Su Liang raised his hands in front of his eyes, looked at the fingers cut by the strings, and chuckled, "It's just a broken skin. I didn't go to Wu's house, and I felt like I was covered in bad luck."
"I boiled the water." Ning Jing said.
Su Liang looked into the kitchen, and saw the blazing fire in the stove, and the warm breath wafting out.
As for Ning Jing, he guessed that she was kidnapped by Wu Yun last night, rushed to the Wu family, hid in a dark place to make sure she was safe, secretly searched for evidence of the Wu family's father and son, and then rushed back to boil the washing water in advance... This was done in one go.
Su Liang deeply admired the operation.
Ning Jing went to add firewood, and Su Liang leaned against the kitchen door and talked to him, waiting for the water to boil before taking a bath.
"Is there a girl who is still alive in Wu Huaian's secret room?" Su Liang asked.
Ning Jing nodded slightly, "Yeah."
Su Liang sighed, "After experiencing that kind of thing, after she was rescued, she didn't know what she had to face."
That girl was an innocent and tragic victim, and such an experience would cast a shadow on her for the rest of her life, making her unable to be tolerated by the world.
"How did you find the bones in the back garden?" Su Liang was very curious.
"Six willow trees were planted side by side, with different sizes and in order." Ning Jing said.
Su Liang's eyes narrowed slightly.
Willow trees have the meaning of exorcising ghosts and warding off evil spirits in this world, so few people plant them at home.
There were six cases of missing girls in three years. Wu Yun arrested one girl for Wu Huaian every six months. Wu Huaian got tired of playing and caught new ones. The first one was killed and buried under the willow tree in the back garden.
The reason why the corpses were not destroyed, Su Liang suspected that this was also part of Wu Huaian's perverted behavior. Maybe he often watered the willow trees and watched them "reminisce" about the prey.
For every girl who dies, a willow tree is planted.
Between the earliest willow trees and the last willow trees planted, the height and thickness decrease over time.
This kind of detail is extremely difficult for uninformed people to discover.
"No." Su Liang frowned, "Including the one who survived in the secret room, there are seven. Mu Luo said there were six disappearances in total."
It's not that these six girls were the only ones missing in Bei'an County in the past three years, but because of their similarities, these six missing cases were grouped together and became one big unsolved case.
The common feature is that the missing girls are all "village beauties", fifteen or sixteen years old, unmarried virgins, disappearing from home late at night, with no traces of fighting or any clues, one every six months.
Su Liang was thinking that maybe there was a family that lost a girl and didn't report it, or the county government didn't find out.
I heard Ning Jing say, "There are seven. The earliest one is not from Bei'an County, but should be Wu Huaian's fiancée in the capital. After he was injured, the two families broke off the engagement, and the young lady disappeared mysteriously."
Su Liang couldn't help but cursed, "What a pervert!"
Ning Jing continued, "It was Wu Huaian who really advocated the termination of the engagement. However, because he was injured, his fiancée agreed to terminate the engagement and did not insist on marrying him. It was later rumored that she abandoned Wu Huaian because she disliked Wu Huaian's disability."
Wu Huaian's fiancée did not insist on marrying him as a widow according to secular standards as he wished and without any regrets, so he and the other onlookers poured dirty water on her. She became a heartless and unjust person, and was even criticized by him.
He was secretly taken to Bei'an County, where he suffered countless tortures and died with hatred.
Just thinking about it is outrageous.
If this scandal had not been exposed, it is conceivable that countless women would be victims in the future. And the father and son were far away from the capital, living freely and lawlessly in Bei'an County.
Su Liang breathed a sigh of relief and calmed down, "Did you find the account book?"
Ning Jing shook his head, "No."
"That thing may not be hidden in the Wu family." Su Liang said.
The water was boiled, and Ningjing sent the hot water to Su Liang's room.
It wasn't like this in the past, but today it was because Su Liang's hand was injured.
Su Liang was taking a bath when someone knocked on the door.
Then I heard the voices of Aunt Bai and Bai Xiaohu.
"Liang Yatou, are you at home? We went to the market and heard about a big event! The new county magistrate, Mr. Mu, has solved an unsolved case that has been pending for several years, the one where many girls were lost. Who do you think did it?" Aunt Bai said
He stared, with a bit of the shock on his face that he had when he learned about this.
