The Imperial Guard Takes Over the Serial Flower-Picking Case

The Flower Picking Thief had stirred the entire city into turmoil; everyone knew of him.

The daughters of Suzhou's wealthy families turned pale at the mere mention of him, and everyone feared for their safety.

Especially those beautiful young ladies from wealthy households—even in their sleep, they had nightmares of being ravaged by the Flower Thief.

Such cases were naturally the responsibility of the Prefect of Suzhou and the prefects and magistrates of the various counties. The Imperial Guard generally investigated major cases tied to politics and would naturally not interfere in cases like this.

Prefect Liu sighed. "This Lecherous Thief has committed multiple crimes in Suzhou. Last night, this Flower Thief sneaked into Magistrate Lu's residence in Taicang County and ravaged and defiled Magistrate Lu's daughter..."

"This subordinate has pursued this Flower Thief for more than two months, yet still failed to capture this Lecherous Thief. Left with no other choice, I have come to seek Commander Niu's aid and request that the Imperial Guard help capture this Flower Destroyer Gentleman."

After hearing Prefect Liu's account, Niu Ren could not help but furrow his brows.

This Flower Thief had previously targeted the daughters of merchants and wealthy gentry. This time, he had actually infiltrated a magistrate's residence and plucked even the magistrate's daughter.

He was truly outrageously brazen!

As fellow officials, they were naturally filled with indignation!

Yet Niu Ren held his teacup, blew on it, and said leisurely, "The Imperial Guard investigates major cases. I'm afraid we cannot spare the manpower to capture petty vermin like a Flower Thief..."

This was clearly an excuse.

Helping was not a problem, but they could not possibly help for nothing, could they?

How could an old hand in officialdom like Prefect Liu fail to understand Commander Niu's true intentions? He rose, cupped his hands, and bowed.

"This subordinate also knows that the Imperial Guard is busy with official duties. It is only that this Flower Thief possesses formidable martial arts, coming without a trace and leaving without a shadow. This subordinate truly cannot capture this Lecherous Thief, which is why I have requested the Imperial Guard's assistance!"

Having said that, he beckoned to one of his guards.

A guard carried an embroidered box forward and placed it on Niu Ren's desk, along with a case file.

"This is two hundred taels of gold, to serve as the Imperial Guard's investigation expenses. If Flower Destroyer Gentleman is captured, the Prefectural Office will provide another hundred taels of gold as a reward."

"I hope Commander Niu will lend us his aid!"

With that, Prefect Liu cupped his hands and gave Niu Ren a deep bow.

Naturally, these three hundred taels of gold were not coming out of Prefect Liu's own pocket, but from the prefectural treasury. After all, it was being spent on an official case, entirely proper and aboveboard.

This case had thrown the wealthy merchants and powerful gentry of Suzhou City into a panic and had caused a tremendous uproar. Now, even a county magistrate's daughter had suffered misfortune. If they still could not capture this Flower Picking Thief, Prefect Liu's official career would certainly suffer greatly.

Niu Ren glanced at the embroidered box the guard had placed on the desk. Inside were gold ingots worth fifty taels each.

He set down his teacup and smiled faintly.

"Since Prefect Liu is in such a difficult position, the Imperial Guard will assist Prefect Liu in capturing this Flower Picking Thief."

Prefect Liu cupped his hands and bowed. "Many thanks, Commander Niu! This subordinate shall take his leave."

Niu Ren raised his teacup. "Take care, Prefect Liu."

After Prefect Liu left, Niu Ren said to a guard, "Summon Battalion Commander Xiao to the main hall."

"Yes."

The guard accepted the order, left the main hall, and headed for the Ninth Guard Post.

After lunch.

Xiao Qiuyue gathered the Imperial Guard of the Ninth Station in the main hall.

She swept her gaze over the several dozen Imperial Guards standing below, took out a case file, and said:

"Recently, a Flower Picking Thief has appeared in Suzhou City. Several daughters of wealthy families have already been ravaged by this Lecherous Thief. Last night, he even infiltrated Magistrate Lu's residence and drugged and raped Magistrate Lu's daughter..."

