Chapter 820: Thieves in the Dead of Night

The streets of the capital city were eerily quiet in the dead of night. As it was the end of the month, there was no moon in the sky, and the stars were sparse. With almost everyone in the streets and alleys asleep with their lights out, the surroundings were shrouded in darkness. Only occasionally would a stray cat appear or a few sneaky figures pass by, adding a faint sense of activity.

When the night watchman struck the bell marking the third watch, Zhang Yue had just left the Du family’s house. Though he would only get two hours of sleep upon returning home, this was the first time he and his father-in-law had had a long conversation since his return to the capital. They talked so engrossedly that they lost track of time. At one point, inspired, they even started writing on a piece of paper. Most of the time, however, it was Zhang Yue who spoke while Du Zhen listened attentively—reversing their usual roles. In the end, although Du Zhen couldn’t fully accept Zhang Yue’s explanations, he agreed to consider them carefully.

Zhang Bu, walking ahead, held a windproof lamp with a colored glass cover to light the way. Behind him, Niu Gan kept scanning the surroundings, while the other two guards protected Zhang Yue closely. Usually, when Zhang Yue was at the yamen, they didn’t stay indoors all day but often wandered around the streets. They had heard that the capital had become unsafe at night in recent years, with thieves operating after curfew, and in some remote areas, outright robberies occurring.

Proceeding with caution, they encountered two teams of patrolmen from the Five-City Military Command without incident. But as they neared Xisi Archway and passed by Mutton Alley, a dark figure suddenly rushed out from the side. The man, unprepared to encounter a group with lamps, froze for a moment before fleeing. His sudden escape caught Zhang Yue off guard, who frowned. Before he could give an order, Niu Gan shouted and spurred his horse after the man.

“That stubborn oaf! He’s not meant for catching thieves!”

Zhang Bu was startled and complained before stepping back a few steps with the others to protect Zhang Yue. But Zhang Yue smiled and said, “He just can’t help being enthusiastic. Anyway, the Western City Military Command is right behind us. If we can’t catch him, it’s no big deal. If we do, we can just hand him over later.”

“It’s not that simple. It’s already the second hour of the third watch. The lord won’t have even two hours of sleep after returning home, let alone time to catch thieves. Besides, we don’t even know if that man is a thief.” Zhang Bu, who got along best with Niu Gan, was helpless against his stubbornness and sighed again. “That guy has always been reckless. He still hasn’t changed after all these years.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of horse hooves came from ahead. Under the dim light from the glazed lantern, Zhang Yue saw Niu Gan riding back swiftly with a person in his arms. Upon approaching, he skillfully dismounted with the person. The man wore black clothes and pants, with darting eyes—clearly a thief. Zhang Yue didn’t bother asking further and casually said, “Since you’ve caught him, take him back a few steps and hand him over to the Xicheng Military Office.”

The man in black was not tall but thin. Hearing the words “Xicheng Military Office” and seeing the burly man grab a rope from someone nearby to tie him up, he was terrified and quickly explained, “I just went out at night to buy some medicinal herbs; I’m definitely no thief…”

“If you’re not a thief, why did you run when you saw us?” Zhang Bu said impatiently as Niu Gan swiftly tied the man up. “Besides, it’s the Military Office’s job to determine whether he’s a thief. Just tell them when the time comes!”

Seeing the burly man mount his horse and pull the rope to take him away, the man in black became even more panicked, begging for mercy. Suddenly, he rushed to Zhang Yue’s horse and said, “Even if you send me to the Xicheng Military Office, it won’t benefit you at all. I’m willing to offer you all a huge fortune. I just completed a deal in a house near the river in Yangrou Hutong and found chests full of gold, silver, and jewels. I took a little bit. If you spare me, I’ll give you five times as much… I’ll take only 30%, no, 20%! I’m telling the truth. If you don’t believe me, let them search me!”

At first, Zhang Yue didn’t believe the man’s wild claims, but at his last statement, he grew curious and nodded at Zhang Bu. Zhang Bu dismounted and searched the man carefully, indeed finding four pieces of gold. He quickly handed them to Zhang Yue, who shone the lantern on them. Upon touching the gold, Zhang Yue’s expression turned serious.

The gold and silver minted by the imperial court were clearly different from those made by ordinary people. Even the gold and silver tokens given by the Zhang family during festivals, though varied in design, were made from officially minted metal. The gold and silver bars privately minted by ordinary people had rough molds and a different texture, and those used in business were even lower quality. After all, it wasn’t yet the era when the Ming dynasty minted large quantities of ingots.