Ning Jing shook his head calmly, "I don't know."
Su Liang in the room listened attentively, and could imagine that Mrs. Bai would slap her thigh and say in a loud voice, "You will never imagine! It turned out to be..."
In the yard, Aunt Bai looked exactly as Su Liang expected, and she even said exactly the same words, "You will never expect it! It's actually General Wu and his son! They are really worse than pigs and dogs!"
"Brother Ning, do you know those two bad guys?" Bai Xiaohu asked Ning Jing.
Ning Jing shook his head again, "I don't know."
Bai Xiaohu clenched his little fist and said, "They must be really ugly! They are all bad guys!"
Ning Jing nodded slightly, "You are right."
"I heard that Mr. Mu is taking the prisoner back to the county government office. Many people who went to the market have not returned home and are waiting in the town to see it!" said Aunt Bai. "We wanted to take a look, but we didn't know when we would have to wait.
Just came back."
Bai Xiaohu clenched his little fist, "I heard someone say that they want to go home and get rotten eggs and smash those two bad guys to death!"
Su Liang heard this and suspected that Mu Luo had deliberately spread the news, otherwise it would not have spread so quickly. After all, it had just happened, and the number of people who knew about it was very limited.
The good reputation Wu Yun and Wu Huaian gained in the past will now come back to them even more, earning them even more hatred and resentment.
After Aunt Bai shared the news, she took her grandson away. Originally, she wanted to talk to Su Liang about something else, but Ning Jing said that she was tired from reading and was sleeping at the moment.
After Su Liang took a shower, she put on clean clothes, applied some medicine on her fingers, and felt refreshed. When she went out again, the sun was almost setting.
At this time, Feiyan Town was crowded with people, all looking in one direction to see two prison cars slowly approaching.
Among the crowd were relatives of the victimized girl, and even more indignant people. They threw rotten vegetables, leaves, rotten eggs and eggs that had been prepared in advance and threw them at the prison car to vent their anger.
Wu Yun, with his hair disheveled, loudly shouted that he was wronged, "I want to accuse you! Why bother! Your Majesty! I have been framed!"
Wu Huaian was awake, with her eyes closed.
A rotten egg hit him on the head, and the liquid flowed down after it broke. He opened his eyes suddenly, his eyes were red, and he retched.
Ordinarily, given Wu Yun's status, the magistrate of Bei'an County would have no control over him.
The mines are nominally under the jurisdiction of the government, but the local government only provides basic support and manpower for mining, and the real guards are soldiers directly sent by the court.
Not to mention that now Wu Yun has not been tried, but has been directly put into shackles and a prison car.
But the people didn't care about this, they just felt relieved.
Those who think carefully believe the rumors even more and think that Mu Luo was an imperial envoy sent by the imperial court and not a small county magistrate.
Mu Luo was sitting in the carriage at the end of the escort team, driven by his confidant Chang'an.
"If it's not Ningjing, who else could it be?" This is not the first time Mu Luo has asked this question.
Chang'an frowned, "Also, when a death row prisoner escaped and killed someone, there was also a mysterious person secretly helping the master. Could it be the same person who secretly assisted the master this time?"
Mu Luo nodded, "Probably, otherwise it wouldn't be such a coincidence."
"On the day of the last incident, Miss Su and Mr. Ning went to the county town. This time, Miss Su was directly involved, but she was the person who helped us find evidence in the dark, and my subordinates also felt that she was the most likely
It's Mr. Ning." Chang'an said, "But when I send Miss Su back, Mr. Ning is clearly at home and looks like he has never been out."
"What do you think of the relationship between Ning Jing and Su Liang?" Mu Luo asked.
Chang'an thought for a while and said, "It seems that the relationship is very weak, not close, but they have a very tacit understanding."
"Will Ning Jing remain indifferent to Su Liang's disappearance?" Mu Luo asked again.
Changan shook his head without thinking, "Of course not!"
Mu Luo leaned against the car wall and narrowed his eyes slightly, "That's it. It's such a coincidence both times, maybe it's not a coincidence at all. The mysterious person in the dark is Ningjing."
