Now, when Chancellor Qin asked the man his name and where he had put the stolen goods, the man said, “My name is Liu Er1. I’m from Xichuan and make my living in a small way of trade. I was going home today, and as I walked down the main street, for no reason I know of, the officers seized me and brought me here. As for jade bracelets and a phoenix crown, I know nothing about any of it.” Chancellor Qin turned to Ji Gong. “Holy monk, he is a small tradesman.” The monk smiled faintly. “Your Excellency isn’t one for trying cases. Have Prefect Zhao question him about this, and it will all come clear.” “In that case,” Chancellor Qin said, “come, Prefect, you question him on this case.” Zhao Fengshan went at once to the gallery outside, had a small table set up and ordered the thief brought over. “Since you’re a small tradesman,” he said, “let’s see the things he had on him. Bring them up.” The men below answered and promptly presented the bundle and the saber. “What is this saber for?” the prefect asked. “That’s for protecting myself on the road,” said Liu Er. “What sort of small trade are you in?” the prefect asked. “I sell fresh fruit for a living,” said Liu Er. In the middle of the questioning, the monk came over. “Let me ask you: what’s in this little bundle?” “Things I use from day to day,” said Liu Er. The monk opened the bundle and looked. There were two pieces of clothing, and when he turned them over, at the bottom was a pair of new socks. “You’re a small tradesman,” the monk said, “and you wear new socks?” The prefect thought this hardly much of a point, and did not quite know what to say. “If it please Your Honour,” Liu Er said, “I’m a small tradesman, and if I have the money to buy a pair of new socks, that’s no crime.” The monk felt inside a sock and pulled out a little packet. He opened it, and there was a large pearl. “Wearing socks is no crime,” the monk said, “but where did this pearl come from?” Liu Er was so frightened that the colour left his face. “If it please Your Honour, I found that pearl.” From where he sat, Chancellor Qin could see clearly that this was a pearl from the phoenix crown. He had a servant bring it over and examined it closely. Sure enough, it was. “Holy monk,” he said, “this pearl comes from the phoenix crown I lost.” At this Prefect Zhao flew into a rage. “You scoundrel! I suppose if I don’t beat you, you won’t tell the truth!” There was no shortage of bamboo rods at Chancellor Qin’s mansion. He ordered his men to beat him, and they were just dragging him down for it when Liu Er cried out in terror, “Sir, don’t be angry! I’ll tell the truth. My name is Liu Chang, and my nickname is the Skulking Pheasant (Yeji Liuzi). I used to run errands as a minor hand among the greenwood outlaws of the Xichuan Circuit. I didn’t steal this pearl. It was this morning. There’s a great bandit from the Xichuan Circuit called Hua Yunlong, nicknamed the Thieving Rat of Heaven and Earth, and with him the Iron-Legged Ape, Wang Tong. Those two first committed rape at a nunnery, then killed a man at a restaurant, and then went to Chancellor Qin’s mansion and stole the jade bracelets and the phoenix crown. I used to wait on the two of them in the old days, and today they gave me this pearl and told me to go back to Xichuan. They said it would fetch four or five hundred taels of silver, and told me to sell it and set myself up in a small trade, which would keep me fed. Today, just as I was going out of the Qiantang Gate, I never expected these two officers to seize me and bring me here. That’s the whole truth of what happened, and not half a word of it is a lie.” “Where are this Hua Yunlong and Wang Tong staying?” the prefect said. “You must know.” “The two of them used to stay at the Xinglong Shop,” said Liu Chang. “They’ve moved now, and I really don’t know where.” “Prefect,” the monk said, “hand him over to Qiantang County to be put in irons2 and thrown into prison, and this case can be counted as solved. Your Excellency, reward the officers who made the arrest.” His Excellency ordered a servant to bring fifty taels of silver as a reward for Chai Yuanlu and Du Zhenying, and gave two taels each to the local officers of Qiantang County who had helped bring the man in. Chai Yuanlu and Du Zhenying thanked him for the reward and led Liu Chang away.

