Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Chen Shao asked casually: "How much money can you make at one time?"

After thinking about the possible trap behind the question, Shi Xing answered cautiously: "The shopkeeper feels sorry for my hard work and gives me more money every time, about a hundred coins."

Chen Shao's tone remained unchanged: "How often do you go there?"

Shi Xing pondered for a while before answering, "Four or five times a month."

"If we calculate it as four times a month, that's 400 coins, which is a considerable income." Chen Shao looked at him, "How much is your monthly salary?"

Shi Xing replied: "One tael of silver."

"That's a lot," Chen Shao was curious, "Why do you still want to do odd jobs?"

Shi Xing glanced at Liu Deming suspiciously, somewhat surprised that he had not told Chen Shao about his family situation. Even so, in order to prevent Chen Shao from making another move, he still answered cautiously: "The monthly salary was taken by Shi Chengliang and Shi Chengguang for drinking and having fun, and the money from the odd jobs was used to improve the food for students in the villages and towns."

Chen Shao deliberately asked: "Who are Shi Chengliang and Shi Chengguang?"

Shi Xing glanced at Liu Deming again, "It's the villain's son."

Chen Shao said, "Oh," and said, "You used the money you earned from odd jobs to improve the students' meals?"

Shi Xing hesitated for a moment before answering, "And the lonely elderly people in various villages and towns."

"The monthly salary was given to the two sons, and the money earned from odd jobs was given to students and lonely old people," Chen Shao suddenly asked, "What about Wu Tao and Shi Cheng'an? What did they use?"

Shi Xing's heart sank suddenly, and then he quickly looked at Liu Deming.

Although Liu Deming hated him for being two-faced, he couldn't remain indifferent to his care for him over the years. When he saw him looking at him, he instinctively turned his head away and avoided his sight.

Chen Shao knocked the gavel and said, "Answer my question!"

Shi Xing withdrew his gaze gloomily, gritted his teeth and said: "They don't need my money."

"They don't need your money," Chen Shao stared at him, "What about the fifty taels of silver that Wu Tao gave you in bits and pieces? Where did you use it?"

Shi Xing tensed up and his breathing quickened. After a while, he managed to calm down and replied, "The money was also used to improve the food for the students in the academy and to help the lonely elderly."

Chen Shao sneered, "Wu Tao has only given you money in the past three or four years, and you have used it to improve the food for the students in the academy and for those lonely elderly people. Do you treat them to delicious food every day?"

Shi Xing remained silent.

Chen Shao said coldly: "Tell me, where did you spend all that money?"

Shi Xing still didn't answer.

Chen Shao simply said, "Fu Jiu, drag him out and behead him!"

Fu Jiu quickly stepped forward and pulled him.

Shi Xing broke free from his hand, kowtowed and replied: "I took all the silver to the gambling house and lost it all."

Chen Shao remained unmoved and asked, "Which gambling house?"

Shi Xing caught a glimpse of Fu Jiu still standing behind him and hurriedly replied, "Silver Hook Gambling House."

Chen Shao looked at Fu Jiu and said, "Get evidence immediately!"

After Fu Jiu left, Chen Shao went back to the previous question, "On May 16, after you left Zhaojia Village, you went to Dafeng River in Quyangpo to relax. Tell me, what happened during that period?"

"There are few fields in Quyangpo, and the trees are more lush and quiet than other places." Shi Xing replied woodenly, "During that period, the Dafeng River was in flood season, and there were even fewer people going there. I... I went there just to find some peace and quiet."

"On March 17, after you left Zhougong Village, you went to Dafeng River to relax," Chen Shao asked immediately, "Which Dafeng River did you go to this time?"

"This time we went to..."

"On April 23, you returned to the county town late and rested outside the city for the night. Where did you rest?"

"Rest here..."

"On May 16, when you were weeding the fields of Zhao Cong's family in Zhaojia Village, who did you meet?"

“I’ve encountered all of them…”

Chen Shao patiently asked him one question after another, all of which were details that ordinary people would hardly notice. During the process, she would occasionally ask the same questions again. This went on over and over again, and when it was midnight, she called Ding Lisheng over again and asked him to continue asking questions without stopping.

Afterwards, Chen Shao came out of the second hall and, under the leadership of Liu Deming, went straight to the second lane of Dong'an Street.

On the way, after Chen Shao arranged for people to check the location Shi Xing had given him, Li Tianliu lazily said, "We all know he is making it up, so why bother checking?"

Chen Shao leaned against the soft pillow, took the tea handed to him by Chan Yi, drank two sips, and said with a smile: "I want to check it because I know he is making up stories."

Li Tianliu looked at her, "What do you mean?"

Chen Shao did not answer but asked: "After exposing his lies with real evidence, what will he do next?"

Li Tianliu raised his eyebrows: "Another one made up?"

Chen Shao looked at him, smiling: "What if it's exposed again?"

This is a tug-of-war, it depends on who can outlast the other. The answer is obvious, because the initiative is in her hands, she can use a round-robin battle to wear him down until he tells the truth.

In this dynasty, the case could be closed with his confession, but she has a soul that does not belong to this dynasty, and her professional ethics require her to have a complete chain of evidence.

"What are we doing now?" Li Tianliu asked.

It was already very late, there was almost no one on the street, and they hadn't even had dinner yet.

"Now," Chen Shao said slowly, "Let's go to Xue Meilan's parents' home and see if we can find any other clues."

The family of Shi Xing’s first wife, Xue Meilan, lived in Lane 2, Dong’an Street.

The Xue family was the happiest when Shi Xing was arrested. They didn't care why Shi Xing was arrested, they were happy to see him in trouble.

After Xue Meilan died, Shi Xing refused to be controlled by them anymore. Sometimes when he asked for a few hundred coins, he refused to give them. They were afraid of angering Gao Han, so they didn't dare to throw a tantrum at Shi Xing as before.

And as Gao Han and Luo Zhengxin were arrested one after another, the Xue family became even happier.

The reason they could bully Shi Xing was naturally because of Gao Han, but after Xue Meilan's death, Gao Han was the most ruthless.

When Chen Shao arrived, no one in the Xue family had gone to bed yet. They were all jumping around to find out whether Gao Han and Luo Zhengxin could still leave the prefectural government.

"I've known for a long time that Shi Xing is not a good guy!" Xue Meilan's mother Yang said with foam at the mouth, "Our Meilan is such a good girl. There were so many young men who came to ask for her hand in marriage and broke down the door countless times. If it weren't for Gao Shan, bah! If it weren't for that beast Gao Han who defiled her innocence, why would we let her marry that bastard Shi Xing!"

"Gao Han and Luo Zhengxin are both beasts," Xue Meilan's second brother Xue Wanqing said after spitting fiercely, "Many students in the academy got in by bribing them. Some of these students gave them money, and some gave them their own sisters."

Xue Meilan's elder brother was about to speak, but Chen Shao interrupted him and asked, "How much silver did you spend to buy the yard you live in?"