"Speaking of which," Han Yi walked up to Li Quanzhang and said, "I have to talk about the plan of you, the scheming head of the Li family." ”

Li Quanzhang half-lowered his head, looked at his nose, and made up his mind to remain silent.

"Hmph," Han Hao sneered, and continued: " You originally thought that the Li family would have at least more than ten years of glory, and when Li Ningzhu and Wei Sheng got married, in a few years, you can hand over all the business at hand to the two sons who have your true inheritance, and in a few years, spend some gold and silver to make a little difference for Wei Sheng, with his talent and learning, and your means, as well as the favor of the Wei family in the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Water, it is not impossible to take over the position of the right man of the Ministry of Water from the hands of his father, enough to cover your little Li family. ”

"But there are unforeseen circumstances, Wei Zhen's early death caught all of you off guard, and your plans were all messed up. ”

"The Wei family has fallen, the Li family has no backer in an instant, do your business, if there is no backer, no matter how big the family business is, it is just a lamb to be slaughtered, and secretly many people are already eyeing your Li family's transportation business along the canal. ”

"So, although you know that your daughter Li Ningzhu has a soft spot for Wei Sheng, and maybe you yourself have high hopes for him, but you urgently need to find a new backer, and you don't have time to slowly help Wei Sheng make a comeback for them. ”

"You chose to abandon Wei Sheng, but your infatuated daughter couldn't do it, you imprisoned her in the mansion, delayed the marriage of the two indefinitely, and then sent some rumors to deliberately make Wei Sheng's heart die. In the meantime, he encouraged and promoted the meeting of his daughter and many officials of the Ministry of Water or their heirs, with Li Ningzhu's beauty, few men can not be moved when they see it, and in the past few years, there are countless official sons who have run to your Li family, and many people with ghosts have been jealous, so naturally the situation has been temporarily maintained. ”

"It's just that this kind of left and right source is not destined to last long, and you still have to make a choice after all. ”

Han Hao said with a smile: "You think that after not seeing Wei Sheng for nearly three years, Li Ningzhu's feelings for him will slowly fade, and then he will not be too resistant to other sons of the family, but you underestimated your daughter's infatuation." ”

"If you don't see each other for a day, you won't see you for three years. ”

Li Ningzhu's feelings for Wei Sheng have not diminished at all, she is claustrophobic and has nothing to do, she only cares about lovesickness every day, and her lovesickness accumulates over time, but she is more attached to Wei Sheng than three years ago. ”

"As time goes by, there are fewer and fewer wild bees and butterflies who come to Li's house to see Li Ningzhu, no matter how beautiful the beauty is, you can only look at it, you can't eat it, and after a long time, others will lose interest, and they can see that you Li Quanzhang is deliberately fishing for their appetite, and the crisis three years ago is once again in front of you. ”

"This time, you no longer have room to turn around, and you have to choose between your daughter's happiness and the entire Li family. ”

Jiang Ning smiled and interjected: "Actually, you knew early on that you had no choice at all, the Li family was gone, Li Ningzhu was a rootless duckweed, and when the time came, she would still become a plaything in the hands of men, and it would be impossible to stay with Wei Chang, let alone have any happiness at all." ”

Han Yi nodded in agreement, and continued: "So, when an official from the Ministry of Water said that he was interested in Li Ningzhu, you didn't have the mind of leaving and right, but nodded directly and agreed to him. ”

Jiang Ning said: "This person is not only more patient than those wild bees and butterflies, but also smarter than them. So he gave you an idea that looked really good. ”

As soon as the two of them sang and harmonized, Li Quanzhang's mood was already extremely bad.

Not for anything else, just because of the words of Han Yi and Jiang Ning, everything is piled up, whether it is a specific event, a cause or the thoughts of Li Ningzhu and his Li Quanzhang, they all say that they are inseparable.

Li Quanzhang looked up at Jiang Ning's angular face, looking at a pair of eyes that were as clear as stars under his sword eyebrows, and he found for the first time that this county magistrate who was not taken seriously by that person, by himself and even everyone else, was not as incompetent as rumored.

