The bloody case came from Xiucai's family
During the Qianlong period, a gang of thieves in the ancient Huang Mansion of northern Jiangsu province appeared under the name of "Centipede Gang", stealing and killing people, and committing many evil deeds.
In order to get rid of this scourge, the prefect took great pains. One night in the early summer of this year, Yu Prefect learned from top-secret sources that the leader of the Centipede Gang, the "Flying Centipede", went to the Jinfeng Yinlou alone to commit a crime, in order to steal the treasure of the town store of the Jinfengyinlou - a priceless bright moon pearl.
The prefect immediately ordered the crowd to surround the Jinfengyin Building and block the flying centipede that had infiltrated it. The flying centipede can indeed "fly", although it was seriously injured under the siege of the catchers, and actually single-handedly broke out of the siege and ran to the Foguang Temple opposite the Jinfengyin Building, until there was no way to escape.
However, the Bright Moon Pearl that was secretly hidden in the cabinet of the Jinfeng Silver Building disappeared, and it was not known where it was hidden after being stolen by the Flying Centipede, and what was even more unexpected was that the Flying Centipede who was imprisoned in the big prison was afraid that if he could not survive the heavy punishment, he would summon the whereabouts of the Mingyue Pearl and the names of his accomplices, and actually committed suicide by hitting the prison wall in the middle of the night a few days later, which made the prefect extremely frustrated.
Wave after wave, wave after wave. Early one morning a month later, Li Zheng of Chengguan rushed to the prefect's yamen and reported that Zhang Xiucai had been killed last night in Fan Erjin Xiucai's home in Tongluo Lane, Dongguan!
Yu Zhifu did not dare to be idle, and rushed to Fan Xiucai's house with three classes of servants. On the pavilion in the Fan family courtyard, there stood a trembling, disheveled student, he was Fan Xiucai, and under the pavilion, there was a long-shirted scholar lying on his back, with a knife on his back, and a pool of blood under his body, needless to say, he was Zhang Xiucai.
Fan Xiucai hesitantly gave a big salute to the prefect and said the original commission.
It turned out that although Fan Xiucai and Zhang Xiucai were both Xiucai in the city, because Zhang Xiucai was rich, he always had endless silver on hand, and he had always looked down on the poor and pedantic Fan Xiucai, and the two had never had any contact. But yesterday afternoon, Fan Xiucai was working hard in the study, and suddenly the door was knocked on, and when he opened the door, he looked at it, and standing outside the door was Zhang Xiucai, who was smiling and moaning!
Fan Xiucai was flattered and hurriedly welcomed Zhang Xiucai into the room and gave up his seat. After Zhang Xiucai sat down, he talked to Fan Xiucai about the eight strands of articles, and his mouth was like a river, gushing endlessly. Fan Xiucai also moved to talk about xingxing, and the two talked very happily, but they did not feel that it was already thinning. Fan Xiucai's wife, Hu Shi, is a meticulous woman, worried that Zhang Xiucai will stay for dinner and her family will not be able to produce a decent meal, so she knocks on the empty pot in the kitchen, intending to urge her husband to send a guest quickly.
Fan Xiucai was not embarrassed, but Zhang Xiucai seemed to have not heard it, and still recited his proud article. Not long after, the young man in the most upscale Haitian restaurant in the city came to fan's house with a load of food boxes, opened the food box, and the aroma of wine and meat came to his face - it turned out that Zhang Xiucai had already arranged dinner!
At the moment, Zhang Xiucai was anti-guest-oriented, and he drank with Fan Xiucai in the study, and during the meal, he also smiled and personally brought a few plates of dishes and a pot of wine, and sent them to the Hu mother and son in the kitchen. At this time, the Fan family was very happy, and Fan Xiucai accompanied Zhang Xiucai to the left and right cups, and drank well and happily.
