After Yang Shen finished asking, it was almost time to turn on the lamp.
Master Guo brought Xiao Yi over, and the four of them ate together and discussed together. Especially when talking about the dissatisfaction among the students, Mr. Guo was a little worried, "We always have to be cautious about the affairs of Jinling Mansion Academy. I specially reported the situation to Mr. Su. Mr. Su still has some things on his hands, which will not be completed until tomorrow evening at the earliest. arrive."
The cooking in the academy's kitchen was mediocre, with each person serving a large bowl of chicken noodle soup. The four of them ate together. It was obvious that Xiao Yi and Mr. Guo were not picky eaters, as they ate up the noodle soup indiscriminately. An Ying and Yun Pan were eating one after another.
Mr. Guo knocked on the table, "You two have eaten all the food even though you don't like it. We don't know how many days we will spend here."
An Ying glanced at Yun Pan and saw that he was unmoved. He gritted his teeth and ate up the half-cooked noodle soup.
Only then did Guo Xi take out a stack of paper with satisfaction and said: "The situation I'm asking about today is about Zhu Kexin. Zhu Kexin is the son of the cousin of the head of the Zhu family, a native of Wu County, who only came to the capital three years ago. It was said that he was in Wu County before. He studied in a local academy, and because of his outstanding talent, his family wanted to ask relatives to help support him, so they asked Zhu Kexin to come to the capital to study."
An Ying took the file and looked at it and said: "There are no records of Zhu Kexin's previous studies, only the files from Jinling Mansion Academy. But this file is also missing, there are only three years of comments."
An Ying didn't quite understand these masters' comments and was a little confused. Yun Pan took the initiative to explain, "The students at Jinling Mansion Academy are all very good. I have read several people's literary and poetry works in the academy, especially Zhu Zhuzhi, Yang Ruize is excellent in literary talent and economics, and Shen Pingxiu and others are also very good talents, and their comments are also fair."
"But Master Zhu's comments about Zhu Kexin are very general. In my opinion, this Zhu Kexin has excellent literary talent, criticizes current affairs, and is very to the point. However, his writing style is extremely sharp. If you want to take the Jinshi examination, you must not be in this state. This is probably what Zhu Kexin also said. The reason why Master rated him as average or inferior."
An Ying understood that if things in this kind of scene were too serious, there might be more obstacles. Then he asked: "What do the teachers of Zhu Kexin's other subjects say about him? I look at the results recorded here, and I still want to know his true state. And where does he live? The students here always go home on weekdays, right? You won’t live in the academy all year round, right?”
Xiao Yi said: "This Zhu Kexin is very strange. Logically speaking, he is a relative of the wife of the Zhu family, and she personally arranged to go to Jinling Mansion Academy. Normally, he should live in the Zhu family. Zhu Kexin's temper is a bit weird, and he doesn't live in the Zhu family for a long time. One day, he heard that an ignorant girl had gone to his yard. He was angry and reported it to Mrs. Zhu's family. Later, he refused to live in the Zhu family's house and rented a small house in Liutiao Alley in the east of the city. On weekdays, I go back to this small house after school."
"I think Dai Fuyin and the others have already checked that house. Are there any clues?"
"There was an old woman living in that house. She was hired by Zhu Kexin to do laundry, sweep, and cook. There was no one else. The house was filled with ordinary furniture and items, nothing special." Xiao Yi said, "I also I asked the surrounding neighbors if anyone came in and out of the house on weekdays. I only saw a few students in the neighborhood. I guess it was a few students that Zhu Kexin was friends with. However, it was a bit strange. Something fishy."
Xiao Yi paused here and said: "I originally wanted to see if Zhu Kexin left some calligraphy and painting notes. The strange thing is that all these pens and inks were reportedly taken away by classmates as souvenirs. Master Guo specifically asked There are several students, but Zhu Zhuzhi said that he asked the book boy to take it, and I have already sent someone to Zhu’s house to pick it up.”
