Because of the jade pendant with the word "Ning" engraved on it, both Su Liang and Ning Jing believed that Ning Yao was the biggest suspect.
But this is just speculation.
There are other enemies in Ningjing, and there is one in Pingbeicheng. Mr. Li San, who wants to steal Zheng'er, marries Pingbeicheng's sister, Miss Li Si, who is now the Xiao family's wife.
As for Su Liang saying that he wanted to go to Xunyang City to kill Ning Yao first, Ning Jing said that we would talk about it later.
Whether it was done by Ning Yao or Mrs. Xiao, the purpose was for Ningjing.
But after Su Liang calmed down, he realized something was wrong, "Both Ning Yao and Li Si are not good people. With their previous methods, as long as they take action, they will not leave you a way to survive. In this case, only if someone in the academy dies can you be spared."
Totally stuck."
Even if it is found out that it was not Ning Jing who did it but his enemies, he will definitely be caught by the victim, and the world will think that he is the one who brought disaster to the academy.
Ningjing said thoughtfully, "Are you saying that the poison in the well water tonight is not poisonous enough?"
Su Liang nodded, "It's really not enough. If I really plan to poison people to harm you, there are 'better' choices, and I won't be given a chance to save people. Even if I'm not here, I believe the doctors in Pingbei City will do the same."
There are ways to detoxify, but it may cause some seriously ill people to die if they are not treated in time."
Ning Jing kept thinking about himself because of that jade pendant, and he didn't know how to treat poison after all.
After listening to Su Liang's words, I also felt that there was something fishy going on.
Su Liang suddenly thought, "Is there anyone from the Xiao family in the academy?"
They had previously thought that someone had sneaked into the academy and poisoned him, but the poison was not cruel enough.
What if someone in the academy did it and was also poisoned in order not to be suspected? As long as you are young and in good health and eat little dinner, you can be sure that you will become the perfect victim but survive to the end...
Even if Su Liang didn't take action, there were more than a dozen people in the least poisoned batch, and even if they didn't detoxify specifically, they wouldn't die.
Among them, will there be poisoners?
Ning Jing was about to ask Lin Shuzhi when Lin Xueqing came.
She had been helping to take care of the poisoned people. Her clothes were dirty, her hair was messy, and she looked tired.
"Sister Su, dad asked me to tell you that everything is fine!" Lin Xueqing looked at Su Liang with a grateful face, her eyes were red, "I was scared to death, what if someone really died!"
Sister Su, you are so amazing!"
Su Liang didn't care about this and asked Lin Xueqing directly, "Is there any young master from the Xiao family in the academy?"
Lin Xueqing was stunned, "The Xiao family? The Xiao family that does the ceramics business in Pingbeicheng? There is a young master Xiao, the younger brother of the Xiao family owner, named Xiao Shirong. He didn't even pass the exam as a scholar, so he was just an uneducated dandy.
He was forced in. After several pressures from the government, plus the Xiao family paid to build the road from the academy to the foot of the mountain, and built a new dormitory for the academy, my father finally had no choice but to agree to take Xiao Shirong in. In fact, now the academy’s
Dad can no longer make the decision on many things. The Xiao family once asked my dad to propose marriage to me on behalf of Xiao Shirong, but my dad refused without even asking me. If he had asked, I would have scolded him!"
After Lin Xueqing finished speaking, she remembered to ask Su Liang, "What happened to the Xiao family? Why does sister Su ask this?"
"Is Xiao Shirong poisoned?" Su Liang asked again.
Lin Xueqing frowned and thought for a while, then nodded and said, "I didn't see him tonight. He is not used to living in the college dormitory on weekdays. The Xiao family originally proposed to build a separate courtyard for him to live in, but my father sternly refused. He probably wants to
I won’t be back until tomorrow.”
It didn't match what Su Liang guessed, but Su Liang's suspicion of the Xiao family became even more serious.
She asked Lin Xueqing to get paper and pen, write a "questionnaire", "Give this to Master. The well was poisoned, and everyone in the academy today is a suspect, including the person who was poisoned. Everyone must be investigated."
."
