This late Qing time 清 novel is attributed to Shi Yukun 石玉崑 (fl. 1870) and is a kind of historical detective story. It describes a plot during the Song Dynasty 宋. The hero of the novel, Lord Bao already appeared in Song and Yuan time 元 anecdotes. He only figures in the first part of the novel and is later replaced by Yan Zhasan. Both capture petty thieves and murderes and later discover a plot of a prince. Although the language is semi-classical, the novel is worth reading because of its colorful descriptions that are taken from the technics of the old storytellers. Ideed, most of the stories originate from unofficial historical narratives in Beijing. In 1889 a second version with a more literary language was published by Yu Yue 俞樾 (d. 1907), enlarged by four protagonists and thus given a new title. Source:

Exemplarious translation: Translated by .