Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

The Bi Tao Garden was built by Old Master Zhu, and the other gardens were developed little by little by following the example of other noble families.

From Old Master Zhu to the current few Master Zhus, the Peach Garden has been passed down for four generations. Four generations, two to three thousand lives of boys and girls. If you must kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, it would not be too much to cut them into pieces.

Old Master Zhu and Mr. Zhu soon fell down under the chaos of swords.

The rain washed away the blood and soon dyed a large area of ​​the stone dam red.

There were sporadic screams, but they soon stopped.

The stone dam is very quiet.

There was no other sound except the sound of rain.

Chen Shao looked around and then landed on Master Zhu and Master Zhu II: "Are there still people who are dissatisfied?"

The faces of Master Zhu and Master Zhu were paler than snow, and the fear in their eyes seemed to be solid. Like Master Zhu and Master Zhu, they did not expect Chen Shao to dare to take action. They were the Zhu family, the most powerful Zhu family in Hongyuan County. Not only did they have money, but they also had a group of robbers to dispatch. How dare she, how dare she...

"Since no one is saying anything," Chen Shao looked at the four stewards who were begging for mercy, "You are the stewards of Old Master Zhu and Mr. Zhu, so you must know a lot. I like people who know practical matters. As long as you honestly tell me everything you know, I can spare your lives. Chan Yi, take them to the side hall!"

Chan Yi responded with a crisp "yes".

Even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run. Chan Yi almost never missed any of Chen Shao's interrogations. Following the same pattern, and with the help of the four managers who really knew the current situation, soon everything about the Zhu family was recorded on pages of paper. When Chan Yi was holding the paper for Chen Shao to review, Ding Lisheng and the executioner also arrived one after another.

Looking at the Zhu family members kneeling in the heavy rain, Ding Lisheng stopped in front of Master Zhu with a sense of relief. Master Zhu looked at him hopefully, with a pleading expression on his face that he had never had before. Ding Lisheng couldn't help laughing when he saw him like this. In the past, he always humbled himself to please them, especially Master Zhu. But now he was standing, kneeling, begging him to save him, how funny. Enduring the pain in his buttocks and the possible rebuke from Chen Shao, Ding Lisheng squatted down, looked at Master Zhu who always looked down on him, and deliberately said loudly: "Master Zhu should not know why the Zhu family has ended up like this? It's because of you."

Master Zhu asked, "Because of me?"

"Because you asked those people to stop me and sue me." Ding Lisheng said maliciously, "After dealing with the Wen family, the young master was still undecided about who to deal with next. It happened that you ordered those people to sue me, so I went with the flow and asked the young master to deal with the Zhu family first."

Looking at his frightened and angry face, Ding Lisheng chuckled, "Are you curious? How did I know that you were the one who ordered those people? It was Master Fan who told me. You always looked down on me before, and I thought you were so great. But Master Fan not only hates you, but even Master Gu, who always follows your lead, plotted against you. I really sympathize with you."

After saying this, Ding Lisheng happily stood up and walked into the main hall, respectfully bowed to Chen Shao and said, "Young Master."

Chen Shao looked at him, then at the furious Zhu Erye, and finally at the executioner following behind him: "Begin."

Ding Lisheng answered yes, then skillfully carried the box aside, took out the evidence inside, quickly glanced at the Zhu family in the rain, and read them one by one. Every time he read a piece of evidence, someone's head fell to the ground.

After beheading seven or eight people in succession, when reading the name of Fourth Master Zhu, Chen Shao suddenly asked, "How many concubines does Fourth Master Zhu have?"

Ding Lisheng glanced at the crying and begging Fourth Master Zhu, then glanced at his side and answered respectfully, "I have three concubines."

Chen Shao ordered: "Please invite them over."

Although Ding Lisheng didn't understand why, he still shouted outside the house, "Who are the concubines of Master Zhu Si? Come here quickly, the young master has something to ask you!"

The three concubines, who had already collapsed into a puddle of mud, crawled into the main hall. Master Zhu Si also wanted to follow him in, but was stopped by the Yulin Guards. When the long sword was placed on his neck, his ghostly howlings for mercy disappeared.

After Chen Shao glanced at him, his eyes fell on the three concubines, "Is there anyone with the surname Luo?"

No one answered, so Chen Shao asked again: "Is there anyone with the last name Luo?"

After a while, the woman on the right hesitantly knelt up and said, "My Lord, my last name is Luo."

"Your last name is not Luo at all!" the woman in the middle shouted, "Sir, she is lying, her last name is not Luo!"

The woman on the left also shouted: "Her last name is not Luo, she is lying!"

