The knock on the door on a rainy night is like a faint nightmare, knocking on a skull-chilling story.
On June 19, 2024, the Mingshan District People's Court of Ya'an City, Sichuan Province retried and pronounced the sensational case of "the abbot of the temple was blackmailed for having a relationship with the female anchor", the female anchor Cai was given a suspended sentence, and her husband Qian was sentenced to 5 and a half years in prison and fined 100,000 yuan.
Looking back at the origin of this case, it began at the end of 2020 with a seemingly ordinary mahogany furniture transaction. Shi Zhaojie, the former abbot of Shixiang Temple in Chengdu, Sichuan, bought mahogany furniture in the live broadcast room of the female anchor Cai, and the two got acquainted, and soon fell into an unruly love that was difficult to end.
On a rainy night in December of that year, an uninvited guest knocked on Shi Zhaojie's door. I saw Cai's husband Qian Mou angry, holding the scandalous video secretly taken in his hand, angrily denouncing Shi Zhaojie and his wife's misdeeds. Shi Zhaojie suddenly fell into an ice cellar, and his heart was like ashes. Since then, the once prestigious abbot of the temple has been reduced to a pitiful object of extortion.
[Foreshadowing, suspicions]
Qian triumphantly grasped the "handle" and arbitrarily blackmailed Shi Zhaojie. After repeated blackmail, Shi Zhaojie was forced to pay a total ransom of up to 5.2 million yuan, or else threatened to expose the scandal online.
Faced with such endless blackmail, Shi Zhaojie couldn't bear it anymore, and finally chose to call the police for help. In February 2023, during a money handover, the police arrived at the scene in time and successfully arrested Cai and his wife.
This is a legendary case, which not only has the unspeakable secret between the noble Shi Zhaojie and Cai, but also the ruthless extortion methods of her husband Qian, and the timely arrest after the careful layout of the police. Every link is a painstaking attempt to unravel layers of mysteries.
So, what are the hidden secrets of this case? What is the complex and intricate relationship between Shi Zhaojie, Cai and Qian? A chance encounter at the beginning led to such a bad consequence?
Let's unravel the mystery of this case and find out.
[In-depth investigation of the causes, restoration of the facts]
Let's start by looking at the identities of the three protagonists and their backgrounds.
Shi Zhaojie, the former abbot of the Stone Elephant Temple in Chengdu, Sichuan, is respected locally and has a high status in the temple. It is understood that he has been a monk since he was a child, proficient in Buddhism, upright, and has an outstanding reputation in the past.
Cai, a popular female anchor on the Internet, and her husband Qian jointly sell mahogany furniture in the live broadcast room. The two barely made ends meet on this tiny business. Cai has a fierce personality and acts decisively, which is very different from the image of an ordinary live broadcaster.
Qian is a sinister and vicious character. On the surface, he is an ordinary person, but in fact he has bad intentions and is bent on profiteering. When he found out about his wife's secret with Shi Zhaojie, he had the idea of blackmailing and kept asking Shi Zhaojie for ransom.
It was these three characters with very different personalities who built this outrageous thrilling drama by chance.
At the end of 2020, Shi Zhaojie went to Cai's live broadcast room to buy mahogany furniture, which also marked the first contact between the two. Shortly thereafter, the two developed some sort of ambiguous relationship.
This sordid relationship lasted for several months, until Cai's husband Qian found out. Angry, Qian immediately began a frenzied blackmail.
On April 23, 2021, Cai asked Shi Zhaojie to a hot spring resort hotel in Fujian, and Qian had already installed secret shooting equipment in the room. Through the secretly filmed video, he has evidence of Shi Zhaojie's entanglement with his wife.
On July 10, 2021, Cai once again led Shi Zhaojie to the hotel, and this time Qian personally appeared to collect debts from Shi Zhaojie. At first, Shi Zhaojie didn't admit it, but after Qian showed the video, he finally confessed the facts.
