The entire examination room suddenly fell silent. The prefect of Xi'anyang County fell down holding his chest, and blood splattered out, staining Liu Tan's white royal robe with a few red flowers.
Everyone looked at the Xi'an Yang County Magistrate lying on the ground with his hands outstretched, his eyes still filled with the desire for life. Everyone couldn't help but take two steps back, except for the dark and thin county magistrate, who looked at the Xi'an Yang County Magistrate with indifference.
Liu Tan didn't say anything and no one dared to help. Moreover, judging from the situation, Liu Tan's sword seemed to be quite accurate and directly pierced the heart. Even if they helped, the county magistrate would not live long.
The prefect of Xi'anyang County twitched for a while and then fell silent.
Liu Tan had a few drops of blood on his chin. He slowly wiped the blood off his sword with a handkerchief and asked, "Any more questions?"
The county governors were horrified. They never expected that this young prince would actually start a fight as soon as he said it, and that he would kill as soon as he started.
A dark-skinned county magistrate said frankly at this time: "Your Highness, why did you kill him for no reason?"
Liu Tan took a look at the man and found that he was very thin and his clothes were a bit old, but his eyes were clear, like flowing water.
At this time, everyone else also looked at the county governor, as if they were looking at a strong man.
Liu Tan walked towards the top seat while saying, "Killing without cause? This man's crimes are too numerous to list. If anyone disagrees, they can go and see what he has done. Oh, what have you all done? I know it all clearly. How many of you dare to say that the things you live in and use at home have not exceeded the regulations?"
The expressions of all the county governors changed immediately, except for the one who had just come out to question Liu Tan, who remained calm.
Liu Tan knew his identity at a glance. It's not that he didn't want to talk about the county magistrate's crime of murder, but to be honest, what was a very serious crime in Liu Tan's eyes was nothing in this era.
Even if the prefect of Xi'anyang County killed someone and broke the law, he could use money to atone for his sins.
If an official kills a civilian, he can basically use money to atone for his crime, so it is not a big deal at all.
What Liu Tan meant by exceeding the rules was the real crime that could put someone to death, and only this crime could make Liu Tan's actions seem justified.
When Liu Tan reached the top, he glanced at Sang Qian. At this time, Sang Qian's legs were already weak. He struggled for a long time before he stood up trembling, and then gave his position to Liu Tan.
Liu Tan glanced at him unhappily before sitting down and saying, "To be honest, I originally didn't want to embarrass you too much for my father's sake, but if anyone is reckless, don't blame me for listing your crimes one by one. From now on, continue the exam. Those who fail will go home and eat their own food. Come, drag this person's body out and clean up."
Liu Tan placed his sword on the table and watched as the corpse of the Xi'anyang County Magistrate was dragged away. The magistrates hesitated and returned to their seats. Then he heard the dark and thin magistrate say, "The paper is stained. I can't answer."
Liu Tan smiled and said, "We have a spare. Someone, come and replace the test papers for those of you who soiled them."
He glanced at the hourglass and said, "We just lost some time, so the time before that won't count. From now on, count back to half an hour."
All the county governors felt extremely unlucky for a moment.
If it was Sang Qian, they could still put on airs. Some of them even had some relationship with Sang Hongyang, and could barely be considered Sang Qian's elders.
Now, with such a ferocious god sitting here, who would dare to move?
Especially since even though the scene had been cleaned up, there was still a faint smell of blood lingering at the tip of the nose. The county governors had never experienced such hardship before, but Liu Tan had gotten used to it, which made him look particularly different among a group of mortals.
Liu Tan watched them until the time came. After everyone collected the test papers, he waved his hand mercifully and said, "Go, everyone. Come to the county government to see me tomorrow."
The county magistrates were suddenly as if they had been pardoned, and they all wanted to rush out.
Liu Tan looked at their expressions and turned to Sang Qian, saying, "Go through the papers first. Write down the names of those who handed in blank papers, and also note down the names of those who made more than 50% mistakes. Only those who answered more than 80% of the questions can return them to me."
Sang Qian nodded frantically and said quickly, "I will definitely live up to your highness's trust."
Liu Tan nodded, stood up, picked up his sword and left.
Sang Qian watched his back disappear out the door, his legs suddenly went weak and he sat down on the ground, wiping the cold sweat from his head.
His attendant immediately helped him up and asked, "Captain, Captain, what's wrong with you?"
Sang Qian, still in shock, said, "Your Highness, you really showed me some leniency before."
He even suspected that the man who had a bad temper and was willing to stab someone to death because of a disagreement could tolerate his defiance at that time was because he was doing it for his father's sake.
Sang Qian couldn't help but feel even weaker in the knees when he thought about his near-death experience.
However, he had to finish what His Highness had ordered him to do even if his legs were weak. Otherwise, if he hadn't finished the judgment and handed it in tomorrow, he didn't know what Liu Tan would do to him.
In other words, he didn't know how long Liu Tan could tolerate him.
Sang Qian hurried back to his residence and started grading the papers. To be honest, he had planned to work late into the night to grade the papers of eighteen county governors, big and small. However, he didn't expect that after a lot of haste, five of them handed in blank papers. Some of the rest had written papers, but they were less than 50% complete. Basically, he didn't even need to check whether they were correct or not, and directly put them into the unqualified category.
There were seven people who got answers between 50% and 80%. After he looked carefully, he threw away the scribbled parts. There were only three test papers left in total, and in the end only one person had answered 80% of the questions.
No, not only 80%, it is basically the same as the correct answer given by Liu Tan.
Seeing this, Sang Qian was puzzled. The King of the Northern Territory hadn't left, and he hadn't sent anyone to do anything. How could he know so much? He knew more than the county governor. Thinking of the rumors in the capital, it seemed that the King of the Northern Territory had some magical ability, as if he could dream anything, he couldn't help but shudder for a moment.
Could it be that all this was just a dream? Thinking of this, Sang Qian felt even more fortunate. Fortunately, he had a good father!
Liu Tan had to spare his life for the sake of his father. From the beginning to the end, he never thought that this was actually all thanks to Huo Guang.
Sang Qian shook the paper again. Well, luckily there was still one paper that was readable. Not only was it readable, but the answers were also very accurate, and even the handwriting was very beautiful.
At least he was able to report back, and Sang Qian breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that there would not be a single qualified person, and the King of the North might really get angry at that time.
Sang Qian hesitated for a moment, but still asked someone to take all the papers to Liu Tan.
At this time, Huo Guang was asking Liu Tan: "Did anyone kill someone?"
Liu Tan responded softly. He was already prepared for Huo Guang's advice. Perhaps with so many people present, it was not worth it for His Highness to take action personally.
But even if Huo Guang said so, Liu Tan would still say: I only dared to do this because I knew I was wrong.
The fundamental reason is that he feels that what he did was right.
Even if he could have the Xi'an Yang County Magistrate arrested, it would still be very troublesome to wait for the trial, and there might even be various obstructions along the way. How could it be as satisfying as it is now?
Huo Guang simply asked, "Are you not afraid anymore?"
Liu Tan was stunned for a moment. He tilted his head and thought for a moment before saying, "It seems okay."
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