Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Du Zhenbian, Dong Weiwu, and Lu Bogui were all stunned at the same time. After looking at each other, Du Zhenbian kowtowed first and said, "Your Excellency is wise. Even if I have the courage of heaven, I will never dare to rebel."

Dong Weiwu and Lu Bogui also kowtowed and protested their injustice.

Chen Shao sneered: "So, am I wrongly accusing you?"

The three of them said in unison: "We dare not!"

Chen Shao said calmly: "Since you don't dare, then just tell the truth."

Du Zhenbian raised his head: "Sir, your humble servant..."

"My patience is limited," Chen Shao interrupted him, "The reason why I invited you here in the middle of the night is to give you a chance to turn from evil to good. If you don't cherish it, this may be your burial place!"

When the three heard this, they couldn't stop shivering again.

After a short stalemate, Dong Weiwu quickly glanced at Du Zhenbian and Lu Bogui, then quickly crawled two steps forward and kowtowed, saying, "It was Lord Du, it was Lord Du who forced me to do this. I am loyal to the court and have never thought of rebelling until my death. Please spare my life, Lord!"

When Lu Bogui heard this, he quickly crawled forward two steps and said, "This humble official was also forced by Lord Du. This humble official is also loyal to the court. I beg Lord to spare my life!"

"You, you guys..." Du Zhenbian quickly looked at the two of them, then quickly climbed forward and cried, "Please spare my life, sir. I was also forced by sir Zheng and had no choice but to do this. Please forgive me, sir!"

Chen Shao asked: "Which Lord Zheng?"

The matter had come to a head, so Du Zhenbian did not dare to hide anything and confessed honestly: "Nanxi County Governor, Zheng Yifang!"

Chen Shao did not ask how Zheng Yifang forced them, but only asked: "When did he start forcing you?"

Du Zhenbian quickly replied, "Just one month before you arrived in Hongyuan County!"

Chen Shao asked: "What did he force you to do?"

Du Zhenbian quickly glanced at Dong Weiwu and Lu Bogui. He wanted to hide it, but was afraid that they would reveal it, so he could only stammer, "He asked me to win over all the well-known people in Kaibian County within three months."

Chen Shao: "What do you want to win him over for?"

Facing the resentful gazes of Dong Weiwu and Lu Bogui, Du Zhenbian spoke haltingly.

The same rhetoric continues, such as the General-in-Chief of the Auxiliary State wants to support Prince Guangling in his fight for the throne and needs their support.

Chen Shao did not delve further and continued to ask which important figures they had won over.

After they answered, Chen Shao did not interrogate them again. Sitting on a stone nearby, he waited silently for almost two cups of tea. Then Fu Jiu flew back, glanced at the three people, and reported in a low voice: "Their families have been detained."

Chen Shao nodded, called the three people up, and handed them a list that he had written in advance, "Find out the whereabouts of these people within 20 days."

Du Zhenbian took the list tremblingly.

There were thirty people on the list, with their names, surnames and addresses.

Du Zhenbian looked around and didn't see anyone he knew. He raised his head anxiously and looked at Chen Shao.

"No matter what method you use, you must find them." Chen Shao said coldly, "After finding them, wait for my notification. Don't act on your own and alert the enemy! If you succeed, everything will be fine. If you fail..."

He snorted coldly: "When you go home, you will understand the consequences!"

The words fell.

Without giving them a chance to speak again, he walked away.

The three of them watched her disappear into the night, then waited anxiously for nearly half a quarter of an hour. After they were sure that she would not come back, they collapsed to the ground exhausted, gasping for breath.

Dong Weiwu and Lu Bogui didn't care about the fact that Du Zhenbian had deceived them. After they recovered some strength, they couldn't wait to snatch the list from Du Zhenbian's hand.

After looking through the whole thing, they both raised their heads and looked towards Du Zhenbian.

Du Zhenbian said helplessly: "I don't know any of them."

Lu Bogui glanced at Dong Weiwu and saw that he also looked puzzled, so he stood up and said, "No matter if he knows him or not, let's go down the mountain first."

Du Zhenbian and Dong Weiwu stood up immediately, and under the moonlight, they supported each other and slowly walked down the mountain.

Wait until the foot of the mountain.

It's daybreak.

The three of them stopped, looked at the road back to the county town, and then looked back at the stone gate barrier.

"Lord Zheng also used the same method you used to force us. Was it you who was forced?" Dong Weiwu couldn't help but ask on the way back to the county town.

"I know I'm sorry for you," Du Zhenbian sighed, "but I really have no choice."

Lu Bogui snorted, "You have no other options, so you can just tell us straight out. If Lord Zheng can force you, he can certainly force us, too. How can we just sit back and watch!"

"This is indeed my fault." Du Zhenbian said.

"It's no use worrying about these things now," Dong Weiwu said with a frown after looking at the list in his hand, "Let's think of a way to deal with this situation."

Du Zhenbian and Lu Bogui couldn't help but look at the list in his hand at the same time.

