Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

After calling Li Tianliu back to the prefect's mansion, Chen Shao got straight to the point and said, "I don't have much experience in suppressing bandits. You two should discuss how to capture Han Zihou at the lowest cost."

Li Tianliu looked at her and then looked at Liu Zizhuang.

Liu Zizhuang said: "I have been away from Jianwei County for several years. I don't know what the situation is with Han Zihou's grandson. In my opinion, it is best to send someone to find out the truth first, and then make plans for the next step."

Li Tianliu nodded in agreement and asked again: "Then according to your idea, how can we find out the truth without alerting the enemy?"

Liu Zizhuang repeated what he had said to Chen Shao at the Shipailou.

"It's reasonable for you to escort Qin Guishan back home, but it can't be used as a cover for you to find out their true situation." Li Tianliu said, "If the person who moved those weapons and caused the sinkhole was Han Zihou, then he would definitely arrange people to secretly monitor our every move."

"They will definitely keep an eye on us, but we can also use the mantis stalking the cicada while the oriole is waiting behind them!" Liu Zizhuang said proudly, "I will be responsible for escorting Qin Guishan's coffin, and you arrange for people to follow us in batches. If they have the ability to find one or two batches, I don't believe they have the ability to find all of them!"

This is a good idea. Chen Shao looked at Li Tianliu, waiting for him to make the decision.

"That's a good idea," Li Tianliu looked at her, then back at Liu Zizhuang, "Then let's arrange it like this, let Li Siguang hold the coffin in front, you lead a group of people to follow him, Shen Kuan leads another group of people to follow you, and my people stay at the end. Since Han Zihou has predicted that we will go to find out about his true strength, you and Li Siguang will attract his attention, and Shen Kuan and my people will be responsible for tracking and finding out."

Liu Zizhuang also thought this was the best arrangement and agreed immediately.

"Let's prepare today and set off early tomorrow morning." After Li Tianliu made the arrangements, he looked at Chen Shao, "Do you have anything to add?"

Chen Shao shook his head.

"Okay then," Li Tianliu stood up, "let's get ready."

Chen Shao agreed and stood up, leaving the study with them. They went to prepare, and she returned to Shipailou. After telling Wang Cong that Shen Kuan was going to Jianwei County, Chen Shao thought for a while and said, "Han Zihou or the people of the former prince's party may have left Shipailou, but there must be some people lurking in Hongyuan County waiting for an opportunity to act. We can't passively wait for them to show their true colors and then catch them. The cost is too high. I thought about it and if they want to make a move, the target is most likely still here."

Wang Cong followed her gaze towards the cluster of thatched houses and blurted out, "Set fire to them!"

"Yes." Chen Shao nodded. "If a fire breaks out in such a cluster of thatched houses, they will be destroyed in an instant. So I plan to organize one or two hundred young men from the Shipailou. You can help train them. After they are trained, let them take turns patrolling to prepare for any unexpected events."

Wang Cong agreed.

Chen Shao continued: "Later, I will drive all the people who are imprisoned in the Zhu family, Gu family, Fan family, etc. here to serve labor. I will need your help to keep an eye on them then."

Wang Cong agreed.

Chen Shao looked at him, and after considering his words for a while, he continued: "I promised you before that I would let you all join the Chen Family Army, but now... I want to go back on my word."

Facing Wang Cong's doubtful eyes, Chen Shao smiled and continued, "The Zhu and Gu families are originally from Jiangnan, thousands of miles away from Hongyuan County. They know to recruit you and Liu Dangjia, who are among the best bandits, to expand their power. As the governor of Shu County, it makes no sense for Luo Wanyou to leave the more powerful bandits alone and recruit Han Zihou, who Liu Dangjia once looked down upon. In view of this reason, it is not difficult to conclude that he recruited not only Han Zihou, but also other bandits. You are a smart person, and I will not beat around the bush with you. I believe you have guessed what the Zhu and Gu families' intentions are in recruiting you, and what Luo Wanyou's intentions are in recruiting other bandits. If we don't get rid of these bandits, Hongyuan County will not be at peace, and Jiannan Road will not be at peace either."

After a short pause, he continued, "When I came to Hongyuan County, I only brought a hundred Yulin Guards. If I did nothing else but suppress the bandits, it would not be impossible. But you have also seen the situation in Hongyuan County. It is impossible for me to do nothing else but suppress the bandits. Therefore, I need one of you and Liu Dangjia to stay with me to help me complete the task of suppressing the bandits. In other words, I want to keep one of you as my personal guard. Of course, after suppressing the bandits, if you still want to join the Chen Family Army, that's fine too."

Wang Cong breathed a sigh of relief. He thought that Chen's army had refused their request to join.

"Brother Zizhuang and I have discussed the issue of bandit suppression several times in the past few days," Wang Cong said after calming down. "We both share the same view as you, sir. I'm afraid that the bandits in Jiannan Road have been recruited. If we want to stabilize Hongyuan County or Jiannan Road, we have to eliminate them. Although brother Zizhuang and I have been recruited for several years, we may not be as clear about the current bandits in Jiannan Road as before, but we still remember clearly where we can hide in Jiannan Road. It would be fine if you didn't mention it, but since you did, I'll also express my willingness to stay with you."

"Okay!" Chen Shao was relieved. "There's no rush for this. Liu Dangjia went to Qianwei County to find out about Han Zihou's situation and we don't know when he will come back. The most urgent thing is here."

"Then I'll get busy first." Wang Cong said quickly.

Chen Shao responded with a "yes" again. After he left, she walked around the thatched huts and announced that she was going to organize one or two hundred young men to train for patrol.

The people of Shipailou had seen her working day and night to help the rescue team a few days ago. As soon as they heard her plan, a large number of people came to join the patrol team.

Adhering to the principle of first come, first served, after letting them line up, Chen Shao asked Chan Yi to bring paper and pen and wrote down their names one by one.

Afterwards, after discussing the time and place of training with them, Chen Shao turned to the odd-numbered lane in Shandibo.

Even if the people involved in the underground passage had not yet moved into the thatched houses, they had temporarily moved to other places. However, when Chen Shao checked the alleys, she saw that many people were risking their lives to move their belongings out little by little. Even if she stopped them, they would continue to take risks after she left.

Chen Shao certainly understood them. They were just afraid of another landslide. If the house collapsed, all their belongings would be destroyed. That was the hard work of their entire lives, or even several generations. They couldn't bear to give it up. But it was too dangerous. The collapse of the third to fifth lanes would inevitably affect the load-bearing capacity of the plates involved in the entire underground passage. If there was another accident, the affected area would only be larger.

Persuasion is definitely not possible.

We need to organize people to fill the hole as soon as possible.

Also, we have to find a way to build a wooden bridge above the passage to facilitate passage.

Damn the princelings of the previous dynasty!