Chapter 86: 086. Investigating the Real Culprit (First Update)
Translator: 549690339
Because of the jade pendant engraved with the character “Ning,” both Su Liang and Ning Jing believed that Ning Yao was the most suspicious.
But this was just speculation.
Ning Jing had other enemies, and in Pingbei City, there was one: Third Master Li, who wanted to snatch away Zhengzheng’s sister, Miss Li, who had married into the Xiao family and become Lady Xiao.
As for Su Liang’s intention to go to Xunyang City to kill Ning Yao first, Ning Jing said they would discuss it later.
Whether it was Ning Yao or Lady Xiao who was involved, their target was Ning Jing.
But when Su Liang calmed down, she realized something was off, “Ning Yao and Li are both not good people. With their previous tactics, once they take action, they wouldn’t have left you any room to survive. In this case, if someone dies in the academy, you will be thoroughly implicated.”
Even if it was proven later that it was not Ning Jing’s doing but his enemy’s, he would still be held responsible by the victims, and the world would think that he had brought disaster to the academy.
Ning Jing pondered, “Are you suggesting that the poison in the well tonight was not poisonous enough?”
Su Liang nodded, “Indeed, it was not enough. If someone really intended to poison people to frame you, there are ‘better’ choices that would not have given me a chance to save anyone. Even if I weren’t there, I believe the doctors in Pingbei City would have ways to detoxify the poison, though it may result in some critically ill patients losing their lives due to untimely medical attention.”
Ning Jing had been thinking about himself because of the jade pendant, and after all, he didn’t understand medical poison.
After hearing Su Liang’s words, he also felt that there was something else going on.
Su Liang suddenly thought of something, “Is there anyone from the Xiao family in the academy?
They had previously believed that someone had infiltrated the academy to poison the well, but the poison was not fatal enough.
Just in case it was someone inside the academy who had done it, in order not to be suspected, they also got poisoned. As long as they were young and healthy and had a small dinner, they could ensure they would become perfect victims without any danger to their lives…
Even if Su Liang had not intervened, among the group with the lightest poisoning, there were more than a dozen people who would not have died even if they were not specifically detoxified.
Among them, could there be a poisoner?
As Ning Jing was about to go find Lin Shuzhi to ask, Lin Xueqing arrived.
She had been helping to take care of those who were poisoned. Her clothes were dirty, her hair messy, and she looked exhausted.
“Sister Su, my father asked me to tell you that everything is okay!” Lin Xueqing looked at Su Liang with gratitude, her eyes red with emotion, “I was so scared, what would have happened if someone had actually died! Sister Su, you are amazing! ”
Su Liang did not care about that, and directly asked Lin Xueqing, “Is there a young master from the Xiao family in the academy?”
Lin Xueqing was taken aback, “The Xiao family? The one dealing in ceramics in Pingbei City? There is a young master Xiao, the younger brother of the head of the Xiao family, named Xiao Shirong. He failed the scholar examination and is just a waster, forced in. The Government Office pressured the academy a few times, and since the Xiao family helped fund the new academy dormitories, my father had to agree to accept Xiao Shirong. In fact, my father is not in control of many things in the academy now. The Xiao family once tried to arrange a
marriage between Xiao Shirong and me, but my father rejected them without even asking for my opinion. If they had asked me, I would have scolded them!”
After saying all this in one breath, Lin Xueqing finally thought of asking Su Liang, “What’s wrong with the Xiao family? Why are you asking about them, sister Su?”
“Is Xiao Shirong poisoned?” Su Liang asked again.
Lin Xueqing thought for a moment and nodded, “He wasn’t here tonight. He usually can’t stand living in the academy dormitory. The Xiao family even suggested building a separate courtyard for him to live in, but my father firmly refused. He should be returning tomorrow.”
This didn’t match Su Liang’s speculation, but her suspicion of the Xiao family deepened.
She asked Lin Xueqing to bring paper and pen and wrote an “investigation questionnaire,” “Give this to your master. Everyone in the academy is a suspect since the well was poisoned, including those who were poisoned. Everyone must be investigated.”
