Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Chen Shao stopped in front of the gate of Zhu's manor and looked at the closed doors and windows of Gu's manor a hundred feet away. "No one?"

The Ren family steward answered carefully, "There was someone there, who hid when he saw you coming."

Fu Jiu walked a few steps towards the Gu family's farm and asked casually, "What did you do that was wrong?"

The Ren family's steward smiled apologetically and didn't dare to answer. The reason they dared to deal with the Zhu family was because Chen Shao wanted to deal with the Zhu family. Now that Chen Shao hadn't said he was going to deal with the Gu family, they naturally didn't dare to act recklessly. The Zhu family, the Gu family, the Fan family, and the Qi family were not people that the Ren family could afford to provoke before, and even less so now.

"Bring more hoes and shovels," Chen Shao ordered after stopping Fu Jiu from going to look for them, "Let's go to the big pit where the bodies are buried first."

Bury, a big pit for burying corpses? The smile on the Ren family steward's face froze instantly. As an old man of the Ren family, he certainly knew about the big pit for burying corpses. However, the big pit for burying corpses not only contained corpses from the Zhu family and the Gu family's Bi Tao Garden, but also corpses from the Wen family and the Ren family's Luo Yanju.

They came here to check the big pit where the bodies were buried. Are they going to take action against the Ren family?

"What are you in a daze for?" At Fu Jiu's urging, the Ren family's steward came back to his senses nervously, and quickly led them into the Zhu family's farm. After taking out the hoe and shovel, he quietly winked at a servant.

The servants were about to sneak back to Ren's house to report the news when Fu Jiu shouted, "Don't leave. Come here, grab hoes and shovels and help us dig up the bones."

The servant looked at the steward of the Ren family.

The Ren family's steward had no choice but to step forward and help Fu Jiu distribute the hoes and shovels while saying, "Come here quickly, one for each of you."

After distributing the hoes and shovels, they came out of Zhujiazhuang one after another. Under Chen Shao's instructions, everyone identified the direction and groped their way towards the low mountain.

The steward of the Ren family walked behind Xu Guang in fear, afraid that Chen Shao would question him, but also afraid that Chen Shao would not question him.

We finally reached the foot of the hill.

The Ren family's steward quietly raised his head and looked towards the low hill.

He had not been to this hill since they discovered that corpses could grow flowers eighteen years ago. Perhaps it was because it had been too long, and when he was ordered to guard Zhu's manor this time, he did not think of this hill where countless boys and girls were buried. Of course, if possible, he hoped to never think of it again.

He glanced at Chen Shao and the others again, and seeing that they had no intention of asking him, the Ren family's steward's mood was up and down. He wanted to confess voluntarily, but he was afraid of getting into trouble. If he didn't confess voluntarily, he was afraid that she would blame him later.

Chen Shao had been waiting for him to speak for about half a cup of tea. Seeing that he was still indifferent, her eyes darkened slightly, and she looked around and searched for a possible burial site. Xu Guang followed closely behind her and said based on his experience: "Where there are corpses, the land is more fertile than elsewhere, and the grass and trees grow more luxuriantly than elsewhere."

"I see that the vegetation at the foot of this low hill is very lush." ​​Fu Jiu looked around for a moment and commented seriously.

The low mountain is at most fifty or sixty meters high, and at most a hundred feet long. The vegetation on both sides of the mountain is indeed very lush, and it is difficult to tell which is better. When Zhang Zhongcai explained the address, he only said the foot of the low mountain behind the Zhu and Gu family farms, and did not specify a specific place. After walking slowly around the low mountain, Chen Shao stopped in front of more than ten bamboos, glanced at the still silent Ren family manager calmly, and said in a calm voice: "Everyone spread out, go around the low mountain, and dig everywhere."

Li Tianliu brought thirty Yulin guards with him, and together with the people from the Ren family who were guarding the Zhu family's farm, they scattered and surrounded the hill. They cleared the weeds and dug up the soft and fertile soil, and soon someone shouted, "There are corpses!"

“It’s available here too!”

“It’s available here too!”

The sounds came one after another from various places.

When the first sound was heard, Xu Guang had already rushed over and picked up two bones exposed in the dug pit. After carefully removing the dirt attached to them, he said, "These are foot bones. Keep digging, dig towards that end, and be careful not to break them."

The Yulin Guard dug twice according to his instructions, and heard a click, and dug up the bones again. However, the bones were broken in two. Xu Guang dug the broken bones out of the soil with a heartache, carefully put them together, and simply took the hoe from the Yulin Guard and started digging by himself.

