[Ning Jing is not at Home]
The words Su Dafu said before he died made Su Liang's heart skip a beat.
This is a world where people believe in ghosts and gods.
And there are obvious differences in character between her and the Original Master.
People in the capital who knew the Original Master would be surprised by Su Liang's transformation, but it could be explained by the major changes in her temperament after encountering misfortune. After all, she had left the capital for a year.
After arriving in the village, Su Liang had no contact with anyone outside of Su Daqiang's family.
However, Su Daqiang and his family witnessed Su Liang dying and coming back to life overnight, as if she had become a different person.
At first, they thought that Su Liang had not really died, but now they have changed their minds.
It may seem like nonsense, but many people will believe it. Even those who used to be close to Su Liang in the village might consider her a demon.
When Ning Jing looked at Su Liang again, there was a dark fog appearing in her brow.
Thinking of killing Su Daqiang's family was not the first time. Last time Ning Jing stopped her because their deaths would implicate her in a murder case.
This time, Ning Jing still did not let Su Liang take action.
"I said, are you really going to spare me?" Su Daming looked terrified.
"Yes." Su Liang nodded, "He just acted too quickly earlier. I never wanted you to die, I just wanted to see you suffer while alive."
As if recalling some terrifying event, Su Daming shook his head continuously, "No... I don't want to go back to the mine! I won't go back!"
As a result, Su Daming had no idea who had redeemed them, and the person had disguised themselves extremely well, with no distinct features.
The other four were still in the mine, waiting for their "missions" to be completed before they could be redeemed.
Ning Jing stood up, "Take him and go with me."
Shivering, Su Daming picked up Su Dafu's corpse and followed Ning Jing out of the door.
Seeing Su Liang standing up, Ning Jing turned back and said, "Stay at home and wait for Xing Yusheng to come tomorrow. Go and stay at the villa with him."
Su Liang thought Ning Jing was just going to deal with the father and son, but it seemed that he wouldn't be back for a while?
Without waiting for Su Liang to ask, Ning Jing dragged Su Daming with a rope, followed by Su Dafu's corpse, and headed for the back mountain.
Su Liang walked out of the house and saw Old Bai and Bai Peng bringing buckets of water back across the bridge.
The fire at Su Xingzhe's house had been put out, and the fire at Su Daqiang's house was gradually shrinking as it almost burned out.
"Why are you standing there, Liang girl? Is everything alright?" Old Bai asked loudly.
Su Liang replied, "It's fine; I'll go back after taking a look."
As for the real culprit behind the arson, there was no need to reveal it.
The house of Granny Niu was not affected. According to Bai Dameng, Su Daming, who indulged in eating, drinking, and gambling, was disgusted with "other people's children" like Su Xingzhe, and the two families had deep conflicts.
If Granny Niu's family knew who did it, they would blame Su Liang again.
Many villagers who were oppressed by Su Daqiang's family would inevitably blame Su Yuanzhou for continuously providing them with money. And indeed, there were consequences.
...
When she woke up, the sky was bright.
Su Liang opened the door, and the courtyard was quiet. The newly planted pines and cypresses were surrounded by a dark green glow in the sunlight.
Ning Jing's room was empty, and the book he hadn't finished reading last night was on the table. The bookmark inside was a ginkgo leaf picked by Su Liang in Mrs. Xing's courtyard at Qiuming Manor.
The golden "little fan" was surrounded by ink-colored words, and it still looked like it was floating in mid-air.
She heated up two of the steamed buns from the day before without cooking anything else.
As she was eating, Bai Dameng came to the door.
"Their house is really unlivable now! It's burnt beyond recognition, and they can only move back to Su Erhui's house to borrow a place to stay!"
Su Liang nodded, "That's fine, in-laws."
Bai Dameng smirked, "What kind of in-laws are they! Forget it! It's just a pity that your lovely house has been burned down to nothing!"
"I'll give the deed to Lei Zheng and ask him to help sell it," Su Liang said.
"That's a good idea since you two don't need it anymore. If it wasn't next to Su Xingzhe's house, my family could have bought it to build a house for our second child to live in after getting married." Bai Dameng regretted.
"Is the marriage settled?" Su Liang asked with a smile.
Bai Dameng sighed, "Not yet! The girl I like, our second child doesn't agree with. He's still hung up on that one... "
Bai Dameng's voice paused, and she laughed awkwardly, "This kind of thing can't be rushed."
Su Liang knew that Bai Dameng was against Bai He and Liu Huilan being together but didn't want to say it directly. It seemed that Bai He hadn't given up yet.
Regarding this, Su Liang only had some polite words to say.
After Bai Dame left, Su Liang went to Su Daqiang's house once more.
