At the beginning, Qin Tai had some arrangements for Xiao Lingzi, wanting Xiao Lingzi to exercise by his side for a few more years, and then go home to recognize his relatives. After becoming the second young master of the Qin family, Xiao Lingzi participated in a series of imperial examinations while studying at home. With the change of identity and experience, after Xiao Lingzi enters the officialdom in the future, he can directly serve as a technical official like Qin Tai, or he can serve as a local official and rise all the way. Xiao Lingzi also knew this plan, so he worked hard to learn all kinds of cultural knowledge taught by the old drunkard master.

But then the situation changed, mainly because Qin Tai completely offended the high-level and the inner court. Qin Tai's desperate behavior of offending the upper officials by acting for the people has won the support of a large number of ordinary people, but it has also ruined Qin Tai's future. Whether it is the high-level cabinet or Jinyiwei, Dongchang, and the celebrant supervisor, almost all of them are eager to bite Qin Tai to death. Later, even Emperor Jiajing was offended, and Qin Tai blocked his own future. In this case, not only Qin Tai has no future, but even the people around him will not have a good time. Although Qin Tai has escaped several assassinations and assassinations, his safety is not safe. Just when Qin Tai was about to fight the enemy completely, Qin Tai decided to let Xiao Lingzi leave him.

Although Qin Tai was very reluctant to let Xiao Lingzi leave him, although he would lose part of his strength if he let Xiao Lingzi leave him at this time, Qin Tai still decided to let Xiao Lingzi go for the sake of Xiao Lingzi's future. Xiao Lingzi was reluctant to leave Qin Tai, and Qin Tai finally lost his temper and took out the identity of the master to force Xiao Lingzi to leave. Zhan Xiaoxiao and the old drunkard master privately persuaded Xiao Lingzi, and Xiao Lingzi agreed to leave Qin Tai temporarily. Xiao Lingzi said back then that he must return to Qin Tai again in the future, even if he is a slave by Qin Tai's side, it is better than being a big official.

Qin Tai didn't just drive Xiao Lingzi away, but pointed out a direction for Xiao Lingzi. Although the officialdom was dark at that time, not all places were like this. At that time, in addition to Qin Tai and Qin Qingtian, who dared to act and dare to oppose the high-level, there were also several good officials in the local area. Among them, there is a magistrate named Duan Xingao, who is favored by Qin Tai. Qin Tai asked Xiao Lingzi to go to Hubei to take refuge in this county called Duan Xingao, and Qin Tai personally wrote a letter to Duan Xingao. Although Qin Tai and Duan Xingao had never met, although the two had almost no relationship, Qin Tai felt that Duan Xingao would take in Xiao Lingzi.

Duan Xingao, a native of Dali, Yunnan, of the Bai nationality, was thirty-eight years old at the time. He was one of the few ethnic minority officials in the Damin officialdom at that time. Duan Xingao is famous because of three things, because these three things make Duan Xingao famous in officialdom. First, because he is from an ethnic minority. He is not from the Han and even less from the Central Plains, so it is not easy for him to pass the imperial examinations. As early as the period of Ming Xiaozong, the imperial court began to allow the common people of these ethnic minorities to participate in the imperial examination in order to sinicize the people of the ethnic minorities in the border areas. However, at that time, there were not many ethnic minorities who could understand Chinese and read Chinese characters, so it was impossible for any ethnic minorities to appear. Duan Xingao was the first person in the entire Bai tribe to be appointed as an official by the imperial court after passing the imperial examinations. This first made him famous in his hometown, and the people in his hometown regarded him as the pride of his hometown. is also because of this reason, Duan Xingao is not easy to mix in officialdom, and lacks the support and help of his peers, classmates, etc.

Second, Duan Xingao has a nickname called "Barefoot County Order". He was the only magistrate in the Ming Dynasty who took office, and he was also the only court official in the Ming Dynasty who was driven out of the post office. Duan Xingao's family background is not good, and all the knowledge since he was a child has been "borrowed" by himself. At that time, the Bai people did not believe that studying could get ahead, and they were not willing to go out to work, so they only relied on the few lands in their families to live. Due to the lack of arable land and backward technology, the yield is not high. Duan Xingao's family only has one male laborer, Duan Xingao's father, but he has to support Duan Xingao's eight brothers and sisters, so the family can only live a half-fed life. Under this environment, it is impossible for Duan Xingao to have time to study, and it is impossible to afford to pay for Duan Xingao to go to school. But Duan Xingao likes to read very much, and he often hides outside the school and eavesdrops on the teachers of the school giving lessons to several noble children of the Bai clan. Later, when he learned some Chinese characters, he often borrowed books from some aristocratic children at the cost of working for nothing. But borrowing books to read is not the same thing, and it is impossible for Duan Xingao to remember all the knowledge points at once. It is impossible for the other party to lend him books all the time, at most he can only borrow Duan Xingao for one night. So Duan Xingao came up with a solution, which was to copy the book and learn it slowly by himself. Gradually, Duan Xingao found that copying books is a good way to not only familiarize himself with the content but also deepen his impression of the knowledge points. Since then, the Bai clan has one more young man who only borrows books and copies books and does not spend money to buy books, and he takes advantage of every opportunity to go into the city to sell things and go to bookstores to copy and read books. Later, although he got the care of an old gentleman and could read books for free to help Duan Xingao solve difficult problems, Duan Xingao still mainly relied on this to learn. After becoming an official, Duan Xingao did not immediately change his family's economic situation because he became an official. In order to take office, almost the whole family went out. Parents borrowed money for their children, and sisters solved the problem of clothes and shoes for Duan Xingao. Although more than ten pairs of straw sandals and two pairs of cloth shoes were made overnight, in the end, it was still not enough to wear a new height. When Duan Xingao came to the place where he took office, except for the two pairs of cloth shoes that Duan Xingao was reluctant to wear, all the straw shoes were "honorably laid off". That's why Duan Xingao took office with bare feet, and everyone called this Duan Xingao "barefoot county order".