Lin Xueqing looked at it and saw that there were many questions written on it, including where everyone was and what they were doing during the five days of vacation, whether anyone could testify for them, and a detailed account of their daily situations, covering 24 hours without omissions.
“Post it and let them write according to it. Once done, they should hand it in, ” Su Liang said: “The Government Office will also investigate this serious matter later.” However, the Xiao family obviously had a good relationship with the Government Office, so they must act first and get the evidence.
Su Liang believed that if it was the work of the Xiao family, there was also a possibility that the young master Xiao did not do it himself but had someone else do it for him.
Just as Lin Xueqing was about to leave, Su Liang asked another question, “Who does Xiu Shirong usually get along with at the academy? He’s rich and powerful, so he must have some followers.”
“Yes, there are a few people who always follow him around. But I really hate that guy, so I never paid attention to who was close to him,” Lin Xueqing replied, “Oh, right, there’s one I know! It’s Ma Yaozu who tied with Elder Brother Ning in the Court Examination during the Bei’an County Provincial
Exam! He’s also very annoying. He has spread many rumors about Elder Brother Ning in the academy, that’s why I noticed him. He’s very much ingratiated with the Xiao family and doesn’t get along too well with the other two scholars from Bei’an County.”
That’s how Lin Xueqing got to know those two scholars who were always together and also learned about the top scorer, Ma Yaozu.
With a thoughtful look, Su Liang asked, “Ma Yaozu? Was he poisoned too?”
Lin Xueqing nodded, “Yes, but it’s not too serious. He said he had lunch in town and wasn’t hungry at night, so he didn’t eat much.”
She didn’t go around asking those people how much they ate but just happened to pass by when she heard Ma Yaozu telling someone else.
“I understand. You go find the master first.” Su Liang became suspicious of Ma Yaozu but couldn’t jump to conclusions at the moment. First, she would investigate everyone else and see who had issues. Once the questionnaires were collected, the answer might reveal itself.
After all the commotion, the sky was already getting bright.
Ning Jing fetched water, and after Su Liang washed up, she lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
Ning Jing left the room, looking at the hazy dawn light, his face cold and expressionless, like a statue devoid of warmth.
When Lin Shuzhi saw the questionnaire that Lin Xueqing brought, he asked her to find a large piece of paper and rewrite it to prevent anyone from recognizing that it was written by Su Liang and Ning Jing.
After Lin Xueqing copied it, Lin Shuzhi had someone paste the paper on the wall, informing everyone to answer the questions according to what was on the paper once their condition improved. Each person’s statement was to be submitted before noon today.
In the meantime, no one was allowed to enter or leave the academy.
The doctors that Lin Shuzhi asked to leave but didn’t were also kept behind. When they argued with Lin Shuzhi, he said it was done to prevent unnecessary panic caused by the spread of information and asked them to understand and cooperate.
The poisoning incident seemed to have subsided, but that was only on the surface.
Su Liang slept heavily through the incident, waking up just as noon approached.
Government soldiers brought plain porridge and steamed buns from the foot of the mountain and distributed them to the people in the academy.
Two bowls of cold porridge and two big steamed buns were on the table in Su Liang’s room. They were brought by Lin Xueqing for her and Ning Jing, but she didn’t see Ning Jing and didn’t wake Su Liang up as she was sleeping.
Su Liang got up, stretched her arms, took a deep breath, walked over to the bun and took a bite. She was really hungry.
When Su Liang finished a bowl of cold porridge and half a bun, Lin Xueqing came in.
“Sister Su, you’re awake? Let me heat up the porridge for you,” Lin Xueqing said.
Su Liang shook her head, “I already had some. Don’t bother reheating it.”
Lin Xueqing had not slept a wink since the night before, and after Su Liang asked about the current situation, she told Lin Xueqing to take a nap. “No, I want to be with father.” Lin Xueqing yawned as she spoke.
Su Liang hugged her and led her into the room, “I’ll go.”
“Sister Su, you’re really too good. You’re much more useful than me,” Lin Xueqing hugged Su Liang and sighed, “When things are figured out, please help me persuade father to let go of the academy and head to the capital. The academy is not the pure school he wanted it to be anymore. If this continues, I don’t know what else might happen next.”