"Although Mr. Ning doesn't look weak, he also looks like a scholar who doesn't know how to box and kick." Chang'an said, "Miss Su once fought with people in the street, but Mr. Ning never took any action."
"If he doesn't take action, it may be because he doesn't know martial arts, or he may be hiding it deeply," Mu Luo said.
"If it is really Mr. Ning, why would he hide it from his master? Wouldn't it be better to cooperate with his master? It would also be good for him." Chang'an was puzzled.
Mu Luo snorted, "Because neither he nor Su Liang are just doing justice for heaven, and their purpose is never to help me. I do want to cooperate, and they don't care."
Chang'an felt that his master was acting strangely again, and he became silent.
After a long time, Mu Luo suddenly spoke again, "It's best to overthrow the Beijing Palace this time so that Ningjing can no longer use Xing Yusheng's brand. Then they will take the initiative to find me."
Chang'an: ...His master has always been very arrogant and high-minded. This is the first time he has tried to win over someone, but he doesn't appreciate it.
Chang'an once again asked whether he should test Ningjing.
Mu Luo still refused, "No need to test. It's him, no one else. But I don't understand, if he has such great ability, how could he be kicked out by the Ning family? It's very strange."
After returning to the county government, Mu Luo temporarily put aside his research on Su Liang and Ning Jing and began to focus on the cases of Wu Yun and Wu Huaian.
He took down the Wu family and his son based on his identity, but if he really wanted to deal with them, he had to ask the emperor for instructions.
Moreover, he planned to make this matter a big deal. It would be best if everyone knew about it and the people behind Wu Yun were brought out.
He has not forgotten the purpose of his trip. Solving the case of the missing girl is an unexpected gain and will help his reputation. However, the iron ore smuggling case is a task that must be completed.
Mu Luo wrote a memorial and sent people to rush back to the capital.
Wu Yun and Wu Huaian and his son were apparently imprisoned in the county government cell, but that was just "bait".
In the cell were two of Mu Luo's masters pretending to be prisoners. He believed that someone would come to rob the prison or kill someone to silence him.
Only Mu Luo and Chang'an know the real location of Wu Yun and Wu Huaian.
…
For dinner, Su Liang cooked two of Ningjing's favorite dishes and thanked him for his care.
The two of them were eating when Su Liang's hand suddenly stopped and said, "It's broken! I was arrested last night because you stared at Mrs. Niu! How could you have forgotten her!"
Wu Yun must have never imagined that he could kidnap Su Liang, the "scourge", because the real root cause lies with Mrs. Niu.
Yesterday, I met Mrs. Niu on Ningjing Road and noticed that there was a black mist between her eyebrows. I guessed that she wanted to harm someone, so I went out to investigate at night, leaving Su Liang at home alone.
Just as Ning Jing was leaving, Wu Yun appeared and took Su Liang away. Only then did the rest happen.
So many things happened that day and night, Su Liang had really forgotten about Mrs. Niu, and finally remembered it now. What if Mrs. Niu killed someone today and they failed to stop it, that would be bad.
Ning Jing's face was calm, "She bought rat poison and planned to poison Liu Huilan's well today while her family was going to the market."
The little widow Liu Huilan would probably not go to the market. She was at home, and Mrs. Niu avoided people coming to the door. Due to the previous relationship, it was not difficult to get in. Once she succeeded, Liu Huilan's whole family would be killed. Mrs. Niu was crazy, and anything was possible.
It can be done.
Su Liang saw Ning Jing's face and breathed a sigh of relief, "It seems you haven't forgotten. What did you do?"
"Hit her." Ning Jing said.
Su Liang coughed lightly, "Is it such an understatement?"
"She must be stupid," Ning Jing said.
Originally, Ningjing had not planned to resolve the matter with Mrs. Niu.
But at that time, Su Liang was suddenly kidnapped. Ning Jing didn't want to waste time. When she went out to find Su Liang, she stopped by Mrs. Niu's house, hit her on the head with a stick, and took away the rat poison.
"That's good." Su Liang nodded, "It's another day of delay. I have to practice martial arts well tomorrow."
…
The next day before dawn, Su Liang got up and went for a run to practice Qigong.
