Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

There were not many Yulin Guards who came with them, only 20, so Li Tianliu only sent four Yulin Guards to escort them. In order to prevent them from escaping, before they set off, Li Tianliu deliberately ordered: "Anyone who dares to escape will be killed without mercy! Anyone who dares to seek death will be punished with all nine clans!"

After watching them walk away, Chen Shao retracted her gaze and carefully looked at this small town that seemed peaceful under the moonlight. She walked to the east of the town and looked back in the direction of the pancake shop.

From here to the pancake shop, there is a main road. Although it is winding, there are houses on both sides of the road. If the murderer wants to take Wang Yuexin away, he must first avoid Zeng Hong's sight. Zeng Hong's home is on another road, and there are houses and tile houses hidden by a slight turn.

Chen Shao looked around. On the right was Zeng Hong's way home, and not far to the left was an old tree with a dense canopy that blocked out any moonlight. If the murderer was hiding in the shadows, it would be difficult to spot him without a closer look.

It is entirely feasible that the murderer hid under a tree, watched Zeng Hong leave, and after making sure that he would not come back, he drove out of the shadows in a carriage and quietly followed Wang Yuexin.

They were not far from home, so how did the murderer trick Wang Yuexin into getting on the carriage?

No matter what method the murderer used, one thing is certain: the murderer must know Wang Yuexin and has Wang Yuexin's trust.

Wang Yuexin came to this town ten months ago.

So, besides the Wang and Zeng families, who else can she trust?

She had looked at both the Wang and Zeng families, whether at Liu Deming's home or on the street outside the pancake shop, and none of them fit the description of the murderer.

"Apart from the Wang family and the Zeng family, is there anyone else in town that Wang Yuexin has close contacts with?" Chen Shao asked Liu Deming who had been following him.

Liu Deming said: "I don't know much about her private affairs. I will ask my mother when I get home."

Chen Shao didn't say anything else.

"Mom," Liu Deming walked into the house and quickly went to the kitchen to call Wang out, "Besides being close to the Wang and Zeng families, does Wang Yuexin have any other contacts?"

Wang was making supper for them. When she heard his words, she rolled her eyes at him and said, "Why are you asking this?"

Liu Deming knew she had misunderstood, and hurriedly explained: "I asked for the adults."

Wang wiped her hands on her apron and replied, "I've never heard of her having any dealings with anyone other than the Wang and Zeng families."

Liu Deming said: "Mom, please think about it carefully."

Wang thought that this answer was very important to Chen Shao. After thinking about it carefully for a while, she shook her head and said, "I haven't heard of it."

Liu Deming wanted her to think about it again, but Chen Shao stopped her: "Forget it, if the murderer was so easy to find, he wouldn't have committed so many crimes."

Wang was shocked and asked, "The person who had contact with her is the murderer?"

Chen Shao said "hmm", turned around and told Chan Yi and Fu Jiu: "Let's go, let's go to Zhougong Village again."

"The midnight snack will be ready soon, eat it before leaving," Wang advised.

Fu Jiu sniffed and smelled the aroma of noodles, then advised: "It's almost midnight, why don't we go to Zhougong Village tomorrow."

"Yes, it's so late now. Even if we go there, the people in Zhougong Village will have gone to bed." Chan Yi said immediately, "If we wake them up one by one, it will probably be dawn soon. Young Master, you haven't had a good rest recently because you have been trying to catch the murderer. Why don't you stay here to rest for a night and go there early tomorrow morning? This way, no one will be delayed and it will be just right."

Chen Shao looked at the dark circles under her eyes that even rouge couldn't cover, and then looked at the Yulin soldiers who were also gradually becoming tired. Thinking about how she had been working non-stop these days and how they had to follow her all the time, it wasn't easy either, so he nodded and said, "Then let's rest here for a night."

Liu Deming pulled his elder brother aside and said, "Student will arrange it right away."

Chen Shao said: "Thank you for your help."

"No trouble!" Liu Deming said happily.

Chan Yi saw him going to clean up the house, and stepped forward to stop him with a smile, saying, "Don't bother with that. Just move some stools and chairs out and rest in the yard. It's cool there."

Liu Deming saw that what she said made sense, so he followed his elder brother and, under the command of his father, moved out all the thirty bamboo reclining chairs in the warehouse. These were made by his father during the slack season and he planned to sell them for money. Chan Yi looked at Chen Shao, and seeing that she did not stop him, she thanked him sweetly, and called Fu Jiu over to set them up in the yard together.

After having supper.

They each lay down in the yard.

Chen Shao looked at the moonlight shining through the treetops, and his thoughts gradually became empty.

The murderer already had the intention to kill.

The relationships among the three types of victims have also been basically clarified.

Now all that's left is the murderer's career.

Unconsciously, Chen Shao began to sort out the clues she had found. However, she was so tired after so many days that she fell into a deep sleep before she could figure out the reason.

On the second day, when the daylight came with the morning breeze, people in the yard gradually woke up.

After washing himself with well water and eating the breakfast specially bought by Liu Deming's family, Fu Jiu harnessed the carriage and the Yulin Guards were ready to go when Sun Qi, leading several team members from earlier, suddenly came to Liu Deming's house.

Seeing that Chen Shao stayed at Liu Deming's house last night, Sun Qi was secretly envious and followed the other students to bow to her.

Chen Shao nodded, looked at the snack boxes they were holding, and asked, "Are you here to visit Grandma Liu?"

Sun Qi replied, "Yes, I heard that Grandma Liu fainted and hasn't recovered in a few days, so I asked her to come and visit."

His grandmother had fainted before, so why didn't they come to visit? Liu Deming complained in his heart, but smiled and said, "Actually, you don't have to make this trip. Last night, the master asked Miss Chanyi to see my grandmother and prescribed a prescription. My grandmother has gotten much better today. If nothing unexpected happens, I can go back to the academy in the afternoon."

Knowing that he had seen through their purpose, Sun Qi blushed and said, "We didn't come here on purpose. Master Shi saw that you were not here these few days, and after asking us, he learned that Grandma Liu was ill, so he insisted on asking us to come here. Well, these boxes of snacks are sent to Grandma Liu by Master Shi."

While receiving the snacks, Liu Deming asked, "Is Mr. Shi's hand healed?"

Sun Qi shook his head. "It takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone. How can it be that easy?"

Liu Deming said: "If you all come here, who will take care of Master Shi?"

Sun Qi smiled and said, "Aren't there Tao Ming and the others?"

Liu Deming nodded, feeling a little relieved, and said, "Why did the horse go crazy? Is there any result?"

Sun Qi sighed, "How can it be that easy?"

"Where is the reward from the academy? Has it been paid out?" Liu Deming asked after stealing a glance at Chen Shao. "Two years ago, Master Yu saved Chen Yiping and only had a few scratches, so the academy rewarded him with 500 coins. This time, Master Shi broke his arm, so he should be rewarded with at least one or two taels of silver, right?"

Chen Shao, who was about to leave, heard the words "broken arm" and stopped instinctively. She seemed to have heard the name Shifuzi several times recently, but she just ignored it the last few times. Today, she felt inexplicably frightened. She always believed in her intuition. It happened that they also wanted to ask her for help, so she asked, "Which Shifuzi?"