Jin Jing turned to look at Shen Cha. The two exchanged glances, and they both saw expressions of feeling worthless for Ning Changguo on each other's faces.
Although in the court, the military generals and nobles and the civil servants, scholars and scholars headed by Ning Changguo have always been incompatible, they have always wanted to strangle each other to death, and they will never let go once they bite.
But they also had to admit that Ning Changguo was a talented person. He was also conscientious in his tenure and had done several things that benefited the country and the people.
At the same time, his care for his family is also worthy of recognition. However, he was unlucky. His unrelated family members eventually became Song Jue's sharp sword to stab him, which eventually led to the destruction of Xijing Ning Mansion.
In general, Ning Changguo's life was plotted from beginning to end, and the one who plotted against him the most and used him the most was not his family, but the Qinglian Sect, and the Empress Dowager.
However, this is also difficult to avoid. After all, the Jiangnan area has always been the main area of activity of the Qinglian Sect. The followers there are more numerous and more loyal than elsewhere, and they are very capable helpers. In particular, many big clans are the main sponsors of the Qinglian Sect. They don’t know that there are people behind the Qinglian Sect, but what they know is that the Qinglian Sect can help the big clans regain their previous glory and can help They defeated the royal family and nobles and regained the power that had been stolen from them.
Thinking of this, Shen Cha frowned, and she thought that maybe from the beginning, everything in Ningchang Kingdom was under the control of the Green Lotus Sect.
From the Chaozhou Ning family choosing a suitable replacement for Ningchangguo, to Ningchangguo becoming the son of a poor family of the Zhongzhou Ning family, to Ningchangguo high school champion, I am afraid that all of this cannot be hidden from the eyes of the Qinglian Sect. As for the prince's concubine at the time She didn't know whether the Empress Dowager knew about it, but she could guess that the scientific examination case and imposter case that suddenly broke out after Ningchang High School were most likely related to the Empress Dowager.
Thinking of this, Shen Cha looked at Jin Jing and touched her nose. She had a bold guess that the targets of the two major cases that happened that year were not the scholars who were exposed, but Ning Changguo.
Jin Jing looked at Shen Cha's face, thought for a while, nodded towards Ning Cheng, whispered to Ying Five and Seventeen to keep an eye on Ning Cheng, and caught up with Shen Cha who had already walked to the door.
Jin Miaomiao looked at the backs of the two people leaving and shrugged towards Ying Wu and Ying Seventeen.
"Don't look at me, I don't know."
Jin Jing followed Shen Cha a little further, staying away from the dungeon to ensure that no one inside could hear their conversation.
"Do you have any suspicion?"
"Brother Xiaojing, don't you think it's a little strange?" Shen Cha looked in the direction of the dungeon, "Second Grandpa and Ning Cheng both said that it was because the Ning family and his wife were too high-profile that Ning Changguo escaped this A calamity, but..." She sighed softly, "Those big clans have done this kind of thing before, so why didn't anyone investigate?"
"I understand what you mean. Ning Changguo is a genius, so he is valued by the Qinglian Sect. But those people in the past were not looked down upon by the Qinglian Sect. Even the believers could not help them, right? "
"Yes!" Shen Cha nodded, "The layout of the Green Lotus Sect, or the layout of the people behind the scenes, has always been to fish for the big fish in the long term, such as the Empress Dowager, Ning Changguo, and Wan Yanping's aunt and Wanyan Aoki. They all have one characteristic in common, don’t they?”
"What are the common characteristics?" Jin Jing thought for a while, "You mean, at the beginning, these people all seemed ordinary, but in the later stage, they were all chess pieces that could be exploited, and they could all be used to They have brought huge benefits. You suspect that the scientific expedition case and identity fraud case back then were actually directed at Ningchang Kingdom, right?"
"Yeah!" Shen Cha nodded, "Besides, the Empress Dowager probably has something to do with this matter."
"Her hands have always been stretched out very long, and I am not surprised that she is related to everything." Jin Jing sneered, "However, if it is as we guessed, everything in Ningchang Kingdom is in the Qinglian Sect. Under his control, every move he makes is watched. Just because he has shown his talent, he is included in the scope of inspection, right?" Seeing Shen Cha nod, he continued, " If Ning Changguo had performed abnormally in that scientific examination and was not the number one scholar or not among the top three, the scientific examination case and the identity fraud case would not have happened."
"That's right, if Ning Changguo is not the number one pick, the second best pick, or the top pick, the Green Lotus Sect and the people behind him should give up on him, because this person has lost his useable value and is not worthy of their continued attention. But Ning Changguo He is in high school, which shows that they have a very vicious vision and have chosen the right person. However, how can this person be controlled by them and work for them willingly? "
"Then we must pinpoint his weaknesses." Jin Jing sighed softly, "It is true that when you think about it, although the Zhongzhou Ning family and his wife have climbed up to the Chaozhou Ning family, in the eyes of outsiders, they are still a poor family. Even if they loudly advertise that Ning Changguo is their son in Xijing City, it is impossible for Ning Changguo to avoid identity verification."
