The Lin family?
Su Mingyu shot a sidelong glance at Gu Ruobai. After seeing the look of thought on his face, she more or less knew what was going on.
Someone had found a scapegoat for Su Zhengyi.
It seemed that her younger sister did matter to the King of Yu to some extent.
Su Yueyue got on the carriage with the King of Yu cheerfully. Wang Manwen and Su Zhengyi also followed suit.
Just as the carriage was about to leave, Su Zhengyi suddenly looked at Su Mingyu. "Mingyu, aren't you getting on the carriage?"
Su Mingyu was taken aback. This Su Zhengyi actually called her on his own initiative?
She pursed her lips and shook her head. "It's rare for the King of Yu to come and pick me up. I'll go back with him."
Su Zhengyi clearly saw Su Mingyu's expression and actions. A hint of pity flashed in his eyes.
This girl had always been stubborn. He had never noticed before that she just didn't know how to communicate with him.
Now seeing how shaken she was just because he had asked her to get on the carriage, Su Zhengyi's voice softened a little. "That's fine. The King of Yu has helped us a great deal in the prison. Thank him well on my behalf."
Su Mingyu responded with a grunt. "Then take your time, Your Highness and Father."
Watching the carriage gradually disappear, Su Mingyu's eyes grew colder. "Why would the Lin family be willing to take the blame for Su Zhengyi?"
Leaking exam questions was no minor crime. Lin Jun was already a pariah in the capital for defiling a young girl. Once the Lin family fell, Lin Jun would probably never be able to stay in the capital again.
Gu Ruobai lowered his eyes. "Lin Jun was arrested on the charge of molesting a civilian girl. But on the night the imperial edict for raiding his family came out, he was inexplicably released."
Su Mingyu clicked her tongue and sighed. "The King of Yu is really something. He knows how to hit the nail on the head."
"The Lin family only has one son. Now that their only heir is in prison, and the old master of the Lin family is too old to have another child, they'll do anything to protect Lin Jun, won't they?"
"You see things quite clearly," Gu Ruobai raised his eyebrows. "Let's go. There's good food and wine waiting for you in the mansion."
Su Mingyu hadn't felt hungry before, but after his reminder, she realized her stomach was empty.
However, after Su Mingyu took a bath, changed her clothes, and sat down opposite Gu Ruobai, she suddenly felt something was wrong.
She had been lured to the Mansion of Marquis Ruixian by a meal?
Was she really such an unvigilant person before?
Seeing her strange expression, Gu Ruobai asked suspiciously, "What's wrong? Did you get hurt in prison?"
Su Mingyu quickly waved her hand. "How could I get hurt... Zhang Qiao treated me to good food and wine every day."
"I seem to hear someone calling me?"
As soon as the voice fell, Zhang Qiao walked in from the back door.
When Su Mingyu saw him, her eyes widened. "Your Highness... You just let him in?"
If people found out about the relationship between Gu Ruobai and Zhang Qiao, they would both be demoted.
Gu Ruobai didn't even look at Zhang Qiao behind him. He just picked up the boneless fish in his bowl and put it into Su Mingyu's bowl. "If he can't even shake off his tail, he really won't have the face to see me."
Zhang Qiao's face darkened at his words. "What do you mean by that? It's not like I have no face to see you. We've been friends for so many years. Is this how you treat me when I come to your mansion?"
Although he said so, Zhang Qiao unceremoniously sat down between Su Mingyu and Gu Ruobai.
While eating the fish, Su Mingyu watched Zhang Qiao gobbling his food and her eyelids twitched. "How long have you been hungry?"
Zhang Qiao stuffed a mouthful of rice and said leisurely, "You don't know. I've been running around for your Su family's case for the past two days. My legs are about to break."
Then Zhang Qiao leaned in front of Su Mingyu and asked curiously, "I didn't know your Lin family was so rich. Look at you, dressing so shabbily."
Su Mingyu twitched the corner of her mouth. Why did this man have to speak so unpleasantly? "What do you mean by dressing shabbily? I'm just an unfavored young lady. It's good enough that I have clothes to wear. You still dare to despise me for dressing shabbily."
Gu Ruobai gave him a cold look. "What did you find out in the Lin family?"
"Just the usual evidence," Zhang Qiao took a sip of tea and continued. "There's evidence of him hiring a killer and taking bribes."
At this point, Zhang Qiao snorted. "Don't you think it's strange? There's all kinds of evidence, but no matter how I ask him, he insists that he just wanted to make money, so he wanted to leak the exam questions for silver."
Su Mingyu pursed her lips. She felt more and more confused. "Money is the motive. There's nothing wrong with that, right?"
"But he never said how he got the information of those candidates who wanted to buy the exam questions."
After all, leaking exam questions was a very important matter. The people of the Lin family wouldn't be so stupid as to sell them to just anyone.
These people must have been carefully selected, otherwise they wouldn't have been jointly reported after the exam.
Seeing that Su Mingyu understood his meaning so quickly, Zhang Qiao gave Gu Ruobai an appreciative look. "You're still the same as before. You have a sharp eye for people."
Gu Ruobai gave him a look. "If you can't speak, just shut up."
Zhang Qiao grinned. "What's wrong? You don't like it when I praise your wife?"
Gu Ruobai gave him a cold look, and Zhang Qiao became obedient. "I won't praise her then."
He secretly poured himself a glass of wine, but just smelled it. "This wine smells so good. Is it osmanthus wine?"
Gu Ruobai ignored him.
Su Mingyu propped her chin with her hand and frowned as she looked at the two of them. "So we arrested Su Zhengyi for nothing this time?"
Zhang Qiao slapped the table in frustration. "I just praised you for being smart. Why are you being stupid again?"
"We never intended to arrest Su Zhengyi. We just wanted to find out who was behind him. Now that someone has stepped in to save him, we just need to follow the clues and catch the person who is pulling the strings."
They weren't afraid of the enemy's many tricks. They were just afraid that the enemy wouldn't make a move. Once the enemy made a move, they would definitely leave evidence.
And that was all they wanted. They never intended to imprison Su Zhengyi and the others just based on one person's confession.
Although Su Mingyu understood, she still felt a little regretful. "So what should we do now?"
Gu Ruobai picked up some food for her and only said one word. "Wait."
Seeing that neither Zhang Qiao nor Gu Ruobai was in a hurry, Su Mingyu finally sighed. "Fine. I'll wait then."
After the three of them finished their meal, Su Mingyu disguised herself as Si Nan and went to the Si Nan Pavilion.
Seeing Su Mingyu come out safely, Xia Mian let out a long sigh of relief. "You're finally okay. I was so scared when I heard that your Su family had been arrested."