Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

The Yulin Guards stretched out their hands.

Chen Shao ordered Wu'er: "Go find a flat stone."

Wu Er found the stone, and after Chen Shao told her to fix it, she ordered the Yu Lin Wei to drag the servants over and put their hands on the stone. Then she stood in front of the stone, took the hoe and hit the servants' hands twice, "I don't know how many bones this stick can break."

"It was the Fourth Young Master who took a fancy to their beauty!" When Chen Shao raised the hoe high and prepared to hit them, the servant could no longer hold on and struggled and shouted, "They refused to obey, so the Fourth Young Master asked us to beat them! Their parents... their parents were the ones that the Fourth Young Master heard about and asked us to capture their sister. We didn't catch them, so we beat them. It was all the Fourth Young Master's instructions!"

"I see." Chen Shao glanced at Wu'er who had no idea what was going on, put away the hoe handle, and ordered the Yulin Guards, "Drag them away and kill them."

“Wait!” Wen Shengwu could no longer hold back. He ignored Wen Zhongtian’s attempts to stop him and took two steps forward, shouting, “Who can prove that the corpses in the coffin are those of that bitch’s two brothers, and that it wasn’t that bitch who colluded with her two brothers to use the nameless corpses to frame our Wen family!”

"First of all, her name is not Bitch, but Tao Zhen. Secondly, not only can she prove that the bones in the coffin are her two brothers, but everyone in this village can prove it." Chen Shao said calmly, "Since you suspect that they are framing your Wen family, then show them the evidence they use to frame your Wen family!"

Wen Shengwu snorted coldly: "Why do they say it is true?"

Chen Shao glanced at the servants and said, "They also said that they are from your Wen family."

Wen Shengwu sneered: "You confessed under torture!"

Chen Shao looked at him quietly. "Who did I frame? Did I force them to accuse Wen Ting?"

Wen Shengwu said angrily, "You are the sixth son of the Duke of Chen's mansion, and you are also the chief justice of the Dali Temple. If you hit them, aren't you forcing them to accuse my son?"

Chen Shao walked towards him with a smile, and stopped three steps away from him. He suddenly kicked him away, and then took a few quick steps. Before he could get up, he stepped on him to the ground again, knocked him on the head with the hoe and said, "So what if I forced you? In order to protect the Datong country and the people of Datong, my second uncle and I are the only ones left in the mansion. Your Wen family is so good, not only do you use the peace that my Chen Guogong Mansion bought with our lives to oppress the people, but you also have the nerve to scold me for forcing your son?"

"If your son doesn't do anything that is against the will of heaven and earth, why would I, the Sixth Young Master of the Duke of Chen's Mansion and the Minister of the Supreme Court, have to lower myself to force him?"

After stepping hard on him, Chen Shao took two steps back with a cold face: "Drag him down as well and kill him together!"

"Wait a minute!" Wen Zhongtian stepped forward quickly, bowed his hands respectfully and said, "My lord, please understand. Shengwu is just eager to protect his son, and he has no other intentions. The Wen family has never oppressed the people. The Wen family only learned about the incident on the farm today."

"You only found out today?" Chen Shao sneered twice and walked towards him. "I won't say that without the connivance of the Wen family, how can they be so bold. I just want to ask you, the fact that the grain sent to the Wen family by this farm every quarter far exceeds the actual output, you also only found out today?"

"It's because the Wen family didn't manage it well. It's also because there are so many Wen family farms that there may be some neglected areas..."

Chen Shao kicked him.

The servants who followed him immediately surrounded Chen Chao the moment he flew backwards.

"Let's see who dares to move!" Following Li Tianliu's murderous voice, the Yulin Guards drew out their swords and surrounded them like lightning.

The servants of the Wen family usually relied on the power of the Wen family to bully others. The Yulin Guards were the best of the best and had killed countless people. As soon as the Yulin Guards moved, a murderous aura instantly enveloped the surroundings, and the servants of the Wen family immediately stopped their actions.

Chen Shao walked through the Yulin Guards and headed towards Wen Zhongtian. Li Tianliu and Chan Yi followed her closely. Wherever they passed, the servants of the Wen family instinctively dispersed to the sides. Walking slowly to Wen Zhongtian, Chen Shao stepped on his chest, looked down at him and shouted, "Ding Lisheng!"

The Yulin Guards' murderous intent completely stunned Ding Lisheng. This was the first time he saw their brutal nature since they came to Hongyuan County. After hearing Chen Shao calling him, Ding Lisheng took a deep breath, rubbed his chest, and then ran over quickly, bowed and said, "I'm here!"

"Read to me all the evil deeds done by the Wen family one by one!" Chen Shao ordered.

