Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

The chiefs of Sanwan Village and Dangnan Village looked at each other in silence for a long time. Then the chief of Sanwan Village answered with a stiff face, "Our village is Dengding."

When the village chief of South Village saw him answer, he had no choice but to answer as well: "Our village is Ran Yuanfei."

Chen Shao asked, "They are both from your village. Like Zhou Fang, are they also visiting your village to visit relatives?"

"Deng Ding is from our village." The village chief of Sanwan Village felt a little bitter. When she questioned the village chief of Qingping Township, he slowly came to his senses and realized that they had all been fooled.

Although Deng Ding had never provoked anything in the village, he was the first to respond when Qingping Township shouted about injustice. It was precisely because he responded that the rest of the villagers felt that they couldn't let people laugh at Sanwan Village for having no one, and let a young boy stand up for them, so they followed suit, and the matter became more and more serious.

The village chief of Nancun was also complaining, not because they were also fooled, but because it just happened that Ran Yuanfei was also the nephew of his wife, and he also came to their village last night, saying that he hadn't seen his wife for a long time, and he came to see her since he had nothing to do. Although he didn't instigate anything after he came, when Qingping Township was clamoring today, he responded more actively than Deng Ding of Sanwan Village, and even when the fight started, he was more severe than others.

Moreover, one of the students sent by Chen Shao to the village to distribute grain was beaten to death by him.

Fortunately, there was chaos at the time and few people saw it except him.

I have to talk to those people later and I can’t say anything nonsense to make her angry.

Thinking of this, the village chief of Nancun pretended to have a bitter face, and when Chen Shao looked at him, he honestly told him that Ran Yuanfei was the nephew of his wife.

Looking at his wrinkled face and evasive eyes, Chen Shao realized that he might not be telling the truth, so he asked conservatively: "Is Ran Yuanfei still at your house, or has he gone back?"

When the south village's Muramasa's mouth became more bitter, he forced her gaze, bent down slightly and said: "I have already gone back."

Li Tianliu had already led his men back. When he approached, Chen Shao immediately ordered: "Arrange two people to go with him to bring Ran Yuanfei back, and bring his family back as well!"

When Muramasa of Nancun's heart trembled slightly, he did not dare to refute. He saw two Yulin guards coming out from behind Li Tianliu, and after bowing to Chen Shao, he led his people away respectfully.

Looking at his back, Chen Shao instructed again: "Arrange another person to go to Sanwan Village to bring Deng Ding. Also, invite his family members over as well."

After the Yulin Guards left, Chen Shao looked at the village chief of Sanwan Village and said, "Tell me, what kind of person is Deng Ding? Has he or his family behaved differently recently?"

The village chief of Sanwan Village rubbed his hands unconsciously. "Deng Ding is a very filial child. His father passed away early, and his two elder brothers also passed away seven or eight years ago due to illness. His mother was too sad and her health is not as good as before. He is the only one who takes care of the family. If there is any difference between him and his family recently, it is that they have been eating better these days than before."

Afraid that he didn't explain it clearly, the village chief of Sanwan Village further explained: "His family is large, and in the early years when the good fields were not occupied, the food they grew was not enough to eat. After his two brothers passed away, the good fields were occupied, and the food they grew on those few plots of land was even less than enough to eat. In recent years, it can be said that they have been eating one meal and not the next. It is not an exaggeration, but in the past five or six days, I don't know why, his family has been able to eat white rice from time to time, and they have not even run out of meat. I heard someone ask his family two days ago, and they said that they went to borrow rice and meat from his aunt's family."

Chen Shao asked: "Where is his aunt's family from?"

The village chief of Sanwan Village replied, "His aunt's family lives in Zhujiawan in front. They received food and money half a month earlier than us, but his aunt's family also has a large family to feed."

Chen Shao said: "Do you think he lied?"

This is not something you can say casually. Muramasa from Sanwan Village quickly denied it: "I don't know about that."

