Time Travel: Did My Sister-in-Law Get Slapped in the Face Today?

Is this Li Lan a human or a ghost?

At this moment, Zhao Tanyue raised her head, a hint of sighing and emotion flashing across her cold and beautiful face, and said:

"Indeed, he is almost demonically intelligent."

"Let's go. The show has already begun, the enemy has been on stage for a long time, and it's time for our decisive move to be made."

"Come with me to fetch Young Master Li."

She got up.

……

Secret Service.

"Reporting to Lord Zhao, I have received a report that someone committed malpractice in this year's civil service examination. After investigation, it has been found that the person in charge, Cen Jingchi, leaked the exam questions to Li Lan, who then became the top scholar. The culprit has now been brought here."

Qin Wu cupped his hands in greeting to Zhao Tanyue and smiled slightly.

Zhao Tanyue looked at Li Lan.

Li Lan calmly replied, "Lord Zhao, I have absolutely not engaged in any favoritism or corruption. I implore you to investigate thoroughly!"

"Untie it first."

Zhao Tanyue spoke calmly, and the people beside her removed Li Lan's shackles and chains. Li Lan deliberately took out a jade pendant from his waist and said, "This jade pendant was given to me by you before, and now it is returned to its rightful owner—"

Zhao Tanyue frowned slightly, sighed, and said, "Since the jade pendant has already been given to you, how can I take it back? I owe you a favor from the Lin family back then, and I will do my best to investigate this matter. If you are truly innocent, I will not wrong you."

The implication was that she would do her best to help Li Lan seek justice, and this was the price to pay for this favor!

"but,"

She said sternly, "If you have truly cheated in the imperial examinations, you will be punished according to the law. Human sentiment cannot supersede the law!"

Behind Zhao Tanyue, her quirky female disciple Xixia chuckled to herself, thinking that her master's acting skills were actually quite good.

-- The two of them are now putting on an act, but it is actually the "script" that Li Lan and Zhao Tanyue agreed on when they were at Songxian Tower.

After Li Lan entered the prison, he needed a reason to contact Zhao Tanyue.

The reason was the jade pendant Zhao Tanyue gave him, and the favor she showed him.

In this way, from the perspective of others, Zhao Tanyue was only trying to repay the favor Li Lan had done for her, so she was very attentive to Li Lan and actively helped her with the investigation. Their real purpose—to investigate the mastermind's arrangements in prison—could be concealed.

To outsiders, Li Lan appears to be trapped in prison and Zhao Tanyue is actively trying to rescue him. However, the truth is that Zhao Tanyue is covering for him, while he is the one who is actually searching for clues.

Thinking about all this, Xi Xia couldn't help but feel a little complicated. Li Lan really thought things through too thoroughly and carefully. The key point is that he had arranged all of this in advance.

How does this guy's brain work?

"Please, Lord Qin, give me all the case files. I will personally review this case!"

Zhao Tanyue spoke to Qin Wu.

Qin Wu was not surprised to hear this. Instead, he smiled slightly and said, "Of course. Such a major case should naturally be handled by the Director himself."

……

Shortly after.

"Young Master Li, you are truly a diviner. Did you already foresee before the Literary Examination that you would be targeted by the mastermind behind the scenes?"

On the way to the prison, Zhao Tanyue finally asked a question.

"It was just something we had to be wary of; I never expected my calculations to come true."

Li Lan smiled helplessly.

"What do you plan to do next, young master?"

After a moment's thought, Li Lan said, "You proposed to personally investigate my case, and Qin Wu did not object... Perhaps, they had another purpose in putting me in prison, which was to distract you."

"I imagine your investigation at the Ink Fragrance Workshop has instilled fear in them."

Zhao Tanyue nodded.

"Then let's go with the flow. Put aside the matter of the secret letter for now. Find Master Cen or something, and focus all your energy on my case. This will lull the enemy into a false sense of security."

"I'll take charge of things here in prison."

Zhao Tanyue nodded, her expression grave: "Young Master Li, I have searched the prison many times, but I still haven't found any clues. Now the Qingtian Ceremony is just a few days away..."

Extremely urgent!

Even with Li Lan's exceptional intelligence, could he possibly find the enemies hidden among the prisoners in just a few days?