During the period of Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty, Khotan Kingdom once paid tribute to a treasure, which was a white jade pillow. The entire pillow was carved from white jade and looked exactly like a real pillow. It can be called a peerless treasure. When it was transferred to Tang Wenzong , Tang Wenzong always liked this treasure and took it out to enjoy when he had nothing to do.
One night, Tang Wenzong brought the white jade pillow to enjoy again, and fell asleep when he was tired. When I woke up in the morning, the white jade pillow was gone.
You must know that this is the imperial palace, and it is the emperor's bedroom, and it is on the emperor's bed. The white jade pillow disappeared out of thin air. To put it lightly, it means that a thief is coming; to put it more seriously, if the thief wants to murder the emperor, wouldn't it be easy? There are so many guards in the palace, except for the people whom the emperor trusts most, who else can come and go freely?
In anger, Tang Wenzong ordered that this thief must be caught, otherwise he would not be able to sleep well.
Privately, Tang Wenzong said to the guards around him: "The person who stole the white jade pillow should not be an outside robber, otherwise he would not be able to come and go freely, just like his own. Therefore, this must be a domestic thief. If he cannot be caught, it will be terrible if something else happens. A white jade pillow is not a robber. It’s nothing, it’s mainly you. You are responsible for protecting the palace and the emperor’s concubines and others. If you can’t catch them, you will look useless!”
’s words were indeed reasonable. The person in charge of the guard was greatly ashamed. He immediately apologized and said that he would catch the thief within half a month. Tang Wenzong nodded and agreed.
So, from that day on, the leader of the guards began to investigate the matter. On the one hand, he asked people to offer a large reward, and on the other hand, he personally arrested the person. As time passed, more and more suspects were arrested. Later, people were arrested even in the neighborhoods, alleys, the army and other places.
Among the in Chang'an, there was a Longwu and Tibetan general named Wang Jinghong. He had a young servant at home who was only eighteen or nineteen years old. He was very handsome and was very agile in doing things. Wang Jinghong asked him to do something, and there was nothing he couldn't do or couldn't handle.
Once, Wang Jinghong and some friends held a banquet in the army. One of the waiters brought by Wang Jinghong can play the harp. When everyone was drunk, they wanted to listen to music, so they asked the waiter to play the harp, the pipa, to cheer them up.
After watching Huqin, the waiter said: "I'm sorry, all generals know that weapons need to be in hand to be useful. For me, musical instruments are like weapons in the hands of generals. The one I often use is the best. Now, my instrument is not with me and is still in the city. What should I do?"
At this time, it was already evening. There was a curfew at that time. The city gates were closed at night, so it was impossible to go to the city. When everyone found out, they were very disappointed.
The little servant said to Wang Jinghong: "Master, if you want to go back to the city to get the pipa, it's not difficult. I can get it back soon."
Although Wang Jinghong knew that he was usually reliable, he didn't believe it at this time.
The little servant left quietly. Within a moment, he came back again, with a pipa in his hand, which was the pipa most commonly used by the messenger. The waiter was very happy and picked up the lute to play. The generals were also very happy and drank a lot of wine. For a moment, everyone in the house was laughing.
The journey from the army to the city is nearly a hundred miles, and even riding a fast horse takes a stick of incense. But the little servant didn't have a fast horse, so it took less than half the time. The speed of coming and going was admirable. The other generals drank too much and didn't find it strange, but Wang Jinghong was secretly worried: "Could it be that the thief who stole the emperor's white jade pillow is this little servant?"
At that time, Zheng Yan was being searched in the palace. Wang Jinghong was worried that the little servant would harm him, and he was afraid that he would misunderstand him, so he decided to ask clearly.
The next morning, the banquet ended and everyone went back to their homes.Wang Jinghong called the servant and asked: "You have been with me for several years. I have always known that you are reliable in doing things, but I didn't know that you have such an ability. You can climb over the city wall and come and go as fast as flying. It is really impressive. I heard that there is a kind of chivalrous man in the world who is highly skilled in martial arts. He can fly over walls and walls. He can even kill cattle from a distance and take the heads of thousands of people. Inside and outside. Could it be that you are such a knight?"
The little servant immediately apologized and said, "I don't know if there is such a knight in the world, but I am just good at walking." "What does this mean?" Wang Jinghong asked.
"In the past, my parents were in Sichuan. It has been several years since I came to the capital to work. Now, I want to go back to my hometown and am thinking about how to repay my master. I also know what you are thinking. Forget it, I will solve this matter and repay your kindness to me. To be honest, I already know who the person who stole the white jade pillow is. , I will ask him to plead guilty in a few days."
Wang Jinghong said cautiously: "This matter is not a trivial matter, it is also related to the life and death of many people. If you can do it well, it is also a matter of justice. But who is the thief? Where is he now?"
The little servant said: "The person who stole the white jade pillow is named Tian Bulang. He is a gangster (a person without land and no serious profession). Sometimes he lives in the market and sometimes he is in the army. He is very brave and good at running. He is known as Scud, also called "flying on grass". He can run on grass and travel five hundred miles a day. If If you don't break his legs, you won't be able to catch him. It's not difficult to catch him. You can catch him by waiting at Wangxianmen. General, you can come with me and don't alert others. You must keep it secret, otherwise you won't be able to catch him. After dawn, the two had breakfast and then set off.
At that time, more than ten days had passed and it had not rained. When the two set out, the road was full of dust. In addition, there were so many people and so much dust was stirred up that you couldn't see the people around you every few steps.
Soon, we arrived at Wangxianmen. Tian Bolang was holding hands with several teenagers, preparing to enter the military gate. At this time, the little servant saw the opportunity. He rushed to Tian Bulang with a playing stick. He raised the stick and dropped it. He only heard a scream. Tian Bulang fell down and his legs had been broken.
The others were so scared that they ran away. Tian Bulang looked up and saw that it was a young servant. He sighed and said, "I stole the emperor's white jade pillow. I was only worried about you coming. I am not afraid of the others. Unexpectedly, you still came. Now that it is like this, what else can I say? Well, follow me and I will return the white jade pillow to you."
In this way, Tian Bulang was caught and the white jade pillow was found. When
was brought to the emperor, Tang Wenzong was very happy and asked Tian Bulang face to face why this was the case.
Tian Bolang said with a smile: "I just heard that His Majesty the Emperor has a treasure, so I was curious, so I stole it to play with for a few days. I didn't think about taking it for myself, otherwise, I would have left long ago."
Tang Wenzong was very happy. On the one hand, he knew about the snitch, and the snitch had no ill intentions towards him, which made him feel at ease; on the other hand, he admired the snitch very much. So, he did not punish Tian Bolang, and said: "I know, you are a heroic person, not an ordinary thief, okay, okay, I won't kill you."
So, Tang Wenzong ordered that all the hundreds of people caught previously be released without charge and compensation be paid. He also wanted to reward the young servant, but the young servant had already returned to Shu. Therefore, Tang Wenzong rewarded Wang Jinghong and left Tian Bolang by his side.
