Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Fu Jiu was about to go out.

Chen Shao stood still, looking at Aunt Tao's purple philtrum. She wanted to say a few more words of comfort, but when the words came to her lips, she swallowed them back. The murderer has killed more than 20 people, and the government still knows nothing about the murderer. If we seriously investigate, the government should also bear some responsibility for Aunt Tao's death. She has said enough words of comfort, and it would seem hypocritical to say more.

Thinking of this, Chen Shao only said to Brother Tao, Brother Tao and the others: "Take good care of your mother. I will have someone notify you if there is any news."

Brother Tao and the others were about to kneel down to express their gratitude, but Chen Shao hurriedly stopped them: "Stand up, no need for these empty formalities."

Having said that, he didn't let them see him off and came out by himself.

When he got on the carriage and was about to leave, he saw Tao Ming standing at the door. Chen Shao suddenly had an idea and told Zhao Qiang, "Take him with you."

Zhao Qiang called Tao Ming over and asked him to mount the horse.

When Tao Ming heard this, he quickly glanced at Chen Shao, happily took his hand and got on the horse.

After leaving Brother Tao's house, Chen Shao asked Zhao Qiang to take him for a walk around Taojiazhuang.

Taojiazhuang is indeed very dilapidated, and Aunt Tao's house is considered one of the better ones in Taojiazhuang.

The people in Taojiazhuang...most of them are as dusty as the houses they live in, and are far less energetic than the people in Zhaojiacun.

After coming out of Taojiazhuang, Chen Shao saw that the wheat in the field had already formed ears and the rice in the field had grown more than half its length. Chen Shao's complexion improved slightly. Turning back, he saw Tao Ming, who was unable to hide his smug look on his face, and asked, "Are you studying at the Imperial College?"

Tao Ming quickly replied, "I was admitted to the Imperial College in the same year as Zhao Rong from Zhaojia Village."

Chen Shao casually asked him a few questions about his studies, and he answered them one by one. His answers were not very good, but not bad either. With a clear idea in mind, Chen Shao turned the topic to the purpose of his following: "How do the students of the Imperial College discuss these cases?"

Tao Ming did not dare to respond to their private criticism of the government's incompetence, and only answered the most frequently discussed topic: "Most people were discussing who the murderer was, but no one else was talking about it."

Chen Shao followed up and asked, "How do people discuss the murderer?"

Tao Ming was about to answer when he heard someone calling his name. He looked up and saw four classmates from the Imperial College. His face changed quickly and he turned around to explain, "Your Excellency, I have not called them to come."

"Classmate?" Chen Shao looked over and saw four people in the distance who were about the same age as Tao Ming, with different heights, different statures, and different weights. Although Tao Ming was called, none of them dared to come over. They just stood far away in the wheat field and waved at him from time to time.

Tao Ming said yes with a grim expression.

Chen Shao said tolerantly: "Maybe he has something to talk to you about. Come over."

Tao Ming said with a stiff face: "They are fine, sir, don't worry about them."

Chen Shao smiled and said, "Call him over."

Tao Ming dismounted reluctantly and walked towards them. After complaining a few words, he led them back.

The four of them came closer and hurriedly saluted Chen Shao.

Chen Shao asked everyone's name one by one, and then some questions about their studies, and then said, "You came at the right time. I need help with something urgently. Would you be willing to help me?"

The four of them, including Tao Ming, hurriedly said, "If you have any instructions, just tell me. We are willing to go through fire and water without hesitation."

After saying this, Tao Ming felt that they had stolen his limelight, so he boldly asked, "Sir, do you want us to go find Ma Dali?"

"No." Chen Shao's eyes swept over them one by one, and he slowly explained the situation. "Amei was killed on the way back to Zhaojia Village, but because of the rain, all the clues were washed away. If we want to find clues again, we can only search carefully along every fork in the road and every mountain along the five-mile road from Taojiazhuang to Zhaojia Village. Originally, such a thing should be the responsibility of the yamen runners, but the yamen runners followed Lord Ding to search the Dafeng River. If we wait for them to come back after the search, I don't know how long it will take. I just heard Tao Ming say that you are all very concerned about this case, so I want to ask if you are willing to participate and work together on the case?"

I was worried that I couldn't find a chance to get close to her, so how could I miss this opportunity that came to my door? Tao Ming rushed to answer: "It is my honor to work with you on the case!"

The rest of the people followed suit and expressed their willingness.

Chen Shao asked: "Will it affect your studies?"

Several people answered at the same time: "No."

Chen Shao thought for a moment and said, "Don't be so anxious to reply. Go back and think about it for a night. Although this is a tough job, I have requirements. I will prepare money, food, and horses for transportation. The corresponding requirement is that you must be polite to the people during the search. Even if it is the other party's fault, you can only reason with them calmly and not use your status to argue with them. But if you can do it, the five of you can be the team leaders, and each of you can find three to five people to form a team. Bring the people you have found to meet me at the prefectural governor's mansion tomorrow evening."

Several people responded in unison.

"Go ahead and think it over carefully before giving your answer." Chen Shao said.

A few people left with reservations.

After walking a short distance, they couldn't suppress their excitement and jumped and cheered.

Zhao Qiang looked at their laughter and joy, feeling both admiration and caution in his heart: he thought Chen Shao let Tao Ming follow because he valued his talent, but he didn't expect that he did it to exploit him.

They came here eagerly just to get a chance to prepare for the imperial examinations and get a guide in the officialdom. With such a great temptation in front of them, it was just a matter of searching villages and crossing mountains, so how could they not go all out? If he put himself in his shoes, he would also have no reason not to do his best.

However, his thoughts were unfair to Chen Shao.

Chen Shao hired them because they had clear eyes and innocent stupidity in their words and deeds. Even if they had some tricks, they were all exposed on their faces. As long as no one above them deliberately made things difficult for them, they would basically be very strict in their work. The investment was small and the return was big. Since they were willing to help her, she would rather not use them.

Qingshui Town is less than three miles away from Taojiazhuang.

When Chen Shao arrived, it was already getting dark.

Ma Dali’s pancake shop is located in the southwest of the town, in a courtyard that is neither too big nor too small.

Most of the shops in the town have closed, but Ma Dali's pancake shop is still open, but there is no one in the shop.

Zhao Qiang called out to the back room seven or eight times before Ma Dali hurried out. When he saw it was him, he was relieved and said, "Brother Qiang, you came just in time. Come with me to the back room to persuade Xiaolan. This morning, when she heard about her sister's accident, she kept crying, refused to eat, and ignored the children. I persuaded her so much that my mouth was almost covered with blisters."

As he said this, he came out to pull him away.

"Don't worry." Zhao Qiang held his hand. "This is Mr. Chen from the capital. He came to you to ask about A-mei's case."

When Ma Dali saw Chen Shao, he panicked and quickly wiped his hands. He was about to kneel on the ground, but Fu Jiu pulled him up.

Chen Shao glanced at the eyes of the neighbors peeking out from the cracks in the door, stepped into the house and said, "Let's talk inside."