Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

A woman from Shan State.

After they walked away, Chen Shao took the silver hairpin from Xu Guang's hand and put it together with the peach wood hairpin. After comparing them carefully, he found that although the lotus flower on the silver hairpin was rough, its general outline was very similar to that of the peach wood hairpin.

"Tonight, you have to interrogate the Zhu family's stewards again." Chen Shao said as he picked up the silver hairpin and the peach wood hairpin and handed them to Li Tianliu, "Especially Zhang Zhongcai."

Li Tianliu looked at the silver hairpin and the peach wood hairpin for a moment, then stuffed them into his arms.

Chan Yi saw it and said with a dark face: "You just stuffed it into your arms like that?"

Li Tianliu glanced at her: "What else?"

Chan Yi's face darkened even more. "Did you not hear what the manager said?"

Li Tianliu raised one eyebrow: "The manager said a lot of things, which one are you referring to?"

Chan Yi was too lazy to talk nonsense with him. She held out her hand to him with a cold look and ordered, "Give it to me!"

Li Tianliu looked at her cold face, then at her outstretched hand, and took out the silver hairpin and the peach wood hairpin and placed them in her palm. Chan Yi took them, wrapped them in a handkerchief, and handed them back to him, saying, "Take it!"

After Li Tianliu looked at her cold face again, he took the silver hairpin and peach wood hairpin wrapped in the handkerchief, looked at them carefully, and put them back into his arms.

Xu Guang coughed twice. "No matter how powerful that woman was, she has turned into bones. Besides, it was the Zhu family who killed her. We are here to save her. If she has any conscience, she will not harm us."

After Chen Shao glanced at them, he stood up and went outside, directing the Yulin Guards to spread the picked peanuts in the yard to dry in the sun, and then went to the fields.

"Put her body away separately and put it on my carriage." Chen Shao stood in front of the owner of the silver and peach wood hairpins and instructed Xu Guang. Xu Guang looked at Chan Yi and saw that she had no objection. Then he quickly put the body on the straw mat, rolled it up carefully, and carried it to her carriage with Fu Jiu.

When the two men came back, the Yulin Guards, under the command of Chen Shao, had already begun to clean up the remaining corpses. Xu Guang hurriedly jumped into the mud pit to help.

After all the bones were put on the straw mats, the sun had already set and the sunset glow dyed half the sky.

Chen Shao walked around the three rows of bones, and after making sure that no one was frantically piecing the bones together, he stopped and looked at the Zhu Family Manor, then said to Ren Zhongxing, "I'm afraid these bones...will have to be put in the manor for the time being."

Ren Zhongxing glanced at the pale-faced servant of the Ren family and asked, "Sir, are you going to find a good place to bury them?"

"No." Chen Shao said bluntly, "Wait for those students to come and deal with the affairs of this manor, I will arrange for someone to demolish this manor and bury them on it."

Push down the Zhu family's farm and bury their bodies on top of it? Ren Zhongxing was horrified, but he said calmly, "The Zhu family used their bodies as fertilizer. It is indeed most appropriate for you to bury them on top of the Zhu family's farm."

"Since you think it's suitable, then quickly send someone back to the manor to clear up some space," Chen Shao ordered.

No matter how ugly the faces of the Ren family servants were, Ren Zhongxing still gritted his teeth and ordered them to clean up four empty rooms in the Zhu family's farm and place all 41 bodies inside.

After Chen Shao took a look at each of the four rooms' doors, he turned to Ren Zhongxing and said, "Tell someone to keep an eye on these corpses and don't lose them."

Ren Zhongxing agreed. When he turned around to instruct the servants of the Ren family, he suddenly thought of the servants of the Zhu family. After Chen Shao turned around and left, he lowered his voice and ordered the steward of the Ren family who was guarding the Zhu family's farm, "Go and get the steward that the young master questioned earlier, and go to the firewood room to get two more people to guard these bones."

When the manager of the Ren family heard that they didn't need to look after the place, he immediately went to make arrangements.

When I returned to the prefectural mansion from Changwo Village, the sunset had not yet faded.

The noisy sound from the bustling crowd on the empty dam in front of the lobby, accompanied by the last wave of enthusiasm before dark, forced Chen Shao's carriage to stop.

Ding Lisheng, who was lying in the side hall of the lobby, heard the report from the yamen runner and immediately came out with his arm around the shoulder of his attendant. "Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission. The families of the victims on the list have been invited here."

Chen Shao looked at his pale face and his body, which had become thinner but was still huge, and nodded, "Thank you for your hard work."

"It's not hard." Ding Lisheng grinned and looked at Chan Yi flatteringly, "After taking the medicine Miss Chan Yi sent, I have felt much better."

