Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

After lunch and a short rest, Chen Shao got up and went to the haunted house to sort the internal organs according to the degree of corruption, and then planned to go to Changning Village.

Just after coming out of the haunted house, a young man in Taixue's school uniform came over with a few children holding straw hats, palm-leaf fans, etc. Seeing her, the young man called a few children and quickened his pace to come over.

"Student Cheng Zihe greets you, sir." Cheng Zihe bowed and brought a few children to present straw hats and cattail leaf fans. "This is made by people in our village. If you don't mind, you can wear it to block the sun and fan yourself."

Chen Shao recognized him at a glance.

He was one of the people who collected poems and songs from other students for her when she had dinner at Juxianlou last time. Looking at him, and then at the villagers standing in the distance on the edge of the field or under the shade of the trees, knowing that they had seen the silver left by Chan Yi, Chen Shao took the straw hat and put it on his head, and gently patted the head of the child who followed Cheng Zihe with a palm leaf fan and said, "Thank you, I just needed a straw hat, and I didn't expect you to bring it to me."

The child was praised and shyly ran back and hid behind his mother.

Chen Shao nodded to Cheng Zihe, bowed to the villagers, then got on the carriage and left.

Changning Village is only one mile away from Wenhai Township. When Chen Shao arrived, many villagers were still having lunch.

Seeing the village guards politely greet him, the village chief put down his bowl and hurried over to greet him. Chen Shao said, "You go back to eat first. I'll go around and I'll ask someone to call you if there's anything."

Muramasa said yes, but he didn't leave.

Chen Shao didn't chase him away again.

Changning Village is somewhat similar to Xiaochang Village, both villages are built on the mountain. Walking from the end of the village to the beginning, and then from the beginning to the end, Chen Shao did not see any difference between Changning Village and the others. After leaving the village and keeping a little distance, Chen Shao asked the village chief: "How many households are there in the village?"

Muramasa replied, “There are only about seventy households.”

No wonder it doesn't look that big. Chen Shao glanced in the direction of the village and asked again, "How many people are there?"

Muramasa replied, "Just over 200."

Chen Shao said tactfully: "The villagers seem to be quite harmonious."

Muramasa said embarrassedly: "With the Seventh Master presiding over justice, the villagers dare not make trouble."

Seventh Master, another Zhao Liangzhu? Chen Shao became interested, "How does the Seventh Master administer justice?"

Muramasa said: "No matter how old the people in the village are, as long as they are undecided or have been wronged, they can go to Master Qi for advice or judgment. If there are people who are lazy or bully others, Master Qi will whip them. Master Qi is fair and everyone obeys him. After a long time, no one dares to make trouble."

No wonder the murderer did not target the people in Changning Village. It turned out that he could not find an opportunity.

Chen Shao returned to Changning Village and chatted with Qi Ye for almost half an hour before coming out. He did not return to Wenhai Township, but went directly to Pinggao Township where Ding Lisheng found the blood-stained thatched house.

The location of the thatched cottage in Pinggao Township is similar to a haunted house.

The thatched house has almost rotted away.

After clearing the collapsed roof, under the scorching sun, some scattered bloodstains could be seen on the ground. Some mottled bloodstains could also be seen on the broken furniture in the house. There were not many pebbles in the thatched house, only a dozen or so.

Judging from the state of the bloodstains, if this is indeed one of the first scenes of a serial murder case, it is almost the same as the scene of the nine cases from 1917 to 1918.

In those nine cases, the murderer did not use pebbles.

Looking at the Dafeng River passing by the foot of Qingyu Mountain, Chen Shao asked Ding Lisheng: "Whose thatched house is this?"

Ding Lisheng, who had been guarding the thatched hut all night, quickly replied, "It belongs to the brothers Zhao Jianshu and Zhao Jianshan. The villagers said that they built this as a place for their father to live."

Chen Shao glanced at the thatched cottage and asked, "Why do you want to let their father live here?"

Ding Lisheng said: "The two brothers didn't want to support their father, so they built this thatched hut and drove their father to live here. After their father passed away, the thatched hut became empty."

Chen Shao walked into the house and picked up a pebble: "Have you ever asked where these pebbles came from?"

Ding Lisheng's originally straight shoulders shrank instantly, "I'll go ask right away."

"Don't worry," Chen Shao stopped him, "When Lord Li was investigating the case, did he ever come to Pinggao Township?"

Ding Lisheng nodded repeatedly, "Yes, Lord Li scolded them after hearing about the two brothers."

Chen Shao: "Has Lord Li ever been to this thatched cottage?"

Ding Lisheng shook his head, "No."

Chen Shao: "What about the villagers? What do they say about the bloodstains in the thatched house?"

Ding Lisheng said awkwardly, "I haven't asked the villagers yet."

Chen Shao looked at him twice.

Ding Lisheng defended himself, "I thought that the young master would ask in person, so I didn't dare to act on my own."

Chen Shao walked around the thatched hut and then went to the village.

The people in the village had already heard the news.

Those who were not busy working in the fields were waiting at home. When they saw Chen Shao go to Cunzheng's house, they immediately gathered outside Cunzheng's house in groups of three or five.

Muramasa knew very well about the brothers Zhao Jianshu and Zhao Jianshan chasing his father away, but he knew nothing about the bloodstains in the thatched hut.

"What about the case that happened on May 13, the 14th year of Yuanhe?" Chen Shao asked, "Why was Mani murdered?"

"Mani..." Seven years had passed since the case. When Muramasa heard the name again, he was in a daze for a moment before he slowly answered, "Mani's death was called retribution by the villagers. She was still very strong, but in order to torture her daughters-in-law, she lay in bed all day pretending to be sick and asked them to serve her. If they didn't serve her well, she would be beaten and scolded. In addition to torturing her daughters-in-law, she also liked to take advantage of others. No matter whose field she passed by, she would pick something. Even if she went to someone's house, she would find ways to take one or two away. She had many quarrels with people because of this, but no matter how we quarreled, she just wouldn't change her bad habits."

Everyone has their own evil.

Tao Ming and others had already been arranged to investigate the relationship network of these people. Chen Shao did not waste any time and asked the village chief to call all the villagers over. After ruling out that they were the murderers, he only kept the brothers Zhao Jianshu and Zhao Jianshan.

Seeing the panic and fearful expressions of the two brothers, Chen Shao instinctively knew that something was wrong with them. He drank his tea slowly and left them alone for a while before coldly shouting, "Why don't you tell me?"

The two men kowtowed in fear and trepidation, saying that they knew they were wrong.

Chen Shao sneered and put the tea bowl on the table. "I'm asking where the bloodstains in the thatched house came from. If you don't tell me the truth, don't blame me for torturing you!"