Rebirth: From being expelled from the imperial court to becoming a high-ranking official

Qin Yunhe went to his teacher's house, wrote a visiting card and asked Bisong to deliver it.

Soon Bisong came back and said that the magistrate invited him to his house for a talk the next day.

On the second day, Qin Yunhe made careful preparations in advance, took some gifts, and got on his teacher's carriage to go to the county magistrate's mansion.

The magistrate Wei Chengji did not live in the county government office, but lived in a three-courtyard house in the city.

As soon as the carriage arrived at the Wei family's door, someone was already waiting there.

As soon as he saw Qin Yunhe's carriage arrive, a servant turned around and went in to report.

Another person who looked like a manager smiled and said, "Master Qin, right? Please come in. My master has been waiting for you for a long time."

Qin Yunhe got out of the car and followed. Not long after they entered the door, someone came out to greet them.

"Haha, but Lord Qin? I've heard of you for a long time."

Qin Yunhe had met Wei Chengji in his previous life.

Unfortunately, it was not when he wanted to seek justice for Yuru and his daughter, but when he was arrested after taking revenge.

By that time, he had already avenged his great hatred and was heartbroken. He just allowed himself to be arrested and sentenced without any resistance.

So even though I have seen it, I don’t have a deep impression of it.

Looking closely now, Wei Chengji is about 40 years old. Although he smiles warmly, his eyes look calm.

Qin Yunhe also hurriedly returned the greeting: "Excuse me, I'm sorry. I'd like to meet Master Wei. I should have come to visit a long time ago, but I just couldn't find the time."

Wei Chengji gestured to invite him and said, "Brother Qin is very busy and will not be available. I also thought that Brother Qin would not be free since he just returned home, so I did not dare to invite him rashly."

Qin Yunhe followed Wei Chengji's gesture and walked inside. Suddenly he saw clearly that the person standing behind Wei Chengji was Jin Biao.

Qin Yunhe looked at Jin Biao with mixed feelings. Some uncertainties were finally confirmed.

No wonder he had no way to report to the authorities in his previous life.

When Jin Biao saw Qin Yunhe looking at him, he also put on an elegant and friendly smile and said, "Jin Biao greets Lord Qin. It's been a long time since I last visited you. Lord Qin has been promoted again. Congratulations."

Qin Yunhe was now able to face Jin Biao with a normal expression, and he also bowed and said, "Mr. Jin, you are polite."

Wei Chengji smiled again and said, "What a coincidence! I am staying at Brother Jin's house, and you are an old acquaintance of Brother Jin. It is a good opportunity for us to get together today. It is lively and saves a lot of trouble."

Jin Biao said, "Master Wei, you are too polite. This is Master Wei's residence."

Then he said to Qin Yunhe: "Master Qin, please don't blame me for being rude. I heard that Master Qin returned home, and I also wanted to invite you to meet, but Brother Qin is really busy and has not been able to find time."

In fact, Qin Yunhe was not busy at all. He didn't want to see Jin Biao at all.

Jin Biao sent invitations twice, but he rejected them both times on the grounds that he was too busy.

The group went to a flower hall and sat down, and the servants served them tea.

"I heard that Master Qin studied under Mr. Gu?"

"Yes, my mentor is Mr. Gu. I just came from my teacher's house."

"Haha, then my dear brother and Mr. Gu, the co-magistrate, are brothers in the same school? Actually, Mr. Gu and I are of the same year, so if that's the case, you and I are brothers in the same school."

Qin Yunhe was pleasantly surprised and said, "So Brother Wei and Senior Brother Minqian are of the same age. I'm so sorry. You should call me Brother Xian."

"In fact, Qin came to visit me this time to express his gratitude. I left home on a pilgrimage, and it was thanks to Lord Wei's care that I was exempted from the river invasion fee for those few acres of land."

I don't know whether Wei Chengji knew that those acres of land were given to him by someone else, but he was obviously very happy that Qin Yunhe was so grateful.

"Haha, Brother Qin, there's no need to be polite. It's just a small matter. You and I are both in Xu Ning's mansion, and we will have a lot of things to take care of each other in the future."

Then he pretended to be frank and said, "To be honest, fortunately, Brother Qin's riverside land is only a few acres, so I can turn a blind eye to it. Otherwise, the law is there, and I dare not be partial to you."

Qin Yunhe thought, is he afraid that I won't know what's good for me and ask him to waive the other money for river invasion as well?

In fact, Qin Yunhe never dared to think that he had such a big face.