Because I was in a hurry, I also called someone for questioning at night.
Xiao Yi and Master Guo continued to ask the teachers in the academy, while An Ying followed Yun Pan and asked the students present, this time it was Liang Su.
Liang Su came in with a smile, "Have you two adults eaten? Is the cooking done by our academy chef satisfactory?"
An Ying nodded awkwardly, and when Yun Pan didn't speak, he took the initiative and asked, "Tell me about the situation that day."
"When I entered the academy gate that day, I saw Brother Zhu carrying a gift box of rice dumplings. I am a delicious person, and I knew it was Mr. Fang's rice dumpling box at first glance. His rice dumplings are delicious and I like to eat them. So I entered with him all the way. In the dining hall, Shen Ping Xiugang was still there. Brother Zhu gave the box to the cook to heat up. We chatted and waited in the dining hall. After a while, Yang Shen came, and when he heard about eating rice dumplings, he also sat down and waited. And then It should be Yang Ye and Feng Mo. Did they come together or separately? I can't remember this. Anyway, Zhu Kexin came last."
"Then tell me how you share the rice dumplings?"
"I remember this clearly. Brother Zhu didn't even know what the fillings were when he brought them, so I told them, Mr. Fang's rice dumpling fillings just depend on the color of the rope. I picked yellow bean paste filling, hey, Mr. Fang The best sellers are bean paste and meat dumplings. I planned to eat the bean paste first and then the meat dumplings. Not bad, not bad." Liang Su patted her chest when she thought of Zhu Kexin who was poisoned to death.
"Then I looked at Yang Shen and took the white rice dumplings. He was born in the army and he always takes whatever he wants as long as he is full. What's so delicious about the white rice dumplings?" Liang Su curled her lips, and Yun Pan nodded in agreement after hearing this. . An Ying thought that you would be hungry later.
"Shen Pingxiu picked red dates, and Yang Ye picked candied dates. I looked at it. Generally, northerners here don't like salty rice dumplings, so they both picked sweet ones. When Zhu Kexin came in, I I also greeted him specially. I knew that he was from Jiangnan and liked salty food just like Brother Zhu. He and Brother Zhu had always been close. After I told him about the taste of zongzi, he still took the one in Brother Zhu’s hand and said It’s the same as what Brother Zhu eats. I also mentioned that there are meat dumplings on the plate on the table.”
An Ying nodded, basically everyone said the same thing.
"Then tell me more about Zhu Kexin."
"He doesn't usually have much contact with us. I like to make friends so much. I can talk to everyone for a few words, but with him, I can't talk to him for a long time."
"Oh, I heard that Zhu Kexin's style is quite similar to yours, and his grades in all subjects are good. It's rare in the academy that you are as balanced as you are in all subjects." Yun Pan asked.
"Senior Brother Yun won the prize. I am different from you who took the Jinshi exam." Liang Su scratched his head in embarrassment and said: "When Zhu Kexin first came here, he almost failed the painting class. Brother Zhu went to see Master Jin Dan. , he was given accommodation and reluctantly entered Class A. But later, when he was in Class A, Master Jin gave Zhu Kexin extra preferential treatment, and Zhu Kexin’s best achievement was painting, so I don’t know what happened.”
An Ying made a note of the painting, and it seemed that Jin Dan had to be asked.
"Have Zhu Kexin and Zhu Zhuzhi done anything strange recently?" An Ying felt that Liang Su paid more attention to these details than the others.
"They are together every day. But they must have been quarreling for a while. The reason for the quarrel is unknown." Liang Su pondered for a while and said, "I'm sure. They used to eat together in the canteen. During that time They all ate separately. Others thought it was a time divergence, but in fact they were deliberately staggered. I saw Zhu Zhuzhi going to the canteen once and saw Zhu Kexin in front of him. He looked at it for a while and then turned back silently. "