Chen Shao stood aside and watched him dig for a while, then looked around. Seeing a stream not far away winding through the fields and finally winding away, he squatted down to pick up two pieces of bones, looked at the bones in the air where the bones were broken, and said slowly: "These bones have been buried here for at least fifteen to twenty years. Judging from the soil around the bones, when there is a lot of rain, the water in the stream will rise, and it is very likely to overflow and flow around the mountain."

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a click, and Xu Guang also dug up a bone. Facing the gazes of the Yulin Guards, Xu Guang's old face turned red, and he picked up the broken bones and said, "Why are these bones so brittle?"

Chen Shao stood up, took the handkerchief handed to him by Chan Yi, and said while wiping his hands: "Did you not hear a word I said just now?"

Xu Guang quickly tried to make up for it: "Your Excellency is saying that these bones become brittle only after being repeatedly soaked in rainwater and dried in the sun?"

"We'll know if it's true or not after we verify it." Chen Shao walked to the other side of the hill. The land on the other side of the hill was much higher than this side, so it was not affected when the stream rose. Although the soil was still much more fertile than ordinary mud, the surface of the excavated bones was also powdery, but it was much harder than the bones that Xu Guang had excavated.

Xu Guang has always been very interested in autopsies. He put the bones collected from various places aside, compared them one by one, and said, "Bones that have been soaked in water are indeed more brittle than those that have not been soaked in water."

"There are corpses all around this low mountain," Chan Yi stood at the side, looked left and right, and then looked up at the mountain, "We should dig on this mountain too, maybe there are corpses buried there too."

Chen Shao followed her instructions and looked towards the hill, then told Fu Jiu, "Go dig a few times and try."

Fu Jiu carried a hoe and walked through the mountain weeds as tall as a person. He walked a few steps up the mountain. When he took down the hoe and prepared to dig, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a long snake jumping out from a short tree a few steps away. Without thinking, he hit it with the hoe. The snake fell to the ground, and while it was reacting, Fu Jiu hit it with the hoe again. The snake's head was immediately smashed to pieces. After twisting wildly for a few times, it stopped breathing. Fu Jiu snorted twice, picked up the snake's tail and threw it out: "Catch it."

There were clumps of weeds blocking his view, so Xu Guang couldn't see anything and subconsciously reached out to catch it. When he caught it in his hand, the sticky touch made him jump up and throw the snake away the moment he saw it was a snake.

The snake was caught by the Yulin Guards.

Xu Guang danced and rubbed his hands, cursing Fu Jiu for being dishonest.

Fu Jiu laughed and said, "You're not even afraid of corpses, so why are you afraid of this thing?"

"How can they be the same?" Xu Guang pouted twice.

"What's different?" Fu Jiu admired his jumping appearance for a while, then turned back to dig the ground. There were weeds at the foot of the mountain, but there were mostly trees on the mountain. Fu Jiu dug east and west, but found nothing. After coming down from the mountain, he saw Xu Guang still mumbling, so he picked up the snake and pretended to throw it at him.

Only after Xu Guang apologized profusely did he give up.

Chen Shao rarely stopped them from fighting from time to time. She pointed out a few places and asked Fu Jiu to go up the mountain to try. Seeing that there were indeed no corpses on the mountain, she asked the Yulin Guards and the Ren family to continue digging.

Less than 50 meters from the foot of the mountain were the fields of the Zhu and Gu families. The scattered corpses disappeared about half a meter away from the fields.

"The so-called big pit is four and a half meters away from the foot of the mountain." Xu Guang put his hands behind his back, trying his best to ignore the slippery feeling in his palms when he grabbed the snake.

Chan Yi added: "It's about four and a half feet around the short mountain."

Xu Guang asked Chen Shao: "Should we also arrange for someone to come and dig out all these corpses?"

Chen Shao looked at the bones that had been dug out and asked him, "What do you think?"

Xu Guang obviously had an idea in mind. When he heard her question, he immediately answered: "The corpses in those gardens have been dug up and reburied, so the corpses here should also be dug up and reburied. Especially the corpses here. If they are soaked in water for another two or three years, I'm afraid they will turn into powder and become fertilizer in the fields."

"Then dig it up." Glancing at the people who were looking at this side from far and near, Chen Shao arranged, "Just like those gardens, use straw mats to pad the bones you dig out first. You can go and discuss with Quan Shuyu how many straw mats you need. As for the people who will dig the bones... I will arrange it."

Xu Guang nodded and said, "Then I'll find someone to watch over this place first."

Chen Shao said "hmm".

Xu Guang did not look for anyone else, but directly looked for the steward of the Ren family who was guarding the Zhu family's manor. As the bones were dug out, the steward of the Ren family was already sweating profusely, so how could he dare to refuse?

it's getting dark.

