Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

"Brother?" Master Luo looked at her, unable to react.

"That's right, that's right..." Luo Qingrong avoided his gaze guiltily, and quietly released the hand that was holding his sleeve, biting the corner of her mouth gently and said, "He is Peng'er and Yu'er's uncle."

"What did you call him?" Mr. Luo was still looking at her, but some disbelief slowly welled up in his eyes.

"Dad," Luo Qingrong took two steps back and knelt down in front of him, "I know that the Fourth Master beat my brother to death, and also caused you to have a lame leg and even killed my mother. But what about Peng'er and Yu'er? They have been enjoying a good life since they were born. Whether it's food, supplies, or clothes, they are all good things we have never seen before. If the Zhu family is gone, they can only eat coarse bran and wild vegetables, wear coarse cloth clothes, and use broken gourds and broken bowls. They are your grandchildren, can you bear to let them live such a hard life?"

Facing Master Luo's painful gaze, Luo Qingrong kowtowed and cried, "Dad, I know you are the only one who can save the Zhu family. Mom and brother are gone, but Peng'er and Yu'er are still alive. Please, please save them. Don't worry, I will be filial to you in the future and let you enjoy your old age."

Mr. Luo leaned against the wall and looked at her in astonishment. After a while, he asked with trembling lips, "I caused the Zhu family to end up like this. Do you think Mr. Zhu will let me go?"

Luo Qingrong said painfully, "Dad, the fourth master is dead, and now only my eldest brother is alive in the Zhu family. Don't worry, as long as you are willing to save the Zhu family, I will definitely ask my eldest brother to let bygones be bygones."

As if she was afraid that he would not believe her words, Luo Qingrong continued, "There are so many people around the Fourth Master, but I am the only one who gave birth to two sons for him. The eldest brother has always treated me differently from others. If I go and ask him, he will definitely agree. Dad, please, please save the Zhu family."

Master Luo's face was distorted, his eyes were red, but the words he spoke were low and soft: "What about your mother and your brother? Did they die in vain?"

"How could they die in vain?" Luo Qingrong shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. "My brother was beaten to death to protect mom, and mom died to protect me. As long as I'm still alive, my brother and mom's deaths won't be in vain. Besides, aren't you doing all this to save me? I've been living well in the Zhu family, and you've ruined it all. Dad, please let me go, and let the Zhu family go."

Mr. Luo fell to the ground, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

He had imagined thousands of scenarios after rescuing her, but he had never thought that she would "recognize the thief as her father", let alone that she would beg him to let the Zhu family go and let her go.

He wanted to save her, how did that become harming her?

"Dad, Dad!" Luo Qingrong crawled over and grabbed his arm, "Please, please let the Zhu family go. Dad, Dad..."

Chan Yi reminded coldly: "Your father has fainted."

Luo Qingrong paused in her begging cry and looked at Luo Ye through her tearful eyes. Seeing that his face was pale and he seemed to have stopped breathing, she was so scared that she quickly let go of his arm, stepped back a few steps, and shook her head, "It wasn't me, it really wasn't me, I didn't hurt him..."

Chan Yi sneered: "You didn't hurt him, you just pissed him off to death."

Luo Qingrong wanted to argue, but Chan Yi said in disgust, "Get out of the way."

Seeing that she was still hesitating, Chan Yi roughly dragged her arm and pulled her aside, then squatted in front of Master Luo, stuffed a pill into his mouth, then took off the hairpin on her bun, pulled out a silver needle, and lightly pricked his face a few times. Only then did Master Luo slowly open his eyes.

"father……"

"Shut up!" Chan Yi glared coldly at Luo Qingrong who was crawling over to her knees and trying to grab Master Luo's arm, and ordered Fu Jiu, "Find two people to carry him down and let him rest."

"No need to bother." Master Luo's consciousness had slowly recovered. He supported himself with his hands and sat up with difficulty. Looking at Luo Qingrong who was pleading, he said sadly, "Your elder brother is right. The Zhu family is in this situation because of me. You don't have to beg me anymore. Even if I want to let the Zhu family go, the adults won't let them go. The Zhu family not only killed your mother and brother, but also killed many people. They deserved their current fate."

Luo Qingrong shook her head and said without thinking, "The Zhu family has killed many people, but which aristocratic family has not killed people? Didn't Dad also kill many people? I've heard from the Fourth Master that many of those boys and girls in the Peach Garden were sent there by Dad. They brought this upon themselves. What about Dad?"

Snapped!

Chan Yi slapped her hard.

Luo Qingrong was beaten to the ground and couldn't recover for a long time.

