Chapter 334: The Founding Princess of the Great Qing

Seventeen boxes, large and small, were padded with sponge, wrapped in foam plastic, and then nailed shut tightly with wooden strips.

Through the window, one could see the Police and Cultural Relics investigators going from shop to shop, issuing inspection and rectification notices.

The older man grumbled incessantly: "Lao Sheng, has the boss been kicked in the head by a donkey? In broad daylight, and under the eyes of so many Police, he's still moving goods?"

"Do you think the Police are pushovers? Do you know what 'there is no silver three hundred taels here' means? That's exactly the trick they're guarding against... Do you know how many people the Police caught sneaking goods out last night? Nineteen shops in total!"

Gesturing with his hands, Lao Sheng sneered and pointed at the open door, "Guess again, how many shops didn't open or do business this morning and got sealed? Forty-two... This is only the first day. Just wait and see in a few days."

The old man was startled, his fingers holding the cigarette trembling slightly.

No wonder the boss used both threats and inducements to force him to come pick up the goods overnight.

And no wonder they were loading goods at the Backdoor while still open for business in the front.

He swallowed hard and scoffed: "You guys deserve it. Who the hell puts Raw Pit Goods in the shop?"

Lao Sheng opened his mouth but was speechless.

It had been so many years, who didn't do it this way?

It wasn't as if they hadn't been inspected or rectified before, but it was mostly all thunder and little rain; at most, they would come to the shop, look at the account books, and give a few warnings. Unless they had solid leads, they wouldn't come to make arrests or seal shops.

But even then, they would only catch one or two shops. It wasn't like this time—not only were they playing for real, but the scope of the crackdown was so vast.

"Stop yapping, load the goods and get the hell out..."

Cursing, Lao Sheng pulled out a Red Envelope and slapped it into his hand: "No time today, next time you come, I'll treat you to a bath: call three girls!"

The old man's expression softened slightly as he took the Red Envelope and stuffed it into his pocket: "That's more like it!"

As they were talking, Lao Sheng's phone buzzed. He took it out and glanced at it: "It's settled, load the goods..."

The old man nodded and stubbed out his cigarette.

With a "clatter," the security door was pulled open, and the apprentice darted out with the keys.

Just as he reached the car door and unlocked it, he suddenly paused.

By his feet, right under the tire, lay a mobile phone.

It was quite new, the latest Samsung model.

He looked left and right; there were few people around. The apprentice was overjoyed and bent down to pick it up: Good luck, picked up three thousand yuan for nothing...

Afraid of being scolded by his master, he quickly popped out the battery and stuffed it into his pocket.

Reversing, loading, and setting off.

In about half an hour, the Jinbei van drove out of Panjiayuan.

Inside the command vehicle, several people wore different expressions.

Yu Guang, Yan Wenjing, and the Special Service Detachment's Captain Han and Vice Captain Tu.

Upon receiving Yan Wenjing's report call, the Vice General Manager and the Branch Captain both had their eyelids twitch a few times.

The content of today's operation was only to have Lin Sicheng find some clues about Song Chun participating in grave-robbing and trafficking Cultural Relics, effectively giving her a preventative shot.

As a result, in the blink of an eye, he had dug up a "Gurun Princess Tomb"?

What is a Gurun Princess?

The legitimate daughter of an Empress, with a rank equal to a Prince.

How many tombs of the Prince level are there in the whole country?

If these two really were the ones who robbed it, this was absolutely the most direct link to Song Chun. As long as it could be verified, there would be no need to beat the grass to scare the snake; they could make arrests directly.

The General Team leadership attached unusual importance to this, and fearing Yan Wenjing lacked experience, they sent two Branch Captains directly.

Since it was approved, the arrest mission had to be carried out. There was only one point: if these two weren't the grave-robbers but only responsible for transport, and they weren't interrogated in time, then this lead would be broken.

Even worse, it might end up as a half-cooked mess.

But with so many examples before them, both the General Team and the Branch Team chose to believe in Lin Sicheng.

Believe in his eye for detail, believe in his judgment...

While pondering, the few held their breath and stared intently at the receiver.

The bug was installed in the phone, and the phone was in the apprentice's pocket. The sound wasn't very clear and there was a lot of noise, but it was barely audible.

At first, the two were just having a normal conversation: the master told the apprentice that Lao Sheng promised to treat them to a foot massage next time, which girl at which place was pretty, which buffet was good, and so on.

They didn't mention what goods they were picking up, who asked them to pick them up, and certainly didn't mention Lin Sicheng's deduction: that they had just crawled out of a tomb.

