Su Jianxue suddenly looked up, her eyes burning with the flames of being framed: "There is only one possibility: Zhong Manqing has seen my sketches somewhere."
"It might have been in the art studio, or she might have seen it when I casually slipped it into a book..."
"Then, following my lead, she rushed to finish a new painting, submitted it to the teacher first, and then wrote an anonymous letter accusing me of plagiarism!"
Xia Zhining was shocked. Had the deceased Zhong Manqing framed Su Jianxue for plagiarism?
This is new intelligence; it wasn't in the files.
Su Jianxue's shoulders were still trembling slightly as she recounted this incident: "I was so angry that my vision went black, and I threw down my paintbrush and rushed out."
“I know she was sketching on a cliff in the back mountain. Her sketching location was very specific: the strange rocks on the cliff.”
"When I was about ten meters behind her, I couldn't help but shout to her in a tearful voice: Zhong Manqing! Why did you hurt me!"
"She was engrossed in her painting when I shouted at her, which startled her so much that she turned around abruptly."
"Because I was emotional and running too fast, I didn't pay attention to my footing and stepped into a shallow pit that was half-hidden by grass. I lost my balance instantly and fell forward."
"I fell with a lot of noise, my elbows and knees hit the slope, and a bunch of gravel and dirt rolled down in her direction."
"She was just startled by me, and then she saw the rubble rolling towards her. She panicked and stood up and backed away, trying to avoid it... completely forgetting that there was a cliff behind her."
Su Jianxue became more and more dejected as she spoke: "I watched helplessly as she lost her footing, the easel flew out of her hand, and she fell backward like a leaf... and that was it."
"I really didn't mean to... I was just too anxious at the time."
As Su Jianxue recounted the events of Zhong Manqing's death, the truth gradually came to light, filling the interrogation room with a heavy sense of "so that's how it is."
However, Ji Shuyun's keen professional instincts immediately tightened. If the facts were as Su Jianxue said, then this was just a case of manslaughter, and the sentence would usually be between three and seven years.
Just as the atmosphere became subtly tense, Ji Shuyun suddenly spoke.
"Su Jianxue, you said the teacher disqualified you because of plagiarism. Which teacher specifically accused you of plagiarism?"
"Did you eventually verify that Zhong Manqing actually rushed to submit your work overnight after seeing your sketch, framing you for plagiarism?"
"The person in charge of this matter back then was Teacher Zhou Chongshan," Su Jianxue said, her voice slightly hoarse.
She shook her head, looking exhausted and dejected: "After someone's death, how could I possibly have the mind to investigate plagiarism or framing?"
“For the past four years, every time I close my eyes, I see the image of her falling... I’m almost overwhelmed by the guilt.”
Almost as soon as she finished speaking, Zhou Chongshan's information appeared on the tablet screen in Xia Zhining's hand—professor, vice dean, and head of multiple provincial-level research projects. In the photo, he had a refined demeanor and a warm gaze.
Xia Zhining's fingertip paused slightly on the tablet, and she looked up at Su Jianxue:
"Before that, in your competition with Zhong Manqing, did she use similar tactics? I mean, what did she try to gain by using such a near-framing method?"
"No." Su Jianxue answered quickly, but this swiftness made her seem even more pained.
"That's why I was so angry at the time... We've always been rivals, but also the kind of rivals who respect each other."
"So when I was framed, my first reaction was, how could she have become like this?"
"But I remember very clearly that the prize money for the competition that year was 300,000 yuan. At that time, Zhong Manqing's grandmother was seriously ill and there was a large shortfall in medical expenses."
Su Jianxue raised her reddened eyes:
When a person is at their wit's end... is it possible that they might actually take a wrong step?
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