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

Qin Yunhe invited Zhao Qi into the room.

"Thank you Mr. Zhao for coming here at this hour to deliver the seal."

"You are too polite, sir. Actually, I am not here to give you a seal."

Zhao Qi took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and said with a slightly embarrassed look: "When the servants in my family were looking through old manuscripts, they found a redemption document. It turned out to be the redemption document of the Xu family. I thought that my fourth uncle would not have given a fake document to the adults out of confusion..."

Qin Yunhe raised his eyebrows in surprise and took the redemption document, wondering what the Zhao family was doing.

This redemption document looks to be quite old, two years older than Zhao Huan's.

Qin Yunhe lowered his eyes and looked for a while before looking up at Zhao Qi, who was a little nervous.

"Mr. Zhao, are you sure this ransom document is real?"

Now, Qin Yunhe was full of doubts about these redemption documents.

However, there was no need for the Zhao family to forge another fake document that was only a few years old to deceive him and increase suspicion.

Zhao Qi nodded quickly, "Sure, this was found in the old documents at home, along with many documents for the redemption of the family servants. If you don't believe it, you can find someone who knows about it to check it out."

I really don't know much about many matters in the clan. If I hadn't found this redemption document, I would never have thought that my fourth uncle would dare to give you a fake redemption document. As a junior, I feel ashamed for him."

With such an elder in the family and no other elders to help control the family, it is not easy for Zhao Qi to be the head of the family.

"Why did you send me the real one? If you didn't send it, I wouldn't be able to tell if it's real or not."

"Zhao Qi dare not deceive you, sir. I took the initiative to hand over the real one not out of public interest. I just hope that you will not blame my fourth uncle for not causing any trouble. It would be best if... this real one could replace the fake one, so that it won't be exposed in front of others, which would be embarrassing for my fourth uncle..."

"Hehe." Qin Yunhe looked at the document in his hand again, feeling a little complicated.

"Why don't you wait until the truth is revealed before bringing out the real thing? Although Zhao Huan was involved in forgery, it is true after all and it is not a false accusation. He will definitely be punished, but it will not affect the Zhao family."

Zhao Qi smiled helplessly: "If it was a younger generation in the family or even my peer, I would naturally wait until later to take it out. Just think of it as using your hand to teach the clan member a lesson, so that he can be more vigilant in the future.

But they are elders after all.

I deliberately didn't take it out to make him look bad. Internally, it would be disrespectful to the elders; externally, the oldest elder in the Zhao family would be punished, and the clan would be disgraced."

Maybe Qin Yunhe has never been the head of a family, so he doesn’t understand how difficult it is to be the head of a family.

It’s no wonder that Zhao Huancheng has this kind of temper. After all, there is always someone to cover for him.

However, as long as it does not affect the fairness of the case, there is room for compromise.

"Are you sure you want to use your copy to replace Zhao Huan's copy? I will definitely ask someone knowledgeable to check it when we go to court. If your copy is found to be fake, you will be the one to be punished."

Zhao Qi smiled bitterly and cupped his hands: "My Lord, please ask someone to check it. I guarantee that it is authentic. If there are any mistakes, Zhao Qi is willing to accept the punishment."

Qin Yunhe nodded. He also felt that there was no need for Zhao Qi to lie about this matter anymore.

"I agree to this. I will present this document as evidence when the court is in session. But you cannot take the one Zhao Huan provided with you."

"Sir, please..."

Qin Yunhe raised his hand to interrupt, "I will keep Zhao Huan's photo as a backup, but I won't show it in class."

Of course he could grant this degree of leniency, but he had to mention it on the mission list to prevent someone from making a fuss about it.

The next morning, in the lobby of Qi County government office, Qin Yunhe slammed the gavel and officially opened the court.

"Send Xu Zhao and Zhao Huan to the classroom."

Zhao Huan had been preparing for a long time. When he heard the summons, he went up to the hall confidently and bowed: "Student Zhao Huan greets the inspector."

