The students didn't know about this and didn't dare to make any random guesses. Tan Zong understood Zhang Heyan's phrase "accomplices" as if it were a divine revelation, and he wouldn't fall behind. This sentence "didn't dare to make any random guesses" is even more wonderfully said, it not only expressed his own thoughts - extremely agreeing with Zhang Heyan, but also carefully removed himself from this matter.

  This is clearly pushing Zhang Heyan to the forefront to take the blame - even if someone asks about it later, Tan Zong can push everything onto Zhang Heyan, and Tan Zong only needs to hide behind Zhang Heyan.

  At the same time, Tan Zong carefully understood Zhang Heyan's words and responded to his true intentions, which also counted as a small flattery towards Zhang Heyan. Zhang Heyan was pleased with it.

  Although Zhang He is only a tongzhi from outside, he is after all the chief examiner of this year's Nanjing Prefecture examination. After the examination is over, he still needs to return to Beijing to report back to the Ministry of Officials before returning to his original post. If Zhang He has a good heart and mentions Tang Zong slightly in front of his superior, it would be a great fortune for Tang Zong that he may not be able to find in his whole life.

  This kind of mind, Tan Zong, who has not yet entered the officialdom, can use it so skillfully, and outsiders must feel a little terrified. However, if you know that Tan Zong later became a section-level cadre in the tax department, which is one of the most complicated departments, you might not be surprised. The hardest thing in officialdom is the survival of small leaders like this. How to make leaders remember your name and know that there is such a person is the most important thing, and promotion is secondary - anyway, it's just a matter of time!

  However, Tan Zong's thoughts, although cleverly flattering Zhang Heyan's old tricks, seemed to have little benefit for the current situation.

  Moreover, Tan Zong was busy holding Zhang Heyan's old feet at this time, but did not notice that the few inspectors heard Tan Zong say that the thief was carried away, and a trace of regret flashed on his face.

  The two men in front and behind him exchanged a look again, as if they were communicating with each other, but Tan Zong had already caught sight of them.

  It turned out that these people were not just exchanging eye contact, but their hands in their sleeves were also constantly making gestures, causing the wide sleeves to rise and fall from time to time, apparently using sign language to communicate.

  For this kind of sign language, Tan Zong had also understood that the blind language was one of the sign languages. In addition to this, there is a set of commonly used sign language in the military, so although Tan Zong clearly knew that the three men were communicating with each other in sign language, he could only secretly guess because they hid their hands in their sleeves and did not understand the route of these people's sign language.

  However, judging from the frequent exchanges between them, it can be inferred that there seems to be a disagreement among the three.

  After a while, it seemed that the opinions were unified, and the leader turned around. Tan Zong's eyes were sharp, and he saw that the person's face actually showed a serious expression, and his heart tightened involuntarily, feeling that tonight's matter might have some unexpected changes that he couldn't anticipate.

  "Tan Xiucan said earlier that the thief was taken away, but unfortunately none of the officials seemed to have seen it, so this matter is hard to say whether it's true or false. We also can't make a judgment. However, since Tan Xiucan has no witnesses now, I'm afraid he'll have to leave with us tonight. Let's wait until tomorrow when the court opens, we'll report to Magistrate Wang and let him investigate further." After saying this, he made a hand gesture, ordering the two men behind him to go and lock up Tan Zong.

  Hearing the inspector's words, Tan Zong was stunned: he had gone to great lengths to create this disturbance and had loudly summoned them, wasn't it all just to avoid this very situation? Now, unexpectedly, the wolf had been driven away, but a tiger had been invited in - if he were really locked up and thrown into prison, it would be difficult to get out again!

  Tan Zong may have only worked in taxation, but he knows a lot about the ins and outs of this place. After all, that's how it's been done since ancient times - getting in is easy, but getting out is hard!

  This is a typical case of having no meat but getting a mouthful of soup!

  Tan Zong is really regretful now.

  As he saw the two men slowly approaching, Tan Zong's psychological aspect was also struggling, and he didn't know whether to surrender or start a fight, or maybe just shout out a few slogans like "Long live democracy" to clear his name.

  Just as the two men were about to approach Tan Zong, Zhang Heyan jumped out first and stood in front of Tan Zong, shouting: "Halt!"

  "Oh, Lord Zhang has some advice?" The leader of the inspectors slightly furrowed his brow and waved his hand, indicating for them to stop.

  He had said so before, and this year He didn't know why, but he found Tan Zong very pleasing to the eye. At this moment, seeing Tan Zong being taken away as a suspect of arson in front of him, how could he bear it, which led to the shout to stop.

