Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 243: Hypocrites, the Thieves of Virtue

The night was long and lonely, with only a dim light. Xiaocai protested against the light, saying it was disturbing others, so Wang Heng blew out the light and fell into a deep sleep.

That night was peaceful. When the next day's morning bell rang, Zhang Xiru sent the young monk Wuming to wake them up.

When they arrived at the gate of Vimalakirti Villa, Mr. Meng's eldest son, Meng Dalang, was already waiting by the road. He had just said goodbye to Wang Hengxiao and was about to go down the mountain to go home. The two of them hurriedly bowed, thanked Meng Dalang again and again, and asked the young monk from the villa to send Meng Dalang to the foot of the mountain.

I hurriedly passed by the release pond and looked up to see Zhang Xiru and several others waiting at the mountain gate.

The monks sent by the temple to the county magistrate's office today were two burly servants under the command of the receptionist Guangliang, who assisted Wang Heng and Xiaocai in escorting the suspect Qiu Erlang.

The farmers who were escorted up the mountain by the Qiu family yesterday have all left, leaving only old man Qiu, trembling with fear and bitterly hating himself for having given birth to such a sinner.

Zhang Xiru took out the visiting card and envelope and handed them to Xiaocai, which contained a private letter from Mr. Zhang to Magistrate Wu of Jiangning.

He roughly talked about the murder of Guangheng, a monk from Jubao Temple, and how the pilgrim Qiu Erlang went mad after the murder and turned himself in and confessed to murder for money. He handed Wang Heng and Xiaocai over to the authorities for investigation. He also introduced Wang Heng and Xiaocai as his disciples, saying that they were reading historical records and were quite interested in the Jiangning County Records, and requested to borrow the old historical records from the county government.

After Zhang Xiru gave some instructions, everyone set out immediately while the morning was cool.

Today I went to Jiangning County. I walked down the front mountain and arrived at Huayangtai in about a quarter of an hour.

Wang Heng looked up from Huayang Terrace. He saw green mountains, ancient temples, and the hazy morning dew. The sun was about to rise but then retreated in the clouds.

He recalled going up the mountain in the rain a few days ago and could not help but sigh with emotion at how many things had happened in just a few days.

If Mr. Zhang had known in advance that these incidents would happen in Jubao Temple and that someone would die, he would probably have stayed away. Mr. Zhang is an upright person, and it is inappropriate for him to be involved in a murder case for no reason. It is my responsibility as a disciple to do the work, and it is my responsibility to go to the government office to take care of things.

Xiaocai yawned and whispered, "We went up the mountain this time hoping to have a free meal on vacation, but it turned out to be a bit of a waste. We were originally comfortably studying and spending the summer at home, but we walked to Jiangning County and died. I'm afraid Mr. Zhang will regret it if he gets involved in this matter."

Wang Heng's heart moved, and a secretive and vague thought lingered in his mind.

Several mule carts hired by the temple stopped at Huayangtai, picked up everyone and drove eastward.

Jiangning County is more than ten miles east of Jubao Mountain. The official road is long and flat, which is very convenient.

The driver was familiar with the route and drove the mule cart into the county town in half an hour.

Jiangning County has towering city walls and a long history. It is an ancient city with a long history.

The county government office is located in the central area of ​​the ancient city. It has a simple structure and is much less imposing than Shangyuan County, which also belongs to Nanjing.

The driver held the animals and asked everyone to get off.

Xiaocai looked around and found a small land temple not far to the west of the county government office. He was puzzled and asked the driver, "Uncle, in Nanzhili, the county government offices usually worship the City God, and the land temples are all in the countryside, where the people offer sacrifices privately. Is our Jiangning County a little different?"

The driver was in his early thirties and couldn't explain it. He scratched his head and said, "I heard from the old people that our Jiangning County suffered a war in the past. The city was ruined beyond recognition. Many places were burned down. There were too many deaths, so the people spontaneously built a land temple to pray for the dead."