Xu Zhao also kowtowed and said, "I, Xu Zhao, pay my respects to the Inspector General."

Qin Yunhe saw Zhao Huan's smug look and thought that Zhao Qi must have already told him that he had found the real document and had already explained everything.

Qin Yunhe shook his head in his heart, this Zhao Huan was really born with a good life.

Looking at Xu Zhao again, he probably still felt that his writing was flawless and was full of confidence.

Tian Fen only ordered Xu Zhao not to allow his sons and nephews to take the exam, but did not punish Xu Zhongzhong because he was young and ignorant and was instigated by his family. He must have felt sorry for Xu Zhongzhong's career because of his background.

Qin Yunhe asked Xu Zhao to stand up and answer.

"Xu Zhao, you claim that your great-grandfather has redeemed himself, but do you have any evidence?"

Xu Zhao was stunned: "Sir, I submitted a redemption document before."

Qin Yunhe actually didn't want to mention the redemption document.

Now that the facts are clear and the outcome has been decided, the most we can do is present the evidence to distinguish the true from the false and make a verdict.

If there is no document, at most it will be an unreasonable excuse and a few words of reprimand. If there is a document, it will be found to be forged, and the evidence is fabricated to fool the imperial envoy, and there is no way to escape punishment.

"There was an elderly witness who confirmed that your grandfather was once a servant of the Zhao family. He even saw your grandfather calling him Young Master Zhao Huan. If you don't have other evidence to prove that the witnesses lied or that your family had already redeemed you, then don't sue anymore."

Xu Zhao immediately looked suspicious, but Zhao Huan could no longer hold back his pride and said, "Sir, didn't Xu Zhao provide a document..."

With a bang of the gavel, Zhao Huan immediately stopped talking.

"In court, you are not allowed to speak without permission."

Although Zhao Huan did not make a false accusation, Qin Yunhe still felt a little angry when he saw his smug look.

The bang of the gavel stopped Zhao Huan's pride and also woke Xu Zhao up.

Xu Zhao looked at Qin Yunhe in disbelief.

He had not lived for more than forty years in vain. He immediately understood what was going on and his heart was pounding like a drum.

It was discovered. How could it be discovered?

He found an expert who was best at making old things look fake, so how could he be discovered?

He even showed it to people who knew the subject, and they all said they couldn't see any flaws.

Qin Yunhe knew from his expression that he couldn't understand how his documents were discovered.

And looking at his chest heaving and his eyes drifting to the ground, it was obvious that he was still unwilling to give in.

However, there is nothing I can do no matter how unwilling I am.

"Xu Zhao, do you have new evidence?"

Xu Zhao could only lower his head in despair and said, "No more."

Zhao Huan immediately regained his spirits, completely forgetting that he had just been stopped. "Sir! I have evidence. I submitted the Xu family's redemption document yesterday, proving that Xu Zhao's grandfather redeemed himself and returned him to the people more than 40 years ago."

Xu Mi immediately said, "Sir, I have witnesses. His redemption document is fake. It is forged. The Zhao family does not have a redemption document at all!"

Qin Yunhe finally understood why Xu Zhao was so confident.

It turned out that he also knew about Zhao Huan's forgery of documents.

Zhao Huan was even more proud, and he said, "Sir, I would like you to ask an expert to check the authenticity of the document."

Although Qin Yunhe failed to invite Mr. Chen, he also found other experts who were good at checking document manuscripts.

The expert took the redemption document brought by Zhao Qi and examined it carefully. He also compared it with the seals of other manuscripts provided by the Zhao family. After a long while, he said, "My lord, there is no trace of forgery in this document."

Xu Zhao said anxiously, "Sir, the Zhao family is powerful, this person must have been bribed by the Zhao family. I have also found an expert, please allow him to come to the classroom for inspection."

Qin Yunhe knew that he would not give up until he reached the Yellow River, so he said, "Okay, just ask him to come to the class."

Xu Zhao immediately turned around and told the servants guarding outside the hall: "Quick, ask Mr. Chen to come over."

