Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

"Yes." Quan Shuyu said, "When I took Zheng Hua and Erya to Linlangxuan, they found me. They gave me the account book of Zhu's shop and asked me to inspect their shop."

After taking the last sip of tea, Chen Shao put the cup aside, took the roster of the Bi Tao Garden, and said as he flipped through it, "If you can't spare the time, just refuse."

"I was planning to take some time off in the next two days to go and pick out a good place for Zheng Hua. Since you said to wait, I won't go for now." Quan Shuyu said, taking out three pages of paper and handing them over. "This is the record of when we inspected the Wen family's shop today and they took the initiative to confess or report other people's crimes."

After Chen Shao took the paper, Quan Shuyu continued, "The first two pages are records of their voluntary confessions, and the last page is a record of their reports of other people's crimes. I took a rough look and found that they were basically quarrels or beatings with others, but no murders."

"Is it that no one has committed a murder, or are they afraid to confess?" Chan Yi asked.

"No one should have committed a murder," Quan Shuyu analyzed. "Many of the good shops of the Wen family were in partnership with the Ren family. Most of the shops of the Wen family were distributed to the unfavored descendants to give them a little income. These unfavored descendants have little to rely on, so they must be very careful in their words and deeds."

Chen Shao quickly read the records twice, said nothing, and put them aside. He took a pen and paper and wrote down the names and addresses of the boys and girls who were thrown into the pit in Bianhe Village on the list of the Peach Garden. He also took out the list of the Falling Wild Goose Residence and wrote down the addresses of the boys and girls who were thrown into the pit in Bianhe Village. He then told Chan Yi, "Let Fu Jiu take it to Ding Lisheng and ask him to immediately invite all the families of these people to the prefectural governor's mansion before dark tomorrow."

Chan Yi took the list and asked as she looked at it, "Master, do you want them to dig up the bones?"

Chen Shao hummed, "Huang Jiangnan and Ji Qinglin were beheaded before, and their families were forced to come and watch the execution. As for the remaining students... too many people were killed when dealing with the Wen and Zhu families. If all these students are executed and their families are forced to come and watch the execution, it will inevitably cause panic. But the death penalty can be pardoned, but the living crime cannot be let off easily. Letting them come and dig out their bones, and the bones of their own children, can also be considered a lesson."

Chan Yi reminded: "Some boys and girls were trafficked, and their families were unaware of it. In this case, there should be no need to learn a lesson, right?"

Chen Shao said: "I have eliminated all cases of this kind."

After hearing this, Chan Yi happily took the list and went out. After handing it to Fu Jiu, she came back and said, "Fu Jiu just came back from Ding Lisheng's place, and he said that Ding Lisheng sent him to Hanyuan County..."

He glanced at Quan Shuyu and subconsciously lowered his voice and said, "The people who checked Quan Li'an haven't come back yet."

Chen Shao then looked at Quan Shuyu and saw that she looked calm and had not shown any signs of anxiety because of the news. He said with confidence, "Tell him to move faster and not to dilly-dally and try to get away with it. Ask him again, where are the coffins I requested earlier? It's been almost a month, why aren't they ready yet?"

Chan Yi rushed out of the study to find Fu Jiu, but Fu Jiu had already left. After muttering a few words about how fast she ran, Chan Yi could only say to Li Tianliu, "Go ask Lord Ding how long it will take for the coffins to be repaired."

Li Tianliu lay on his back on the tree without moving, but his raised toes moved rhythmically, indicating that he was not asleep.

Chan Yi stood under the tree and repeated what she said, but Li Tianliu was still unmoved. Chan Yi was so angry that she looked around and saw many pebbles scattered in the flower bed. She picked up one and threw it at him.

The stone hit Li Tianliu's leg. Li Tianliu rubbed his leg and tilted his head to look at her. Chan Yi snorted and repeated her words. Li Tianliu said, "My leg hurts, I won't go!"

Chan Yi picked up another pebble and threw it at him.

After Li Tianliu dodged, he still said: "No!"

"You're not going, right? Next time you get angry, if I try to coax you again, I'll be a dog!" Chan Yi sneered twice, turned around and called the Yu Linwei at the door. When the Yu Linwei was ready to leave with a smile, Li Tianliu called them back, flew down the tree, walked out of Chengfeng Courtyard slowly, and went to Ding Lisheng's residence.

After watching him walk away, Yulinwei said to Chanyi with a smile, "Miss Chanyi, don't call him next time. Just tell us directly."

Chan Yi clapped her hands and said, "Okay."

Yu Linwei said: "Then it is settled."

Chan Yi agreed for a moment before returning to the study. Chen Shao looked at the irritation on her face and smiled, "Is Master Luo back?"

