The Thief and the Suspect

[Yan Shiba leaves, the hospital exam results are released]

Su Bai, who had good intentions but was originally worried about being suspected of being too lenient, did not expect Ning Jing to be so happy, and Su Liang even gave him a few big red pomegranates.

Watching the carriage cross the bridge, Subai sighed slightly, "Looking at it this way, they are really not a couple!"

Otherwise, Ning Jing could have said that he would wait until Su Liang married Ji before consummating the marriage, instead of bluntly saying that the two became sworn brothers and sisters.

This means we are not together and will never be together.

Su Bai went home with the pomegranate in his arms, thinking that he would clarify this matter with the villagers, but Ning Jing asked him.

As soon as the carriage arrived at the gate, Yan Shiba seemed to have been waiting inside the gate. When he heard the movement, he opened the door and enthusiastically called "Sister Liang" to come forward.

She was seriously injured, but she recovered well under Su Liang's treatment and care. I went to Mrs. Bai's house to eat for the past two days, and I wasn't hungry at all.

Before Su Liang got out of the car, Yan Shiba jumped up quickly and hugged her, "Sister Liang, you are back!"

Su Liang didn't mention the meeting with Su Bai not long ago. When the carriage stopped, the two got out of the car and Ningjing moved down the pomegranates and other things they bought.

It was getting late, but Su Liang and Ning Jing hadn't eaten yet. Yan Shiba ate and said he was not full.

Su Liang washed her hands and made three bowls of minced meat omelette noodles.

As soon as they were done, Yan Shiba walked over swaying in the new clothes Su Liang bought for her, opened her arms and turned around, asking Su Liang if they looked good.

"Ping Jing bought it." Su Liang said.

Yan Shiba sneered lightly, "He bought me clothes? He would only chop me up, and he disliked me for soiling the ground."

Su Liang nodded, "You are very self-aware about this."

"Sister Liang!" Yan Shiba leaned against the door of the kitchen, looked at Su Liang who was busy, and lowered his voice, "Following Ningjing will not bring good results. Tonight, sister will take you far away?"

Su Liang said calmly, "How about you take him away? Actually, I want to live on my own."

Yan Shiba looked disgusted, "Then I'd rather go by myself!"

"Ok, deal."

The voices of Su Liang and Ning Jing sounded at the same time inside and outside, and what they said was word for word.

Yan Shiba rolled his eyes, "You have a beautiful idea!"

On the surface, everything looks harmonious.

The three of them sat together eating hot and fragrant noodles. Yan Shiba asked questions, and Su Liang responded perfunctorily.

After finishing the meal, Yan Shiba put down his chopsticks and took out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth, but Su Liang reached out and snatched it away.

"This is embroidered by Sister Liang, right? It's so beautiful. Give it to sister." Yan Shiba hugged Su Liang's arm and shook it.

Su Liang's expression became much lighter, "I won't give it away. If you took anything else from me, hand it over."

Yan Shiba didn't expect Su Liang to suddenly turn against a piece of handkerchief, and his smile deepened, "I like that piece of cloth embroidered with plum blossoms very much. How about buying it from you for 100,000 taels?"

Su Liang shook his head without hesitation, "I won't sell it. I bought you clothes and weapons. If you use them, take them with you. Now, please leave."

Seeing that Su Liang was serious, the smile on Yan Shiba's face suddenly stopped, "What's wrong with Sister Liang?"

"It's nothing. I saved you. Once you're well, it's time to leave." Su Liang said.

"Are you blaming my sister for telling the truth about your fake marriage?" Yan Shiba said, his eyes suddenly turned to Ning Jing, and he snorted coldly, "Could it be that I was wrong? Ning Jing, don't think that I don't I know what you have in mind! You are a man, and you feel very proud to have a beautiful, sensible and capable girl like Sister Liang serving you? Have you ever thought about her future while only caring about your own future? "Chang, I can't see her being harmed by you!"

Su Liang knew that this was also meant for her, "Yan Shiba, the fake marriage is a fact. I didn't say it before, because I didn't think it mattered. You are too lenient."

She really didn't care what Su Bai and Yan Shiba said about how Su Liang would marry in the future.

The key point is that Ning Ping will get married to Su Liang on a fake basis in order to avoid the pursuit of Nian Jincheng's deceased people.

