Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Zhang Boshan flattered him, "Sir, you are a man who handles important matters. Why do you have to do everything yourself? If there are any small matters like this in the future, you can just throw them to me."

As he spoke, he took out a visiting card from his sleeve and held it out, "This was sent by the county schoolmaster Gao Shanzhang this morning. Gao Shanzhang said that he should have come to see you earlier, but because you were busy, he delayed it until today. I hope you can spare a moment or two to give him a chance to pay your respects."

Chen Shao glanced at the visiting card, then looked at him: "Have you arranged for the yamen runners to go to the village last night?"

Zhang Boshan smiled and said, "It's all arranged."

Seeing that he was still holding the visiting card, Chen Shao couldn't help but ask, "Are you free?"

Zhang Boshan thought she had something to ask him, so he quickly replied that he was not too busy.

Chen Shao said: "Not too busy, but still very busy. Tell me, what are you busy with?"

Zhang Boshan's smile froze on his face. He awkwardly took back the visiting card, stammering and unable to answer.

Chen Shao glanced at him.

Zhang Boshan said angrily: "Young Master..."

Chen Shao sneered, "Are you busy or not?"

Zhang Boshan blushed and said, "Not busy."

Chen Shao stared at him steadily until he lowered his head, then he looked away: "It's good that you're not busy."

When Zhang Boshan heard this, he quickly said, "If you have anything to say, just tell me."

Chen Shao ordered: "Go and prepare two hundred taels of silver and forty horses for me. I will need them in great need."

Zhang Boshan immediately said to Bao Chengle: "Go and get ready!"

"Wait a moment." Chan Yi called him, "Bring two hundred taels more. The young master spent a lot of money on food and lodging in Zhaojia Village in the past two days. You have to make up for it."

Zhang Boshan slapped himself lightly, "It is my honor that you can come to Hongyuan County. I should have prepared food and accommodation long ago. I forgot to remind Miss Chanyi. I really deserve a beating. Quick, go and get four hundred, no, one thousand taels of silver!"

After Bao Chengle left, Zhang Boshan bowed to Chan Yi humbly, thanked her first, and then said, "Miss Chan Yi, please use this 1,000 taels of silver first. If you don't have enough, just ask me for more."

Chan Yi said bluntly: "This is what the adults said. Don't ask you to get it when the time comes and you refuse to do so."

"It is my honor to serve you, young master. Miss Chanyi, just come and take it." The more he takes, the more he is involved, and his career will be smoother and he will get more money. Zhang Boshan glanced at Chen Shao, and his fear of her faded unconsciously: "I wonder if you have anything else to tell me?"

"Tell me first, how did you arrange those yamen runners?" Chen Shao said.

Zhang Boshan explained them one by one.

Chen Shao asked: "You arranged it, and they went, but did they do what you arranged?"

Zhang Boshan said, "I will arrange for someone to inspect it in a moment."

Chen Shao: "Are you busy?"

Zhang Boshan had not expected that she would turn her face against him just after he asked for the silver. He bowed his hands in fear and said politely, "I will go there in a moment."

Chen Shao hummed and reminded, "Although it's just to be on the safe side, we still need to be vigilant at all times. When you go to see it, you might as well tell the yamen runners that whoever is in charge of the village will be held responsible if something happens."

Zhang Boshan nodded repeatedly.

Seeing that he was not paying much attention, Chen Shao said nonchalantly: "As the saying goes, what goes up must go down. Although the yamen runners are the ones guarding the town and the village, if something goes wrong, it must be related to Lord Zhang's usual laxity. Therefore, Lord Zhang had better pay more attention when he is patrolling, otherwise if something really goes wrong, Lord Zhang will definitely be the first to be punished."

Seeing that he was still trying to quibble, Chen Shao said calmly, "If I hadn't come here, how long would Lord Zhang have planned to delay the investigation of the first five murders?"

Zhang Boshan was speechless for a moment.

Chen Shao stood up and said, "Master Zhang has already committed dereliction of duty. If he does it again, I think it's time to change the position of prefect."