"Commander Niu has ordered our Ninth Station to capture this Flower Thief within one month and send him to the Suzhou Ministry of Justice for punishment."

"If we fail to capture this Flower Thief within one month, every one of you will have one month's salary deducted."

Upon hearing this, the several squad leaders and dozens of Guards exchanged looks, their faces turning grim.

Naturally, they had long heard of this Flower Picking Thief. He came without a trace and left without a shadow.

Which of those wealthy merchants' residences that had been targeted did not employ several martial arts masters as guards?

And what had been the result? They had not even managed to catch a single hair of the Flower Thief.

Never mind how skilled this Flower Picking Thief was in martial arts—at the very least, his Lightness Skill had to be exceptionally superb. How could he be so easy to catch?

Not only would it be difficult to find this Flower Thief, but even if they found him, they would likely find it hard to capture him.

Commander Niu had ordered their Ninth Station to solve the case and capture this Flower Thief within a month. This was practically an impossible task.

It seemed their salaries next month were as good as gone.

Everyone wore bitter expressions, but Huang Shaojie looked utterly unconcerned.

His father, Huang Baiwan, might not have been the richest man in Suzhou, but their family still possessed more than a hundred thousand strings of cash. Huang Shaojie did not care about this monthly salary of a few taels of silver.

Looking at her subordinates' miserable faces, Xiao Qiuyue said coldly, "It's only a Flower Thief, yet your faces are longer than horses'! If you don't want your salaries deducted, then all of you had better pull yourselves together and hunt down this Flower Picking Thief."

Afterward, Xiao Qiuyue began assigning tasks.

The three squad leaders each led more than a dozen Guards out to investigate clues concerning Flower Destroyer Gentleman.

"You few, come with me to Magistrate Lu's residence and inspect the crime scene."

Xiao Qiuyue spoke to the remaining Guards.

Huang Shaojie was among those Guards. He had originally been going out with Zhu Shi's group, but Xiao Qiuyue had specifically stopped him and made him stay behind.

It was clear that after Huang Shaojie had captured that Japanese pirate spy a few days ago, Xiao Qiuyue had paid special attention to this newly recruited Guard.

Xiao Qiuyue led several Guards out of the Ninth Station's main hall, mounted their horses, left the Imperial Guard headquarters, and galloped toward Magistrate Lu's residence.

A short while later, they arrived at Magistrate Lu's residence.

Xiao Qiuyue displayed her Imperial Guard battalion commander's badge and was ushered into the Lu Residence by its steward. Before long, Magistrate Lu came to greet them.

"This subordinate pays respects to Battalion Commander Xiao."

Magistrate Lu cupped his hands and bowed to Xiao Qiuyue. Ordinarily, he should have been handling official business at the county yamen, but because a Flower Thief had infiltrated his residence the night before, he had remained at home.

"No need for such formalities, Magistrate Lu!"

Xiao Qiuyue raised a hand, then said, "I have come under Commander Niu's orders to investigate the Flower Picking Thief case. Magistrate Lu, take me to the crime scene for a look."

"My lady, please follow me."

Magistrate Lu bowed and made an inviting gesture, then led Xiao Qiuyue toward a pavilion in the rear courtyard.

Huang Shaojie and the other Guards followed as well.

After leading the Imperial Guard beneath that pavilion, Magistrate Lu sighed and said to Xiao Qiuyue:

"My daughter lived in one of the rooms in this pavilion. Who could have imagined that she would be defiled by that Lecherous Thief last night!"

As he spoke, his eyes reddened.

A daughter being defiled by a Lecherous Thief was an anger and grief no father could bear.

What was more, the victim was the daughter of a county magistrate, plucked by a Flower Thief.

A cold glint flashed through Xiao Qiuyue's eyes as she said icily, "Rest assured, Magistrate Lu. Our Imperial Guard will certainly capture this Lecherous Thief, make him endure every torture, and then hand him over to the Ministry of Justice."

As a woman herself, she naturally loathed Flower Thieves all the more!

"Many thanks, Lady Xiao!" Magistrate Lu cupped his hands and bowed.

He believed that with the Imperial Guard handling this case, they would certainly capture the Flower Thief. It was only a matter of time.