  "Magistrate Cao," Zhang Heyan bowed his hands and said to the leading inspector, "Have you ever seen anyone like Tan Yaoyuan, who set a fire and then rescued people from the fire scene? Let alone me, take a look at these people present, is there anyone else like Tan Yaoyuan who would risk their life to save a few account books? If so, they would all be suspects. I'm afraid that in this world, it would be hard to find good people again. This matter, let's not say that we don't accept it now, even if the case is brought before the high officials, it would still be hard for us to believe."

  "Ah?" The surname Cao's inspector had a hint of playful smile in his eyes, and after thinking for a moment, he said: "What about Director Zhang then? Is it to say that this Tan Xiucan is completely without suspicion?"

  Previously, Zhang Heyan intentionally said that Tan Zong was a Yiyuan, but now Cao Jiancha says that Tan Zong is a Xiucai (Xiucai and Tongsheng are just different terms for the same level), and this title alone has some discrepancies. Not to mention that the meaning of their words may have an even more discordant tone.

  So, as soon as Cao Jiancha's words came out, not to mention Zhang Heyan, even the two colleagues behind him were furious and wanted to come forward to argue with Cao Jiancha.

  This movement is nothing, but on the other side, Cao Jiancha frowned again and raised his hand: "Can't a few adults want to make branches outside the festival?"

  Although the word "外生枝" used by Cao Jiancha in this sentence is somewhat obscure, except for those lower officials and slaves who are still fighting the fire, who among them is not a veteran of the officialdom, they immediately understood the warning meaning in his words - that is, these inspectors, if it were someone else, would not dare to say such threatening words so bluntly.

  At this time, Tan Zong had calmed down and even had the leisure to observe Cao Jiancha's hands - only feeling that his fingers were slender, to use a description from a martial arts novel, he was probably skilled in using hidden weapons.

  It turns out that Tan Zong also knew for the first time that the surname of this monitor who had always appeared as a spokesperson was Cao.

  In fact, by now, Tan Zong was also very clear in his heart that if he let Zhang Heyan and Cao Jiancha continue to argue, it's likely that even if nothing happened, some disputes would arise. After this storm passes, although Zhang Heyan won't say anything on the surface, he will definitely be quite regretful and resentful towards Cao Jiancha, and who knows, he might even harbor some other thoughts about Tan Zong himself, and at that time, the good impression Tan Zong had previously made would surely be turned upside down.

  So, in any case, Tan Zong could no longer allow Zhang Heyan and Cao Jiancha to confront each other again.

  "Alas, it seems I have to play the hero again." Tan Zong sighed inwardly, took two quick steps forward from behind Zhang Heyan, and then fell back slightly behind him. Only then did he clear his throat and say: "Two esteemed gentlemen, please listen to me for a moment."

  In fact, Tan Zong's idea was not wrong at all.

  Although He Zuo was young and successful, it wasn't because he had someone backing him up, but rather because he knew how to get along with people. Whether it was his colleagues, subordinates or superiors, no one ever said anything bad about him. Not only did he know how to deal with people, but he also wrote well, so over the years, he consistently received good reviews from the Ministry of Personnel.

  Just now, Zhang Heyan was still not sober from his drinking, which led to the conflict with Cao Jiancha. But at this moment, he was blown by the cold night wind and suffered from the fire scene's heat, making him feel chilly and hot inside and out, which made a lot of his drunkenness disappear, and suddenly he saw clearly the situation on the scene, and secretly lamented.

  At this point, the situation no longer allowed Zhang Heyan to take a step back, he had to push forward like an arrow on the string that must be shot, and now he had to stick his head out and take the lead.

  At this point, when Tan Zong suddenly jumped out, Zhang Heyan still had an ugly expression on his face, but in his heart, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, quietly exhaling a mouthful of stale air.

  Cao's supervisor seemed to have not expected Tan Zong to jump out at this time, so he also looked at Tan Zong with a few suspicious expressions, as if he couldn't figure out what Tan Zong was going to do now.

  "May I take the liberty of speaking freely before the two esteemed gentlemen?"

  In fact, before coming out, Tan Zong had already calculated in his heart: looking at the attitude of Cao Jiancha, he was afraid that he would inevitably go to the Nanjing Fu prison. But going back and forth, he couldn't go in a muddled way, in case someone made a move inside, and got him killed or something, that wouldn't be worth it.

  Therefore, before going, the annotations here must be nailed to death. More importantly, Zhang Heyan must remember that there are still people waiting for him to save in the big prison. Even Cao Jiancha's side needs to nail the annotations, don't forget yourself when you throw yourself in.

