Magistrate Shi nodded and said, "What Lord Xue Zheng says is true. It's my dereliction of duty for letting such an old stubborn man trouble you. I ask for your pardon, Lord Xue Zheng."
Academic Administrator Kong, being a third-rank official, outranked him, a fourth-rank magistrate, by two levels. Originally, after the examination results were released, it was his responsibility as the magistrate to host a banquet for the scholars to thank Academic Administrator Kong. However, because of the Tong family's matter, Magistrate Shi hadn't even had time to sleep, so he couldn't arrange the planned banquet, thus neglecting Academic Administrator Kong. Now, having to deal with such trivial matters really made him… Magistrate Shi secretly cursed Scholar Cao again.