Since then, Shi Zhaojie has become the target of Qian's wanton blackmail. Qian first asked for 2 million yuan (including mahogany furniture worth 1 million yuan), but this was far from satisfying his greed. In February 2023, Qian contacted Shi Zhaojie again and demanded that Shi Zhaojie pay another 3.3 million yuan under the threat of exposing the video.
Shi Zhaojie had no choice but to agree to Qian's request. On February 24, the two sides made a final handover at a hotel in Mingshan District. At that time, Shi Zhaojie paid 500,000 yuan by bank transfer and 699,000 yuan in cash as agreed. At this moment, the police arrived upon hearing the news and successfully arrested Qian and his wife.
The whole case is so tortuous and bizarre. An abbot of a temple who was supposed to keep the precepts was caught up in such a scandal and was blackmailed by lawlessness. This reflects both the dark side of human nature and the dark side of society.
[In-depth analysis of the inside story of the case and discussion of social reflection]
It is not difficult for us to find that the crux of this case lies in the extreme contrast of the personalities of the three characters.
As a monk, Shi Zhaojie should uphold the moral character of honesty and integrity, cultivate the mind and nature, and save all sentient beings. However, he sank to such a point because of his selfish desires that he cast a shadow on his originally noble image. This can't help but make people reflect on the fact that as a Buddhist monk, he is unable to control himself and abide by the precepts, which is really disappointing.
And Cai, as a female anchor, should be an ordinary person with a sense of responsibility and conscience. But she even participated in it, aiding and abetting the abuse, and became an accomplice to Qian's conspiracy, which further exposed her own moral shortcomings. As a wife, she disregarded family ethics and had inappropriate relationships with others; As a live broadcaster, she should have established a good image for the audience, but she has become a tool for blackmail, which is really disappointing.
In contrast, Qian is undoubtedly the most despicable and insidious one in this case. He knew about his wife's cheating, but instead of choosing to forgive and persuade, he took advantage of this weakness to carry out pervasive blackmail. What he did not only hurt the temple abbot, but also betrayed his wife. He is not only greedy, but also ruthless, leaving his conscience and bottom line behind him just to satisfy his own selfish desires. I am afraid that such a person will never be forgiven by society.
This case not only shows the dark side of human nature, but also reflects some of the deeper problems of society. It exposes the lack of cultivation and morality of some religious people. As a great monk, Shi Zhaojie will sink into carnal desires, which undoubtedly casts a shadow on Buddhism. We must take this as a warning and ask people in the religious circles to truly lead by example, practice the precepts of Buddhism, and set a good example for believers.
This case also reflects the overly utilitarian and vain values of some people. As an Internet celebrity anchor, Cai is bent on pursuing fame and fortune, but neglects family ethics and moral integrity. At the same time, Qian was also completely blinded by the desire for money, and did not hesitate to violate the law and extort by cruel means. We should warn ourselves not to be deceived by money and fame and fortune, and ignore the basic moral bottom line of being a human being.
Write to the end:
This case is really exciting! Tell me, an abbot of a temple who is usually high-ranking actually got together with an Internet celebrity female anchor. What's even more outrageous is that the female anchor's husband even took the opportunity to blackmail, which is really ruthless!
Looking at the whole case, I think the key problem lies with these three people. As a senior monk, why can't Shi Zhaojie control his desires? I know that human nature will inevitably have selfish desires, but as a Buddhist disciple, how can he be entangled with lay men and women to such a point? It's really disappointing.
And the female anchor Cai, as an Internet celebrity with a head and a face, how did she get involved? Not only did she betray her husband, but she also became a tool for blackmail, isn't this a cocoon for herself? To be honest, I really can't get used to this kind of person, who keeps saying that he is a professional, but he does such an unsightly thing.
As for the female anchor's husband Qian, he is even more evil. He knew that his wife was cheating, but he turned a blind eye, and instead thought about how to profit from it. This kind of guy who sees money and does whatever it takes is simply a cancer in society and should be punished severely!
Overall, the case has exposed serious ethical problems for some people. We must not only focus on these people, but also reflect on ourselves and strive to improve our moral cultivation, so as to truly promote the progress of society. I hope this case can be a typical lesson for us to take as a warning!