"That's right!" Shen Cha nodded, "The people in charge of these two cases received some special instructions before they picked up Ningchang Kingdom and put it down gently. This was regarded as selling Ningchang Kingdom and the Chaozhou Ning family. A huge favor. The issuer of these instructions should be the Green Lotus Sect represented by the Empress Dowager."
"Let him go? Not sure!" Jin Jing sneered, "This is a huge favor, or a huge handle. They know it in their hearts, don't they? Second Grandpa said that Ningchang State is a special To help the Empress Dowager do the dirty work, think about a literary master who is admired by scholars all over the world. Why is he willing to have his hands covered with blood? Why is he willing to be a lackey and a pawn for the Empress Dowager? ?”
"I just sorted out what we know. The Ning family of Chaozhou and the Empress Dowager's natal family don't have much friendship, nor are they related by marriage. The Empress Dowager must have followed the instructions of the people behind the scenes and sold them. This favor was given to the Chaozhou Ning clan, and by the way, the Chaozhou Ning clan was tied to his own ship."
"I'm afraid it's not just this. The Chaozhou Ning clan and the Ningchang Kingdom should have other, more deadly, clues that we don't know about in the hands of the Empress Dowager. Otherwise, the Qinglian Sect will be surrounded and suppressed, and the Empress Dowager will be Even though he was imprisoned in the harem, he didn't dare to break away from the control of the Empress Dowager, and he continued to work hard for her, eventually torturing himself and the Ning family in Xijing. This is unreasonable, right?" Jin Jing stretched her waist and said, Standing on a big tree, he yawned and said, "Do you think the Ning family in Chaozhou will know about the things he did for the Empress Dowager?"
"Tell me, why did Ning Changguo send his brother, whom he had never met, to Xijing City?"
After saying that, Shen Cha and Jin Jing looked at each other and laughed at the same time, like two little foxes who had stolen the chicken.
"The Ning family in Zhongzhou eventually disappeared together with the Ning family in Xijing, and all the people who could threaten the Ning family in Chaozhou disappeared from this world..." Jin Jing sighed heavily, "What a plan! You tell me, he originally When you pick people up, you won’t have already considered this, right?”
"It's hard to say." Shen Cha thought for a while, "If he is recruited by the Empress Dowager after returning to Xijing, then there must be someone who can take the blame for him at the critical moment. His younger brother who has never met him is the best. candidate."
"That's true." Jin Jing yawned again, raised her head and looked at the sky, "Hey, it seems that we can't pick the person we want today."
"It doesn't matter. If you can't pick something today, you can pick it tomorrow."
"Are you not interested in this time at all?"
"Brother Xiaojing, don't try to trick me. I won't do this." Shen Cha raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "I won't tell you whether I have a crush on you or not, and I won't tell you either. Who do you like?"
As she spoke, she waved her hand towards Jin Jing, and the two of them walked back to the dungeon side by side. After entering, they were not in a hurry to continue interrogating Ning Cheng. They each drank a cup of tea and took a short rest.
After Chen Cha drank the tea, he stared at Ning Cheng for a long time. She didn't say anything, just looked at her coldly.
Ning Cheng felt terrified at the sight. As time passed, he became more and more frightened and nervous. He almost fainted without taking a breath. He didn't quite understand why Shen Cha was like this. He didn't understand. What mistake did he make that caused this general to have such murderous intent?
"Big...ahem, big...general?"
Ning Cheng didn't think he was cowardly. If he was cowardly, he wouldn't have been able to act in front of the Duke of Zhenguo, the Marquis of Wuding, the General of Zhenguo and other frontier officials. But at that time, he didn't feel the influence of these big shots. The pressure was real, but today I felt it for real.
"General?" Jin Miaomiao tilted her head and looked at Shen Cha, frowning slightly. She also couldn't understand why she suddenly went out and came back with such murderous intent. She sighed softly and said, " What's wrong? Is there something wrong? "
"No!" Shen Cha shook his head gently, "To be precise, I haven't figured out a thing. Please help me understand why Ning Changguo suddenly wants to bring the children of the Shenning family to the capital?"
"To enlighten him, I want him to take the road of imperial examination and becoming an official." Ning Cheng sighed, "Although he has no blood relationship with Ning Changguo, he is his younger brother in name after all, and he still has to take the path of studying. "
Ning Cheng didn't understand why Shen Cha suddenly asked such a question, but it was not a big deal. When he was a child, he had asked his brother the same question. Because he didn't quite understand why Ning Changguo, a man with such amazing talent and beauty, was so interested in a rude boy from the Ning family who was rumored to be ignorant and unskilled.
