Chapter 56: 056. No Backing Out (Part 1)
Translator: 549690339
“What would you like to eat?”
“Your hand.”
Both of them spoke at the same time.
Su Liang held up his hands and looked at the cuts on his fingers made by the strings, chuckling lightly. “It’s just a scratch. I visited the Wu Family’s house and felt like a cloud of bad luck has covered me.”
“I’ve heated up some water,” Ning Jing said.
Su Liang looked at the kitchen. Flames flickered in the stove, and the warm air drifted out.
Su Liang deeply admired Ning Jing for guessing that she was taken by Gai Yun, rushing to the Wu Family’s house, hiding in the dark to make sure she was safe, secretly searching for evidence of the father and son’s crimes, and then hurrying back to heat water for washing… all in one breath.
Ning Jing went to add firewood. Su Liang leaned against the kitchen door and chatted with him, waiting for the water to boil so he could take a bath.
“There’s a girl still alive in Gai Huai’an’s secret chamber?” Su Liang asked.
Ning Jing nodded slightly. “Yes.”
Su Liang sighed, “Having experienced such things, I don’t know what she will face after being rescued.”
The girl was an innocent and tragic victim. Her experiences would cast a shadow on her life, and she would not be tolerated by society. “How did you find the buried bones in the backyard?” Su Liang was very curious.
“Six willow trees were planted side by side, all of different sizes and in sequence,” Ning Jing said.
Su Liang’s eyes narrowed slightly.
In this world, willow trees had the meaning of warding off evil spirits and were rarely planted at home.
Three years, six missing girls. Gai Yun brought a girl to Gai Huai’an every half a year. When Gai Huai’an got tired of them, he captured a new one, killed the previous girl, and buried her under the willow trees in the backyard. Su Lianz suspected that not destroying the bodies was part of Gai Huai’an’s twisted behavior. Perhaps he often watered the willow trees, looking at them and “reminiscing” about his prey.
One girl died, one willow tree was planted.
The size and thickness of the willow trees diminished with time, from the earliest tree to the most recent one.
This detail would be extremely difficult for an outsider to notice.
“No,” Su Liang frowned. “Including the girl who didn’t die in the secret chamber, that makes seven. But Mu Fei said there were six disappearances.”
It wasn’t that only six girls had disappeared in Bei’an County during these three years. But these six cases were grouped together because of their similarities, forming a major unsolved case.
The common characteristics were: the missing girls were all “village beauties,” fifteen or sixteen years old, unmarried virgins, and disappeared at night without a trace, without signs of struggle or any clues, and one every six months.
Su Liang was thinking, perhaps a family had lost a girl but didn’t report it, or the County government hadn’t noticed it.
Ning Jing said, “There are seven. The first one is not from Bei’an County. She was Gai Huai’an’s former fiancée from the capital. After he was injured, the two families broke off the engagement. The young lady mysteriously disappeared.” Su Liang couldn’t help but curse, “Fucking pervert!”
Ning Jing continued, “It was Gai Huai’an who really wanted to break off the engagement, but because he was injured, his fiancée agreed to dissolve the engagement without insisting on marrying him. Later, it was rumored that she despised Gai Huai’an for being crippled and abandoned him.”
Gai Huai’an’s former fiancée didn’t act as he wished, marrying him and living like a widow without complaint, according to worldly standards. Instead, she was denounced by him and the gossiping onlookers as heartless, rejectd him, and was secretly imprisoned in Bei’an County. No one knew how much suffering she had endured before dying with hatred.
Just thinking about it made one’s hair stand on end.
If it weren’t for the exposure of this scandal, countless more women would have been victimized. Meanwhile, the father and son enjoyed their life in Bevan County, far from the capital, acting with impunity.
Su Liang breathed a sigh of relief to calm down, “Did you find the account book?”
Ning Jing shook his head, “No.”
“That thing might not be hidden in the Wu Family’s house,” Su Liang said.
As the water was ready, Ning Jing brought the hot water to Su Liang’s room.
It had never been like this before, but today it was because Su Liang’s hand was injured.
As Su Liang was taking a bath, someone knocked on the door.
Soon after, the voices of Mother Bai and Bai Xiaohu were heard.