When the wine was full and the food was full, it was already the middle of the moon, and Fan Xiucai, who was drunk and drunk, said to Zhang Xiucai: "Brother Zhang, wine... A thousand glasses of wine are fewer than a thousand glasses of wine for confidants, and tonight it is late, you are not... Don't go back, just rest on my gazebo. Tomorrow, tomorrow you and I will continue to talk about articles and drink! Zhang Xiucai was happy to push the boat along the water, and the two of them helped each other to the pavilion, laid out a mat and slept upside down. When Fan Xiucai woke up, the sky was already bright, but Zhang Xiucai was missing next to him, he got up and looked at the outside of the pavilion drunk, only to see Zhang Xiucai collapsed in a pool of blood, and he couldn't help but be frightened and scattered, stumbling and running to Li Zheng's house to report the case...
Is it adultery or something else
Listening to Fan Xiucai's words, the servants all skimmed their lips: If two people sleep on the same mat, will one be killed and the other has no reason to know? This Fan Xiucai is difficult to get rid of the suspicion of murder!
But Yu Zhifu did not say a word, went down to the pavilion to come to Zhang Xiucai's body, crouched down and carefully inspected with the servants of the official palace, only to see that Zhang Xiucai was neatly dressed, his side twisted face showed a frightened color, and the knife tied on his back was not very deep, and it was clear that he was killed by someone's unexpected knife; what was even more strange was that Zhang Xiucai's right palm was tightly clasped, and five fingers were cut off by qigen! In a panic, Yu Prefect asked Him to break Zhang Xiucai's palm with all his strength, only to see that what was tightly clutched in his palm was only a red silk rope that had been torn off.
At this time, Fan Xiucai, who had been watching nervously from the sidelines, suddenly blushed and muttered in a low voice: "One is a dressed beast, and the other is an obscene woman..."
The sharp-eared Prefect Yu heard that Fan Xiucai had something to say, and hurriedly stood up and asked Fan Xiucai what he meant by this. Fan Xiucai hesitated for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth: "Since... Since they did it, they blame me for saying it! Unbeknownst to adults, this red silk rope was tied around the neck of the thorn and tied to the Luohan money, and now it actually ran into the hands of the surname Zhang overnight. It is clear that they both have... Private! Now that I think about it, last night's surname Zhang sent wine and dishes to the kitchen, it must be a bad intention, and my mother-in-law, as long as she has wine to eat, she forgot about etiquette and shame, and hooked up with the eyebrows of the surname Zhang! After returning to the study, the surname Zhang deliberately drunk me, and it was clear that it was the Ming Xiu Zhan Dao, and the darkness chen cang... What a kill! At this point, Fan Xiucai suddenly woke up again, and hurriedly shook his hand: "Lord, don't... Don't get me wrong, it wasn't killed by villains! ”
Isn't this the case here without silver three hundred and two? This case has been revealed - as we all know, the Luohan money is the Kangxi Emperor's sixtieth birthday, the imperial court specially minted copper coins, compared with the usual copper coins, huang Chengcheng, bright and shining, quite like the bald head of the golden body of the Arhat, so people called "Luohan money", and because the amount of Luohan money is small, extremely rare, people are mostly used as evil things or love objects between men and women.
This time, there is a good chance that Fan Xiucai found out about Hu's adulterous affair with Zhang Xiucai from Luohan Qian, and killed Zhang Xiucai in a rage, but he pushed that he was drunk and did not know. One servant pulled out the shackles that were ringing, and the other servant carried the water and fire sticks, which was only equivalent to the prefect's words, and he was going to lock Fan Xiucai's chain and beat him to the yamen.
However, the prefect yu gave a low sigh and ordered someone to call Hu Shi over for questioning. Hu Shi was brought over, yu prefect looked up, only to see that this Xiucai lady was five short figures, her face was not handsome, her hair was disheveled, she was pulling on her shoes, she was carrying a drunken breath, and she was clearly a sloppy mother-in-law. Yu Prefect saw the light on Hu's neck at a glance.
