Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

What caught my eye was a small clay figure.

The clay figure was about three feet three inches tall, barefoot, and had timid eyes.

Even though Fu Jiu was holding an umbrella for him, as he walked, the mud color still spread rapidly around his footsteps.

Behind the clay figurine and Fu Jiu were Zhang Boshan, Ding Lisheng and others, all of whom carefully avoided the mud and water.

Chen Shao's eyes turned cold, and before they came closer, he ordered, "Go make him a bowl of ginger soup and find him some clean clothes right away!"

Zhang Boshan could hear the displeasure in her words, and quickly swallowed back his words of "Don't let this beggar dirty the floor", and quickly said to Bao Chengle: "Go quickly, and remember to find some good clothes!"

When Bao Chengle turned around, Chen Shao had already taken the cloak from Chan Yi's hand, took two quick steps, wrapped the little guy, and led him to sit on the chair.

Chan Yi quickly went back to the bedroom and took out two handkerchiefs. After carefully cleaning the dirt off his face, she began to clean his hair.

Fu Jiu was not idle either. She brought a copper basin and coaxed him to wash his hands.

Chen Shao brought two plates of snacks and poured a glass of water, placed them all in front of him, and said gently: "Are you hungry? Be good, drink some water first... Eat slowly, don't be in a hurry."

The little one was coaxed into eating something, and clean clothes and ginger soup were also brought over.

Chan Yi and Fu Jiu took him to the side room to change and coaxed him to drink ginger soup. Only then did Chen Shao squat down in front of him, hold his hand, and ask softly, "Tell me, what's your name?"

After eating some snacks and changing his clothes, the little guy was no longer so timid and answered obediently, "Zhao Daniu."

Chen Shao smiled and asked, "How old are you?"

Zhao Daniu replied: "Seven years old."

At the age of seven, he was already quite short. Looking at his frail body, Chen Shao rubbed his head tenderly, his voice becoming gentler. "Where are you from? It's raining so hard. Did you come here alone?"

Zhao Daniu nodded and said, "My home is in Zhaojia Village. My grandmother didn't let me come, so I ran here secretly."

The third case in the serial murder case in the 13th year of Yuanhe also occurred in Zhaojia Village. According to Li Baozhong's record in the case file, Zhaojia Village is nearly nine miles away from the county town, and most of the roads are mountainous. Nine miles of mountain roads, it was raining heavily, and a seven-year-old child ran to the prefectural governor's mansion alone to report the case. Chen Shao's eyes became two points colder.

Seeing that something was wrong, Ding Lisheng quickly retracted his neck and hid behind Zhang Boshan.

Zhang Boshan cursed him inwardly and said, "I have asked Lord Ding to send someone over. I was afraid that you would ask about the case, so I asked Lord Ding to stay. I planned to let him go after I answered your question."

He secretly raised his eyes, carefully looked at her expression, and continued, "Several masters of the Yulin Guard also went with them."

Chen Shao didn't comment and said, "Have you finished your reply?"

Zhang Boshan hurriedly urged Ding Lisheng: "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and go!"

Ding Lisheng nodded in agreement and ran into the rain without even opening an umbrella.

Seeing his reckless behavior, Zhang Boshan cursed in his heart, but smiled and said, "Don't worry, sir. Lord Ding looks unreliable, but he still has his own way of doing things."

Chen Shao ignored him, put on a gentle smile again, and continued to ask Zhao Daniu: "Tell me, brother, what happened in Zhaojia Village?"

"It happened..." Zhao Daniu's eyes turned red, he slid off the chair with a wow and knelt in front of her, "My mother, my mother is gone, my mother was murdered, brother Xiaohu told me that only by reporting to the police can the bad guy who killed my mother be caught, but grandma didn't let me come, so I came secretly. My lord, I want to report to the police, I want to catch the bad guy who killed my mother."

Chen Shao helped him up, held his hand and said, "Okay, let's go catch the bad guys now."

Zhang Boshan hurried forward and wanted to hold Zhao Daniu's hand, "Young Master was busy until dawn before going to bed, so let me take care of this child. When we get on the carriage, you can take a rest."

Chen Shao avoided his hand and said, "Bring the coroner with you and leave immediately."

After coming out of the prefect's mansion, they had not walked more than ten feet when they ran into Ding Lisheng's carriage.

