"Second place?"
Xie Yu was so surprised she couldn't close her mouth. Ever since she learned about Dongfang Yi's experience, Xie Yu felt extremely guilty about her cold words and sarcasm that day.
"It's a pity... I have already informed His Highness the Crown Prince of Dongfang Yi's situation, and His Highness is willing to preserve his ranking, but he still cannot escape punishment..."
"Yes, even if the Crown Prince is willing to protect Dongfang Yi, the Yan and Meng families will never let him go..."
Su Yan and Xie Yu could only feel sorry and sorry for Dongfang Yi regarding this result; there was nothing they could do about it.
After he finished speaking, the two fell silent.
Soon, a commotion was heard at the entrance of the examination hall.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the examiners posted the rankings of the successful candidates one by one.
The entrance to the examination hall was packed with students. Su Yan and Xie Yu kept a close eye on the crowd, ready to order Dongfang Yi's arrest as soon as he appeared.
About an hour later, the students who had been looking at the results gradually dispersed, but Dongfang Yi still did not appear at the entrance of the examination hall.
At this moment, Xie Yu couldn't help but complain, "Su Yan, could you be wrong? Maybe Dongfang Yi has escaped from Chang'an."
Su Yan refuted Xie Yu's words without hesitation, "Impossible. The city gates are guarded by Shen Yao's men. If someone were to escape Chang'an, it would be impossible to hide it from the eyes of the Imperial Guards."
"That's strange. Isn't Dongfang Yi curious about his ranking?"
Su Yan shook her head, "It's hard to say..."
Just then, Sun San rushed over, shouting as he ran.
"Brother Su Yan, Lord Xie, something terrible has happened..."
Su Yan saw Sun San running out of breath and asked, "Brother Sun, what happened?"
Sun San swallowed hard, his chest heaving. "Something's happened at the Meng residence..."
Xie Yu urged anxiously, "What exactly happened at the Meng residence? Tell me quickly!"
However, Su Yan suddenly realized that Dongfang Yi's real purpose was not to take the imperial examination at all, but to get the Meng family...
Su Yan slapped her forehead suddenly, "I'm so stupid... how could I forget about this..."
Yan Shuo and Meng Heng were not the only ones who humiliated Dongfang Yi; there were also members of the Meng family. No wonder he had no intention of leaving Chang'an; it turns out he had planned to fight to the death from the very beginning.
"The entire Meng family is dead... We don't know who killed them... Lord Shen has already gone to the scene, and only the two of you are missing."
Upon hearing this, Xie Yu was clearly shocked by the news, but he quickly guessed who the murderer was.
Looking at Su Yan, she said, "Su Yan, do you think it might be..."
Xie Yu hesitated, then Su Yan nodded. "Very likely. Let's go to the scene and check it out first..."
"good…………"
Su Yan left a small contingent of men from the Dali Temple to guard the area around the Examination Hall in case Dongfang Yi appeared.
The other group went with her to the Meng residence.
At this moment, the Meng residence was heavily guarded, and many common people stood on street corners, whispering and discussing what had happened at the Meng residence.
There are many different opinions, and everyone has their own version of what to say...
Su Yan ignored them and walked straight through the crowd into the Meng residence.
Looking at the corpses covered with white sheets in the Meng residence, Su Yan felt that Dongfang Yi had gone mad with killing.
Even innocent servants and old men could not escape his clutches.
Including Madam Meng and her maids, there were a total of four corpses.
Upon seeing Su Yan appear at the scene, Shen Yao walked over with a grave expression. "Dongfang Yi has already escaped..."
Su Yan didn't say anything, but squatted down and lifted the white cloth covering the corpses. Each of the dead had black lips and was spitting blood, signs of poisoning.
Moreover, it is a highly poisonous substance; after ingestion, one will suffer a painful death within a few hours.
"What did they eat before they died...?"
Shen Yao waved to the guards behind him, who then presented a plate to Su Yan.
Looking at the snow-white glutinous rice cake on the plate, Su Yan recognized it at a glance.
This is the most fashionable pastry in Chang'an right now. Just a few days ago, Su Bao'er was clamoring to go to Dengyun Tower to eat it.
Su Yan picked up the pastry wrapped in a silk handkerchief, sniffed it, and found no special smell. She then took out a silver needle to test for poison.
The silver needle was inserted into the pastry and quickly turned black, clearly indicating that it was highly poisonous. As for what kind of poison it was, only an expert could tell.
Su Yan examined the snow-white pastry in her hand, gently squeezing it. The pastry had an incredibly soft and glutinous texture, like the soft and smooth belly of an animal, constantly tempting one's taste buds.
"Is this Dengyunlou's glutinous rice cake?"
Shen Yao nodded. "That's right. Dongfang Yi found out Madam Meng's preferences beforehand, so he disguised himself as a servant of Dengyun Tower to deliver pastries to Madam Meng. As for the other three, they must have stolen the pastries and thus met their demise."
After listening, Su Yan felt a helpless sympathy for the other three. It was obvious that Dongfang Yi had come for Madam Meng. If these three hadn't tried to gain that small advantage, they wouldn't have lost their lives.
After thinking it over, Su Yan sighed deeply, "It's a pity about these three people. Have you informed Minister Meng about what happened at home?"
Shen Yao nodded. He had already notified them and was resting in the side hall.
"Let's go see Minister Meng..."
Shen Yao nodded, but Xie Yu did not follow the two, seemingly not intending to go find Minister Meng.
Seeing that Xie Yu hadn't followed, Su Yan turned around and looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Dean Xie, what's wrong?"
Xie Yu frowned, seemingly unable to hide her displeasure, "You guys go ahead, I won't go..."
"Why? Do you have a grudge against Minister Meng?"
Xie Yu shook his head. "The reason Dongfang Yi is like this today is ultimately because of the emotional debt caused by Minister Meng. Seeing such a heartless man would only make me feel worse, so I can't be bothered to see him..."
Unable to stop Xie Yu's decision, Su Yan didn't press him further. "Since you're unwilling to interrogate him, you can stay here and guard the scene. Lord Shen and I will be right back..."
"Don't give Minister Meng any attitude; he might be Dongfang Yi's next target..."
Seeing Xie Yu's sudden change in attitude, Su Yan couldn't help but wonder, "Dean Xie, why are you suddenly showing sympathy for Dongfang Yi today?"
"I don't sympathize with Dongfang Yi, I just feel sorry for him. It's such a waste to ruin one's life for someone like that..."
After listening to Xie Yu's words, Su Yan nodded in agreement, "Who says otherwise..."
Dongfang Yi, what a pity...
Upon entering the side room, they saw Vice Minister Meng holding Meng Heng's clapper and weeping bitterly.
Having just experienced the pain of losing his son, and now the loss of his spouse, Minister Meng was deeply affected. He looked terribly old, his eyes empty and lifeless, as if he had lost all light.
"Minister Meng, please accept my condolences and take heed of this difficult time..."
Upon hearing this, Vice Minister Meng snorted coldly, his face filled with a sorrowful yet helpless self-mockery, "Consolation? How can I console myself? My son is about to kill me, how can I console myself..."
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