Qin Yunhe was stunned. Could it be the Mr. Chen whom he failed to invite?

After a while, an old man in his sixties was invited to the hall and bowed: "Chen Fu greets you, sir."

It really is the Mr. Chen that I failed to invite.

This old man Chen was obviously a man of honor and old, so Qin Yunhe asked him to sit down.

"Mr. Chen, I have a document here. Please take a look at it."

Chen Fu did not dare to be arrogant. He thanked him and took the document to read it carefully. After just a few glances, he said, "My Lord, this document is no less than forty years old. It should be consistent with the time on the document."

"What?" Xu Zhao's eyes widened. "Mr. Chen, look carefully. How can this be true? You, you, you..."

Zhao Huan immediately said proudly: "Why can't it be true? Your ancestors were slaves of the Zhao family. No matter how you look at it, they are slaves."

"How is it possible? How is it possible? It must be fake."

Xu Zhao didn't care that he was in the lobby, he ran over to take the document and personally inspected it, from top to bottom, front and back, seals, handwriting...

Last time, Zhao Huan even called a bunch of old men to testify but still failed to produce the document. Xu Zhaoben was sure that the document was no longer there.

"There must be a flaw, there must be a flaw, how can it be true?"

Xu Zhao looked at it for a long time but couldn't figure it out. Suddenly he thought of something and shouted, "Old Hu, Old Hu, come here."

A person standing outside the hall looked at the inspector in the hall with a bitter face, not knowing whether he should go in.

Qin Yunhe waved his hand: "Come up to the hall."

Old Hu hurried to the classroom. Before he could salute Qin Yunhe, Xu Zhao immediately handed him the document: "Take a look, is this the one you made?"

Before Old Hu even took it and took a closer look, he knew that this was not the one he had made. He immediately said with some embarrassment and helplessness: "Master Xu, this is not the one..."

"How could it not be? Look carefully..."

Zhao Huan was even more proud now: "Take a closer look and see if your grandfather is a servant of my family. If you really want to be picky, your father was also considered a servant of my family when he was born, so I didn't bother with you..."

Zhao Huan looked like he deserved a beating, and Xu Zhao's eyes were bloodshot.

Qin Yunhe sighed and felt helpless in his heart, frowned and said: "Zhao Huan, shut up."

"Xu Zhao, do you have anything else to say?"

Xu Zhao had already lost his spirit at this time. After a long while, he wiped his face and said, "Sir, I have nothing to say."

Zhao Huan was very proud of himself. If he had not been stopped twice, he would have waved his fan and said something nonsense again.

"Okay." Qin Yunhe sat upright, slammed the gavel, and said, "Now there is solid evidence that Xu Zhao's grandfather was a slave of the Zhao family. Xu Zhao's sons and nephews cannot participate in the imperial examination. This matter has been settled, and no further lawsuits can be filed in the future."

Qin Yunhe ordered the others to step aside for the time being and summoned Zhang Yu and Wang Baoyou to the hall.

"Wang Baoyou, please tell me in detail what happened when Zhang Yu was sick and collected the money."

Wang Baoyou then recounted in detail how Zhang Yu fell ill, how seriously ill he was, how he was later unable to buy medicine, how Xu Zhongqi gave him silver, how Zhang's mother promised to pay back the money, and how Zhang Yu wanted to write a promissory note.

"Are you sure that Zhang Yuzeng said he would write a promissory note and that Zhang's mother also promised to pay back the money, right?"

Wang Baoyou nodded quickly, "Your Excellency, I am sure. Zhang Yu's mother wanted to refuse at first, but later she accepted it because she really had no money. However, she immediately said that she would definitely pay it back. Zhang Yu was weak at the time, but he also said that he would write a promissory note."

Qin Yunhe then summoned Xu Zhongzhong to the classroom.

Xu Zhongqi was only eighteen or nineteen years old, looked handsome and quiet, and did not look much like his father Xu Zhao.

"Xu Qizhong, do you still remember the day when you gave money to Zhang Yu?"