Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

"Master, Lord Lei is here." Fu Jiu shouted in the yard.

After Ding Lisheng left, Chen Shao returned to the main house to eat. When he was discussing with Chan Yi how much wages to pay the people who were digging bones in the gardens and the people who helped escort the shop assistants today, Lei Dehou arrived.

"What are you doing here so late?" Chen Shao asked, "Didn't I ask Lord Ding to tell you to look after Zhou Zhongtian for one night?"

Lei Dehou quickly glanced at her and saw that she did not look unhappy or angry. He then took out the list from his sleeve and handed it to her, saying, "This is the compensation plan for the people implicated in the horse-riding murder case. Please take a look at it, young master."

Chen Shao took it and looked at it for a while: "In addition to hiring a doctor to treat the injury for free, will you also give each person an additional five strings of cash as compensation?"

"Yes." Lei Dehou said solemnly, "I think that although their injuries this time were unprovoked, it is still a great opportunity for you to win the hearts of the people."

"Winning over the people's hearts?" Chen Shao asked with great interest, "Explain in detail."

Lei Dehou bowed and said yes, then continued, "When you asked the people to catch the murderer in front of Huichun Hall this afternoon, you got a lot of support. I have been an official for many years and have almost never seen such a situation. Why did these people obey you? I was puzzled at first, but when I was thinking about the compensation plan for the injured people, I suddenly realized that this was why the people were willing to respond to you! Whether you were investigating Shi Xing's case or eliminating the misunderstandings of the people, you always treated people with courtesy, and always thought and solved problems from their perspective. You never bullied anyone because of your status as the Sixth Young Master of Chen Guogong Mansion or the Minister of Dali Temple."

"Your Excellency is capable of investigating cases and is kindhearted. It is only natural that you are supported by the people."

"It was only after thinking this through that I came up with this compensation plan."

Chan Yi was surprised: "I thought the people of Hongyuan County were so enthusiastic."

"The people of Hongyuan County have always been so enthusiastic," Lei Dehou said, "but they are not so enthusiastic towards everyone."

Chen Shao nodded thoughtfully and said, "In this case, we should not disappoint their enthusiasm. The compensation to them will be according to your proposal. In addition..."

Chen Shao looked at Chan Yi and said, "Today, the thirty-six people who helped escort the shop assistants will be paid one hundred coins each. The twenty-one people who dug the bones will be paid five hundred coins per day, and each will be given an additional one or two taels of silver as a subsidy."

Chan Yi and Lei Dehou should be used together.

After returning the compensation plan to Lei Dehou, Chen Shao instructed Chan Yi, "Go to the study and bring me the receipts from those pharmacies."

Chan Yi brought the certificate, and Chen Shao asked her to give it to Lei Dehou, "Look at these medicine shops and see which ones are owned by the Gu, Zhu, Wen, and Fan families. Pick them out for me."

Lei Dehou, like Ding Lisheng, looked through the entire property list after getting the voucher. He didn't see the properties of the Wen and Ren families, so he thought he had missed something, so he looked through it again. After confirming that there were no properties of the Wen and Ren families, he felt gloomy in his heart, but pretended to know nothing and took out all the properties of the Gu, Zhu, Fan, Qi, Ding, Zhao, Hu, and Zhou families.

Since you won't let him have an easy life, then no one else will have an easy life!

After taking the only two remaining vouchers in his hand and handing them to Chan Yi, Chen Shao picked up a pen and marked the vouchers he had picked out while asking, "Have you asked, what's going on with Zhou Zhongtian?"

Lei Dehou lifted his skirt, knelt on the ground, kowtowed three times respectfully, and then said: "Luoyanju is the property of the Wen family and the Ren family, Bitao Garden is the property of the Gu family and the Zhu family, Mingyueyuan is the property of the Fan family and the Qi family, Meiyuan is the property of the Ding family and the Zhao family, that is, the property of Lord Ding and Lord Zhao's family, Meiyuan is the property of the Zhou family and the Hu family, that is, the property of my wife's family and Lord Hu's family, Changlefang is the common property of the Gu family, Zhu family, Fan family, and Qi family, which are the gentry in Jiangnan Road. On the contrary, Happy Forest is the common property of the Wen family, Ren family, Ding family, Zhao family, Zhou family, and Hu family, which are the gentry in Jiannan Road."

No one spoke for a long time.

Even the wind seemed to have stopped.

Chen Shao looked at him quietly until Li Tianliu and Fu Jiu entered the main room one after another and the Yulin Guards quietly surrounded the place. Then she said, "Say what you just said again."

Lei Dehou's back slowly broke out in a layer of cold sweat. After he said everything impulsively out of anger, he belatedly realized that he was afraid. Facing Chen Shao's calm eyes without any ripples, Lei Dehou let the cold sweat roll down his forehead and drip into his eyes, then he opened his mouth with difficulty and slowly repeated what he had just said.

"Write down his words." Chen Shao instructed Chan Yi.

Fu Jiu quickly stepped forward to grind the ink.

Chan Yi forced herself to remain calm and wrote down every word, then gave it to Chen Shao.

Chen Shao read it slowly twice, then looked up at Lei Dehou, "Why are you telling me this all of a sudden?"

Lei Dehou swallowed hard and said, "Before you came to Hongyuan County, although I was a military officer with the power to manage all the departments, in fact, Ding Lisheng was always above me because of the support of the four great families in Jiangnan."

Chen Shao asked calmly: "Why do they support him?"

Lei Dehou shook his head: "This is also a question that I have never been able to figure out."

"Since you can't figure it out," Chen Shao asked slowly, "haven't you checked the reason?"

"I checked it." Lei Dehou said self-deprecatingly, "but I didn't find anything. He even warned me not to meddle in other people's business."

"Several noble families in Jiangnan Road support him, but what about the noble families in Jiannan Road?" Chen Shao asked again.

"Zhao Lin has always stood by him. The Wen and Ren families have openly said they support me." Lei Dehou was not afraid, but now that he had come to this point, he had no way out. "But I know that their so-called support is just to fight against a few noble families in Jiangnan Road."

While Chen Shao was sorting out the relationships between the various noble families, he said, "You mean, the Gu family, the Zhu family, the Fan family, the Qi family, the Ding family, and the Zhao family are a gang; the Ren family, the Wen family, the Zhou family, and the Hu family are a gang?"

"That's true on the surface," Lei Dehou corrected, "In fact, the Gu family has the best relationship with the Zhu family, the Fan family has the best relationship with the Qi family, the Ding family has the best relationship with the Zhao family, the Ren family has the best relationship with the Wen family, and the Zhou family has the best relationship with the Hu family."

After Chen Shao finished marking them one by one, he asked again, "Why do they support Ding Lisheng? Don't you have any idea?"

Lei Dehou said frankly: "Yes, I don't know anything at all."

"Okay." Chen Shao warned, "For your own safety, don't tell anyone a single word of what you said tonight. Also, treat Ding Lisheng the same way you treated him before. Also, don't interfere with any decision made by the Ren, Wen, or Zhou families to deal with Ding Lisheng or anyone else! As for whether or not to add fuel to the fire, I won't force you, but to be on the safe side, you'd better keep your previous habits."

"Yes." Lei Dehou's heart, which had been hanging high, finally settled down.

But his heart fell back to its original place, while Chen Shao's heart was lifted up.