Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

More than a month had passed since the poisoning, and the murderer finally struck again.

"Has it been spread..." Chen Shao said with a smile, "Whose bribe did I accept?"

The yamen runner replied tremblingly: "Yes, they say it is Feng, Fenglong Commercial Bank."

"Fenglong Commercial Bank." Chen Shao recalled the scene when Manager Shen of Fenglong Commercial Bank bribed her with money, and said calmly, "Get up."

The bailiff did not dare to get up.

Chen Shao smiled and said, "They are right. I accepted bribes. Get up and guard the gate quickly. Don't let them break in."

The bailiff was so frightened that he got up and ran away.

Chen Shao paused and walked towards the gate. Li Tianliu stretched out his arm to stop her and said coldly: "You go back, I'll go and see!"

"That's fine. The fact that Shi Xing is the murderer has become a hot topic. There should be many people coming to the prefect's mansion to watch the excitement today. Add to that the fact that I accepted bribes, and I'm afraid there will be even more people. To avoid any accidents..." Chen Shao thought about it and made arrangements, "How about this, invite all those who came to plead for Shi Xing into the lobby."

After Li Tianliu arranged for the Yulin Guards to protect her, he went there with a few yamen runners.

Chen Shao waited until he was far away before instructing Fu Jiu, "Go to Juxian Tower right away and ask Manager Zhou to send 200 breakfasts over. Also, ask him to find a way to build a tent outside the prefectural government to provide free breakfast for the people who come to watch the fun."

Fu Jiu was about to leave, but Chen Shao stopped him again: "Where's Liu Deming?"

"The students are here!" Liu Deming rushed over.

Last night, after he led the way to Xue Meilan and Wu Tao's parents' home, Fu Jiu saw that it was too late, so she arranged for him to rest in Lin Yuwei's yard. Perhaps he was too tired from running around recently, and when he woke up, it was already dawn.

Chen Shao waited for him to come closer, and then told Fu Jiu to find him a horse. Then he said to him, "Go back and tell your father and the people selling palm leaf fans in town to come to the prefect's mansion to do business in the next few days."

Liu Deming looked at Fu Jiu and Chan Yi, not quite understanding what was said.

Fu Jiu hooked her arm around his neck and said, "Don't worry about it. I told you to go back, so just go back quickly."

Watching their receding backs, Chan Yi asked in confusion, "Sir, what are you doing..."

Chen Shao said calmly, "The weather is so hot, and there is nothing to block the view outside the prefect's residence. If we sell palm-leaf fans, business should be good."

Chan Yi burst out laughing: "They slandered you like that, and you still wanted to make money from them."

Chen Shaoyang raised his eyebrows, "It's because they slandered me that I want to make money from them."

Is she so easy to slander?

Chen Shao turned around and went back to the lobby, waiting quietly for the person who wanted to plead for Shi Xing to come.

The first ones to come over were Sun Qi, Li Shengjie, and Zeng Yun.

When several people entered the hall, they all knelt down and apologized.

Seeing the angry, regretful and aggrieved looks of the few people, Chen Shao understood that the people who instigated the people who had received Shi Xing's kindness to come and cause trouble must have taken advantage of their naivety. Although he understood, Chen Shao asked without showing any trace of emotion: "What happened? Why do you all look like this?"

With tears in his eyes, Sun Qi kowtowed hard and said angrily, "It is my incompetence that I failed to complete the task assigned by you, but I was impulsive and brought disaster upon you. Please punish me!"

Li Shengjie and others also kowtowed and said, "Please punish me, sir!"

"Get up first." Chen Shao said, "Let's talk about what happened first."

Sun Qi and his companions stood up. Seeing that Sun Qi was too angry to speak, Zeng Yun took the initiative to step forward and said, "Yesterday evening, when we were investigating the whereabouts of Master Shi in Wan'an Village, we met Wei Liangzhi, a clerk of Fenglong Commercial Bank. Wei Liangzhi first said that Master Shi worked more meticulously than farmers and could not be the murderer. After we explained to him some evidence that Master Shi was the murderer, he said that Master Shi condescended to do odd jobs at the dock just to improve our food. We were ungrateful and ungrateful for harming him behind his back. We patiently explained the reason to him, but he didn't listen. He shouted everywhere that we had received benefits and deliberately framed Master Shi. The villagers who had received favors from Master Shi were instigated by him, and those with hoes and brooms drove us out of the village."

Qiu Shiying took over the conversation: "We thought they were just angry, and we were planning to explain this morning. Who knew that after we were driven away, Wei Liangzhi instigated the villagers to go around and inform those who had received favors from Master Shi, and asked them to come to the prefectural government today to expose us, saying that we were trying to frame Master Shi and prevent him from helping them in the future."

Wei Liangzhi was indeed one of the five people who collected medicinal materials from Fenglong Company around the county town. Before Chen Shao could ask them some details, he saw the people who wanted to plead for Shi Xing coming over one after another, led by the yamen runners.

After asking Chan Yi to take them to the side hall, Chen Shao walked down from the desk and went out to greet the people who were coming.

Many people came to ask for mercy.

Men and women, young and old.

At a glance, there are more than two hundred people.

Chen Shao whispered to Chan Yi who had just returned, "Go tell Fu Jiu that 200 breakfasts are not enough. Ask Shopkeeper Zhou to send some more."

Chan Yi glanced at the people coming over and left with a cold face. Chen Shao smiled and went out to greet them, saying, "Dear uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters, you have come from afar. I am sorry for not welcoming you."

The people, who were originally furious and clamoring, and were determined to seek justice for Shi Xing, were instantly at a loss for what to do when they saw her smiling face and humble attitude.

The people should not fight against the officials, this is an eternal truth. The reason why they are so bold is nothing more than relying on their numbers and the fact that the law does not punish the masses, as well as Chen Shao's good temper when he was searching for clues in the villages and towns earlier.

But no one told them that she would have such a good temper.

What are they going to do next?

When the people looked at each other, unable to make up their minds, Chen Shao stepped aside and said, "Uncle, aunt, uncle, sister-in-law, it's hot outside, please come in."

The people entered the hall hesitantly.

"Hurry up and get some straw mats," Chen Shao ordered the yamen runners, "and boil a few pots of water."

As the straw mat came over, Chen Shao helped the yamen runner spread it on the ground while apologetically saying, "There are not many stools in the mansion. Please make do with one or two."

"Master, please stop busying yourself. We, we just need to stand for a while."

"That's right, sir, please take a break."

"My Lord, you have been busy investigating these cases these days. Please stop and we can do it ourselves."

"Then I'll trouble you, uncle and aunt." After Chen Shao obediently handed over the job of laying the straw mat, he began to pour water for them.

After they scrambled to take the job, Manager Zhou's breakfast arrived. He helped the yamen runners distribute the breakfast. When they praised it and almost forgot the purpose of coming, Chen Shao spoke up: "Uncle, Madam, I heard from Sun Qi and the others that you have something to talk to me about. What is it?"