Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Fu Jiu grabbed his hand and pushed him aside.

Even so, Zhao Chenghua was still frightened by his ferocity. She covered her face and stared at him blankly, unable to react for a long time.

Chen Shao did not favor anyone, and after criticizing both of them, he asked about the time when Li Lan left Yunhe Town. Luo Xiaorong could not remember clearly, and Zhao Chenghua answered that it was the evening hour.

Xu Guang had been standing behind Fu Jiu obediently. When he heard the word "酉时", he was startled. He stood up faster than he thought and retorted, "Seven years ago, when your mother had an accident, you said it was 申时2分!"

Zhao Chenghua was still thinking about Luo Xiaorong beating her, so she said indifferently, "That's 2:00 pm."

Xu Guang's face darkened: "Is it the 2nd quarter of the evening or the 3rd quarter of the evening? Tell me clearly!"

Zhao Chenghua said impatiently: "It's been so long, who can remember it clearly? Since it was said at 2:00 pm, then it must be 2:00 pm."

Xu Guang was irritated by her perfunctory attitude, and Fu Jiu quickly pulled him aside and tried to persuade him. Chen Shao looked at her face, which was filled with mixed emotions such as daze, resentment, and anger, and continued to ask, "Did your mother have any accomplices when she left?"

Zhao Chenghua said bluntly: "I don't remember."

Chen Shao was not angry: "What were you two doing when your mother left?"

Zhao Chenghua still said: "I don't remember either."

Chen Shao looked at Luo Xiaorong, and Luo Xiaorong said, "I don't remember it either."

Chen Shao asked a few more questions, and seeing that neither of them could answer, he simply drove them away.

Listening to the quarrels that became louder and louder after the two men went out, Chen Shao shook his head and asked someone to invite the two herbalists and two hunters including Lao Zhou over.

Because Li Baozhong didn't pay attention to the knotting method of the rope, the two herbalists and the hunter were not among the suspects. They could only remember the whereabouts of most of the cases in those years and could not give accurate answers. Fortunately, when the six cases occurred this year, they still remembered their whereabouts clearly.

After interrogating them one by one and then bringing in the witnesses they had provided for cross-examination, and making sure that they were not lying, it was already late at night and he had asked most of the questions he needed to ask, so Chen Shao took a carriage back to the prefectural government.

After returning to Chengfeng Courtyard, Chen Shao took the list of Chan Yiji and read it carefully twice. He also took out the tree knot made by Lao Zhou and studied it for a while. Then he asked Xu Guang, "What do you think of today's trip to Xiaochang Village? Just say whatever you want. Don't hesitate."

Xu Guangxi first apologized: "I have been lazy these years and almost forgot the complete process of the autopsy. When I performed the autopsy on Tao A-mei last time, I should have checked whether she had any symptoms of poisoning, but due to a moment of negligence..."

Chen Shao raised his eyes and looked at him, "When you followed Lord Li to investigate those eight cases, did you check whether they were poisoned?"

She remembered that the case file stated that there was no poisoning, but she didn't know whether it was written casually or the result of the autopsy.

Xu Guang said: "Those cases have been investigated, but no traces of poisoning were found. But earlier in Xiaochang Village, I saw that Li Ba Wa's spine seemed to have black energy, which is obviously a sign of poisoning. I just don't know if he is an isolated case, or if others have been poisoned as well."

"They should have been poisoned, but not lethally, but drugs or something like that." After briefly explaining the basis for her conclusion, Chen Shao sighed, "If the murderer was a martial artist, it would have been easy for him to control these victims, but he chose to poison them and tie their hands behind their backs. This shows that the murderer acted decisively and cautiously. It may not be easy to catch him."

Xu Guang looked at the knot on the coffee table next to her and asked tentatively, "Could the murderer be someone other than a martial artist, but..."

Chen Shao also looked at the knot: "People who can cross mountains and ridges to collect herbs or hunt are not necessarily weaker than those who practice martial arts, so next we should not only screen those who practice martial arts, but also those who collect herbs and hunt."

At this point, she asked, "Besides people who collect herbs and hunt, do you know anyone else who can tie this kind of knot?"

After thinking about it, Xu Guang shook his head and said, "I don't know him."

Chen Shao asked Li Tianliu: "What about you? Based on your knowledge, besides martial artists, are there any other people who would tie a knot like this?"

Li Tianliu held out his hand, and Chen Shao handed the knot to him. Li Tianliu took it and looked at it for a moment, then said slowly, "It's not difficult to find out if there are other people who can tie a knot like this. The only people who can tie a knot like this are business houses, escort agencies, and cargo companies that specialize in shipping. We'll know tomorrow when we go and have a look."

Xu Guang cupped his hands and said, "Your Excellency's trip will attract too much attention. It would be better if you let me handle this matter."

Chen Shao nodded in agreement, and then asked: "The bodies of Li Lan and Li Ba Wa were dumped in the same place. Do you think the murderer had any special intention in doing so?"

Before Xu Guang could answer, Li Tianliu asked, "What special intention could there be? Anyway, you didn't catch him last time you threw him there, so why bother choosing another place?"

Chen Shao asked, "Then why did he go to such great lengths to dump the body halfway up the mountain?"

Li Tianliu laughed playfully and then answered nonchalantly: "Whether it is halfway up the mountain or at the foot of the mountain, didn't Master Chen Liu find out? Didn't he just want people to find the body as soon as possible?"

Chen Shao was stunned for a moment, then smiled, raised his teacup and saluted him, saying, "Thank you."

Li Tianliu picked up the cup and clinked it with hers.

Xu Guang said excitedly: "General, you are right. Judging from the cases in previous years, all the victims were found early the next morning! The murderer obviously did it on purpose. After killing someone, no matter how difficult it was, he would dump the body in the victim's village that night so that people could find it in time. His actions are simply provocative!"

Chen Shao nodded, agreeing with his statement. She lowered her eyes to look at the list in her hand and said, "It's too late today, go back and rest first, and we can talk about it tomorrow if there is anything."

Xu Guang answered yes and turned away.

As soon as I walked out of the hospital, I bumped into Zhang Boshan who was walking in a hurry.

Xu Guang quickly stepped aside and bowed to him.

Zhang Boshan didn't even look at him and walked past him into Chengfeng Courtyard.

"I thought the young master would stay in Xiaochang Village like the day before." After entering the house, Zhang Boshan saw Li Tianliu was also there. He quickly bowed to him and asked, "I wonder if the young master and the young general have had dinner?"

Chen Shao said "hmm" and asked him what was the matter.

Zhang Boshan said, "It's not a big deal. I just wanted to report to you that I have inspected seven villages today. The yamen runners knew that this mission was assigned by you, so they all worked very hard."

After a pause, seeing that she had no intention of continuing the conversation, he continued, "I plan to inspect the remaining villages within five days."

Chen Shao nodded: "Okay."

"There is one more thing." Zhang Boshan quickly reported after noticing the fatigue in her expression. "An hour earlier, Zhao Qiang came to the prefect's residence to look for the young master. I didn't know that the young master would come back, so I sent him back and asked him to come back tomorrow."

Chen Shao nodded again: "I understand."

Zhang Boshan left tactfully.

Just as he reached the door, Chen Shao called him again: "A few days ago, Lord Zhang said he wanted to find some jade for me. I wonder how he is doing?"