Chan Yi ignored him.

Chen Shao walked around the fearful crowd on the empty dam and walked slowly into the lobby. After asking Fu Jiu to go back to Chengfeng Courtyard to get the roster of people from Luoyanju and Bitaoyuan, he called out five names in a row according to the list given to Ding Lisheng, "Go and invite their families in."

Amid Fu Jiu's screams, the five families walked into the hall in fear and knelt on the ground one after another.

Chen Shao glanced at them one by one, then flipped through the roster of the Bi Tao Garden and asked slowly, "Who are Wei Su's family members?"

An old couple, three middle-aged couples and five young people of different ages knelt and took a step forward. Chen Shao took a look at the record of Wei Su on the roster and asked further, "Who is Wei Su's third brother?"

Among the three pairs of middle-aged couples kneeling side by side, the man kneeling in the middle was obviously panicking. Before Chen Shao said anything, he kowtowed and begged for mercy. It was late, and there were still so many people waiting outside. Chen Shao didn't waste time talking to him and asked directly, "Were you the one who sold Wei Su to the Zhu family back then?"

Wei Su's second brother, Wei Feng, kowtowed vigorously and said, "I know I was wrong. Please forgive me, sir!"

Chen Shao said solemnly: "Answer my question."

Wei Feng cried bitterly, "I was young and ignorant, so I made a big mistake. Please have mercy on me, sir."

Chen Shao asked calmly, "When you sold Wei Su, who in your family knew about it?"

Wei Feng instinctively looked around and said quickly, "They all knew about it, and they all agreed to sell him to the Zhu family!"

"Stop talking nonsense," the middle-aged man on Wei Feng's right quickly retorted, "It was only when I married Wei Xiao that I found out that you sold Wei Su to the Zhu family in order to enter the Imperial College!"

Wei Feng bit him tightly, like a dying man, and said, "How dare you say that you married Wei Xiao not because I was studying at the Imperial Academy?"

The middle-aged man stiffened his neck and said, "I married Wei Xiao because I saw you studying at the Imperial Academy, but I didn't know you sold Wei Su to get into the academy!"

Wei Feng didn't listen: "You know it anyway!"

The middle-aged man retorted: "When you sold Wei Su, I didn't know!"

"That's enough," Chen Shao knocked the gavel twice to quiet the two of them, then asked, "How old was Wei Su when you sold him to the Zhu family?"

Wei Feng begged for mercy again, but Chen Shao rebuked him coldly: "Stop talking nonsense and answer the question directly!"

Wei Feng said in panic, "Thirteen years old."

Chen Shao glanced at the roster, then looked at him: "He is thirteen years old, how old are you?"

Wei Feng answered hesitantly, "Sixteen years old."

Chen Shao glanced at the middle-aged man on his left, "Is he your eldest brother?"

Wei Feng said yes.

Chen Shao: "How old was Wei Su when he was sold?"

Wei Feng glanced at the shivering Wei Qin: "Twenty-one."

Chen Shao: "Are you married?"

Wei Feng glanced at the shivering woman beside Wei Qin and said, "They are married."

"Except for a few children and..." Chen Shao looked at the middle-aged man on Wei Feng's right. The middle-aged man quickly replied, "I am Wang Kang."

"Except for a few children and Wang Kang, take the rest to the side and wait." Chen Shao ordered.

"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!" Wang Kang kowtowed several times excitedly, then quickly got up, grabbed the two boys beside Wei Xiao and walked out. The other three children were still hesitating, but seeing him like this, they also quickly got up and walked out.

The people who stayed behind in the Wei family cried and begged for mercy. Ding Lisheng looked at Chen Shao and saw that she had no intention of giving in. With one hand, dozens of yamen runners rushed over and dragged them aside.

"Who are Bao Qingqing's family members?"

One family after another, it was soon dark.

The roster of Luoyanju and Bitaoyuan recorded that there were 63 bodies dumped at the foot of the low mountain in Bianhe Village. After the 63 families were interrogated one by one, it was almost midnight. Looking at the family members of the victims who stayed behind and almost occupied half of the hall, Chen Shao pinched his eyebrows and ordered: "Arrange someone to send them to Zhujiazhuang in Bianhe Village, and tell the manager of the Ren family who is guarding Zhujiazhuang to let them rest in Zhujiazhuang tonight. Tomorrow morning, let Xu Guang go there to teach them how to dig the bones."

After Ding Lisheng arranged for someone to take them out, Chen Shao was about to get up and return to Chengfeng Courtyard when suddenly a yamen runner came running over and said, "The students from the academy are back."

