Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

It took less than an hour from the time Chen Shao left the Shipailou to the time he came back.

Many residents of Qiwan Lane were explaining the jade pendant scam to residents from other lanes who had come over to inquire about the situation. When they heard that she was coming again, they rushed out of the lane in a hurry. Crowded crowds of people gathered at the entrance of the lane, craning their necks to look at them.

Bao Chengle was afraid that he would really be abandoned, so after getting off the carriage, he went straight to Lane 19.

Chen Shao followed him closely.

There are more people in Nineteenth Lane than in Seven Bend Lane, and the crowds are more diverse.

Bao Chengle was shouting "Make way" at first, but when he saw there were too many people, he quickly pushed them away, but the more he pushed, the more people came. It was not until the Yulin Guards shouted at the top of their lungs, "Mr. Chen Liu is investigating a case, all unrelated people, please make way" that the people who were watching the excitement slowly moved to the sides.

It was at this time that Bao Chengle saw Ma San turn around and run away.

Seeing that Ma San disappeared in a few seconds like a loach, Bao Chengle hurriedly shouted, "Ma San, stop!"

Not only did Ma San not stop, he ran even faster.

Chen Shao didn't know Ma San, but when everyone was retreating, only one person was running away, so it must be Ma San. Staring at his fleeing back, Chen Shao said calmly, "Fu Jiu!"

Fu Jiu shouted "Excuse me" and stepped on the wall. She flew up like a roc, staring at Ma San who was hiding here and there because of his familiarity with the stone archway, and quickly chased after him.

But there were too many people and the stone archway was too messy. Ma San moved freely in the alleys, making use of the alleys between alleys or the connecting halls of the people's homes. Fu Jiu chased him for a long time but failed to catch him.

The people in the alleys didn't know what was going on. When they saw Ma San rushing around, most of them tried to get out of the way and no one tried to stop him.

Although Chen Shao could not see him fleeing and Fu Jiu chasing him, he guessed a little bit after seeing them not coming back for a long time. After strictly ordering Bao Chengle not to chase him, Chen Shao stopped and signaled the Yulin Guards: "Shout out, anyone who helps catch Ma San will be rewarded with five taels of silver; anyone who helps stop Ma San will be rewarded with one tael of silver!"

The Yulin Guard first repeated her words loudly on the spot, then flew to stand under the eaves and repeated her words towards every alley.

Ma San, who was running away, heard this and did not stop. He quickly pulled out a dagger from his bosom and fiercely shouted to the people who were trying to stop him: "Get out of my way!"

When the people saw the dagger, they all retreated to the sides, but the reward was too high, especially for the people in the Shipailou. Soon, people holding long benches or wooden sticks came up again. Ma San waved the dagger and tried to drive them away, but the long benches and wooden sticks all rolled towards him.

Ma San was quickly knocked to the ground.

Fu Jiu also flew down from the eaves in time and caught him.

Fu Jiu also heard what the Imperial Guards shouted. After lifting Ma San up from the ground, she looked at the people who came to help and grinned, "Who are the people who are helping? Stand still and let me count them."

"Okay, I'll remember you. You should also recognize each other and go to the prefect's mansion to claim your reward tomorrow!"

After hearing the continuous voices of "caught", Chen Shao breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Bao Chengle and said, "Lead the way to where he is hiding!"

Bao Chengle also breathed a sigh of relief. After all, he was not the only one there. Looking at the people pointing and talking around him, Bao Chengle managed to cheer himself up. He led Chen Shao through the narrow and winding alleys and stopped in front of a dilapidated courtyard.

The courtyard is located at the end of the alley.

Further back was an area of ​​unevenly distributed fields, and behind the fields was a low hill that was almost bald.

"Uncle Fang." A gray-haired old man stood in the yard. He was blind and leaning on a scarred cane. When Bao Chengle saw him, a trace of guilt flashed across his face, and he quickly walked over to support him, "What are you doing out here? It's so cold outside."

"What's going on with all the noise outside?" asked Uncle Fang, with visible anxiety on his face.

Bao Chengle said casually: "It's just catching a petty thief, it's not a big deal."

Uncle Fang muttered something like, "I've been feeling increasingly restless lately," and followed him into the house, asking, "What have you been doing these days? You haven't been here for a while."

"I went out of town for some business these days and left in a hurry, so I didn't come to tell you." Bao Chengle secretly glanced at Chen Shao, and when he saw that she didn't look unhappy, he helped Uncle Fang into the house.

Chen Shao, along with the Yulin Guards, also entered the house.

Uncle Fang heard the messy footsteps, slowly stopped and asked, "What a coincidence, you brought your family here too?"

Receiving Chen Shao's gaze that asked him to continue, Bao Chengle forced a smile and said, "No, it was a few brothers who followed me to do business. I said I came over to ask for a glass of water, and they came along."

Without waiting for Uncle Fang to ask more, he asked nervously, "Who else brought their family here?"