Subsequently, the old man seemed to fall asleep, snoring intermittently, while the apprentice hummed a song in a low voice.

They kept driving, passed the Fifth Ring Road, and arrived in Shunyi, when suddenly the phone in the car rang.

The apprentice glanced at it, gave a start, and hurriedly answered: "Boss..."

"Ah, my master, he's asleep... Wake him up? Sigh, alright, alright..."

He pushed the old man twice. The old man opened his eyes groggily. Once he heard the apprentice say it was the boss, his sleepiness vanished, and he hurriedly took the phone.

Not knowing what the other party said, the old man hurriedly explained: "Boss, it was a rough journey, I haven't closed my eyes all night, I was just too tired and dozed off for a bit. Plus the car is a piece of junk, too much noise, so I didn't hear it..."

"Yes, seventeen boxes, I watched Lao Sheng load them, they are basically all there... Ah, not going to Majuqiao? Then where to deliver, Mafang? What, not Mafang either, deliver to Zhangjiakou, sigh, alright, alright..."

"Boss, don't worry, this time I'll turn the volume to the max, I guarantee I won't mess up... Alright... Goodbye, Boss..."

"Damn it, even guarding against me?" After hanging up, the old man muttered a curse, "Turn, head north, go to Zhangjiakou..."

The apprentice was stunned: "Why didn't the boss say so earlier, taking such a long detour?"

The old man cursed: "What the hell do you know!"

He himself had been wondering why, being so far away, the boss insisted on making him run this trip.

It seemed that from the very beginning, the boss had planned to transport all the Raw Pit Goods out of Beijing.

With the Wind blowing so hard and the investigations so urgent, it definitely wasn't just him and his apprentice transporting; the boss must have arranged several batches. With not enough manpower in Beijing, he had to transfer them over...

"Then Master, what about our pit?"

"Deliver the boss's goods first, then I'll find an expert to ask: it's a Princess Tomb after all, who knows if there are any dangerous traps..."

"Master, can I go home for a trip?"

"Go home my ass. Once we pick up the goods and trade them for money, won't it be sweet to go home with a stack of bills?"

The old man grumbled and cursed, the apprentice was timid and submissive, and the group of people in the van sat there like wooden chickens.

Though the voices were mixed, they were incredibly clear: Princess Tomb.

What kind of princess? A Gulun Princess?

After being stunned for a good while, the four Captains turned their heads in unison and stared at Lin Sicheng.

They had been a bit skeptical before, but now?

Skeptical my ass.

Lin Sicheng remained calm and composed, as light as the wind and as pale as the clouds.

He had been able to deduce that the Mu Mausoleum had been robbed based on a single copper coin. Compared to that, the clues this time were far more numerous than that time with the copper coin.

A Zhangjiakou accent, Zhangjiakou license plates, the border between Hebei and Neimenggu, and a toll receipt from the Zhangji Toll Station in Kangbao County.

Then these two could only have come from Neimenggu.

Secondly, the desert.

North of Zhangjiakou, there is only one place that can be called a desert, where cars cannot drive in, and which takes half the night to walk out of: the Hunshandake Desert in Xilingol.

The sandstorms that hit Beijing year after year owe most of their credit to this place.

Most crucially, there was the tomb soil on the car pedal: red and yellow Sanhe Soil, rammed earth with cinnabar, Kaolin Clay, tung oil blue paste mud, and willow charcoal dust.

There are no imperial mausoleums there, only tombs of princes and dukes. If it were a Prince, the composition of the burial mound would be: lime + clay + sticky rice paste + sheep (or cow) blood + cinnabar.

If it were a Beile: then only lime, clay, and sticky rice paste.

The burial soil on the car pedal only contained cinnabar but no sheep blood, so there is only one possibility: a Gulun Princess.

Lin Sicheng could even deduce whose tomb had been robbed...

He smiled: "Squad Leader Yu, shall we make the arrest?"

Of course.

They didn't have the slightest bit of certainty before, yet the leaders still dared to make the call, let alone now that they had grasped direct clues.

"Arrest them!" Yu Guang nodded vigorously, his tone ambiguous: "Teacher Lin, what do you think? Should Xiao Yan continue to cooperate with you and execute the original plan, or should he come with us to take a look?"

You're the leader, and you're asking me?

Lin Sicheng did not hesitate: "Squad Leader Yu, I want to go take a look!"

At the very least, he had to verify if his deduction was correct. He also had to see what it was that Song Chun was in such a hurry to transport out.

Yu Guang nodded and picked up the walkie-talkie: "All units, prepare..."