“Is Liang girl at home? We went to the fair and heard about a big event! The new county magistrate, Lord Mu, cracked an unsolved case involving several missing girls. Can you guess who did it?” Mother Baits eyes widened, her face still showing a bit of the shock she felt when she first heard the news.
Ning Jing replied calmly, “I don’t know.”
Su Liang, in the room, listened carefully, and could almost imagine Mother Bai slapping her thigh then raising her voice to exclaim, ‘You’ll never believe it! It’s actually… ”
In the courtyard, Mother Bai looked exactly as Su Liang had imagined, even saying the exact same words, “You’ll never believe it! It’s actually General Wu and his son! They’re worse than pigs and dogs!”
“Brother Ning, do you know those two villains?” Bai Xiaohu asked Ning Jing.
Ning Jing shook his head again, “1 don’t know them.”
Bai Xiaohu clenched his little fists and said, “They must be very, very ugly! All bad guys!”
“I heard that Lord Mu will escort the criminals back to the County government office. Many people who went to the fair didn’t go home and are waiting to see in the town!” Mother Bai said, ‘We wanted to take a look, too, but we didn’t know how long we’d have to wait, so we came back first.”
Bai Xiaohu clenched his little fist, “I heard someone say that they are going to go home and get rotten eggs, and smash those two big bad guys to death!”
Su Liang heard this and suspected that the news was deliberately spread by Mai Fei, otherwise, it wouldn’t have spread so quickly. After all, the incident had just happened, and very few people knew about it.
Once, Gai Yun and Gai Huai’an had many laudatory titles, but now they would all be doubled back onto them, causing even more hatred and resentment.
After sharing the news, Granny Bai took her grandson away. She originally wanted to talk to Su Liang about something else, but Ning Jing said that she was sleepy after reading and was taking a nap at the moment.
Su Liang took a bath, changed into clean clothes, applied some medicine to her fingers, and felt refreshed. When she went out again, the sun was about to set.
At this time, Feiyan Town was crowded with people, all looking in one direction as two prison carriage slowly drove by.
Among the crowd were the relatives of the victimized girls, and more were the indignant common people. They threw rotten vegetables and rotten eggs at the prison carriage, venting their anger.
Gai Yun, disheveled, cried out his grievances, “With a crime to add to, there is no shortage of pretexts! Your Majesty! I am being framed! ”
Gai Huai’an’s eyes were tightly closed.
A rotten egg smashed onto his head, the liquid from the broken egg flowing down his face. He abruptly opened his eyes, with bloodshot eyes and retching.
Technically speaking, the County Magistrate of Bei’an County had no jurisdiction over Gai Yun’s status.
In principle, the mine was under the jurisdiction of the Government Office, but the local Government Office only provided basic security and manpower for mining. The actual management was directly overseen by the soldiers sent by the court.
Furthermore, Gai Yun hadn’t even been tried yet and was already shackled and put onto a prison carriage.
But the common people didn’t care about these details and only felt relieved.
The more thoughtful people believed the rumor even more, thinking that Mai Fei was an emissary sent by the court, and not just a mere County Magistrate.
Mai Fei sat in the last carriage of the convoy, driven by his trusted aide, Chang’an.
“If it’s not Ning Jing, who else could it be?” It was not the first time Mai Fei had raised this question.
Chang’an frowned, “What about the time when the death row inmate escaped and harmed people? There was also a mysterious person helping the Master secretly. Could it be the same person who assisted us secretly this time?” Mai Fei nodded, “It should be, otherwise, it wouldn’t be such a coincidence.”
“On the day of that incident, Miss Su and Young Master Ning happened to go to the county town. This time, Miss Su was directly involved, but she was on the surface, while the person who secretly helped us find the evidence, I also think it is most likely Young Master Ning,” Chang’an said, “But when I sent Miss Su home, Young Master Ning was clearly at home, and he seemed never to have gone out.”
What do you think about the relationship between Ning Jing and Su Liang?” Mai Fei asked.
Chang’an thought for a moment and said, “Their relationship seems to be very weak, not close, but extremely tacit-tuned.”
“If Su Liang were to go missing, would Ning Jing remain indifferent?” Mai Fei asked again.
Without hesitation, Chang’an shook his head, “Of course not!”
Mai Fei leaned against the carriage wall, his eyes slightly narrowed, “That’s it.
Both times were so coincidental, perhaps they were not coincidences at all. That mysterious person in the dark is Ning Jing.”
