Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Cao Wenjie's face was stiff and he refused to answer.

Chen Shao retracted his gaze and said coldly: "Drag him out and beat him with five boards. After that, tell Master Qi that from now on, the official pharmacy is not allowed to employ his descendants."

The Yulin Guards immediately came up to drag the man away.

"I know I'm wrong, I'll say it now..." Cao Wenjie was horrified.

Chen Shao did not speak to stop him, and the Yulin Guards did not stop, but dragged him away. Soon, the sound of Cao Wencao being beaten with a stick and his screams were heard in the main hall.

Only after the beating stopped and Cao Wenjie's screams disappeared did Chen Shao raise his head again, sweeping his eyes over the remaining three people one by one, and spoke again: "I guess Manager Zhang hasn't told you that most of the drugstores in Hongyuan County will be incorporated into the government, and the managers, doctors, and shop assistants of the official drugstores will also be incorporated into the government as long as they pass the assessment. In other words, as long as you pass the assessment, you will also be government officials in the future."

Seeing the faces of several people suddenly change from fear to excitement, Chen Shao's finger fell on the three words "Jia Wenguang" on the roster, "Jia Wenguang, answer me, where is the real account book of Wanhetang?"

"In the hands of the shopkeeper Zhang Zhong and the accountant Zheng Fu!" Lu Zhongren and Dong Dacheng answered in unison.

Jia Wenguang, who was one step behind, was stunned for a moment, then glared at the two men angrily. The two men didn't even look at him, and Lawrence Lu even spoke again: "I can take you to their residence. I know where they hide the account books!"

Chen Shao looked at Li Tianliu, and Li Tianliu said coldly: "Lead the way!"

"I also know where they hide the account books!" The unwilling Jia Wenguang said in unison with Dong Dacheng.

How could Lawrence Lu give them the chance to steal the credit? He quickly stood up, bowed flatteringly, and bowed to Li Tianliu, saying, "General, please follow me."

After Li Tianliu followed Lu Zhongren away, Jia Wenguang and Dong Dacheng showed up and competed to talk about the various faults of Wanhetang, including but not limited to: Wanhetang would not accept penniless patients, like Aunt Xu from the same village as Qi Ye; before accepting a patient, Wanhetang would generally investigate the other party's wealth first, and then treat the disease based on the other party's wealth; Wanhetang's treatment policy was to treat minor illnesses as major and major illnesses as death; Wanhetang would give two hundred taels of silver to the government every year to deal with patients or their families who went to report it.

It was the same trick used by some modern fraudulent hospitals. Chen Shao listened calmly, stopped the angry Chan Yi and Quan Shuyu, and asked calmly, "Are all these things you said recorded in the real account books of Wanhetang?"

Jia Wenguang and Dong Dacheng nodded together.

Chen Shao asked again: "Who were the real account books made for? Who were the fake account books given to Miss Quan for?"

"The real account books were given to the Zhou and Hu families to look at," Dong Dacheng answered before she could finish her words. "The fake account books were originally made for Lord Li to look at. After Lord Li left, they were kept to prevent anyone as ignorant as Lord Li from checking them again."

Chen Shao: "Has Lord Li examined it before?"

"Yes." Dong Dacheng spoke first again. "More than ten years ago, Kangle Hall cured a merchant to death. The merchant's son stopped Lord Li on the road when he was out investigating the case and reported the incident. Lord Li summoned Shopkeeper Peng and Doctor Meng, who cured the merchant to death, for questioning. They both denied the incident. Lord Li wanted to check Kangle Hall's account books and the medical records related to the merchant. The Zhou and Hu families intervened, but failed to stop Lord Li's decision. Then Shopkeeper Peng set fire to the account office and escaped the inspection."

Not wanting to be outdone, Jia Wenguang added: “Before they set the fire, they moved all those account books out.”

Dong Dacheng nodded and continued, "Lord Li was very angry about them setting fire to the accounting office. For several years afterwards, he insisted on checking their account books. In order to deal with his inspection, Kangle Hall began to falsify accounts."