On the contrary, just standing there, he seems to be as majestic as a mountain, as deep as an abyss, and he can't see the top or touch the bottom.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Li Quanzhang abruptly.

The people on the periphery don't know why, they just think that the head of the Li family is pretending to be crazy and stupid, but Han He, Xu Yan, and Yang Qian, who were called over halfway, all empathize.

Since the night of the case, there seems to have been some invisible change in the adult's body, the living habits, the way of behaving and the way of speaking have not changed, but they just feel that Jiang Ning at this moment is no longer the original county commander.

Jiang Ning's upper body tilted slightly, his face was almost touching Li Quanzhang's face, and he laughed in a low voice: "You guess?"

"As for the idea, it's actually quite simple. Jiang Ning said: "Xiaoman." ”

Han Yi added: "Xiao Man's thoughts about Wei Sheng, Li Ningzhu can't see it, and you, the head of the family who is in charge of the entire family, don't have the heart to pay attention to an insignificant maid, but that person is different, what he likes to do most is to ponder people's hearts." ”

Jiang Ning said: "According to his request, you promised to give Xiaoman a sum of money, enough money for her and Wei Sheng to go away, provided that she acted in front of Li Ningzhu." I guessed that Xiao Man might have been a little hesitant at first, but she finally chose to nod, right, Master Li?"

Li Quanzhang nodded and said: "That's right, I want her to snatch Wei Sheng away from Ning Zhu, and find a way to make Ning Zhu die, as long as she can do it, I will give her a sum of money, so that he and Wei Sheng can fly together." ”

Jiang Ning said with a smile: "The desire to monopolize the beloved man has finally overcome the sisterhood of many years, Xiaoman nodded." In fact, there is no need for her to rob it, before this, Wei Sheng's heart has already been tied to her body, and there is no place for Li Ningzhu anymore. ”

"It's just that many women always suffer from gains and losses," Jiang Ning said: "Happiness comes too suddenly and it's not easy, Xiaoman decided to catch it to the death, grasp it thoroughly, and never let go again, so that Wei Sheng belongs to her alone!"

Han Hao said: "Wei Sheng has a pair of Yin Yang Jade Jue, Yang Jue was given to Li Ningzhu, his fiancée, early in the morning, Yin Jue should have been on his body. ”

Xu Yan took out a jade jue from his arms, which was really Wei Sheng's half.

Jiang Ning smiled: "When we found Xiao Man's body, this Yin Jue was worn around her neck and carefully hidden in the collar. At that time, I didn't know what it was, but the jade was precious, not like a personal girl like Xiaoman could have, so I ordered someone to draw a pattern and inquired about the jade shops in the city. Fortunately, although this jade jue is not produced by the jade shops in the city, the Wei family used to be a local clan after all, full of gold and jade, and it is indispensable to deal with these jade shops, and there are so many bosses who used to often go in and out of the Wei family who happen to recognize this as Wei Sheng's jade jue. ”

"It is conceivable that Xiao Man only needs to pretend to be unintentional and show Li Ningzhu the jade Jue he is wearing, what a blow to your precious daughter!"

Han Hao said: "Li Ningzhu can accept Xiao Man as a dowry maid to become Wei Sheng's concubine, but she definitely can't accept Wei Sheng to put other women on the same status as herself, let alone accept Xiao Man, who is a sister, to deceive her, or even dig her corner." ”

Jiang Ning said: "Sitting quietly in the room, recalling how she trusted Xiaoman in the past three years, told her all her thoughts, and asked her to see Wei Sheng again and again instead of herself, but in exchange for the miserable result of stealing the day and drawing salary from the bottom of the kettle, she can't swallow this breath no matter what!"

"Your daughter is your daughter after all, she is the same as you Li Quanzhang, even if she falls, she will only think about how to get up, instead of retreating and giving up. ”

"Li Ningzhu didn't give up as you wished, and threw herself into that person's arms. She wanted to snatch Wei Sheng back from Xiaoman's hands. Jiang Ning said: "As for Xiaoman, the person who betrayed her should die!"