When Su Bai mentioned it, Su Liang wanted to deny it, but Ning Jing admitted it first, and she said nothing more.

Although it is unlikely, if someone in the court is still keeping an eye on Ning Jing and the fake marriage is exposed, it will still arouse suspicion.

After all, a down-and-out merchant's son doesn't need a fake marriage to cover up anything, but a rebel who hides his identity may need...

"Sister Liang, am I so annoying to you? Do you feel anything less than peace in your heart?" These words sounded sad at first, but there was only confusion and inquiry in Yan Shiba's tone.

She noticed that the relationship between Ning Jing and Su Liang was very strange. There was no love between men and women, but they seemed to have known each other for a lifetime. Obviously, they had only been married for less than a month, and even their marriage was fake.

Su Liang looked at Yan Shiba, his eyes calm and magnanimous, "I don't hate you. But we are not the same person. I choose to live with Ning Jing, and you have your own way to go."

To put it bluntly, the three of them can come together for their own purposes and have nothing to do with feelings.

Yan Shiba is destined to be eliminated. The fundamental reason is that she doesn't understand Ning Jing and Su Liang. When the two got together, they started exchanging secrets. And no third person knows that secret.

Yan Shiba suddenly came closer to Su Liang, and instantly regained his true colors as a killer. His eyes were dangerous and cold, "I have never pleased someone so much in my life. Aren't you afraid of angering me?"

Su Liang was so calm, "How can Yan Shiba know how to please others? You just think I am interesting and want to tease me."

Yan Shiba's eyes suddenly shrank when she heard this, and she sneered, "Sister Liang, I'll ask you one last time, do you want to go with me?"

Su Liang shook her head, "I'll answer you for the last time, I refuse. Remember what you said, if you ask me the same question again, you're a dog."

Ning Jing, who was drinking soup silently, choked.

Yan Shiba stretched out his hand and grabbed Su Liang's neck. Seeing that she was still fearless, he suddenly turned his head to look at Ning Jing, "In fact, you are looking forward to what I will do to her, so that you have a reason to kill me!"

Ning Jing nodded slightly, indicating that she guessed right.

Yan Shiba let go of Su Liang and sighed, "Forget it."

Su Liang thought she was going to leave, but she took a big pomegranate from the bamboo basket next to her and stuffed it into Su Liang's hand, "Peel a pomegranate for me and I'll leave."

Su Liang took out a knife and a clean bowl, cut off the top, cut along the diaphragm, tapped it gently with a knife, and soon peeled a bowl of gorgeous and crystal pomegranate seeds and handed it to Yan Shiba.

Yan Shiba carried a bag on her back, which contained clothes, medicine, and a knife that Su Liang bought for her. She held a bowl in her hand and walked out while eating. She said in a faint tone, "Sister Liang, if I can see you again in this life, I will repay you for saving my life."

Walking to the center of the yard, Yan Shiba stopped and looked back, "Little bastard, can't you keep your sister? Even if it's just for show!"

Su Liang stood in the corridor and waved to Yan Shiba, "Take care."

"I will be back!" Yan Shiba said, jumped over the wall, and disappeared into the vast night.

Su Liang returned to the room and saw Ning Jing was learning her way to peel pomegranates. She asked seriously, "Do we need to hide?"

"Yan Sui? No need. Yan Shiba will solve it, or be solved." Ning Jing shook his head.

Su Liang didn't want to say Yan Sui, but seeing that Ning Jing didn't look worried, he felt that she was thinking too much.

As for Yan Shiba, she would leave, probably because it was time to leave.

It was a life-and-death situation, and she couldn't hide here and enjoy herself. It is very important who holds the initiative.

The next day, Su Liang sent pomegranates to the Bai family. Aunt Bai pulled her aside to ask about Ning Jing.

Su Liang told the truth that they were not husband and wife.

"No wonder, I always feel that you..." Aunt Bai didn't know how to describe it, and asked Su Liang what her future plans were.

"Since Sister Su Liang is not Brother Ning's wife, then she should be the wife of my uncle!" Bai Xiaohu suddenly proposed.

Bai Peng kicked Bai Xiaohu, and Aunt Bai also scolded her grandson, telling Su Liang not to mind, the child was ignorant, how could Bai He be worthy of her?

