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

After hearing this, Qin Yunhe lowered his head and began to think about the whole story.

Li Chang took the letter from the messenger and asked the messenger to go first.

"I guess Pan Qing has some connection with these robbers. Why don't we call Luo Awu and others to ask them first?"

Qin Yunhe frowned and thought for a long time, then nodded: "Okay. I'll call them in for questioning after I finish reading Magistrate Zhao's letter."

Even though it was just a letter, the magistrate of Pingle County was still as cordial as ever, as if he and Qin Yunhe really hit it off since their first meeting.

Speaking of Luo Awu and Luo's Butcher Shop, County Magistrate Zhao said that although he had worked in Taxkorgan County, he had never heard of this butcher shop.

There are many butcher shops there, so it's normal that you haven't heard of it.

Speaking of the bandits over there, County Magistrate Zhao complained bitterly.

It is said that there are many mountains over there and bandits are rampant. Sometimes the government offices have to show some courtesy to them in order to gain a little peace on the ground.

Sometimes when there was a conflict between several factions, he could only pretend not to know and dared not get involved.

I finally found a county magistrate named Zhao who had worked in Taxkorgan County, but I didn't expect to get any useful information at all.

Qin Yunhe was a little disappointed and had to order his men to bring Asong over.

Asong was beaten with many boards and was still wailing when he was dragged up.

"Where is Pan Qing, the leader of Pingle County, now?"

Now that he was not sure about the relationship between Pan Qingyu and the others, Qin Yunhe did not dare to ask directly.

Ah Song fell to the ground and trembled: "Sir, what do you mean? What Pan Qing?"

Qin Yunhe slammed the gavel, which scared Asong.

"How dare you fool around? Someone saw Luo Awu go to Pan Qing, and you claimed you didn't know?"

"Sir, I, I..." Finally, he said, "Sir, I don't know where Pan Qing is either."

"What is your relationship with him?"

"What's the relationship? We just got here and are here to take care of the ground..."

"Nonsense! Since you claim that you just came here begging and couldn't make a living so you turned to robbery, where did you get the money to settle the matter?"

Asong panicked immediately, trying desperately to find an excuse: "Sir, we...we..."

"Are you the bandits from Qushan before?"

Qin Yunhe was caught off guard by this sentence, and Asong fell to the ground and kowtowed, tears streaming down his face: "Please spare my life, please spare my life. I am really just a small fry, I didn't do anything..."

"Tell me the truth about how you got here."

"Sir, A-Bo and I were indeed kidnapped and taken to the mountain stronghold. Our stronghold was defeated in a conflict with another stronghold, so we had no choice but to come here. I didn't want to come at first, but the boss said that you either follow us or die, so I had no choice but to follow."

"Why did you have to come here thousands of miles away?"

If the conflict was really lost, shouldn't we find another hill nearby?

"Because, because of Pan Qing," Asong looked up at Qin Yunhe and said after hesitating for a while, "Because Pan Qing and our boss are brothers..."

"What?! The boss you are talking about is Luo Awu?"

At this point, Asong seemed to have let it go and said, "It's not Luo Awu, it's Pan Awu. Luo Awu is just a fabrication by him. Our boss's name is Pan Awu..."

Qin Yunhe was so shocked that he couldn't speak. After a while, he said, "So who is Pan Qing? Is he Pan Alu or Pan Aze?"

"Your Excellency, Pan Qing is Pan Alu, and the magistrate of Pingle County is Pan Aze..."

"So Magistrate Zhao... also knows you?"

"Well... I guess he knows us. We haven't had any direct contact with Magistrate Zhao. At that time, Pan Qing was the foreman of the county government in Tashi County. With him around, the government turned a blind eye to us.

Later, Pan Qing was about to follow the magistrate to take up his post here, and we were defeated. Our leader heard that this place was rich and the people were docile, so he said he would escort them all the way here and set up camp here.

The county magistrate already has his own team, and we won't have much contact with him if we follow him. Anyway, it's easy and we can get money, so it's not bad to come all the way here."

Asong had finished his story, but Qin Yunhe was still shocked by the news that an official from the imperial court was involved.

"How many of you are here?"

"There are 32 of us from the village. The soldiers dispersed us when they went to suppress the bandits. There are only five of us here."

"Then why did Pan Qing disappear?"

"Pan Qing would sometimes come up the mountain to play with us. That day, we happened to see a carriage passing by at the foot of the mountain, and it looked like there was some money to be made. Pan Qing was so excited that he wanted to go with us. But we ran into soldiers suppressing bandits, and we were scattered and fled. Although we were all masked, Pan Qing was shot by an arrow while escaping, so it must have been inconvenient for him to go back to the county government office, so he had to hide."

Qin Yunhe's face darkened as he asked, "You have occupied Qushan Mountain for the past few years and plundered countless people. Have you ever lost a life?"

Asong's eyes began to evade again.

Qin Yunhe already had the answer in his mind. Seeing his evasive gaze, he became furious and slammed the gavel: "Tell the truth!"

Ah Song was startled and stuttered, "Sir, I have never killed anyone. I just followed them out of helplessness, just to show off my strength."

"I asked you if you have ever hurt anyone?"

"He, they have been hurt, but I have not. My Lord, please have mercy on me. I really have never hurt anyone... I am just a filler, and I don't get much from the spoils on weekdays. My Lord, please spare my life..."

Although Qin Yunhe had figured out the key, he still asked, "There have been no reports of casualties from robberies in recent years, but was it suppressed by Pingle County?"

Ah Song hesitated for a while and said, "I guess so. I don't know the specific situation..."

Qin Yunhe asked someone to take Asong away first and not try the rest of the people for the time being.

When the case reached this point, Qin Yunhe knew that he could no longer make the decision on his own. He had to go to the prefect to report the case and discuss reporting it to the Censorate and arresting the magistrate of Pingle.

Before, I asked Zhao Da and others to go to Pingle County to post notices, and wrote a letter to the Pingle County Magistrate to inquire about the situation. I don’t know if I alarmed him. If he ran away, I really don’t know where to find him.

Qin Yunhe was extremely confused and immediately got up and rushed to the prefectural government office.