The grassland was vast, boundless and limitless. The asphalt road was like a long blade, splitting the giant green carpet into two halves.

The windshield reflected fragmented light, and large trucks roared past, the coal ridges on the roofs of the trucks looking like mountain ranges.

The old man didn't dare to sleep anymore; he lit two cigarettes and handed one to his apprentice: "There are many large trucks on this stretch of road, keep your eyes peeled!"

The apprentice bit down on the cigarette filter: "Don't you worry, Master..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the phone rang again, and the old man curled his lips as he answered: "Boss..."

"Yes, we've left Zhangjiakou, we're taking the national highway... just passed Yequling."

"Ah, we aren't going to Zhangbei, we're continuing north to Huade? Okay, alright..."

Hanging up the phone, the old man cursed: "This donkey-fucker has so many tricks up his sleeve?"

He was cursing the boss, and the apprentice didn't dare to make a sound; just then, the old man's stomach gave a "rumble."

"We'll eat when we get to Zhangbei." The old man threw his phone onto the dashboard, "After we eat, we'll take a nap before we go!"

"Ah, what if the boss asks?"

The old man squinted his eyes: "You stupid ass, can't the car break down? Can't a tire blow out?"

"Oh..."

He replied with one word, and before the apprentice could even close his mouth properly: "Bang~"

The sound was extremely loud, giving the master and apprentice a start, and the apprentice slammed on the brakes.

The car in front had stopped too suddenly, and the van had missed hitting it by a hair's breadth.

The car behind was also following extremely closely, right up against the taillights of the Jinbei van.

The apprentice was still shaken: "Master, did a tire blow?"

"It wasn't ours; it was so loud, it must be a large truck!"

As he spoke, the old man stretched his head out to look.

But there were too many cars in front, and he couldn't see anything.

Then, he glanced at the opposite lane, and his face suddenly fell.

There were so many cars just a moment ago, one after another, but now not a single one was coming through?

If nothing went wrong, a large truck must have blown a tire and caused an accident. And nine times out of ten, it had crashed into a car in the opposite lane, blocking the road.

It just so happened that this was a place with no village in front and no shop behind; it would take at least half an hour for the traffic police to arrive.

Should he blame his own mouth for being like it was blessed?

Grumbling and cursing, the old man took out his phone again to dial the number; it rang for a good seven or eight times before it was answered.

"Boss, a coal truck had an accident, the road is blocked solid, I don't know how long it will take to clear."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a long while: "Have your apprentice take a few photos and send them to me!"

The boss is the boss, and what the boss says goes, so the old man pouted.

The apprentice turned off the engine and got out of the car, standing in the middle of the road with a Nokia. The accident scene was not far away, just twenty or thirty meters, with a coal truck lying diagonally across the road and coal dregs scattered all over the ground.

Looking further ahead, there was a line of cars with no end in sight. Turning back to take another photo, there was still no end to be seen.

"Click, click," seven or eight shots, and the apprentice sent them all off as multimedia messages in one go.

But it was all for nothing; they were all grayed out.

"You idiot, this place is so desolate, where would there be such a strong signal?" the old man opened his mouth to curse, "Can't you send them one by one?"

The apprentice hurriedly did as told, but it was still very slow; it took nearly a minute to send just one.

"Call me when the road opens!"

Then, with a "beep," the phone call ended.

The old man snorted and put his phone away. Then, his stomach began to "rumble" again.

He pressed his stomach and cursed, "Son of a bitch."

If it weren't for the boss pushing them so hard, they wouldn't have been trapped here at all; at the very least, they would have eaten a meal in Zhangjiakou.

Now, it was a fine mess; they had only eaten a bowl of noodles when they left Beijing for Yanqing, but that was past ten o'clock, and it was nearly six o'clock now.

He hadn't felt it when he wasn't thinking about it, but looking at the line of cars outside the window, and then at the sun dropping to the mountain peaks, his stomach felt increasingly hungry.

Just then, the door of the Honda minivan in front slid open, and two pairs of feet stepped onto the running board.

A man and a woman, but they didn't get out, sitting in the car and leaning out. Then one gnawed on a pig's trotter, the other on a chicken foot, and bone shards fell "swish, swish, swish" under the car.

Fine, before he was just uncomfortably hungry, now he was starving to the point of panic.

"Gulp," he swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and the old man took out his wallet: "Go, buy some."

"Huh?" The apprentice was stunned for a moment, looked through the car window, and said, "They look pretty rich?"

"Who cares if they're rich or not? I'm paying to buy it, asking won't kill you, will it?"

