Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Chen Shao did not answer but asked: "How do you think we should deal with it?"

Before the student who asked the question answered, others were already scrambling to speak. Suddenly, the whole hall was filled with chatter, like a market.

Chen Shao let them quarrel for a while before picking up the gavel and knocking twice. When they quieted down, she looked at the person who asked the question earlier, "Shi Deqiu, you answer."

Shi Deqiu's face flushed instantly, not out of fear, but excitement: The adults remembered his name! Trying his best to suppress his excitement, he took a few steps forward and replied, "I think that even if the people rely on their numbers to fight, we should still try to reason with them. If we really can't make them understand, we can take a step back and wait for them to calm down before explaining the reason to them in detail."

After Chen Shao said that was good, he casually mentioned the names of several people. After they finished speaking, he said, "If there are really people who want to attack you by relying on their numbers, what you should do is not to reason with them, but to try to protect yourself first. Last night, I arranged for the yamen runners to guard the villages. If you encounter such a dangerous situation, you should go to him first and let him protect you."

Everyone thought she was a yamen runner specially arranged for them, and they were touched and excited. Chen Shao did not say it out loud, but continued to talk about the rules: "You have five teams in total. After you set out, the five teams can act separately. As for how to act separately, the five teams will discuss and decide on their own. Each team is led by a captain. If there is any problem, first find the captain and discuss and solve it with everyone. If it cannot be solved, if the situation is not urgent, wait until you come back to report the search results and tell me. If the situation is urgent, you can send someone back to tell me and I will find a way to solve it. Do you understand?"

Everyone said in unison: "Understood."

Chen Shao responded with an OK and signaled Chan Yi to distribute the money.

Chan Yi gave ten taels of silver to each of the five team leaders, namely Tao Ming and others.

Ten taels of silver was almost the annual expenses for an ordinary family.

The thirty people standing here, judging from their clothes, were not from wealthy families. When they saw the ten taels of silver, the crowd suddenly became noisy.

"If you have anything to say, we can talk on the way. Now listen to me first." Chen Shao knocked the gavel again to quiet everyone down, and then she said, "The horses are in the stable, you can go and get them later. The ten taels of silver you got cover three days of food and accommodation. In other words, you need to report the results of the search to me once every three days. You don't have to bring the whole team back, just send a representative. As for what you eat and where you live during these three days, it's up to you to discuss and decide. Do you understand?"

After everyone understood, Chen Shao asked: "If there is anything you don't understand or want to know, you can ask now."

After waiting for a while and seeing that no one was talking, Chen Shao tilted his head and ordered, "Fu Jiu, take them to pick horses."

Ten taels of silver, six people, three days... Everyone tried their best to suppress their excitement, and after they led the horses to the stable and left the prefectural government, everyone started shouting.

They were all clamoring about what to eat and where to stay in the next three days.

After they left the city gate, Sun Qi, the tallest of the five captains, said loudly, "Stop arguing. Tao Ming, Xu Xianmin, come over here. Let's discuss how to search. Once we have a plan, we can split up and act accordingly."

The so-called separate actions mean competition.

Although Chen Shao did not promise any benefits after winning, everyone understood that winning was the greatest benefit. In the future, if they wanted to use connections when they went to the capital to take the imperial examination, this victory would be the best excuse to go to the Duke of Chen's mansion.

Therefore, all the previous clamor about what to eat and where to stay was just a smoke screen, the purpose of which was nothing more than to block other teams from trying to get information from their own team.

"There is nothing to discuss," Xu Xianmin said after Tao Ming and his friends gathered around him. "There are eleven forks in the five-li road from Taojiazhuang to Zhaojiacun. We have five teams, and each team has two forks, leaving one more fork. Let's ignore the remaining fork for now. Let's draw lots for the first ten forks, and whichever one we draw will be the one. As for the last fork, we can search it together. There is no need to wait for everyone to go together. As long as you have searched your two forks, you can go directly to search without saying hello to anyone."

"That's a good idea," Sun Qi agreed. "But I have another idea. For example, if we search all the forks in the road and find no clues, we can go back and search again without worrying about whose fork it is. How do you think that is?"

The rest of the people had no objections.

When they drew lots peacefully and hurried to their own "positions", Shopkeepers Shen and Xu also came with their shop assistants who were responsible for receiving goods from Hongyuan County.

Nine people, young and old.

Chen Shao sat in the second hall and let them come in one by one.

The first person to come in was Zhao Dayuan from Fulai Trading Company.

Zhao Dayuan was from Zhaojia Village. Chen Shao had seen him the day before yesterday when he was searching Zhaojia Village. Although he didn't know his name and had never spoken to him at that time, he still vaguely remembered his face.

Seeing him come in, Chen Shao asked casually, "Are you from Zhaojia Village?"

Zhao Dayuan quickly bowed and said yes, and said his name.

Chen Shao found him in the roster of Fulai Commercial Bank and saw that he was in charge of more than 20 villages in Zhaojia Village. He couldn't help but ask, "Are you also in charge of Zhaojia Village?"

Zhao Dayuan replied: "We used to be responsible, but since Zhaojia Village had its own caravan, we are no longer responsible."

Chen Shao looked at him, "Were you at home during the one or two days when Tao A-mei had the accident?"

Zhao Dayuan nodded, "They are all at home, and the neighbors can all testify for me."

Chen Shao nodded and asked another question: "Where were you on April 29th?"

Zhao Dayuan thought for a long time before answering, "I can't remember exactly where, but in late April, I was collecting goods in the villages I was responsible for or urging some old hunters to go up the mountain to try their luck."

The villages he was in charge of also included Xiaochang Village, Daqiao Town and Changhe Village. Chen Shao asked, "Have you also been to Xiaochang Village, Daqiao Town and Changhe Village?"

Zhao Dayuan nodded hesitantly, "Yes, I have been there."

Chen Shao looked at him and said, "Tell the truth."

Zhao Dayuan knelt on the ground and said in panic, "My Lord, please be clear. I have indeed been to these villages and towns, and I do have a problem with the Li family, but I definitely did not kill Li Ba Wa for this reason."

Chen Shao said calmly: "Why are you at odds with the Li family?"

Zhao Dayuan said, "Two years ago, when I was collecting goods in Xiaochang Village, Li Ba Wa rushed out from nowhere and almost bumped into me. I held him and told him not to run around, but his family beat and scolded me, and even tried to extort five strings of cash from me because Li Ba Wa was frightened. It was only after Uncle Liang Zhu reported it to the authorities that they gave up. In the past two years, I have kept in mind Uncle Liang Zhu's words to stay away from them, and have not had any dealings with them."

Chen Shao: "You didn't look for them, and they didn't look for you either?"

“I did.” Although it had been two years since the incident, Zhao Dayuan still felt angry and scared when he thought about it. “They asked Lai Di to sneak into my bed and frame me for rape.”

Chen Shao's eyes narrowed slightly, "Who is Lai Di? Please explain the whole story in detail."