Ding Lisheng responded, and after a quick glance at Wen Zhongtian, he ran back to Fu Jiu, took out the paper from the box, and read it aloud. As the evil deeds were announced one after another, including the time, location, victim, and perpetrator... the villagers' discussion became louder and louder, and the faces of Wen Zhongtian, Wen Shengwu, Wen Ting, and others gradually turned from anger to pale, and then from pale to fear.

Finally, Wen Zhongtian and Wen Shengwu realized that Zhuangzi's occupation of the villagers' fertile land and Wen Ting's beating and killing of Wu'er's parents and his eldest and second brothers were all just a cover. Chen Shao asked them to come here in order to avoid other nobles and deal with the Wen family alone!

"How much is left to read?" After half a cup of tea, Chen Shao interrupted Ding Lisheng, looking at Wen Zhongtian's stiff body. Ding Lisheng glanced into the box and answered loudly: "I have only read a small part, and there is still a lot to read."

"We've only read half of it, and there are already more than a dozen Wen family members who have committed crimes," Chen Shao pressed Wen Zhongtian with his toes, "Are these Wen family members unaware of this?"

Wen Zhongtian was over seventy years old, and his body was not as strong as Wen Shengwu's. After being kicked to the ground by her, he couldn't get up. Now that she was stepping on his chest, he couldn't even breathe. The pain in his body and the fear in his heart made Wen Zhongtian argue: "This is a false accusation!"

"Really?" Chen Shao sneered twice and ordered Li Tianliu, "Drag these servants away, ask their names clearly, and kill their three clans! If there is anyone who reports it, the three clans can be spared!"

There were sixty Yulin guards who came with them, while there were only twenty or thirty servants who came with the Wen family. Frightened out of their wits, the Yulin guards easily controlled them. In addition, due to the residual power of Chen Shao's previous beating with a hoe, most of the servants began to confess like bamboo tubes pouring beans before they were punished. The facts confessed by many people were almost the same as what Ding Lisheng read out.

Chen Shao ordered: "Let all those who confess put their fingerprints on the corresponding evidence!"

Wen Zhongtian said sternly, "You have been tortured into confessing. My Wen family absolutely does not recognize this evidence!"

"Since you mentioned torture to get a confession," Chen Shao ordered, "Drag Wen Shengwu and Wen Ting away and treat them well. Make sure they confess all the evil deeds they have done!"

Wen Zhongtian knew better than anyone what kind of people Wen Ting and Wen Shengwu were. The faster the servants told him, the faster they would tell him. Frightened and angry, he couldn't help but shout, "How dare you!"

Chen Shao put a little more force on his foot and stepped on the struggling man again: "I dare not do that, didn't I step on you?"

Wen Zhongtian threatened in a hurry, "Mr. Chen Liu is a smart man, he should know the matter of the straw mat and the coffin. Even if you use a trick to get the desired result, it is just the respect given to you by the nobles of Hongyuan County! The nobles of Hongyuan County have always been united. If Mr. Chen Liu wants to continue to live in peace, let us go. I can let go of what happened today, otherwise don't blame us for not giving face to you, the Duke of Chen's Mansion and you, Mr. Chen Liu!"

Finally, he forced out these words! Chen Shao raised his eyebrows calmly, then slowly looked at Ding Lisheng: "Your Ding family is also one of the noble families in Hongyuan County. Tell me, if I don't let him go today, how are you going to save face for the Duke of Chen's Mansion and my Sixth Master Chen?"

His Ding family is saved, his Ding family is saved! When reading the evidence of the Wen family's evil deeds, Ding Lisheng's voice was loud, but in fact he was already scared in his heart. He didn't know how to wash away the sins of the Ding family, but he didn't expect Wen Zhongtian to be so sensible! Ding Lisheng concealed his excitement, knelt on the ground with a plop, kowtowed hard, and said loudly and righteously: "My lord, my Ding family is the most loyal to the emperor and the country. Apart from the emperor, the one we respect the most is the Chen Guogong Mansion. I don't know and don't care who the Wen family will advance and retreat with, but the Wen family has committed many evils and should be executed according to the law. If the Wen family is dissatisfied and wants to use this to cause trouble, I and the Ding family will be the first to disagree, and we are willing to be soldiers!"

"Very good." Chen Shao was very satisfied with his progress. He loosened his feet, stepped back two steps and said, "Come and tie him up. I want to see which noble families in Hongyuan County are willing to stand together with the Wen family!"

It's done! Ding Lisheng quickly got up, borrowed a rope from the Imperial Guards, and tied him up in a few seconds. Hearing that he dared to curse, Bang Bang punched him twice and said, "If you have the energy to curse, you might as well confess your accomplices as soon as possible, so that you can suffer less!"

