Yizhen.

It turns out that this is her maiden name, and it sounds so nice.

But the next time Tan Ting learned about his wife's maiden name from someone else, she saw a man standing under the eaves waving to her.

"Don't be afraid, come here."

Tan Ting suddenly felt depressed at these words, and couldn't help but look at the woman in the courtyard.

Xiang Yizhi had just recovered from the shock, and was discovered like this.

But she was standing in the middle of the courtyard, her adopted brother was standing under the eaves, and the Tan family man was standing in front of the door.

Both eyes fell on her.

Xiang Yi knew that her sworn brother was afraid that the Tan family would do harm to her, but there was nothing she dared not do.

It's a pity that the eldest brother's injury has not healed. If the Tan family uncle wants to report him, he will not be able to escape...

Xiang Yi did not move his feet and looked at Tan Ting calmly.

"Now that I know everything, how are you going to deal with it?"

She took a deep breath and looked at Tan Ting. "Do you want to inform the government and the Jin Yiwei?"

The wind in the hospital stopped.

At Xiang Yi's reaction, Gu Yansheng fixed his eyes on her.

However, Tan Ting's heart froze at these two sentences.

She said two sentences in total. If the meaning of the first sentence was unclear, then the latter sentence made it clear.

Her first thought was not of herself, but of others.

Tan Ting lowered the corners of his mouth. He did not reply to Xiang Yi's question. He closed his eyes as if tired. When he opened them again, he asked in a deep voice.

"So who is he?"

He was asking Xiang Yi, and even more so, Gu Yansheng.

If before, there were famous stories, pirates arrested by the government, and even Taoist priests around the prince whose identities were hidden, then now Tan Ting asked questions, but he went straight to the most critical place, and even the people in the court who targeted him were not able to find out. key points.

Xiang Yi didn't expect this old man to be so straightforward, so he was cautious and speechless for a moment.

Gu Yansheng, on the other hand, lowered his head and smiled.

After Tan Ting entered the courtyard, most of his eyes fell on Xiang Yi.

If he wanted to report himself without even thinking about it, then it wouldn't be like this.

Gu Yansheng's heart turned.

"Since Mr. Tan wants to know, why not go into the room and talk about it."

He raised his hand in a "please" gesture, waiting for Tan Ting's attitude.

Xiao Guan took a step forward in time and said in a low voice, "Master, be careful that there is a scam in his house."

This man is at the end of his rope. As long as they report it to the government, he will definitely be caught, but if this man can use the Tan family at this time to If the eldest wife or even the eldest son is used as a hostage, then there will be a place for change.

Xiao Guan reminded him worriedly, but saw his eldest son raised his hand to stop him.

"It doesn't matter."

If this person's methods were limited to resisting with swords and guns or escaping with hostages, how could he quickly gain a foothold by the prince's side and confuse the court so that Fengling Chen could not wait to take action?

Tan Ting didn't say much, accepted Gu Yansheng's invitation, nodded and stepped forward.

Seeing this, Xiao Guan could only signal the guards behind him to surround the courtyard. If there was any movement in the room, he would immediately take action to protect his son and his wife.

Tan Ting stepped into the courtyard and arrived in front of Xiang Yi within a few steps.

He looked over and saw her lowering her head and saluting him. He wanted to say something to her, but he didn't know how to say it as she kept a distance from him.

But fortunately, she didn't hide behind that person just now.

But she didn't mean to come over and explain to him...

The air between the two of them tightened.

She came out out of sight and was wearing very thin clothes. But just as Tan Ting was about to say, "Come into the house, too," someone said it before she could say it.

Gu Yansheng signaled to the young man Qiu Ying, who walked up to Xiang Yi in two steps, "It's windy outside, so I asked my wife to come in and talk."

Upon hearing this, Xiang Yi nodded and thanked Gu Yansheng.

What Tan Ting wanted to say was sealed in his mouth. He couldn't say a single word, and the corners of his mouth became tighter and tighter.

...

There were no extra furnishings in the room, but Tan Ting smelled the familiar smell of medicine when he entered the room.

He became more and more silent, but Gu Yansheng asked Qiu Ying to serve tea.

