Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

After a while, he came to his senses after Chan Yi's impatient reminder and stammered, "Lord Ding spent no less than 100,000 taels of silver just on buying jade from them, and no less than 50,000 taels of silver on giving festival and birthday gifts to the General of the State. If they are lying, Lord Ding will not let them go."

He didn't know the Zhu, Gu, Fan and Qi families, but he knew Ding Lisheng well enough. He had invested half of the Ding family's money to gain a good reputation in front of the general. If the Zhu, Gu, Fan and Qi families were deceiving him, he would fight them to the death.

Chen Shao saw through his thoughts at a glance, but did not expose him. Instead, he continued to ask, "You mean you didn't verify whether their words were true or false?"

Zhao Lin shook his head, indicating that it couldn't be fake, and said, "They gave Lord Ding a return gift from the General Fuguo. Among the return gifts, there were calligraphy and paintings given by the General Fuguo. The calligraphy and paintings were stamped with the General Fuguo's official and private seals. They couldn't be fake."

Chen Shao immediately asked: "Where are those calligraphy and paintings?"

Zhao Lin looked at Ding Lisheng fearfully and replied in a low voice, "It's kept in the secret compartment of Lord Ding's study."

Chen Shao immediately ordered: "Fu Jiu, take him to get all those calligraphy and paintings."

After Fu Jiu took Zhao Lin away, Chen Shao looked at the list he had written again, handed it to Chan Yi and said, "Give it to Li Tianliu and ask him to arrange for someone to bring back all the people on it."

When Chan Yi was about to leave with the list, Chen Shao stopped her again, "Tell Li Tianliu not only to bring back the people on the list, but also to arrange one or two more people to keep an eye on their families and not let their families transfer their property."

After Chan Yi left with the list, Chen Shao got down from the desk and slowly walked to Ding Lisheng. Looking at his slightly fluttering eyelashes, he hummed softly, "Awake?"

Ding Lisheng didn't move.

Chen Shao laughed twice: "Come here, drag him out and behead him!"

Ding Lisheng opened his eyes immediately, and quickly got up and knelt on the ground, "Sir, please spare my life. I know I was wrong."

"You know you're wrong," Chen Shao sneered, "but you keep making mistakes, and you keep making mistakes over and over again, and you still refuse to repent!"

"I will change it, I will change it right away." Ding Lisheng cried, "As long as you forgive me, I promise I will never make the same mistake again."

"Since you won't make mistakes again, tell me," Chen Shao said, "What did the Zhu, Gu, Fan, and Qi families tell you about the general's love for Qingyu?"

Ding Lisheng didn't dare to hide it anymore, mainly because Zhao Lin had already said everything he needed to say, so it was useless for him to hide it anymore. He kowtowed twice and answered honestly: "They said that the General of the State has been secretly assisting the Prince of Guangling to seize the throne. If we can join his camp and lend him a hand, the Prince of Guangling will not treat me badly when he takes the throne. I was confused for a moment and didn't check whether it was true or not. I listened to their slander and made such a big mistake. But don't worry, my lord. Since you came to Hongyuan County, I have rarely been involved with them."

"When did they tell you these words?" Chen Shao asked.

Ding Lisheng immediately replied: "At the end of the fifteenth year of Yuanhe."

It was the fifteenth year of Yuanhe again.

It seems that after they joined the princelings of the previous dynasty, they immediately set about developing their power.

Develop power?

Develop your power!

Why didn't she think of it!

Like those lotus patterns with beautiful meanings, perhaps the green jade is not just a personal preference, but a token of trust! A token of identity after an incident, using green jade!

Suppressing the joy rising in his heart, Chen Shao continued to question: "Before they told you these words, were you also flattering them as you did later?"

Ding Lisheng said awkwardly, "Their families are all big families in Jiangnan, and there are many people in their families who serve in the court. They have been established in Hongyuan County for decades earlier than me. When I first took office in the prefectural governor's office, I suffered a lot of difficulties, and they helped me secretly."

"So," Chen Shao asked, "when they said that the General of the State would help Prince Guangling seize the throne, you believed it?"

"I don't have the letter. They took the evidence," Ding Lisheng argued. "Master Zhu took the secret letter written to him by the General Fuguo, and Master Gu also took a painting given to him by the General Fuguo. The painting was stamped with the official seal and private seal of the General Fuguo. I recognized the official seal. It was definitely the General Fuguo's!"

Chen Shao looked at him for a long time before asking, "How much silver have you spent on the Auxiliary General since the fifteenth year of Yuanhe?"

Ding Lisheng looked at her vaguely. He was kneeling, and she was standing. Even if he looked up, he could only see her legs. But even if it was just a piece of leg, he felt uneasy and uneasy, but he dared not not answer. He moved his position quietly, trying to move away from her legs, and then whispered: "It should be, it should be 300,000 taels."

"Three hundred thousand taels..." Chen Shao questioned, "Where did you get so much money?"

Ding Lisheng opened his mouth but could not answer. After a long while, he looked at the wooden box on the table with hope and said cautiously: "Part of the money was earned from the Ding family's shop, part of the money was collected from the rent, and part of the money was mortgaged with the grain in the farm..."

"What else?" Chen Shao asked.

"Also," knowing that he couldn't hide it, Ding Lisheng gritted his teeth and closed his eyes and said, "There is also a part of the money that was withheld from taxes."

"I remember you said before," Chen Shao said slowly, "since you took office as the military officer, you have been living in the prefect's mansion and have had little contact with the Ding family."

Ding Lisheng knew that she was going to settle accounts with him, so he hardened his heart and slapped himself twice, half begging for mercy and half expressing his loyalty: "From now on, I will listen to you, sir. If you tell me to go east, I will never go west. If you tell me to stand, I will never sit."

After a pause, he added: "From now on, I will only listen to you, sir. Apart from you, I will not listen to anyone else!"

"You won't listen to anyone else except me?" Chen Shao smiled as he walked back to the desk, opened the box containing the Ding family's evidence, and casually took out a stack of them. After reading a few of them, he looked at the pale-faced Ding Lisheng and said teasingly, "Do you know what it means that a man without credibility cannot stand? The moment I asked Fu Jiu to produce these evidences, you were still lying and being stubborn. Tell me, what credibility do you still have?"

"I can swear that I will never lie or be stubborn to you again." Ding Lisheng raised his hand and was about to swear an oath when Fu Jiu came back with the calligraphy and painting of the General of the State.