In the late Ming Dynasty, a bizarre theft case occurred in the Qinghe County Government recently. The bank treasury in the yamen would lose a few taels of silver every day. Although the amount was not very large, it would not be a small amount of money to lose every day. What is most troublesome is that the thief who stole the silver treasury had no clues, and he didn't know who did it.
On this day, Liu Desheng, the yamen runner who was guarding the silver treasury, just left the yamen, when Zhang Fan, the shopkeeper, stopped his way. Zhang Fan kept staring at him tightly, and suddenly snatched his briefcase and began to search inside. After a while, a five-two ingot was pulled out from it, and there was a special mark on the silver, which was specially done to catch the silver thief.
Zhang Fan was very angry when he saw this. He had been looking for thieves everywhere for a while. He didn't expect that the silver thief would have been by his side. If he hadn't received an anonymous report letter this morning, he would have really never thought that Liu Desheng, who has always been cautious and honest in his relationship with others, would have done such a thing. You should know that this is a custody. Once the incident is exposed, it will be a serious crime of being a first-class crime. Maybe it will lose your head. Even at the lightest, it will be exiled to the frontier.
Liu Desheng saw that the silver was found in his official document bag, and it was the silver in the kuoyin, and shouted that he was wronged, but the facts were right in front of him. Zhang Fan was ignoring him and handed him directly to the magistrate Wang County.
County Magistrate Wang learned that the silver thief was actually Liu Desheng, so he was so angry that he stomped his feet and immediately ordered the yamen runners to beat Liu Desheng thirty. After the thirty-sixth slap, Liu Desheng's butt was beaten so hard that his skin was blooming, and blood was seeping out of his pants. Because it was a person who was captured and the stolen goods were captured, there was no need for a retrial of the case. County Magistrate Wang directly ordered someone to put on wooden shackles on him, wrote a document, and sent him to the frontier. Moreover, the person escorted this time was Zhang Fan.
In fact, Wang County Magistrate, Zhang Fan and Liu Desheng have a very good relationship in their daily lives, and they will also drink a little wine together in their spare time. Before leaving, the county magistrate Wang called Zhang Fan and told him to take care of Liu Desheng when he was on the road, after all, he had a fight with friends. He also said that Liu Desheng is a proud man, and he must be angry when he catches him this time. In addition, the injury on his butt has not healed yet. It was midsummer and it was hot. Maybe an accident would happen on the road. I hope Zhang Fan will relieve him more on the road.
Zhang Fan nodded and promised to take good care of Liu Desheng on the way.
On the day of departure, the county magistrate Wang came to see the two of them personally. He took out the wine pot and poured a glass of wine for Liu Desheng and said, "Brother Desheng, although we are friends, the law is unkind. I hope you don't blame me. I'll compensate you for this glass of wine." As he said that, he handed the wine to Liu Desheng.
Liu Desheng took the wine and raised his head and drank the wine in the glass, and then set off with Zhang Fan. When it was almost dark, Liu Desheng suddenly started to have diarrhea. He had been sucked for several days, and he was so weak that he was all over. In this way, Liu Desheng dragged his sick body and walked slowly. After a few days, Liu Desheng's body was so soft that he couldn't walk anymore.
In desperation, Zhang Fan had to support him and found an inn nearby to stay in, preparing to rest for a few days before continuing on the road. Due to the hot weather, I have been rushing to travel these days. After dinner, they went back to the house to rest. They lie down and slept to death, and the snoring sounded loudly.
Although the house snored constantly, Zhang Fan had not slept. He deliberately snored and pretended to be asleep, but in fact he was secretly paying attention to the movement outside the window. Because since he left Qinghe County , he always felt that someone was following them secretly, but every time he looked back, there was no one behind him.
At first he thought it was his own eyes, but he couldn't be dazzled every time! So this time he planned to wait for the rabbit, so he deliberately pretended to sleep, just to lure that person out. As expected, just about a stick of incense, a sneaky black shadow appeared on the window paper. The black shadow poked a small hole in the window paper with his fingers and then checked the situation inside the house.Zhang Fan suddenly jumped up and rushed to the door with a quick step. He opened the door and looked out. He saw bright moonlight shining all over the yard, but there was nothing outside the window.
Zhang Fan returned to the house, and Liu Desheng was awake at this time, sitting there looking at him coldly. Zhang Fan told Liu Desheng about the scene he had just seen and the fact that he felt someone was following them, but Liu Desheng just "hummed" coldly, and then continued to lie down and sleep quietly.
Who would have thought that Liu Desheng's condition became even worse the next day. Not only did he vomit and diarrhea, but he even had the injuries on his butt, which caused the high fever to not subside. Liu Desheng kept talking nonsense. Seeing this, Zhang Fan hurried to the town to seek medical treatment. But after taking the decoction for several days, I didn’t see any improvement in the condition.
