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

Qin Yunhe asked Hesheng to hire two servants and clean the official residence.

Then he packed up all the things in Guihua Lane, picked a good day, and moved everything there.

It took nearly a month for Zhuzi, Zhang San and Li Si to go to the capital with Yu Ru and her daughter and Li Chang's wife and children.

Qin Yunhe helped Yuru get out of the car and asked softly, "Are you exhausted from the journey?"

This journey is long. After more than ten days of walking, people and horses must be exhausted.

Although Yu Ru tried her best to hide her fatigue, Qin Yunhe could still tell at a glance that she was extremely tired.

Yuru shook her head: "I'm not tired, I've been sitting in the car, I'm just a little sleepy."

Ruyi then got out of the car by herself and said, "Mom, you're not tired, but I am. Dad, you don't know, I can't move or sleep well when I sit in the car."

Qin Yunhe looked at his daughter who had grown taller after not seeing her for a year and said with a smile, "Ruyi, you have worked hard. Come in with Daddy. I asked the kitchen to heat up the food. You and your mother can have a rest after you finish eating."

"Yeah, okay. I'm really hungry, and the food I had on the road wasn't good."

Qin Yunhe smiled and touched his daughter's head. He put one arm around his wife and held his daughter's hand with the other hand and walked inside.

The whole family entered the official residence in a lively manner.

After dinner, Ruyi went to sleep in the room prepared for her.

Yu Ru was not sleepy and was just chatting with Qin Yunhe.

"Have you been doing well in Kyoto this year? Mother is worried that you can't take care of yourself, so she keeps asking me to come over as soon as possible."

"I'm fine. Hesheng and Zhuzi are here. Is everything okay at home?"

"…..Our home is pretty good. My stepmother is very happy to see the new house built. She takes Zheng'erzhu and Kang'er to play together when she has nothing to do.

Changyu and Honger passed the county exam and are preparing for next year's exam at home. This time I have sorted out the financial strategies I made and want to bring them to you.

By the way, Mr. Gu gave Zhuzi two books and asked him to bring them to you, saying that you mentioned them before."

"Sir, do you still remember this? I just mentioned it casually."

He called Zhuzi over and asked, "How is the teacher?"

Zhuzi said: "Mr. Gu is in good health. I went back this time just in time for Master Gu to go home to arrange a marriage for his son, so I also wanted to say hello to Master..."

After a year of separation, they finally reunited. The couple talked about many family matters before they felt relieved.

On this day, Qin Yunhe was on duty as usual, reviewing the case files sent by the prefecture and county for review.

".…..Yang Yanxi was murdered in the field. There was a knife wound on his neck. The coroner found that it was caused by a sickle for harvesting wheat…"

"...Sun Maoxue, who has always been a troublemaker in the village..."

Qin Yunhe took the trial record and looked at it carefully.

The second trial on June:

A village neighbor: "…..My Lord, I did see Sun Maoxue holding a sickle that day and he said he was going to the field to harvest wheat. The next day I heard that Yang Yanxi had died..."

Magistrate of Maohe County: "...Sun Maoxue, do you have anything else to say?"

"Sir, I am innocent. I did go to the fields that day, but I just went to see if the wheat was ripe. If it was ripe, I would go to harvest it the next day. Not long after I arrived at the field, I felt a little hot and uncomfortable. At that time, Xu Er was passing by the village entrance and invited me to his home to have a drink of water and cool down..."

……

"Your Excellency, Sun Maoxue did go home with me to cool off that afternoon, and then sat for a long while before leaving."

"Did he go back to the fields?"

"I don't know about this."

……

June 16th trial:

"...Sun Maoxue, someone has proven that you returned to the land after leaving Xu Er's house. It is obvious that you killed Yang Yanxi again after returning. Do you still not plead guilty?"

"...I plead guilty...I left Xu Er's house and went to the field. I saw Yang Yanxi watching the wheat growing. I was dissatisfied with Yang Yanxi for driving the ridges into my field. I got angry and had a few words with him. Then I killed him..."

"Where's the murder weapon? Where did you hide it?"

"…The murder weapon, I threw it into the river."

"…Sun Maoxue, who intentionally killed someone due to a conflict, is to be sentenced to death with a pending sentence…"

Qin Yunhe read the case file again, and his brows furrowed more and more as he read.

"How, how?"

Qin Yunhe was watching intently when he suddenly heard someone calling him. He looked up and saw it was Censor Chen.

Censor Chen was standing in front of Qin Yunhe's case, stroking his beard and smiling, "Master Qin, what case are you investigating so intently? You didn't even respond when I called you several times."

"Oh, a case of intentional homicide. What can I do for you, Mr. Chen?"

"It's time for lunch—"

"Oh," Qin Yunhe looked at the copper pot and saw that it was almost noon. "I didn't pay attention to the time."