Although Duan Xingao has not yet taken over as the magistrate, he already belongs to the ranks of current officials in the imperial court. According to the rules of the imperial court, Duan Xingao could live in the post station of the imperial court along the way, and he could save accommodation and food expenses. But because Duan Xingao was so poor, he didn't even have the money to buy or rent a livestock. So Duan Xingao walked to office in straw sandals, not like a scholar who went to be an official at all. Don't say that no one believes that he is an official, not even a scholar. So when he came to the post station and was about to go in, he was driven away by two post guards who did not know how to be polite. Although Duan Xingao has repeatedly stated that he is a former official, the other party still does not believe it. It wasn't until the post keeper at the post station heard the quarrel outside and came out and read Duan Xingao's appointment letter that Duan Xingao's identity was confirmed. Everyone thought it was incredible, how could there be such an official? His road to office is even more incredible than Hai Rui's road to office.

Third, Duan Xingao's style of doing things is special. Although Duan Xingao did not hate the rich like Hai Rui at the beginning, his actual case-handling style was very similar to Hai Rui. When Hai Jui was a local official, he had a habit that shocked the world. When the poor and the rich fight a lawsuit, the poor will win and the rich will lose. If the common people and the children of the official family fight a lawsuit, the common people will definitely win, and the children of the family will definitely lose. The usual routine has changed in Hai Jui, and everyone says that Hai Jui is a strange official. Although Duan Xingao would not do this explicitly, the conclusion was almost the same as Hai Rui's. Not only did he prohibit officials from collecting "tips," but he also did not allow them to learn about the lawsuit privately. All lawsuits need to be numbered, and Duan Xingao will personally handle the judgment. Duan Xingao stipulates that the case will be judged on a single number every month, and the case will be closed on both days, and the case will be accepted every day. In fact, the double number does not rest, Duan Xingao either goes down to investigate the people's situation or goes to make an unannounced visit. Almost all the cases are a bit biased towards the poor, the reason is that Duan Xingao is also from a poor background, and he is sorry for his conscience if he doesn't help the poor.

Duan Xingao's yamen has three regulations, first, no bribes and no "favor fees". Second, all cases need to be numbered, and they cannot be specialized. Third, the theory of unfair trial can be found at any time. As long as the other party is reasonable and has the law to follow, Duan Xingao can be allowed to re-judge the outcome of the case. Duan Xingao not only asked the people of the yamen to do this, but also took the lead in helping the people farm the land. Duan Xingao did not have "extra money", in order to support himself, he farmed and grew vegetables in the backyard of the yamen. Almost all of his money was brought back to his hometown for his younger siblings to study. Because he is an upright person and adjudicates cases fairly, he has taken the lead in doing a good job in the "relationship between cadres and the masses." Therefore, the common people are optimistic about him, but the yamen and superiors do not wait to see Duan Xingao. After the three-year term expired, the superiors gave Duan Xingao a neutral evaluation, which was equivalent to letting Duan Xingao go home and be unemployed. However, the local people did not let Duan Xingao leave, and everyone blocked outside Duan Xingao's yamen, so Duan Xingao must stay. In order to petition Duan Xingao, the common people jointly wrote a letter to the prefect's yamen and the governor's yamen, which finally left Duan Xingao. Duan Xingao was the third term, and the people didn't want Duan Xingao to leave, so Duan Xingao had to stay there.

Qin Tai asked Xiao Lingzi to take refuge in Duan Xingao, because Duan Xingao was innocent and capable, and because Duan Xingao would not discriminate against Xiao Lingzi. Duan Xingao, who is also from an ethnic minority, will not discriminate against Xiao Lingzi because of his Tatar status. Only then can Xiao Lingzi have a stable foothold and study with peace of mind. In order to let Duan Xingao leave Xiao Lingzi, Qin Tai personally wrote a letter to Duan Xingao. Qin Tai wrote in the letter about his admiration for Duan Xingao, and told Duan Xingao about Xiao Lingzi's life experience. He believed that Duan Xingao, who was also upright, would definitely care for Xiao Lingzi in the same way. As long as Duan Xingao is willing to keep Xiao Lingzi, Xiao Lingzi's ability will make Duan Xingao's heart move. As long as Duan Xingao is willing to stand up for Xiao Lingzi, Xiao Lingzi can have an identity certificate. An innocent identity certificate that seemed to have almost nothing to do with Qin Tai was too important for Xiao Lingzi.