Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Although Fu Jiu was angry, she spared Li Zhengming, Yu, and Li Da's wife and Li Er's wife when she beat them, but she was very ruthless to Li Da and Li Er. The two were in great pain, but they dared not say anything. They supported each other and limped to lead Chen Shao to Shunli Mountain behind the village.

The place where Li Ba Wa's body was found was very similar to the place where Tao A Mei's body was found. Both were on a small slope in the woods, a small flat area with sparse trees around it.

The only two differences are probably that this small slope is almost halfway up the mountain, and below the small slope are fields, and the road leading to this small slope is also easy for horse-drawn carriages to pass through.

Chen Shao walked around the small flat slope twice, then looked around. The main road up the mountain went down the foot of the mountain and went forward two or three feet, leading to two directions, one into the village and the other out of the village. And continuing up the mountain from where they were, after only two or three feet, the road suddenly narrowed, from a wide road to a rugged path, winding upwards.

Retracting his gaze, Chen Shao walked around the small slope twice. Perhaps because there was a field below the small slope, there were not many fallen leaves. After searching the bushes with his toes and finding nothing, Chen Shao asked Li Er, "Who was the first to discover Li Ba Wa's body?"

Li Er pointed at a man in his early fifties who was among the villagers who came to watch the fun and said, "It's him."

Chan Yi looked in the direction of his finger, and the moment she saw the man, she said to Chen Shao, "It's the hunter Lao Zhou who took Zhao Dayuan out for a drink."

After asking Fu Jiu to invite someone, Chen Shao asked, "Did you find out anything?"

"I didn't find out anything," Chan Yi looked at Li Da and Li Er, and said in a deliberately raised voice, "They just told me the ups and downs of the conflict between them and Zhao Dayuan in a matter-of-fact manner. When I asked him about the people in the Li family, he said it was not his business to talk about."

Li Da and Li Er did not dare to argue with her. They both lowered their heads and pretended not to hear her.

Chan Yi snorted coldly.

Old Zhou followed Fu Jiu and greeted Chen Shao politely, then stood aside and waited quietly. His back was straight, and his expression was neither humble nor arrogant. Chen Shao praised him secretly and said, "Tell me about the ups and downs of the conflict between Zhao Dayuan and the Li family."

Lao Zhou said it all without adding any extra details.

Chen Shao deliberately asked: "Will Zhao Dayuan kill Li Ba Wa in order to avenge the Li family?"

Li Da and Li Er looked over quickly, both of them with anger in their eyes.

Old Zhou glanced at them and said simply, "No, he has Uncle Liang Zhu as his backer, so he won't do such a thing that will cost him his life."

Chen Shao continued: "What about other people in the village who have conflicts with the Li family?"

Lao Zhou said calmly: "I don't know about that."

Chen Shao returned to the topic: "How did you find Li Ba Wa's body?"

Old Zhou pointed at the land at the bottom of the slope with his chin, "That's my land. I saw it when I came here to work this morning. I thought it was a prank by some kid, but when I came up to see it, I realized it was him."

Chen Shao: "What did he look like when we found him?"

Lao Zhou: "He was naked, his hands were tied behind his back, and there was a long cut on his neck. It looked like he had been dead for about five or six hours."

As he spoke, he walked to two clumps of weeds and pointed with his toes, "He was lying here. There was quite a bit of blood on the ground. It rained every now and then a while ago, and it was all washed away."

Chen Shao followed him and carefully searched around the bushes. After finding no trace of blood, he asked him, "When did you find him?"

Lao Zhou: "It's just after 11:00."

It was not long after the hour of Mao, and he had been dead for about five or six hours… Li Ba Wa was killed around the hour of Zi. Chen Shao looked at the grass under his feet, the fields under the small slope, and the road up the mountain. His heart suddenly moved: "Li Ba Wa's hands were tied behind his back. What rope was used to tie them?"

Old Zhou looked at Li Da and Li Er and asked, "Is the rope still there?"

Li Da and Li Er didn't say anything.

Lao Zhou frowned: "Didn't I tell you to keep the rope for future use..."

Halfway through his words, he shook his head and stopped talking.

Chen Shao looked at Li Da and Li Er, "Where's the rope?"

The two were afraid of the bamboo stick in Fu Jiu's hand and replied awkwardly, "Burned it."

Without waiting for Chen Shao to speak again, Lao Zhou said, "The hemp rope used is about three feet long."

As he spoke, he casually broke off a thin branch, made a knot in a few strokes, and handed it over, saying, "This is the knot you should tie."

Chan Yi then handed it over. Chen Shao had just received it when Xu Guang said, "Tao A-mei's body was also tied in the same knot."

"I'm afraid it's not just Tao A-mei," said Old Zhou. "Zhao Erwa, who died in the seventh year of Yuanhe, and Li Lan, who died in the fourteenth year of Yuanhe, had their hands tied with hemp ropes that were also tied with the same knot."

Chen Shao looked at the double-stranded figure-8 knot in his hand and asked, "Is there any saying about this knot?"

She knew that the double-stranded figure-8 knot was strong, convenient, not easy to fall off, and had good stress resistance. In modern times, it was generally used in firefighting and rescue or by climbing enthusiasts.

Old Zhou pondered and said, "Ordinary people rarely use this kind of knot. Generally speaking, martial artists use it a little more."

A martial artist... Chen Shao frowned subconsciously. In the previous description of the murderer, the murderer tied the victim's hands behind his back, which showed that he was not confident in his own strength. But if the murderer was a martial artist, this description would not hold true.

The murderer was a martial artist, but he tied the hands of a six-year-old child before killing him. It was not that he was unconfident in his own strength, but that he was as cautious as a lion would use all his strength to fight a rabbit.

This will be a difficult killer to deal with.

If he stops here...

Forcibly interrupting unnecessary speculation, Chen Shao asked: "Besides the wound on his neck, does Li Ba Wa have any other injuries?"

Lao Zhou shook his head and said, "I haven't noticed it."

Chen Shao looked at Li Da and Li Er.

Li Er: "No other injuries."

Chen Shao looked at Xu Guang again, "What about the cases in the 13th year of Yuanhe?"

Xu Guang replied: "Basically the same as Tao A-mei."

That is, there are no injuries caused by coercion or resistance. Chen Shao lowered his eyes and thought: Even if the murderer is a martial artist, knows every victim and has their trust, it is not easy to get the victim to let him tie their hands. Unless... when he tied the victim's hands, the victim was unable to struggle.

The murderer poisoned the victim!

Chen Shao quickly raised his head and looked at Li Da and Li Er: "Where is Li Ba Wa's body buried?"

Li Da and Li Er were startled by her sudden question. Li Da quickly said, "In the field east of the village."

"Lead the way!" Chen Shao ordered.

If a child dies unexpectedly, he cannot be buried in the ancestral tomb, nor can he be buried extravagantly. This is true even though Li Ba Wa is the only boy in the Li family. Looking at the small pile of dirt on the edge of the field, Chen Shaochao swept it around with the villagers who came to watch the fun, and then told Fu Jiu: "Go borrow some hoes!"

Borrowing the hoe, Chen Shao took two steps back and said, "Dig!"