But the gold pieces in his hands had sharp edges, clearly made by the imperial mint—a quality rarely seen even in the Duke of Ying’s residence. How could such items be casually hidden in a house, as the man claimed, and easily taken by him?

By the light, Zhang Yue took another look at the quality of the gold and then carefully weighed it. Convinced it was indeed gold, he gave Zhang Bu a signal below. Knowing Zhang Yue’s temperament well, Zhang Bu immediately turned around, took out a silk handkerchief from his pocket, stuffed it into the mouth of the man in black without a word, covered his head and eyes with another handkerchief, and then tied the bundled-up man to the back of the saddle.

“Someone’s coming!”

While they were busy, a guard behind them suddenly warned. Zhang Yue turned to look and saw a group of people running toward them from the other end of the street. The leader carried a large lantern, and one could faintly make out his blue robe with narrow sleeves reaching to his knees. Seeing the commotion, the group quickened their pace. With a sharp command from the leader, the others spread out in a semicircle and then surrounded them from behind.

“Daring to walk and make noise on the streets during the curfew—don’t you know the laws?”

Realizing the commotion had indeed been significant, Zhang Bu stepped forward, exchanged a few words, and then produced one of Zhang Yue’s silver seals. Only then did the man who seemed to be the leader wave his hand for his soldiers to retreat, before leading everyone forward to kowtow in greeting. After all, he was the highest-ranking official here, but he was merely the chief flagbearer of the Xicheng Military Command—how could he compare to a third-rank official?

Although they had originally planned to hand the captives over to the Xicheng Military Command, since they had already obtained important information and knew that the commanders there would likely follow orders without question, Zhang Yue didn’t want to hand them over rashly. He simply nodded and led them past the Xisi Archway.

As the patrolmen of the Xicheng Military Command watched Zhang Yue walk away, some of them asked the chief flagbearer, “Leader Li, I saw someone clearly tied to that man’s horse. There was also a fight here earlier—why didn’t you ask anything?”

“What kind of people are we? We have to kowtow to everyone we meet. Even our own commanders can only nod and bow—how can we ask questions? Besides, who doesn’t know Lord Zhang’s reputation? It could be some kind of trouble for our Xicheng Military Command… I tell you, keep tonight’s events to yourselves—don’t spread nonsense!”

On this side, the men from the Xicheng Military Bureau swore solemnly that they would never reveal anything. Beyond the Xisi Archway, Zhang Yue ordered them to stop first and fell deep into thought as he watched the tightly bound man in black. It would be improper to just take him home; no matter what information he might extract, it would constitute an overstep of authority. Yet letting him go lightly to others also failed to dispel the sense of unease in his heart.

After much deliberation, ignoring the fact that it was already deep at night, he summoned Zhang Bu, gave him a few instructions, and watched as he turned his horse and left. Only then did he send someone else to report to the Jinyiwei before heading back home with the rest.

Since he had already ordered someone to inform the Du family that he would visit them at night, although some people remained at the west gate, the rest had already gone to bed early. The two gatekeepers were surprised to see Niu Gan bring in a tightly bound man in black, but they didn’t ask any questions. The second gate was still open, but Zhang Yue didn’t enter right away. Instead, he glanced at the two women guarding the gate, told Du Wan that he had matters to attend to that night and would stay outside, then ordered Niu Gan to take the man to the east wing room in the courtyard of the outer study.

At first, the man in black was only shocked and confused with his mouth covered. It wasn’t until his eyes were covered that he truly began to tremble. He was taken off his horse and led through winding paths for unknown distances. When he was thrown onto the ground and the cloth covering his eyes and mouth was removed, he squinted for a while before his eyes adjusted to the bright light in the room. But then, the room fell into an eerie silence—the man neither asked him questions nor spoke, merely sitting there reading.

After flipping through half a volume of Jin Youzi’s “Records of the Northern Expedition” absentmindedly, Zhang Yue heard noise outside. Looking up, he saw Zhang Bu entering through the thick curtain-like door. Apparently, he had come in haste, still holding a horsewhip in his hand, with his forehead glistening with sweat.

“I’ve checked all the houses in Mutton Alley. There was some commotion later, pretending to be thieves, but the residents in those houses just cursed for a while before turning off their lights. I paid special attention to the last family—they seemed to light a lamp and check around for a while before going back to bed; nothing suspicious.”

