Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Chen Shao nodded and asked her to bring paper and pen. She drew the size and pattern of the footprints on the paper and carefully marked the size next to them. Then she went back to the house and drew two more. "Give one to Zhao Qiang and ask which shops sell shoes with the same soles. Then ask him to buy a pair from each shop."

Chan Yi took the map out and called Fu Jiu, "Come down quickly. The young master asked me to take this map to Zhao Qiang."

Fu Jiu came down with the pebble, took the picture and looked at the blood footprints, then left without asking anything. Chan Yi asked him to leave the pebble behind, but Fu Jiu turned a deaf ear to him. Chan Yi was so angry that he cursed, "Don't come back and cry if someone calls you a fool later!"

Li Tianliu asked curiously: "He can cry again?"

Chan Yi almost blurted out "What does it have to do with you?", but thinking of how he had helped Chen Shao with many things in the past few days, he changed his words and said, "Can't you even understand a joke?"

Li Tianliu looked at her through the gaps between the branches and leaves, "How did I offend you today?"

Chan Yi said: "You didn't provoke me, I just have a bad temper!"

Seeing that she was about to turn around and go into the house, Li Tianliu suddenly asked, "Who are you, and why are you good at both medicine and martial arts?"

Chan Yi had already stepped into the hall, but when she heard his words, she retracted her foot, turned around, and faced his scrutinizing gaze. She smiled at first, then said with a stern face, "Who am I? What does it have to do with you?"

Li Tianliu said nonchalantly: "Can't you even ask?"

Chan Yi smiled again: "No!"

Li Tianliu said, "If he doesn't dare to tell others his identity, he must have ulterior motives."

Chan Yi still kept smiling: "Even if you have ulterior motives, it is none of your business."

Chen Shao listened to the two bickering while putting together the case files of the several villages she had visited in the past few days. Afterwards, she stepped back and filled in the records in the case files based on her investigation.

So far, she has visited four villages involved in the case: Zhaojia Village, Xiaochang Village, Wenhai Township, and Pinggao Township.

A total of eight victims were investigated: Tao Amei, Zhao Sanwa, Li Bawa, Zhao Erwa, Li Lan, Tang Yuelan, Feng Yu, and Ma Ni, three young women, three boys, and two elderly women.

There were three young women. One of them beat and scolded everyone in the village, young and old, men and women, in order to protect her own fields. Although it was a show, the murderer was unaware of it. In the murderer's opinion, her words and deeds were probably unvirtuous; the other two were sluts who were not tolerated by the world.

Without exception, the three boys became domineering and lawless because of the pampering of their family elders.

There were two elderly women, one of whom despised the poor and loved the rich, and allowed her son-in-law to be beaten and scolded; the other bullied her daughter-in-law and was particularly fond of stealing and taking advantage of others.

All eight people, young and old, are evil people, and their ways of being evil are different. However, according to the results of the investigation, there are more evil people in the same village, but the murderer did not choose them. If you say that the murderer could not find an opportunity, judging from the process of killing Tao A-mei, he had a premeditated plan and was determined to achieve his goal. The statement that he could not find an opportunity is not true.

So, why did the murderer kill eight of them when there were obviously more evil people? Was there something in common between the eight of them that triggered the murderer's murderous intent?

Chen Shao fumbled for half an hour but didn't find any clues at all.

After returning to his desk and writing down the eight people's reputations before they were killed, Chen Shao called Chan Yi over and asked her, "Take a look, do these people have any common characteristics?"

Chan Yi tilted her head and looked for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "Are they not good people?"

Chen Shao said: "Zhao Shan's mother, Zhao Sanwa's grandmother and mother, Li Ba Wa's grandparents, father and mother, uncle and aunt, etc. are not good people either. Why didn't the murderer kill them, but only killed them?"

Chan Yi nodded and said to herself, "Yes, why did the murderer kill only them?"

Seeing that she had no clue for a while, Chen Shao wrote down the villages where these people were and pushed them in front of her: "You have also been to these villages. Can you see what they have in common?"

Chan Yi tilted her head to take another look and subconsciously said, "Has anyone been killed?"

Although what he said was nonsense, Chen Shao still encouraged, "Besides this?"

"Except for this..." Chan Yi tilted her head and looked for a while, then shook her head and said, "I can't tell."

He rolled his eyes and suddenly thought, "Sir, do you want to know why the murderer chose to kill people from these villages?"

Chen Shao nodded.

Chan Yi said, "It's a bit strange. Changning Village is not far from Wenhai Township, but no one was killed in Changning Village. If Changning Village was killed because of Master Qi, then there was no Master Qi in Taojiazhuang, and no one was killed. So the murderer must have a reason for choosing these villages or these people."

As she spoke, she picked up the paper with the comments about Tao A-mei and others. After reading it carefully for a while, she was still confused. Thinking of Li Tianliu in the tree, she walked to the door and called out, "General Li, the young master wants to discuss something with you."

Li Tianliu jumped down from the tree without a doubt and walked over slowly. Chan Yi pushed the paper in front of him and asked directly, "Look at these eight people. Do they have anything in common?"

Li Tianliu glanced at her with a half-smile.

Chan Yi stuffed it into his hand, then came back and took the paper with several villages written on it and said, "There are also these villages. See if they have anything in common?"

Li Tianliu handed her the pebble and said, "Here."

Chan Yi took it obediently.

Li Tianliu took the paper with the victims' comments and the paper with the village's comments in his hands, compared them for a moment and said, "Except for Tao A-mei, the rest of these eight people deserved to die."

Chan Yi repeated what Chen Shao had asked her, "Why didn't the murderer kill Li Bawa's grandparents, parents, uncle, and aunt? They are obviously more evil than Li Bawa."

"Why else?" Li Tianliu didn't have any idea at first, but after she asked him this question, he instinctively said, "I don't have the ability to kill them, so I can only vent my anger on them."

Chan Yi retorted: "The murderer knows how to tie that knot, he is not weak."

Li Tianliu sneered: "Who told you that you are not weak if you can tie that knot? Let me ask you, do I have to know medical skills like you to be able to cure diseases?"

Chan Yi asked, "What else?"

Li Tianliu looked at her and recited a few prescriptions for healing. Before she could refute, Li Tianliu said slowly: "Because I have been on the battlefield, injuries are common, so it is natural for me to know a few prescriptions for healing. What about the murderer? So far, we don't know what he does. But..."

Li Tianliu looked at Chen Shao and asked, "Does it have to be herbalists, hunters, and martial artists who can tie that knot? You went to the merchant house a few days ago. Were the guys there herbalists, hunters, and martial artists?"

He snorted twice. "The guys at Fulai Trading Company all know that only by tying the knot like this can the goods not escape. So does the murderer know this principle too? This knot is not a secret. It is normal for people who know how to tie this knot to mention it unintentionally while drinking and eating. Whether the murderer heard it intentionally or unintentionally, in order to prevent the person he wants to kill from escaping, wouldn't he take the opportunity to learn it?"