The woman was so frightened that her lips trembled. She kowtowed repeatedly and said, "Please spare my life, sir. My last name is not Luo. My original last name is Luo, but my father, my father is Master Luo."

As he spoke, he stumbled over and recounted his life story.

Master Zhu, who had not yet been executed, heard this and suddenly raised his head and said, "Your father is Master Luo. It is you who harmed my Zhu family..."

The Yulin Guards swung their swords over, and Master Zhu unwillingly shut his mouth.

Chen Shao took a look at the woman's slender figure and the beautiful neck that was revealed when she lowered her head, and asked in a soft voice, "What's your name?"

The woman replied politely, "My name is Luo Qingrong."

Chen Shao looked at her wet clothes and told Chan Yi, "Take her to change her clothes."

After Luo Qingrong thanked him joyfully, he followed Chan Yi obediently. Before he had taken a few steps, along with the remaining two concubines vying for mercy, two voices calling "mother" were heard in the rain dam. Luo Qingrong stopped and looked at the two children who were soaked by the rain, and said with reluctance: "Can I take them with me?"

Chan Yi looked at the two children who were looking at Luo Qingrong.

Both were boys, one about eight or nine years old, the other about five or six years old.

When the two boys saw them stop, they called their mother more earnestly.

"Are they all your children?" Chan Yi asked.

Luo Qingrong replied: "Yes."

"Your child with Mr. Zhu Si?" Chan Yi asked again.

Luo Qingrong also answered again: "Yes."

Chan Yi tilted her head to look at her, "If I remember correctly, Master Luo said that your brother was beaten to death by Master Zhu Si, and his legs were also broken by Master Zhu Si, and even your mother died because of him."

Luo Qingrong pinched her skirt tightly and said with difficulty: "Yes, they were all killed by him, but the two of them...the two of them are innocent."

"Whether they are innocent or not, it's not up to you to decide, and it's not up to me to decide either." Chan Yi said coldly, "Our Master is not the kind of person who kills innocent people. Wait until Lord Ding finishes reading the evidence and confirms that they are truly innocent. He will naturally take good care of them."

"Can you let them take shelter under the eaves?" Luo Qingrong pleaded, "They have been taken care of since they were young and have never suffered any hardship. If they continue to be rained on like this, I'm afraid they won't be able to bear it."

"No need to change clothes," Chen Shao said, "Since you care so much about them, then go and continue to accompany them."

Luo Qingrong's body froze, she turned around, knelt down and begged for mercy, but Chen Shao didn't give her a chance to speak, "Go ahead."

Luo Qingrong wanted to speak again, but faced with her cold gaze, she replied with an awkward "yes", then stood up and knelt back on the stone dam. When the two boys saw her coming back, they immediately changed their previous grievances and kicked and scolded her in dissatisfaction: "What a waste!"

"Uncle just said her father is Master Luo," the younger boy said angrily, "I've heard of the name Master Luo, he was just a beggar on the street! My father married her with good intentions and gave her good food, clothes and shelter, but her father was so cruel that he caused our Zhu family to end up like this. He deserves death!"

"Don't say bad things about your grandfather," Luo Qingrong pulled them to his side and used his arms to shield them from the rain. "It was your father who killed your grandmother and uncle first, and broke your grandfather's legs. That's why your grandfather took revenge on the Zhu family."

"I don't want to call a stinky beggar grandpa," the older boy pushed her away in disgust, "When I get out, I will kill him first to avenge my grandfather and the others!"

“Me too!” The younger boy also pushed her away. “You are not our mother either. We don’t want a loser to be our mother. Otherwise, Gu Wu and Gu Liu will definitely laugh at us.”

"How can you say that to me?" Luo Qingrong cried, "I came back to the rain for you."

"Stop lying," the older boy said disdainfully, "You obviously don't have the ability, and you want to blame us!"

Listening to the two boys' cold words and Luo Qingrong's sobbing, Chan Yi shook her head. Wu Er had faced the same situation as her, but she made a completely different choice. Now Wu Er has been living a peaceful life in Dashu Village with her children, but if she wants to live a peaceful life, she is afraid that she still has a long way to go.

The killing continues.

Members of the Zhu family fell one after another, the corpses slowly piled up into a mountain, and the blood dyed the entire stone dam red.

Only Grandpa Zhu and five or six young children were left alive.

The box was finally empty.

Seeing Chen Shao's gaze, the desperate Master Zhu knelt up in shock, and angrily glared at Ding Lisheng, saying, "Sir, Plum Garden is the property of the Ding and Zhao families. Those people in Plum Garden were killed by people from the Ding and Zhao families. Ding Lisheng is also the murderer! He is also the murderer who killed those boys and girls!"