Ningjing boiled the water, and they each washed up, and then Su Liang made breakfast. After the two of them finished eating, Ningjing cleaned up the kitchen, and Su Liang used the time of washing clothes to eat, and when Su Liang hung the clothes to dry in the backyard, the sun had just risen.
According to the schedule, I still practice whip today.
Before it started, I heard a knock on the door.
Su Liang opened the door and saw Chang An standing outside again, asking impatiently, "What's the matter?"
Chang'an was very polite, "In the case of Wu Yun and Wu Huaian, the master invites Miss Su to go to the county government office to record witness statements."
"Does the county government have special paper for recording testimonies?" Su Liang asked a strange question.
Chang'an was stunned for a moment and shook his head, "That's not true."
"Okay, wait a moment." Su Liang said and turned back, with no intention of inviting Chang An in.
Chang'an was a little confused and waited outside.
About a quarter of an hour later, Su Liang came over with two pieces of paper and handed them to him, "My testimony."
Chang'an took it, and the handwriting was not unfamiliar. He blurted out, "Did Mr. Ning write it?"
Su Liang shook his head, "I wrote it."
Chang'an was a little surprised that Su Liang and Ning Jing had the same handwriting. He read it briefly and found that the two sheets of paper were filled with words, clear and clear, and the facts were clearly stated. Finally, Su Liang signed and took his fingerprints.
In this case, Chang'an could no longer insist on letting Su Liang go to the county government office. Mu Luo had told her not to offend her.
Chang'an put away Su Liang's testimony and smiled sheepishly, "I wonder if Miss Su has anything to eat at home?"
"There are steamed buns." Su Liang said.
Chang'an's eyes lit up, "Then..."
Su Liang hummed, "If I remember correctly, the last time your master came for dinner, he still didn't pay five thousand taels for the meal. You won't forget it, right?"
Changan looked embarrassed, "I've been too busy these past two days to take care of it."
Su Liang wrapped the two remaining buns from breakfast and gave them to Chang An, "One bun is one hundred taels, and we will settle the bill together next time."
Chang'an was a little speechless as he held two cold steamed buns that were only as big as his fist.
Mu Luo wanted to cooperate with Su Liang and Ning Jing, but Su Liang only wanted to blackmail him and was also drunk...
What Chang'an didn't know was that Su Liang closed the door, turned around, and said to Ning Jing with a smile, "The buns are gone. Let's have dumplings for lunch."
Ning Jing was puzzled, "Dumplings? What are those?"
"You'll know when the time comes." Su Liang let it slip.
…
Mu Luo frowned when he saw Chang An coming back alone, "Where is she?"
Chang'an took out two buns from his pocket and handed them to Mu Luo, "Girl Su gave them to me."
Mu Luo opened it and smelled it, with a slight smile on his lips. "It seems that we had a good cooperation yesterday. It was rare that she took the initiative to treat me to a meal. Thinking about it now, we cooperated very well at that time."
Chang'an said weakly, "Miss Su said that a bun is one hundred taels, which will be settled together with the five thousand taels of the last meal."
Mu Luo's face darkened, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it! What does she want with so much money?"
Chang'an blurted out, "Master Yangning!"
Mu Luo:......
After giving the buns to the maid to heat, Mu Luo asked about business.
Chang'an quickly gave him Su Liang's testimony. He was stunned when he saw the handwriting, "Did her handwriting imitate Ning Jing?"
"Maybe their handwriting is very similar." Chang'an said.
Mu Luo shook his head, "They just met this year, how could their handwriting be so similar? She must be specializing in imitating Ning Jing's handwriting."
Chang'an sighed, "Miss Su really likes Mr. Ning. She even wants to learn his calligraphy, and she is so similar to him. She must be very dedicated."
"What is she doing at home? Why doesn't she come?" Mu Luo asked.
"I don't know. Miss Su looked unwelcoming, and the subordinate didn't come in. Maybe she wanted to be alone with Mr. Ning and didn't want to be disturbed." Chang An expressed his speculation.
Mu Luo put down his testimony and said, "She wrote very clearly that this is enough. It doesn't matter if she doesn't come. I asked my father to send someone to take over Wu Yun's position and guard the mine. I proposed someone to my father.
select."
