Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

The principal, the dean and two teachers of the Imperial College were arrested on the same day. One of the teachers was a murderer who made everyone in the county feel insecure. The streets were already full of discussions about it.

The boys were better informed than ordinary people, and after a day, they had learned almost everything, good or bad, through various channels. They were sleeping contentedly when they were suddenly woken up by the yamen runners, who took them back to the prefectural government without saying anything.

Instinctively, the boys were all wondering if one of their colleagues was involved in the case. To protect themselves, even though they usually called each other "brother and younger brother" affectionately, today they didn't talk to each other, for fear of being implicated.

Seeing Chen Shao coming under the escort of the Imperial Guards, the boys immediately stood respectfully in the camp. Suddenly, when they heard Chen Shao asking Shi Xing about buying the yard, the boys were still a little confused. It was not until Chen Shao asked again that everyone felt relieved and immediately gathered together, and the elder brother and younger brother became intimate again.

After a cup of tea, the boys were still noisy, and no one stepped forward to claim responsibility for Shi Xing's purchase of the yard.

Chen Shao knocked the gavel lightly, and when they were all quiet, he said slowly: "What I am looking for is the yard that Shi Xing bought. It has nothing to do with the person who sold the yard. But if no one claims that he bought the yard, and I find out about it later, then he would be innocent and guilty."

The children started discussing again.

Chen Shao did not stop him. He just thought for a moment and said to the mayor who seemed to be indifferent: "When common people buy houses, they must first draft a letter of appointment for your review. After the review is passed, the official deed can be signed. The official deed not only needs to be stamped by the government, but also a copy must be kept for the government to record. Don't act like a nobody. Think about when Shi Xing brought the letter of appointment or the official deed to you for review. If you can't think of it, go to the warehouse and check it out."

The mayor was terrified and said, "I will check it out right away!"

Chen Shao said, "Go ahead."

As the mayor walked to the door, a boy of about 25 or 26 suddenly stepped forward and asked, "Sir, can you let me see Shi Xing?"

After Chen Shao asked the mayor to come back, he asked the boy, "Why?"

"I don't know Mr. Shi," the boy explained, "but I vaguely remember that thirteen or fourteen years ago, a man who claimed to be a scholar at the Imperial College brought his wife and children to buy a yard from my father."

Chen Shao glanced at the people around him: "Where's your father?"

The boy said, "My father died of illness six years ago."

After Chen Shao apologized, he ordered the yamen runners beside him: "Go and bring Shi Xing over!"

Ding Li was afraid that Chen Shao would say that he abused torture, so he didn't beat him hard. Shi Xing was urged by the yamen runners to stumble from the second hall to the first hall. When he saw the boys in the room, he paused for a moment and then knelt quietly on the ground. His tenseness in that moment did not escape Chen Shao's eyes. And the boys said the first time they saw him, "It's him!"

Chen Shao did not believe him easily. Instead, he looked at Shi Xing and asked, "After so many years, he must have changed a lot. How could you tell at a glance that it was him?"

Shi Xing also pricked up his ears and listened.

The boy said, "What impressed me most about that teacher back then was his triangular eyes and downturned mouth. That was the first time I saw triangular eyes, and since then, I always unconsciously look at people's eyes first when I look at them."

Chen Shao looked at Shi Xing. Shi Xing lowered his head, so he couldn't see the expression on his face, but from his slightly stiff movements, he could tell that the boy's memory was correct. Following the boy's words, Chen Shao asked, "Where is the yard he bought?"

The boy shook his head and said, "I don't know. I was still young at the time, and the murder case was making a lot of noise. My mother was worried that my father couldn't keep an eye on me, and was afraid that I would run into bad guys if I went out, so she stopped me at home."

"Do you remember in which year he bought the yard?" Chen Shao asked.

"It was at the end of the sixth year of Yuanhe," the boy answered without much thought, "I remember that after Dad sold the yard, he bought a lot of New Year's goods and also bought me the iron ring that I had been dreaming about for a long time."

At the end of the sixth year of Yuanhe… There were three cases in the sixth year of Yuanhe. The third case occurred on September 29th, and the fourth case occurred in March of the seventh year of Yuanhe, with a gap of nearly half a year. Chen Shao looked at Shi Xing and asked, "You said he bought the yard with his wife and children?"

The boy thought for a while and said, "I'm not sure if it was his wife and child. I just remember that it was snowing heavily and the wife and child were wearing thin clothes. The child's ears and hands were covered with frostbite."

Chen Shao asked the mayor, "Do you still have the original deed from the sixth year of Yuanhe?"

In the sixth year of Yuanhe, the governor of Hongyuan County was still Li Baozhong. Li Baozhong had always been conscientious in government affairs and strict in the management of various departments. The mayor said respectfully: "It should still be there."

Chen Shao ordered: "Take them with you to look for it, and make sure to find it."

After the mayor responded and left with a group of boys, the hall instantly became quiet.

Chen Shao looked at Shi Xing, "We have already investigated to this extent, and you are still not going to confess?"

Shi Xing kowtowed and said, "I didn't kill anyone."

Chen Shao looked at him quietly for a moment, and slowly said: "You should know better than others that people's patience is limited. Gao Han, Luo Zhengxin and others can humiliate you for a long time, and you dare not resist. I don't know how to do it. The reason why I don't use it is that I still respect you for having done a lot of good deeds in the process of killing people. If you tell the truth, I will let the case end with you. Otherwise, I don't mind using it on you if it brings disaster to your family or even the whole clan."

Shi Xing said indifferently: "I didn't kill anyone."

"Okay." Chen Shao's face darkened. "Someone, take him..."

"Young Master!" Chen Shao had just opened her mouth when Chan Yi suddenly rushed into the hall, hurried to her side, and whispered in her ear, "A lot of people suddenly came to the prefect's mansion, saying they want to sign a petition to plead for Shi Xing!"

Chen Shao asked silently: Are they all the people who have received his kindness?

Chan Yi said uncertainly: "It should be."

Chen Shao glanced at Shi Xing and asked, "How many people are here?"

Chan Yi also glanced at Shi Xing: "There are already hundreds of people."

so much?

After asking the yamen runners to take Shi Xing back to the second hall, Chen Shao stood up and walked out of the hall. Ding Lisheng also hurriedly came to meet him. Looking at Shi Xing who was walking away, Ding Lisheng said: "Sir, something happened. Many people knelt in front of the gate of the prefectural government and begged us to release Shi Xing, saying that we arrested the wrong person."

Chen Shao walked out and asked, "Who is the instigator?"

Ding Lisheng couldn't answer.

Chen Shao glanced at him and said, "Most of the people Ding Lisheng helped were the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled. If there was no one behind the scenes inciting them, they would not have come to the governor's mansion and would not have been able to join forces to ask for mercy. Investigate immediately. Once the instigator is found, no matter who he is, immediately put him in jail!"

Just as Ding Lisheng took the order and left, another bailiff came running over in a panic, knelt down on the ground and said, "Sir, something bad has happened, outside, outside..."

Chen Shao stopped and said calmly, "Tell me slowly."

The yamen runner said in a panic: "It is said outside that the master accepted bribes..."

Chen Shao smiled, this wave was directed at her.