“But Young Master Ning doesn’t look like the type who can’t fight, even though he appears to be a scholar who can’t use martial arts,” Chang’an said. “Miss Su once fought with someone on the street, but Young Master Ning never made a move. ”
“He might not have made a move because he doesn’t know martial arts, but it could also be because he’s hiding his strength,” Mai Fei said.
“If it’s really Young Master Ning, why would he hide his identity from the Master? Wouldn’t it be better to cooperate with the Master? It would benefit him too.” Chang’an was puzzled.
Mai Fei snorted lightly, “It’s because, whether it’s him or Su Liang, they are just trying to act out of a sense of justice, and their purpose has never been to help me in the first place. I’d like to cooperate, but they don’t care for it.”
Chang’an felt that his young master had started to act mysteriously again and chose not to speak any longer.
After a long while, Mai Fei suddenly spoke again, “It’s best if we can take down
Bei Jingwang Mansion this time so that Ning Jing can no longer use Xing
Yusheng’s name. Then they’ll come to me.”
Chang’an: …Their young master had always been very proud, and this was the first time he had tried to win someone over, but the other party didn’t seem to appreciate it.
Chang’an suggested once again that they should test Ning Jing.
Mai Fei still refused, “There’s no need to test him. It’s him, and no one else. But
I don’t understand if he’s so capable, how could he have been driven out of
Ning’s family? It’s very strange.”
After returning to the County government, Mai Fei temporarily put aside his inquiries about Su Liang and Ning Jing and focused on the case of Gai Yun and Gai Huai’an.
He could take down the Gai father and son by virtue of his identity, but he still had to ask for the Emperor’s permission to deal with them.
Moreover, he planned to make a big fuss about this matter, making it known to everyone and drawing out the people behind Gai Yun.
He hadn’t forgotten the purpose of his trip. Solving the case of the missing girls was an unexpected gain, which was somewhat helpful to his reputation, but solving the case of the iron mine smuggling was a task he had to complete.
Mai Fei wrote a memorial and sent a man with a fast horse to rush it back to the capital city.
On the surface, Gai Yun and Gai Huai’an were locked up in the County government prison, but that was just “bait.”
The criminals in the cell were two masters disguised as criminals, and he believed that someone would come to rescue them or silence them.
Only Mai Fei and Chang’an knew where the real Gai Yun was.
For dinner, Su Liang made two dishes that Ning Jing loved to eat to thank him for his care.
While they were eating, Su Liang’s hand paused suddenly. “Oh no! Yesterday I was caught because you went to watch the old lady with the ox! Why did we forget about her!”
Gai Yun would never have thought that the real reason he was able to abduct Su Liang, this “troublemaker,” was because of the old lady with the ox.
It was Ning Jing who encountered the old lady the day before and noticed the dark fog on her forehead, suspecting that she was going to harm someone. He went out that night to investigate, leaving Su Liang alone at home.
As it happened, Su Liang was taken away by Gai Yun during Ning Jing’s absence, which led to the subsequent events.
So much had happened in that day and night that Su Liang had completely forgotten about the old cow woman; and now it finally came back to her. It would be terrible if the old cow woman killed someone today and they failed to stop her.
Ning Jing’s face was calm. “She bought rat poison, planning to poison the well at Liu Huilan’s house while her family went to the market.”
The widow Liu Huilan probably wouldn’t go to the market. No one would be home, so it wouldn’t be hard for the old cow woman to sneak in, given their previous relationship. If she succeeded, the whole Liu family could die. The mad old cow woman could do anything.
Seeing Ning Jing’s expression, Su Liang sighed in relief. “It seems you didn’t forget. What did you do?”
“Beat her once.” Ning Jing replied.
Su Liang coughed lightly, “That’s all?”
“She should be, stupefied.” Ning Jing replied.
Originally, Ning Jing had intended to deal with the old cow woman differently.
However, Su Liang was suddenly abducted, and Ning Jing didn’t want to waste any more time. On his way out to find Su Liang, he passed by the old cow woman’s house, hit her on the head with a stick, and took away the rat poison.
“That’s good,” Su Liang nodded. “We wasted another day, so we have to practice martial arts well tomorrow.”
The next day, before dawn, Su Liang got up, went jogging, and practiced kung fu.