"What are you still standing there for? Do you want to be beaten?" Chan Yi looked at Fu Jiu. Fu Jiu didn't call for help, but rushed over swiftly, carried Luo Ye and walked away. Chan Yi looked at his back and said angrily, "Be gentle, do you want to shake him to death?"

Fu Jiu quickly put Master Luo down, held him up with both hands, and tiptoed to send him to Qingfeng Courtyard.

Chan Yi snorted coldly, turned around, gave Luo Qingrong a cold look, and walked into the house and said, "Sir, there is no need to pity her. She has been living a luxurious life in the Zhu family for so many years that she has long forgotten how her brother and mother died!"

Luo Qingrong cried and dared not speak.

"Take her away, lock her up with the two children, no need for special care." Chen Shao glanced at her and ordered calmly. Unlike Chan Yi, although she hated Luo Qingrong's behavior, she felt more sympathy.

Zhu Siye was one of the murderers of Bi Tao Garden. He took her and her mother back to the Zhu family just because he was greedy for their beauty. Her mother had to flatter her to protect her. After Zhu Siye took her by force, he must have taught her to be servile in order to let her survive. She was only eleven years old when she entered the Zhu family. Now she is only in her early twenties, and the older child is already eight or nine years old, which means that she became a mother when she was thirteen or fourteen years old.

There was no shortage of women around Fourth Master Zhu, and there was no shortage of filthy people in the big family. She was probably alive until now because she gave birth to two sons for Fourth Master Zhu. She had gotten used to relying on her two sons to survive, and now that the Zhu family was gone, it was like forcing her to change her habits and become independent in an instant.

Not to mention her, most people can't do it.

Luo Qingrong accepted his fate and was taken away.

Chan Yi was still not satisfied, so she poured herself a cup of cold tea and gulped it down, then said angrily, "If I were her brother or mother, I would crawl out of the ground and beat her up if I heard what she said!"

Quan Shuyu was amused by her.

Chan Yi said: "Listen to what she said, anyone would be pissed to death!"

"What she said was really irritating, but it's not entirely her fault." Quan Shuyu poured her another cup of ginger tea and said softly, "The life she spent at the Zhu family was essentially no different from the life I spent at Happy Forest. Maybe she had it a little harder than me. After I survived their temptations, I could be free as long as I finished my chores every day, but she had to stay alert all the time to deal with Fourth Master Zhu and everyone in the Zhu family."

Chan Yi had not thought deeply about Luo Qingrong's behavior. After hearing her explanation, she immediately cursed with sympathy: "Killing the Zhu family with one knife is really a bargain for them!"

Quan Shuyu nodded, "It's indeed a bargain for them."

Chen Shao was in no mood to talk.

Her eyes were always looking outside the yard.

It's daybreak.

The rain gradually subsided and the wind died down.

at last.

As the rain gradually subsided, a Yulin Guard rushed into Chengfeng Courtyard and stood outside the main hall to report, "My lord, the second branch of the Zhu family has been captured and is being escorted back to the county town! The general has gone to Tongwang County and has sent his subordinates back to report!"

Chen Shao finally felt relieved. After saying "it's hard work", he asked, "Are there any casualties?"

The Imperial Guards grinned and said, "The Hua'an Mountain Villa was completely unprepared. When they took action, the people in the Second House were sleeping like dead pigs. Many of them were controlled before they even had time to put on clothes. However, the people in the Ren family were useless. Although no one died, six or seven were injured. They were beaten by the servants in the villa when they were controlling them."

That is indeed useless. Chen Shao asked: "What about the injured people?"

Yulinwei said: "They were all sent to Huimin Pharmacy."

Chen Shao agreed, "You go and have a rest."

The Yulin Guards responded with yes and retreated.

Watching his back as he walked away quickly, Chen Shao stood up with his hands, walked a few steps in the house, and told Quan Shuyu, "You don't have to wait with us, go back and rest first, and then go and count the Wen family's property."

"Hurry up," Chan Yi urged, "After cleaning up the Wen family, we have to clean up the Zhu family. The Zhu family has two more vaults than the Wen family, and there are countless more shops and farms. You will be exhausted."

The Zhu family is the largest noble family in Hongyuan County. If the Zhu family is finished, then the other noble families will not be far behind. If you don't hurry up, the work you have to do will definitely increase. Although more work is a good thing, you can't fall behind. Quan Shuyu smiled and said, "Then I'll go back and rest first," and then left.

After two cups of tea.

The Ren family, along with all the people from the second branch, returned to the prefectural government, surrounded by the people of the county town.