Bai He, who had just returned from outside, was scolded by Aunt Bai, confused, and didn't know what happened.

...

Before the release of the college examination, Su Liang and Ning Jing had never left the village.

After buying a sword, Su Liang began to learn swordsmanship from Ning Jing, and at the same time increased the intensity of exercise.

In addition to practicing swordsmanship, reading books and practicing calligraphy every day, he also had to treat villagers, and even began to have patients from neighboring villages who came to see him.

In addition to teaching Su Liang swordsmanship, washing dishes and cleaning, Ning Jing also learned carpentry from Grandpa Erniu, and every time he came back, he would buy some practical small items for the family.

The reputation of the two in the village became better and better because Su Liang became a doctor, and Su Bai worked hard to clarify. Except for a few people who were jealous of them and gossiped about them behind their backs, other villagers believed and accepted that they were not husband and wife, but just siblings.

Hu Er came once in the middle and was shocked for a long time after learning about this. He brought a piece of news that the new county magistrate of Bei'an County officially took office the day after the college entrance examination. He was very young and was said to have a great background.

"What background can a mere county magistrate have?" Su Liang was curious.

Hu Er pointed in a direction, "Bei'an County has the largest iron mine in Gan State. This is not an ordinary small place. I heard some rumors that someone smuggled a large amount of iron ore to Yan State. Our new county magistrate is an imperial envoy secretly sent by the court to investigate smuggling!"

In this era, iron ore is an extremely important resource and the foundation for a country to cast weapons. Selling iron ore to the enemy country is not simple smuggling, but treason.

"Even we can know such secrets. If the county magistrate is really an imperial envoy, isn't it very dangerous?" Su Liang said.

Hu Er didn't care, "Miss Su is right. But I am just an ordinary citizen, how can I worry about the affairs of the government? I'm just waiting for the announcement of the results the day after tomorrow, and I'll have a banquet to celebrate for Mr. Ning!"

As for the fate of Su Daqiang's family, Hu Er mentioned it last time. Although Ning Jing and Su Liang didn't say it, he guessed that it was related to them.

...

August 14.

On the day of the announcement, Ning Jing and Su Liang did not go to the county town.

Su Liang got up early in the morning and found that tomorrow was Mid-Autumn Festival. He planned to make moon cakes. After describing it to Ning Jing, he sat under the tree in the yard and carved the mold.

A team of soldiers came to Sujia Village with gongs and drums, followed by many villagers who were watching the excitement. The mayor and the official were all there.

To this day, not many people know that Ning Jing participated in the imperial examination. When they saw the good news team entering Sujia Village, they all assumed that Su Xingzhe had passed the examination and that only the top three could have such a grand ceremony.

The Niu Pozi family, who were staying at Su Erhui's house, were extremely happy when they received the news, and the villagers also came to congratulate them.

Only Su Xingzhe tried to remain calm, with expectations in his heart, but also a little inexplicable uneasiness...

The paper given to Ning Jing by the chief examiner turned out to be the test questions for the academy examination. After thinking about it, he thought that it must be to let Ning Jing refer to the standard answers to ensure that he won the first place.

The imperial examination has a specified answer font, so when reviewing the papers, it is impossible to tell which candidate answered, to avoid cheating.

Su Xingzhe wanted to take a gamble, and after hesitating, he wrote down the standard answer. After all, he saw Ning Jing burn the test paper with his own eyes. When the examiner reviewed the test paper, he would treat his test paper as Ning Jing's special treatment. Once the result was determined, there was no way to change it, and no one dared to make a big fuss.

The team that announced the good news really stopped near Su Erhui's house.

Su Bai came up with a happy face, but before he spoke, he saw several yamen runners with shackles in their hands walked out of the team and shouted, "On the eve of the college entrance examination, the examiner lost the sample test paper. After investigation, it was found that the thief who stole the sample test paper and cheated was Su Xingzhe. Where is he?"

Everyone was stunned.

The heavily made-up Niu Pozi's eyes were wide open, and she screamed, "Impossible! It must be a mistake!"

Su Bai looked at the official in front of him who was clearly announcing the good news, and felt confused. How did he become someone who came to arrest people?

But then a loud shout was heard, "There are two first place winners in this year's Bei'an County Examination. One is Mr. Ning Jingning from Sujia Village. Where is his home?"