Ning Jing had the water heated, and they both washed and rinsed. Then Su Liang made breakfast. After they finished eating, Ning Jing cleaned the kitchen. Su Liang digested her meal while doing laundry and hung the clothes in the backyard just as the sun began to rise.
Today’s schedule was for practicing with a whip.
Before they began, someone knocked on the door.
Su Liang opened the door to find Chang’an standing outside. She asked impatiently, “What’s the matter?”
Chang’an was very polite, “Master would like Miss Su to come to the County government to record the testimony for Gai Yun and Gai Huai’an’s case.”
“Does the county government have special paper for recording testimony?” Su Liang asked an odd question.
Chang’an was puzzled for a moment, then shook his head, “No, they don’t.”
“Fine, wait a moment.” Su Liang turned around and returned without inviting Chang’an in.
Chang’an felt a bit strange and waited outside.
About a quarter of an hour later, Su Liang came out with two sheets of paper and handed them to Chang’an, “My testimony.”
Chang’an took it, the handwriting was familiar, and he blurted out, “Did Young
Master Ning write this?”
Su Liang shook her head, “I wrote it.”
Chang’an was surprised that Su Liang and Ning Jing’s handwriting looked the same. He looked over the two pages filled with neat and clear writing, and at the end, Su Liang signed her name and pressed her fingerprint.
With this, Chang’an couldn’t insist that Su Liang go to the County government. Mai Fei had instructed him not to offend her.
Chang’an tucked Su Liang’s testimony away and asked with some embarrassment, “Does Miss Su have any food at home?”
“There are steamed buns,” Su Liang replied.
Chang’an’s eyes lit up, “Then…”
Su Liang hummed, “If I remember correctly, your master did not pay the 5,000 taels for his last meal. Did you forget?”
Chang’an’s face turned awkward, “We got too busy the last few days and forgot.”
Su Liang wrapped the two remaining buns from breakfast and handed them to
Chang’an, “One bun is worth one hundred taels. We’ll settle it next time.”
Chang’an, clutching the two fist-sized buns that had already cooled, was left speechless.
Mai Fei wanted to cooperate with Su Liang and Ning Jing, but Su Liang just wanted to blackmail him, which was indeed frustrating…
Meanwhile, what Chang’an didn’t know was that as soon as Su Liang closed the door, she smiled and said to Ning Jing, ‘We’re out of steamed buns, so let’s have dumplings for lunch.”
Ning Jing was confused, “What are dumplings?”
“You’ll see when the time comes,” Su Liang teased.
When Mai Fei saw Chang’an return alone, his brow furrowed, “Where is she?”
Chang’an took out two buns from his pocket and handed them to Mai Fei, “Miss
Su gave them to me.”
Mai Fei sniffed the buns and a subtle smile appeared on his lips, “It seems that our cooperation went smoothly yesterday. It’s rare for her to voluntarily give me something to eat. In retrospect, our cooperation was really in sync.”
Chang’an weakly said, “Miss Su said, one bun is one hundred taels, together with the last 5,000 taels for the meal.”
Mai Fei’s face darkened, he gritted his teeth, “Damn it! What does she need so much money for?”
Chang’an blurted out, “To support Young Master Ning!”
Mai Fei: .
Handing the buns to a maid to reheat, Mai Fei asked about the testimony.
Chang’an quickly handed Su Liang’s testimony to him, and he was startled when he saw the handwriting, “Is her writing imitated from Ning Jing’s?” “Perhaps their handwriting was originally very similar.” Chang’an said.
Mai Fei shook his head, “They only met this year, how could their handwriting be so similar? She must have deliberately imitated Ning Jing’s writing.”
Chang’an sighed, “Miss Su really likes Young Master Ning, even wanting to learn his writing, and the fact that she learned it so well shows that she put in a lot of effort.”
“What is she doing at home? Why not come?” Mai Fei asked.
“I don’t know. Miss Su didn’t seem welcoming, so I didn’t go in. Perhaps she just wants to spend time alone with Young Master Ning and doesn’t want to be disturbed,” Chang’an shared his speculations.
Mai Fei put down the testimony, “She wrote it very clearly, and that’s enough, it doesn’t matter if she doesn’t come. I sent another memorial to my father, asking him to appoint someone to replace Gai Yun’s position and take charge of the mine. I recommended someone.”
Chang’an curiously asked, “Which veteran general is it?”