"Then please lead the way," Chen Shao called over two yamen runners, "follow him to Zhujiawan and ask Aunt Deng Ding's family if Deng Ding and her family have asked them to borrow money, food or meat recently."

Seeing that the village chief of Sanwan Village was somewhat reluctant, Chen Shao pointed out: "If Deng Ding's family had not borrowed food and meat from his eldest sister-in-law's family, then he and Zhou Fang and others from Qingping Township had colluded long ago. Think about the taxes you paid as usual, the corvée you performed as scheduled, and the fact that your descendants within three generations were not allowed to take the imperial examinations. These were most likely caused by him."

That's right! Deng Ding usually doesn't get a fart when he's beaten three times, but when Zhou Fang yelled, he responded. Who would believe that it wasn't a conspiracy? Thinking of the taxes and corvée labor that had to be paid on time, the village chief of Sanwan Village suddenly became angry. Without Chen Shao's urging, he called the yamen runners to rush to Zhujiawan.

As soon as he left, Chen Shao's eyes naturally fell on the village chief of Qingping Township. When the village chief of Qingping Township met her eyes, he immediately avoided her sight and said everything he should and shouldn't say, like a bamboo tube pouring beans: "Zhou Fang is the same. Everyone at home and outside praises her for being a filial child. Every time she comes home, she always rushes to do the work. The only bad thing is that she is almost thirty years old and still has no children of her own. I advised him to drive this woman away and remarry, but he was unwilling to do so. He always said that it was not easy for her to live with him, and if he was driven away, she would not be able to live. Humph, I don't think his wife has a hard time. It's easy for her to beat and scold him all day long! She can't lay eggs and has such a bad temper. If it were me, I would have asked her to get out as far away as possible."

Chen Shao looked at him carefully and asked, "When he came here yesterday, besides those words about the unfair distribution of grain and money, did he say anything else?"

Muramasa of Qingping Township shook his head and said, "Nothing else was said..."

Halfway through the conversation, he suddenly changed his words, "I think I said that we would have a child in a few days."

Chen Shao asked: "Where did the child come from?"

Muramasa of Qingping Township hesitated and said, "It seems that he was talking about adopting a child. Before his aunt could ask him in detail, he fell asleep."

"So is he at your house now, or..." Before he could finish his words, he saw the Yulin Guard who had been sent to invite Zhou Fang back from afar, and he was alone. Chen Shao stopped talking and waited for the Yulin Guard to come closer before asking, "Is he not here?"

The Imperial Guards looked at Muramasa from Qingping Township and said, "He said he went back an hour ago. I wanted to arrest him at his home, but I didn't know what you were thinking, so I came back to ask you."

Chen Shao gestured to Muramasa of Qingping Township, "Lead the way."

After they left, Chen Shao's eyes swept across the fields in front of him one by one. After a long while, he slowly retracted his gaze and looked at the bodies beside him. He whispered, "Carry them in. When the carriage comes, send them all back to the county town. Tell Quan Shuyu to arrange a few coffins and bury them all."

The Yulin Guards carried the body into the house, and the yard became empty in an instant.

Li Tianliu's face was covered with a layer of frost. It had been quite a while since he came back from the village, but there was still no sign of it melting away. Seeing that there were no outsiders around, he couldn't help but ask in a cold voice, "Are you planning to let them go so easily?"

"I have no intention of letting them go." Chen Shao calmly repeated her treatment of several villages.

After listening to this, the frost on Li Tianliu's face finally melted a little. "First there was the Ye Ge case, then there was the Zhuangzi riot. Since their goal is to destroy our alliance with the General of the Auxiliary State, I'm afraid they won't just give up. What are your plans?"

Chen Shao turned around and looked at the fields in front of the farm again. "After we bring the man back and interrogate him, we'll see what happens and then make plans."

The first person to arrive was Deng Ding from Sanwan Village.