Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Mr. Luo said frankly: "I have seen it."

Chen Shao asked: "When?"

"I forgot the exact time," Mr. Luo replied, "but I saw him three times, and he was picking up pebbles all three times. I thought he was picking them up to build the yard, so I didn't pay much attention to him."

Chen Shao was very dissatisfied with his answer, "Did you know that both of Shi Xing's wives were occupied by Gao Han and others?"

Mr. Luo said honestly, "I know. I have looked for him and wanted to join hands with him to take revenge. After all, he is a teacher of the Imperial College, and he must be able to find out more information than me, but this person really deserves to be bullied. My throat is about to smoke, and he has always said that if Gao Han and Luo Zhengxin knew about it, they would expel him from the Imperial College. Later, I wanted to persuade him, and after secretly following him, I found out that he was not afraid, but he also had a family outside, that is Hu Lilan in Qiwan Lane, Shipailou."

Chen Shao questioned: "Since you knew all this, why did you conceal it when I was searching for evidence after he was arrested?"

Master Luo kowtowed, "It's not that I concealed the truth, it's that I was afraid. When Lord Li was investigating the serial murder case, he was very dedicated. But at the beginning of the 14th year of Yuanhe, I didn't know that my wife had passed away. I was afraid that if my identity was exposed, Fourth Master Zhu would poison them in anger, so I spent ten taels of silver to entrust someone to bring evidence of the Zhu family's evil deeds to Lord Li. As a result, Lord Li took the evidence and beat the person who reported to the police for me to death for false accusation. When Lord Li first came to Hongyuan County, out of respect for the Duke of Chen's Mansion, I also thought about bringing evidence to report to the police, but Lord Cen Yuanzhi revealed that the officers had to pay for renting clothes and shoes, and Lord Li also ignored it, so I had to give up the idea."

"How could the young master ignore it?" Chan Yi couldn't help but explain, "The young master just wanted to investigate the serial murder case first, and then investigate these corruption and abuse of power."

Mr. Luo admitted his mistake and said, "I was just judging you by my own standards. Please forgive me."

She was eager to catch the serial killer at the time, and indeed did not take these matters concerning the interests of the lower-level officials to heart. This was her fault. Chen Shao silently noted this incident and continued to ask, "Why are you not afraid this time?"

Master Luo said frankly: "My Lord chopped off Luo Zhengxin's head. My Lord is different from Master Li and the others."

"Since you know I'm different, you should understand that even if you were trying to save your wife and daughter, you still trafficked boys and girls and ordered others to sell out your sisters." Chen Shao didn't believe him completely, so he didn't appreciate his flattery. "So, even if there is solid evidence that the Zhu family did evil, you will still be beheaded."

Master Luo said calmly: "I know. As long as I can avenge myself, I am willing to do it even if it means being tortured to death."

"In that case," Chen Shao said coldly, "then tell me the truth about where you hid the evidence."

Mr. Luo said it immediately.

Chen Shao looked at Fu Jiu, "Is Liu Deming's father still in the kitchen?"

Fu Jiu nodded.

Chen Shao ordered: "Change your clothes, take two Yulin guards with him, and go back to get the evidence at night. Tomorrow, do the same as today, collect some chickens and ducks as cover and bring them back."

After watching him go, Chen Shao retracted his gaze and asked, "Do you know Wu'er?"

"Fifth...Are you talking about the girl from before?" asked Mr. Luo.

Chen Shao said: "It's her."

"She changed her name," Luo Ye sighed, "she sold herself out after all. Her previous name was Tao Zhen, and she was from Dashu Village. She had two remarkable brothers. If they hadn't been poisoned by the Fourth Master Wen, they would have probably passed the imperial examination. When I went to Dashu Village to collect evidence of the Wen family's evil deeds, I happened to see the Fourth Master Wen's men snatching her second brother. I didn't dare to show up, but I stayed there for a few more days. I witnessed the whole process of her parents suing the officials, and the Fourth Master Wen's men beating her eldest and second brothers to death and throwing them back, and then interrupting her parents.

"I even secretly gave her a few taels of silver and asked her to use it to treat her parents' injuries. Unfortunately, the Fourth Master Wen's men were too cruel, and her parents didn't make it. Later, I never dreamed that she would take the initiative to find me and ask me to sell her to the Wen family. With her beauty, if she really entered those gardens, I'm afraid her end would be miserable."

Mr. Luo didn't know Quan Shuyu, so he naturally didn't know that Quan Shuyu was also in the east wing. After telling him everything he had heard about Quan Shuyu, he said, "The county lady is like this, so she will be even worse. So, I rejected her and advised her not to have such wishful thinking. Who knows if she is still... But it is a blessing to see that she is still alive."

Chen Shao grasped the key point in his words: "Besides her family, what other evil has the Wen family done in Dashu Village?"

"The Wen family has a farm near Dashu Village, but more than half of the fields on the farm are not very good," said Mr. Luo. "In order to turn those fields into good fields, the Wen family came up with a plan to exchange those poor fields with good fields in several surrounding villages. In order to make all the villagers honestly exchange with them, they first picked Muramasa from Dashi Village. Muramasa was definitely unwilling to exchange with them, so they buried Muramasa's family alive to kill the chicken to scare the monkey. They did achieve their goal."

Chen Shao asked uncertainly: "Buried alive?"

Mr. Luo nodded: "Yes, bury him alive."

Li Tianliu quickly prepared the carriage without any instructions. Chen Shao stood up and said as he walked out, "Go and bring Wu'er here, and set off to Dashu Village immediately!"

When she heard that they were going to Dashu Village to investigate her family's case, Wu'er excitedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to Chen Shaomeng before she got up and got on the carriage.

The case was serious, so Li Tianliu arranged for sixty Yulin guards to accompany him.

This was the most lavish outing since Chen Shao came to Hongyuan County. Her every move had always attracted much attention, and now, naturally, she attracted even more attention.

"Call Xu Guang to come along!" Chen Shao ordered in a cold voice after the convoy left the prefectural mansion.

Dashu Village is adjacent to Tongwang County, more than fifty miles away from the county seat. The entire journey is narrow mountain roads. Although Chen Shao urged all the way, it still took him almost two hours to arrive.

The sunset glow has almost faded away.

Night is slowly falling.

In order to avoid any further complications, the convoy went to Dashi Village first.

The place where Hara Muramasa's family from Dashi Village was buried alive was in a cornfield.

The cornfield originally belonged to the Haramura Masa family, and now belongs to the Bun family.

Mr. Luo was already familiar with the case of Hara Muramasa's family being buried alive. Under the light of the bright torches, he quickly brought Chen Shao to the cornfield.