Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Gu family and Zhu family.

Both families are from Wu County. They can stick together in Hongyuan County, so they should be close friends in Wu County as well.

Dealing with these two families would definitely be more difficult than dealing with the Wen family.

Chen Shao was thinking about how to deal with it when Li Tianliu knocked on the door twice. Chen Shao looked over and Li Tianliu said, "Let's eat."

Chen Shao once again looked at the box containing the evidence of the Gu and Zhu families, and motioned Quan Shuyu and Chanyi to go eat first. After returning to work, he paused in front of Li Tianliu before leaving. When Li Tianliu caught up with him, he asked, "Has Zhao Ren been caught?"

"He's been caught," Li Tianliu said lazily, "and he's confessed everything. He gave the person in charge of managing the students twenty taels of silver to enter the academy."

This academy is rotten to the core. Chen Shao secretly judged it and then asked, "Where is he now?"

Li Tianliu asked back: "Do you want to interrogate him?"

Chen Shao denied it. "I have found evidence that he and Li Hongqiang bought the two girls, proving that what Wang Zheng said is true. Fu Jiu... Fu Jiu went to pick up Cheng Erya, so you can send someone to tell Wang Zheng's grandfather to go to Huimin Pharmacy to find Master Qi today or tomorrow."

Li Tianliu waved and called a Yulin guard over. After passing on her instructions, he replied, "There is no room in the prison anymore. I asked Fu Jiu to throw him to those gardens to fight with the other students."

Chen Shao asked, "How many corpses have been pieced together?"

"It's still early." Li Tianliu said slowly, "So far, we haven't even finished the Luoyan Residence."

Chen Shao frowned, but said nothing. He continued to ask, "How about digging bones? How many gardens have you finished digging?"

Li Tianliu said, "I went to see them yesterday. The family digging the bones was dawdling and crying all day. Before we asked them to dig the bones, Fu Jiu and I had already dug one and a half gardens, and the twenty-one people dug three more gardens. Now they have quite a few people, but as of yesterday, they haven't even finished digging one garden."

Chen Shao frowned: "Xu Guang didn't mention them?"

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Li Tianliu raised his eyebrows. “It’s just that every time I say something, it doesn’t last even half an hour, and then it goes back to its old ways.”

"Then go tell Xu Guang to... that's all." Chen Shao stopped talking in time, "You can arrange for someone to call Xu Guang back and ask him to get ready. After dinner, he will go with us to the other Wen family farms. Also, tell the imperial guards or yamen runners who are guarding those gardens that no matter who is digging bones or putting bones together, if they dawdle again, they will be whipped."

"It should have been done a long time ago." Li Tianliu said, "For the things they did, they don't deserve death. What's the big deal about a few beatings?"

As he said this, he waved to the Yulin Guards to make arrangements.

After breakfast and a short rest, Fu Jiu returned with Cheng Erya.

When Cheng Erya saw Chen Shao, she knelt down on the ground obediently and kowtowed to her three times, "Erya greets the adults."

Chen Shao motioned Chan Yi to help her up, then waved for her to come closer, and asked her to sit next to him, then pushed the snacks in front of her, "Erya, little friend, have you had breakfast?"

Cheng Erya quietly swallowed her saliva at the snack, then quickly looked away and said, "I've eaten."

Chen Shao tilted his head and teased her, "Lying is not a good behavior."

Cheng Erya quickly said, "I haven't eaten yet."

As Chan Yi prepared breakfast for her, she asked softly, "If you haven't eaten yet, why did Erya say you've eaten?"

Cheng Erya thought about it and said truthfully: "Grandpa said that when we arrive at the governor's mansion, we must listen to the adults and the master and not cause trouble for them."

Chan Yi brought the snacks to her and told her to eat slowly while still speaking softly, "Grandpa said not to cause trouble means not to be naughty, not to not eat."

Cheng Erya said seriously: "I remember it."

In fact, her grandfather also told her that after arriving at the prefectural governor's mansion, she should not be like a starving ghost and want to eat everything she sees, but she thought that her grandfather said this because he was afraid that she would not be liked by the adults and would be driven back. But the adults and the people around them all seemed to be good people, so she didn't need to say anything more about her grandfather's concerns about her.

While she was still eating, Chen Shao told Chan Yi: "Go and invite Zheng Hua over."

He then told Fu Jiu and Li Tianliu: "You two should take shelter for now."

Zheng Hua came over cautiously, and when he saw that there was no one else in the room, he relaxed a little and looked at Cheng Erya. Cheng Erya had finished her meal, and when she saw Zheng Hua enter the room, she looked at Chen Shao, asking her with her eyes if this was the master who was going to teach Juanhua. After seeing Chen Shao nod, she slid down the chair swiftly, walked to her obediently, knelt on the ground, kowtowed and shouted: "Erya greets the master."