Censor Chen asked, "How come you found a case file with doubts?"

Qin Yunhe thought that Censor Chen was his senior and naturally more experienced than him, so he gave him a general account of the case.

Censor Chen stroked his beard and said, "When did Sun Maoxue get the sickle? Even if there was a quarrel between us before, he shouldn't get so angry for no reason. He should also ask how the quarrel started this time.

...If the murder weapon is thrown into the river, doesn't that mean it can't be found?

And the confession on June 16th... it's a bit arbitrary..."

"Yeah, that's why I feel that the verdict in this case was a bit... hasty. After all, it's a human life."

"Since there are doubts, send it back for him to re-examine and supplement the files to explain the situation. Oh, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple will probably hold an autumn trial next month, so let them know as well."

Qin Yunhe nodded: "Okay, thank you for your advice, Master Chen."

"Okay, let's go eat first."

Qin Yunhe had dinner with Censor Chen, and when he came back he pointed out the suspicious points in the case and ordered the magistrate of Maohe County to re-examine the case and make sure it was accurate to avoid losing a life by mistake.

After the letter was sent, Qin Yunhe continued to review other cases.

In the past few months, Censor Tian Fen has been on tour in Henan Province. Wherever he went, he received many reports of people who had falsely claimed to be good citizens to take imperial examinations or pay donations. Some of them were true, and some were false. Tian Fen acted decisively and made decisions one by one.

Those who reported the false accusations have also been compiled into files, and a batch of them was just delivered recently.

Originally, Tian Fen was a patrolling censor, and he had made a judgment before. This case, which did not involve human life, did not need to be reviewed by other censors. But recently, a censor reported that if Mao Liang was found guilty, it would have a great impact on him and the people involved, so we should be extremely cautious.

Therefore, even if the case of Mao Liang has been reviewed by Censor Tian, ​​it will still be sent to several supervisory censors for re-examination.

On this day, it was another day off, but Qin Yunhe received an invitation. When he opened it, he found it was from Feng Baochu, inviting him to have tea together the next day.

Feng Baochu and Qin Yunhe were not very close now, but they still kept in touch. So although Qin Yunhe was a little surprised, he immediately told the servant who delivered the invitation that he would arrive on time.

The next day, Qin Yunhe went to the teahouse as agreed at the end of the Si hour.

The teahouse is not big, but it is quiet and elegant.

As soon as Feng Baochu saw Qin Yunhe, he bowed and greeted him with a smile: "Yunhe, thank you for your visit. I am sorry to see you. Please come in."

Qin Yunhe also bowed in return: "Brother Feng, you are too polite. Please come in."

The two of them exchanged politeness and entered the private room.

Qin Yunhe knew that Feng Baochu never liked to get straight to the point, so he sat down and took the initiative to ask, "Brother Feng, what can I do for you?"

"Haha," Feng Baochu also knew Qin Yunhe's temper, so he said, "Yunhe is too anxious, why don't you drink some water to moisten your throat first."

Qin Yunhe smiled and said, "Brother Feng, why should you be polite to me? Just tell me what you want me to do."

"Haha," Feng Baochu took a sip of tea and said, "I dare not give orders, but I heard that the various prefectures have been strictly investigating those who pretend to be good recently, so I want to ask what's going on."

Qin Yunhe suddenly remembered that Feng Baochu was from Henan.

Could it be that Feng Bao himself was involved, or that the students and candidates who had a good relationship with him, or even those who had acted as guarantors for each other, were involved?

"Because there was a student in Henan who pretended to be a good candidate for the imperial examination, a colleague from the Censorate carefully checked whether the students and tribute students in Henan in recent years had a clean background. As a result, he found several more who pretended to be good candidates for the imperial examination and donation, so he reported the situation to the emperor and explained the seriousness of the situation. At the beginning of the year, that colleague was sent to inspect Henan Province."

Feng Baochu naturally knew what Qin Yunhe said. After hearing him say it again, there was some anxiety in his eyes.

"Why? I'm not as familiar with the law as you are. I want to know how the status of a slave is defined. If the parents were forced to do a so-called slave job by chance, but it was not registered in the household register, can it be considered a slave? Will they be held accountable?"

This is really hard to say.

"Brother Feng, why don't you tell me in detail what's going on. Determining the status of a slave is a bit complicated. It depends on the situation and the place..."

What Qin Yunhe didn't say, it depends on who will make the decision...

Feng Baochu didn't beat around the bush and said, "This is what I saw. I have a case in the countryside. His mother is a famous midwife in our area.

About ten years ago, I was once ordered by the county magistrate to investigate adultery. As you know, such an assignment cannot be refused, especially since the county magistrate was a bit cruel, so it was impossible to refuse.

My mother, who was involved in the same case, had no other choice but to go, thinking that redressing the injustice for others would be a good deed, so she went. Later, the county magistrate sent her once more, so that was the total of two times.”

