Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Zhao Shan's uncle and aunt lived with his grandfather, about a hundred steps away from Zhao Tianhai's house. They soon came over with their family.

The group walked into the main room hesitantly and knelt down before saying a word.

"Sir, spare my life," Zhao Shan's uncle Zhao Changping kowtowed twice and rushed to say, "It was my father and mother who drove them out, and it was my father and mother who asked us to go and collect food from my eldest sister-in-law's house. If we didn't go, they would have driven us out too. We were forced to do these stupid things."

"You beast, I'm your father, and you're slandering me like this, aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?" Zhao Shan's grandfather, Zhao Yongsheng, raised his hand to slap him. Zhao Changping hid in fear and shouted, "My Lord is watching here, even if you beat me to death, don't even think about me lying again!"

Zhao Yongsheng was so frightened that he quickly withdrew his hand and imitated him, kowtowed and cried out: "My Lord, please help us. These two beasts are throwing mud at us without any evidence. It's obvious that they think we are too old and useless, and they want us to die quickly so that they can save a few mouthfuls of food. My Lord, please drag these disloyal and unfilial dogs out and beat them to death."

"We are unfaithful and unfilial? Do you still have a conscience?" Zhao Changping's wife was not happy when she heard this. "Let's not talk about how we have taken good care of you two all these years. When your elder brother was sick, it was just a common cold. He could have recovered with just a few doses of medicine. Did we make you reluctant to spend money to buy medicine for him, and that's why he died? After your elder brother passed away, did we drive your elder sister-in-law and her daughter out? When your elder sister-in-law's two grandsons came to see you, did we not open the door for them, thinking they were beggars?"

"That's right," Zhao Changping echoed, hiding behind her. "Big brother is in poor health and can't farm. You disliked him eating and drinking for free, and tried every means to drive him out. Big brother had no choice but to teach the children in the village to read in order to earn some food to survive. You see, the villagers are kind, and they can eat and dress warmly without you having to farm anymore, so you started to dislike us again. After trying every means to drive us out, you took the saved food and exchanged it for money. That was all big brother's hard-earned money, but when he was sick, you refused to use it to buy medicine for him. Big brother was killed by you!

"Now that my eldest brother is gone, you can no longer eat and drink for free, so you drove my eldest sister-in-law out and brought us back. We worked hard from dawn to dusk to support you, but you complained that we couldn't let you have everything you wanted like when my eldest brother was alive, so you forced us to deal with my eldest sister-in-law and take back the food she grew to sell for money. We finally met an adult to make decisions for my eldest sister-in-law and her family, but you still want us to continue to deceive them. If we really did what you wanted, we would be disloyal and unfilial."

"You two beasts!" Zhao Changping's mother, Zhu, slapped her thigh and cried, "We raised you to this age, so what if we eat a few of your grains? When your eldest brother was alive, he never said a harsh word to us? Look at you... Oh my God, why weren't you the ones who died in the first place!"

Chen Shao drank his tea quietly and let them quarrel with each other.

Regardless of whether the murderer was "eliminating harm for the people" or not, Tao A-mei's death is closely related to them.

If we want to redress the injustice for Tao A-mei, or if we want to prevent the next Tao A-mei from being murdered, we need to solve not only the problem of catching the murderer, but also the selfishness of his family.

Soon, Zhou and Zhao Shan also came with Da Niu and Er Niu.

Hearing their quarrel from afar, the two began to feel uneasy. When they entered the main room and saw them kneeling on the ground in a crowd, they quickly knelt down as well.

"My dear daughter-in-law, we have wronged you before. You have been so devoted to us, but we did not appreciate your kindness. This is really wrong." Zhu tightly grasped Zhou's hand and sobbed, "Now that I see these two ungrateful people, I know that you are the one who truly treats us well."

Zhao Changping's wife sneered, "If that's what you said, mother, when we go back later, you two elders can ask your eldest sister-in-law to move back and continue to support you. Changping and I will move over there. Anyway, we have lived there for so many years and have gotten used to it."

Zhu quickly pulled her hand back and turned her back. Zhou was already old, how much work could she still do? Zhao Shan was useless, and the two were young. If they were to move back, wouldn't they have to take care of them?

Zhou was so moved that she staggered when she pulled her hand away. If Zhao Shan hadn't caught her quickly, she would have fallen face first to the ground. Even so, she didn't dare to complain.

the other side.

Zhao Yongsheng was unwilling to be easily controlled by them, and he even started to reprimand them loudly. Chen Shao drank the last sip of tea and put the bowl on the table.

The sound of the collision made his heart skip a beat, and he shut up instantly. Zhao Changping and his wife, who were still bringing up the past and trying to anger them to death, also stopped talking in fear.

The room immediately became quiet.

Chen Shao waved to Da Niu who was hiding behind Zhao Shan, signaling him to come over. Da Niu looked at Zhou, then at Zhao Shan, then stood up and walked over.

Chen Shao rubbed his head, asked him to sit down next to him, and asked Chan Yi to bring him two plates of snacks and fruit brought by Zhang Boshan. Then he glanced at Erniu and Zhao Changping's three children.

Several children stared at the food in front of the big cow.

Daniel wanted to give it, but didn’t dare.

Chen Shao wanted this effect, so she naturally had no intention of calling them up. After coaxing Daniu to eat a piece of dessert and two grapes, she swept her eyes over the adults one by one, and finally landed on Zhao Yongsheng and Zhu.

Under the timid gazes of the two, Chen Shao asked in a gentle voice, "Are both of your sons your biological children?"

Zhu quietly pulled Zhao Yongsheng's sleeve, and Zhao Yongsheng replied, "Yes, he is my biological son."

"Since they are your biological children, I would like to ask you two a question," Chen Shao said in a gentle voice, "Every household in this village is harmonious and is thinking about how to make their lives better. Why are you two so afraid that your two sons are living too well and are trying to alienate them?"

This time, no matter how Zhu pulled his sleeve, Zhao Yongsheng couldn't answer.

Chen Shao waited for a while, then continued, "Are you worried that the brothers will be too harmonious and won't show filial piety to you two, or are you deliberately letting them compete with each other so that you can enjoy more of their filial piety?"

Zhao Yongsheng was accused of having a dirty mind, and dared not say a word. However, Zhu said, "Raising children is to provide for your old age. We have raised them to this age, and it is only natural for them to respect us!"

Chen Shao nodded in agreement. "It is indeed natural for them to respect you two elders, but the way you two are doing this... do you really not want to think about what will happen after your death?"

Zhao Yongsheng was shocked and blurted out: "They dare!"

Chen Shao smiled, "Why not? You two elders can make them fight over it, just by threatening them with the house. If you two elders leave, the house will naturally be theirs. How they treat you two elders then will not be up to you two elders."

Zhao Yongsheng shivered for a long time and couldn't speak.

Chen Shao did not give up, but continued: "I will not say more about how you two treated the two brothers. When you two were gone, the two brothers buried you two in the east mountain and the west mountain respectively. That was filial piety. If they were more ruthless, they could wrap you two in a tattered straw mat and throw you two in the back mountain. I am afraid no one in the village would accuse them of being ruthless. That's fine. During festivals, other people's ancestors are worshipped by their descendants, but your two old graves are desolate and lonely. Aren't you afraid?"

Zhu still cursed stubbornly: "They dare to be beasts, God will not let them off easily!"