The soft and sweet voice struck Zheng Hua immediately. He quickly stepped forward to help her up, took out the hibiscus hairpin prepared in his sleeve and put it on her hair. He then brushed the dust off her legs and said, "I am only ten years older than you. From now on, you don't have to call me Master. Just call me Sister."

Cheng Erya touched the silk flower on her head, smiled brightly and said "thank you, sister", then ran back quickly, picked up the package she brought, came back to her side, handed it to her and said, "This is a gift that my grandfather, my mother and I prepared for you, sister. Open it and see if you like it."

In Cheng Erya's package was a new set of clothes, three peach hairpins, a peace amulet and a sachet.

"This dress was made by mother for my sister. Mother said she didn't know what my sister's size was, so she made it according to my eldest sister's size. Mother said if it doesn't fit my sister, let me take it back and have it altered for her." Cheng Erya pointed at the items in the package and introduced them one by one like presenting treasures. "These three peach tree hairpins were made by my grandfather from the old peach tree in the yard. Grandpa said that this peach tree was the only one in the family that was worth some money, so he asked my sister not to despise it. This is the amulet I prayed for my sister at Fuze Temple, and this sachet was embroidered by me myself. Mother said it was too ugly and wouldn't let me give it to my sister, so I secretly stuffed it in the package and brought it here."

Zheng Hua's eyes were moistened the moment she opened the package and saw the gift. After hearing her introduction, tears could not stop rolling down her cheeks.

Cheng Erya was young and didn't know what she had experienced. Seeing her crying, she thought she didn't like the gifts. She wiped her tears and said, "Sister, don't cry. If you don't like these gifts, we can just throw them away."

Zheng Hua quickly wiped away two tears, and said with a smile while crying: "No, sister likes it very much."

"Then why is sister crying?" Cheng Erya asked puzzledly.

"Sister is happy." Zheng Hua carefully put away the package, stood up, took her hand, and said to Chen Shao, "If you have nothing else to do, I will take her back."

Looking at her exceptionally bright eyes and eyebrows, Chen Shao nodded: "Go."

"I didn't expect that just a few simple gifts could move her so much." Looking at her receding back, Chan Yi said in disbelief.

Quan Shuyu said: "That is not a simple gift."

"Okay." Chen Shao interrupted them and told Chan Yi, "It's getting late, pack up and get ready to go to Daqiao Town."

He also instructed Quan Shuyu: "This time, it will take at least six or seven days for you to come back. Don't worry about anything related to the case, and you can take care of the rest."

The whole book is good.

The personnel configuration for going to Daqiao Town this time was the same as last time. In addition to Xu Guang, Hu Qinglu, and Luo Ye, there were also the 25 students who maintained order at Huimin Pharmacy.

Free medical treatment and free medicine, the people who came to see the doctor yesterday proved that Huimin Pharmacy was true, which led to more people coming to see the doctor today. And after the students' busy maintenance yesterday, the people who came to see the doctor today also learned to queue up consciously.

The students are no longer of much use.

Moreover, compared to maintaining order, which everyone can do, the students are more willing to follow Chen Shao to work on the farm. Chen Shao, the Wen family has 52 farms, and she can't do everything in person. She also needs to train a group of people as soon as possible to replace her to deal with the aftermath. Based on the above two reasons, Chen Shao decisively withdrew 25 students from Huimin Pharmacy and asked Qi Ye to find a few civilians to maintain order on the scene.

Since Ren Zhonghang asked him to guard the Wen family's granary that day, he has been keeping an eye on Chen Shao's movements for the past two days. After hearing that she was coming to Daqiao Town, he left the town early to wait for her. When he saw her carriage coming from afar, he hurried to meet her. When her carriage slowly stopped, he hurriedly bowed and said, "Zhonghang greets you, sir."

Chen Shao looked at him through the car window: "What's the matter?"

Ren Zhongxing said respectfully, "The story of the young master distributing grain and returning land at the previous farm of the Wen family has spread widely. The people near the farm have been waiting for the young master to come over in the past two days. Some of them couldn't wait and even waited in front of the farm early. Zhongxing was afraid that they would disturb the young master, so he came here to report to him and lead the way for him."

"Let's go then." Chen Shao said.

Ren Zhongxing respectfully replied, and wanted to follow on horseback. However, seeing that the accompanying Yulin Guards and students were all riding horses, he had no choice but to mount his horse and lead the way alongside the Yulin Guards.

The Wen family’s farm in Daqiao Town is also to the west of the town, less than four miles away from the granary.

Just as Ren Zhongxing said, the people around the village had been waiting for her for a long time. When they saw her coming, they immediately took their winnowing baskets and backpacks and followed the caravan to the village together.

Many people were waiting in front of Zhuangzi.