Although Zhang Fan was anxious, he had no choice but to leave his fate and hoped that Liu Desheng could survive.
That day, Liu Desheng finally woke up from a coma, but when he opened his eyes, the first thing he did was to pull Zhang Fan to his side, and said in a weak voice: "Brother Zhang, I'm afraid I'm not going to live long." Zhang Fan quickly advised him not to think too much, and told him that he would definitely invite a doctor with more skilled medical skills to treat him.
Liu Desheng shook his head weakly, gasping for breath. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly heard a slight sound from outside the window. Zhang Fan quickly stopped Liu Desheng from speaking, moved to the gate, and suddenly pulled the door, and saw a figure running away from the window.
Zhang Fan was about to chase the man, but Liu Desheng called him and asked, "Is that man not tall, with a pair of triangular eyes, a big black monkey at the corner of his mouth, and his face looked very vulgar?" Although the man ran very fast, with years of experience in the shop, he could still see the person's appearance at a glance. Several characteristics were exactly the same as Liu Desheng described. Zhang Fan looked at Liu Desheng incredible. Why did he know this person as soon as he had known him and got them to know him?
Liu Desheng looked at Zhang Fan and sighed and said, "That person is one of my distant cousins, named Liu Saner."
Zhang Fan was stunned after hearing this and asked in confusion: "Everyone is a relative. Since he has come, why do you still have to sneak up on it! Just come to see you directly, I won't do anything about him."
Liu Desheng said with a wry smile: "That kid has no kindness at all. He actually just wants to see if I die."
Zhang Fan was even more puzzled after hearing this, and looked at Liu Desheng with a puzzled look.
Liu Desheng signaled Zhang Fan to see if there was anyone outside the house, and inserted the door, making sure that no one eavesdropped. Then he carefully opened the bun. He saw a very small cloth bag hidden inside the bun. Liu Desheng opened it, and there was a priceless night pearl inside the bag.
Zhang Fan was stunned immediately and asked quickly: "Brother Liu, is this..."
Liu Desheng was already dying at this time and told Zhang Fan pantingly that this night pearl was a family heirloom treasure handed down by their ancestors of the Liu family. It was very precious and he had never shown it to outsiders. Now he knows that his life is not long. Seeing that Zhang Fan is running around for his illness for seeking medical treatment and medicine, he decided to give him this night pearl, which can be regarded as repaying the kindness of taking care of him during this period.
Zhang Fan shook his head as soon as he heard this and said, "This thing is too expensive, how can I collect it? You should leave it to your descendants!" Liu Desheng sighed and said, "Oh... a plague three years ago took the lives of my family. Now I am the only one in the world. Although I have a distant cousin, he is a prodigal son who only knows how to eat, drink, and gambling all day long. Instead of giving him the treasure, it is better to give it to Brother Zhang, which can be considered as finding a good home for it."
Zhang Fan had no choice but to take the night pearl, and he was also mixed in his heart. He hid the night pearl. That night, Liu Desheng passed away.
It was the day of the dog days at that time.The weather was so hot that it was not close to Qinghe County, and Liu Desheng had no relatives at home, so Zhang Fan planned to bury his body on the spot. He went to the town overnight to buy a good coffin and buried Liu Desheng.
The next day, Zhang Fan asked someone to carry the coffin to the hillside, found a piece of wasteland and buried it, and erected a tombstone in front of the grave.
After everything was done, Zhang Fan returned to the inn and decided to wait for Liu Desheng's first seventh year before returning to Qinghe County to report. But what happened next never expected him.
That day, Zhang Fan was sitting in the guest room reading a book when he suddenly heard a loud bang. The door of the guest room was kicked open. A large group of people rushed in with steel knives and tied up Zhang Fan in after a while. Zhang Fan is not unfamiliar with these people, but is very familiar with them, because these people are all constables in the Qinghe County Government and are all his subordinates.
Zhang Fan quickly asked, "Brothers, what are you doing? Are you making a mistake?"
One of the constables snorted coldly and said, "No mistake, Captain Zhang, you have committed a crime!"
Zhang Fan was a little monk, unable to touch his mind, what did he do here? But no matter how he asked, the other party just said, "You will know when you return to Qinghe County."
Back to Qinghe County, the magistrate Wang immediately went to court for trial. County Magistrate Wang sat in front of the desk, picked up gavel and slapped hard, and shouted angrily: "Criminal Zhang Fan, do you know the crime?"
Zhang Fan replied: "Sir, the officials have always been impartial and law-abiding. I really don't know what crime I have committed. I need to mobilize all my troops like this?"
County Magistrate Wang said angrily: "I ordered you to escort Liu Desheng to the frontier. I didn't expect you to find money and kill Liu Desheng halfway. At this point, do you still want to deny it?"
