Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

"What did I force you to do?" Chen Shao looked at him with mockery in his eyes.

Zhou Song glanced at the people watching the excitement and raised his voice deliberately, "Sir, if you threaten to execute me, what else can you say but forcing a confession?"

"According to the Tai Tong Ordinance, beating or attempting to kill grandparents, fathers, husband's grandparents or parents, killing uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters, grandparents and husbands are all unforgivable crimes," Chen Shao's eyes were even more sarcastic, "I just told you the truth, how come you said it was a threat?"

Without waiting for him to refute, Chen Shao spoke again, "Perhaps there was another reason for Mr. Qian's death, and you were afraid of bearing the consequences, so you told me the truth and regarded it as a threat?"

Zhou Song's face turned blue and red, but he couldn't answer.

Chen Shao sneered and looked at Mr. Qian's two sons again, "I'll ask you again, do you have any objections?"

How could the two sons of Uncle Qian stand such "intimidation"? Their legs softened and they knelt on the ground. Zhou Song saw this and quickly stood in front of them, bowed and said: "Sir, yesterday, the elder and second brothers Qian were working outside, and I was the only one with my uncle. After my uncle got into trouble, the elder and second brothers Qian hurried back home. If you have any questions, just ask me."

Chen Shao said "really?" in an ambiguous tone, then took out the interrogation record from Huimin Pharmacy and looked at the record that Mr. Qian was brought to Huimin Pharmacy by his two sons for treatment. He shouted coldly, "Come here, drag them away and give them five big beatings each!"

"Please forgive me, sir," Zhou Song said hurriedly, "I lied before because I had to. My uncle died because he drank poison by mistake. I was the only one who served him before he died. If it gets out, people will inevitably criticize Brother Qian and Brother Qian for being unfilial. I told them on the way to Huimin Pharmacy for their reputation. They escorted my uncle to Huimin Pharmacy for treatment. If you want to punish me, then punish me."

"You mean, it was you who escorted Mr. Qian to Huimin Pharmacy for treatment yesterday?" Chen Shao asked meaningfully.

Zhou Song quickly replied, "Yes."

"Okay." Chen Shao took Mr. Qian's medical record and looked at him mockingly, "Many people came to Huimin Pharmacy to see a doctor yesterday. After Mr. Qian came here, he must have waited in line for a long time before he could see a doctor, right?"

Zhou Song gritted his teeth and answered, "Yes."

Chen Shao said calmly, "Then tell me, when did Mr. Qian choose this doctor?"

Zhou Song's face froze, but he quickly replied, "My mind was completely focused on my uncle, and I didn't pay attention to the time."

Chen Shao nodded disapprovingly, "I didn't notice the time...Okay, then tell me, where did you line up?"

Zhou Song quickly replied, "It's the third straw shed from the left outside Huimin Pharmacy."

In order to prove what he said was true, Zhou Song roughly recounted her propaganda that the green jade pendant was an attempt by Zhu, Gu and others to control the people of Hongyuan County to rebel.

Chen Shao did not respond to his question, but continued to ask at his own pace: "While you were waiting in the third hut from the left, was there anyone else in the hut?"

Zhou Song replied: "Yes."

Chen Shao asked: "Have you talked to anyone?"

Zhou Song's heart suddenly relaxed. He had guessed the purpose of her asking these questions. After quickly looking up at her, he answered very straightforwardly: "My whole mind was on my uncle. Maybe I talked to someone, but I can't remember who I talked to or what I said."

Chen Shao looked at him.

Zhou Song straightened his back. Although his heart was beating fast, he remained neither humble nor arrogant.

Seeing this, Chen Shao couldn't help but laugh. After laughing, he suddenly changed the subject and asked, "You just said that you accompanied Mr. Qian to Huimin Pharmacy to see a doctor yesterday?"

Why are you back again? Zhou Song raised his eyelids and looked at her again before answering, "Yes."

Chen Shao asked again: "You just said that the two of them rushed back home after Master Qian died?"

Zhou Song nodded: "Yes."

Chen Shao was about to ask more questions when the Yulin Guards who had gone to check on him strode into the hall, walked up to her, leaned close, and whispered a few words. After listening, Chen Shao couldn't help but look at Zhou Song twice more before continuing to ask, "Earlier in front of Huimin Pharmacy, you said that Master Qian died on the way to Huimin Pharmacy. Since you were the only one by Master Qian's side before he died, after Master Qian died, did you push his body to the county city alone, or did you push the body back home and wait for his brothers to return home before pushing it to the county city together?"

Zhou Song looked at the retreating Yulin guards fearfully, and after thinking for a moment, he replied conservatively: "I will push the body back home, and when they come back, we will push it to the county town together."

"Let me confirm again," Chen Shao glanced at Uncle Qian's two sons, then looked back at Zhou Song, "Yesterday it was you who escorted Uncle Qian to Huimin Pharmacy for treatment, and it was you who served Uncle Qian the medicine. It was only after Uncle Qian got into trouble that the two brothers rushed back home?"

