Chapter 526: Pulling Her Down From Her Pedestal
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
At this moment, Zhou Xiangrong, who was standing in the crowd, looked at Su Ying being criticized by everyone, and a satisfied smile crept across her face. Wasn’t the Empress revered? Then she would pull her down from her sacred pedestal today!
“Your Imperial Highness, would a female student just over ten years old destroy her innocence to slander you? This matter is of great importance. Your imperial Highness should go back first. It won’t be too late to discuss further after we officials have investigated the situation.
Su Ying’s lips curled up icily. If she went back to the palace today, she wouldn’t be able to wash herself clean of this allegation.
She, Su Ying, didn’t care about her reputation, but that didn’t mean she could forgive those who plotted against her!
“Lord Zhang, you must be joking. This matter is not up to you guys to investigate. I will not let anyone who dares to slander me leave. All the parents who came today are to leave the academy now. The rest of you wait for me on
the school field.”
Those ministers looked indignant and were unwilling to move. Su Ying’s face clouded over. “For those who are unwilling to go, just knock them unconscious and carry them there. I naturally have a way to wake them up.”
“Yes, Your Imperial Highness.”
The ministers’ faces turned pale. The Empress was simply too arrogant!
Nonetheless, they wanted to see how she would prove her innocence.
If there was no evidence to prove her innocence, they would never let her off so easily!
Everyone followed the instructions and arrived at the school field. They were all curious to know what Su Ying was going to do.
The night before, Xiao Jin had ordered the patrolling guards to set up blockades at all the entrances and exits. No one could leave easily. Even a fly that tried to fly out would be swatted to death.
Thus, Su Ying was certain that no one from the academy had left last night.
After arriving at the school field, Su Ying began to count the number of students and staff. Other than the dead Teacher Fang and the students who had been sent out of the academy previously, no one was allowed to go missing.
The guards took the name list and did a headcount. Su Ying stood on the stage in the middle of the school field. Her gaze swept methodically across the faces of all these people.
She didn’t believe that Teacher Fang was the only problematic one in the academy. Judging from the methods of the mastermind behind her, he must be a very cautious person. Xiao Jin said that a cautious person would consider things in all aspects whenever he carried out something. Even among Xiao Jin’s spies, some were openly known while others were hidden. This was the only way to be foolproof.
This was for the best. Su Ying was going to flush out that damn mole today!
“Your imperial Highness, the number of people has been counted. Everyone who should be present is present.”
Su Ying nodded slightly and instructed someone to bring the things up.
“I have a pill that can make people tell the truth. If you don’t have any ulterior motives, just take the pill obediently. Don’t worry. The pill won’t hurt your body The pill’s effect will disappear in an hour. I suspect that there are people engaging in evil deeds in the academy, and I intend to flush them out today at all costs.”
As soon as Su Ying said this, everyone present began to discuss heatedly.
The court ministers looked at the pill and said with some defiance, “Your Imperial Highness, are you sure this pill won’t harm our bodies?”
Su Ying’s eyes twitched. “It won’t.”
“If… what if…”
“There are no ifs. Distribute the pills in sequence to groups of ten.” Su Ying’s tone allowed no room for negotiation.
Zhou Xiangrong watched as the Imperial Guards walked over with pills in their hands and her slender eyebrows furrowed tightly. She didn’t believe that there was any drug in this world that could make one speak the truth after taking it. With the court ministers present, Su Ying couldn’t possibly poison them to death. However, she couldn’t figure out what trick Su Ying was playing at this moment.
Zhou Xiangrong furtively stepped back.
The first batch of pills were delivered to the teachers.
Some of the teachers had interacted with Su Ying before and felt that she wasn’t the kind of person that others alleged. After hesitating for only a moment, they swallowed the pill.
Su Ying instructed someone to lay out brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. “Answer the questions on the paper truthfully. After you finish writing, go back to your own school dormitory and wait.
A guard came in with a stack of papers. On it were the questions that Su Ying had asked someone to prepare the night before.
Those teachers picked up their brushes and wrote down their answers diligently.
Su Ying slowly walked down from the stage. Like an examiner patrolling the examination hall, she slowly walked amongst them.
Some of them were not so mentally strong. Their hands that were holding the brushes started to tremble unconsciously.
After the teachers finished writing, the guard waited until the handwriting was dry before collecting the scripts one by one and then led those people out.
When the rest of the people saw that there was nothing wrong with the teachers after they took the pills, their hearts calmed down a little.
The pills were then distributed to another group of people.
With the earlier precedent that put their minds at ease, everyone obediently swallowed the pills.
More than an hour later, the pill was distributed to Zhou Xiangrong.
Zhou Xiangrong looked at the pill in front of her and put it into her mouth without hesitation. However, she didn’t swallow it. Instead, she held the pill under her tongue and wanted to look for an opportunity to spit it out later. However, just as she moved, Su Ying came to her side. Zhou Xiangrong could only lower her head and pick up her brush to answer the questions. Su Ying’s eyes swept across these people’s faces like a hunting leopard. She wasn’t looking at their answers but rather, at their faces.
Su Ying only allowed them to leave after they had finished writing their answers.
After everyone had answered the questions and were brought back to the school dormitories, Zhou Qing handed the completed answers to Su Ying.
“Your Imperial Highness, you are able to tell something unusual from these answered questions?”
Su Ying had only asked these people to tell her what they had been doing three days ago and whether they had encountered any unusual situations. She had already looked through the answers earlier while making her rounds and hadn’t found anything unusual.
Some of the students wrote in their answers that the girls like Moon who were hurt did not return to the academy in good condition after their encounter, but this was not a useful clue.
Su Ying slowly shook her head. “There’s no need to look at the answers. Just leave them there.”
“You don’t want to read them?”
Zhou Qing was baffled. Why did Her Imperial Highness tell them to answer the questions when she did not intend to read the answers?
What Su Ying wanted to do wasn’t to read the answers written down by these people. She was actually waiting for the pills to completely dissolve in their mouths.
She also wanted to see who would try to spit out the pill.
However, the other party hid it very well and did not reveal any flaws. Nonetheless, it didn’t matter. Su Ying had her ways.
Meanwhile, Zhou Xiangrong vomited into the wooden bucket after she was brought back to the school dormitory. She wanted to completely spit out the pill that had dissolved in her mouth, but the pill had already dissolved inside her mouth. No matter how she spat, her mouth was still filled with the taste of medicine.
Zhou Xiangrong’s expression was very unsightly. She didn’t know what Su Ying had fed all of them!
She turned around to pour herself a cup of water, only to find that her vision was gradually blurring.
Shocked, she quickly took out a silver needle and stabbed it into the spot between her thumb and index finger.
The pain in her hand afforded her a brief interval of clear-headed alertness. Zhou Xiangrong took out an antidote pill and swallowed it, hoping that it could counter the effect.
After taking the antidote pill, Zhou Xiangrong felt that her mind was slightly clearer.
However, as a precaution, she still held the silver needle tightly in her hand to keep herself alert.
At this moment, footsteps could be heard outside the door.
A moment later, the door was pushed open and Su Ying walked in without any emotion on her face..
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