Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Lao Zhou was silent for a long time before he said, "Hunters and herbalists. But they wouldn't do such a cruel thing."

Chen Shao did not blame him for hiding the truth, nor did he judge his last sentence. He just continued to ask, "How many hunters are there in this village?"

Lao Zhou said: "Two, one is me and the other is Lao Zhao."

Chen Shao: "How many herbalists?"

Lao Zhou: "There are two, one is Wang Shiyou, and the other is Li Lan's nephew Zhao Xiaoshan."

Chen Shao: "What season do you hunt in? Where do you go hunting?"

Lao Zhou: "In winter, there are more prey in winter. Spring and summer are the seasons when animals reproduce, and old hunters will not go up the mountain. The places they go to are far and near. The near ones are in the surrounding mountains, and the far ones have to walk for several days to go to the deep mountains and old forests. The herbalists are just the opposite of us. They go up the mountains in spring, summer and autumn, and rest in winter. The places they go are basically the same as us."

Chen Shao: "Do you hunt and collect herbs alone or in groups?"

Lao Zhou: "We have to act alone in the vicinity. It's very dangerous in the deep mountains and forests. More people will help us take care of each other."

Chen Shao turned his head slightly and looked at him: "Among the hunters and herb collectors you know, who can tie that knot?"

Old Zhou fell silent again, and after a while, he answered, "Basically."

Chen Shao looked at him with judgment in his eyes.

Lao Zhou did not feel guilty and explained frankly: "Among the hunters and herb collectors, there are no such vicious people."

Chen Shao did not argue with him about knowing a person's face but not his heart. As the sunset faded and night slowly fell, she continued to ask, "Do you know all the hunters and herbalists in the villages?"

Lao Zhou said: “I know most of them.”

After a pause, he added, "I know most of the hunters and herbalists in Hongyuan County and its subordinate counties."

Chen Shao asked Chan Yi to fetch some writing brushes and ink, and wrote down the names he mentioned by county and village. Seeing that Huang Fuming had not yet invited the people back, he asked, "Are Second Master Gen and Uncle Zhongshan at home?"

Lao Zhou took the initiative and said, "I'll go and ask them to come over."

Chen Shao instructed: "Invite both families over."

The year Zhao Erwa got into trouble, Li Baozhong had already interrogated the two families. Many years had passed since the case, and the elderly in the two families had passed away, and there were also new children. When they heard that they were going to be questioned about the case again, both families were a little nervous. Chen Shao teased the children and comforted them for a few words. When they were all relaxed, he began to ask about Zhao Erwa's poisoning of their two families.

Both families told the truth, and although their tones were flat, the fear was deeply rooted in the bones of everyone who experienced it.

"Zhao Erwa is only four years old," Chen Shao looked at the two families one by one and asked the question in his mind, "How can we be sure that it was him who poisoned the family and not someone else?"

"I saw him pouring something into my water tank," said a young man of about 17 or 18 years old next to Uncle Zhongshan. He is Uncle Zhongshan's grandson, named Zhou Dian. "But I was only one year older than him at the time and didn't understand it. Later, when my family was poisoned, I told this story and Zhao Erwa admitted it. He said he wanted to poison us and that his grandparents said that people who didn't like him should die. Li Ba Wa, who was killed last month, also loved poisoning. He learned it from Zhao Erwa, but Li Ba Wa poisoned chickens and ducks."

His father whispered beside him, "Say less, or his family will hear it and come to make trouble again."

Zhou Dian said indignantly: "What are you afraid of? There are yamen runners guarding the village now. If they dare to come, I will report them!"

Chen Shao nodded, "If you have any problems in the future, just find the yamen runners."

The yamen runner quickly stated: "If they dare to cause trouble for you, just come to me. I want to see if they are afraid of me too!"

With their guarantee, Zhou Dian solved his worries. He was able to tell everything he knew. "Although Zhao Erwa poisoned our two families, his mother died early and his father didn't care about him. He was somewhat pitiful. When Li Ba Wa was killed, the villagers were afraid of getting involved with their family. They didn't say anything openly, but they were applauding behind the scenes."