Zhou Song nodded: "Yes."

Chen Shao looked at the two women behind the two brothers, "Where were they, or what were they doing, when you were taking care of Uncle Qian?"

Zhou Song looked back at the women behind the two brothers and said, "My cousin's wife and the others have children to take care of and work in the fields, so they can't spare the time."

The two women lowered their heads and said nothing.

Chen Shao did not ask them whether their statements were true or false. Instead, he brought the interrogation records to him and continued, "I saw that among their children, there were two who were over thirteen years old. Didn't they help you take care of Uncle Qian?"

Zhou Song answered without hesitation: "In addition to taking care of their younger siblings, they also help with the work in the fields."

"In other words," Chen Shao concluded, "from beginning to end, you were the only one who took care of Mr. Qian?"

Zhou Song nodded in agreement.

Chen Shao looked at him and asked, "Who made the dinner, and who brewed the medicine?"

Zhou Song replied: "Dinner was made by my cousin's wife and her family, and the medicine was also prepared by my cousin's wife and her family."

Chen Shao: "Did you have dinner at Uncle Qian's house last night?"

Zhou Song replied: "Yes."

"Then tell me," Chen Shaozhuang asked casually, "What did you eat last night?"

Zhou Song was stunned, and subconsciously wanted to answer him again. He was so focused on Uncle Qian that he didn't pay attention to what he ate. But Chen Shao said before him: "Since you are taking care of Uncle Qian, you must know what Uncle Qian ate."

Yes, he would know that. Zhou Song secretly looked at the women behind the two brothers, wanting them to answer for him like Su Er's wife. But the two women kept their heads down, trembling slightly, and had no intention of saying anything. The two brothers wanted to answer, but when they thought of the consequence of lying, which was execution, they shut their mouths tightly.

Chen Shao smiled and pointed at the people who were watching the excitement, "Tell me, what did you eat last night?"

"Noodle dumplings for eating." The person being pointed at answered quickly.

Chen Shao pointed at another person, "What about you?"

"I drank vegetable porridge." The person being pointed at answered just as quickly.

Chen Shao pointed at a few more people, and all of them gave their answers quickly.

Chen Shao looked back at Zhou Song with a smile.

Listening to the advice of the people around him, Zhou Song gritted his teeth and said casually, "I remember that my uncle was not feeling well and had vegetable porridge last night."

The two brothers and the two women all looked up at him, with expressions of disbelief on their faces.

Zhou Song also noticed their gazes and realized that he had said the wrong thing, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead.

Chen Shao laughed, and the coldness in his laughter made the people who were watching the fun stop talking.

"Tell me, what did you eat last night?" Chen Shao asked the two women.

The two women answered tremblingly, "Dough lumps."

Chen Shao looked at the two brothers again: "Tell me, who are you working for, and where are you working?"

The two brothers were so frightened that they kowtowed and were about to confess. Zhou Song kowtowed twice vigorously and said first: "I remembered it wrongly. We did eat noodles last night."

"It seems that you won't give up until you get to the Yellow River!" Chen Shao sneered, "Okay, I'll assume that you remembered it wrong. Then tell me, how long after eating the noodles did you feed him the medicine?"

Zhou Song said vaguely: "Not long ago."

"How long is a short time?" Chen Shao questioned, "Don't say you don't know. You've put all your thoughts on Master Qian, how could you not know?"

Zhou Song quickly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and replied anxiously: "It should be about a cup of tea."

Chen Shao calmly ordered: "Drag him out and chop him off!"

Seeing the yamen runners rushing over, Zhou Song quickly stood up and asked, "Why do you want to chop me down?"

"Uncle Qian drank the medicine half an hour after eating the noodles!" Chen Shao said calmly, "If this reason is not enough, then Uncle Qian is not your uncle at all, and it was not you who sent Uncle Qian to Huimin Pharmacy for treatment yesterday afternoon!"

The last meal that Uncle Qian ate before his death was noodles. Only part of the noodles remained in the stomach, and most of them had passed through the pylorus into the small intestine, while the poison he drank remained in the stomach. According to the digestion process of food after entering the human body, it can be basically determined that Uncle Qian took the poison half an hour after eating the noodles. The reason why she asked him those questions over and over again was to make his answers contradict each other and reveal flaws.

Zhou Song's legs went weak and he took two steps back, "Impossible!"

"You are too anxious." Having already found a breakthrough in the mass poisoning case at the drugstore, Chen Shao was no longer anxious. Looking at Zhou Song struggling in the hands of the yamen runners, he said calmly, "If you hadn't been so eager to succeed and exposed yourself so early, I might not have solved the case so quickly. Let's drag it out."

"I'm just an errand boy who gets paid. Don't you want to know who the mastermind is?" Zhou Song didn't want to die, so he leaned against the ground and shouted in panic.

Chen Shao was unmoved and said, "Drag him away!"

Kill the chicken to scare the monkey.

With his fate in mind, and now that a breakthrough has been made, she has no fear of not being able to find the mastermind!