Chapter 269: The Secret Was Exposed (1)

Not long after the thief sold the jade pillow, a group of yamen runners from the Dali Temple came to him. It turned out that when he sold the jade pillow, the other party discovered that the jade pillow belonged to the palace.

The other party sent someone to the Dali Temple to report the thief, and then took the yamen runners to catch the thief. The thief did not expect that he would fall into the trap so quickly.

"Is it him?" The leading yamen runner pointed at the thief who was surrounded by them and asked the guide beside him.

"Yes! This is the man who sold the jade pillow to our pawnshop. Our shopkeeper discovered that the jade pillow was an item from the palace and asked me to report it." The guide said.

"Catch him!" After the chief of the yamen runners confirmed it, he ordered the thief to be arrested and interrogated. This thief was too bold to steal things into the palace.

The yamen runners rushed up and subdued the thief, then locked him up and took him back to the Dali Temple for interrogation.

The Dali Temple was in court to try the case. Small cases like this usually don't need to be tried by big shots like the Dali Temple.

At first, the thief denied it, until the jade pillow was placed in front of him, and he couldn't deny it!

"Where did you steal this jade pillow from? Tell the truth!" Dali Temple said.

This jade pillow belongs to the royal items. The Dali Temple has verified that this jade pillow is one of the dowries given by His Majesty the Emperor to Princess Gaoyang for her marriage.

This jade pillow is exquisite and finely crafted. The jade is carved from the best Hetian jade and is very expensive. Since it is a royal item, this jade pillow is not for sale.

The Dali Temple suspected that the thief had stolen from Princess Gaoyang's house. While they were interrogating the thief here, they also sent people to Princess Gaoyang's house to ask if anything was stolen.

Princess Gaoyang didn't know that the jade pillow she had used for the defense had now gone to the Dali Temple. She just told the people in the Dali Temple that her house had not been stolen or lost any property.

The Dali Temple was puzzled. It was obvious that the princess's jade pillow was stolen, so why didn't the princess admit it? So he caught the thief and interrogated him.

"I stole it from a monk's room in a temple. I wanted to exchange it for some money to have fun, but who knew I would be caught by you." said the thief.

This thief was unlucky. He had to steal the token that Princess Gaoyang gave to Bian Ji.

Si Zheng was even more confused. Why did he bring up the topic of temples? What did this matter have to do with monks?

"Tell me in detail, what is going on? Which temple are you talking about? Tell me everything." Si Zheng said.

"Yes! I don't remember the specific name of the temple, but I know the way. I can take you to see it." said the thief, and told him everything about his crime.

The more the thief said this, the more he felt that things were not that simple.

"You guys take this thief to the temple he mentioned and investigate the matter thoroughly!" The chief of the Dali Temple ordered the bailiff to hurry up and said.

"Yes!" The bailiff took the order and took the thief out of the Dali Temple and went to the temple he mentioned to verify whether what the thief said was true.

When they arrived at the temple the thief mentioned, the bailiff saw a young nun cleaning the courtyard and immediately stepped forward and said, "Young master, we are the runners of the Dali Temple and we have something to see you, the abbot."

"Please wait here, donors. I will go and invite you to the abbot." The young nun put her hands together and turned to go inside to find Xuanzang.

"Master! Some government officials are outside, saying they are from the Dali Temple and want to see you!" The little nun found Xuanzang and said.

Xuanzang, who was knocking the wooden fish and chanting with his eyes closed, opened his eyes, stopped knocking the wooden fish, and asked, "Where are they now?"

Xuanzang was puzzled, why did these people from the Dali Temple come to him? They were definitely not here to learn.

"Just wait outside the temple!" said the little nun.

Xuanzang stood up and walked out of the temple, and the little nun followed Xuanzang to the outside of the temple.

"Amitabha!" Xuanzang put his hands together, chanted a Buddhist name, and said, "I wonder why you are looking for a poor monk?"

"Master, is there anything lost in your temple?" asked the Dali Temple yamen runner.

This time they came to find out why Princess Gaoyang's jade pillow was in this temple.

Did the monks in the temple steal the princess' jade pillow out of greed, or did the princess believe in Buddhism and donate the jade pillow to the temple?

"Please wait a moment, I will ask someone to search." Xuanzang said, turned to the little monk behind him and said, "Go and ask around to see if anything is missing."

"Yes!" The little monk replied and turned away. Soon the little monk came back and said, "Everything is normal in the temple, nothing is missing."

"Nothing is missing, did you make a mistake? You should go look for it somewhere else! So as not to disturb the pure place of Buddhism." Xuanzang said.

"Excuse me, Master! But I caught a thief in the Dali Temple. According to him, he stole something from your temple. Please help us, Master, and let us go in to confirm it." The Dali Temple yamen runner said.

Since they were here, they naturally had no reason to return empty-handed. It was definitely not possible not to search the temple. They also had to take away the people related to the case.

"In that case! Then please come in!" Xuanzang said, and stepped aside to let the Dali Temple yamen runner come in.

"Where did you steal the item? Take us to see it." The yamen runner asked as he escorted the thief in.

"This way!" The thief led everyone to a monk's room and said, "It's here!"

"Master! What is this place used for?" the yamen runner asked.

Xuanzang was puzzled. Could it be that some of the monks' belongings were stolen, which attracted the government officials? But they were monks who practiced cultivation and had nothing on their bodies. How could they be stolen?

"This is a monk's room, where the monks of my temple live." Xuanzang said.

"Can we go in and take a look?" the yamen runner asked. They were getting closer and closer to solving the truth!

"Yes!" Xuanzang said. Seeing that Bian Ji had just appeared, he called Bian Ji and said, "Bian Ji, open the door. Several government officials want to go in and check."

Bian Ji was puzzled. Why did the government officials come to see him after eating so much? But he did not disobey Xuanzang and opened the door.

The crowd entered the room, which was a large room where several monks lived and slept on the same kang.

The thief pointed to a bed and said, "The things were taken out from under that pillow."

This bed was exactly Bianji's bed. Xuanzang was still confused, but Bianji suddenly realized that the things Princess Gaoyang gave him were stolen!

The yamen runner turned around and said to Xuanzang and Bian Ji, "I wonder which monk is sleeping here?"

Bian Ji stepped forward and said, "This seat belongs to the poor monk."