The furniture had all been sold off. The walls were scorched black.
Not long ago, the old pear tree that had been laden with fruit was now reduced to half a carbonized stump.
In the backyard, half of the collapsed shack's wooden board was left unburned in the corner, with a purple-black eggplant squashed underneath.
Su Liang gently sighed, and was about to turn around and leave when she spotted something and walked over.
At the location of the original master's bed, there was a hint of purple in the pitch-black brick seam, which looked like the partially scorched eggplant had been buried.
But the color was wrong.
She picked up a stick to pry apart the broken bricks and poked around, revealing a grayish-purple jade pendant in front of her eyes.
Once cleaned, its mysterious and beautiful violet color was undoubtedly genuine and valuable.
This couldn't belong to Su Daqiang's family. It must have been hidden on the original master's body, then buried under the bed when she saw the true colors of her family, and hadn't been found.
Su Liang packed the jade pendant away, planning to keep it with the remaining embroidery of the original master. If she met someone who genuinely cared about the original master, she would give it to them.
Upon looking around, she found nothing else.
She took the land deed and the original house deed to Lei Zheng Su Bai's house.
After stating her purpose, Su Bai said the land was well-located and easy to sell, being close to Su Xingzhe's house.
He sighed, "Liang Girl, I'm your clan uncle, don't blame me for being nosy, but has Young Master Ning ever mentioned taking you home with him?"
Su Liang shook her head.
Su Bai looked at her sympathetically, "In that case... Sigh! You two should live a good life together!"
Su Liang knew that if Ning Jing's parents disowned her as their daughter-in-law, she would have no connection to Ning Jing.
Su Bai asked about Xing Yusheng, and upon learning that Su Liang had medical skills, his eyes lit up!
"Liang Girl, this isn't something you can't tell others, is it?" Su Bai asked, "Our village is small and has never had a doctor. For treatment, we have to go far away! If you could treat people, that would be great!"
He then looked at Su Liang expectantly.
Su Liang thought for a moment and nodded, "Alright."
Su Bai clapped his hands in excitement, "Good, good, good! I'll tell everyone! If someone comes for treatment, charge the consultation fees!"
Su Liang knew that practicing medicine in the village wouldn't earn much money, but there would be lots of opportunities for practice. There were still gaps between what she had learned in her past life and the actual situation in this world.
After returning home, Su Liang waited, but the punctual Xing Yusheng didn't show up.
Approaching noon, Su Liang was cooking when she heard a knock on the door.
It was Qi Jun. He had rushed over on horseback, looking hasty.
"My family's old lady and the crown prince left for the capital early this morning," Qi Jun said.
Su Liang was taken aback, "What happened?"
Qi Jun sighed, "The emperor is selecting a husband for his favorite Sixth Princess and has sent someone to summon the crown prince."
Su Liang saw Qi Jun's solemn expression and knew that the princess's marriage selection was probably just an excuse.
Xing Yusheng had mentioned that his maternal family was in the capital, but he had never been there.
Su Liang guessed that the emperor wanted to "kidnap" the vassal king's son using a grandiose reason.
"I'll write another prescription for you to take with you. Acupuncture will assist in a quicker recovery, but it won't hurt without it," Su Liang said, turning and entering the room.
Qi Jun came here for two reasons: one was to inform Su Liang, and the other was for Xing Yusheng's illness.
Su Liang quickly wrote out the prescription and handed it to Qi Jun, adding, "Actually, your crown prince's recovery may have been too fast, which isn't necessarily a good thing."
Qi Jun's expression changed, and he bowed, "Thank you for the reminder, Miss Su. I will pass the message on to the old lady and the crown prince."
"Please ask them to take care," Su Liang handed Qi Jun a few steamed buns for him to eat on the road.
She also asked if Ning Jing using Xing Yusheng's jade token for the Imperial Examination would be affected, and Qi Jun assured her it wouldn't and not to worry.
After saying his thanks, Qi Jun quickly rode off.
As he left Su Family Village, he realized he hadn't seen Ning Jing this time.
And Su Liang only remembered after Qi Jun left that Ning Jing had asked her to go to Qiuming Manor with Xing Yusheng today, but the latter had suddenly left without even a chance to say goodbye.
When night fell, Su Liang had a simple dinner and sat in her room reading a miscellaneous book Ning Jing had bought her.
Unconsciously, it had gotten late. She put down the book and went to wash up.
Just as she was about to enter the kitchen, she suddenly heard the sound of a heavy object falling in the backyard!
Su Liang's eyes narrowed as she grabbed the iron awl from the table and hid it in her sleeve, blew out the lamp, hid behind the door, and held her breath...