Wang Heng suddenly thought of the disaster the driver was talking about, could it be the rebellion of General Zuo Jiezi of Pingnan mentioned by Li Xunzhi in "Recollections of Lotus Fragrance Tower", so he also asked: "Then, the county government office was also rebuilt later?" The driver looked confused and said: "My lord, I was still young at that time, how could I know so much."

Wang Heng nodded, asked the driver to stop here, and asked two servants from Jubao Temple to escort Qiu Erlang to the county government office with them.

Xiaocai had Zhang Xiru's visiting card with him, so there was no need to beat the drum to report the case. He just walked to the ceremonial gate and handed in the visiting card.

They sat there until their butts became heavy. The doorman led them in. When they entered the third gate, an old man in the hall came up to them and introduced himself as Master Zhang, who was in charge of criminal law. He said that today was not the day for hearing cases in court, and that Magistrate Wu was doing business in the inner hall, so he asked him to come in and ask about the situation.

Wang Heng then told the whole story about the murder of monk Guangheng from Jubao Mountain. Master Zhang was also shocked to hear that a murder had occurred in such a peaceful Buddhist place, and he sent someone to find Gu Bantou from the county government's arrest department.

Wang Heng made a gesture to Xiaocai, and Xiaocai took out the handwritten letter from Zhang Xiru to County Magistrate Wu. Mr. Zhang did not dare to neglect it and immediately asked the servants to go to the inner hall to deliver it to the county magistrate.

Captain Gu arrived quickly, asked about the whole story, and then had the suspect Qiu Erlang taken away by the bailiffs.

Master Zhang found out that Guangheng's body was placed in Jubao Temple, and asked Captain Gu to select a few servants and bring the coroner to Jubao Temple to perform an autopsy.

So Wang Heng ordered the two servants he brought with him to lead the way for the officials. He and Xiaocai still had things to do in the city, so he asked them to just leave one mule cart as a backup.

It had been a long time since the first few people in the Gu class left the third hall before County Master Wu finally arrived.

"Brother, I've heard a lot about you." County Master Wu was much older than Mr. Zhang. He looked to be in his 40s and a little fat. His tone was polite, but his expression was contemptuous.

Wang Heng and Xiao Cai both bowed deeply and said, "Your Excellency."

"How is Zhang Huishou involved with Jubao Temple? And how come he encountered such a murder case?" County Master Wu paced back and forth, seeming a little unhappy.

"It's a long story." Wang Heng didn't intend to tell Magistrate Wu about Zhang Xiru's situation in detail, and said vaguely: "The abbot of Jubao Temple admired Mr. Zhang's reputation and asked him to temporarily supervise the temple."

"Oh." Magistrate Wu seemed to be thinking about something.

Wang Heng said respectfully: "Your Excellency, I came to see you this time. First, I am escorting the suspect Qiu Erlang to surrender. Second, I found that there are many suspicious points in this case. When Qiu Erlang surrendered, he was already crazy. How could he, a farmer who had never committed a crime, carry a dagger with him..."

Wang Heng had just started to speak, but before he finished, he was interrupted by Magistrate Wu, who shook his head and said disapprovingly: "The hypocrite is the thief of virtue."

Wang Heng had a lot to say, but in order not to be a good person with good intentions but bad results, he had to hold it back.

Magistrate Wu was so arbitrary that the atmosphere was inevitably awkward for a moment.

Magistrate Wu seemed to have lost interest in the meeting with the Wang brothers, so he hurriedly summoned Master Zhang and said, "The two young masters Wang want to read the county's history books. Please take them there, old sir."

After saying this, County Magistrate Wu turned away.

The old historical records were stored in the household office, and Master Zhang led the two men to the east wing of the court.

During the journey together, Xiaocai made small talk and asked Master Zhang about his hometown and family background. Master Zhang was quite good at dealing with people and the conversation was very pleasant. They learned that Master Zhang had assisted three superiors and had worked as a legal advisor in Jiangning County Court for twenty years. They were overjoyed.