Zhang Fan quickly shouted for justice. He defended that Liu Desheng was obviously dead from illness, so how could he kill it? Moreover, both the inn owner and the doctor can testify for him, proving that Liu Desheng was terminally ill at that time.
He asked County Magistrate Wang again, "Who is going to frame me? I'm willing to confront him in person!" County Magistrate Wang shouted to the hall, "Bring someone to witness, come up!" After a while, a despicable young man with triangular eyes and a mole on his lips walked to the lobby, knelt directly in front of County Magistrate Wang, pointed to Zhang Fan and cried, "Master Qingtian, it was him who killed my uncle and took away a night pearl on my uncle. It was our Liu family heirloom treasure. Now that night pearl must still be on him."
The person who came from was not someone else, but Liu Desheng's distant cousin.
Zhang Fan quickly told County Magistrate Wang that he was innocent and that he had never thought of seeking money from beginning to end.
County Magistrate Wang sneered and said, "Did you know if you have committed any money and you just need to search for your body?" After that, County Magistrate Wang waved his hand and ordered two yamen runners to go forward and search.
Two yamen runners searched Zhang Fan very carefully, and even took off their shoes to look at them, but unfortunately they didn't find anything. County Magistrate Wang looked Zhang Fan carefully from head to toe, called a yamen runner to whisper a few times in his ear, and saw the yamen runner nodding repeatedly.
Then the yamen runner came to Zhang Fan again and pulled out the hairpin on Zhang Fan's bun. The moment the hair was scattered, a small cloth bag fell out of the bun. The yamen runner stepped forward to pick up the cloth bag, opened it and saw a round night pearl lying in the dark cloth bag. County Magistrate Wang immediately put Ye Mingzhu in his arms and ordered the yamen runners to take Zhang Fan to the prison and wait for the defeat.
That night, when Zhang Fan was sleeping in the prison, he heard the prison door being opened with a "clang". The person who came in was County Magistrate Wang, and Liu Saner, who was following Liu Desheng's distant cousin.
County Magistrate Wang took out the night pearl from his arms and slammed it hard on Zhang Fan, shouting: "Zhang Fan, Zhang Fan, it seems that you are really brave! You dare to use a fake night pearl to fool me. Since you don't want to eat it and eat it, don't blame me for being ruthless. If you don't remember the old love, you will torture you. Then you will see that you won't hand over the real night pearl?"
Zhang Fan shouted injustice, saying that Liu Desheng gave him the bead before he died. He didn't know whether the bead was true or not. After receiving the bead, he would keep it himself. He never touched the bead again until he was arrested.
After hearing this, Wang County Magistrate ordered the accompanying yamen runners and Liu Saner to retreat outside the cell to wait for him. After everyone left the cell, Wang County Magistrate gently patted Zhang Fan on the shoulder and said, "Captain Zhang, I actually know that you were falsely accused by Liu Saner."
Zhang Fan nodded quickly and said, "Sir, you are very careful. The villain is indeed wronged. You must help me!"
County Magistrate Wang said: "I want to help you too, but now you are the only one who can save you. There are no outsiders now. Tell me the truth. Otherwise, Liu San'er will report you to the prefect at that time. Even if I do, I will not be able to protect you. After all, a fake night pearl was found on you, which is enough to show that you know that there is a treasure on Liu Desheng."
Zhang Fan swears to the sky that what Liu Desheng gave him was the fake night pearl. As for why Liu Desheng did it, he didn't understand the reason until just now.
Because Liu Desheng knew that the prodigal cousin had been following them secretly. If he knew that after his death, Liu Saner would dig a grave to steal the night pearl in order to get the night pearl. Since this is the case, he might as well use the fake night pearl to divert Liu Saner's attention, so that he can ensure that no one is thinking about it after he dies. In fact, the real Night Pearl has always been in Liu Desheng.
County Magistrate Wang looked at Zhang Fan calmly, feeling that he didn't look like he was lying. He pondered for a while and said, "I think your speculation just now makes sense. Liu Desheng is indeed cunning. I will send someone to open the coffin and examine the autopsy tomorrow. If Ye Mingzhu is really found, then you can clear your grievances."
Zhang Fan thanked him repeatedly after hearing this.
County Magistrate Wang showed a strange smile before leaving. Although it was just fleeting, Zhang Fan still saw it very clearly.
At midnight, under the white moonlight, a black shadow appeared in front of Liu Desheng's grave on a fast horse. After the black shadow dismounted, he took off a few tools from the horse's back and started digging the grave. Looking through the moonlight, he saw that the person coming was Liu Saner.