Su Liang nodded, “I have the same intention.”
“That’s great. If you talk to him, he’ll definitely listen.” Lin Xueqing breathed a sigh of relief and went to sleep peacefully.
Su Liang didn’t know where Ning Jing was. When she found Lin Shuzhi, he was seriously reviewing the submitted questionnaires.
Seeing Su Liang, Lin Shuzhi asked her if she was hungry.
Su Liang said she had already eaten, and she sat down and joined Lin Shuzhi in reviewing the papers.
“The government office sent people to ask me questions, mentioning the disturbance caused by the Ning Family from Xunyang in the academy some days ago. They said it might be the work of Ning Yao, who tried to harm Ning Jing, and that innocent people got caught up in it.” Lin Shuzhi looked serious,
“There’s no proof, they’re just trying to throw dirt on Ning Jing!”
Su Liang sighed softly, “Master, what if it really was Ning Yao?”
Lin Shuzhi frowned, “There’s a definite debtor and creditor for grievances. Even if it was Ning Yao who did it, Ning Jing is a victim, not a wrongdoer.”
“That’s true, but if someone died, it wouldn’t be enough to just say that Ning Jing is innocent.” Su Liang shook her head, “You may protect your students, but outsiders wouldn’t care so much about that.”
Lin Shuzhi’s expression darkened, “Do you really think it was Ning Yao?”
Su Liang shook her head, “I thought so initially. But now I think it was done by someone else who wanted to frame Ning Yao.”
Even Ning Jing and Su Liang had instinctively suspected Ning Yao, let alone others?
Moreover, after the ruckus caused by the Ning Family days ago, everyone in Pingbei City, especially those at Qianshan Academy, knew about the animosity between Ning Yao and Ning Jing.
It might not be impossible for someone to exploit this fact and pull off a clever move.
After all, Su Liang thought that if Ning Yao were to make a move, he would prefer to poison Ning Jing directly instead of going to such great lengths to involve himself in a major case.
‘Who would do such a ruthless and vicious thing?” Lin Shuzhi didn’t understand.
Su Liang told the truth. Ning Jing had found a jade pendant with the character “Ning” engraved on it near the well last night.
Lin Shuzhi’s face changed drastically, “Tell him not to show it, or many people will assume he did it without caring what the truth is.”
Lin Shuzhi was not trying to hide the truth. Knowing it wasn’t Ning Jing who did it, he did this to protect Ning Jing and to better investigate the truth, not letting the real mastermind behind the scenes succeed.
Su Liang nodded, “Don’t worry, Master, he knows.” She then mentioned the child named Zhengzheng, whom Lin Shuzhi had known about before.
After listening to the child’s background and story, Lin Shuzhi finally realized that Su Liang was genuinely suspicious of the Li and Xiao families, who had a grudge against them because of Zhengzheng.
The Xiao family is actually subordinate to the Li family, and the main decision-maker is the Fourth Miss who married into the Li family.
However, the young master Xiao wasn’t in the academy yesterday.
Su Liang flipped to Ma Yaozu’s questionnaire and took it out separately for review.
The issues in the previous days weren’t significant, as he stayed in the academy most of the time without going out.
Yesterday was the day of the results, and Ma Yaozu wrote that after learning that he failed, he was depressed and went to drink. He stayed at the largest Huixiang Restaurant in Pingbei City for four hours before returning to the academy.
But Su Liang knew that Ma Yaozu was from a poor family. Studying at Qianshan Academy was free, but they had to pay for meals outside
Two hours at the restaurant was quite a long time. If he didn’t spend much money, the restaurant would probably kick him out.
Su Liang and Lin Shuzhi read through all the questionnaires and picked out a few suspicious ones. Aside from Ma Yaozu, who was Su Liang’s first suspect, several others had written vague answers.
Lin Shuzhi called the students in and questioned them one by one, with Ma Yaozu somewhere in the middle.
During the questioning, one student admitted he had visited a brothel the day before yesterday and didn’t dare to let others know.
Two others admitted to visiting a Gambling House together.
