Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Shi Xing said as a matter of course: "She is as cold, selfish, unreasonable, and overbearing as the people in the Xue family."

"Since she is the same as the Xue family," Chen Shao questioned, "why didn't you kill the Xue family?"

Shi Xing fell silent.

Chen Shao said coldly: "Answer me!"

Shi Xing shifted uncomfortably and replied, "The Xue family threatened me."

"What are you threatening me with?" Chen Shao got to the bottom of it.

Shi Xing fell silent again.

Chen Shao said: "Speak!"

Shi Xingchao glanced around and said with difficulty: "They threatened that if we didn't listen to them, the villagers would never be able to study in the academy."

Chen Shao looked at him: "So, Zhou Lan also threatened you with these words?"

Shi Xing: “No.”

Chen Shao: "Then what was your reason for killing her?"

Shi Xing lowered his eyes: "She, she always threatens her daughters with death."

"You mean," Chen Shao said calmly, "you are venting your hatred for her daughters?"

Shi Xing hesitated and said, "No."

Chen Shao pressed, "What is that?"

Of course, she knew that he saw the Xue family's attitude towards him from the way Zhou Lan treated her daughters. He couldn't deal with the Xue family, so he vented all his hatred on Zhou Lan.

She just wanted him to say it himself.

She felt pity for Wu Tao because it was an era that left women with almost no way to make a living, and she allowed herself to fall into depravity in order to shoulder the responsibility of the family. She was willing to temporarily protect Hu Lilan and Shi Hui from the strange eyes of outsiders because the way they set fire to the house made her guess that they knew about his murder but did not participate.

But she couldn't feel the slightest sympathy for him.

He was indeed unfortunate, and the victims were indeed hateful, but these were not reasons for him to kill!

Shi Xing answered hesitantly, "She is the same as the Xue family."

Chen Shao continued to ask: "She is just like the Xue family, what does it have to do with you?"

Tao Ming suddenly questioned: "You said she is the same as the Xue family. Does that mean you couldn't kill the Xue family, so you killed her?"

Shi Xing looked at him and replied, "Yes."

Chen Shao also glanced at him, then retracted his gaze and said, "You said she was as selfish and cold-hearted as the Xue family. Then let me ask you, when they snatched the chicken, duck, fish and meat you prepared for your parents, did you stand up to stop them? When they humiliated your parents and made them live in a donkey pen, did you stand up to resist?"

Shi Xing said woodenly: "They threatened me."

Chen Shao questioned, "Because they threatened you, you let them rob your parents' parcels, leaving them without money, food, or even a drop of water to walk back to Tongwang County?"

The crowd was in an uproar again.

Amid the uproar, many people questioned: "It's hundreds of miles from the county seat to Tongwang County. How can we get back?"

Li Tianliu tried to grab the gavel again, but was held back by Chen Shao. After they talked for a while, she let go. After Li Tianliu angrily slammed the gavel and the people in the hall gradually quieted down, Chen Shao spoke: "After your father and mother fell ill after returning to Tongwang County, did you go back to visit them?"

Shi Xing said numbly: "No."

"Why?" Chen Shao asked, "Are they threatening you?"

Shi Xing said nothing.

Chen Shao stopped asking questions and continued with the next one: "On September 19, the sixth year of Yuanhe, you committed a crime for the second time. You killed Yang Hongjiu, a 29-year-old from Zhougong Village. Why did you kill her? Was it to vent your hatred?"

Shi Xing replied: "Yes."

Chen Shao asked: "Whose hatred are you venting this time?"

Shi Xing hesitated and said, "The Xue family."

Chen Shao: "What did the Xue family do again?"

Shi Xing curled his fingertips slightly, and said with hatred in his face: "Xue Meilan is having an affair with Gao Han, the head of the Imperial Academy."

Boom.

The crowd was in an uproar again.

This time, Li Tianliu almost broke the gavel before he could make them quiet down.

"Please keep quiet, elders," Chen Shao said humbly but firmly, "If you continue to make a fuss like this, I will have to ask you to leave in order to keep the trial going."

After many people promised not to make trouble again, Chen Shao continued to ask: "Xue Meilan's affair with Gao Han has nothing to do with Yang Hongjiu?"

Shi Xing said angrily: "She is just like that bitch Xue Meilan, she has no virtue as a woman."

Chen Shao questioned: "So, since you couldn't deal with Xue Meilan and Gao Han, you killed Yang Hongjiu?"

Shi Xing said without hesitation: "Yes."

Even to this day, he has no regrets about killing Yang Hongjiu!

Bitch should die!

Chen Shao looked at him silently for a moment, "On September 27, the sixth year of Yuanhe, why did you kill Wang Sanwa of Yunhe Town?"

Shi Xing licked his dry lips, "He is as disgusting as that little bastard Shi Chengliang! When I saw that bitch Xue Meilan having an affair with Gao Han, I thought she was coerced. After she refused to listen to my advice, I went to find someone from the Xue family and asked them to persuade her. I didn't expect that after I went to the Xue family and told them what happened, I not only didn't get their sympathy, but was ridiculed by them. It turns out that the bitch had been having an affair with Gao Han before getting married, and was pregnant with that little bastard Shi Chengliang. In order to continue having an affair and not to ruin their reputation, Gao Han acted as a matchmaker for me and asked me to marry that bitch! I was so grateful to him at the beginning, bah!"

She had heard Jiang Zilin talk about this grudge. Based on this past alone, she had no way to persuade him to be magnanimous. But whether it was the case file fifteen years ago or Xu Guang's later investigation, it showed that Wang Sanwa was a legitimate child and had the most natural difference with Shi Chengliang. Chen Shao asked coldly: "Shi Chengliang is the child of Xue Meilan and Gao Han, what is his relationship with Wang Sanwa?"

Perhaps he had been holding back hatred for years and finally had a chance to vent it out. Shi Xing started to hesitate and gradually became crazy: "Of course it matters! That little bastard... I raised him up, but when he saw me coming back from the Xue family, he didn't share my hatred for the enemy, but wanted to boss me around like usual. I just taught him a lesson, but he openly said that I was just a dog raised by Xue Meilan and Gao Han! His father is Gao Han, I can't do anything to him, but who the hell is Wang Sanwa? How dare he beat and scold that old dog in front of me!"

Everyone was shocked by his reason for murder; even the whispers disappeared in an instant.

However, after seeing his hideous face, Chen Shao calmed down abnormally: his mind had long been twisted and numb due to the suppression by Gao Han and others and the years of killing, and he could no longer be regarded as a normal person.

"A bunch of hypocritical people!" Hearing the whispers from the crowd, Shi Xing stood up suddenly, pointed at them, and said angrily, "When they died, many of you said to me that they died well! Now that I've been arrested, you come to add insult to injury. How despicable and shameless!"

Chen Shao picked up the gavel and slammed it down: "Shut up!"

Shi Xing shuddered instinctively, then his expression instantly returned to normal and he knelt down again.

"Speak!" Chen Shao said sternly, "If you wanted to vent your hatred, killing three people was enough. Why did you continue to commit crimes? What is your relationship with Hu Lilan?"