Zhang Boshan was so frightened that he immediately knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, "Sir, please be merciful. I will go to patrol right away and do a thorough job to ensure that the murderer will not commit crimes again."

Chen Shao turned and went into the inner room.

Zhang Boshan knelt for a long time before he stood up in despair. He waited for Bao Chengle to prepare the horse and send the silver before he followed him out.

When they were far away from Chengfeng Courtyard, he stopped and threw the visiting card to him with a gloomy expression, "Take it back to Gao Han and tell him that I almost got Mr. Chen Liu demoted because of helping him deliver this visiting card."

Bao Chengle took the visiting card and asked what was going on.

Zhang Boshan turned around, looked at Chengfeng Tower, and said coldly: "Have someone keep an eye on that Zhao Qiang!"

Bao Chengle quickly glanced around and whispered, "My Lord, be careful with your words."

Zhang Boshan felt a chill in his heart and woke up immediately. He hurriedly walked thirty or fifty feet before asking, "Who is around?"

Bao Chengle followed him closely, still whispering, "No one. I saw that the place where you were standing earlier was too close to the residence of the Yulin Guards, and I was afraid that they might accidentally hear it, which would be bad for you."

"I'm scared to death." Zhang Boshan hurriedly stopped, leaned against the tree and patted his chest while saying, "Let's not stare at him for now, let's wait until Mr. Chen Liu leaves."

Bao Chengle asked: "Then Zhao Qiang is really..."

Zhang Boshan shook his head. "The young master wants me to inspect the runners that were sent out last night. Let's go."

Bao Chengle was suspicious, but seeing that he looked unhappy, he didn't ask too much. He also knew that he couldn't keep things to himself. He just needed to be patient for a while, and he might tell it. Just as he finished thinking this, Zhang Boshan said, "Didn't you say that the young master asked Manager Shen and others to come here to ask about the case? Why do you suddenly want to see the roster?"

Bao Chengle couldn't figure out Chen Shao's intention. After thinking for a while, he said uncertainly: "It should still be related to the case. Otherwise, we should look at the account book."

That's right. Zhang Boshan thought about it and couldn't help but nodded. There is no business without fraud. Although he said that he couldn't transfer the money when he asked Manager Shen for money, these merchants would want to get two taels in return after giving them one tael of silver. They would definitely make a private account to record these interpersonal transactions. If Chen Shao really wanted to check him, I'm afraid he wouldn't do it in front of him. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel relieved, and his mind became active. "The roster is just a record of the origins and residences of the hired guys. Young master wants to see this. Could it be that the murderer is someone from the business?"

Bao Chengle nodded and said, "That makes sense."

Zhang Boshan was proud of himself for a moment, then snorted coldly, "It's a pity that none of the yamen runners left in Zhaojia Village are capable, otherwise I wouldn't have to suffer such humiliation!"

Bao Chengle said: "Even if there are people who can do something, it's probably useless. Apart from the Imperial Guards, General Li won't let anyone else get close to him."

Although what he said made sense, Zhang Boshan still said maliciously: "This is also strange. The Duke of Chen's Mansion was so rich and prosperous in the past, but in the past ten years or so, it seems to have been possessed by evil spirits. People in the mansion have been in trouble one after another... Such a big mansion, so many descendants, now there is only the second master and the third son of the sixth son. I heard that the second master is no longer alive, and the sixth son was about to die. He was finally saved and took the job of the Dali Temple. At first, I thought she was living in the capital and was bored, so she wanted to go to Jiangnan to relax. I didn't expect that she really came to Hongyuan County and really came to investigate the case. I'm not afraid..."

Just as he was about to say the word "eradicate", he suddenly remembered that the poisoning case had not been resolved yet, so he could not help but stop talking quickly and did not dare to say any more.

Bao Chengle seemed unaware of his fear and continued, "The Yulin Guards are always by Young Master Chen Liu's side. Even if Young Master Chen Liu really gets into trouble, it is their responsibility. What does it have to do with you, sir?"