After receiving a kick, the apprentice chuckled and got out of the car.

The front car was right next to the back car, so he could hear clearly; the apprentice said he wanted to buy food, and the young man in the driver's seat nodded and pointed inside.

Judging by the meaning, there was quite a lot of stuff. There were cooked foods, bread, drinks, and even instant noodles; they could even boil water.

Looking at the license plate: Lu B, probably traveling to Inner Mongolia.

Peering into the car, the apprentice shouted at the top of his lungs: "Master, what do you want to eat?"

When they were digging pits, they rarely lit a fire, and all three meals a day were cold things; they were almost sick of eating them.

The old man licked his lips: "Get a bowl of noodles, and another trotter..."

Before the words had faded, an exclamation came from behind the car: "Hey, there's food? Buy some for us too, I'll pay extra..."

It was the Toyota SUV that had been following them closely. Before the person had even finished speaking, they ran over, and there were quite a few of them—three men and one woman.

Pay extra, my ass?

He who is fast has it, he who is slow has nothing; if things went wrong, he'd have to go hungry. How could the old man sit still? He pushed open the car door and jumped out.

His foot had just touched the ground when a man ran past him. The old man hurriedly closed the car door, his hand just leaving the handle, and before his foot had taken a steady step, a great force struck him from behind.

It was like being hit by a car; he was immediately tackled to the ground. The old man was still dazed when "click," a pair of shiny silver bracelets were locked onto his wrists.

The one in front was faster; the one holding the pig's trotter grabbed the apprentice's hair, and the one holding the chicken feet had already locked the apprentice's right arm with both hands. The Special Duty Team member who ran up from behind grabbed his left hand, stepped into the crook of his knee, and with a "thump," the apprentice knelt down.

Handcuffed, mouth sealed; the whole process took less than a minute.

The master and apprentice's pupils shrank sharply, and only then did they react.

It's over...

The old man gave a start, and just as he was about to signal the apprentice, a fist smashed into him.

"Load them into the car, interrogate them separately!" Yan Wenjing said with a cold face, shaking his wrists, "Go invite Teacher Lin!"

Lin Sicheng got off the Iveco and entered the Jinbei Van.

Suddenly, that coal truck with the blown tire had its tire fixed for no apparent reason, and the long line of cars began to move slowly.

The minivan was in front, the Jinbei Van in the middle, then the Toyota SUV, and then the Iveco.

But the motorcade did not turn back to Beijing, instead continuing north along the Hai-Zhang Highway.

After about half an hour, the motorcade stopped briefly, and Lin Sicheng got off the Jinbei and entered the minivan.

A specially modified vehicle, with all-steel seats, and handcuffs and shackles all present.

The old man's limbs were locked tight, his face was ashen, and his eyes were bulging straight out.

He knew the people who caught him were Police, but he didn't know which Police, and even less which incident he had committed.

But the strange thing was, after getting into the car, no one asked him anything, and no one paid him any mind, as if he didn't exist.

It wasn't like he hadn't committed crimes before, and it wasn't like he hadn't been in jail; this was his first time seeing such strange Police.

Just as he was suspicious and fearful, the car stopped, and with a "clatter," the partition behind the driver's seat was pulled open.

There were five people in front and back, some tall and some short, some sturdy and some thin. Four of them were not young, at the very least thirty or forty, but there was one whose face was so tender it could drip water.

Even stranger was that this youngest one sat down opposite him.

But his presence was strong, unhurried and calm, steady and at ease.

Not knowing what trick the Police were playing, the old man lowered his head and remained motionless.

Another old pro?

Lin Sicheng sighed: he finally understood why the Branch Chief Yu had brought him along as if coaxing him.

Understanding Cultural Relics, understanding Grave-robbing, understanding psychology, understanding micro-expressions—bringing him along, one person could do the work of four Experts.

Where else could one find such a convenient, handy, and professional beast of burden that didn't even require a salary?

Secretly lamenting, he reached out and tore the tape off the old man's mouth.

Even though he already had a conclusion, Lin Sicheng still looked at his face, neck, and hands.

"Boss Tui, nice to meet you!"

"Leg" refers to a "leg-man," the ringleader who digs pits, opens wells, enters tombs, and moves stolen goods.

The old man's heart skipped a beat, and he remained silent: Are you fucking trying to trick me?

"Are you wondering if I'm trying to trick you? Guessing where we are Police from, why we caught you, and exactly which case you've committed?"

