Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

There are not many objects with lotus patterns in Mr. Zhu's yard, but judging from the few that are there, the patterns are no different from those on the wooden boxes of Fenglong Trading Company and Huimin Pharmacy.

Chen Shao went to Master Zhu's courtyard again, and then to Master Zhu and Master Zhu's small treasury. After comparing all the objects with lotus patterns, he looked at Li Tianliu and said, "It seems that although Shan Kingdom admires lotus patterns, they only admire the various beautiful meanings attached to them. The lotus patterns used by the Zhu and Wen families, like the lotus-seated Buddha with a dagger-shaped flesh bun, have other intentions."

Return to Chengfengyuan.

Chen Shao opened the drawer, took out the jade hairpins and jade pendants seized from Gao Han, Luo Zhengxin, and Jiang Zilin, and put them together with the two wooden boxes found in Luo Jian and Luo Zhong's homes. He asked Li Tianliu, "What was the result of the investigation into the carvings on the jade pendants or wooden boxes?"

Li Tianliu answered simply: "No result."

Chen Shao also asked simply: "Why?"

"There is no such fine carving on the market in Shan State," Li Tianliu said, "even the little steward doesn't know anything about it."

Chan Yi said disdainfully, "That little steward said that he only sees jadeite trades happen twice a year."

When they were talking about the young steward, Fu Jiu was still drawing lots for the students, but this did not stop him from expressing his unique opinion: "I don't know anything. Is the young steward a liar?"

Chan Yi glanced at Li Tianliu, and Fu Jiu also looked at Li Tianliu.

Li Tianliu frowned and said nothing.

Chen Shao took the two Shan woman's hairpins and placed them together with a few jade pendants and hairpins. "Since we can't find any results from the caravan, and we can't find any results from the craftsmanship, then let's start with General Anbei's concubine and re-investigate."

After a pause, he pushed several jade pendants, jade hairpins and two hairpins from a Shan woman to Li Tianliu, and then instructed: "Don't worry about the results, be patient and take your time. If necessary, you can bribe General Anbei's men, find a way to plant a few of our people, and prepare for a long-term investigation. The Gu, Fan, Qi, Ren and Zhou families are still here, and it will take a lot of time to get rid of them. I'm not in a hurry, and you don't have to worry either."

Li Tianliu didn't say anything. He put the green jade pendants, green jade hairpins and hairpins into the wooden box he had searched from Luo Jian and Luo Zhong's homes, then turned around to make arrangements.

Chen Shao took the two wooden boxes that were still on the desk and sent back by the Yulin Guards. He lightly traced the patterns on them with his fingertips and reviewed all the clues about Qingyu in his mind twice. After making sure that nothing was missed, his thoughts turned to the handwriting on the hereditary edicts.

Her courtesy name is Chengxi Huiyin, which is inherited from the former master of Yaowang Valley, her father Wuchenzi. Wuchenzi only accepted two direct disciples in his life, one was Huiyin, and the other was Huiyin's senior brother and her husband Shiyuan. But three months after Shiyuan married Huiyin, he was out of the valley to collect herbs when he was suddenly attacked by the assassins of Yaowang Valley. In order to protect his junior brother, he led the assassins away alone, but was eventually hacked to death by the swords.

According to common sense, the only two people in the world who could write with such a strong and sharp handwriting were Huiyin and her. Since it was not her, and she was with Huiyin day and night, and Huiyin had no chance to teach another apprentice, the identity of the great-great-grandson of the former crown prince who wrote these volumes of hereditary edicts was quite intriguing.

"Master, Shuyu is back." Chanyi's voice interrupted Chen Shao's thoughts.

Chen Shao came back to his senses and looked at Quan Shuyu who was walking quickly towards the study.

Quan Shuyu's face was very ugly. She walked into the study quickly and was about to kneel on the ground before she said "Young Master". Chan Yi grabbed her arm and shouted, "What are you doing!"

Quan Shuyu said ashamedly: "Wang Su and Xu Chengmei blocked the road to appeal for justice. It was my fault that I failed to settle them down. Please punish me, young master."

Chan Yi pouted and said, "What does it have to do with you?"

"Young Master entrusted them to me because he trusted me." Quan Shuyu was annoyed, "But I failed to settle them down, so they were instigated by others to block the road to redress their grievances, and almost caused Master Luo, Shi Hui, and Shi An to be implicated. It was my fault."

Chan Yi said disdainfully, "With the character of these two, believe it or not, even if you arrange them with Zheng Hua or Song Lingyi, they will still be instigated and will still block the road to appeal for justice. And don't forget, besides being dissatisfied with you arranging them in the dyeing workshop, they also have two brothers fighting for their lives in those gardens. Without the dyeing workshop as an excuse, using their two brothers as a bargaining chip, you can still encourage them to go to Huimin Medicine Shop to block the road to appeal for justice."

Quan Shuyu's expression eased a little, but it was still ugly. Chen Shao clasped his hands and gently tapped the two wooden boxes that Yulinwei had sent back. When she looked over, he asked gently, "If I give you another chance, how would you arrange for them?"

Quan Shuyu instinctively replied: "I..."

Chen Shao waited for a moment, and seeing that she was speechless, he couldn't help but smile: "You can't make a better arrangement, right?"

Quan Shuyu lowered his eyes slightly.

Chen Shao smiled and continued to ask, "Let's assume that according to Chan Yi's assumption just now, what will happen if you arrange them with Zheng Hua or Song Lingyi? Isn't there only one answer, that is, as Chan Yi said, they will still be encouraged."

Quan Shuyu still kept his eyes slightly lowered.

Chen Shao knew that the reason why she was like this was because she had too much anxiety in her heart, or because of self-denial. He sighed slightly and slowed down his voice again: "You have been with me for quite some time. The destruction of the Wen and Zhu families, is it the result of someone else's words that misled me?"

Quan Shuyu said quickly, "Of course not."

"If it's not the case, then why are you panicking?" Chen Shao asked calmly, "Are Wang Su and Xu Chengmei more important to me than you?"

A warm current suddenly surged up from the bottom of his heart, making Quan Shuyu's eyes red in an instant.

Chan Yi quickly took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears while saying, "That's right. The young master has given you all our money and account books for safekeeping, which is enough to prove his trust in you. Think about it, when your father and your stepmother talked about you outside, the young master never believed them at all, so what are Wang Su and Xu Chengmei?"

"Don't employ those you doubt, and don't doubt those you employ." Chen Shao said gently, "No matter what happens in the future, remember to trust me more."

Quan Shuyu blushed and defended herself: "I didn't doubt you, sir."

Chen Shao teased: "Since you have no doubts, then why did you rush back in such a hurry?"