About half an hour later, Liu Saner finally dug up the coffin. Liu Saner laughed excitedly as if she saw Ye Mingzhu. When he was about to pry open the lid of the coffin, a black shadow suddenly appeared behind him, and a white light flashed, and a bright dagger penetrated directly behind Liu Saner. Liu Saner immediately screamed, turned around and saw a masked man standing behind her.
Liu Saner pointed to the masked man and said, "I didn't expect you to be so cruel! You asked me to write an anonymous letter to frame my uncle. You asked me to follow Zhang Fan and the others all the way, and also asked me to frame Zhang Fan for money and killing him. We agreed that the Night Pearl will be divided equally. It seems that everything is fake. You have been using me from the beginning."
mtress laughed and said, "You are smart, I have been using you from the beginning." Idiot, only fools like you can write anonymous letters to frame your uncle, and only fools like you can believe the recognition I gave you."
Liu Saner gasped and endured the pain and said, "Are you not afraid that others would suspect you?"
masked man said proudly: "After you die, I will bury you in it. Who would have thought that there were two corpses buried in Liu Desheng's coffin? As for Zhang Fan, he will commit suicide to fear of guilt tonight !” After saying that, the masked man pulled the dagger out of Liu Saner's back and slashed hard without saying a word.
Liu Saner used his last bit of strength and said fiercely: "You... are... so... poisonous!" As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Saner died of anger.
masked man snorted coldly at Liu Saner's body. To be on the safe side, he squatted down and touched Liu Saner's breath. After confirming his death, he went over and pried open the lid of Liu Desheng's coffin. Who would have thought that there was nothing in the coffin!
masked man suddenly woke up and knew that he was trapped, but when he turned around and wanted to leave, he found it was too late! Many torches suddenly lit up in the surrounding woods, and a large group of people surrounded the masked man. The person in charge is nothing else, but Liu Desheng, who has been resurrected from the dead.
Liu Desheng came to the masked man, took out a bead from his arms that could shine at night and said, "I came to this wilderness in the middle of the night. You must be looking for this!" As he said that, he suddenly stretched out his hand to remove the masked man's mask. Behind the mask was the magistrate of Wang County of Qinghe County.
In fact, from the very beginning, Liu Desheng felt that it was County Magistrate Wang who was framed by him behind his back. Because during his guardian of the silver treasury that day, only County Magistrate Wang had entered, and only County Magistrate Wang had approached his official document bag. The most suspicious thing is that before he and Zhang Fan left, he started vomiting and diarrhea not long after he and his wife had drunk a glass of wine poured by Wang County Magistrate. At that time, he guessed that Wang County Magistrate poisoned him.
Because he had drunk with Wang County Magistrate once before, he accidentally took Ye Mingzhu out and showed it to Wang County Magistrate. Since then, Wang County Magistrate asked him more than once, but he has never given it to Wang County Magistrate on the grounds that he has passed on the family treasure. That's why he was framed and poisoned by County Magistrate Wang, with the purpose of killing him so that he could take Ye Mingzhu for himself.
Once he dies, the night pearl is very likely to fall into Zhang Fan's hands. At that time, the magistrate Wang will definitely use the same trick to frame Zhang Fan again. Moreover, Liu Saner was secretly following them along the way, and it is conceivable that Liu Saner had been bribed by the magistrate Wang. Liu Desheng knew in his heart that as long as he died, the magistrate of Wang County would definitely let Liu Saner frame Zhang Fan. After a while, Ye Mingzhu would eventually fall into the hands of Wang County Magistrate.
Liu Desheng knew that if he was not here to die soon, what if the county magistrate Wang and Liu Saner were anxious and secretly attacked him. So he decided to use his tricks and joined forces with Zhang Fan to stage a fake death drama, which made the magistrate Wang reveal his strength...
Of course, if you want to deceive everyone in this drama, you must have Zhang Fan's full cooperation. Liu Desheng told Zhang Fan about his guess about County Magistrate Wang and expressed his plan. Zhang Fan immediately agreed as soon as he heard this. Because Zhang Fan has always thought the whole thing was strange, and many doubts pointed to the magistrate Wang.
As expected, Zhang Fan deliberately took out a fake night pearl according to the steps in the plan, and hinted to County Magistrate Wang that the real night pearl was most likely still on the dead Liu Desheng. So, County Magistrate Wang and Liu Saner couldn't wait to come to rob the tomb. Unexpectedly, County Magistrate Wang had reached the point of being crazy. In order to swallow the night pearl, he actually killed Liu Saner, although Liu Saner was more than innocent of death.
Later, Liu Desheng sold Ye Mingzhu and donated all the money he had obtained from it to the temple, so that the abbot in the temple could help those poor people who really needed help. Liu Desheng said that as long as Ye Mingzhu is in his hands for one day, it will be a disaster sooner or later. It is better to use it to help those in need, and this is its best place to go.
complete
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-