Chapter 249:
Bianzhou.
On the second day after Xie Wanning moved into the Prefect’s Mansion, the Li Family case was indeed solved.
She, with her big belly, of course did not personally go to the Yamen; everything that happened was relayed by Ji Chengfeng, the presiding official.
Li Wenhan was framed, there is no doubt about that.
However, they were not targeting him, just an ordinary little scholar.
Among the people who ate the Li Family pastries and felt unwell, there was a top contender for the top spot, and that was the real target.
As for Li Wenhan, he was merely a scapegoat.
The case was simple. Ji Chengfeng reviewed the files and discovered that one of the victims was this year’s top scholar in Anle County, who had hopes of taking the top spot in this session, so he immediately sent someone to question their relatives.
He also summoned all the scholars who were still bedridden recovering from illness.
They were all young civilian scholars who had not seen much of the world; the highest-born was merely the son of a deputy department head, and being personally questioned by a third-rank official, they could not hide anything on their faces.
Even if they tried to conceal it, it was quickly noticed.
The problem did indeed lie with the pastries.
However, the pastries were fine when they left the Li Family Pastry Shop; it was after Li Wenhan carried the pastries to the gathering that one of his friends secretly added the drug out of malice.
To avoid suspicion after the incident, this poisoning scholar ate some of the poisoned pastries himself.
Only Li Wenhan, who truly had no interest in his family’s pastries, escaped unscathed; the other four all fell victim.
Li Wenhan naturally became the first victim.
The poisoning scholar was just over twenty, and with the Autumn Imperial Examination held every three years, this was already his second attempt, yet because he ate the Li Family pastries, he was bedridden with illness and might miss this Autumn Imperial Examination.
In the eyes of bystanders, he was truly an innocent victim.
No one would suspect that several fellow scholars would sabotage their own three years of effort just to frame an insignificant Li Wenhan.
Three years was far too precious for young scholars.
But if the benefits were great enough—great enough to buy those three years—someone would always be ruthless enough.
And sure enough, Li Wenhan encountered it.
The poisoning scholar surnamed Xu was from Xu Family Village outside Bianzhou City; his family was quite wealthy locally, but modest by Bianzhou City standards.
He came to the city for the exam and befriended several scholars from similar family backgrounds, including Li Wenhan.
One of them was that top scholar.
Not long after he befriended that top scholar, someone came to him with a packet of drug, instructing him to find the right moment to slip it into the other’s food.
That top scholar came from an ordinary family and had only passed the scholar exam this year, so he was not very guarded against people.
Plus, they were close friends who often gathered, so that part was not difficult.
The difficulty was finding a scapegoat to clear himself.
Poisoning the food at a restaurant would not easily implicate the shop; with so many examinees there, why did only you have problems?
The authorities would surely investigate thoroughly.
Only if they gathered privately, and best if the food was brought by one of the friends…
A gathering among scholars—if something went wrong, that would be easy to handle.
At that point, Li Wenhan became the only choice.
Li Wenhan had brought pastries three times in total.
Each time, they were very popular.
On the fourth time, Scholar Xu added the drug.
And indeed, as he planned, he emerged as a victim while Li Wenhan became the scapegoat.
For a scholar born in the countryside, these schemes were quite meticulous.