"So soon?" Chen Shao glanced outside and said, "Please let them in."

Liu Deming, Xu Xianmin, and Sun Qi each led their own team and walked quickly towards the lobby. After entering the lobby, they still bowed to Chen Shao in their own formation.

"You've gotten darker and thinner, but you look pretty energetic." Looking at the people who were glowing black and whose figures had become straighter without them noticing, Chen Shao asked with a smile, "Did you come back after you were done with your work?"

Liu Deming stepped forward and answered for him, "We heard that you have attacked the Zhu family again, so we didn't dare to delay. After we finished our work, we all rushed back."

After whispering to Chan Yi to ask the small kitchen to prepare some simple food, Chen Shao turned around and asked with interest: "Tell me, how do you fight for it?"

Liu Deming and Sun Qi looked at Xu Xianmin at the same time.

Xu Xianmin also stepped forward and answered generously: "The students divided the team of 22 into three groups and moved forward in parallel. When there were not enough people, they found ways on their own, either inviting villagers from the corresponding villages or hiring others at their own expense. In short, while trying to distribute food, money and return land according to the adults' requirements, they solved all the villages as quickly as possible. At first, our team members competed with each other, and later, when the two teams learned of our method, they actually divided the team into four or five groups in order to catch up with our progress. The students originally thought that they were six years behind us. Seven manors, if they want to chase, then let them chase. Later, when the news of the Zhu family being besieged came out, the students expected to deal with the Zhu family's manor as well, so they asked each group to arrange people to go to the next manor to prepare when they were about to finish the current manor. I thought that with such thorough preparation, we would definitely win first place, so in order to prevent accidents, after we finished the last manor, we didn't even have time to rest, and we rushed back in a hurry. As a result, we thought so, and they thought so too, so we met one after another outside the county city. "

"It's all because of you," Sun Qi complained. "When we heard the news that the Zhu family was destroyed, we wanted to talk to him about how to increase our speed, but he sped up secretly without telling our two teams! Fortunately, we had foresight and sent people to keep an eye on him early on."

Listening to their words of "accusation" against each other, Chen Shao couldn't help laughing out loud. It's great to be young. Youth not only represents vigorous vitality, but also represents hard work and enterprising spirit. Chen Shao didn't want to interrupt their chattering and comparing with each other, but Chan Yi had already returned, and the people in the small kitchen had already prepared the food. In order not to delay the people in the small kitchen from resting, Chen Shao had to pick up the gavel, knocked twice gently, and interrupted their conversation: "You came back in such a hurry, you haven't eaten yet, right? It just so happens that I haven't eaten yet either. The kitchen didn't know there would be so many people tonight, so they only prepared some simple food in a hurry. If you don't mind, then just follow me and have a meal."

Naturally no one will dislike it.

"Then let's go." Chen Shao smiled and stood up, leading them into the backyard. Chengfeng Courtyard was indeed very spacious, but it was still a bit cramped to set up more than ten tables in the yard. With Ding Lisheng's active suggestion, the banquet was finally set up in the garden.

The students had been trained to be very perceptive, and when they saw Chen Shao instructing the imperial guards to move tables and stools, they also rushed to help. The tables and stools were set up, the lanterns were lit, and the food and drinks were served one after another.

Before sitting down, Chen Shao asked Chan Yi and Fu Jiu to invite Quan Shu Yu and the five students who were checking the accounts.

The moonlight was just right. Chen Shao raised his glass and said with a smile, "Be more casual. Don't be restrained. It's too late today and you've been busy for such a long time. Just eat and drink happily."

Although the students responded loudly, they still waited for her to pick up her chopsticks before they started eating. After that, under the leadership of the Imperial Guards, they completely let go of their restraints and the meal became truly lively.

Chen Shao watched them make a scene for a while before asking Quan Shuyu, who was chatting with Chan Yi, "Did Master Luo bring back any news today?"

Quan Shuyu joked, "It's rare that the moonlight is so good, and we are all having dinner together. Why are you asking about official business again, young master?"

This was the first time she joked with Chen Shao. After she finished speaking, Chen Shao didn't say anything, but she felt embarrassed. She took a sip of tea to suppress the blush on her face, and answered: "Mr. Luo said that the Gu family arranged all the robbers under the city around the Gu family. As long as the Gu family responds, they can immediately rush out from all directions to support. The Fan family and the Qi family are similar. It's just that the robbers of Yongshun Cargo Store have to take care of the two families, and there seems to be some contradictions on the issue of which family has more and which family has less."

Chan Yi wanted to tease her, but after hearing what she said, she changed her tone and said, "The Fan family is about to have a conflict with the Qi family. We can use this opportunity to deal with them."