Chan Yi stood at the door of the study and called to the Yulin Guards at the gate of Chengfeng Courtyard, "Is Master Luo back?"

The Imperial Guard was about to answer "No", but then he saw Master Luo staggering towards them from a distance, and quickly answered, "He's back."

Chan Yi stood on tiptoe, glanced in the direction where Master Luo was coming from, and ordered: "Wait for him to come back and ask him to come to the study to answer."

It took Master Luo only a moment to reach Chengfeng Courtyard. After hearing the Imperial Guards ask him to go to the study room to reply, he could not help but rest for a while by leaning on the door before entering Chengfeng Courtyard and slowly reaching the study room. Without waiting for Chen Shao to ask, he took the initiative to tell him everything he had learned today: "Changshun Cargo Store and Yongshun Cargo Store have been closed since noon when the Zhu family was besieged by adults. After the Zhu family was besieged, the robbers who were recruited by Changshun Cargo Store were afraid of being implicated, and when they were about to disperse, they were gathered by Master Gu. Now, the strongest among those robbers have been secretly planted in the Gu family by Master Gu, with a number of about 80 people. The Fan family and the Qi family are similar, with 40 to 50 robbers planted in their own homes."

As Master Luo spoke, cold sweat continued to break out from his forehead and roll down his cheeks. Chen Shao handed over a plate of snacks and motioned Chan Yi to take it and pass it to him. Master Luo opened his mouth to refuse, but Chen Shao ordered, "Eat it!"

Grandpa Luo had no choice but to hold the plate, pick up the snacks, and eat them piece by piece. Chan Yi saw that his lips were dry and cracked, so she poured him a glass of water, moved a chair to the door, and asked him to sit down and eat slowly. Grandpa Luo choked up and thanked her, then slowly sat down in the chair, eating the snacks while shedding tears.

After finishing a plate of snacks with great difficulty, Master Luo paused for a moment before continuing, "The Gu, Fan, and Qi families have formed an alliance, and are just waiting for you to come find them."

Chen Shao said disapprovingly: "Are their families also like the Zhu family, with the second and third branches living separately somewhere else?"

"They are all separated. The second branch of the Gu family is also in Wuhai Town, not far from the Hua'an Mountain Villa, and the third branch is also in Tongwang County, just across the street from the third branch of the Zhu family." Master Luo hadn't eaten much that day, and even though he had just eaten some snacks, his blood was still weak. Leaning back in his chair, he said with difficulty and familiarity, "The second branches of the Fan and Qi families are in Hai'an Town, not far from Wuhai Town, and the third branches are in Feiyue County. Now they are all on guard, and it will be difficult for you to deal with them again."

"Okay, I understand." Chen Shao ordered, "Go back and rest."

Mr. Luo stood up with the help of a chair, opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but finally left without saying anything.

Not long after he left, Fu Jiu and Li Tianliu came back at the same time.

Li Tianliu said, "The coffins are already made. Just let us know when you need them. Also, this morning, the Fan family and the Qi family both sent people to see him. Both families were asking him who you were going to deal with next."

"How did he answer?" Chen Shao asked.

"Didn't he fall ill after being caught in the rain?" Li Tianliu answered lazily, "He used this as an excuse and said he didn't know. However, in addition to asking him about who you are going to deal with next, the Fan and Qi families are also asking him about Master Luo."

"The people in the small kitchen have been telling me these days that a lot of people have come to them recently," Quan Shuyu suddenly interrupted, "Some want them to help find out Mr. Luo's news, and some want them to help find out the young master's news. The smallest amount of money they paid was ten taels, and the largest was even a shop."

Fu Jiu quickly asked, "Did anyone fall for it?"

Quan Shuyu looked at the bright color in his blinking eyes and couldn't help but smile, "The people that Uncle Liu found are very good. Neither the people in the small kitchen nor the people in the east wing were bewitched by them."

"Uncle Liu is very nice, and so are the people in the small kitchen. There are many other nice people as well," Fu Jiu said. "When the people in the small kitchen go to the village to buy vegetables, the villagers are often unwilling to accept their money."

Chen Shao was checking the roster of Luoyanju to see the number of bodies thrown into the mass grave and sent back home. When he heard his words, he looked up and asked Quan Shuyu, "Why are the villagers often unwilling to accept money?"

Quan Shuyu answered: "When the people from the small kitchen went to the village to buy vegetables, many families were unwilling to accept the money when they heard that they were buying for the young master. However, I have asked them to pay the money."

Chen Shao looked away with satisfaction. "The Gu family, the Fan family, the Qi family, etc. want to give you gold and silver. You can accept them without any burden. But the common people's every needle and thread is hard-earned. If it is not necessary, you cannot accept it."