"Say, what did you do last night?" What about the Arhat money on your neck? Yu Prefect carried the red silk rope and questioned Hu Shi. Hu Shi subconsciously touched his neck and said inexplicably: "Adult, after eating the wine and dinner sent by Zhang Xiucai last night, I put my arms around the child and slept until dawn." Later, I heard that Zhang Xiucai had been killed, and I was so frightened that I didn't even dare to come out of the house. Oh, the Arhat money around my neck, I... I don't know when I didn't, but I hung it around my neck before going to bed last night. Yo, my lord, isn't this red silk rope in your hand the rope I tie to The Arhat money? So, the Luohan money was picked up by you? ”
Where does the Luohan money come from
Yu Prefect observed the color of the words, judging that Hu Shi was not telling a lie, and it was difficult to imagine that zhang Xiucai, who was a gentleman, and this unassuming, vulgar mother-in-law would have any private feelings after only one-sided friendship, but Luohan Money was indeed run from Hu's neck to Zhang Xiucai's hands last night, and was finally snatched away by the murderer, and from the perspective of Zhang Xiucai holding Luohan Money to death, the blame is on Luohan Money!
After pondering for a while, Yu Zhifu asked Hu Shi again, "Where did your Arhat money come from?" Hu Shi pointed to her husband: "It was obtained from him." Things came back to Fan Xiucai for half a day, and Fan Xiucai patted his head before he remembered.
Just a few days ago, Fan Xiucai came to the Temple of Literature and did a "wenhui" with several xiucai who were in the same case, and saw a gua stall at the entrance of the temple of literature, Mr. Gua called himself Wu Tiekou, boasted that the future of the person was not lost, and the gua fee was only a big money. This attracted a lot of people to surround him, and Fan Xiucai couldn't help but throw down a piece of money for Wu Tiekou to calculate for him.
Wu Tiekou looked at Fan Xiucai's left palm, and in a shock, his hands arched, congratulating Fan Xiu on being the "First Yuan"! This caused everyone to laugh: in Gu Huang, who does not know that Fan Xiu is the most stupid and stupid show talent who has tried and failed! Wu Tiekou said squarely: "There is no joke in the next step, and the money is returned as proof!" He said and shoved a copper coin back into Fan Xiucai's hand. Fan Xiucai was ridiculed by everyone, and took the money and hurriedly squeezed out of the crowd.
After returning home, Fan Xiucai took out the money and asked Hu to buy rice, only to find that the copper coin was not the copper coin he had paid to Wu Tiekou in the first place, and was trembling, Hu Shi saw it but said happily: "Ah, Luohan money, give it to me!" "One grabbed it and tied it around his neck with a red silk rope, saying that he could ward off evil spirits and be more spiritual than the barefoot immortals."
At this point, Fan Xiucai suddenly remembered something, and pointed to Zhang Xiucai's corpse with wide eyes: "Lord Yu, last night, when the wine was hot in the ears, this zhang open heart revealed a jade Guanyin hanging on his chest, saying that he had a jade Guanyin to ward off evil spirits, and asked me what kind of evil things I had." I then said that there was an arhat money hanging from the humble thorn in the house. This surname Zhang listened, and for a long time there was no word. Now it seems that he came to ask LuoHan for money yesterday? ”
Yu Zhifu listened, and understood the truth of the matter in his heart: the reason why Zhang Xiucai painstakingly befriended Fan Xiucai, whom he had always looked down on, was not for Hu Shi, but for Luo Han Qian! After the Fan family was drunk and resting, Zhang Xiucai got up and touched Hu's room, took the Luohan money from the neck of Hu who was sleepy, and then returned to the pavilion.
However, the praying mantis catches cicadas, the yellow bird is behind, Zhang Xiucai just arrived at the pavilion, he was suddenly killed by a knife from behind, because Luo Han Qian was tightly held by Zhang Xiucai in his hands, the murderer cruelly cut off his five fingers! And the murderer could never be Fan Xiucai - Fan Xiucai, who was greedy for a cup, had been deliberately drunk by Zhang Xiucai!
