Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

When Gao Han and Luo Zhengxin were arrested, Chen Shao ordered the Imperial Guards and yamen runners to guard their homes and not allow them to enter or leave without permission. As a result, Luo Zhengxin's two sons, Luo Jian and Luo Zhong, were detained at home and did not go anywhere.

Seeing Wu Dong being taken away during the day, the two had a premonition of disaster and were trembling with fear. At this moment, they heard voices in the yard and hurriedly ran to the window to check. They saw Wu Dong pointing out the place where they buried the body. They were so scared that one of them hid in the closet and the other hid under the bed.

Chen Shao did not go looking for them, but asked the bailiffs guarding the place to bring the two out.

As soon as the two men walked out of the house, they knelt down and the first thing they said was to distance themselves from the deceased: "We didn't kill them, it was our father who killed them. Uncle Wu can testify for us!"

Although Wu Dong betrayed Luo Zhengxin, he thought he had to do it to protect his family. Seeing how spineless they were, he couldn't help but said coldly, "Why did your father kill them? Did you coax them into letting them go, and they believed you and followed your evil ways and begged your father for help? So he killed them in anger?"

"We just said we could let them go, but we didn't say we would definitely let them go," Luo Jian argued. "They were stupid themselves. What does it have to do with us?"

"That's right. Their brothers gave them to us, so they are ours," Luo Zhong argued, "but they tried to leave. That's simply treasonous!"

Chen Shao glanced at them but didn't argue with them. After letting Fu Jiu watch the yamen runners dig up the body, she turned around and went into Luo Jian and Luo Zhong's home.

Compared to the neat and orderly courtyard of Luo Zhengxin, the house where the two lived could be described as a pigsty. Chen Shao endured the pungent sour smell and did not search carefully. He picked a place to step on and followed the lantern held by Chan Yi to walk around the room one by one before leaving. When he walked to the study room of the two, he saw that it was even messier than the hall. He originally planned to take a look and leave, but when he saw a sandalwood box near the door, he stopped his gaze.

The sandalwood box is only ten inches in size and is engraved with exquisite lotus patterns.

She seemed to have seen such a box somewhere before... Chen Shao stepped forward, picked up the sandalwood box and opened it casually. When she saw the dagger-shaped Buddha statue with a fleshy bun sitting on a lotus, her heart skipped a beat. She quickly closed the box, looked at the lotus pattern on the box again, and then opened the box again to look at the lotus under the Buddha statue.

The lotus pattern on the box is the lotus under the seat of the Buddha statue!

This reminded her of the jade pendants seized from Zhang Boshan, Luo Zhengxin and Jiang Zilin. Those jade pendants also had dagger-shaped Buddha images with fleshy buns sitting on lotus flowers.

Chen Shao glanced towards the study again.

After searching around, he found a sandalwood box with a lotus pattern on the bookshelf and on the floor.

Chen Shao brought out three sandalwood boxes and threw them in front of Luo Jian and Luo Zhong, asking in a cold voice, "What are these boxes for?"

Two skeletons had been dug out, and the two men were trembling with fear. They were startled by the sound of the boxes falling to the ground, and they immediately huddled together and screamed for mercy. After being stopped, they saw that there were only a few boxes. They patted their chests and said, "I'm scared to death." They replied nonchalantly, "It's just a box for medicinal materials. If you like it, take it."

The words "box for medicinal materials" instantly reminded Chen Shao.

After looking at a few more boxes, she almost immediately remembered where she had seen them before.

Hong Leong Commercial Bank.

When she went to several trading companies to check for people who could tie a figure-eight knot, she had seen such boxes in several warehouses of Hong Leong Trading Company.

She had seen the dagger-shaped fleshy-bun Buddha statue sitting on a lotus in three places. One was the green jade chess piece in Du Zhong's arms, one was the green jade pendant seized from Zhang Boshan and others, and the other was these sandalwood boxes.

Why do the blue jade and Buddha statues of Dan Kingdom appear in these places?

Chen Shao asked calmly, "What kind of medicinal materials does the box contain?"

Luo Jian and Luo Zhong hesitated for a while before Luo Zhong said, "One is Cistanche deserticola, one is Eucommia ulmoides, and the other is Deer Antler."

"We have no problem at all, it's just that..." Luo Jian added, "They are all eating it, so we bought some to try."

Chen Shao asked: "Who are they?"

Luo Jian replied: "Yes, Mr. Wen Qi and Mr. Ren Si."

Chen Shao asked: "Where did you buy these herbs?"

The two answered without any preparation: "Hong Long Trading Company."

Chen Shao took the opportunity to ask, "Who owns Fenglong Commercial Bank?"

The two of them still answered without any defense: "The assets of the Wen family and the Ren family."

Luo Zhong replied: "If it weren't for their two businesses, we wouldn't buy this stuff. It's expensive and tastes bad."

Luo Jian nodded in agreement.

After Chen Shao asked them to stand up, he continued to ask, "Did they also take you to Luoyanju?"

The two men finally became alert, but looking at the newly excavated bones, they replied indifferently: "There is also the second young master Zhao."

Chen Shao confirmed: "The second grandson of Zhao Lin, the military officer of the prefectural government?"

It seemed that there was an official accomplice, and Luo Jian finally had the confidence. His back stiffened a little: "It's him!"

Chen Shao asked nonchalantly, "Why did they take you to Luoyanju?"

Luo Jian said with a bit of complacency: "Of course we shared the girls sent by the students of the academy with them, and they took us there to repay us. But the girls of Luoyanju are good, but they are not as tender and lovely as the girls sent by the students."

Chen Shao suppressed his murderous intent and slowly lured her: "As far as I know, in addition to Luoyanju, there are several other gardens. Have they taken you there?"

Luo Zhong rushed to answer: "I also went to Qujing Garden and Plum Garden, but I was there only two or three times in total."

"Have you been to Qujing Garden and Meiyuan?" Chen Shao asked in a puzzled manner, "Didn't your father never go there?"

"Who said he hasn't been there?" Luo Zhong said quickly, "He often goes to Luoyanju, Qujing Garden and Meiyuan."

Luo Jian pulled him back and said, "Stop talking. Father has already said that you are not allowed to tell outsiders that he has been to other gardens."

Luo Zhong quickly covered his mouth.

Chen Shao looked at Wu Dong obscurely before asking, "Has your father been to other gardens?"

They both shook their heads in unison.

Chen Shao's face suddenly turned cold, "Have you ever been there?"

The two were frightened to the point of kneeling on the ground again. Luo Jian saw Fu Jiu looking over here and quickly replied, "Except for these three gardens, I haven't been to any other ones."

Chen Shao said: "Why not go?"

Luo Jian said awkwardly, "Bi Tao Garden belongs to the Gu and Fan families, Ming Yue Courtyard belongs to the Fan and Qi families. They are powerful and look down on others, so naturally they won't allow others to pollute their land."

Chen Shao did not rush to ask again. He calmed down and sorted out the relationship before continuing to ask threateningly, "You said they took you to Luoyanju. Do you have any evidence? If there is no evidence, it would be a frame-up. The crime of framing the son of an official is not light."

Luo Jian and Luo Zhong's faces turned pale with anxiety. They stood up and tried to go back to the house to look for evidence, but were stopped by the yamen runners. Chen Shao signaled to the yamen runners, "Let them in."

After the bailiffs made way, the two men quickly ran into the house and rummaged through the drawers and cabinets for a long time before they brought out two piles of women's underwear and two broken wooden signs.