Chan Yi, Fu Jiu and Quan Shuyu nodded at the same time, indicating that they understood.

Only Li Tianliu looked at her twice with an understanding look.

"How is Zhao Lin's investigation of the identities of those boys and girls going?" Chen Shao asked. The identities of the 21 people killed in Luoyanju and the 13 people killed in Bitaoyuan were all recorded in the roster. She did not tell Ding Lisheng about these records, and naturally did not tell Zhao Lin. Of course, she did it on purpose. She just wanted them to find out the identities of the boys and girls who were killed.

Chan Yi looked at Fu Jiu, Fu Jiu looked at Li Tianliu, and Li Tianliu asked, "What does it have to do with me?"

Fu Jiu looked back at Chan Yi, who went out speechlessly and shouted to the Yulin Guards at the door, "Can someone please invite Lord Zhao over?"

Li Tianliu saw several Yulin guards vying to invite Zhao Lin, snorted and laughed twice, and said slowly: "They are quite courageous. They are starting to bypass me and command the Yulin Army."

Chan Yi glared at him and said disdainfully: "I dare to command even you, what is the Yulin Guard?"

Li Tianliu raised his eyebrows, looked at Chen Shao and said, "Why don't you just do nothing about it?"

Chen Shao smiled: "Isn't what she said the truth?"

Li Tianliu snorted twice and turned away. When he reached the big tree, he said loudly, "I'm going to the prison to interrogate the steward of the Zhu family."

Chen Shao curled the corners of his mouth silently and continued to look at the roster in his hand.

Quan Shuyu looked at Chanyi, then looked outside the study, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Chan Yi was puzzled and asked, "What are you laughing at?"

Quan Shuyu shook his head and changed the topic to their inventory of the treasury at the Wen family today. "It took us almost two days to sort out all the copper coins. A total of 7,072 strings and 314 copper coins were sorted out. I plan to have them sort out the silver tomorrow, and I will check the number of copper coins again."

Chan Yi commented: "It took two days to clean up the copper coins. Your speed is indeed a bit slow. You know, the Zhu family's treasury is bigger, with more copper coins, gold and silver. At this speed, you don't know when it will be finished."

Quan Shuyu looked at Chen Shao with sparkling eyes, but said, "Who said it wasn't?"

Chen Shao was looking at the roster and didn't notice her gaze. Chan Yi coughed a few times on purpose, but when she still didn't look up, she had to cough and call out, "Young Master."

Chen Shao looked up. He glanced at her, then at Quan Shuyu. Quan Shuyu quickly said, "Sir, can you lend me ten Yulin Guards to help me check the Wen family's treasury?"

"Sure." Chen Shao said generously, "But the Yulin Guard belongs to General Li Xiao, you have to ask for his consent first."

Quan Shuyu immediately grabbed Chanyi's hand and said, "You have to help me."

Chan Yi was about to answer when Fu Jiu said, "Master Zhao is here."

"It's just ten Yulin guards, leave it to me!" After Chan Yi quickly gave the assurance, she went to the door and invited Zhao Lin in.

Zhao Lin had not seen Chen Shao much since Chen Shao asked him to check the identities of those boys and girls. During this period of time, the Wen family was gone, most of the Ding family's power was gone, and the Zhu family was gone. Compared with his previous attitude of being respectful in public but disapproving in private, he is now humble inside and out. Following Chan Yi into the study, he bowed respectfully and handed over the identity information of the boys and girls he had found without being asked.

After Chan Yi took the information and handed it to Chen Shao, he said at the right time: "There are a total of 124 bodies stored in the ice cellar. The identities of the eight bodies in Meiyuan, the twenty-one in Luoyanju, the twenty-eight in Kuaihuolin and the two found in Luo Zhengxin's dark room have been found. The rest are still being investigated."

Chen Shao looked through the information he had found and asked, "I heard from Lord Ding that the coffin has been made?"

Zhao Lin said respectfully: "Yes, it's all done."

"We have found out the identities of a total of 59 murdered boys and girls," Chen Shao said slowly, "We can put the murdered boys and girls whose identities have been found into coffins. After that, notify their families to take them back for burial."

Zhao Lin asked carefully, "Should we give them some compensation like we did to those people killed by Shi Xing?"

Chen Shao paused for a moment while flipping through the information, then quickly flipped through the remaining twenty or so pieces of information. "Among the fifty-nine pieces of information you found, none of them were abducted by others. In other words, they were all sold out by their families for various reasons, and ended up like this. I didn't teach them a lesson, which was already generous of me. You asked me if I should give them some compensation. What do you think?"