The room was quiet for a moment, and no one was in a hurry to speak.

Tan Ting felt even more admired when he saw that this man was so calm.

But Gu Yansheng didn't want to talk about what he was talking about, so he asked.

"Master Tan, who do you think I am?"

He asked the question to Tan Ting.

Xiang Yi glanced at the old man.

The identity of the sworn brother in the court is secret, and no one in the court knows it, so the uncle naturally has no way of guessing.

But her eyes fell slightly on him, and she heard him speak with a cold face.

"Your surname should be Gu, right?"

These words made Xiang Yi couldn't help but stare at him, and after his sworn brother nodded, he continued.

"If Tan is not mistaken, he is the 'Gu' of the former Bingbi eunuch Gu Xianying, right?"

When the words fell, Xiang Yi couldn't help but be secretly surprised.

What so many people in the court could not guess, he guessed so quickly just based on the relationship between his sworn brother and her...

Gu Yansheng also raised his eyebrows, "It seems that Mr. Tan is indeed very perceptive." ."

Tan Ting's cold face showed no change, and he said in a deep voice that he didn't dare to take it seriously.

The person Xiang Yi can call "eldest brother" is not a cousin, follower, or cousin who avoided suspicion after the incident in the Xiang family.

And if a man with whom she has no close relationship only calls him brother, how can she give him medicine with her own hands?

Thinking of this, Tan Ting's eyes fell on her intertwined fingertips.

If he were not those people, he could only be a sworn brother.

If he remembered correctly, Gu Xianying's nephew was indeed protected by Xiang Zhiyuan for a period of time after he lost his support.

And, only Gu Xianying's nephew has the courage to get close to the prince and interfere in court affairs...

Tan Ting didn't think it was difficult to guess, but he wanted to know what Gu Yansheng did. How to plan for all these things.

He was speechless and only glanced at Gu Yansheng, who lowered his eyes and smiled.

"Master Tan must want to ask, what on earth did Gu go to Jiangxi," he said, raising his peach blossom eyes, "Is he going to seek justice, or is he preparing to bring trouble to Chao Gang?"

What he said was exactly Tan. What Ting is thinking.

Tan Ting glanced at him again with a cold face.

The Taoist priest around the prince should not interfere in court affairs. He repeatedly encouraged the East Palace to look into old Jiangxi imperial examination cases, and even secretly went to Jiangxi in person. Even if Chen Fuyou and others came to pursue him, he also felt that the purpose of this trip was impure. .

But then again, the Chen family in Fengling was originally related to the Jiangxi imperial examination case, so there was something fishy about pursuing them in such a hurry.

Tan Ting spoke.

"Your Excellency, Chen Shidao, wants to seduce the prince with false evidence of guilt. Many people in the court think so, so your words are...?"

Now that he has entered this door, he wants to give Gu Yansheng a chance to speak. .

Xiang Yi couldn't help but feel relieved when he saw that he didn't kill his eldest brother for interfering in government affairs as a Taoist like others, but instead let the eldest brother do it himself.

She lied to him, he could do whatever he wanted to do with it when he got back. But the eldest brother is working for the poor and common people, so he shouldn't be stuck here like this.

Will that uncle give him a chance?

Tan Ting saw the change in her eyes.

But he could see what she was thinking.

Tan Ting remained silent, withdrew his gaze and continued to wait for Gu Yansheng's words with a cold face.

Seeing his attitude, Gu Yansheng felt relieved.

The Tan family had nothing to do with the old imperial examination case in Jiangxi, so the attitude of the eldest son was different from that of the Chen family involved in the case.

He might be able to fight for it.

He said directly immediately.

"Since Mr. Tan asked, Gu did not tell the truth. In that old imperial examination case, it was originally just someone who complained about injustice after the examination. It was said that several people who had done excellent local articles were not on the list. Instead, they were The idle children of aristocratic families have appeared on the exams one after another, and even mediocre people have topped the list..."

This phenomenon in the local imperial examinations has not happened for a long time, but the questions in the exams are not the same as those set by the county examiners. relationship, they may also fail due to different political views from the examiner.

But there are too many such things happening again and again, and people's doubts become more serious.

