Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

"Go back!" Li Tianliu's tone was firm and his face was ugly.

"I'll go up and check on the situation," Chen Shao explained patiently, knowing that he was concerned about her safety, "I'll be down in a moment."

Li Tianliu refused to give in: "I said, go back!"

Chen Shao didn't want to argue with him on this matter, so he took out a few dead branches and rotten wood and handed them to him, saying, "Then you can ask someone to look for such trees on this mountain."

Li Tianliu snatched it and threw it to the Yulin Guard beside him.

The Yulin Guards left with the dead branches and rotten wood.

But Li Tianliu still stood in front of the small ridge, with his arms folded across his chest, looking at her with disdain.

Chen Shao had no choice but to retreat and said, "Find someone to take all these pebbles away. Also, find a few more people to search the village."

Li Tianliu still stood in front of the small ridge without moving.

Chen Shao knew that he couldn't go up the mountain today. He walked around this small semi-flat land and found no clues. He then bowed to Zhao Tianhai and Zhou Gen and said, "Second Master, Uncle, the coroner has examined the matter. Daniu's mother probably died around the time of Zizheng. The barking of dogs in the village was heard not long after Zizheng, which is enough to prove that the murderer dumped the person here not long after killing her. At this time, everyone in the village is more or less suspicious. Could you please bring a few more clever dogs to join us in the search?"

Zhao Tianhai and Zhou Gen hurriedly cupped their hands in return and said, "Your Excellency is too kind. It is an honor for us to be asked to help you."

Chen Shao was about to say a few more polite words when Zhou suddenly whispered, "No need to search the village, it's not them."

Chen Shao looked at her, "What's the reason?"

Zhou pulled the corner of her clothes and secretly looked at Zhao Tianhai and Zhou Gen. Seeing that they were also looking at her, she quickly looked away and said uncomfortably: "People in the village would not do such a thing."

Chen Shao asked again: "What's the reason?"

Zhao Tianhai said coldly: "My Lord, don't pay attention to her. We can only know whether the villagers have done it after searching. How can we let her decide?"

Chen Shao nodded and bowed again, saying, "Thank you, Second Master and Uncle. We will meet at the entrance of the village later."

Zhao Tianhai agreed and left with Zhou Gen.

The black dog also followed, wagging its tail.

No matter whether it was a human or a dog, they didn't even look at Zhou before leaving.

Chen Shao watched them walk away, then turned around and looked at Zhou.

Zhou kept her mouth shut and refused to speak.

Chen Shao was not in a hurry either.

After she brought them here, she saw Zhao Tianhai and Zhou Gen there, and her expression became a little strange. She wanted to please, but was afraid of rejection, which was completely different from the "high and mighty" attitude she had when she looked down on Tao A-mei in the thatched cottage.

But Zhao Tianhai and Zhou Gen completely ignored her.

The villagers didn't like her, not sure if it was because of Tao A'mei or because of her own reasons.

"Does the old man know something?" Chen Shao asked straight to the point.

Zhou said with a guilty conscience: "Know what?"

Chen Shao: "Tell me, why are you not getting along with the people in the village?"

Zhou looked away, and after a while she replied sadly, "There were some misunderstandings in the early years."

Chen Shao asked: "When, what kind of misunderstanding?"

Zhou wiped away her tears and said, "After his father passed away, his grandparents wanted to kick us out of the house. They came here with good intentions to help us to judge the situation, but I gave them a few words of advice and they started to hate us."

Chen Shao was a little confused. "They came to help you two to judge the case. Did you persuade them?"

"I know they mean well, but they are his grandparents. No matter how many faults they have done, as a younger generation, I cannot disobey them. This is filial piety. I can't be a conscienceless beast just because they are kind." Although Zhou wanted to resume contact with them, she didn't think she was wrong.

Chen Shao was silent for a long time before he said, "Old man, do you want to go with me to search the village, or go back and wait for news?"

Zhou wanted to use Zhao Shan's father to persuade her not to search the village, so as not to hurt the harmony. But she stopped talking when she thought of what Zhao Tianhai said. They didn't care about being slandered and suspected, so why should she bother? And she thought that she still had to rely on her generosity to find a wife that Zhao Shan liked, so she simply changed her words and said, "I'd better go back and wait."

Li Tianliu took the initiative to call a Yulin Guard to send her back.

But as soon as the person left, he taunted, "I thought that hypocritical Confucian scholars were only found in the capital, but I didn't expect to meet one in this wilderness. How about meeting a bosom friend here? Are you happy, Mr. Chen Liu?"

Chen Shao did not argue with him. Seeing that the Yulin Army on the mountain was quite restricted in its movement and it would be difficult to search the mountain in a short time, he turned and went towards the village.

Zhao Tianhai and Zhou Gen were already waiting at the entrance of the village with their dogs.

However, there was another person following them.

As soon as Chen Shao and his group approached, the man knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Please, sir, help me!"

Chen Shao asked with understanding, "Who is Sanwa's father, Zhao Qiang?"

The kneeling man kowtowed again and said, "My Lord, it is I who am."

"Get up." Chen Shao sighed, "I originally planned to search the village before looking for you. Now that you are here, let's search the village together. After we finish searching the village, we can talk slowly."

Zhao Qiang's eyes were red. He kowtowed and expressed his gratitude before standing up.

He has made a lot of money by traveling all over the country over the years, but the pain caused by Sanwa's death is something that no amount of money can make up for.

Sanwa's grandmother cried her eyes out early because of his murder.

Because of Sanwa’s murder, it is difficult to see Sanwa’s mother smile again.

Almost half of the money he earned was spent on their medical treatment and medicine.

And the culprit behind all this is the murderer!

Zhao Tianhai and Zhou Gen, who were standing by, breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Chen Shao did not blame them. Zhao Tianhai said, "Sir, can you take a look at these dogs?"

"Yes." The two men were leading four dogs, all of which were fat and strong, with smooth fur and bright eyes. When they saw them coming, they barked twice symbolically, but after being stopped, they never barked again. Chen Shao reached out and rubbed their heads one by one, saying, "Although we have to search the village because of a case, it is inevitable that we will disturb them. I will trouble you to apologize to each household later."

"No need to accuse yourself. The lord is searching the village to catch the murderer. If anyone dares to say anything more," Zhao Tianhai said proudly, "you don't need to do anything. I will slap him twice in the face first!"

Most of the people in the village grew up here for generations, and everyone knows each other well. Even if a murder occurs, no one will suspect that it was done by the villagers. If the government wants to search the village, in the past, the villagers would have some opinions. But Chen Shao was too polite, especially when Fu Jiu came to invite him and Zhou Gen earlier, she had already told them her identity. Such a noble person not only did not look down on them, but was particularly respectful to them. Based on this point, Zhao Tianhai could not let anyone say anything about her even if he risked his reputation.

So although he spoke in a heroic manner, in fact, when he went back to the village to look for the dog, he had specially asked someone to inform every household.

Chen Shao did not expose him, but bowed and said, "Then I will trouble you, Second Master."

Zhao Tianhai walked in front with the two dogs, Chen Shao followed behind him, Fu Jiu and Li Tianliu guarded her on the left and right, and Zhang Boshan, Zhou Gen and Zhao Qiang walked at the end.

A group of people walked towards a family at the entrance of the village.

When the people at the entrance of the village saw them coming, they quickly opened the door and moved aside.

"Sir, please tell me how to search." Zhao Tianhai said after entering the house.

Chen Shao glanced at the layout of the house and said gently, "Just take a look around the front and back of the house."

They searched one house after another and soon finished searching the entire village.