"You came just in time. I just happened to have something to ask you." After asking Chen Shao and the others to sit down, Uncle Fang was silent for a long time before he grabbed his hand and asked, "Tell me honestly, what did the second and seventh brothers do wrong? Why do people in the alley tell me that their wanted posters are posted all over the streets?"

Wanted posters for Lin Buhe and Qi Rong are posted on the streets? What happened to them? Bao Chengle finally realized that things might not be what he thought. Even the Wen and Ren families didn't know the true identities of Lin Buhe and Qi Rong. Chen Shao wanted them, so there was only one possibility, the princelings of the previous dynasty had lost control of Hongyuan County! But Chen Shao had only been in Hongyuan County for half a year, how could she have such great ability to eliminate the Zhu family, the Gu family and others?

Not daring to look into Chen Shao's eyes, Bao Chengle almost trembled as he asked, "Old Two and Old Seven are back too?"

Uncle Fang thought he was shivering because he was cold, so he let go of his hand, stood up and fumbled to the table, and brought the bamboo cage over. The bamboo cage was gourd-shaped, with a small iron basin embedded in the middle, and the iron basin was filled with charcoal. After stuffing the bamboo cage in front of him and putting his hand on the bamboo cage, Uncle Fang fumbled back to sit, frowning and worriedly saying, "Yes, they are back, but they left before those wanted orders came down. Now there are people guarding this yard from morning to night, just waiting for them to come back so that we can catch them and claim the reward."

After a pause, seeing Bao Chengle didn't say anything, Uncle Fang patted his hands and asked again: "Just now I seemed to hear someone shouting something about arresting Ma San. Who is this Ma San? Isn't it Lao San?"

The second and seventh brothers are Shopkeeper Lin and Shopkeeper Qi?

Doesn’t he know Ma San?

Chen Shao looked at Uncle Fang carefully, and seeing that the worry on his face did not seem fake, he turned his gaze to Bao Chengle.

Bao Chengle didn't dare to answer yes, so he just said perfunctorily: "No."

"That's good." Uncle Fang breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked, "Old Five, tell me honestly, what did Old Two and Old Seven do wrong? I heard from people in the alley that they instigated people from several villages to cause trouble, and many people died. Old Two and Old Seven are not the kind of people who would do such a thing. Were they instigated or forced by someone?"

"them……"

"I heard they are from the Zhu, Gu, Fan and Qi families." After confirming that the second and seventh brothers were Shopkeepers Lin and Qi, Chen Shao spoke before Bao Chengle could, "They instigated those villages to cause trouble, apparently to avenge the Zhu and Gu families."

She really wiped out the Zhu family, the Gu family and the others... Bao Chengle's fingers were stiff.

"Brother, how come I've heard your voice before?" Uncle Fang looked in the direction where Chen Shao was speaking. Unfortunately, he was blinded when he was young. In the darkness, he asked gently, "Where are you from, little brother? Why do you have an accent... an accent... this, this..."

Uncle Fang stood up suddenly, then sat down again, his lips trembling, and after a long while he said, "You are not the brother who does business with Lao Wu, you are Mr. Chen!"

Chen Shaoben had no intention of hiding it, and immediately admitted: "Uncle Fang really has a good hearing!"

"My Lord, have you checked it out?" Uncle Fang asked in a trembling voice, "Are the Second and Seventh Brothers really from the Zhu and Gu families?"

"It has been checked very clearly." Chen Shao said affirmatively.

Uncle Fang also began to tremble. He stretched out his hand tremblingly, slowly touched the bamboo cage, and touched the back of Bao Chengle's stiff hand. He said incoherently: "The Ma San we just caught is none other than Lao San, right? Are you and Lao San both from the Zhu family and the Gu family? Did you also do something wrong?"

Bao Chengle said with difficulty: "I'm sorry, Uncle Fang."

"Why are you so confused..." Uncle Fang clapped his hands vigorously, "Who are the Zhu family and the Gu family? Why, why did you follow them..."

Bao Chengle's eyes were red and he did not answer.

Chen Shao asked, "Does Uncle Fang know where Lin, Lao Er, and Lao Qi went after they left Lane 19?"

Uncle Fang subconsciously wanted to say he didn't know, but thinking of the evil things that the Zhu and Gu families had done, he suppressed his grief and said, "They said that a nephew of theirs is going to get married in half a month, and they have to go over to join in the fun."

It's the same as what people in Qingxi Town said. Chen Shao glanced around and asked, "Can I look around this room?"

Uncle Fang waved his hand feebly: "Look, look."

Compared with the small and dilapidated courtyard outside, the house is surprisingly spacious and bright.

After signaling one of the Yulin Guards to look at Bao Chengle, Chen Shao quickly glanced at the layout of the house. It was a relatively modern five-bedroom and one-living room, with a long vertical and wide layout. The proportions were not very harmonious, probably the result of several houses being connected into one.

Since Uncle Fang was quite cooperative, Chen Shao only walked around each room roughly. After not finding any obvious clues, he returned to the living room and said politely, "I'll have to trouble Uncle Fang to go back to the prefect's mansion with me."

Uncle Fang seemed to have expected this result. He let Bao Chengle help him get up and said, "Let's go."