"A rude and ignorant boy?" Jin Jing raised her eyebrows after listening to Ning Cheng's words, "How do you know?"
"Although I have never seen it, my brother said that this is how Ning Changguo described it in his letter to the clan leader." Ning Cheng sighed, cleared his throat and said, "Ning Changnian, the name is quite good, but he is completely My parents are exhausted, and at the age of only three or four years old, I have already hired cats and dogs, and built houses. If I don’t get into trouble this day, it seems like it was wasted." After saying that, he looked at Jin Jing, and then looked at her again. Chen Cha said with a helpless expression, "Brother once said that Ning Changguo said this about Ning Changnian, his unrelated brother, in his letter. Both inside and outside his words were dissatisfaction and concern for this brother. "
"Little boys of three or four years old like to attract cats and dogs, and go to the house to lift roof tiles." Ying Wu shrugged, expressing his confusion about this, and said, "It's not a big deal, is it? Whose kid doesn't come here like this? of?"
"That is to say, if nothing else, in our city, not to mention the little boys, the little girls are all very skinny. They go to the house every day to climb trees, dig out bird's nests, and steal bird eggs. Otherwise, there are I took apart the little hanging whip and threw it into someone else's water tank." Jin Jing said, turning to look at Ying Qiqi, baring her teeth and showing a wicked smile, and said, "Really?"
"Didn't I just blow up your water tank? How can I still hold grudges to this day?" Ying Qiqi rolled his eyes, "If you didn't mention it, I would have forgotten it. When I blew up your water tank, I was only three or four years old. Years old, right?" She turned to look at Shen Cha, and saw her boss nodded with a smile, and snorted at Jin Jing, "You secretly took away the little rabbit I raised, it should be from last year. Is it okay? At your age, aren’t you skinny? "
"I'm not talking about you, so why bother taking the right seats?" Jin Jing smiled evilly and patted Ying Qi's shoulder. The two of them exchanged a knowing look where Ning Cheng couldn't see her. "Okay, don't be angry. I'll help you find a lively and cute little rabbit later, okay?"
"You know what's going on!" Ying Qiqi snorted and turned to look at Ning Cheng, who looked curious, "What are you looking at? You weren't an honest kid when you were a kid, right? Why are you so surprised?"
"Sir, sir, it is true that students have never done these things when they were young. If they do these things, they will be punished by the elders in charge of punishment. At the least, they will be sent to the ancestral hall to think about their mistakes behind closed doors, and at worst, they will be slapped with a blackboard." Ning Cheng With an envious look on his face, he said, "When we were young, we had a schedule. We had to do what we did at what time, and we couldn't slack off at all. The elders said that children's minds are not strong and they are easily tempted by outside things, so The requirements must be strict.”
"Understood." Jin Jing nodded, "That's why Ning Changguo considers the child from the Ning family to be unlearned and unskilled? What else does a three- or four-year-old child do besides playing?"
"We were all enlightened when we were two or three years old. By the time we were three or four years old, we could probably read a thousand poems. But that kid is almost four years old and can't even recognize a big Chinese character. Of course he is uneducated and incompetent. It's just that. ..." Ning Cheng sighed, "We always thought that everyone was like me when they were young. Even martial artists practiced martial arts like us since childhood. Unexpectedly, we were the only ones who lived like this."
"It is true that we have been practicing martial arts since childhood, but we also have plenty of time to play and rest. We will definitely not be the same as you." Ying Shiqi looked disgusted, "So, Ning Changguo looks down on that boy from the Ning family. , So, you want to take people around and teach them well? But after he is transferred to Xijing City, he will have a lot of things to be busy with. Can he really take care of his younger brother? "
"Ning Changguo came to Beijing to take up a post, and after the handover was completed and the arrangements were made, he proposed to take the person over." Ning Cheng sighed softly, "No matter what, the Ning family couple is very happy. After writing the letter, I packed Ning Changnian's luggage and sent him to Xijing."
"One more question, did your brother say, or did Ning Changguo mention it in a letter to your clan leader, did Ning Changguo have the honor to visit the palace this time and pay homage to the Empress Dowager? Oh, no, it should have been at that time. The royal concubine."
"I mentioned it!" Ning Cheng nodded affirmatively, "Not long after Ning Changguo returned to Beijing, before Ning Changguo took his younger brother over, a palace banquet was held in the palace. At that time, Ning Changguo was arranged again. As a lecturer in the East Palace, he was naturally qualified to go to this palace banquet. I don’t know if it was a coincidence. At this palace banquet, Ning Changguo tied up the empress dowager, who was still the concubine at the time, and did such a favor that the empress dowager was I met him and made a special trip to thank him.”