“Holy monk,” Chancellor Qin said, “where is this Hua Yunlong now? I beg you, Master, to help catch him. When the affair is over, I shall thank you properly.” “I’ll work out for you where he is,” Ji Gong said. “Excellent!” said Chancellor Qin. “Bring me eight ingots of gold,” the monk said. “I do my reckoning with gold.” Chancellor Qin at once told a servant, “Go to the accounts office and fetch eight ingots of gold.” The servant promptly brought eight ingots of one tael each and handed them to Ji Gong. The monk set them on the table and mumbled away under his breath — who knows what he was chanting — and when he had finished he tucked the gold away on his person. “Where’s the magistrate of Renhe County?” the monk said. “He is outside,” said Chancellor Qin, and at once the magistrate of Renhe County was called in. “Your Honour3,” the monk said, “you have a head constable under you called Tian Laibao. Have him brought here for me.” The magistrate turned pale with fright, not knowing what this was about. “Yes, there is a Tian Laibao.” “Have him brought here for me,” Ji Gong said. The magistrate could not tell what Ji Gong had in mind. He turned it over and over, afraid that Tian Laibao might be harbouring the thieves who had stolen the jade bracelets and the phoenix crown, and hurriedly sent a man to fetch him. Just then Tian Laibao was in the constables’ duty room, talking with Wan Hengshan. A runner came in from outside. “Head Tian, it’s terrible! The jade bracelet case has been cracked. They caught a thief called Liu Chang, and he’s named the thieves who stole the bracelets: one called Hua Yunlong, the Thieving Rat of Heaven and Earth, the other Wang Tong, the Iron-Legged Ape. Chancellor Qin asked Ji Gong of Lingyin Temple to divine where those two thieves have got to. Ji Gong divined for ages without saying a word, then told our magistrate he wants you sent over, he’s got something to say to you. It gave the magistrate a real fright. He doesn’t know what it’s about either. He sent me to fetch you.” At this Tian Laibao stood stunned for a long while. Then he heaved a sigh. “This is the end of me! Brother Wan, you and I are as close as two friends can be. If anything goes wrong when I go there, I’ve got my old mother at home, and your sister-in-law, with nobody to look after them. You must do all you can for them.” Wan Hengshan was puzzled; there had to be some reason behind this. “Brother Tian,” Wan Hengshan said, “what makes you say such a thing?” “Don’t ask,” said Tian Laibao. “You’ll know soon enough.” He stood up, followed the man who had come for him and went straight to the chancellor’s mansion.

At the chancellor’s mansion word went in that Tian Laibao had been brought, and Ji Gong ordered him shown in. Tian Laibao came inside, saluted first Chancellor Qin and Ji Gong, then everyone else, and stood to one side. The monk went over. “Tian Laibao, so you’ve come.” He reached out, pulled him into the hall and said, “Take off this tasselled, plumed hat for me.” “He means to strip me of my post as head runner,” Tian Laibao thought. “Undo this leather belt,” the monk said. “Take off this black cotton jacket. Take off your boots. Take off your undershirt.” “Master,” Tian Laibao said, “why are you telling me to take all my clothes off?” “I’m telling you to take them off because it’ll do you good,” the monk said. “Let me ask you, how much is this hat worth?” “If you sold it, it might fetch about two strings of cash4,” Tian Laibao said. “Not much,” said the monk. “And how much did you pay for this black cotton jacket?” “Two strings and five hundred cash, at least,” said Tian Laibao. “And the leather belt, the undershirt and the boots come to another two strings and five hundred.” The monk nodded and told a servant to go to the accounts office and weigh out two hundred taels of silver. The servants knew that Ji Gong was His Excellency’s substitute monk5, and none dared disobey. At once they brought two hundred taels and handed it to the monk. Holding the two hundred taels in one hand, Ji Gong passed it to Tian Laibao. Head Tian took it. “Off you go!” the monk said. Tian Laibao had no idea what this was all about. He took the two hundred taels of silver and left the chancellor’s mansion.