Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

"This……"

The uncles and aunts looked at each other in bewilderment. How could they say that they were too grateful for what they had received and too soft-hearted for what they had received?

Chen Shao smiled and ordered Chan Yi, "Go call Sun Qi and the others out. These old men, women, uncles, and aunts came here in such a hot day to complain. Regardless of whether they are at fault or not, they should apologize."

Chan Yi suppressed her laughter and went to the side hall. After explaining her thoughts in detail, she called the person out.

Sun Qi and the others were not stupid people. They knew that Chen Shao was doing this for their own good. After coming out of the hall, they bowed deeply and apologized to the people.

"Never mind," an old man said sheepishly, "It's not their fault."

Qiu Shiying was the smartest one. Upon hearing this, he immediately bowed to the ground again and said, "It's our fault if the working men and women have to go through this. It's our fault!"

Sun Qi and others also bowed deeply to the ground.

"It's not a big deal," someone else said, and his words were full of embarrassment, "We are all here for Master Shi."

Someone started the conversation, and someone else immediately followed up, saying, "Master Shi is a great man. He spent all the money he earned from doing odd jobs at the dock on these students and us. People should always have a conscience. I don't believe Master Shi would kill anyone."

"Yes, Mr. Shi came to weed several fields for me last month."

"He also plowed my few acres of paddy fields for me."

"He planted all the wheat in my house for me and harvested it for me."

"My family is the same."

Listening to everyone's praise, Sun Qi and the others all looked at Chen Shao at the same time. They were all silently worried, not knowing how she would respond.

Chen Shao did not respond.

Listening to their praise of Shi Xing, she seemed to have just learned about the good things he had done. She echoed with surprise and admiration: "It turns out that he not only takes care of those students in the academy, but also helps you outside. It's really amazing."

An old man said: "I have lived to this age and have met at least 800 people, if not a thousand. A good person like him is really rare!"

Chen Shao nodded in agreement, "Sir, you don't look like someone who would lie."

Another old man said, "I will admit whoever is the murderer, except for him!"

Chen Shao continued to nod, "I don't recognize him either. I have never seen such a selfless person in my life. Let's put it this way, Sun Qi, Qiu Shiying, tell us all the clues you have found in the past few days. We are still young and inexperienced, so please help us to distinguish whether it is true or false. We can't wrongly accuse a good man like Mr. Shi."

After Sun Qi and Qiu Shiying looked at each other, Sun Qi took out the clues he had found in the past two days and said loudly: "In addition to Wan'an Village, we have been to five villages in the past two days, namely Daye Village, Zhougong Village, Yunhe Town, Changhe Village and Xiaochang Village. Among them, there were two cases in Daye Village. When the case occurred on July 13, the sixth year of Yuanhe, Master Shi was in the morning..."

When they finished reading the two cases and Shi Xing's activities in Daye Village, Chen Shao asked them to pause and sincerely asked the people of Daye Village present: "Dear uncles, aunts, uncles, and aunts, I wonder if what they said is true?"

Before the people of Daye Village could speak, people from other villages spoke first:

"It's all coincidence, right?"

"There are so many coincidences in the world, it's not surprising to have such a coincidence."

Chen Shao nodded in agreement, and did not let the people of Daye Village explain, and directly asked Sun Qi and others to continue reading. While they were reading, she whispered to Chan Yi: "Go to the second hall and get the records I asked Shi Xing."

After Sun Qi and others finished reading about Shi Xing's whereabouts when the two cases occurred in Zhougong Village, Chen Shao asked the people from Zhougong Village who were present as usual. As many people still thought it was a coincidence, she asked Sun Qi and others to continue reading.

Yunhe Town, Changhe Village, Xiaochang Village... One village can be a coincidence, two villages can also be a coincidence, three villages, four villages, five villages, a total of twelve cases, what is the probability that every one of them is a coincidence?

No need to ask any more questions, the dead silence in the lobby is already the best answer.

Of course Chen Shao didn't let it go like that.

Why are they so easily incited? Because they are ignorant. Why are they ignorant? Because they have not received any education and cannot read. The principles they understand are all dug out from the ground with their faces facing the loess and their backs facing the sky, one hoe at a time.

If you want to stop them from being instigated and if you want them to distinguish right from wrong, it is very simple. That is, don't try to teach them what is right and what is wrong, but put the facts in front of them and let them judge for themselves.

While asking Chan Yi to recite the whereabouts that Shi Xing had told them, Chen Shao held the teapot and poured tea for them one by one.

A cup of tea was poured down and Chan Yi had just finished reciting the poem.

Putting down the teapot, Chen Shao waited for a moment, then bowed deeply to everyone, "Shi Xing did a lot of good deeds, and also killed a lot of people, but just because he did good deeds, we can't ignore the fact that he killed people. So I'm sorry that I can't agree to your joint petition for his life."

"Oh, I didn't expect that he was the one who killed him."

"Yes, why would you kill someone for no reason?"

"He killed people," Chen Shao said calmly, "The crime is due to the corruption and incompetence of the government."

All the people in the hall looked at her in surprise.

The same is true for Sun Qi and others.

Chen Shao looked calm. Gao Han and Luo Zhengxin were arrested, and the students who bribed them to get into the Imperial College would be cleared out later. Zhang Boshan was arrested, and it was unknown how many people would be implicated. No matter who they were, they couldn't hide their movements. Instead of covering up and letting people speculate, it was better to admit one's shortcomings openly.

Do not break or stand.

"The weather is getting hotter day by day, and it's not easy for you to make this trip," Chen Shao said sincerely, "If you have anything you want to ask or say, why not take this opportunity to ask and say it all at once, what do you think?"

No one asked, no one said.

Chen Shao smiled slightly, squatted down in front of a little girl of about five or six years old, rubbed her head, and asked gently: "Little sister, do you want to study?"

The little girl looked at her grandparents and asked with an innocent face, "What's the point of studying?"

Chen Shao did not answer but asked: "What do you want to be when you grow up, little sister?"

The little girl tilted her head and thought for a while, then her eyes fell on the silk flower on Chan Yi's head. Her eyes lit up and she immediately remembered the beautiful silk flowers on the street stalls on the way to the prefect's mansion. Grandma said that a silk flower cost five cents, and there were a lot of five cents on the street stalls. She liked a lot of five cents, so that her father could ask a doctor to treat his leg disease and her mother wouldn't have to cough all the time at night. Thinking of this, the little girl immediately said, "When I grow up..."

Ding Lisheng suddenly rushed in and interrupted the little girl: "Sir, we found the instigator, it's..."