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

Abbot Jiming is quite prestigious in the local area and he is a Buddhist monk, so there is really no need for him to give false testimony on behalf of the Han side.

Seeing that Liu Mao didn't say anything, Qin Yunhe turned to the gentry on both sides.

"Everyone, I ask you to come here today to witness and judge publicly because someone has used the incident in the county regarding Han Lin's family background to instigate the students and tongsheng to boycott the examination."

The expressions of the gentry who knew about this were somewhat confused, while those who didn't know about this inevitably looked somewhat shocked.

Qin Yunhe continued, "The imperial examination is a serious matter, and I have to handle it carefully. Previously, the village elders, village heads, and neighbors who stood up to testify about whether Han Fang was adopted were considered insufficient evidence by Liu Xiucai.

I had no choice but to invite the funeral shop owner and Abbot Jiming to testify. But I think you should still listen to the previous witnesses' testimonies."

Qin Yunhe asked the funeral shop owner and Abbot Jiming to leave, and asked someone to summon the village head, village elders and all the neighbors to come to the hall.

"Hu Xiaoyi, tell me again how you determined that Han Fang was adopted and the origin of the purple clay teapot in your hand. Please make a fair judgment, gentlemen present here and the people outside the court."

"Yes, sir. More than a decade ago, the county magistrate asked me to come and ask if Han Yang had ever worked as a police official, and if Han Fang had been adopted.

I said at the time that Han Yang had indeed worked as a police officer. As for whether Han Fang was adopted, I don't know the situation, but I seem to have heard Han Fang call Han Ting "Daddy" before, and he changed it in recent years.

Unexpectedly, the county magistrate did not ask anyone else and directly decided that Han Fang was not adopted, but the son of a police official, and was not allowed to take part in the county examination.

Later, I watched Han Fang take care of Han Ting until his death, and then I was sure that he was indeed adopted by Han Ting. This is why this testimony is different from that of more than ten years ago.

As for the purple clay teapot in my hand, it was the one that Han Yang used to play with when I attended a wedding banquet and told people about it.

Unexpectedly, Han Yang's son Han Cheng was also there, holding the pot in his hand. He casually gave the purple clay pot to me.

I just said it on impulse, and Han Cheng just helped me, it was not intentional. And that was many years ago, and it was impossible for me to think that Han Lin would take the exam later. "

After the village elder Hu Xiaoyi finished speaking, the village head began to tell his story.

The village head admitted that he and Han Fang were childhood friends, but he swore that he was present when Han Fang was adopted as a child, and he also heard Han Fang change his words and call his biological father his second uncle.

The neighbors told the story of how the Han side wore mourning clothes for Han Ting's funeral, how they beat banners and broke basins, and how they observed mourning and offered sacrifices.

After everyone had finished speaking, Qin Yunhe turned to the gentry.

"Everyone, now that the witnesses have basically finished their stories, I wonder what you think about the fact that Han Fang has already adopted the child."

After listening to the whole story and the witnesses' statements, several gentlemen nodded silently, as if they had already made up their minds; some seemed to be in deep thought, as if they still had doubts; and some whispered a few words to each other.

However, since this was a court, it was not convenient to let the inspector wait for a long time, so someone spoke first soon.

"Sir, from what I heard, Han Fang has indeed been adopted and should be considered a good citizen." The one who spoke was Mr. Pan, who arrived first.

Several others nodded in agreement.

In fact, not every gentry cared so much about whether Han Fang was a good citizen or not. They cared more about the fact that they were invited to bear witness.

However, there are indeed some gentry who care very much about it.

A gentleman named Wang seemed to be a little hesitant and said, "Sir, I think it depends on the specific time of Han Fang's adoption, whether it was before or after Han Yang became a police official.

If Han Fang adopted the child after Han Yang became a police official, it would inevitably be suspected that he was using adoption to help his descendants escape from the status of a lowly person. If this is true, once this precedent is set, others will follow suit, and wouldn’t the hierarchy of the noble and the lowly be in chaos? "

Another Li Shishen also echoed, "Your Excellency the Inspector, I also agree with Brother Wang's opinion. Especially the fact that the clerks' register was privately altered is really strange. If this matter is not investigated, people will still doubt the authenticity of the Han family's adoption."

Qin Yunhe nodded and said, "The county's records are of great importance. I will naturally investigate the private modification. Come, summon Xue Hai to the hall."

Soon the former clerk Xue Hai was brought to the court.

Qin Yunhe said: "Xue Hai, tell us again what happened when you saw the list of police officers being altered."

"Yes, sir. It was about eighteen years ago, when I was still an apprentice to my master Liu Shuli. One day at noon, I saw my master quietly taking out a page from the household registration book and replacing it with a new one. I asked my master why he wanted to replace it, and he said that Han Fang, the son of Mr. Han Yang in Chun'an Town, was going to take the imperial examination, so he paid him to change the clerk's book.

At that time, I thought the book was of great importance, so I secretly hid that page.

Last year, when the county magistrate wanted to check the list of clerks, I thought it was time to take it out, so I gave it to the county magistrate. But the county magistrate tore it up without even looking at it. Later, he found a mistake and fired me.

This time, not only were there more people present, but there were also some prominent local gentry present, which made Magistrate Lu even more furious.

"That's nonsense! I have never seen any album! You are just holding a grudge against me because you lost your job, so you are making random accusations and blaming me for it!"

"Since the adults have torn it up, they can say whatever they want."

County Magistrate Lu wanted to argue again but was stopped by Qin Yunhe: "County Magistrate Lu, please be patient. Xue Hai, are you sure that there is really that page of manuscript and it was torn up by the county magistrate?"

"Sir, I am sure!"

Qin Yunhe handed the book to the servant and asked him to show it to the gentry present.

"This is the clerk book from more than 30 years ago. I and the other clerks have looked through it many times but cannot find any trace of tampering.

I have asked many experienced clerks, and generally speaking, no matter whether these old books are replaced or revised, it is impossible for them to be perfect, and some traces can be seen.

Eighteen years ago, this booklet was already more than ten years old, yet no one could detect even a trace of alteration.

I also asked the clerks and yamen runners who had worked with Xue Hai's master in the past, and they all said that Xue Hai's master did have a unique skill in imitating handwriting, but they had never heard of him replacing pages without leaving any traces. "

Xue Hai said: "Sir, my master certainly doesn't dare to let others know about this unique skill. If they knew, wouldn't the county magistrate be suspicious?"

Qin Yunhe said: "Then I guess you have learned a thing or two about this unique skill?"

Xue Hai said quickly: "My Lord, Master always keeps some tricks to himself when teaching others. Master never taught me such a unique skill. Even if Master is willing to teach me, I dare not learn it."

He was really sure that his master would not speak in his defense, so he let him say whatever he wanted.

"Come here, please bring up the clerk and police officer who used to work with Han Yang."