The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

On the eleventh day of the twelfth lunar month, at Chunshi (17:00-19:00), outside Huyang Pavilion, Heifu was giving Jiying and Yuliang instructions.

"You must remember that this trip must not fail, and this man must not be allowed to escape. If you encounter a carriage along the way, immediately show me two letters to requisition! When you arrive at the county, first knock on the door of the county magistrate's office, find the clerk on duty at night, and explain the cause and effect of this matter clearly! And ask the clerk to send someone to Chaoyangli immediately! Can you do it?"

"Brother Heifu, don't worry, I know the severity of the matter!"

Jiying rarely calmed down, bowed solemnly, and then, together with another pavilion guard Yuliang, escorted Gongshi Quji, whose hands were tied with ropes, along the road to the north.

Heifu watched the three people go away, thinking.

He never expected that at noon today, in front of Chaoyangli Gate, the seemingly honest and simple Li Jianmen who was eating rice with a ceramic bowl was actually involved in a gang tomb robbery case!

This is embezzlement!

But Quji only heard those tomb robbers say that they went to find the local Jianmen at night, and how the local Jianmen colluded with the tomb robbers, whether he provided assistance, transferred the stolen goods for them, or personally participated in the tomb robbery? But he didn't elaborate.

Relying on such ambiguous evidence, Heifu couldn't immediately go to Chaoyangli to arrest people, and if he moved the Li Jianmen, it might scare away all the tomb robbers who were unaware of their whereabouts, which would be bad.

So he asked Ji Ying and Yu Liang to take Quji to the county overnight - Heifu was worried about going to the countryside, but all the Li officials had some old acquaintances in the countryside, and the county's prison officials and magistrates were more reliable.

Dongmen Bao, the thief who wanted to steal, came over at this time and asked, "Heifu, the person who sent the letter has been taken away. What should we do? Wait for the order from the county?"

"It will take two hours to get to the county. If the official sends someone here, it will be at least tomorrow morning. We can't wait."

"What should we do then?"

Heifu said, "Quji also said that he heard from the thieves that the tomb they found was very large and difficult to excavate. They have been digging for several days. They could have dug it up around the La Festival and taken out the burial objects inside, but they had to stop because of the continuous rain and snow. Now the weather is clear and the snow outside is about to melt. They should continue... They dare not do this in broad daylight, so they can only dig secretly at night."

"What the pavilion chief means is... we should go to the vicinity of the cemetery overnight to arrest the tomb robbers?"

Li Xian also perked up. If such a big case can be solved, it will definitely be a great achievement!

"That's right, time is running out. Although Quji has not been exposed, we are here to arrest him today. The guards there may be alerted and will definitely inform the tomb robbers. In this way, the tomb robbers have two choices. One is to be cautious and stop digging; the other is to dig all night and dig out the burial objects inside to sell for money..."

Xiao Tao said: "If...if they are timid...they don't dig, then wouldn't it be..."

Hei Fu smiled: "Any thief is either forced to do so or is a bold and crazy person. I hope they choose to take risks. Let's try our luck...Dongmen Bao, Li Xian, Xiao Tao!"

He became serious and called out several names in succession. The three of them immediately agreed!

"You all follow me to the pavilion, select weapons, and go over immediately to catch the criminals red-handed. Then we can follow the clues and find out the crime of the prisoner in Chaoyangli!"

...

The period from 19:00 to 21:00 is called "cow and sheep enter" in the twelve hours of Qin. As the name suggests, it is dark, the birds return to their nests, and the cattle and sheep grazing outside must be driven into the pen.

The prisoner in Chaoyangli is called "Bo Wu". At this time every day, he has to guard the gate, watching the villagers who go out to graze, fish and hunt come back one by one with a smile, and then slowly close the door after counting the number of people entering and leaving.

Once the cattle and sheep enter, the gate will no longer be open, and no one in the village is allowed to enter or leave, not even the head of the village and the field director.

Except for one person.

That is the prisoner himself.

The moon quietly climbed up the branches of the willows. As the night deepened, the fire in Chaoyang became dark. After most of the residents dragged their tired bodies to bed and went to sleep, the closed door slowly opened a crack...

The doorman Bo Wu went out of the door, wrapped his sleeves in the cold wind, and walked around impatiently, as if waiting for someone.