Ding Lisheng's hair stood on end and he said, "Stop spitting blood!"

"You say I am slandering you, do you dare to swear an oath?" Master Zhu said viciously, "Say that if the Plum Garden has anything to do with your Ding family, your Ding family will be extinct!"

"Enough!" Chen Shao stood up and ordered indifferently, "Take Master Zhu and all the stewards back to the prefectural governor's mansion. The rest of the people should still do the same as the Wen family, dig a pit to bury these bodies, and then take them back to the prefectural governor's mansion!"

Ding Lisheng looked at Zhu Jia coldly and responded respectfully.

It's daybreak.

Even though the rain hadn't stopped yet, the news that the Zhu family had been sealed off spread quickly.

Quan Shuyu didn't sleep all night.

Hearing the noise, he hurried out of the east wing, and seeing that Chen Shao and Chan Yi who entered Chengfeng Courtyard one after another were safe and sound, his heart finally settled down slowly. He returned to the house with the brewed ginger tea, and with the help of Zheng Hua, he hurried into the main hall and poured a cup for each of them.

He also poured a glass for Luo Qingrong, who was standing at the door, looking quite distraught.

When returning to Chengfengyuan, Chen Shao still took her with him.

When the two boys saw that she didn't have to go to jail, they called her "mother" again and cried and admitted their mistakes to her. She still had reluctance on her face, but she was afraid that she would be thrown into jail even if she begged for mercy, so she could only hold back her impulse.

Chan Yi drank ginger tea and asked Quan Shuyu, "Nothing happened, right?"

Quan Shuyu shook his head: "Nothing happened."

"That's good." Chan Yi finished the last sip of ginger tea and said cheerfully, "We are also doing well."

Quan Shuyu glanced at Luo Qingrong and said softly, "General Li and Fu Jiu haven't come back yet."

After Li Tianliu sent them back to the prefect's mansion, he took 20 Yulin guards to the Hua'an Mountain Villa. Fu Jiu also sent them to the gate of the back house and took Master Zhu and the stewards to the prison.

"Don't worry about them." Chan Yi put down her teacup and stood up, "Where's Master Luo?"

Quan Shuyu picked up the umbrella outside the door and said, "You take a rest. I'll go and ask him to come over."

"You should save it." Chan Yi grabbed the umbrella without saying anything. "My clothes are already wet. It doesn't matter if they get a little wetter. Yours is still clean."

Quan Shuyu knew that he couldn't win against her, so he said, "Master Luo is in the yard next door, and he probably hasn't slept all night either."

After Chan Yi responded, she went to Qingfengyuan next door with an umbrella.

Mr. Luo had indeed not slept all night. When he heard Chen Shao coming back, he rushed out of Qingfeng Courtyard. He wanted to ask about the result at Chengfeng Courtyard, but he was afraid of being abrupt. While pacing back and forth outside Chengfeng Courtyard, he saw Chan Yi coming out and hurriedly greeted her and asked, "Miss Chan Yi, the Zhu family..."

"I'm looking for you, come in." Chan Yi said.

Master Luo quickly followed her footsteps and asked as he entered Chengfeng Courtyard, "So, the Zhu family has been dealt with?"

Chan Yi raised her chin and asked, "Is it difficult to deal with the Zhu family?"

Mr. Luo hurriedly flattered, "The Zhu family is naturally not good enough in front of you. But before you came to Hongyuan County, the Zhu family was the tyrant in Hongyuan County. It was harder than climbing to the sky for ordinary people to deal with them."

"You don't have to flatter me like this," Chan Yi was proud but not dizzy, "Our Master has brought your daughter back."

"Your Excellency is my benefactor." As they spoke, the two had already walked to the main hall. As if sensing something, Master Luo subconsciously looked up. The moment he saw Luo Qingrong, he stopped involuntarily, his eyes reddened.

When Luo Qingrong saw him, she couldn't help but tear up.

"Rongrong." Looking at Luo Qingrong, who looked exactly like her mother, Grandpa Luo choked up and called her nickname softly.

"Dad!" Luo Qingrong knelt on the ground, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Rongrong," Master Luo took a few quick steps, threw away his umbrella and helped her up, "The ground is cold, get up quickly."

Luo Qingrong grabbed his hand and burst into tears. Luo Ye's tears also rolled down, and he hurriedly picked up his sleeves and wiped her tears while saying, "Good child, stop crying. It's your father's incompetence that has caused you to suffer for so many years."

Luo Qingrong raised her tearful eyes and stared at him blankly: "Brother, what you said is true. Is it really you who caused the Zhu family to end up like this?"