  "As Director Cao said, Tan was in the fire scene and there were no witnesses. This suspicion is not light. Even if it were me, I'm afraid it would still be suspicious."

  At this point, Tan Zong had a mind to glance at Cao Jiancha, but saw that Cao Jiancha's face was not moved at all, and it was clear that he was not impressed by Tan Zong's move of retreating as advancing. Suddenly, he cursed secretly in his heart and blamed himself for expressing the wrong emotions. Fortunately, Tan Zong's greatest reliance was not on Cao Jiancha, so he collected his emotions and continued: "However, from the perspective of Da Shun law, although Tan Zong has no witnesses, there is reason, so this suspicion can also be said to be uncertain."

  As soon as Tan Zong said this, Zhang Heyan let out an "ah" and his face suddenly turned joyful. His eyes looked at Tan Zong with even more admiration.

  Tan Zong, who had come from the future to this strange ancient era, spent his first three days attending a rural examination. In the following days, apart from drinking with his classmates outside, he spent most of his time reading historical books and criminal laws, with the Da Shun Code being his top priority.

  After reading the Tang Code, from the perspective of later generations, I found that there is a law in this code that is quite thought-provoking: according to the laws of later generations, it can be said that **the naked discrimination against laboring people's law** - among the four classes of scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants, the latter three are subject to the Tang Code with a presumption of guilt, while scholars are subject to it with a presumption of innocence.

  At this point, Tan Zong finally thoroughly understood what it means by the political cruelty of a feudal society.

  However, the Da Shun Code has a rather strict definition for one item regarding scholars: only those who have passed the imperial examination can be called scholars! The rest, even if they are the sons of officials, do not belong to this category. Of course, the sons of the royal family are treated separately and have their own family law, which is not included in the Da Shun Code's criminal provisions. However, Tang Zong has intentionally or unintentionally investigated and found that the Da Shun Dynasty's discipline for the sons of the royal family is quite strict, and there have been cases where imperial princes who committed crimes were punished equally with commoners - and this was naturally also a legacy left by Taizu himself.

  It just so happens that Tang Zong is now basking in the glory of Da Shun's favor. After all, Cao Jiancha had previously said that the delay in verifying the volume was only a minor matter, and although he always called Tang Zong "Tang Xiucan", he only suspected that Tang Zong had set the fire, but could not deny his identity as a Yuan scholar - this was personally approved by the Grand Council, so even if he wanted to deny it, he couldn't!

  So, as long as the formalities of handing over the examination papers are completed, even if Censor Cao has any further objections, he will probably have to acknowledge Tan Zhong's achievement!

  But Tan Zong just needs this title at the moment - once the title of Ya Yuan is confirmed, even if Tan Zong enters the Nanjing Prefecture's prison as a suspect, I'm afraid the prison guards will have to treat him differently!

  And with this solid Asian identity as the foundation, Tan Zong's confidence also increased by a few points, and at the same time, he could understand the matter in his heart, it was truly killing two birds with one stone.

  At this moment, Tan Zong deliberately mentioned the words "Daseon Law" and "Emotional Reasoning" in front of everyone, which was equivalent to reminding Zhang Heyan nakedly.

  Zhang Heyan was also extremely intelligent and almost without thinking, he picked up Tan Zong's words: "Tan Yuanyuan is absolutely right. Even if Cao Jiancha wants to put Tan Yuanyuan in prison, he still needs to let Tan Yuanyuan finish checking the volume before doing so."

  Here is the translation:

  "Speaking of which, Zhang Heyan's eyes swept over Tan Zong's tattered clothes again, and his heart felt a slight twinge of guilt. He continued: 'Moreover, Tan Yuanyuan was injured while rescuing people from the fire and needs to be treated by a famous doctor. This Confucian robe is also ruined beyond recognition, it's really humiliating for us scholars, we need to change into new ones.'"

  As soon as Zhang Heyan said this, Tan Zong suddenly felt that all his previous efforts had been in vain. If Tan Zong said he didn't feel pain, it would be a lie, after all, who is also made of flesh and blood? In order to avoid the search by those people from the Wang Fu, Tan Zong had endured several minutes in the fire before running out.

  Afraid of being discovered by the people who came to search, Tan Zong even knocked over several bookshelves and hid among them. Although he had deliberately avoided a few places when setting fire, how could this fire be controlled so easily?

  So, Tan Zong's body had big and small burns all over, probably nearly ten places. The largest wound was not the arm that Zhang Heyan saw, but Tan Zong's back - Tan Zong estimated that his entire back might have been scalded by the high temperature of the bookshelf, peeling off a layer of skin. Earlier, he was just afraid that if he didn't intervene, things would become unmanageable, so he had been holding on all this time.