After the carriage stopped beside the farm, the waiting people immediately stood up and gathered towards the farm.

"Everyone, don't worry," Chen Shao stood on the carriage and shouted to the surroundings, "We will distribute the grain when it's due, and return the land when it's due. We won't give anyone less. But before distributing the grain, we have to count how much grain is in stock in the farm, so that we can estimate how much to distribute to everyone. It will be done soon, so please don't crowd."

"Master, please take your time to check. We are not in a hurry!"

"Yes, we are not in a hurry!"

Listening to the shouts of the crowd, Chen Shao bowed his hands to express his gratitude to all four directions, and quickly said to Li Tianliu: "Arrange for someone to check the manor immediately."

He then said to Hu Qinglu, "Take ten students with you, and you don't have to go to the village. Just check in the village the number of good farmlands that have been occupied by each household and the time when they were occupied."

Then he asked Mr. Luo: "Have you picked out all the evidence related to Zhuangzi here?"

Mr. Luo quickly replied, "I've picked them all out. There are eight in total."

Chen Shao said "OK", turned around and told Xu Guang: "Follow Master Luo and verify the details of these eight pieces of evidence."

After everyone went about their business, Chen Shao led the remaining fifteen students into the Wen Family Manor, "Do you remember how the food was distributed in the last manor?"

The students answered in a scattered manner: "I remember."

"Okay." Chen Shao ordered, "Today's food distribution will be handed over to you, go and prepare."

The students scattered instantly.

Ren Zhongxing looked at the students who were carrying tables and stools, looking for scales, dustpans, and account books, and said with envy, "Sir, the managers and servants of the manor are all locked up in the woodshed."

Chen Shao said, "Just like last time, please help the Ren family deliver it to the prefect's mansion."

Ren Zhongxing responded positively, and after taking another look at the busy students, he tentatively said, "Zhongxing can also help with the food distribution."

Chen Shao looked back at him and said, "If you really want to help, go and invite the village chiefs from each village."

Ren Zhongxing immediately said, "Zhongxing will go and invite them right away!"

Looking at his fast-paced back, Chen Shao raised his eyebrows, followed the students' footsteps, and walked to the granary, "How is it?"

The imperial guard who was counting the granary replied, "It's about the same size as the granary in the previous farm, and the amount of grain stored is roughly the same."

"The accounting office has more than 520 taels of silver and more than 300 strings of cash." Another Yulin guard came over and said.

"That's enough. Just like the last village, each family will first receive 100 kilograms of rice, 30 kilograms of wheat, 10 kilograms of rice and 5 kilograms of flour. You guys prepare first, I'll go outside and let them line up to get the food." Chen Shao said, and then came out to the yard. The village chiefs of each village were also among the people waiting for the food distribution. Ren Zhongxing didn't ask a few questions, and the village chiefs squeezed out one after another. Chen Shao happened to come out of the house, and Ren Zhongxing led them to surround him.

There are only three villages involved in the Wen family's farm, including Daqiao Town. Chen Shao didn't bother to be polite with them and directly ordered: "The sun is already very high, quickly line up according to the village and go to collect the food now."

After the village chiefs went back to get people to line up, Chen Shao called Hu Qinglu back from the busy crowd with a cold face, and asked Ren Zhongxing in front of him and the ten students who were working with him, "When was the Wen family's farm bought?"

Ren Zhongxing quickly glanced at Hu Qinglu, then answered cautiously, "It should have been purchased in the twelfth month of the ninth year of the Yuanhe reign."

Chen Shao asked again: "Did the Wen family's farm occupy all the good farmland in these three villages?"

Ren Zhongxing said conservatively: "That's about right, but the fields here are basically medium-quality, so even if the Wen family encroached on their superior fields, the situation is not as serious as the previous farm."

He didn't know how serious it was. Of course, Chen Shao didn't correct him: "Did the Wen family occupy their land as soon as they came?"

Ren Zhongxing answered honestly: "That's about right."

Chen Shao stopped asking him and turned to Hu Qinglu and said, "Give me what you found."

Hu Qinglu gritted his teeth and handed over the paper in his hand.

Looking at the information of more than ten households on the paper, Chen Shao sneered and threw it at him, "Is this your attitude towards work?"

Hu Qinglu knelt on the ground in panic, "Sir..."

"That's enough," Chen Shao interrupted him coldly, "I don't want to hear any more begging for mercy. Go back to the governor's mansion and wait for your punishment!"

Hu Qinglu kowtowed with a dejected look on his face, then climbed up using his hands and feet and staggered away.

Chen Shao glanced at the silent Ren Zhongxing, then at the silent people around him, and finally at the ten students. He said indifferently: "If you want to work with me, besides being diligent, the most important thing is to have brains! Go and help a few village chiefs maintain order, and then take them to the villages to collect food!"

Ten students ran there in a hurry.