Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

During the fifteen years that Chen Shao lived with Huiyin, she did not always live in the mountains without going out. Huiyin always used the medical skills she taught her on patients to verify how much she had learned. Every time Huiyin took her down the mountain, she went to the remote mountainous areas on the border.

As she traveled more, she found that border management was mostly concentrated in important cities and deep mountain areas, where management was relatively lax. As long as one was willing to take risks, there were actually many ways to cross the border to other countries.

In fact, Huiyin had taken her across the border more than once.

Therefore, although the Fenglong Company's private business dealings with people from other countries at the border were strictly prohibited, she thought it was normal. As long as it was not a rebellious activity, she did not intend to pursue it, at least not for now.

She also knew what Zhao Qiang meant by what he said. She didn't blame him, and of course she wouldn't respond. She just continued to ask, "How many people are there in each business?"

"There are always eighty or ninety people." Zhao Qiang said, and couldn't help but secretly glance at her. Seeing her peaceful expression, he knew that she had heard his calculations, but just didn't care about it. Thinking that she still remembered his earlier request so late at night and kept him to ask questions, he couldn't help but feel ashamed and said, "My lord, I..."

Chen Shao smiled: "It's okay."

Zhao Qiang's mind suddenly heated up, "My Lord, please feel free to ask anything you want to ask. I will tell you everything I know."

After saying this, he regretted it.

Fortunately, Chen Shao didn't take it to heart. He just responded in a cooperative way and then asked, "What kind of vehicles do you use when you transport goods?"

Zhao Qiang said: "We have both donkey carts and horse carts, and most of the time we use both. The same is true for the other two businesses."

Chen Shao: "Besides the merchants who go to various counties or towns to collect goods, are there other people who often go from village to village?"

Zhao Qiang blurted out: "My Lord is suspicious..."

Chen Shao glanced at him.

Zhao Qiang immediately shut up, and after a while, he exhaled and said, "Yes, Ma Dali, who sells sesame cakes in the town, and Pi Ziyun, who sells tofu, often go to various villages to sell their wares. Diao An, who sells manure, also rotates between villages. Gao Qiang, the vegetable vendor, comes from time to time. Zhao Liu from the village is a bricklayer, and Xiong San, who works with him, comes occasionally. These are basically the people."

Chen Shao asked bluntly: "Who among them has a car?"

Zhao Qiang said: "All of them."

If both are present, then everyone is a suspect.

Stopping at the entrance of the village, Chen Shao turned and looked at the village.

Bathed in the moonlight, Zhaojia Village is peaceful and tranquil.

The chirping of insects and the occasional barking of dogs complement each other.

Chen Shao watched quietly for a while before continuing to ask, "Are there any of the merchants and Ma Dali and others who can get along well with the people in each village?"

"Shanghang and Ma Dali are all businessmen," Zhao Qiang said. "Businessmen do repeat business, and very few of them would have a problem with the villagers."

That makes sense. Chen Shao turned to look at him: "Were you at home last night?"

Zhao Qiang said yes, and took the initiative to ask: "My lord, you want to know why no one came out to see when the dog was barking last night?"

After Chen Shao nodded, Zhao Qiang explained, "There were thieves in the village a few years ago. They were a few idle lazy men from the neighboring village who got drunk and suddenly wanted to extort some pocket money. At that time, they broke into Uncle Zhou Gen's house. Uncle Zhou Gen didn't know they were thieves, so he opened the door when he heard the dog barking. As a result, he saw those lazy men chopping and hacking at the dog with kitchen knives or axes. Uncle Zhou Gen was scared, and the villagers were also shocked when they saw the dog being chopped into several pieces. Since then, as soon as it gets dark, no one is willing to open the door no matter how the dog barks, for fear of encountering desperate thieves who mistake people for dogs."

No wonder.

Chen Shao was silent for a while before he asked, "What happened to Sanwa?"

"Sanwa..." Zhao Qiang responded instinctively, and his throat suddenly became hoarse.

Chen Shao comforted him, "Don't worry, just take your time."

"Sanwa..." Zhao Qiang took a deep breath and said reluctantly, "He was born when his second brother was almost eight years old, so his mother and grandmother inevitably favored him a little. Although he was only two years old, he was already very good at bullying his eldest sister and second brother by relying on his grandmother and mother's favoritism. The business of the company was good in those years, and I was at home for less than a month a year. It was not easy to come back, so naturally I couldn't bear to scold him, which encouraged him to be naughty. On the day of the accident, his grandmother was not feeling well, and his mother was boiling medicine. I don't know how he ran out of the house and disappeared."

Chen Shao slowly walked towards his home, "How long did he go out before his mother discovered he was missing?"

"I don't know the exact time, but it's probably no more than an hour." Zhao Qiang explained, "My home is in the middle of the village, and my neighbors are all cousins. He used to go to their homes when he went out. So when his mother first found out that he was not at home, she didn't take it seriously, thinking that he had gone to his cousin's house to play again. It was not until she boiled the medicine and fed him milk that she went out to look for him and realized that he was gone."

"His mother searched the whole village but couldn't find him. When Second Master found out, he called several people to look for him. They searched for most of the night but couldn't find him. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't find him..."

It was already the end of the night, and the villagers should have gone to bed.

But the news that Chen Shao would not only stay for dinner but also rest here at night stimulated many people so much that they could not sleep.

Every household closed their doors and discussed the matter in low voices:

"A-mei is really lucky. In the past, when so many people got into trouble, no one came to take a look. But when she got into trouble, even such big shots came."

"Maybe it was Sanwa's grandmother and mother who kept talking to the Bodhisattva every day, and that's why they did that."

"I heard he's the sixth son of a duke's mansion. He's good-looking and very kind, without any airs of an official. I wonder if he's married yet?"

"It's not your turn if you haven't gotten married yet. Okay, go to sleep."

"Who is planning for himself? I saw that there was only one servant beside him, so I thought of sending Arya over there if I had the chance. Forget it, let's go to sleep. I don't know what kind of person the murderer is, to be so cruel..."

Chen Shao couldn't hear their discussions, but amidst their discussions, he arrived at the door of Zhao Qiang's house.

Zhao Qiang's house is not on the side of the road which is more than half a meter wide, but there is a small gravel road leading directly to his doorstep.

Almost every household in the village has a small courtyard in front of its door, with a vegetable field in the courtyard.

Zhao Qiang's family is no exception.

"This is my eldest brother's house. Next to him is my second brother," Zhao Qiang pointed to the houses on both sides of his house and introduced them one by one. "This is my fifth brother's house. These are my eldest uncle's and my younger uncle's families. I only have two sisters. They married and moved to other villages a few years ago."

Following his introduction, Chen Shao looked at the houses on both sides.

His eldest and second brothers lived next to his house, and his fifth brother lived about ten feet away from his house. There was a thatched house in this distance, with a cow and five sheep in it.

There is a mountain behind his yard, where he raises chickens, ducks, geese and other animals.

And he has a dog at home.

When they came here, the dog came out and barked for a long time. It stopped barking only after Zhao Qiang stopped it.

With such a location and configuration, it is not easy to take a child away quietly.

Unless they are acquaintances and...

Chen Shao: "What time was it when Sanwa disappeared?"

Zhao Qiang replied: "It should be the end of the You hour and the beginning of the Xu hour."

Sure enough, it was already dark.

Chen Shao then asked him to take him to the place where Sanwa's body was found.