu's Chinese was not as good as Li Fu's, and his grammar was almost right, except that his expressions were a little stiff. He came to tell Wang Heng and Xiao Cai that Jinyang Jun Li Fu had gone to the Sutra Repository early in the morning to copy sutras for Madam Jin, and he went there on a high note and left very early, so he did not dare to call them.

Neither Wang Heng nor Xiaocai were scholars, and they were quite impatient to study scriptures in the Sutra Repository all day long. They did this just to fulfill Mr. Zhang's request. Li Fu was knowledgeable and knowledgeable, and this move was exactly what he wanted.

Wang Heng said, "Monk Guangwen is the head of the Sutra Repository. He is very knowledgeable. If Jinyang Jun needs anything, just ask Guangwen. Xiaocai and I will not leave the main peak of Jubao Mountain, Lianxing Peak, today. Jinyang Jun can come to us anytime."

Xiao Wu performed his duty faithfully. After delivering the message, he hurried back to the Sutra Library to report to Li Yan.

Without having to receive Li Yan, Wang Heng and Xiaocai felt relaxed and comfortable. They set up the table in the corridor outside the room, listened to the rain and brewed tea.

While he was leisurely, he suddenly saw the young monk Wuming coming towards him, smiling and asking for a cup of tea.

Wang Cai stood up and poured a cup of tea, and handed it to Wuming. However, Wuming was very vulgar and did not know how to taste tea. He took the cup and drank it all, saying, "Donor, we have guests coming to visit you two."

Wang Hengxi said happily: "Asheng, you came just in time. It just so happens that we are free now."

As there were often idle people in the other courtyard, their conversations were bound to be overheard, so Wang Heng asked Wu Ming to lead the newcomers to meet at the west bank of the release pond.

The two of them held oil-paper umbrellas and walked out of the courtyard. They stood by the pond and watched the rain hitting the floating duckweed. There were many turtles in the pond that had been released, but now the drizzle was spreading across the pond. The little turtles had disappeared without a trace and no one knew where they had gone.

From a distance, Wang Heng and Xiaocai saw Wu Ming leading a dark-faced man in a short shirt and trousers walking towards the release pond. They looked at each other in surprise. The visiting guest was not Ah Sheng, the servant of the Chen residence.

The dark-faced man was a stranger. Seeing the two young men waiting there, he thought they were the Wang brothers. He stepped forward and saluted respectfully, saying, "I am Jia Wu, a policeman from Jiangning County. I have always followed Team Leader Xu. Today I have been ordered to deliver a handwritten letter from Master Zhang."

Mr. Zhang, the lawyer in Jiangning County, was very cautious in his work. The envelopes were sealed with wax. The soldiers may come and go, but the camp remains the same. Officials like County Magistrate Wu only serve one or two terms and then leave. The people who really do the work are still those in the county government.

I invite Jia Wu to sit for a while in the entrance hall of the villa, as Master Wang Qi will write back to Master Zhang later.

In the letter from Master Zhang, it was written that what Team Leader Xu had told them the day before was the gold filigree butterfly-inlaid heart-shaped pick, which was the physical evidence in the murder case of Monk Guangheng. Team Leader Xu had seen a similar object in the old archives of the county government office. When Team Leader Xu returned to the county government office, he found the dusty file based on his memory in a few days. After comparing it with the archived pattern, he was basically sure that it was the same object.

The case recorded in the old files was an unsolved case that occurred in the spring of the 26th year of the previous emperor, which was 24 years ago. The person in charge of the case at that time was Old Shentou, the master of Xu Bantou.

The wealthy Chen family in Jiangning County reported to the county magistrate's office that the valuable jewelry of the Chen family's female members, a gold filigree butterfly-inlaid heart, was stolen by two thieves, a man and a woman. The eldest wife of the Chen family was also injured by the thieves.

According to the housekeeper of the Chen Mansion, the stolen gold filigree inlaid butterfly centerpiece is worth a fortune and was an old item from the Prince of Yuzhang's Mansion. Because Prince of Yuzhang got into trouble a few years ago, many of the palace's treasures ended up in the south of the Yangtze River. The Chen family was wealthy, so this item was kept by the Chen family.

The eldest wife of the Chen family cherished it especially and wore it several times when she went out. Perhaps this attracted the covetousness of the two thieves, a man and a woman. They broke into the courtyard under dark night and stole the jewelry. However, because the owner, Mrs. Chen, noticed it on the spot, they injured the thieves and escaped.

The Chen family is a wealthy family in the county and a relative of the Imperial Capital's Shao Sikou. After extensive investigations, the county's arrest department determined that the crime was committed by a pair of male and female thieves who suddenly appeared a while ago.

This man and woman had some skills, and they specifically targeted wealthy people. Their purpose was obviously to make money, and their methods were ruthless. They had committed several murders, but because their whereabouts were elusive and no one had seen their faces, the county government had not been able to arrest them yet.

There was no trace of the male and female thieves. Due to the overwhelming public opinion and the county magistrate's boasting, he issued a strict order to close the case within one month. Old Shen had no choice but to plan a trap to capture them.

The county magistrate made a big announcement that the largest antique shop in the county, Linlang Pavilion, had received a batch of rare treasures, some of which were even rare treasures from the imperial court.

As expected, the male and female thieves fell into the trap and went out to commit crimes at night, but were ambushed by county officials.

But these two thieves were really skilled. They managed to escape with injuries even when surrounded by dozens of people.

Old Shen ordered his men to search the city, and asked the magistrate to issue an order that everyone leaving the city gate tomorrow would have their identity checked.

The next morning, Old Shen and several runners were patrolling the four city gates. When they arrived at the west gate, they heard the old soldier guarding the gate say that after the gates were opened today, only one wheelbarrow had left the city. It was a sick young woman in the city who was covered with a quilt and pushed out of the city gate to return to her parents' home.

Old Shen was suspicious. The old soldier at the city gate knew that the cart had just left the city less than an incense stick of time, so he quickly chased after it.

After chasing for a short distance, they saw the wheelbarrow abandoned on the official road. Old Shen continued to walk forward and saw a young man and woman carrying huge packages and walking quickly towards the west.

When the two sides met, they knew what was going on in their minds clearly, and the young man drew his sword coldly and attacked.

Originally, Old Shen and his gang's kung fu wasn't as good as that of the man and woman, but they had the advantage of having more people.

The male and female thieves were at a disadvantage and fought while retreating. They retreated to a deserted mountain, and several officials heard the noise and came to reinforce them.

The man and woman were both wounded in many places and had committed a murder. They had no chance of survival if they were caught by the government. During the fierce fight, the man slipped and fell off a cliff, and the woman jumped off the cliff and died.

There was a rapidly flowing torrent below the cliff, and there was no doubt that the two men were dead. However, their bodies had not been salvaged, so the case could not be closed.

There were some stolen goods in the packages carried by the two men, but unfortunately the gold filigree butterfly-inlaid heart from the Chen Mansion was not among them. The whereabouts of this treasure has been unknown since then, and the case has become an unsolved case.