As if agreeing with him, the screams and confessions of Wen Shengwu and Wen Ting were heard at the right time.

Wen Zhongtian's expression changed instantly, and he cursed even more viciously: "You traitorous beast..."

Ding Lisheng punched him in the stomach, and while he was in pain, he quickly took off his shoes, peeled off his socks, rolled them into a ball, grabbed his hair, and forced it into his mouth, "You're half buried in the earth, and you're still refusing to drink my toast? Drink the penalty wine!"

Chen Shao did not stop his evil deeds.

The wicked should be punished by the wicked.

The servants who came with the Wen family were all confidants of Wen Zhongtian and others. The crimes they confessed, gradually sliding to a level that he could not touch from the evidence collected by Luo Ye. Especially the crimes confessed by several stewards, some of which were simply horrifying!

For example, Wen Zhongtian, who nearly died of a serious illness in his early years and was later saved by a wandering sorcerer, drank a bowl of heart blood of a 10-year-old boy every month after he recovered, and took a yin date every day. At least 20 boys and girls died at his hands for this bowl of heart blood and yin dates!

New pieces of evidence came like snowflakes and soon piled up into a thick pile.

At this time, Xu Guang came back.

Chen Shao suppressed the coldness on his face and asked, "Have you finished cleaning?"

After Xu Guang quickly glanced around, he answered with a tired face, "A total of thirteen bodies were found. One was a woman in her seventies, one was a woman in her fifties, two were women between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five, two were men in their thirties and above, two were women in their seventeens and eighteens, one was a man in his fifties, one was a man fifteen or sixteen, and three were children between the ages of five or six and eleven or twelve."

Chen Shao signaled Ding Lisheng: "Go ask those managers who is in charge of this manor and who are the people working in the manor."

After Ding Lisheng left, Xu Guang waited for a while. Seeing that there was nothing for him to do, he wanted to find a place to rest. While scanning, he saw the shadows of several coffins vaguely revealed in the alternation of light and darkness of the fire. He immediately became alert and walked towards that direction. When he got closer, he saw the leg bones pieced together on the straw mat next to the coffin. His eyes lit up slightly and asked Wu'er who was guarding this place: "Did the adults piece this together?"

Wu'er nodded.

Xu Guang didn't care whether she was willing or not, he asked for a torch and came closer to observe. After a while, he stood up and squatted next to another leg bone. After observing this leg bone, he first stood up to take a look at the bones in the coffin, and then asked Wu'er: "Who is in this coffin?"

Wu Er looked at his eyes, which were shining brightly in the firelight, warily: "It's my father, my mother, and my elder and second brothers."

"Well..." Xu Guang asked tentatively, "Can I piece together their corpses?"

Fearing that she would disagree, Xu Guang quickly said, "Although my craftsmanship is not as good as yours, think about it, isn't having a complete corpse also a kind of consolation?"

Wu Er originally disagreed, but after hearing what he said, she reluctantly said, "Then you fight."

"Thank you, Miss Wu'er!" Xu Guang thrust the torch into her hand and said, "Come here and light it for me."

The night is long, but it cannot withstand the noise of human voices.

Even with the help of Tao Ming and others, it was already dawn after all the servants were interrogated.

"Tie up the stewards, and kill the rest of the servants, including Wen Shengwu and Wen Ting!" Chen Shao ordered, facing the rising sun. The Yulin Guards were about to take action, but Li Tianliu stopped them, "Don't dirty the land here, take them to that farm and kill them!"

Chen Shao looked at the land that had been trampled all night and was in a state of disarray, and agreed, "Then take them to the farm and kill them."

When the Yulin Guards led their men to the village, Chen Shao deliberately slowed down a few steps. He first ordered Chan Yi to convert the damaged fields into money to compensate the villagers. Later, when he was about to tell Wu Er that she could bury her parents and her elder and second brothers, he saw Xu Guang concentrating on reassembling the bones. After a slight pause, he changed his words and said, "The murderer who killed your parents and your elder and second brothers will be executed soon. Once he finishes reassembling the bones, you can bury them again."

After Wu'er agreed, Chen Shao looked at Tao Yi and Ruan Hong and his wife: "Although the murderer of Tao Ping and Tao Quan has not been caught yet, Zhuangzi belongs to the Wen family. Executing the Wen family can be regarded as revenge for them."

Tao Yi and Ruan Hong knelt down and kowtowed to her to thank her. Chen Shao bowed to them in return, and bowed to the people who had watched the excitement all night standing on the hilltops or on the ridges of the fields, and then chased in the direction of Zhuangzi.