Ding Lisheng stepped aside in fear, and when her carriage passed by, he hurriedly said flatteringly, "Young Master, go first."

Chen Shao teased Zhao Daniu without even looking at him.

The laziness in the prefectural government is not something that happened overnight. If we want to rectify it and ensure long-term stability, we have to dig out the rotten bones and remove the rotten things.

But who is bone and who is rotten remains to be seen.

It rained all night and the area outside the city was muddy.

The mountain road leading to Zhaojia Village is even more mountainous.

The carriage bumped along to Zhaojia Village, and under the guidance of Zhao Daniu, it passed through most of the village, turned into two small roads, and finally stopped in front of a few thatched houses near the foot of the mountain.

Chen Shao thought that with such a big incident, there must be a lot of people surrounding Zhao Daniu's house, but when he got out of the carriage, he saw a cold courtyard.

Five old and dilapidated thatched houses barely formed a small courtyard. In the strong wind and heavy rain, the roofs swayed back and forth uncontrollably.

Two piles of firewood were neatly stacked under the west eaves, and two small vegetable plots were cultivated in the yard.

There were no other houses within at least twenty or thirty feet around the thatched hut.

This is an 'isolated island'.

The thatched hut was very quiet. Apart from the footsteps of the Yulin Guards and yamen runners who followed them, there was no other sound.

Fu Jiu carried Zhao Daniu off the carriage and asked in a low voice, "Is there no one at home?"

"Someone is here." Zhao Tieniu couldn't wait to grab Chen Shao's hand, and walked into the yard while shouting towards the door: "Grandma, Dad, I'm bringing the adults to catch the bad guy who hurt Mom!"

"The body has been brought back. It is in the west room." After listening to the report from the Yulin Guards who came earlier, Li Tianliu strode over and said to Chen Shao, "The person who found the body is in the village chief's house. The Yulin Guards and the yamen runners are watching over it."

Chen Shao responded with a "yes", turned around and instructed Chan Yi, "Go ask the villagers about their family's situation, and ask carefully."

When Zhang Boshan heard this, he immediately recommended himself, saying, "I will go too."

Chen Shao looked at him twice.

Zhang Boshan retreated angrily.

There was no movement in the house. Zhao Daniu raised his voice and shouted again: "Grandma, Dad, I'm bringing the adults to catch the bad guys who harmed Mom!"

There was a movement in the house. After two bangs, an elderly woman stumbled out. Seeing that he was fine, she collapsed to the ground and sobbed, "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back..."

Another man slowly walked out of the house. He was young, but thin and pale, and he looked like he had been ill for a long time. Behind him was a child of about two or three years old.

On the way here, Chen Shao had already learned from Zhao Daniu that the old woman was his grandmother Zhou, the man was his father Zhao Shan, and the two or three-year-old child was his younger brother Zhao Erniu.

His mother's name is Tao A-mei.

"Dad!" Zhao Daniu immediately let go of Chen Shao's hand and ran towards them when he saw the two. After running closer, he carefully pulled Zhao Erniu aside, and quickly held Zhao Shan's hand to take credit, saying, "I brought the adults here, and the adults will definitely catch the bad guys who harmed Mom!"

Zhao Shan choked up and touched his head, then knelt on the ground with the help of the wall: "Danniu is ignorant, please come and send him back, but my family is really poor, so I won't bother you too much..."

"I have money!" Zhou suddenly got up and ran back to the house. She took out a half-worn coat, fumbled around and found more than twenty copper coins. She held them in both hands and said, "Please help us, gentlemen!"

"Don't worry, old man," Chen Shao took a few quick steps forward to support Zhou, "We don't charge for investigating the case."

"Yes," Zhang Boshan stepped forward with a guilty conscience to support Zhao Shandao, "Mr. Chen Liu is the most gentle and kind. Now that he has taken over the case, no matter who the murderer is, he will have nowhere to hide!"

Chen Shao ignored his flattery, and after comforting Zhou with a few kind words, he asked about the case: "Old man, Daniu is young and can't explain it clearly at the moment. I want to ask more carefully, where did his mother have the accident?"

"Your Excellency, please understand," Zhou shoved the twenty or so copper coins into her hands and knelt on the ground crying, "We have never treated her badly. Her death was so dishonorable, and it had nothing to do with us."