Li Quanzhang shook his head and said, "No, Ning Zhu has been sitting at home all year long, how can he have the opportunity to meet the killer and hire him to kill Xiaoman?"

Jiang Ning shook his head, "Li Ningzhu has actually gone out many times in the past few years, but you have subconsciously ignored it. ”

Li Quanzhang thought for a moment, his face suddenly turned pale, and he faintly felt that this time, he would not be able to escape from Jiang Ning's palm.

Seeing the change in Li Quanzhang's face, Jiang Ning smiled: "It seems that you have figured it out." ”

"Actually, the man didn't tell you all of his plans, and you only knew the part he wanted you to know. ”

Jiang Ning's thinking jumped so fast that many of the onlookers began to understand it, and they communicated with the people around them with a blank face.

"In the past few years, the only chance for Li Ningzhu to leave the Li family is to go out of the house with those sons you found. The man said that he wanted to take Li Ningzhu out to play, you naturally would not object, Li Ningzhu nodded, and it made you feel that your plan had worked, and you were overjoyed, am I right?" Jiang Ning said.

"If you want to buy a murderer, kill someone, you need money first, and you need a reliable killer secondly, the Li family is rich and rich, money is not a problem, but Li Ningzhu, a rich lady who accompanies Qin and painting all day long, if there is no one to help introduce, how can she find a killer?"

"Li Ningzhu is a rich lady who stays at home, there are no familiar and reliable people in Long'an County, if she wants to find a reliable and tight-mouthed killer, the only thing she can rely on is the person who took her out of the house. ”

Jiang Ning said: "He is different from Wei Zhen, he doesn't like to make others obedient through grace, as long as he pinches you Li Quanzhang and Li Ningzhu's handle, you don't have to worry about whether you will marry your daughter to him." From the beginning, he didn't plan to slowly cultivate a relationship with your daughter, but at Li Ningzhu's request, 'generous' helped her find the killer, and ended Xiaoman's life on a dark and windy night with heavy snow. ”

"Li Ningzhu killed Xiao Man as he wished, and that person also got Li Ningzhu's handle from the killer as he wished, plus the evidence of your sale of illicit salt, you father and daughter, so far, have completely fallen into that person's net. ”

Jiang Ning said: "Next, it is his second step plan, to blame Wei Sheng with Xiao Man's death, here, the most clever thing is that he let the killer dump Xiao Man's body on the street, instead of directly placing it in the Wei family's garden." ”

Han Yi said: "First, I sold Li Ningzhu a favor, and I didn't embarrass Wei Sheng, it seems that he is very generous, and second, I left clues for us to find out about Wei Sheng's body, Li Ningzhu is not happy, and he can't complain about him." When the time comes, he only needs to send someone to come forward and come up with some evidence to help prove that Xiaoman was not killed by Wei Sheng. First, I can sell Li Ningzhu a favor again, so that he has a good impression of himself, and second, if I catch the wrong person, it will make me even more incompetent, killing two birds with one stone, and I will fall into his arms. ”

Jiang Ning smiled: "It's a pity that I didn't catch Wei Sheng, which made his wishful thinking not work." However, he still has a back-up move, and it is also a trick to draw salary from the bottom of the kettle!"

"Send a killer to kill Wei Sheng, put his body back under the plum tree where Meiyuan Xiaoman was killed, and disguise it as a suicide. ”

Without Wei Sheng, Li Ningzhu's feelings have no way to sustenance, so they can only be put down the drain, Wei Sheng's suicide first cleared his own suspicions, and committed suicide under the plum tree where Xiaoman was killed, which invisibly revealed a news, Xiaoman died, Wei Shengsheng had nothing to love, so he followed the remnants of his life. For Li Ningzhu, this is tantamount to a thunderbolt, which completely shatters the only bit of thought in her heart. It turns out that Wei Sheng's favorite from beginning to end is Xiaoman, not himself!"

Jiang Ning said, "Outside the plum garden that day, Li Ningzhu cried so sadly when she saw Wei Sheng's corpse, half of it was because of Wei Sheng's death, and half of it was because she felt that Wei Sheng had never loved herself. ”

Someone in the crowd asked curiously, "My lord, how do you know that Wei Sheng was killed by someone, not by suicide?"

