Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Hearing the words "Wan'an Village", Chen Shao, who was already familiar with the previous two serial murder cases, immediately told the basic information of the case.

After listening to this, Xu Guang bowed his hands in admiration and said, "Your Excellency has a good memory!"

Chen Shao ignored his flattery and asked with a frown, "How far is Wan'an Village from here?"

Xu Guang calculated carefully: "About seven miles."

That's not too far.

After Chen Shao looked at the thatched cottage for a few more times, she took the carriage back and got off at the intersection leading to Xiaochang Village. This intersection was about half a mile away from Xiaochang Village. Because Xiaochang Village was surrounded by mountains, the fields were basically concentrated at the foot of the mountains around the village, and the road into the village was between two mountains. The intersection outside the village leading to Tangwu Mountain seemed particularly remote and hidden.

The murderer committed the crime at night again.

If it weren't for Huang Zhiyi's laziness and her investigation of the clerks in charge of Hongyuan County in several trading companies, and if Ding Lisheng had been more perfunctory when searching the mountain, this thatched house would probably have been difficult to find.

Without getting on the carriage, Chen Shao walked into Xiaochang Village.

There were almost no people in the village, except for a few children of four or five years old running around and playing. When they saw the group of people coming, they scattered like frightened fish in an instant.

Knowing that they were affected by the murder of Li Ba Wa, Chen Shao did not stop them to ask more questions.

On February 9, the 14th year of Yuanhe, after the murder of 62-year-old Li Lan, Xu Guang had been to Xiaochang Village more than once with Li Baozhong and was very familiar with the village. After asking Chen Shao clearly that he was going to Li Ba Wa's home, Xu Guang led the way with ease and introduced the situation of Li Ba Wa's home.

Li Ba Wa's family has a large population.

Apart from his three married aunts, Li Bawa still had an uncle. Although his uncle's family and his family had separated, they still lived in the same courtyard.

Li Bawa's uncle has four children: Lai Di, Zhao Di, Xiang Di, and Nian Di. Li Bawa's family also has four children: Ling Di, Pan Di, Qiu Di, and Li Bawa.

The Li family has a total of seventeen houses, large and small. Li Bawa's family occupies the best ten rooms, and his uncle's family lives in the remaining seven.

Xu Guangzheng was talking excitedly. The yamen runners who came to guard the village yesterday had heard the news and rushed over. They greeted Chen Shao and heard him talking about Li Bawa, so they naturally joined in the conversation.

Although it was still some distance away from Li Bawawa's house, the harsh curses and the sound of people being hit by boards had already been heard via the wind.

"It was Li Er who beat Qiudi." The yamen runner said as if nothing had happened. "On the day when Li Ba Wa got into trouble, Qiudi was cooking at home and watching over Li Ba Wa. The water jar was empty, so when Qiudi went to fetch water from the well east of the village, Li Ba Wa ran away to play without Qiudi's instructions. He disappeared without a trace. Li Er or the Li family blamed Qiudi for Li Ba Wa's murder. I heard from the villagers that Li Ba Wa got into trouble at the end of April, which is almost a month ago. During this period of almost a month, Qiudi was beaten and scolded every day."

Thinking of what Zhao Dayuan said about the Li family using his younger brother to plot against him, Chen Shao asked, "Li Ba Wa is six years old, so how old is my younger brother?"

The bailiff replied: "...seven years old."

Li Tianliu couldn't help but sneer: "Let a seven-year-old child cook and take care of a six-year-old child. If something happens to the six-year-old child, they will put all the blame on the seven-year-old child. Where is their face?"

The bailiff didn't dare to answer.

As we walked along, we didn't see anyone in the village.

But in Li Ba Wa's yard, there was a large circle of people, young and old, gathered together.

They were all watching Li Er begging for mercy.

The children were silent.

The adults would add fuel to the fire from time to time.

When Chen Shao arrived, Li Er, under the instigation of his sister-in-law, was holding up a two-finger-wide bamboo stick and beating Qiu Di hard.

Qiudi was hung from an old peach tree in the corner of the yard with her hands tied, with only her toes touching the ground. Perhaps because she was beaten every day, although her body was covered in blood, her expression was numb and she seemed to feel no pain. Only when Li Er hit her with the bamboo stick could you see her face twisted for a moment, and as her body swung back and forth uncontrollably, you could also see cold sweat on her face because of the pain.

"You are still young and you have not learned your lesson. You seduced a man and harmed your brother. I advise you to tell the truth about that wild man as soon as possible."

"If she doesn't tell me, I'll beat her. I wonder how long she can hold out!"

"We can't let her die so soon. You shameless bitch, how dare you kill Ba Wa? If we let her die so easily, it would be too easy for her!"

Fu Jiu couldn't stand the vicious words and the beatings that were getting heavier and heavier. She rushed into the yard, kicked Li Er away, quickly took off her outer clothes and put them on Qiu Di, and said angrily, "Are you still human?"

The sudden change made everyone in the yard stunned for a moment.

Li Ba Wa's grandfather, Li Zhengming, was the first to react. He looked at Fu Jiu, then at Chen Shao and the others outside the courtyard, and asked angrily and fearfully, "Who are you? What do you want to do?"

"No matter who they are, if they dare to come to our house and make trouble, we can't let it go!" Li Ba Wa's grandmother Yu scolded Li Da with a frown and cold eyes, "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and help your brother up!"

"Let's see who dares to move!" The bailiff pushed the door open and shouted coldly, "Master Chen is here to investigate Li Ba Wa's case. Everyone, be quiet!"

Li Da's outstretched foot retracted like lightning.

Li Er's wife looked at Chen Shao and saw that she was unfamiliar. She immediately said, "Where did you come from, Lord Chen? I don't know you! Since you are here to investigate the case, why are you beating me?"

The bailiff sneered twice, "Sir Chen is the Supreme Court official appointed by the emperor, and he came from the capital. Who do you think you are? I need you to recognize me!"

From the capital? Yu's heart skipped a beat. After scolding Li Er's wife, she knelt on the ground and cried, "My Lord, please help us. We, the Li family, have been waiting for a grandson for more than ten years, but that bastard killed him. He was so young, how could that bastard have the heart to do that? Our Li family has always been kind to others and never offends anyone easily. Only that unscrupulous beast would harm our Eighth Child. My Lord, please have pity on me, an old man, and quickly catch that bastard and avenge our Eighth Child."

"Don't worry, sir. The murderer is the wild man seduced by this little whore outside," Li's wife knelt down immediately, spat at Qiudi viciously, and cursed, "She is so coquettish at such a young age. She seduced a wild man to have sex with her at home and was caught by Ba Wa. Then she asked the wild man to kill Ba Wa. Sir, don't have mercy on her. Let her tell us who the wild man is!"

Chen Shao glanced coldly at Li Da's wife, and quickly walked to Qiu Di. Looking at her already pale hands and bloody body, he quickly picked her up, asked Fu Jiu to cut the ropes, and said coldly: "Go and call Chan Yi back immediately!"

Seeing her serious expression, Fu Jiu was afraid that Qiudi's situation was not good, so she quickly flew out of the village like a wild goose.

Chan Yi just came back and saw him and called him. After learning about the situation, she didn't bother to hide herself and flew back with him.