The field where the body was buried was in the western suburbs, about half an hour's drive from Bianhe Village in the southern suburbs.

Chen Shao didn't go there again.

With the housekeeper of the Ren family anxiously seeing him off, Chen Shao returned to the prefect's residence. While Xu Guang was looking for Quan Shuyu to ask for a straw mat, Chen Shao went back to his room to wash himself and change his clothes. When he came out again, Xu Guang had already left.

After dinner and a short rest, Chen Shao went to the study. Quan Shuyu brewed tea and poured each of them a cup. She sat down at her daily office and took out the records of today's inspection of the Wen family shop. While reading it, she asked, "I heard from Xu Guang that another place with a large number of corpses was found?"

Chan Yi sat down next to her and said, "It's not a new discovery. It was the Zhu family's steward who told us about it. We went there today to confirm whether what he told us was true or not. We didn't dig too deep. But judging from the bones we've dug up so far, there should be quite a few."

"No wonder he asked me for two thousand straw mats." Quan Shuyu said.

"When the garden case first happened, didn't the master ask the Zhu family and the Gu family to send a lot of straw mats?" Chan Yi asked curiously, "There are at least a thousand of those straw mats. There shouldn't be so many corpses in those gardens, right?"

Quan Shuyu nodded: "There are not so many corpses in those gardens. Xu Guang meant that in addition to the big pit you saw today, there is also a field where the corpses are used as fertilizer. Prepare 2,000 sheets first, and if there are any extra, we can sell them in the shop later."

Chan Yi teased, "He does have plans."

Quan Shuyu laughed and said, "He said this is called planning ahead and having foresight."

The two of them joked about Xu Guang's foresight and foresight, and Chan Yi ended the topic and asked, "How was your inspection of the Wen family's shops today?"

"I was just about to tell you, young master," Quan Shuyu raised his head and said slowly, "I have already arranged for Wang Su, Xu Chengmei, Song Lingyi and Zheng Hua to move out. I arranged for Wang Su and Xu Chengmei to work in the dyeing workshop, and Song Lingyi to work in Jinxiu Manor. I was going to keep Zheng Hua and Erya, but Zheng Hua had heard a lot of Wang Su and Xu Chengmei's weird things recently, so she took the initiative to ask to move out as well. So I temporarily arranged for them to work in Linlangxuan."

Chan Yi asked, "What does Linlangxuan do?"

Quan Shuyu replied, "It's a shop that sells all kinds of jewelry."

"That's suitable for them." said Chan Yi.

"It is suitable for them, but the shop is a little small and the business is not very good." Quan Shuyu said seriously, "With Zheng Hua's craftsmanship, it is a bit of a waste for her to stay here, so I want to go to the Zhu family's shops in a few days to see if there are any better jewelry shops."

"Wait a little longer." Chen Shao said, "Whether it is the Wen family or the Zhu family, the good shops are opened in partnership with others. Since you think Linlangxuan has buried her, then wait until those good shops are vacant and arrange her there."

Chan Yi teased: "Can you rest assured now?"

Quan Shuyu smiled and said, "I am relieved, but I want to arrange for her to work in a better shop because a better shop can make her silk flowers sell at a higher price. If her silk flowers sell at a higher price, we can make more money."

"That makes sense!" Chan Yi nodded in agreement and asked, "You arranged for Wang Su and Xu Chengmei to work in the dyeing workshop. Didn't they say anything?"

Quan Shuyu slightly suppressed the smile on her face and said calmly: "They wanted to go to Song Lingyi's Jinxiu Manor, but I refused them on the grounds that they didn't know how to embroider."

Chan Yi was surprised: "They didn't make a fuss?"

"There's a commotion." Quan Shuyu said calmly, "They said they were going to find the young master and sue me for favoring one over the other."

In fact, they also said a lot of ugly things, such as she was defiled by hooligans and was disliked by her family, etc. Knowing that they were just venting their dissatisfaction, she didn't bother with them.

Chan Yi sneered twice: "Then let them sue. I want to see how they sue."

Chen Shao looked up at Chan Yi, then at Quan Shuyu. Seeing the gloom in her eyes, he said calmly, "If they don't know what's good for them, don't give in to them. Just scold them, beat them, and chase them away."

Whether in modern society or in this place, she always believes that some people deserve the suffering they endure.

Quan Shuyu nodded: "I understand."

"Just knowing is useless, we have to remember and do it!" Chan Yi rushed to say, and after Quan Shuyu smiled and agreed, "Okay, I'll remember it," she asked again, "We met the owner of the Zhu family shop at Luoyanju. The young master asked them to look for you. Did they find you?"