Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

My younger sister (aunt) is dead, no matter how she died, it cannot change the fact that she is dead. And now they all rely on Luo Zhengxin for their livelihood. If they answer no, will he blame them when he comes out of prison?

But if the answer is yes, and Chen Shao finds out that they are lying, will he blame them too?

The father and son were in a dilemma for a long time and still didn't know how to answer.

Chen Shao said sternly, "Yes, yes. No, no. Is it that hard to answer?"

The father and son looked at each other and quickly answered:

"Have."

"No."

After a moment of silence, the two answered again:

"No."

"Have."

Chen Shao's face turned cold: "Yes or no!"

This time, the two finally agreed: "No."

Chen Shao shouted coldly: "Is there any?"

The two of them lowered their heads in fear and answered again: "No."

Chen Shao turned to look at the two doctors from Huichuntang, and the two doctors looked at the shopkeeper tremblingly.

Chen Shao followed their gaze and looked at the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper looked at the two doctors with a chill down his spine, and said angrily, "Why are you looking at me? Is this the disease you are treating or the disease I am treating?"

The two doctors knelt on the ground and kowtowed for mercy.

Chen Shao remained unmoved and said, "Tell me, how did they die?"

The two dared not say anything, and could only beg for mercy: "Please spare my life, sir. I am too blind to tell what disease they have."

Chen Shao sneered, "Can I understand it this way? Not being able to tell what disease they have means that they died because of you?"

The two men begged for mercy in horror.

Chen Shao questioned the shopkeeper: "Do most people who come to Tongchuntang for treatment die?"

The shopkeeper said in panic, "Your Excellency, we at Tongchuntang cannot guarantee that every patient who comes to see a doctor will recover completely, but no one has died due to misdiagnosis by Tongchuntang."

Chen Shao asked back, "Then how did the first two Mrs. Luo die?"

The shopkeeper was speechless for a moment.

Chen Shao said sternly: "Tell me, why do you want to persecute them so deliberately?"

The shopkeeper also knelt on the ground and said, "I dare not."

"Since you don't dare, then tell me how they died." Chen Shao pressed, "If you can't tell me, then we can only charge them with killing others. They should be executed, and you, the shopkeeper, are guilty of not reporting the crime."

Feeling the murderous intent from her, the shopkeeper shuddered with fear and said with his hands on the ground, "They, they, they died of poisoning!"

Chen Shao said nothing, just looked at the three people coldly.

"Please spare my life, sir, please spare my life," the shopkeeper kept kowtowing, "It was Supervisor Luo who poisoned them, it has nothing to do with me. I am of low rank and my words are not taken seriously, so I dare not ask about it, nor do I dare to report it."

Some of the people who came to watch the excitement stood on the slightly higher hillside, and some climbed up the trees. When they heard what he said, they couldn't help but whisper.

Chen Shao let them discuss for a while before he asked, "What kind of poison did Supervisor Luo give them?"

The shopkeeper had already confessed, and the two doctors no longer concealed anything and said honestly, "Both ladies were poisoned by the golden silkworm poison."

Chen Shao questioned: "Where did he get the golden silkworm poison, or how do you know it was him who poisoned it?"

The shopkeeper cried, "The golden silkworm in his hand was obtained by chance in Tongchuntang in his early years. He bought it and kept it forcibly after knowing it from somewhere."

Chen Shao asked: "Do you have any evidence?"

The shopkeeper shook his head and said, "No, the golden silkworm was forcibly bought by him before it was even brought into Tongchun Hall."

Chen Shao ordered Li Tianliu: "Arrange for someone to dig up the grave and perform an autopsy!"

The shopkeeper and doctor of Tongchuntang confessed honestly, so the Ye family and the He family naturally did not dare to stop them. As the yamen runners and Yulin guards dug the graves, the people who came to watch the excitement were also extremely excited.

Building a grave is difficult, but digging a grave is quick.

In less than two cups of tea, the two graves were dug up.

The coffin was soon exposed.

Chen Shao followed and took the incense handed to him by Chan Yi. He bowed three times to each of the two coffins and ordered, "Open the coffins!"

The yamen runners and imperial guards stepped forward quickly and pried up the lids of the two coffins. However, the lids of the coffins were only moved a few inches, and the yamen runners and imperial guards who couldn't help but look into the coffins were so frightened that they stepped back repeatedly. The coffin lids that were thrown down fell heavily with a loud bang.

The people who came to watch the fun wished they could grow necks several meters long so they could stretch their heads over to see what was going on.

"What's inside!" Li Tianliu took a few steps forward, lifted the five-inch thick coffin lid to one side with his toes, and looked inside. Seeing the talisman paper clinging to the forehead of the skeleton, the dried black blood on the inside of the coffin, and the glutinous rice at the bottom of the coffin, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and sneer twice.

Chen Shao had already walked over after he opened the coffin lid. Seeing what was inside, he could not help but walk towards the other coffin. The Yulin Guard came to his senses and immediately stepped forward to move the coffin lid aside.

The same situation occurred in the other coffin.

Xu Guang pointed to the sides of the corpse and reminded: "There are black donkey hooves next to it."

Chan Yi snorted coldly: "He has done so many bad things and is afraid of retaliation, so he strikes first?"

Chen Shao had already seen that both corpses were tinged with black, but he still signaled Xu Guang, "The smell has almost dissipated. Go down and check carefully. Don't miss any details."

Xu Guang said yes, and with the help of the Imperial Guards, he jumped into the coffin swiftly. He put his hands together, bowed to the corpse and apologized a few times, threw out the black donkey hoof, and peeled off the talisman paper on the corpse's forehead. Then he took out a rough cloth handkerchief, squatted down, and wiped the corpse carefully. After wiping for a long time, he didn't see the color getting lighter, so he said: "This is the original color of the corpse."

Chen Shao said: "Pick up the cervical vertebrae, manubrium, body of sternum, ribs and lumbar vertebrae and give them to me."

Xu Guang immediately picked them up one by one in order and handed them to her.

The last time he taught him how to piece bones together, Chen Shao had taught him the exact name of each bone.

After receiving all the bones, Chen Shao first checked the broken ends of the bones. After confirming that the bones were also black, he taught Xu Guang: "Next time when you examine the bones of a person who died of poisoning, look directly at the bones on the sides. If the bones are black, it basically means poisoning. The decay of the corpse will also produce venom, but even if the venom penetrates into the bones, it will mostly be dark in some places and light in others. It will never be evenly distributed like this."

As Chen Shao spoke, he handed him the cross-sections of several other bones and asked him to observe and compare them. After he finished comparing, he asked him to go out and go to another coffin.

The bones in the other coffin were still black.

The two people did die of poisoning.

"These bloodstains should be black dog blood." Xu Guang said casually before leaving the coffin.

Chen Shao followed his words and took a look at the bones inside, then instructed Chan Yi: "Talk to both families about the situation and see if they are willing to re-arrange the bones and bury them."

After Chan Yi left, she returned soon with an unhappy look on her face, "Both families said that the people had been dead for so many years, and now they are not well-off, and they don't have the extra money to rebury them for the time being. If you allow it, they will dig a pit nearby and bury them."

Chen Shao glanced at the two families standing in the distance and said, "Give each of them ten taels of silver, and ask them to pick out the bones, clean them, buy a new coffin, and then choose another place to bury them."