When it came to Ma Yaozu, he appeared very calm.
“You spent two hours in the restaurant, yet you claim there were no witnesses?” Lin Shuzhi asked sternly.
Ma Yaozu replied, “I thought that the waiters wouldn’t remember when they served whom since there were so many customers coming and going in the restaurant daily, so I wrote that there were no witnesses.”
“Ordinary people wouldn’t stay in a restaurant for that long. It happened only yesterday, so the waiter would surely remember you.” Lin Shuzhi said, “I’ll ask the government soldiers to bring someone from the restaurant.”
Ma Yaozu’s eyes showed clear panic, “Dean, do any of my classmates have witnesses for everything they’ve done?”
Lin Shuzhi spoke coldly, “Not all of them do, but those without them all need to be thoroughly investigated. Attempting to harm nearly a hundred people with titles is a grave crime, and we can’t afford to miss any clues.”
“Dean, why do you think someone from the academy did it? Perhaps someone sneaked in and poisoned the well.” Ma Yaozu said.
“It’s possible. But first, we have to clear the people in the academy, don’t you think?” Lin Shuzhi retorted.
“Yes.” Ma Yaozu conceded, “Actually, I have an idea. I’m not sure if I should say it.”
“Go ahead.” Lin Shuzhi nodded.
“I come from Bei’an County, and during the Court Examination, someone from the Ning Family of Xunyang tried to frame Ning Jing. Before the Provincial Exam, the Ning Family came to force him to give up the Imperial Examination and return home, but failed. Yesterday, when the results were announced and it was revealed that Ning Jing had become the top performer, the person who wanted to harm him in the Ning Family would certainly be restless. If they thought Ning Jing was staying in the academy and poisoned the well, it’s highly possible.” Ma Yaozu spoke righteously, “Last night, Ning Jing went to check on the well. If he found any evidence, he might deliberately hide it to clear himself. He is the one who should be investigated!”
Lin Shuzhi’s eyes narrowed slightly, “You’re quite keen.”
Ma Yaozu hurriedly added, “I’m just stating my guess, which might be wrong. I hope the Dean will report to the government office and investigate thoroughly so that the truth can be revealed.”
“Very well.” Lin Shuzhi nodded, “You wait outside for the people from the restaurant.”
Ma Yaozu’s face stiffened, not expecting Lin Shuzhi to continue investigating him. He wanted to say something but ultimately remained silent, hanging his head and leaving the room.
The government soldiers brought the restaurant manager and waiter to the academy.
They both said they saw Ma Yaozu go to the restaurant yesterday and that the timing was correct.
“Master Ma went there with Master Xiao and ordered the most expensive private room and the best food and drinks,” one of the waiters said.
Ma Yaozu was prepared, “Dean, Master Xiao found out that I failed, so he invited me for a drink to comfort me. But since Master Xiao didn’t return to the academy, I didn’t think it had anything to do with him, so I didn’t write the details. ”
Su Liang walked out from behind the bookshelf, her expression indifferent, “In that case, Dean Lin might as well call Master Xiao over for questioning. Master Ma, you can tell us now what you and Master Xiao talked about during your two-hour meal at the restaurant yesterday. Both of you are about to take the Imperial Examination, so your memory must be excellent. It only happened yesterday, you can’t have forgotten, right? Then we’ll ask Master Xiao separately. As long as the stories match, Master Ma will be cleared of any involvement.”
Ma Yaozu’s face turned pale, “What right do you have to order me?”
“Because she saved the entire academy last night.” Lin Shuzhi looked at the government soldiers coldly, “1 beseech you to bring Xiao Shirong here immediately.” He also found someone else from the government office to oversee the investigation, asking him to record Ma Yaozu’s testimony on the side.
“I… I had a few drinks with Master Xiao last night, and I don’t remember what we talked about,” Ma Yaozu said, hanging his head.
However, the waiter reported that both Ma Yaozu and Xiao Shirong had not been drunk and were sober when they left the restaurant yesterday.
Su Liang looked coldly at Ma Yaozu, “You’d better think it through, or else you’ll be used as a pawn, and you won’t even know how you die!”
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