Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

The two monks had obviously washed and changed into clean clothes. They followed the imperial guards into the study room and put their hands together and said, "Sorry to bother you again, sir."

Chen Shao returned the gift and invited the two to take a seat before saying, "I wonder what important matter has the two masters come to me in such a hurry?"

Chan Yi brought the tea over. The two of them chanted a Buddhist name first. The younger monk said, "Brother Huishan and I know that you are very busy with official duties. If we go to Xitang County for this case, it will take a lot of time. After our brother got into trouble, we followed the county and prefectural yamen runners to various crime scenes and had many dealings with the officials in the county and prefectural yamen. We can't say that we have a complete grasp of the case now, but we know a lot of information. It's just that our abilities are limited, and we can't unravel the known information to find the murderer. If you have any questions, as long as it can help you, we will tell you everything we know."

Huishan chanted the Buddha's name again, and then said, "Brother Huijue is right. If we can help you avoid the trouble of going to Xitang County, it will be worth our hard work."

"In that case, I won't be polite." Chen Shao took the paper with the information and asked, using Huiren as a breakthrough point, "Who lives around the Zen room where Master Huiren had the accident?"

Huijue said, "It is us two brothers who are staying here."

Chen Shao raised his eyes and looked at the two of them. "The night when Master Huiren got into trouble, did you two really not hear anything at all?"

Huijue and Huishan shook their heads at the same time.

"Huiguang Temple is not very big, and there are only six masters in the temple," Chen Shao looked at the two and continued to ask, "On weekdays, there are not many people who go up the mountain to worship Buddha and burn incense. I think there are even fewer people who can be good friends with the six masters and can bother to visit late at night. I wonder if the two masters can list all these people one by one?"

"Of course." Huijue replied.

Chan Yi handed over the paper and pen. Hui Jue thought for a moment and then began to write. Hui Shan took a look and asked, "Do you also think that the people who killed them were all acquaintances?"

Chen Shao did not answer but asked, "Master Huijue said earlier that you two had been to various crime scenes. From what you two saw at the crime scenes, in these six cases, the 'Quan' symbol left on or beside the victims by the murderer was made by the same person?"

Huishan nodded, but did not say anything final: "It should be the work of the same person."

Chen Shao thought for a moment, motioned to Chan Yi to get a piece of paper and a pen and handed it to him, saying, "Please try to imitate the symbol '全' left by the murderer and write it down."

Huishan took the paper and pen, thought for a long time, and wrote down the word "quan" one after another. When he wrote the seventeenth word, he stopped and said, "This is almost it."

After reading it, Huijue nodded in agreement.

The word "Quan" that Huishan was talking about was more rounded than the one the woman had written before, and more like fish bones. Chen Shao looked at it for a moment, and after Huijue finished writing the names of all the people who were friends with Huiguang Temple and handed him the list, he asked, "Among these eleven people, are there any whose handwriting matches the word "Quan"?"

After Huishan and Huijue exchanged a glance, Huishan shook his head and said, "These people usually come to the temple to talk about worldly things, drink tea and play chess, and they don't have any literary exchanges."

Huijue added: "It's not these young friends' fault. It's just that the brothers in the temple are not good at writing."

After Chen Shao took a look at his decent handwriting, he asked, "Among these eleven people, which ones are close to Master Huiren?"

Huijue said, "There is Guo Liangcai, a student at the county school, Qian Youyu, the owner of Qianji Dyeing Factory, Liu Qingxi, a member of the official staff, and Jin Zhiyuan, the eldest son of County Magistrate Jin."

Chen Shao paused on Jin Zhiyuan's name: "The eldest son of County Magistrate Jin?"

Huijue smiled and nodded: "He is a very humble and polite friend."

After marking the names of the four people, Chen Shao asked again: "How old are the four of them?"

Huijue did not hesitate and answered, "Guo Liangcai is now twenty years old, Qian Youyu should be thirty-seven, Liu Qingxi should be fifty-two, and Jin Zhiyuan is twenty-five."

After Chen Shao wrote down everything, he asked, "What does Guo Liangcai's family do?"

Huijue said, "His father is a doctor of the county school."

Their identities were not ordinary, so Chen Shao continued: "What are the heights and weights of the four people?"

Huijue still did not hesitate and said directly: "Guo Liangcai is five feet three inches tall and weighs 130 pounds; Qian Youyu is five feet one inch tall and weighs 147 pounds; Liu Qingxi is less than five feet one inch tall and weighs about 147 pounds; Jin Zhiyuan's height and weight are almost the same as Guo Liangcai."

After Chen Shao wrote down everything again, he asked, "Are these four only close to Master Huiren, or are they equally close to other masters?"

"I am very close to all the brothers in the temple," Huijue replied, "but I am closest to Brother Huiren."

Chen Shao asked, "So, are these four the only ones who can disturb Master Huiren late at night, or can everyone?"

"Everyone can do it," Huijue said, "but I won't be on guard against these four people."

Chen Shao understood, "They four should know each other, right?"

Huijue nodded.

"Do these four also know Sun Shouyi?" Chen Shao continued to ask.

"Xitang County is not big, and the Sun family is one of the richest families in the world, so of course they know each other." Huijue replied.

Chen Shao glanced at the list he wrote: "I see that Sun Shouyi is not on this list. Do the two masters only know his name, or do they also know him?"

Huijue looked at Huishan in embarrassment.

Hui Shan chanted "Amitabha" and said, "This time I am here to help you investigate the case. If you tell the truth, the Buddha will not blame you."

Huijue followed suit and chanted "Amitabha" before answering, "This young master Sun Shouyi behaves in a dissolute manner and loves to make noises. He once brought his friends to Huiguang Temple to make noises several times, but was reprimanded by Young Master Jin twice before he gave up."

"Do Jin Zhiyuan and Sun Shouyi have any private dealings?" Chen Shao asked.

Huijue shook his head: "I don't know about that, but I have heard people mention that Sun Shouyi often holds banquets at home or in restaurants and invites people to drink together."

After Chen Shao asked a few more questions about the other three people and the other victims, he slowly turned the topic back to the "Quan" symbol left by the murderer: "Masters, please recall carefully, in addition to leaving the "Quan" symbol at each murder scene, did the murderer leave anything else?"

Huijue and Huishan thought for a moment and shook their heads at the same time.

Chen Shao did not force it. He put down his pen, stood up and said, "Thank you for troubling the two masters. These are the only questions I can think of now. I will come to Juxian Tower to bother you later when I think of other questions."

Huijue and Huishan tactfully followed the Yulin Guards and left.

Chen Shao picked up the pen again and wrote down the names of Guo Liangcai, Qian Youyu, Liu Qingxi and Jin Zhiyuan on the newly spread paper.

Chan Yi, who had followed the Yulin Guards to escort the people out of Chengfeng Courtyard, saw this and asked casually, "Are there any problems with them?"

Chen Shao put down his pen and said, "Whether there is a problem or not, we will know after questioning the others a few times tomorrow."