Qian Country’s two mines, one in the north and one in the south, have always been guarded by veterans. These positions are significant, but there is not much room for future achievements, so they are not suitable for young generals.
A cold smile appeared on Mai Fei’s face, “Nian Jincheng.”
Chang’an was taken aback, “His Majesty highly regards General Nian, and he has a promising future. He wouldn’t be assigned to guard the mine, would he?”
“I told my father that the situation here is complicated, and I need a talented person with both literary and martial arts prowess to assist me in cleansing Bei’an County,” Mai Fei said.
“If General Nian does come, he probably won’t stay for long, and he might even take away Master’s credit,” Chang’an said.
Mai Fei shook his head, “He is only ostensibly here to replace Gai Yun’s position. Although he was last year’s Martial Arts Champion, he has no experience in fighting battles. By blocking such a good opportunity for growth, the Crown Prince would appear shortsighted.”
Chang’an understood. Perhaps Mai Fei deliberately recommended Nian
Jincheng, hoping the Crown Prince would stop him and upset the emperor.
“If General Nian comes, he may not truly help Master and might even cause trouble,” Chang’an worried.
Mai Fei smirked, “You just don’t know Nian Jincheng well enough.”
The Nian family was aligned with the Crown Prince. After the Gu family’s incident, they planned to have Nian Ruxue serve as an imperial concubine in the Crown Prince’s residence, but the plan eventually fell through.
Both the Crown Prince and second prince were born to the empress, while Duanmu Chen’s biological mother is the emperor’s favored imperial concubine. He has been competing openly and secretly with his two elder brothers ever since. Volunteering to investigate the Iron Mine smuggling case in Bei’an County is Duanmu Chen seeking opportunities for himself.
Su Liang finished wrapping a dumpling and showed it to Ning Jing, “We eat these during holidays and celebrations.”
Ning Jing learned to wrap the dumpling like Su Liang, but put too much filling, broke it, and tried again. He quickly learned and later wrapped the dumplings faster and better looking than Su Liang.
“Can it only be made this way?” Ning Jing asked Su Liang.
Su Liang shook her head, “There are different ways to pack, but I haven’t tried them.”
Ning Jing always enjoyed trying new things. After Su Liang simply described the other methods, he attempted to wrap the dumplings in different shapes, looking serious and focused as if creating an art piece.
In the end, Su Liang could only wrap the ingot-shaped dumplings, while Ning Jing “taught himself” to wrap all the dumpling shapes Su Liang knew of…
The dumplings were put in the pot, and they floated up, plump and round.
Su Liang mixed the dipping sauce, and the dumplings were ready.
At noon, the sunshine was warm, and the two sat facing each other at the stone table in the courtyard.
Two plates of dumplings and one cold dish. Ning Jing brought a small jar of alcohol from the room.
Su Liang took a sip and found it sweet and refreshing.
“Is this the same wine that you gave Nian Jincheng on the night of the wedding?” Su Liang asked.
Ning Jing nodded, “It was brewed by Uncle Liang himself.” It was his first time tasting it, too.
The dumplings were delicious. By the end, Su Liang poured the wine, raised the cup, and looked at Ning Jing solemnly, “Ask me that question again.”
Ning Jing poured himself a drink, his voice soft, “Su Liang, are you willing to stay and work for me?”
Su Liang clinked glasses with Ning Jing, “Alright, I accept.”
After recent events, Su Liang soberly recognized her own shortcomings while admiring Ning Jing more and more.
She had thought about it carefully last night before sleep. She had nowhere to go, and had to hide her true self when interacting with others. However, she didn’t need to do so with Ning Jing.
Su Liang decided to follow Ning Jing from now on.
Although she hadn’t intended to leave before, she hadn’t agreed to stay and work for Ning Jing, so she could leave at any time.
Now that she has made a formal commitment, things were different. After putting down the wine glass, Su Liang smiled and said, “I hope you won’t cheat me.”
Ning Jing shook his head, “I can’t guarantee that.”
Su Liang coughed lightly, “Can I change my mind?”
Ning Jing shook his head again, “I trust your character. Once you’ve made a commitment, there’s no going back.”
Looking at Ning Jing, Su Liang suddenly felt as if she impulsively sold herself….
Read latest chapters at f(r)eewebnov𝒆l Only