At that time, many scholars from poor families were unwilling to fail the examination again and again. They agreed to gather in the teahouse as soon as the college examination was over, rewrite the articles they had written in Gongyuan, keep them, and put them in the teahouse so that everyone could read them. Scholars make the selection.

At that time, there was an arrogant and domineering child of a certain family. He couldn't stop laughing after hearing this.

He laughed at those poor scholars, saying that it was useless to be so serious. He also participated in the conversation and wrote down his shabby articles generously for everyone to comment on.

Everyone was disgusted at first sight, saying that his article could not even pass the county examination.

But that person was not angry at all, he just said that his article was much better than the articles they voted for, and everyone would wait and see, he would definitely be on the list.

On the day when the list was released, all the scholars from poor families wanted to know what kind of articles could win, and everyone went forward to take a look. However, among the top few who voted one by one, none of them was on the list.

On the contrary, the arrogant and domineering child of the aristocratic family easily passed the college examination based on his shabby articles.

As soon as this incident came out, there was an uproar.

The scholars from poor families were all furious and shouted injustice, and surrounded the Gongyuan that night.

When the officials saw this situation, they first dispersed them, but when they refused to leave again, they took action.

There was a scholar from a poor family who was holding his neck and wanted an explanation, but during the friction, his throat was cut by an official with a knife...

This matter was brought to the court. Although the emperor was not in the court at that time, it was not like it is now. Close your eyes and listen.

The emperor sent people to investigate the case.

When the local scholars from poor families heard that the palace had sent an imperial envoy, they ran along the road to meet the imperial envoy. They only hoped that the imperial envoy would give them a fair treatment and give them a clear examination room.

However, the imperial minister originally promised well, but after a "thorough investigation", he only came to the conclusion that

the arrogant and domineering examinee actually wrote the tattered article to everyone, not what he originally wrote in Gongyuan, but It's just to amuse people.

But this man had some ink in his stomach, and the local scholars were not unaware of it. Before they saw them getting into trouble, the imperial envoy gave him the rest of his excuse:

There is indeed something wrong with this man, and he passed the college examination without any ink. He bribed the clerks in Gongyuan, brought cheat sheets into the examination room, wrote an article that was higher than his own, and deceived the examiner.

The imperial envoy came all the way from the capital, conducted an investigation with great anticipation, and expelled the arrogant and domineering scholar from his academic qualifications and was not allowed to take the exam again. He also slapped the clerk he had bribed with forty bans and sent him to the frontier.

The major issue was reduced to a minor issue, and the case was closed.

In the entire Wuming area, the poor scholars were in silence.

When they realized that it shouldn't end like this, they went to look for the imperial envoy. The imperial envoy had already been sent away by the government.

How could they be willing to do so, but the matter had already been decided, and any further riot would be considered rebellion.

The case was suppressed.

But in the years that followed, the conflicts between the children of the local poor families and the local aristocratic families continued to cause bloodshed.

Later, there were fewer and fewer scholars in this area, and bandits became rampant. The local government repeatedly requested support from surrounding guards to suppress local banditry, but unfortunately it had no effect.

Wu Ming, who was in good health, had never been a scholar in a poor family, but he became a place where no one dared to go.

...

Gu Yansheng told Tan Ting about the Jiangxi Wuming imperial examination fraud case in one breath.

After he finished speaking, he asked Tan Ting.

"Master Tan, do you think this case should be overturned?"

Tan Ting was speechless for a while.

Gu Yansheng snorted and laughed.

"If the poor local scholar had not lost his trust in the chief examiner of the Gongyuan Academy, how could he have thought of publishing his article to the public and letting everyone's eyes judge it?"

He continued to smile.

"Could it be that a poor scholar has such a lack of confidence? Could it be caused by one or two cheat sheets or bribery of the clerk in the examination room?"

He said, his tone changed, and his sarcastic smile was sharp.

"What's even more ridiculous is that after the imperial envoy investigated the case, the local poor people really lost their confidence in the imperial examination and the government, so they completely abandoned this dead-end road, even if it was Tian Luocao is going to be a thief."

"Is this their fault?"

After he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room became agitated.

Xiang Yi couldn't help but clench his folded hands as he listened.