Chang'an asked curiously, "Which old general is he?"
The two mines in the south and north of the Qian Kingdom have always been guarded by veteran generals. This is a hot potato with great stakes and no future achievements to speak of if it is done well. It is not suitable for young generals.
A sneer appeared on Mu Luo's face, "Nian Jincheng."
Chang'an was stunned, "The emperor thinks highly of General Nian very much. He has a bright future, so he won't be sent to guard the mine, right?"
"I told my father that the situation here is complicated and I need a capable person with both civil and military skills to help me clear Bei'an County," Mu Luo said.
"If General Nian does come, he won't stay for long, and he may share the credit with the master." Chang'an said.
Mu Luo shook his head, "He is only nominally here to take over Wu Yun's position. Although he was last year's top martial arts scholar, he has no experience in fighting. If the prince and brother block such a good training opportunity, they will be indifferent."
Chang'an understood. Perhaps Mu Luo deliberately mentioned Nian Jincheng in the hope that the prince would stop him and make the emperor unhappy.
"When General Nian comes, he may not sincerely help the master, but may do bad things." Chang'an was worried about this.
Mu Luo smiled half-heartedly, "That's because you don't understand Nian Jincheng."
The Nian family is from the prince's sect. After something happened to the Gu family, the Nian family planned to let Nian Ruxue enter the prince's house as a concubine, but the matter was later dropped.
The prince and the second prince are both direct princes from the queen. Duanmu Chen's biological mother is a favored concubine. He and the two brothers have been fighting openly and secretly. This time he invited himself to Bei'an County to investigate the iron ore smuggling case.
Duanmu Chen is seeking a future for himself.
…
Su Liang made a dumpling and showed it to Ning Jing, "We eat this during the holidays over there."
Ning Jing followed Su Liang's example and made one. She put too much stuffing in it and it broke. She tried again and quickly learned the lesson. Later, she wrapped it faster and more beautifully than Su Liang.
"It can only be made like this?" Ning Jing asked Su Liang.
Su Liang shook his head, "There are different wrapping methods, I know, but I haven't tried them."
Ningjing has always been willing to try new things. After Su Liang gave a brief description, he tried to wrap other shapes, looking serious and focused as if he was making a work of art.
In the end, Su Liang only knew how to make Yuanbao dumplings, while Ning Jing was "self-taught" and could make dumplings in all shapes that Su Liang knew...
When the dumplings are put out of the pot, they float up in white, plump and round shapes.
Su Liang prepared the dipping sauce and the dumplings were ready.
The sun was warm at noon, and the two of them were sitting opposite each other at the stone table in the courtyard.
Two plates of dumplings and a cold dish. Ningjing took a small jar of wine from the room.
Su Liang took a sip and found it was sweet and refreshing.
"Is this the kind of wine I gave Nian Jincheng on the night of their wedding?" Su Liang asked.
Ning Jing nodded, "Uncle Liang brewed it himself." It was also his first time to drink it.
The dumplings were delicious. At the end of the meal, Su Liang filled up the wine, raised it, looked at Ning Jing and said seriously, "Ask me about that matter again."
Ning Jing poured herself wine and said in a calm voice, "Su Liang, are you willing to stay and work for me?"
Su Liang clinked glasses with Ning Jing, "Okay, I agree."
After several recent events, Su Liang clearly realized that he had many shortcomings, and at the same time he admired Ning Jing more and more.
She thought about it carefully before going to bed last night. She had nowhere to go anyway. She had to hide herself when interacting with other people, but there was no need to hide herself in front of Ningjing.
Su Liang decided to follow Ning Jing from now on.
Although she had no intention of leaving before, she could leave at any time without agreeing to stay and work for Ningjing.
It is different to give a formal commitment now.
Putting down the wine glass, Su Liang chuckled and said, "I hope you won't trick me."
Ning Jing shook his head, "No guarantee."
Su Liang coughed lightly, "Can I regret it?"
Ning Jing shook his head again, "I believe in your character. Once you have made a promise, going back on it has no effect."
Su Liang looked at Ning Jing, and suddenly felt that she had sold herself on impulse...
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Sorry, the editor forgot to enable v, so the update is late.