Lin Xueqing took a look and saw that there were many questions written on it, including where she was during the five days of vacation, what she did every day, and whether anyone could testify. Everything about eating and sleeping must be detailed, covering twelve hours without omissions.
"Post it and ask them to write it down and hand it in." Su Liang said, "For such a serious matter, the government will also investigate it later." But the Xiao family obviously managed the government well, so they had to take action first.
Get evidence.
Su Liang felt that if it was the Xiao family who did it, and Mr. Xiao was not asked to do it himself, and instead found someone else, the possibility is not small.
Lin Xueqing was about to leave when Su Liang asked again, "Who does Xiao Shirong have a good relationship with in the academy? He is rich and powerful, so he should have followers."
"Yes, there are a few people behind him every time he appears. But I hate that person very much, and I don't pay attention to who is close to him." Lin Xueqing said, "Oh, by the way, there is one I know!
It’s Ma Yaozu who is tied with Senior Brother Ning for the Bei’an County Academy Examination! He is also very annoying. He spread a lot of bad things about Senior Ning in the academy before I noticed him. He is very flattering to the person named Xiao and comes from Bei’an County.
The other two scholars are somewhat at odds with each other."
Because after Lin Xueqing learned that Ning Jing was taking the imperial examination in Bei'an County, she wanted to find someone from there to ask about Ning Jing. However, she did not say that she knew Ning Jing. She only said that she was curious about what kind of person he was and why he didn't come to Qianshan.
Academy.
In this way, Lin Xueqing got to know the two scholars who always went together, and also knew the murderer Ma Yaozu.
Su Liang thought thoughtfully, "Ma Yaozu? Is he poisoned?"
Lin Xueqing nodded, "I got it, but it's not a big deal. I said I had lunch in the city. I wasn't hungry at night, so I didn't eat much."
She didn't ask those people one by one how much they had eaten. She was passing by and happened to hear Ma Yaozu talking to others.
"I understand. You go to the master first." Su Liang was suspicious of Ma Yaozu, but he couldn't make any judgments now. He would first investigate everyone to see who had questions. When he got the questionnaire, maybe the answer would come to light.
After a lot of tossing, it was almost dawn.
Ningjing fetched some water, and after Su Liang briefly washed herself, she lay down and fell asleep.
Ningjing went out and looked at the hazy sky at dawn. His face was cold, as cold as a sculpture.
…
Lin Shuzhi saw the questionnaire that Lin Xueqing took and asked her to find a large piece of paper and copy it to avoid anyone recognizing that it was Su Liang and Ningjing's handwriting.
After Lin Xueqing copied it, Lin Shuzhi had the paper posted on the wall and informed everyone that they should answer the questions on the paper after they recovered and hand in their respective statements before noon today.
During this period, no one is allowed to enter or leave the academy.
The doctors who Lin Shuzhi asked to leave but didn't leave were all kept. They came to Lin Shuzhi to argue, and Lin Shuzhi said that this was to avoid spreading the news and causing unnecessary panic, and to ask them to understand and cooperate.
The poisoning crisis seems to have subsided, but only superficially.
…
Su Liang slept deeply, and when she woke up, it was almost noon.
Officers and soldiers brought porridge and steamed buns from down the mountain and distributed them to the people in the academy.
On the table in Su Liang's room were two bowls of cold porridge and two large steamed buns. Lin Xueqing brought them for her and Ning Jing to eat, but Ning Jing was not seen. Su Liang fell asleep and did not call her.
Su Liang got out of bed, stretched her arms, took a deep breath, walked over and picked up the steamed bun and took a bite. She was really hungry.
After Su Liang drank a bowl of cold porridge and ate half a steamed bun and went out, Lin Xueqing happened to come in.
"Sister Su, are you awake? I'll heat up the porridge for you to drink," Lin Xueqing said.
Su Liang shook his head, "I've already drank it, no need to heat it up."
Lin Xueqing hadn't slept a wink since last night. After Su Liang asked her about the current situation, she asked her to go sleep for a while.
"No, I want to stay with dad." Lin Xueqing said and yawned.
Su Liang hugged her and entered the room, "I'll go."