Du Zhenbian said sadly: "No matter who you work for, you will do it. Since she asked us to find someone, then we will find someone."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Lu Bogui frowned, "Do you still remember what the first sentence was when Lord Chen interrogated us?"

Dong Weiwu stopped suddenly.

Du Zhenbian followed.

The expressions of both of them changed at the same time.

Lu Bogui turned around, took another look behind the stone gate barrier, and asked Du Zhenbian: "Recall carefully, when Lord Zheng forced you, did he really say that the General of the State would assist the Prince of Guangling in his fight for the throne?"

Du Zhenbian nodded with a pale face.

"When Lord Chen interrogated us, he was talking about Luo Wanyou, the governor of Shu County." Dong Weiwu said unconsciously.

"That's the problem." Lu Bogui sighed, "We should have suspected it a long time ago. Think about it, with the methods that this Lord Chen used in Hongyuan County, if the General of the State really wanted to assist the Prince of Guangling in his fight for the throne, how could she allow Miss Gu Six to follow her all the time?"

Dong Weiwu was shocked and said, "You mean, the one who really wants to fight for the throne is Luo Wanyou, the governor of Shu County, and he is just acting under the banner of the general of the state and the prince of Guangling?"

"I don't know if it was him." Lu Bogui shook his head, "But judging from the current situation, it is indeed the case."

Du Zhenbian's throat was dry and his legs were weak. After a while, he said, "Well, in this case, I, we have to find someone."

Lu Bogui asked, "Have you forgotten what Master Chen said before he left?"

"Hurry back to the county town!" Dong Weiwu said.

Although the three of them were panicking, they walked quickly.

It was almost noon when we returned to the county town.

The streets were as busy as usual, and there was no panic because of their disappearance.

The three of them looked at each other, then got into the carriages found by the doorman and hurried back to their respective mansions.

Du Zhenbian was sitting in the county government office.

After the carriage stopped at the back door of the county government office, Du Zhenbian rushed in in two steps at a time.

The backyard was quiet, as if someone was moving around.

Du Zhenbian paused in fear, then rushed into the room again.

Servants, maids, and old women fell to the ground.

Du Zhenbian was so frightened that his legs went limp and he sat on the ground. He rolled and crawled to a servant and reached into his nostrils.

Have energy!

Du Zhenbian felt relieved and crawled towards another servant.

I’m angry too!

Du Zhenbian closed his eyes and tried to stand up, but his legs would not obey him at all. He glanced around and saw that everyone was still unconscious. He didn't care about his appearance anymore and continued to crawl towards the backyard using his hands and feet.

The old women and maids who served her closely were also lying on the ground.

There was no one in the house, either.

Du Zhenbian was anxious and grabbed a woman and slapped her twice.

The old woman woke up in pain, and when she saw him, she knelt up in panic and cried, "Master, why did you come back just now? The old lady, the lady, the young master, and the young lady have all been kidnapped by the criminals!"

Du Zhenbian collapsed on the ground again. After a long while, he managed to pull himself together and said to the old woman, "Stop crying! Wake them up quickly. I have something to say!"

The old woman hurried over and slapped everyone twice. After waking them up, she said, "Don't cry yet. The master has something to say!"

Du Zhenbian looked at everyone and said calmly, "Listen carefully, everyone. You are not allowed to leak a single word about the kidnapping of the old lady, the madam, and the young masters and young ladies. Otherwise, I will hold you accountable!"

With such a big thing happening in the family, everyone had been in a state of panic and fear for a long time. Naturally, they were eager to hear him say this, and after bowing their heads in a disorderly manner, they responded with "yes" one after another.

"Go wake up everyone outside and warn them." Du Zhenbian really didn't have the energy to warn the people outside, so he had to let the people in front of him do it for him. "Tell them that the safety of the old lady and the madam depends on their mouths. If they can't control their mouths and let the old lady and the madam get hurt, I will kill them!"

Everyone responded and left.

Du Zhenbian sat on the ground for a while before he got up, slumped in the chair, and stared out the door in a daze.

Half a minute later, Dong Weiwu and Lu Bogui shook off the old woman who was leading the way and rushed in. When they saw his situation, they immediately realized that his family had also suffered.

When Du Zhenbian saw the appearance of the two of them, he also realized that their families had also been kidnapped.

The three of them looked at each other and realized: Now, even if they didn't want to find the people on the list, it would be impossible.

They do.

In the next five days, Chen Shao visited Baidao County, Nanxi County, Yibin County, and Guishun County under the jurisdiction of Nanxi County; and the county magistrates, county secretaries, and county lieutenants of Luchuan County, Fuyi County, Jiang'an County, Hejiang County, and Mianshui County under the jurisdiction of Luchuan County.

The nearly two hundred people that Zhou Shan had given out have all been arranged.

Chen Shao did not delay any longer and immediately rode back to Mengshe Smelting Prison.

Some people from Shan State have already arrived.

The people who came were the mighty general’s men.