Jiang Ning smiled: "It's very simple, Wei Sheng has always loved cleanliness, especially those shoes, even when he led us to the plum garden to watch on the first day, he stepped on the snow carefully all the way, and refused to go to the mud at all." But when he died, the cloth shoes on his feet were stained with mud, and his body was covered with dust and snow stains, apparently stained when he fled in a hurry. We have compared, the soil quality and color of the soil are not the soil of the plum garden or even the Wei family's yard at all, and from this alone, we can conclude that he was killed outside the courtyard and then brought back to the plum garden. ”

Jiang Ning said: "As for how he sensed that someone was going to kill him, and chose to flee in the middle of the night, we don't know now, but it is certain that the awl was definitely not pierced into his neck by himself." ”

"How?" said someone in the crowd.

Jiang Ning said with a smile: "It's very simple, if a person an awl into his neck and blood splatters, his hands and the sleeves of his arms will definitely be stained with a lot of blood, but Wei Sheng's corpse, in addition to a large piece of blood on his chest, there is only dust on the side, there is no blood on the sleeve, and his hands are only rubbed with a small amount of blood in the palms, but there is nothing on the back and side of his hands, obviously someone deliberately put the bloodstained murder weapon in his hand and posed in a suicidal posture!"

"I see!"

Jiang Ning said: "When I found out that the killer was the fortune teller in Yangliu Hutong on Bailing Street, he dug a trap for me again!"

"On the prayer tree in the courtyard, most of the ribbons are really prayers, but there are also some ribbons with only people's names written on them, that is, the list of the killers killed by the 'guests'. ”

It is not surprising that Han Hao was not able to find Xiao Man's name on the tree, the task that has been completed, naturally he has to take off the streamer, otherwise how to distinguish which one is a living person and which one is the one who has been killed by him?

"The killer is very smart, he deliberately hung a ribbon with the words 'Li Ningzhu' written on it in a conspicuous place, and then stunned Xu Yan and them, and a golden cicada came out of his shell in front of us, making me mistakenly think that his next target was your daughter Li Ningzhu, so he sent all the guards to the Li family's mansion to protect her safety, but the killer himself didn't leave from beginning to end, just hid in the dark and waited for the rabbit, and when all the guards left, he directly appeared to attack me and my wife!

Jiang Ning smiled: "It's a pity that he didn't count that there was still a person by our side, a person who couldn't even beat him!"

Han Yi said: "After that, the matter is very simple, we found this account book in the secret compartment in the room, and the two murder cases in these days are clearly recorded on it, whether your father and daughter admit it or not, the charges have been confirmed, the evidence is conclusive, and everyone is watching, even if the person comes, there is no power to return to the sky." ”

Li Quanzhang's face was like ashes, and Jiang Ning whispered in his ear: "Testify against him, I will protect your daughter from death!"

"Can I trust you?" Li Quanzhang forced Jiang Ning's eyes.

Jiang Ning didn't squint, and said solemnly: "I have the final say in Long'an County, naturally including the dungeon, only I can help you, he can't!"

Just when Li Quanzhang's heart was shaken and he was about to nod his head in agreement, in the inner courtyard, a maid was in a panic, and ran out without possessing her soul, shouting loudly: "Master, master, it's not good, Miss committed suicide!"

Li Quanzhang spit out a mouthful of old blood, rolled his eyes, and fainted directly.

When Jiang Ning and the others came to Li Ningzhu's boudoir in the inner courtyard, they only saw a corpse with a purple and black face, and broken bottles and jars.

Yang Qian said expressionlessly: "Taking poison to commit suicide, the process of dying is obviously not very comfortable!"

Xu Yan said: "Look, my lord, she seems to be holding something in her hand!"

Not long after he lost his breath, the corpse still had residual warmth, and there would be no stiffness, Jiang Ning stepped forward and easily took the thing out of Li Ningzhu's hand.

It was a doll carved from fine agarwood wood.

Jiang Ning closed his eyes and shook his head helplessly.