"Sister Su, you are so kind. You are much more useful than me." Lin Xueqing hugged Su Liang and sighed, "When the matter is found out, help me persuade dad to let him go.
Let's go to the capital. The academy is no longer the pure school he wanted. If this continues, I really don't know what will happen next time."
Su Liang nodded, "That's exactly what I meant."
"That's great. Dad will definitely listen to what you say." Lin Xueqing breathed a sigh of relief before going to sleep peacefully.
Su Liang didn't know where Ningjing was. When he found Lin Shuzhi, he was carefully reading the questionnaire he handed in.
When he saw Su Liang, Lin Shuzhi asked her if she was hungry.
Su Liang said that she had eaten and sat down to watch it with Lin Shuzhi.
"Someone from the government just came to question me. They mentioned that the Xunyang Ning family came to the academy to cause trouble a few days ago, saying that it might be Ning Yao who did it again to murder Ning Jing, and other people were innocently implicated." Lin Shuzhi looked grave, "There is no basis for this.
There is no evidence and it is simply pouring dirty water on Pingjing!"
Su Liang sighed slightly, "Master, what if Ning Yao really did it?"
Lin Shuzhi frowned, "Every injustice has its own owner, and every debt has its own owner. Even if it was Ning Yao who did it, Ning Jing is still the victim, not the wrongdoer."
"That's the truth, but if a person's life actually happened, it can't be solved with just a word of peace." Su Liang shook his head, "Master protects the weak, and outsiders won't care so much."
Lin Shuzhi's face darkened, "Do you really think it was Ning Yao who did it?"
Su Liang shook his head, "I thought so at first. But now I feel that someone else did it and wanted to frame Ning Yao."
Even Ning Jing and Su Liang subconsciously doubted Ning Yao, let alone others?
After the commotion in the Ning family a few days ago, everyone in Pingbeicheng, especially Qianshan Academy, knew that Ning Yao and Ning Jing were in a relationship like fire and water.
It may not be that someone deliberately took advantage of this and played a very clever trick.
After all, Su Liang felt that if Ning Yao took action, he would rather poison Ning Jing directly, instead of going to such trouble and implicating himself in a major case.
"Who would do such a vicious thing?" Lin Shuzhi was puzzled.
Su Liang told the truth that Ningjing found a jade pendant with the word "Ning" engraved on it by the well last night.
Lin Shuzhi's expression changed drastically, "Tell him not to take it out, otherwise many people will think he did it and won't care what the truth is."
Lin Shuzhi did not want to hide the truth. He knew clearly that it was not Ning Jing who did it. He did this to protect Ning Jing and to better find out the truth and prevent the real mastermind from succeeding.
Su Liang nodded, "Master, don't worry, he knows." Then he mentioned the child named Zheng'er whom Lin Shuzhi had known for a long time.
After listening to this, Lin Shuzhi learned about the child's origins and what happened, and finally realized that what Su Liang really suspected was the Li Xiao family, which Zheng'er had a grudge against.
The Xiao family is actually a subsidiary of the Li family, and the fourth lady married to the Li family is the one who calls the shots.
But Mr. Xiao was not in the academy yesterday.
Su Liang turned over Ma Yaozu's questionnaire and took it out to read it alone.
There wasn't much problem in the past few days. He mostly stayed in the academy and didn't go out.
Yesterday was the day when the results were released. Ma Yaozu wrote that after he learned that he had failed the results, he felt depressed and went to drink alcohol. He stayed at the largest Huixiang Restaurant in Pingbeicheng for two hours before returning to the academy.
But as far as Su Liang knew, Ma Yaozu's family was poor. It didn't cost money to study at Qianshan Academy, but he had to spend money to eat out.
Two hours in a restaurant is too long. If you don't spend enough money, the restaurant will probably kick you out.
Su Liang and Lin Shuzhi read everyone's questionnaires and picked out a few suspicious ones. Except for Ma Yaozu, who Su Liang suspected first, there were also a few that were a little vague.
Lin Shuzhi called people over and asked them one by one. Ma Yaozu was in the middle.
One of them asked about a student who had been to a brothel the day before yesterday and did not dare to let anyone know.