As he spoke, he listed the evil deeds he committed: when he saw someone's house was empty, he would break into the house and steal things; when he saw other children had good food or clothes, he would snatch them away openly; and after being caught, he would either file a complaint first and his whole family would come to beat and scold the children, or he would secretly poison other people's chickens and ducks.

Finally, Zhou Dian said: "Almost every household in this village has been blackmailed by them."

"He really deserves to die." Li Tianliu said with disdain.

Fu Jiu nodded in agreement.

Chen Shao did not comment, and after asking them a few more questions, he let them go. Then, when he was about to ask two herbalists and another hunter in the village to come, Huang Fuming came back with his men.

Li Lan's daughter is Zhao Chenghua, who is over 40 years old and looks five or six years older than her actual age. Luo Xiaorong is three years older than her, tall and handsome, but frivolous and looks much younger than his actual age.

After entering the hall, Zhao Chenghua instinctively glanced around, and when she saw that Wang Shiyou was not there, her face darkened instantly. Seeing this, Luo Xiaorong sneered, quite disdainful.

The bailiff asked them to behave themselves, and the two men calmed down and knelt on the ground.

Chen Shao didn't let them get up either, and asked straight to the point: "How did Li Lan die? Tell me."

Luo Xiaorong put his hands on the ground, kowtowed, and said, "Sir, I am innocent. I dare not kill even a chicken, let alone a human."

Zhao Chenghua kowtowed and said, "Wang Shiyou killed my mother. Please arrest him and torture him severely!"

Chen Shao looked at her, "You said he killed your mother, what evidence do you have?"

Zhao Chenghua said indignantly: "He was jealous of my mother for wanting to kick him out of the house, and he was also jealous of me following Xiaorong. In order to take revenge on my mother and me, he conspired to kill my mother."

Chen Shao reminded: "I'm asking for evidence, not the reason why he killed your mother."

Zhao Chenghua gnashed her teeth and said, "He is a very meticulous and vicious person. If you torture him severely, he will not dare to hide anything!"

Chen Shao laughed, "According to what you said, if I arrested the two of you and tortured you severely, you would not dare to hide anything?"

Zhao Chenghua looked up in astonishment, then quickly lowered her head when the bailiff shouted "bold!"

Chen Shao followed her logic and said slowly, "You hate your mother for forcing you to marry Wang Shiyou, making you lose face in front of Luo Xiaorong and making you unable to discipline him when he was living a life of debauchery. Luo Xiaorong hated your mother for looking down on him. So you two agreed to kill her and took the opportunity to blame Wang Shiyou. It was like killing two birds with one stone."

Luo Xiaorong quickly took two steps to the side and distanced himself from her: "She was the one who killed them, it has nothing to do with me. When I didn't have money, I hated her and her mother, but now that I have money, I no longer hate them."

Zhao Chenghua looked at him incredulously, "Do you hate me?"

Luo Xiaorong said nonchalantly: "What's wrong with me hating you? When your mother looked down on me, you also said a lot of sarcastic words!"

"I abandoned my husband and children for you, served my parents-in-law for you, and gave birth to children for you," Zhao Chenghua questioned, "I even never cared about you having affairs outside. Now you say you hate me? Do you still have a conscience?"

Luo Xiaorong said disapprovingly, "I didn't ask you to abandon your husband and children, so what does it have to do with me? Besides, you shamelessly followed me, and I didn't think you were a prostitute, nor did I lack food and clothing for you, so what right do you have to control me?"

"Luo Xiaorong!" Thinking of the infamy she had endured for him and the grievances she had suffered in his family over the years, Zhao Chenghua grabbed his face fiercely. Luo Xiaorong was caught off guard and several bloody marks were instantly left on his right face. In pain, he instinctively grabbed her hand, slapped her in the face, and then grabbed her hair and slammed her to the ground.