  Zhang Heyan didn't mention it, but now that Zhang Heyan has reminded him, Tan Zong suddenly remembered that he was still carrying this body with burns, and suddenly felt aching all over his body, especially on his back which was burning hot.

  Although Tan Zong was trying his best to conceal it, the pain was not so easy to bear. Even if he could endure it without using his hands to touch it, the expression on his face couldn't be hidden: Tan Zong's body was shaking uncontrollably as he tried to restrain himself, his face contorting in a mixture of pain and anger.

  But unexpectedly, Cao Jiancha did not refute Zhang Heyan's words, but instead nodded to Tan Zong and said: "Mr. Zhang is absolutely right, this is indeed a mistake on Qiao Mu's part."

  Tan Zong almost thought he had misheard, because Cao Jiancha's words, who claimed to be Qiao Mu, actually carried a few hints of apology.

  "We'll go and check the volume then." Cao Qiaomu stretched out his hand, letting Zhang Heyan go first. He then turned to the two people behind him and said: "You two go into town and find a doctor, make sure he diagnoses Tan Xiucan properly."

  As I watched the two of them walk away, Tan Zong's heart finally relaxed thoroughly, knowing that he had done everything he could do for himself, and from now on, there would be no more opportunities for him to make an effort. It was probably just a matter of "doing one's best and leaving the rest to fate".

  "It's fortunate that the original deadlock was broken by myself, otherwise I don't know what other tricks the Wang Fu had in store for me. Now with Cao Qiaomu's care and Zhang Heyan's protection, I shouldn't have to worry about anything else." As he thought of this, Tan Zong suddenly turned his head and happened to see the fake mute servant rushing out of the fire scene.

  Although the person was also in a state of dishevelment, with a dark and wolf-like appearance, yet judging from their spirit and demeanor, they seemed to be completely unaware. Moreover, the person's hand still held something, which wasn't that burnt account book, but what else could it be?

  Look at that busybody with a face like sorrow and joy under the firelight, Tan Zong smiled slightly in his heart, but he knew that this fire was not so easy to burn out, it might even burn the Wang Fu upside down: "Take a good look, offending me is not so easy to live a peaceful life."

  Prince's Mansion

  In the midst of elegant silk and bamboo sounds, Wang Dong's gaze fell on a songstress, his slender hands, like those of a woman, had already slipped through her collar and into her inner garments. Just looking at Wang Dong's face full of indulgence, and then at the songstress's face with a hint of spring, even a blind person would know where Wang Dong's hand was placed.

  "The young master, the little savage girl has arrived." The servant came in to report, but from head to toe he kept his head down and didn't dare to look up at the music platform.

  The servants in the palace were all aware that although the women upstairs were all courtesans and musicians, they were all forbidden to the young master of the palace. Not to mention making a move on them, even looking at them was likely to cost one their head.

  "Oh? How did she come?" King Dong seemed to be somewhat dissatisfied with Xiao Man's arrival, and after thinking for a long time, he ordered someone to bring Xiao Man in.

  "Master Wang." With a slight bow, Xiao Man ignored the giggling songstress beside Wang and continued, "I heard some news from Miss that I must report to you, Master."

  "What news? What news is worth you coming over at this hour?" Wang's face couldn't help but flash a hint of surprise: "Isn't it curfew now, how did you get here?"

  "Nunu said it was the young master's person, those soldiers naturally brought Xiaoman over to find the young master." Xiaoman suddenly smiled slyly and turned her body lightly in front of Wang Dong, the yellow long skirt fluttered up like a auspicious cloud, slightly revealing the white underpants inside Xiaoman's skirt.

  "Is he your man?" Wang Dong's eyes suddenly lit up and he couldn't help but burst out laughing, saying: "Isn't he precisely my Wang Dong's man?!"

  Having said that, Wang moved his left hand and wrapped the small servant girl who was spinning around him into his arms: "Tonight, young master will let you become a person of my Wang Fu!"

  "Everything will be done according to your wishes, Master." Xiaoman said shyly: "But I have something important to tell you, Master."

  "What's the hurry, can't you see how important this little savage is to me!" Wang Dong pulled his right hand out of Nage's arms and then inserted it into Xiaoman's collar: "Even if the officials arrive now, I'll have them wait for me to finish this ritual with my good little savage before talking!"

  "My grades are just so-so, classmates see how hard I'm working on updates, give me some encouragement! Come on, collect and vote for me!"