Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Chen Shao squatted down, picked up the rice cake, broke it open, put it under his nose and smelled it. It really smelled like anesthetic. He picked up the plants and looked at them. They were indeed the herbs for making anesthetic. Finally, he took out a stalk of Datura that had been cut into several pieces and asked, "Have you inquired to confirm that these herbs are all grown by them?"

Xu Guang said, "I have inquired. The flower the adult is holding is planted in their yard, and many people in the alley have seen it. The other flowers are planted on their land, and many people have also seen them. Hu Lilan also made this rice cake and gave it to many children in the alley."

Chen Shao called over a Yulin Guard and asked him to go and invite Shi Hui over.

The courtyard where Shi Hui lived was not far from Chengfeng Courtyard. Following the Yulin Guards, he saw the pile of plants and rice cakes spread on the ground, and his face changed immediately.

Chen Shaoping said calmly: "It seems that you know that your mother gave Shi Xing anesthetics and even added anesthetics to the rice cakes."

Shi Hui knelt down in panic and begged for mercy: "My Lord, please have mercy, I..."

Chen Shao put down the mandala, stood up, and washed his hands in the basin of clean water that Chan Yi had not used up last night. He said slowly, "This is your last chance. Tell the truth or continue to hide it. It's up to you to decide."

"Yes, I know my mother is making trouble for my second uncle, and I also know that she put trouble in the rice cakes." Shi Hui kowtowed, "But my mother always told me that the trouble was given by my second uncle to relieve the pain of the injured students in the academy, and the rice cakes with anesthetics were given by my second uncle to the people in the villages and towns to catch pheasants and rabbits. After my second uncle admitted to the murder that day, I realized that these anesthetics were not for the students in the academy and the people in the villages and towns, but for my second uncle to kill people. But I...

"But I wanted to exonerate my mother, so I kept it secret."

"No more?" Chen Shao asked.

In fact, Chen Shao has always believed that she didn't know about Shi Xing's murder. It was because Hu Lilan would rather violate moral ethics to give birth to a son for the Shi family. Murder is a capital crime. Although Shi Xing made careful arrangements, she didn't think she could escape. She didn't know when Shi Xing and she would die, so she had to leave someone to take care of Shi An to ensure that the Shi family's incense could continue to be passed on.

"No more." Shi Hui didn't know what she was thinking. She said with red eyes and tears in fear, "I have told you everything I know."

"Get up." Chen Shao said.

Shi Hui was stunned for a moment before she reacted. She kowtowed three times happily and said many words of gratitude before she stood up.

"Although I believe you, it doesn't mean you're safe." Chen Shao reminded, "Before your second uncle's case is officially closed, you still have to live in the prefectural governor's mansion. If you are sure that you are not aware of it, you can also think about your next plan."

Shi Hui said "yes" sincerely before leaving.

Chen Shao watched her walk away, then he looked away and asked Xu Guang, "Have you eaten?"

Xu Guang replied: "I have eaten."

"That's great." Chen Shao said, "Come with me to Luoyanju later."

Xu Guang didn't even ask where Luoyanju was, and just agreed.

Asking him to wait aside, Chen Shao asked the Imperial Guard to call in a yamen runner at the door and ordered, "Go and invite Lord Ding, Lord Lei, Lord Hu, and Lord Zhao over."

Ding Lisheng came first, and as soon as he entered Chengfeng Courtyard, he said, "I have already gone to the mansions of the nobles and gentry to inform them. They asked me to tell you that you can use the two ice cellars as long as you want. If there is not enough ice in them, you can also tell them and they can go to other county towns to buy some."

Zhao Lin came over immediately.

Chen Shao asked him first: "Have you ordered the coffin?"

Zhao Lin said respectfully, "Just when I was about to order it, the master came to see me."

"Then don't order it yet." Chen Shao turned to Ding Lisheng, "Since the nobles are so generous, please ask them to help order the coffin as well."

Ding Lisheng looked at her quickly before saying yes.

Chen Shao pretended not to notice and continued to ask him, "Has Fenglong Commercial Bank been closed down?"

Ding Lisheng agreed again.

Chen Shao asked: "Where are the people from Fenglong Commercial Bank?"

Ding Lisheng replied, "They are all in prison, and the account books were handed over to the Yulin Army yesterday evening."

Immediately, a Yulin soldier responded, "They are all in the young master's study."

Chen Shao responded with a "yes", and then asked Ding Lisheng, "Are there no drug stores willing to take over those retail traders of medicinal herbs?"

"Yes, there are more than a dozen of them." Ding Lisheng answered carefully, "The young master was busy yesterday, so he didn't bring them here."

"Then bring them to see me this evening." Chen Shao ordered, "Tell them to prepare the title deed of their medicine shop, the receipts of commercial taxes paid in recent years, the annual profit of the shop, the prices of various medicinal materials in the shop, the prices of various prescriptions, etc. before they see me. I plan to open an official medicine shop in Hongyuan County, but it is too complicated to start from scratch, and it is difficult to staff it, so I want to pick a medicine shop that is qualified in all aspects and directly position it as an official one. Once it is on the right track, it will be handed over to the jurisdiction of the Taichang Temple."

Ding Lisheng, Lei Dehou, Hu Qinglu and Zhao Lin all looked up at her. Ding Lisheng couldn't help but ask, "Master, do you mean that this medicine shop will be owned by the government in the future?"

"Yes." Chen Shao said calmly, "The original intention of establishing this official pharmacy is to solve the problem of the difficulty of seeing a doctor for the people, so the requirements for the pharmacy are relatively high. How about this, come to see me this evening, time is a bit tight, so let's put it off until tomorrow. You can also spread some news in time to see if there are other pharmacies willing to compete."

Ding Lisheng took a quick look at Zhao Lin and the others, then quickly agreed.

Chen Shao looked at Lei Dehou and Hu Qinglu again and asked, "Have you finished the victim compensation plan I asked you to come up with?"

They both said in unison: "We are still discussing it."

"Okay, remember to give it to me before the 27th." After Chen Shao reminded him, he turned his attention to Zhao Lin, "You don't need to worry about the coffin. Just find a way to find out the identities of the more than 100 people who were killed yesterday."

After hesitating for a moment, Zhao Lin said tentatively, "Those courtyards were all exposed by Madam Gao. If we want to find out their identities, it might be faster to start with Shanzhang Gao, Jianyuan Luo, and Madam Gao."

"First, you can investigate based on their appearance or other clues," Chen Shao did not give in. "After I have interrogated them, I will compare the results with yours to see if they are telling the truth."

Zhao Lin lowered his eyes slightly and said yes.

"Okay, get busy." Watching the backs of the people leaving one after another, Chen Shao curled his lips slightly. Turning back, meeting Li Tianliu's inquiring eyes, Chen Shao went to the east wing and asked Chan Yi to stay and continue to take care of the injured woman. Just as he was about to take Xu Guang to Luoyanju, Fu Jiu came back.