In this way, it all began with the Arhat coin. Although Luohan money is scarce, it is not a valuable and precious thing, and it is not a crime of murder and robbery, is there something strange about that Luohan money? Thinking about this, Yu Prefect asked Fan Xiucai what the characteristics of the Luohan coin were. Fan Xiucai looked dazed, but Hu Shibi said: "There is nothing special on the back of the Luohan coin, but in the four characters of the front 'Kangxi Tongbao,' the treasure word is engraved with a concave line that leads directly to the square mouth in the middle of the money; along the periphery of the Kang character, a circle is carved." In such a whole, the good Luohan money was broken, and I was afraid that I would not be able to stop the night wandering soul..."
Yu Prefect was busy ordering a scribe who was good at painting to imitate the front figure of the Luohan coin according to Hu's words. At this time, He Zuo filled out the autopsy list about Zhang Xiucai's body, and while presenting it to the prefect, he said smoothly: "Zhang Xiucai's left hand pattern is still a very rare one-word heavenly pattern, according to the xiangshu, this should be the face of great wealth and nobility, but he actually died of death, which shows that the photo book is not credible." Fan Xiucai listened and hurried to look at his left hand. Qiu Zuo saw it and sneered, "Could it be that Fan Xiucai you also have a word of Heavenly Pattern?" Fan Xiucai blushed and said, "Yes, yes." That day at the gate of the Temple of Literature, Wu Tiekou relied on this tattoo to cut off my life..."
Yu Prefect was shocked: "I almost forgot that Wu Tiekou - in the final analysis, the Luohan money that caused trouble was originally from Wu Tiekou's hand!" Quickly arrest Wu Tiekou, as long as you catch this person, everything can be solved! ”
However, when the servants came to the Temple of Literature, where was the shadow of Wu Tiekou? The Taoist priests of the Temple of Literature told them that Wu Tiekou was just a person of unknown origin who walked the rivers and lakes to sell his mouth, and after a day in the Temple of Literature, he disappeared.
Luo Han is like the former truth white
The servants returned to the mansion and reported to the prefect, who listened, frowned, and pondered only in the face of the picture of the Arhat money. Suddenly, something also related to Luohan Money appeared in the prefect's mind: a few days ago, after the flying centipede committed suicide, Yu Prefect personally went to the scene and found that an Arhat money that had been hanging on the neck of the flying centipede was missing, and at that time, the prefect was only remorseful for the opportunity to completely eradicate the centipede gang, and did not investigate this matter deeply, and now that he thinks about it, what is the connection between the two Luohan coins? Maybe it's the same Luohan coin - because Luohan money is extremely rare after all!
With such an association, Yu Prefect looked at the picture of Luohan Qian again, only to see that the words "Bao" and the circle "Kang" on it were particularly eye-catching. Yu Prefect's mind flashed like a flash of lightning, and he hurriedly sent the servants to the Foguang Temple opposite the Jinfeng Silver Building. In the apse of Foguang Temple, there are eighteen statues of arhats. When yu prefect counted one by one, when he counted to the eleventh statue of the long-browed arhat, he found that something in the mouth of the long-eyebrow arhat was shining...
That night, there was silence in the Foguang Temple, only the sound of the old monk knocking on the wooden fish when chanting the sutra was faintly heard in the front hall, and a black shadow quietly entered the rear hall, lit a bean-sized fire rope, and went straight to the eleventh long-eyebrow Arhat statue, climbed up the statue platform, and reached into the mouth of the Arhat as soon as his hand was extended. Just at this moment, torches suddenly lit up in the hall, and the servants rushed up, throwing the panicked black shadow to the ground. At the same time, something fell from the black shadow's body with a "dang", and Ya Gong picked it up and looked at it, it was an Arhat coin!
