Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

"You wait."

After Bao Chengle helped Fang Shu onto the carriage, he was about to follow him up when Chen Shao called him aside and asked, "Besides the Nineteenth Alley, where else do you hide in Hongyuan County?"

This meant that he had to confess. Bao Chengle's heart was beating like a drum, and he hesitated between speaking and not speaking.

From the information he has currently, Chen Shao not only knows that they have all joined the princeling party of the previous dynasty, but has also eradicated the Zhu, Gu, Fan, Qi, Wen, and Ren families. The Zhu, Gu, Fan, and Qi families are based in Jiangnan, so it is out of reach for them to help. However, the Wen and Ren families are based in Shu County, and they are indifferent to her eradication of the Wen and Ren families, or even if she sends people to help them, they are still powerless. This shows how powerful Chen Shao is.

No matter what the reason was for Chen Shao to continue staying in Hongyuan County, the fact that she had waited until now to interrogate him proved that she had also encountered unprecedented difficulties.

Of course he could refuse to answer and continue to make things more difficult for her, but he was definitely not a merciful person as he had wiped out several people who had been rooted in a family for nearly seventy years in just half a year.

In other words, if you want to survive, you have to tell the truth.

After thinking this through, Bao Chengle gave out two more addresses.

There is a pine garden in Juxian Building, which is a place for exchanging information once every three months.

One is in Shiweibei. Shiweibei is also in the south of the city, only four miles away from Shipailou. Because it is a stone mountain, there is no land around it. There is no village except for homeless hooligans and refugees.

After having two Yulin Guards escort Fang Shu and Ma San back to the prefect's mansion, Chen Shao took Bao Chengle and immediately went to Shiweibi.

After learning that Ma San was arrested, Shopkeepers Lin and Qi fled again.

However, because Chen Shao arrived too quickly and they had too much belongings to carry with them, they were surrounded by the Yulin Guards before they could escape Shiweibei.

Glancing at the Shiwei Pond, which was covered in garbage and rocks, Chen Shao signaled to take out Shopkeepers Lin and Qi, and escorted the rest of the people and their belongings back to the prefectural governor's mansion. He then asked directly, "Who are the eldest, fourth, and sixth, and where are they now?"

After the second, third, fifth and seventh brothers faced off against Shopkeeper Lin, Ma San, Bao Chengle and Shopkeeper Qi respectively, Chen Shao had more or less guessed who the eldest, fourth and sixth brothers were. They were the uncle, younger uncle and nephew who often visited Shopkeeper Lin.

Shopkeepers Lin and Qi did not answer angrily.

Bao Chengle glanced at the two men and knew that they hated his betrayal, and he couldn't help but feel angry. He had been locked up in prison for so long, and they hadn't rescued him. Now he had no choice but to reveal his previous hiding place in order to protect himself. Who knew they were really hiding here?

"They are not in Hongyuan County." Since they have already betrayed him, Bao Chengle does not mind betraying more. "They are usually in Shu County and only come here when something happens."

Chen Shao looked at Shopkeepers Lin and Qi.

Seeing what Bao Chengle had said, the two knew that it was useless to argue further, so they followed suit and said, "They have already returned to Shu County."

Since they had already returned to Shu County, Chen Shao did not ask any more questions. After searching the place where they had been hiding for the past two days, he took them back to the prefect's mansion.

Although it was not yet the hour of You, the sky was already getting dark.

it's very windy.

After Chen Shao ate a few bites of food perfunctorily, he sat in the second hall and began the interrogation.

The first person to be examined was Uncle Fang.

Uncle Fang was old and blind, so Chen Shao interrogated him in a side hall.

Chan Yi and Quan Shu Yu have both returned.

After Quan Shuyu stuffed the hot tea into Uncle Fang's hands, Chen Shao spoke up: "Uncle Fang, do you still remember how you met the second, third, fifth, and seventh brothers?"

Uncle Fang's hand holding the hot tea was shaking all the time, and he didn't even notice the tea splashing on his hand. Quan Shuyu stepped forward, took the hot tea away, and put a heater back in his hand. Uncle Fang held the heater, thanked Quan Shuyu, and two lines of turbid tears rolled down without any signs: "Did you make a mistake? They have taken care of me, an old widower, for more than ten years. They are not my children, but they are better than my children. How could they go to evil people like the Zhu family and the Gu family?"

After motioning Fu Jiu to hand him a handkerchief, Chen Shao comforted him, "Uncle Fang, what you said makes sense. I'll check it again later."

"We need to re-investigate and not wrongly accuse a good person." Although Uncle Fang believed in his heart that she would not make a mistake, emotionally, these few people who had no relatives or friends of his had taken such meticulous care of him for more than ten years, and now they told him that they were all bad people, Uncle Fang would not be able to accept it in a short period of time.

After waiting for a while, when the atmosphere had eased a little, Chen Shao continued to ask: "Uncle Fang, can you tell me in detail which year you first met them?"