"Even psyching yourself up, thinking: No matter which one it is, no matter which Police it is, I'll bite my tongue and not say a word today? It doesn't matter, we'll go through them one by one!"

As he spoke, Lin Sicheng opened the Folder: "Silver Tiger Knob, Qing Dynasty, engraved with Manchu 'Banner Official' seal, a First-Class Cultural Relic. Gold Inlaid East Pearl, with a Bronze Script 'Heaven' character drilled into the pearl core, Jin Dynasty Princess gold ornament, a First-Class Cultural Relic."

"Saddle Bridge Chased Lotus, inlaid with wolf-eye stone, Yuan Dynasty consort's gold and silver horse saddle, a First-Class Cultural Relic. Qing Dynasty Fengzhen Office garrison cavalry officer Talisman, a First-Class Cultural Relic..."

After a brief pause, Lin Sicheng closed the Folder: "Forget it, it's troublesome to list them one by one, let's settle the total account together: seventeen crates, twenty-nine First-Class Cultural Relics, fifty-seven Level Two Cultural Relics, eighty-two Level Three Cultural Relics... Calculate it yourself, how many years can you be sentenced to?"

"I don't know!" The old man gritted his teeth, "I'm just a delivery man?"

"Delivery man, do you even believe that yourself?" Lin Sicheng smiled, "You say you don't know, but Boss Sheng of Jinlu Zhai certainly knows."

The old man froze, his heart beating "thump, thump, thump."

Do these Police know where these goods came from?

As he pondered, his pupils suddenly constricted: wrapped around the wrist of the young man opposite him was a string of Prayer Beads.

These were goods from Jinlu Zhai, and he had personally transferred them to Sheng Qingfeng.

The key was that he had seen them just this morning: he had gone to Jinlu Zhai, couldn't get an answer at the Backdoor, and had gone around to the front door.

At that time, two men and one woman were standing at the entrance, and one of them in a suit was holding this string of beads, looking at them against the sun.

He had thought at the time, is this guy an idiot: these are jade beads, not a jade disc, what the hell can you see by holding them up to the sun.

But why are they in the hands of the Police?

Suddenly, as if struck by a flash of inspiration, he leaned back abruptly: his mouth wide open.

He didn't know this person, but wasn't the person sitting behind him one of the bodyguards from the three people he met at the entrance of Jinlu Zhai this morning who were looking at the beads?

This person opposite... is that guy from Taiwan?

"Yang Laoda, have you remembered?" Lin Sicheng smiled, "It's a coincidence, we just started investigating Jinlu Zhai, and you delivered yourself to our door?"

"So, you should just confess; if you don't confess, Boss Sheng will have to. He won't dare to betray his boss for long, so he'll just push everything onto you. In the end, you'll have to shoulder most of the blame..."

"This way, you'll have helped your boss, helped Boss Sheng, and helped your apprentice: he's so young, his wife is so pretty, and his kid is still so small, it'll be just right for him to serve a few less years..."

Shoulder the blame, my ass?

The old man cursed inwardly, still gritting his teeth.

If it were that easy to confess, wouldn't the years he spent in prison before have been for nothing?

"It seems Yang Laoda doesn't believe in evil?"

Lin Sicheng pulled back the curtain of the business van and pointed outside: "Take a good look, where are we going?"

Besides Beijing, where else could it be?

Just as he was pondering, the old man was suddenly stunned.

A low building, with neon lights shining on the roof: Zhangbei Hotel?

The Police didn't return to Beijing, but were heading north.

Did Sheng Qingfeng confess and tell the Police the delivery address?

But that's not right.

Along this journey, the boss had made at least ten phone calls, each time like squeezing toothpaste, pushing the location forward a little bit.

First Majuqiao, then Mafang, then Zhangakou, then Zhangbei. And then, Huade?

Even now, he didn't know where the boss was receiving the goods, so how would Sheng Qingfeng know?

As he was guessing, the young man's voice reached his ears: "Yang Laoda, do you know where we're going now? Xilingol, Hunshandake!"

"Sand pits aren't easy to dig, are they?"

After a brief pause, Lin Sicheng leaned back: "Aisin Gioro Yatu, biological daughter of Huang Taiji, eldest daughter of Xiaozhuang, elder sister of Shunzhi, aunt of Kangxi... Gulun Eldest Princess, Xingping Princess, Great Qing Founding Princess... you even dare to rob the tomb of such a person?"

Lin Sicheng's speaking speed was not fast, and his voice was very soft, but it was like a thunderclap exploding in his ears.

His head was "buzzing," and the old man's face turned pale at a speed visible to the naked eye.

(End of this chapter)