Ghost Story of Liaozhai

Mr. Zhong Cheng, Yu Chenglong, went to Gaoyou for inspection on this day.I happened to come across a case: a rich family married a daughter with a rich dowry, which was stolen by thieves in the middle of the night.The governor was at a loss, and he still hasn't found the culprit.When Yu Chenglong learned what had happened, he ordered the city gates to be closed tightly, leaving only one gate to enter and exit.He also ordered the people of all families not to go out, sit quietly at home, and wait for the government to search.Then he told his subordinates, "You can go to the city gate to wait. If someone comes in and out repeatedly, and back and forth, this person is a thief. You don't have to be polite, just capture him directly."

At noon, the subordinates caught two men with empty hands and no packages around them.Yu Chenglong said: "This is the thief." The two argued and clamored, refusing to plead guilty.Yu Chenglong ordered a body search and unbuttoned his outer robes, only to see that the two were wearing Jinxiu women's clothes next to their bodies, which were the stolen items.It turned out that the two heard that the government was going to search extensively and hurriedly transferred the stolen goods, but there were too many items to carry, so they had to hide them in their clothes in batches and went in and out repeatedly.

Another time, Yu Jackie was transferred to Guangxi county magistrate and went to a neighboring county to play.Passing outside the city in the morning, I suddenly saw two men carrying a wooden bed. On the bed lay a woman with her black hair exposed and a phoenix hairpin inserted into her head. The woman was lying on her side, sleeping with her eyes closed, followed by three or four strong The male servant, from time to time, put his hand into the quilt and rolled up the quilt tightly, as if he was afraid that the morning breeze would blow into the quilt and frostbite the hostess.

After a while, a group of people rested on the side of the road. When they started on the road again, two men replaced the bed.Yu Chenglong stepped forward to inquire, and replied: "My sister is critically ill, take her back to her husband's house." After speaking, he left in a hurry.

The more Yu Chenglong thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He secretly ordered the servants to follow him quietly and wait and see what happened.The yamen servant took the order to go, and after a while, he came back to report: This group of people arrived in a village, and two men came out to greet them, and then entered a house, and there was no more movement.

Yu Chenglong nodded, went to the government office to visit the county magistrate, and asked, "Has there been a robbery in the city?" The county magistrate's face changed slightly, and he said with a smile: "No, absolutely not." Robbery cases under the rule were all concealed and not reported.

When Yu Chenglong heard the words, he remained calm, and immediately went to live in the post house, secretly sent people out to find out the news, and after some investigation, it turned out that a large family was robbed here, and the owner's parents were tortured to death.Yu Chenglong found his master and asked about the case, but the master hesitated and refused to admit it.Yu Chenglong said: "I have caught the culprit. If I confess the truth, I will give you justice." The master burst into tears when he heard the words, and explained the process one by one, asking Yu to punish the murderer severely.

Yu Chenglong agreed, and called on the county magistrate again, asking him to send troops to catch the thieves. In the middle of the night, a group of yamen servants set out with knives, came to the village, broke in, and killed eight murderers in total.After interrogation, he confessed.

Yu Chenglong asked: "What is the identity of the woman on the bed?" He replied: "She is a prostitute in the city. After the robbery that night, I went to the prostitute to have fun, conspired with the prostitute, and put the money in Bed, ask her to pretend to be sick and keep it safe, and try to bring it to the den of thieves. After the matter is done, promise to give her a share."

The truth came to light, and everyone admired him immensely. They asked: "How do you know that these men are the murderers?" Yu Chenglong smiled and said: "This matter is easy to understand. Just imagine, how can a young woman be in bed and let a man reach into the bed What’s more, the bed is constantly being replaced by people, so it can be seen that the wooden bed is heavy, and there must be something hidden in it. From time to time, the quilt cover is rolled up tightly by hand, obviously to prevent the leakage of the things. Finally, if the girl is really sick, when she is sent to her in-law’s house, there must be a girl I came out to take care of them, but why did I only see two men, and their expressions were calm, and they didn’t ask about their condition, isn’t it suspicious? So these people are definitely not kind, they must be thieves.”