Uncle Fang counted on his fingers and said, "It should be thirteen or fourteen years, but I forgot which year it was."

According to thirteen years, it was the eighth year of Yuanhe, and according to fourteen years, it was seven years. Chen Shao roughly calculated it and asked, "Do you remember what season it was?"

Uncle Fang answered directly: "It's the same as now, it's also winter."

After Chen Shao motioned for Chan Yi to write it down, he continued, "You call them Lao Er, Lao San, Lao Wu and Lao Qi, because there are seven of them or more?"

"I don't know if there were seven or more people." Uncle Fang shook his head. "That winter, they came to my house to ask for hot water and called each other that way, so I just called them that way. I've been calling them that for so many years, I've gotten used to it, and I don't even remember to ask them their names."

Chen Shao continued to ask: "Is your house that spacious originally, or was it expanded to that size later?"

"It was only expanded to that size later," Uncle Fang replied immediately, "About twelve or thirteen years ago. I don't remember the exact date, but I remember it was about three months after I met them. They told me that they were doing business and traveled back and forth between the capital and Jiannan Road all year round. They didn't know anyone in Jiannan Road and asked if they could stay at their house. Originally, our house was cramped, but they could squeeze in. Later, their family came and it was a little too small, so they spent money to buy all the houses next door and connected them together to make it what it is now."

"How often do they come to your house?" Chen Shao asked.

"The second, third, fifth, and seventh brothers come here from time to time," Uncle Fang paused for a moment before continuing, "Their family came here once when they first arrived in Hongyuan County, and then a few days ago."

"Every time they come to your house, do they come together or separately?" Chen Shao asked again.

Fang Shu replied: "Sometimes we come together, and sometimes we come separately."

Chen Shao probed: "What time do they come every time, morning, noon, or evening?"

Uncle Fang said, "Usually they come at night and leave early the next morning."

Chen Shao asked: "Have you ever dealt with the neighbors?"

Uncle Fang shook his head: "We haven't had much dealings with each other. We only spoke a few words to each other when we came here with our families."

Chen Shao continued to ask: "What do they do and what do they say every time they come here? Does Uncle Fang know?"

Fang Shu recalled for a moment, then hesitantly said: "They were all talking about business matters. I didn't understand, and I didn't understand very well. I just kept hearing them talking about Shan State, Qingyu, generals, and things like that. They also said they didn't keep their word."

Chen Shao asked tentatively: "Are you talking about the mighty general, or the general of the cavalry, the general of the east, the general of the west, or the general of the north?"

"It seems to be these names," Uncle Fang nodded uncertainly, "The mighty general and the cavalry general are mentioned more often. It seems that they are not trustworthy. After agreeing to a deal with them, they always go back on their word or ask for too much."

Chen Shao softened his voice: "Please think about it again, what kind of business are they talking about?"

"They often talk all night long, and I usually can't stand it and go to bed early." Having said that, Uncle Fang still frowned and thought.

Chen Shao followed the clues he provided and started to think. In addition to jade and medicinal materials, the business between the princelings of the previous dynasty and the Shan Kingdom was probably to borrow soldiers, but borrowing soldiers is not a business, so it can't be called a lion's mouth. Besides borrowing soldiers, jade and medicinal materials, Uncle Fang couldn't have thought of it. After Uncle Fang shook his head and said that he really couldn't remember what the business was, Chen Shao could only ask tentatively: "Could it be some kind of carving?"

Uncle Fang subconsciously asked, "What carving?"

Chen Shao said: "It means carving some patterns or auspicious beasts on the jade pendant."

Uncle Fang shook his head and said, "No."

Chen Shao tried to test the waters by saying a few more things, but they were all denied by him. Seeing that it was getting late, he arranged for Fu Jiu to say, "Go find a place for Uncle Fang to rest for the night."

Uncle Fang quickly stood up and said, "Don't bother, I can go back."

Then he asked, "Will you continue to ask me tomorrow?"

"I want to ask more tomorrow," Chen Shao admitted, "but the reason I'm not letting you go back for now is not because of this, but because in addition to the second, third, fifth and seventh brothers, they also have the eldest, fourth and sixth brothers. The second and third brothers said a lot in your house. If you go back like this, I'm worried that the eldest brother and his friends will come back at night to cause trouble."

Uncle Fang no longer insisted.

When he was trying to follow Fu Jiu, he tripped over a chair. The guard next to him instinctively held his arm, and in his panic, he accidentally grabbed the sword that the guard carried on his waist. After the guard helped him up, Uncle Fang still hadn't let go of the sword. When the guard stretched out his hand to grab it, Uncle Fang suddenly said, "It's iron ore, and there are weapons! They are indeed from the Zhu family and the Gu family. They are going to buy weapons to rebel!"

As he spoke, he began to feel around his body again, and after a while, he took out a jade pendant and handed it to me, saying, "Take a quick look, is this the fake green jade?"

Not only that, it's also top-grade green jade!