"An illegitimate child? Does the dean know who Dongfang Yi's father is?"
Su Yan was quite surprised. Although she knew that Dongfang Yi was born to a courtesan, she did not expect him to be the illegitimate son of a wealthy family.
Loboze shook his head. "Dongfang never talks about his background, and I don't have a habit of prying into other people's privacy... Has something happened to Dongfang? Why are you asking me about him?"
Uncle Luo suddenly realized something was wrong and frowned as he looked at the two of them.
Su Yan smiled and explained, "Dean, please don't overthink it. We're just curious about Dongfang Yi..."
Loboze was skeptical of Su Yan's words, and a sense of unease crept into his heart.
At that moment, Dongfang Yi suddenly walked in from outside the door.
Su Yan was startled. Who would have thought they would meet in such a situation? She wondered how much of what Dongfang Yi had said earlier had been taken to heart.
"Why is Dongfang back? Weren't you guys going to Juxianju for a meal?"
Luo Boze was also quite surprised by Dongfang Yi's sudden appearance. He had asked Dongfang Yi to go in his place because he was getting old and didn't like those kinds of occasions. He didn't expect him to return so quickly.
"Dongfang greets the Master, Lord Su, and Lord Shen..."
Dongfang Yi bowed to each of the three people with a calm expression.
"You've come at the perfect time. Lord Su from the Overwatch Council and Lord Shen from the Imperial Guard are asking me about you..."
As soon as Loboze finished speaking, Su Yan felt so embarrassed that she wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.
Dongfang Yi didn't seem surprised by their appearance, and said with a smile, "May I ask what business Lord Su and Lord Shen have with me?"
Su Yan gave an awkward laugh, "Um... I came here because of Leng Qiuling..."
Upon hearing Leng Qiuling's name, Dongfang Yi's eyes darkened, but he quickly regained his composure.
This subtle change in expression did not escape Su Yan's notice, so she found an excuse to send Luo Boze away.
"Dean Luo, we have some questions we'd like to ask Dongfang about. Would it be possible..."
Before Su Yan could finish speaking, Luo Boze smiled and said, "Since this is a matter for you young people, I, an old man, won't bother you any longer..."
After saying that, Loboze left the study, his figure gradually disappearing outside the door.
Su Yan looked at Dongfang Yi, unsure of what to say.
On the contrary, Dongfang Yi remained calm, "Could you please return my puppet to me...?"
Su Yan was somewhat surprised by Dongfang Yi's straightforwardness and couldn't make up her mind for a moment, so she turned to look at Shen Yao beside her.
Shen Yao nodded in response, instructing Su Yan to return the doll.
After thinking for a moment, since Dongfang Yi didn't intend to deny it, Su Yan returned the wooden puppet modeled after his mother to him.
Upon receiving the puppet, Dongfang Yi was so excited he almost cried, his face beaming with the joy of having regained what he had lost.
"Dongfang Yi, so... you killed Meng Heng and Yan Shuo, right?"
Dongfang Yi was still in the joy of getting what he had lost back when he heard Su Yan's words. He suddenly looked up and stared at her calmly.
Suddenly, a triumphant smile appeared on his lips. "That's right, I killed them."
Su Yan frowned and continued to press, "What exactly is your relationship with Leng Qiuling...?"
Dongfang Yi thought for a moment, then said in an extremely cold voice, "It doesn't matter..."
Upon hearing this, Su Yan felt a surge of inexplicable anger. "It's alright. To conceal your existence, she insisted that she killed Meng Heng and Yan Shuo, sacrificing herself to protect you..."
Dongfang Yi, do you even have a heart?
"Lord Su, you've really misunderstood. I have no romantic feelings for Miss Leng whatsoever. I don't know why she did this. From the day I decided to kill Meng Heng and Yan Shuo, I knew the truth would eventually come out, so I never even considered running away..."
"You mean..." Su Yan looked puzzled.
Dongfang Yi smiled calmly, not intending to continue. "I have already obtained what I wanted. As for the truth, that's for you to investigate yourself."
After saying that, Dongfang Yi revealed a meaningful smile, and then he pulled out a black lump from somewhere and threw it at the two of them.
Shen Yao realized something was wrong and quickly pulled Su Yan behind him, shielding her in his arms.
With a 'bang,' the black lump made a crisp sound as it hit the ground, releasing a choking fumes.
"Cough cough cough..."
Su Yan was choked by the smoke, and tears and snot streamed down her face. By the time she came to her senses, Dongfang Yi was nowhere to be seen in the courtyard.
Shen Yao fanned the smoke in front of his eyes with his hand. Night had fallen, and the hope of catching up with Dongfang Yi was slim.
"Cough cough cough... What a pity, he got away..."
Su Yan shook her head solemnly, "Dongfang Yi had no intention of escaping. I think he never thought of escaping when he first met us."
"So what do we do next...?"
Su Yan sighed helplessly, "Let's do as he says and go investigate..."
In the days that followed, Su Yan investigated everything about Dongfang Yi.
She knew why he wanted to kill Meng Heng and Yan Shuo.
It turns out that Dongfang Yi is the illegitimate son of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and is Meng Heng's elder brother.
Unfortunately, Dongfang Yi's mother came from a brothel and could not enter the Meng family, so Minister Meng raised the mother and son in his private residence.
But the truth eventually came out. When Madam Meng found out, she cut off the money and food for Dongfang and his mother. When Minister Meng found out, he dared not say anything.
So Dongfang Yi roamed the streets from a young age and learned the craft of carving puppets from an old carpenter.
His mother, however, went blind from embroidery in order to enable Dongfang Yi to study.
Dongfang Yi was intelligent from a young age and always learned very quickly. Soon, he was taken in as a student by Loboze.
Madam Meng, having somehow heard about this, sent someone to break his hand before the imperial examination, intending to cut off Dongfang Yi's escape route.
But Dongfang Yi persevered and recovered his hands. Just as he was preparing for another scientific expedition, his mother fell ill from overwork and passed away.
At the same time, Meng Heng was admitted to Yingtian Academy.
For the past three years, Yan Shuo and others have been bullying Dongfang Yi, and the people of the academy, out of fear of getting into trouble because of the power of the Yan and Meng families, dared not lend a helping hand to Dongfang Yi.
Three imperial examinations, a total of nine years.
How many nine-year periods does a person have in their lifetime?
After reading the file about Dongfang Yi, Su Yan fell silent.
Now that things have come to this, there's nothing Su Yan can do but feel deep regret for Dongfang Yi.
But killing someone always comes at a price.
These days, Su Yan and Xie Yu have been searching for Dongfang Yi's whereabouts in Chang'an City.
It just so happened that the results were being released today, so Su Yan led the people from the Dali Temple to lie in ambush around the area.
Xie Yu, bored, chewed on a blade of grass and pressed on, "Su Yan, do you think Dongfang Yi will come?"
Su Yan nodded firmly, "Dongfang Yi is a filial son. His mother's wish was for him to pass the imperial examination with flying colors. I have already asked His Highness the Crown Prince about the results of today's spring examination, and Dongfang Yi came in second place..."
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