Quan Shuyu questioned: "The account books can be falsified, but Kangletang has not stopped doing what it did, and its past deeds cannot be covered up. Lord Li only needs to pay a little attention to find out. Why didn't Lord Li investigate? Also, since the merchant's son dared to stop him and file a complaint, even if Kangletang burned down the account office, he could have joined forces with the previous victims to file a complaint. Why didn't he do that?"

With Dong Dacheng's deliberate pause, Jia Wenguang finally spoke first: "Master Li is not failing to investigate. Someone died in Yunhe Town again, and Master Li was busy with the murder case. The merchant's son also had his legs broken by people sent by the Zhou and Hu families, and threatened his family that they would beat him to death if they dared to complain again, so his family did not sue again. The Zhou and Hu families also gave Master Ding a generous gift, so that Master Ding could negotiate with Master Li. In short, the matter was over."

Chan Yi was so angry that she glared at Jia Wenguang and Dong Dacheng, then said to Chen Shao firmly, "These people are rotten to the core. We must not let them enter the official pharmacy and continue to harm the people!"

Quan Shuyu nodded in agreement.

Chen Shao's face remained calm. Seeing Jia Wenguang and Dong Dacheng's faces turning pale, she asked, "Is this true for all the pharmacies under the Zhou and Hu families, or is it limited to Kangletang and Wanhetang?"

Jia Wenguang quickly said, "It's all the same."

Dong Dacheng added: "It's not just the Zhou and Hu families, but also the Zhu, Gu, Fan and Qi families, as well as the Ding and Zhao families' pharmacies."

"It's not just pharmacies," Jia Wenguang added, "it's the same with shops."

Quan Shuyu tried his best to suppress the anger in his heart, stared at the two people and said, "In other words, the account books handed over by the store are also fake?"

Dong Dacheng paused again deliberately, and Jia Wenguang rushed to say, "Yes, they are all fake!"

Seeing that Dong Dacheng didn't say anything, he pulled him again.

Seeing Chen Shao and the others looking over, Dong Dacheng forced a smile and said, "The account books of other shops are indeed fake, but they are a mixture of true and false. After all, it is not as easy for shops to cheat as it is for pharmacies."

Chan Yi sneered.

Quan Shuyu also sneered. No wonder they always didn't match the Wen family's account books when they checked them. She thought it was because of the Wen family's corruption, but it turned out to be a fake account book!

Facing the two people's cold gazes, Jia Wenguang took a half step back in fear, and looked at Dong Dacheng in confusion, not understanding why he was speaking for those shops.

Dong Dacheng was also terrified, but he saw it more clearly than Jia Wenguang. Chen Shao would not punish everyone just by listening to them. In this case, telling the truth might give him a chance to live.

Chen Shao ignored the anger of Chan Yi and Quan Shuyu. She looked at Dong Dacheng and Jia Wenguang and asked slowly, "Are all the doctors in the pharmacy real doctors?"

"What do you mean? The doctor in the pharmacy is not a real doctor, that is..." Chan Yi quickly looked at Jia Wenguang and Dong Dacheng, and seeing their horrified faces, she rushed forward and slapped them both hard. "The account book is fake, the doctor is also fake, what do you think of other people's lives!"

Quan Shuyu couldn't help but follow and stepped on them twice.

Chen Shao looked at her curiously.

"It's not us who want to deceive people like this," Jia Wenguang said fearfully, "It's the Zhou family and the Hu family who hired the doctor, not us!"

"When did you start lying to people like this?" Chen Shao asked.

Jia Wenguang shook his head: "I don't know. I have been like this since I entered the pharmacy."

Chen Shao took a look at the roster and found that he had entered Taikang’s pharmacy in the 27th year of its establishment.

If Taikang has been like this for the past twenty years, then... Chen Shao looked at Dong Dacheng, who had entered the drugstore in Taikang's nineteenth year.

Dong Dacheng was afraid of being beaten again, so he quickly replied: "It was the same when I went into the medicine shop."

He also said, "I entered the pharmacy in my father's place. My father was like this when he was working there."

In other words, the pharmacy has been like this since the beginning.