Chen Shao instructed Fu Jiu: "Go tell the people in the Ren family to work hard for another half a day and help look after the people in the second house."

Two hours later.

Finally, another Yulin Guard came running back and reported loudly outside the main hall: "My lord, we have captured all three branches of the Zhu family in Tongwang County. My lord and his men will arrive at the county town in half an hour!"

Chen Shao finally let go of the worry in his heart.

Half an hour passed quickly.

With the people of the county town once again coming to support him, Li Tianliu brought all the people from the third branch back to the prefectural government's mansion.

Chen Shao got up and went to the lobby.

People from the second and third branches of the Zhu family were all lying on the open space in front of the lobby. No matter if they were masters or servants, everyone was covered in mud and looked miserable.

In contrast to them, the people from the Ren family and the Ding family seemed particularly excited. Everyone had a smile on their face and their eyes were sparkling.

As usual, Chen Shao first asked about Li Tianliu's casualties.

Li Tianliu said sparingly, "No one was injured or killed."

Chen Zhao glanced at the tired look on his face and ordered Fu Jiu, "Go and invite Ding Lisheng back!"

Ding Lisheng was leading the servants of the Zhu family to dig a grave to bury the dead in the suburbs. When he saw Fu Jiu coming, he asked without waiting for him to speak, "Have you brought back the people from the second and third branches of the Zhu family?"

As soon as Fu Jiucai nodded, he immediately ordered his followers to carry him to the carriage and rushed back without stopping. On the way back, he took the executioners with him. After returning to the prefect's mansion, he saw the people from the second and third branches of the Zhu family. Without waiting for Chen Shao's instructions, he took the initiative to move out the box of evidence, took out the evidence related to the second and third branches of the Zhu family, and dealt with it himself.

Soon, all the members of the second and third branches of the Zhu family were beheaded, except for a few young children and some servants.

"Sir, if you have nothing else to say, I will go and deal with these bodies." Ding Lisheng bowed slightly and spoke in a respectful tone that he had never used before.

Chen Shao narrowed his eyes and looked at the sun that was emerging from the clouds, and said calmly, "Go ahead."

Ding Lisheng held the hand of his attendant and tremblingly moved to the front of the Ding family, instructing them to move the bodies. Fu Jiu saw this and without waiting for any arrangements, she quickly walked over and took the surviving young children of the Zhu family to the prison.

For a moment, only the Ren family and the servants of the second and third branches of the Zhu family were left standing on the empty dam. The servants of the second and third branches of the Zhu family had already lost their souls out of fear, but the Ren family looked at Chen Shao eagerly, their faces full of anxiety.

Chen Shao ordered Chan Yi, "Go, let the Ren family take them back and take good care of them."

The Ren family received the order, and seemed to want to compete with the Ding family, shouting loudly for the servants of the second and third rooms to go first. When the Ding family saw this, they couldn't help but speed up the process of carrying the body.

The dam soon became empty.

The only things left were puddles of blood.

Under Li Tianliu's instructions, the blood quickly disappeared.

"Who are you going to deal with next?" Li Tianliu asked on the way back to Chengfeng Courtyard.

Chen Shao glanced at the mud spots on his body and asked instead of answering, "What do you think?"

Li Tianliu replied lazily: "No."

"Why rush?" Chan Yi interrupted, "We just dealt with the Zhu family, we have to rest for a few days before we can do anything else."

"Why should I be in such a hurry?" Li Tianliu said disapprovingly, "I just want to remind you, young master, that the reason we were able to deal with the Zhu family so cleanly and efficiently was because we took advantage of an unexpected opportunity. If you try to use the same method on other people, you are doomed to fail."

Chan Yi was not convinced and said, "If you know this, how could our Master not know it?"

Li Tianliu glanced at her and then at Chen Shao.

Chen Shao smiled and said, "Then according to General Li, if the others are on guard, what should we do to quickly capture them?"

Li Tianliu asked again: "Who are you going to deal with next?"

After thinking for a while, Chen Shao said, "Gu family."

"Gu family?" Li Tianliu looked at her and asked, "How are you going to deal with them?"

Chen Shao teased, "Aren't you asking General Li for advice?"

Li Tianliu snorted, "Even if you ask General Li, he won't tell you either."

Chen Shao readily said, "Then please ask General Li to go back and have a good rest, and tell me when you know the answer."

Li Tianliu laughed angrily, "What if I didn't know it?"

Chen Shao smiled and said, "If you don't know, then you can only obey the arrangements."

"From what you said," Li Tianliu looked at her, "you already have a way to deal with the Gu family? Tell me, what is it?"