"Fan Xiucai, would you please recognize whether this guy is Wu Tiekou?" After the torch flashed out Yu Zhifu and Fan Xiucai. Fan Xiucai lost his voice: "It's him, it's him, Lord Yu, you are a true god!" "Wu Tiekou heard the words and was paralyzed on the ground...
The truth has come out. It all started with the flying centipede. After the flying centipede stole the bright moon bead and fled to the apse of the Foguang Temple, he saw that he could not escape, so he hid the bright moon bead in the mouth of the long-browed arhat statue.
After entering the prison, the flying centipede, who is determined to die, is inspired by the Luohan money hanging around his neck, and decides to manipulate the Luohan money and tell him the secret of the bright moon pearl to his only relative in the world, his brother, Zhang Xiucai, who is anonymous and unknown to outsiders, and is not known to outsiders that he is related to the flying centipede.
The Flying Centipede carved a line between the word "treasure" on the front of the Luohan Qian and the square mouth, implying that the treasure of the Bright Moon Pearl was hidden in the mouth of the Luohan, and a circle was engraved on the "Kang" character of the eleventh stroke, which means that it was hidden in the mouth of the eleventh long-browed Arhat, and in the ancient Huang Mansion, only the Statue of luohan was enshrined in the Foguang Temple.
On the eve of his suicide, the Flying Centipede passed the Luohan Money to the Dog-headed Military Division of the Centipede Gang "Sai Wu Yong" through the inside line, and sent a message asking Sai Wu Yong to hand over this heirloom to his younger brother as a relic.
Sai Wu did not know who the younger brother of the Flying Centipede was, but he had previously known from the bragging of the Flying Centipede that his brother was a talented man, and there was a sign in the palm of his left hand that he would be able to become a high official in the future. Based on these two clues, Sai Wu used the false pretext of Wu Tiekou to come to the Temple of Literature where Xiu cai often came and went to see the palms, hoping to find the younger brother of the flying centipede who had a word of heavenly pattern.
Coincidentally, Fan Xiucai's left hand also has a word through the sky pattern, Sai Wu gave him the Luohan money with a yin and yang error, but it didn't take long for another Zhang Xiucai who had a word of heavenly pattern in his left hand to tell fortunes, Sai Wu looked at it with a big surprise, and found that Zhang Xiucai's appearance was very similar to that of the flying centipede, and only then did he realize that he had made the wrong person! Sai Wu hurriedly found an excuse to lead Zhang Xiucai to a secluded place, and told him about the suicide of the flying centipede and the transmission of LuoHan money.
Upon learning of his brother's death, Zhang Xiucai was very sad, but he was very puzzled about what his brother said about the Luohan money being an heirloom, and he said to Sai Wu in anger: "My brother had nothing in his early years, there was no heirloom, and he didn't remember having Arhat money." However, judging from the appearance you described, it must be the poor acid Xiu Cai Fan Erjin who took away the Luohan money. Anyway, the Luohan money is my brother's relic, and I must get it back from Fan Erjin's hands. ”
Sai Wuyong was an old thief who had been in danger for a long time, and as soon as he heard this, he understood the intention of the Flying Centipede to send out the Luohan money--there must be a secret on the Luohan money that hinted at where the Mingyue Zhu was hidden, but unfortunately he had not looked closely and mistakenly given it to that Fan Xiucai!
At the moment, Sai Wuyong made up his mind to first follow Zhang Xiucai, and then wait for the opportunity to snatch the Luohan money and swallow the Mingyue Pearl alone, but he calculated everything, or one step too late, and yu Zhifu, who realized the secret of the Luohan Qian, took the Mingyue Pearl from the mouth of the Long-brow Luohan and arrested him on the spot!
According to Sai Wuyong's account, Yu Zhifu personally led the official government servants and catches fast, and swept away the centipede gang hidden in all corners of the ancient Huang Province, and the centipede gang that had been rampant for a while was completely destroyed.
Excerpt from the Classic of Mountains and Seas