Lepai was sent to investigate adultery? How did this have anything to do with lowly occupations?

Feng Baochu continued, "Isn't this the imperial court's strict investigation of those who pretended to be good and took the exam? Everyone in the counties was worried about being implicated because they didn't discover it in advance, so they started a strict investigation before the inspector arrived.

Finally, someone mentioned that my mother, who was involved in the same case, had been raped and her condition was similar to that of a coroner. They said that although she was not included in the list of untouchables, she should still be considered an untouchable.

Qin Yunhe was also silent after hearing this.

Normally, midwives are considered a respected profession in the countryside, but they are responsible for detecting adultery...

The law certainly wouldn't state that this was a lowly occupation, but the argument that it was similar to that of a coroner would probably be accepted.

A few days ago, Qin Yunhe saw a man who was reported as a bad person for singing and dancing while playing the flower drum. He had only been singing for three or two years and was not a pariah. However, he was still judged to be a pariah because he had engaged in a pariah occupation...

When Feng Bao came out and saw Qin Yunhe deep in thought, he felt depressed.

"How?" Feng Baochu's tone was almost pleading, "Do you think there is any way... Is there any way to preserve his reputation? To be honest, my co-defendant is a first-class person in terms of character and talent. He himself never thought that he would be considered a pariah for such a reason.

And his mother, she has given birth to dozens of children in her lifetime, if not hundreds, and she is quite famous in our area.”

"How do you think it would be?" Feng Baochu said hesitantly, "Can you ask the inspector whether this kind of situation is considered pariah..."

Qin Yunhe had never seen Feng Bao speak in such a tone. Even when he was anxiously waiting for the position and asked him about someone's connections, he was not so anxious.

Qin Yunhe hesitated for a moment and asked, "Does your mother, who is involved in the same case, have a good reputation in the local area?"

"It's absolutely true!" Feng Baochu said quickly, "Not only the mother of my co-defendant, but also my co-defendant, is a gentleman in our area and is quite respected."

Qin Yunhe nodded and said, "If that's the case, I have a way. Maybe you can let your partner in crime try it."

Qin Yunhe didn't dare to ask the inspector. Given Censor Tian's personality, if Qin Yunhe asked, he would probably be impeached.

However, based on my recent experience of reading Mao Liang's case files, I can give Feng Bao some advice.

"If the mother of your co-defendant is indeed well-known in the local area, you can try to ask more neighbors to testify for her. I have recently seen several people who worked in lowly occupations but were not classified as lowly. It is really hard to make a conclusion about them. Their determination of good and low status tends to be based on the comments of the villagers.

If the mother of your co-defendant is indeed well-known in the local area, people will probably not think she is a coroner, but rather a midwife. As long as most people think she is a midwife, she will most likely be considered an innocent citizen. "

Feng Baochu was a little unconvinced and asked, "How can you take this seriously?"

Qin Yunhe nodded: "At least I have seen a few people who were accused of impersonating their nationality but were not identified as untouchables. Most of them were identified in this way. I think at least the inspectors are more accepting of this identification."

Qin Yunhe thought of Feng Baochu's usual style of doing things, and quickly added: "But if the neighbors really think that she is a midwife, don't think of buying her off with money. If they really do that, there will be no chance of turning around."

Feng Baochu immediately said, "Okay, I understand."

After hearing Qin Yunhe's suggestion, Feng Baochu was obviously relieved: "Yunhe, you have to have a solution."

Qin Yunhe said quickly: "It's not that I have a solution. You are innocent in the first place, so you can argue. Another thing is that whether it will work depends on what the local neighbors say."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that I discussed this with you. Whether it works or not, I will remember your kindness in my heart."

Feng Bao came out and bowed to show his gratitude.

"No, no, this is not a big favor, it's just an idea." Qin Yunhe thought for a moment and said, "Now all prefectures are strictly investigating those who pretend to be good, and I don't know if your county magistrate will not listen. If he really refuses to use the township evaluation as a basis, you can wait until the inspector comes and then ask him to make a judgment."

After hearing this, Feng Baochu stood up and bowed solemnly to express his gratitude.

----

Those who were identified as untouchables because they were forced to test for adultery and those who were identified as untouchables because they sang for money but were not classified as untouchables were all listed in the relevant examples.

As for determining whether someone is a good citizen based on the village’s evaluation, this is indeed a situation that exists.

But to be honest, in the cases I have seen, most of those who were accused of impersonating their nationality were considered to be of low status. Anyway, if there is a registered record, it will be based on the registered record, and if there is no registered record, it will be based on whether the person is engaged in a lowly occupation, and then the village will determine whether the person is engaged in that industry.

It feels like, since someone has reported you as a slut, you have to find a way to confirm it no matter what...

Speechless... Modern is better...