Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

While he was talking, the waiter from the inn went upstairs with a smile, holding a wooden plate in his hand, and brought it to the table. It was a plate of lotus leaf cakes. The waiter gave me a thousand dollars and said, "Three guests, this is a little filial piety from a villain. "

Xiaocai's eyes sparkled, he grabbed a piece of lotus leaf cake and ate it. He tilted his head and looked at the waiter and said, "I appreciate your kindness."

The waiter smiled and said: "Today, all the guests staying in our inn sent this villain to Double Happiness Gambling House to place bets. I would like to ask if you, the third one, would like to follow us?"

Xiaocai asked: "What are the odds of getting the three thousand taels of gold by betting on a branch of plum?"

The waiter said: "You pay one out of ten. Most of them bet on a plum to win. There are also some who don't believe in evil. They don't believe that the magistrate's yamen is heavily guarded, and they can still get the lazy dragon."

Xiaocai said: "Why don't you take me to a gambling house so that we can see what's going on?"

That guy was so smart. He hurriedly bowed and led the way.

After half an hour, the young scholar Shi Shiran went upstairs and stretched out his hand: "Both of you, I will beg the favor of one hundred coins. I bet one hundred coins for each of you on the loss of a plum."

"Iljimae never fails." Fei Yue'er felt so distressed that she covered her purse, closed her eyes and ruthlessly gave Xiaocai a hundred coins.

Wang Heng said: "Did you hear some rumors that are not good for Yiljimae?"

Xiaocai chuckled and said: "The Double Happiness Casino is too small. One end bets on a plum and the other is a bet on the magistrate's office. The counter where you bet on a plum is so crowded that I can't even squeeze in. I even thought about coming." Why don't you bet a few coins and gamble, and then go to the other end and bet a hundred coins for you all? Wealth can be found in danger."

Yue'er said: "I thank you."

The gambling shop was a mixed bag of good and bad, and there were many good people doing bad things. Xiaocai easily found out the addresses of the five homes that were stolen last night.

The Fu Yamen Secretary Wu's family lived in Changchun Lane. The Min family, the ambassador of the Fu Yacang, lived in Wuqifang. Xu Daguan opened a herbal medicine shop. The herbal medicine shop was in front of Guan. He lived in the back hall of the herbal medicine shop. The Jingcheng family of the yamenfangwei and the Niu Caidong family who opened the warehouse all lived near Guitianju.

How could it be possible to rob these five houses in just two hours, after curfew?

Changchunfang is in the south of the city, about eight or nine miles away from Guanqian, Wuqifang is about four or five miles away from Guanqian, and Guantianju from Guanqian is at least four miles away.

It takes at least thirty miles to go back and forth from these five homes.

Wang Cai summed it up and said: "If I were to visit all five houses and memorize them in advance, I would only be able to visit all five houses in two hours late at night."

Wang Heng thought for a moment and said: "There is a curfew at night. It is impossible for Yi Zhimei to ride a horse. For an ordinary person to walk more than thirty miles, it will take an hour and a half anyway. If it is Yi Zhimei, considering his outstanding qinggong, it will take more than half an hour." , and for the remaining more than an hour, I had to avoid people and sneak into the house to slide the door and pick the lock. These five households all live in large houses. How can I complete such a complicated process in only one moment."

"What if Iljimae has a helper?" Fei Yue'er blurted out, then shook her head and said, "Everyone knows that Iljimae is a lone thief, and she never fights alone."

"It would be reasonable to have at least two people to rob five households in a row." Wang Cai said.

Wang Heng frowned and said: "Speaking of which, Yi Zhimei Lazy Dragon has been famous for a long time and has been retired for more than forty years. Counting that he was thirty years old when he retired, he is already an old man in his seventies today. Generally speaking, his eyes are dazzled and his hands are shaking. I always feel that it is a fantasy to come out of the rivers and lakes to eliminate violence and bring peace and stability." Fei Yue'er said: "I saw him on the gable wall last night. He was a strong and healthy man, almost in his twenties. He definitely didn't look like he was in his seventies or eighties. If you say that, His skills are naturally extremely high, and he is indeed a figure like a plum blossom and a lazy dragon."

"Speaking of which, only the plum blossoms painted on the walls of the five stolen houses can prove his identity. The rest are mostly gossip in the market, but this skill cannot be faked. When did this person appear again in Suzhou City? There are such great thieves, and there are at least two of them, which is really puzzling." Xiaocai said.

In the city of Suzhou, several masters suddenly appeared. Why?

Wang Heng was thoughtful and lost his mind for a moment.

Xiaocai said: "Let's have a good rest during the day, and go to the house at night to make a big fuss. If the plum blossom takes three thousand taels of gold, we will also see a good show. If he fails to take it, we will win three thousand taels of gold in vain. Not bad."

"Three thousand taels of gold." Wang Heng suddenly knocked on the table: "By the way, these three thousand taels of gold are interesting. What can you think of?"

Fei Yue'er thought for a while: "Does the prefect's Yamen have three thousand taels of gold?"

Xiaocai said: "Of course there is. Mr. Lu has scratched the ground three feet, and his greed for gold and silver has covered the sky and the earth."

Wang Heng paused and said: "Three thousand taels of gold, which is a very heavy object of more than 200 kilograms. There is no way that Yi Zhimei can carry such a heavy thing over the wall by herself."

"Yes, at least you need to drive an ox cart or a horse-drawn carriage, or even worse, you need a wheelbarrow. You can load it into the car and take it away." Yue'er nodded repeatedly.

Xiaocai slapped his thigh and said, "There are sayings like this in the opera. One thousand taels of gold, ten thousand taels of silver, and ten thousand taels of copper coins are all exaggerations. This three thousand taels of gold is probably for the sensational effect of this kind of opera."

"Yes, from stealing five households at night to taking three thousand taels of gold from the prefect's Yamen, it seems like a drama." Wang Heng was full of doubts.

Several people discussed it for a while, but couldn't figure it out, so they went to Fuqian Street early to see what was going on.

Unexpectedly, before arriving in front of the mansion, I met a large group of Suzhou people wandering among the alleys. They said that there were three squadrons of government officials at the intersection in front of them driving away the crowd, and no one could pass through.

The three of them just walked forward, and sure enough there were three squads of government officials standing on the road. But when someone came forward, they were driven away with sticks.

Wang Heng and his party went back, hoping to find a restaurant to sit down and talk, but they saw the opportunity too late. There were only restaurants and tea shops in the area, but they were all occupied.

Fortunately, the hawker came after hearing the news and relieved the people's urgent need. Wang Cai was quick and quick and grabbed three benches at the wonton stall. It was just getting dark, so he might as well have a bowl of wontons and so on. After finishing the wontons, I had sweet-scented osmanthus fermented dumplings and a bowl of three delicacies noodle soup.

The deeper the night goes, the more people gather. The weather is neither cold nor hot, and everyone is as happy as celebrating the New Year.

At two or three o'clock in the morning, the streets were brightly lit and crowds of people were crowded, and suddenly there was a scream: "The official is beating the hawker."