And Gu Yansheng asked Tan Ting again.

"Master Tan, do you think such a case should be overturned?"

The room was extremely quiet. Only the cold wind outside the window blew the simple window lattice, making a sound like waves.

What Gu Yansheng said really made people's emotions surge. Tan Ting could also imagine how desperate the local poor scholars must be in such a situation.

But it was such an unconscious emotion that made Tan Ting's eyelids twitch and feel vaguely uneasy.

Tan Ting frowned and asked Gu Yansheng.

"So how are you doing after you return to Beijing after investigating this matter?"

Xiang Yi couldn't help but look at his adopted brother.

She remembered that her rebel brother had told her that when he returned to Beijing, he would be able to muddy the waters and win over the prince.

He also said, "Blood debts must be paid with blood..."

However, when the Tan family uncle asked, she saw that her sworn brother did not answer.

Gu Yansheng did not answer Tan Ting's question, but only chuckled.

Tan Ting's brows tightened even more amid the laughter.

It wasn't that he couldn't understand the difficulties of a poor family, but it was Gu Yansheng, especially his chuckle, that suddenly reminded him of Li Chengyun's concern in his letter to him - that

the court and even the entire court and the public in the next year might be in danger. There's going to be chaos.

Tan Ting was speechless for a moment.

Instead, Gu Yansheng picked up the tea bowl, took a sip of tea, and asked him.

"So what are Master Tan's plans now?"

Tan Ting was silent for a moment.

After he finished talking about the imperial examination fraud case in Wuming, Jiangxi, if he reported him, he would be colluding with the Chen family and joining forces to persecute the common people.

Tan Ting glanced at Xiang Yi who was standing aside.

But if he wanted him to deceive Mrs. Chen and protect her, could he just rely on Gu Yansheng's words?

That was fine, but when he looked at Gu Yansheng and thought of his words and chuckle just now, he didn't want to help him protect him.

Tan Ting stood up without continuing to sit down.

His eyes fell solemnly on Gu Yansheng.

"Tan will neither report you nor help you, but there is something that Tan must say."

Gu Yansheng raised his hand and said with a smile, "Master Tan, please tell me."

Tan Ting couldn't do that. He smiled easily, but his brows became more depressed.

"The relationship between the two clans is not like this. It is still unknown what has caused the sharp increase in conflicts between the two clans in recent years. If we rashly provoke conflicts between the two clans, the government and the public will be turbulent, and the nest will be overthrown, how can the eggs be completed?"

Tan Ting When the rare words reached this point, the room fell into a solemn silence.

Xiang Yi looked up at the man and couldn't help but think of the past.

In the past, when my father was around, he did speak mostly from the perspective of a poor family, but his father was never one to suppress the aristocratic families. After all, these aristocratic families also slowly rose from humble families one by one, and the aristocratic families should not be confused with the aristocratic families.

She didn't know why her father arranged for her to marry into the Tan family, but at that time, marriage between the common and common families was common.

It's just like what Mr. Tan said, the relationship between the two families has taken a turn for the worse in recent years.

If my father had known this situation, how would he view it?

No one spoke in the room for a while.

Gu Yansheng's smile softened a little under Tan Ting's sharp words.

He looked at the eldest son of the Tan family more seriously, nodded, stood up, and thanked Tan Ting.

"Gu heard Master Tan's words."

After he said this, Tan Ting naturally didn't say much.

His cold expression did not soften at all, and he said in a deep voice, "That's all Tan said," and then turned to look at his wife.

Looking at Xiang Yi, his voice softened without even noticing it, but it was still muffled.

"Come home with me."

Xiang Yi paused slightly at these words.

She didn't quite understand what he meant.

She was grateful that he didn't report on her adopted brother, but she did lie to him.

If he wanted to divorce his wife, she had nothing to say...

but he said he would talk about it after going home, did he mean to have other plans?

No matter what, Xiang Yi accepted it calmly.

Tan Ting secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his wife had no intention of staying.

But just as he was about to take her away with him, he saw Gu Yansheng stepping forward.

There was still a smile on his lips that Tan Ting didn't like very much, and he stood sideways in front of Xiang Yi.

"Master Tan, wait a minute."