Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Someone else said, "Although they always rank last in the ten-day and monthly exams, some people still fall for their flattery."

Someone retorted: "Who would eat it? It was because Master Shi was honest that he was deceived by their lies and took good care of them."

Someone else said, "You are wronging Master Shi by saying that. Master Shi takes care of everyone equally, not just them."

"Forget it," someone advised, "If someone wants to be a dog, then let them be one. No matter how angry you are, you can't follow their example and become a dog, right?"

It was a crude scheme, but it worked. Chen Shao was in a good mood and told Fu Jiu, "Go and invite the students who were talking about Tao Ming and the others up here."

When Fu Jiu was inviting people, a waiter suddenly shouted, "Brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, two hundred coins per set, first come, first served!"

Chen Shao laughed after hearing this: This Juxianlou is truly a business genius!

Fu Jiu went downstairs to invite people. Although the students were nervous, they were more excited. When they went up to the third floor, they bowed their heads and said, "Students greet you, sir."

Chen Shao looked at them and asked, "Tell me about Tao Ming and the others."

Several students' faces turned red instantly.

One of them mustered up the courage to say, "Tao Ming and his gang are ignorant and have no skills. They only know how to get ahead all day long. Please don't be deceived by them!"

There was a beginning, and several others followed suit. In summary, there was only one thing: Tao Ming and his classmates were at the bottom of the class in terms of academic performance, but they were very emotionally intelligent and were highly valued by the scholars at Taixue.

Chen Shao looked at their indignant expressions, paused, and guided them: "Among the teachers in the Imperial College, who was deceived the most by them?"

The first student who started out said without hesitation, "Of course it's Mr. Shi."

Chen Shao took the opportunity to ask, "What kind of person is Mr. Shi? Why did he let them deceive him like this?"

The expressions of several people became even more indignant. "Master Shi is the most compassionate and kindhearted person. He also cannot bear to see people being wronged. Regardless of whether the grievance is true or false, he is willing to help with all his heart. Tao Ming and Xu Xianmin took advantage of this weakness of Master Shi and repeatedly lied to him."

Chen Shao nodded, and after asking Master Shi a few questions in a tactful manner, he said to them, "If you have nothing to do, please do me a favor and collect the poems and songs written by the students downstairs and give them to me later."

Several people went there happily.

Looking at the happy backs of the few people, Li Tianliu sneered: "The officialdom hates people who speak ill of others behind their backs the most."

Chen Shao did not comment.

After dinner, when Chen Shao went downstairs, several people handed over the collected poems and songs in front of the students. After Chen Shao took them, he flipped through a few of them and said, "I've been very busy lately. When I have some free time, I will take my time to read them and give you a reply after I finish reading them."

All the students thanked him happily.

Before Chen Shao left, Shopkeeper Zhou chased him out again and ordered the waiter to pile boxes of snacks onto the carriage. "These are the best-selling snacks in the restaurant. My Lord, please try some."

Chen Shao looked at the more than ten boxes of snacks that were piled up in an instant and said with a smile, "Thank you, Manager Zhou, for your hard work."

Manager Zhou flattered, "Compared to the wealth and prosperity that your visit has brought to the restaurant, it is only right that I should worry more."

"The fish sashimi and spicy fried chicken are good." Chen Shao said, "I'll come back next time when I'm free."

Shopkeeper Zhou's eyes lit up instantly, and he hurriedly bowed and said, "I will certainly be waiting for your arrival, sir."

Chen Shao nodded and signaled Fu Jiu to leave.

Before she had walked a few steps, several middle-aged men with a strong scholarly air suddenly stopped her. Hearing the students calling them "Master He", "Master Zhang", "Master Peng", etc., Chen Shao lifted the curtain and looked out. When several middle-aged men saw her appear, they hurriedly came up and said, "Your humble servant greets you, sir."

One of them took out a visiting card and said, "The teachers and students in the academy all admire your demeanor and want to see your immortal figure. I hope you can give us a chance to see you."

Chen Shao saw that the visiting card was exactly the same as the one Zhang Boshan handed her two days ago. She said nothing and lowered the curtain.

When Manager Xu of Fulai Commercial Bank learned that she had been to Rongfa Commercial Bank and Fenglong Commercial Bank, he knew that she would also go to Fulai Commercial Bank. He had people waiting outside Juxian Building early in the morning, and when he saw her coming out, he would immediately come back to report the news. Therefore, when Chen Shao's carriage appeared at the corner of the street, Manager Xu had already led Zhao Liangzhu and others to greet her at the door of the commercial bank.

Fulai Commercial Bank has only two shops facing the street, but the backyard is huge.

In cages one after another, wild animals such as pheasants, hares, wild sheep, and wild deer are kept.

Chen Shao observed that these wild animals were kept extremely fat and strong by them.

Shopkeeper Xu followed her and introduced: "These are the cubs we collected in the past. Because they can't be sold for much money, we keep them here. In spring, summer and autumn, when the hunters don't go up the mountain, we take these out to replace them, which helps to maintain business."

Chen Shao went to the back yard again.

In the backyard, seven or eight workers were packing pheasants, rabbits and wild sheep.

Shopkeeper Xu said, "These are the goods to be sent to Deyang County."

Chen Shao's eyes fell on the wild animals that had been packaged: they were all tied in figure-8 knots.

Chen Shao looked at the workers calmly and asked, "Can everyone at Fulai Commercial Bank tie a knot like this?"

Shopkeeper Xu said, "Yes, Liang Zhu taught them. This knot is very strong, and it won't matter how hard the animals struggle."

Chen Shao looked at the middle-aged man behind him.

The middle-aged man was Zhao Liangzhu, the leader of Zhaojia Village. This morning, he had learned from Zhao Qiang that she was looking for this kind of knot. He knew that she was out this time, most likely to find this knot. But he didn't kill anyone, so he was not panicked. He calmly bowed to her and said, "These are all mountain roads. If you don't tie them tightly, it will be difficult to catch them once they escape. After many lessons, I chose this way of tying knots."

Chen Shao said: "Give me a list of people who can tie this kind of knot."

The roster was still in the prefect's mansion and had not been returned, so Zhao Liangzhu went to the shop personally, wrote down the names of the people who were to be tied to Class 8, and handed it to her.

A total of one hundred and sixty-one people.

There are a total of 163 people in Fulai Trading Company, and only two of them don't know how to tie such a knot.

Chen Shao raised his eyebrows slightly and put the list away. "If you have nothing to do recently, don't go anywhere."

After he finished speaking, he saw a few workers loading the goods and changed his tone, "Whoever is going to Deyang County, please bring them back to the prefectural governor's mansion to report to me. No one is allowed to leave without reporting."

Shopkeeper Xu subconsciously looked at Zhao Liangzhu.

Zhao Liangzhu said: "Don't worry, shopkeeper. Mr. Chen is just checking whether there are any suspects. It will not affect our delivery."

Shopkeeper Xu was relieved and said, "This time the cargo is small, so only eleven or twelve people are needed to escort it."

After Chen Shao said "hmm" neither lightly nor heavily, he walked around the store before leaving Fulai Store.

According to the plan, Chen Shao was going to visit two shopping malls, but after coming out of Fulai Commercial Bank and seeing the students "wandering" on the street, she simply went back to the prefectural government.