Two other people went to a gambling house together.
When Ma Yaozu arrived, he was very calm.
"You were in the restaurant for two hours, why did you say there was no witness?" Lin Shuzhi looked serious.
Ma Yaozu replied, "The student was thinking that with so many people coming and going in the restaurant every day, the waiter must not remember what time he received any guests, so he wrote that there was no witness."
"Most people don't stay in the restaurant for that long. What happened yesterday, the waiter will definitely remember you." Lin Shuzhi said, "I'll ask the officers and soldiers to go to the restaurant to bring someone over."
There was obvious panic in Ma Yaozu's eyes, "Dean, are there any witnesses to anything that my classmates did?"
Lin Shuzhi said coldly, "Not all of them are involved, but those who are not found must be verified one by one. The murder of nearly a hundred famous people is such a serious crime, and no clues can be let go."
"Why does the dean think it was someone from the academy who did it? Maybe someone sneaked in and poisoned it," Ma Yaozu said.
"It's all possible. But first we need to find out who's in the academy, what do you think?" Lin Shuzhi asked back.
"Yes." Ma Yaozu narrowed his eyes, "Actually, the student has an idea and I don't know whether he should say it or not."
"Say." Lin Shuzhi nodded.
"The student is from Bei'an County. During the college examination, someone from the Ning family in Xunyang framed Ning Jing. Before this time, people from the Ning family forced him to give up the imperial examination and go home, but to no avail. Yesterday, when the results were released, I learned that Ning Jing knew about it.
Yuan, I think the people from the Xunyang Ning family who want to harm him will be unable to restrain themselves from taking action. If they think Ning Jing lives in the academy and then poison him, it is very possible." Ma Yaozu said righteously, "Last night
Ningjing goes to check the well. If he finds any evidence, he may not deliberately conceal it in order to find out for himself. He is the one who should investigate most!"
Lin Shuzhi's eyes narrowed slightly, "You are quite thoughtful."
Ma Yaozu said quickly, "The student just expressed his guess, which may not be correct, but I hope the dean will report it to the government and conduct a thorough investigation so that the truth can be revealed."
"Okay." Lin Shuzhi nodded, "Go out and wait for the people from the restaurant to come."
Ma Yaozu's face froze. He didn't expect that Lin Shuzhi would continue to check him. He hesitated to speak. In the end, he said nothing and went out with his head lowered.
The officers and soldiers brought the shopkeeper and waiter of the restaurant to the academy.
They all said that they saw Ma Yaozu going to the restaurant yesterday, and they were there at the right time.
"Mr. Ma went with Mr. Xiao. He asked for the most expensive private room and ordered the best wine and food." One of the waiters said.
Ma Yaozu had already prepared, "Dean, it was Brother Xiao who invited me for a drink when he learned that I failed the exam, and was kind enough to give me some relief. But I thought that Brother Xiao didn't return to the academy and it had nothing to do with him, so I didn't write in such detail."
Su Liang walked out from behind the bookshelf with an indifferent expression, "In that case, Dean Lin invites Mr. Xiao to come over and ask questions. Mr. Ma will tell us now that you and Mr. Xiao drank together in the restaurant for two hours yesterday and both said
What did you say? You are all people who are going to take the imperial examination. You must have good memories. What happened yesterday, you won't forget it, right? Then I will ask Mr. Xiao alone. As long as you can match it, Mr. Ma will have nothing to do with it.
."
Ma Yaozu's face turned pale, "You...why do you order me?"
"She saved the entire academy last night." Lin Shuzhi looked at the officers and soldiers next to him with a cold face, "Please go and ask Xiao Shirong to come immediately." He also found another person in charge of the government and asked him to watch from the side.
Ma Yaozu recorded a confession.
"I...Brother Xiao and I drank a lot yesterday, and we don't even remember what we said." Ma Yaozu said with his head lowered.
But the waiter confessed that Ma Yaozu and Xiao Shirong were not drunk yesterday and were sober when they left.
Su Liang looked at Ma Yaozu and said coldly, "You'd better think clearly, don't be used as a gunman, and you don't know how you died!"