“If nothing is suspicious, then the suspicious one is this thief right in front of us!”

Although he had never believed the truth in what the man in black had said, hearing Zhang Bu’s account still annoyed Zhang Yue. Glancing again at the shiny gold on the table, he tapped it lightly with his index finger and said indifferently, “Since it’s not an ordinary thief, it makes sense to have someone inform the Jinyiwei. After all, Lord Lu isn’t here at night. Seal their mouths and cover their eyes as before, and have them taken away once the Jinyiwei arrives!”
“Sir, spare my life!”
The man in black finally realized the situation—he had initially thought the furnishings in the room were not luxurious and had held out a sliver of hope that the person in charge wasn’t an official. Now, with a cryful voice, he said, “I deserve death! I deserve death… I didn’t steal that from that house. I only knew it was property of the Marquis of Sui’an and tried to find a way to escape by creating a diversion. I found it in another courtyard. If you spare my life, I’ll tell the truth!”
“Speak, and I’ll listen.”
Zhang Yue simply sat there, uttering a few words indifferently. As the man in black recounted in detail how he had infiltrated a house in Fengcheng Hutong, how he had poisoned the dog, and how he had stolen the gold, Zhang Yue grew more and more suspicious. Apart from the Li family of the Marquis of Fengcheng, Fengcheng Hutong used to be the residence of Princess Yongping. But since Princess Yongping had hanged herself and Marquis Fuyang Li Maofang had died, that grand house had fallen into complete disrepair. Emperor Zhu Di, remembering the merits of the first Marquis of Fuyang, Li Rang, appointed one of the Li family’s illegitimate sons as a military officer, but compared to the once-mighty noble families, it was worlds apart.
For such a family that had long faded from the attention of the capital’s elite, it might be possible to find gold, but it was highly unlikely that it could be stolen so easily—something was wrong!
As he was pondering, he saw the door curtain lift and Lian Hu’s head appear. Ignoring the man in black who claimed to be a thief, Zhang Yue headed straight out. As soon as they stepped outside, Lian Hu lowered his voice and said, “It was Lord Fang, who is in charge of the Jinyiwei here, who personally brought two people.”
Ever since Fang Ling joined the Jinyiwei, Zhang Yue and he had had little contact, so this was the first time Fang Ling had set foot in this house. Though they both had many questions to ask, when they spoke, Fang Ling simply nodded briefly before asking, “I heard a minor thief was caught along the way. Why did you think of notifying the Jinyiwei?”
“Take a look at this.”

Fangling took the four gold ingots from Zhang Yue. After all, he had been involved in this line of work for three years and was no longer the wealthy young man who would become disheartened at the slightest setback. After examining them carefully for a while, he finally noticed something that Zhang Yue had missed—the two small protrusions at the bottom of the gold ingots. Then he looked up at Zhang Yue again, and after hearing the detailed explanation, he took a deep breath.

“I’m afraid that little thief is telling the truth. This ingot might be gold cast by the YanWangfu during the marriage of the former Princess Yongping or a county princess. Princess Yong’an also has one similar to it, but with a different mark. As for the other three ingots, they probably don’t belong to that batch, but they are undoubtedly cast by the government. Yuanjie, this matter might just be an ordinary theft case, but it could also be of great significance. Give me the person and the items, and I’ll keep you informed if anything happens. It’s best if you stay out of it.”

Zhang Yue already had a vague sense of what was going on, so he simply nodded silently. Seeing the two men following Fangling enter the house quietly and soon bring out the bound man in black with a cloth tied over his mouth, he watched as the man was led out of the courtyard. After hesitating for a moment, he said, “The palace gates are now closed. Otherwise, I would have sent someone to report to Lu Feng instead of you. Now that you’ve taken the man back, don’t forget to report it.”

“I know. I no longer aspire to that position above. It’s fine to share the rewards with others when there are merits, and to share the responsibilities when there are duties.”

Fangling nodded at Zhang Yue. Seeing that there was no one else in the courtyard, he extended his hands to shake Zhang Yue’s hands. Then he murmured with emotion, “I used to think about gaining status through the imperial examinations and then participating in government affairs, but that’s no longer possible. Although I wear the uniform of a Jinyiwei officer, my heart isn’t completely corrupted. If you need anyone to look after, just tell me. I’ll do my best to help.”