After about half a minute, a figure finally walked over along the inner wall, tiptoed, and coughed lightly.

Bo Wu saw him and angrily said, "Why did you come just now!"

"Haha, Bo Wu, don't blame me. We drank some wine and wasted some time."

But the man was about thirty years old, with a red face and short beard, wearing a short shirt with tight sleeves, but on the outside he was wearing a left-fronted long gown that was obviously worn by the dead...

Bo Wu widened his eyes and scolded in a low voice: "Chang, you bastard, you dare to wear something you dug out of a hole! What if someone sees you?"

"What's the big deal."

The red-faced thief Chang didn't care. He raised his hand, letting the wide sleeves of his long gown sway slightly in the night breeze, and said proudly: "Instead of letting the dead who don't know the cold and heat wear this good thing and lie in the coffin, it's better to let us poor people who have no clothes and no clothes borrow it to use. It's a pity that many of them have decayed. Otherwise, I would bring a silk gown for Bo Wu..."

"Stop talking nonsense." Bo Wu looked around and continued, "I asked you to come here tonight to tell you that the tomb can no longer be dug!"

Chang's face immediately darkened and asked, "Why can't it be dug?"

"Just listen to me."

Chang didn't listen. He sneered, "Bo Wu, Bo Wu, it was you who contacted us first, saying that there seemed to be a tomb in the wilderness between Chaoyangli and Xiaoqingli. There are no fields or people around, so we can dig a hole."

"Not only that, you also used your position to provide us with tools to hide the excavated objects and slowly send them to the neighboring counties to sell for money. Now, the small tombs around have been dug out, but not much gold has been found. Only the innermost tomb is left. It is about to be dug up, so that we can all make a fortune, but you regret it?"

"It's not a regret." Bo Wu hurriedly explained: "Before, the Huyang Pavilion was vacant even for the Pavilion Chief and the Tiaodao. Seeing that no one was in charge, I let you take the opportunity to dig holes, but now it's different. You know, there is a new Pavilion Chief in Huyang Pavilion!"

"What if there is a Pavilion Chief?"

Chang showed disdain: "We have also dug tombs in Xinshi County. Along the way, we have encountered countless pavilions along the way, but as long as we hide during the day and go out at night, hiding in the weeds, those Pavilion Chiefs can't do anything to us!"

"This Pavilion Chief is different." Bo Wu said: "He just caught three thieves with his bare hands in the vicinity last month. He is very capable. Today he suddenly came to Chaoyangli for inspection, which scared me half to death. Fortunately, he only caught a public official who picked up lost money in the county..."

"Someone claimed that the public official Qu Ji picked up money dropped on the ground when he was serving in the county, and he needed to be taken back to the Pavilion for questioning." This was the crime Heifu declared to everyone in Chaoyangli when he took him away, although he didn't know the trick of the prison guard at that time.

Because in Qin, the law stipulates that picking up money and not handing it over to the public is also illegal. So except for Quji's wife crying and saying that her husband would never do such a thing, everyone in the village didn't have much doubt...

The prison guard also thought that no one knew about his affairs.

The two continued to discuss at the door, but could not reach a consensus. Bo Wu was cautious and felt that he could not take any more risks, so he stopped first. Chang thought that they had worked hard for so long, hiding day and night, and were about to succeed, so how could they give up at this time?

During this time, someone's dog suddenly barked, which frightened Bo Wu. Seeing that he could not convince Chang, he could only take a step back and said:

"Then you guys should dig the tomb quickly tonight while the snow has melted, take out the valuables in the tomb, and then seal the tomb, leaving my share, and leave quickly! With Hei Fu here, we can't stay here any longer!"

"Everything will be as Bo Wu said."

Finally, before Chang left, Bo Wu pointed at his fluttering long clothes and said with disgust: "Don't wear this to see me in the future. I advise you to wear less and be careful..."

"Be careful of what? Evil ghosts? Bo Wu now believes in ghosts and gods?"

Chang was not afraid. He was a habitual tomb robber and had destroyed countless tombs. The noble man who was once high and mighty was now just a pile of dry bones. Where was the punishment from heaven and ghosts?

He smiled contemptuously, took the bag of food given to him by Bo Wu, carried three new iron hoes, and walked slowly towards the direction where the moon was rising...

...

At the same time, everyone in Huyang Pavilion had packed up and was ready to go...

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