Qin Yunhe put on an interrogative posture and said bluntly: "Brother Wei, thank you very much for your kindness this time. I don't know much about the law, so I want to ask if this river beach land can continue to be cultivated in the future?"

Qin Yunhe naturally knew that the county had already issued a notice that this land would no longer be allowed to be cultivated.

But he was thinking that if he could convince Wei Chengji, although the money for river encroachment was inevitable, if the money was paid and the land could continue to be cultivated, it would also be possible to recover some losses for the villagers.

After all, the money has been collected, so whether the land is collected or not has little impact on Wei Chengji.

Everyone knows that although there is a river encroachment fee in the court, the river beach here does not fall within the scope of the river encroachment fee collection.

Especially since the river beach opened by the people here is quite far away from the new river channel. After all, if it is too close, it will be a loss if it is flooded by water.

The people were conscious enough not to intrude too much on the river.

What's more, the original official fields were all near the riverbank.

It depends on whether Wei Chengji is willing to grant this favor.

Wei Chengji was embarrassed when he heard this: "Brother Qin, there is really nothing we can do about this. The court's law is that if you occupy the river, you will be fined and your land will be confiscated. It is difficult for me to violate it."

This is because they have to establish this excuse and refuse to leave any handle for others.

After all, if they really occupy the river channel, we can no longer allow them to continue planting.

Qin Yunhe's heart sank.

This Wei Chengji is really cruel.

Not only do they want to collect money, but they also don't hesitate to force the people to death in order to justify themselves.

Qin Yunhe knew that Wei Chengji would never give in, so he said, "Haha, I am indeed foolish. I am ashamed to have such a lucky hope."

Wei Chengji smiled and comforted him: "It's okay, it's okay. You've just been appointed to an official position, so it's normal that you're not familiar with the laws. Don't blame yourself."

The two of them tacitly skipped over this topic.

Seeing that the two had almost finished talking, Jin Biao spoke up, "I heard from Lord Wei that Lord Qin was appointed as the magistrate of Xu Ning Mansion?"

"Exactly."

"I think it will be difficult for Lord Qin to find a place to stay there. I happen to have a house there. Although it is not big, it is quiet and elegant. If Lord Qin doesn't mind, why not stay there?"

"Mr. Jin is too polite. I can just stay in the inner court."

Not to mention that the gift Jin Biao gave was so valuable, he wouldn't even accept an ordinary gift.

"Master Qin, please don't be polite to me. The house is vacant. If Master Qin can move in, it will definitely be a great place to live."

Qin Yunhe didn't want to get entangled with him, so he said: "Qin is going to take up his post alone, so I don't have much space to live in. The inner court is enough."

Wei Chengji saw that Qin Yunhe did not want to accept the courtyard that Jin Biao had given him, so he said, "Brother Jin, Lord Qin has not yet arrived. Why are you in such a hurry? When he arrives, why don't you take him to see it yourself?"

After hearing what Wei Chengji said, Jin Biao no longer insisted.

A few people chatted for a while, and Qin Yunhe spoke again when he felt it was enough.

"Brother Wei, I have a request for you."

"Brother Qin, please tell me. If I can help you, I will never refuse."

Qin Yun said with embarrassment: "I have a neighbor in the village who really can't pay the river invasion fee this time. I saw him wearing a shackle and walking through the streets yesterday. He was really pitiful. I wonder if you can show some mercy..."

Before Wei Chengji could speak, Jin Biao said, "Master Qin, why should you be embarrassed? I will pay for whatever money your neighbor needs for river invasion. This way, neither you nor Master Wei will have to worry."

Qin Yunhe would certainly not let Jin Biao leave.

If he could, he would have done it. But if he did, what would happen to others? He couldn't do it for everyone.

"Mr. Jin is too polite. It's really unnecessary. My neighbor has indeed violated the law, and he should pay the river trespass fine. I just feel sorry for him, so I want Mr. Wei to be more lenient with him for a while."

Perhaps he was afraid that Qin Yunhe would be unhappy because he had not agreed to his request to continue farming, so Wei Chengji said immediately, "These are just small matters. At most, I can temporarily block them for him. What is the name of this neighbor, Brother Qin?"

Qin Yunhe quickly said, "His surname is Zhao, and everyone in the village calls him Zhuzi."

Wei Chengji immediately called someone in and gave orders to release Zhao Zhuzi immediately and allow him to wait another two months.

Qin Yunhe finally felt relieved. After all, this trip was not completely in vain. At least Zhuzi was able to escape temporarily.