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

The next day, as expected, the village headmen from Chenzhengqian came to the office with relevant people.

Qin Yunhe looked at the case file at hand and ordered, "Please ask Li Siqi to come in first.

Li Siqi was the candidate who was reported to have an unclear background before the provincial examination last year.

Among these exam-cheating incidents, only this one occurred during Fu Qingyun's tenure.

After a while, a young man was brought in.

"I, Li Siqi, greet the Inspector General."

"No need to be polite, please take a seat first."

Qin Yunhe looked at Li Siqi. Although he had lost the qualification to take the exam, he could see that Li Siqi indeed had the bearing of a scholar.

"I was ordered to inspect various places and deal with cases of cheating in exams. I saw that you lost your qualification to take the exam last year because someone reported you. I called you here mainly to ask if you feel wronged by Magistrate Fu's decision? Or are you dissatisfied with anything?"

The young man blushed and said, "Your Excellency, I don't feel wronged, nor do I feel dissatisfied."

This young man is too thin-skinned. I just asked if he had any dissatisfaction, but why did he look a little embarrassed?

"Before the exam, did you know the origins of your ancestors?"

"Please forgive me, sir. Before the exam, I knew that my grandparents used to sing on the streets for a living. But they couldn't make ends meet. They sang on the streets for two years. They never followed a troupe to study and didn't become a citizen. We didn't know that this was considered as a pariah..."

Qin Yunhe always felt that losing the qualification for the imperial examination was the most regrettable thing.

Although it is a peaceful and prosperous time now, ordinary people are bound to encounter difficulties. They suddenly lose their livelihoods and just want to survive.

Except for the educated families, ordinary people don’t care about the difference between the lowly and the good people.

Even if they knew, they probably wouldn't have thought that he had only been singing for a few years to make a living, which meant he had become a slave.

"You have been designated as an untouchable. Do you want to appeal?"

Li Siqi was silent for a while, then shook his head: "I have nothing to appeal. There was a scholar in another county who was reported. His ancestors also sang for money but were not registered in the county register. He was designated as a pariah by the inspector. That's why the magistrate cancelled my qualification to take the exam.

In fact, I didn't know that my grandparents would be considered untouchables for singing for two years. I almost implicated the county magistrate. I am really ashamed."

"You don't blame me for being sentenced to pariah status by the magistrate?"

After studying hard for several years, can you be willing to accept failure at the last moment?

Li Siqi's eyes suddenly turned red, and he seemed really aggrieved: "When I was first reported, the magistrate visited many neighbors to prove that I was not a lowly person.

It just so happened that someone who used to sing with my grandparents in Lin County came to testify, and he insisted that although my grandparents were not registered, they sang for several years, which was no different from being naturalized..."

At this point, Li Siqi suddenly realized and quickly explained: "The magistrate did not visit the neighbors to make concessions. He just, he was not sure whether this was considered as untouchables... He just..."

Qin Yun was not afraid of encountering someone who was unreasonable, but he really didn't know how to deal with this kind of person who was too sensible.

Qin Yunhe waved his hand: "It's nothing. The magistrate should verify the facts repeatedly to avoid any injustice."

I guess Fu Qingyun also feels sorry for him.

Qin Yunhe felt sorry for him, but there was nothing he could do as it was not something he could decide.

After comforting Li Siqi with a few words, Qin Yunhe let him leave.

After that, there were several people in Nanping County who were suspected of cheating in the exam. He was the only one who was found not to be of lowly descent.

"Bring Chen Xiu and Zhou Defu in."

Chen Xiu was the whistleblower in this exam-fixing case. He reported Zhang Wei, a scholar, twice, but in the end Zhang Wei was recognized as a good citizen.

Zhou Defu is one of the witnesses in this case.

Chen Xiu and Zhou Defu were brought in quickly.

"I, Chen Xiu, greet the Inspector General."

"I, Zhou Defu, greet the inspector."

"No need to be polite, just sit down."

Chen Xiu looked to be less than 30 years old. Although he had no official title, he was dressed like a scholar, so he must be a scholar.

"Chen Xiu, are you a student?"

Chen Xiu was a little embarrassed: "I only passed the county exam."

Qin Yunhe nodded and said, "I called you here to ask you about your report on the scholar Zhang Wei.

I see in the case file that you reported the case twice, but in the end, County Magistrate Fu still determined that Zhang Wei's family background was innocent. I would like to ask if you have any objection to this result?"

"The county magistrate has already made his decision, and I...have no objection."

Qin Yunhe raised his eyebrows. This... didn't sound like he had any objections.

"Then tell me what happened."

"Yes. I also heard it by accident when I went to a classmate's house. It is said that Mr. Zhang and Mr. Zhang, a wealthy man from Zhangjiazhuang, who lives dozens of miles away, are from the same clan. Their ancestors moved from there to the current village.

Zhangjiazhuang is also known as Zaojiazhuang. People in the county know that their ancestors started out as jailers. Since Zhang Wei is from the same clan as Zaojiazhuang, isn't his family also descendants of jailers? I heard that the court wanted to purge the scholars, so I reported it to the court to help relieve its worries."

Qin Yunhe smiled, what a good way to share the worries of the court.

Looking at Qin Yunhe's reaction, Chen Xiu probably felt that what he said was a little ridiculous. He suddenly felt guilty and stopped talking.

Zhou Defu, who was sitting next to him without saying a word, rested his hands on his legs and looked at Chen Xiu with a slightly frown.

"Sir, don't listen to his nonsense. He is just jealous that Zhang Wei passed the examination. He himself had a hard time passing the county examination."

Chen Xiu's face immediately turned red, and he said angrily: "Zhou Defu, stop talking nonsense! It is His Majesty's request that you not be a clean scholar. Now that I have heard about it, I naturally have the responsibility to report it."

"Come on, stop it. You're dragging His Majesty out here. Aren't you afraid that His Majesty will kill you? You and Zhang Wei have studied in the same school for many years. Don't you know his family background?

When Zhang Weizhong was a scholar, Mr. Zhang from Zhangjiazhuang wanted to be related to Zhang Wei, but was rejected by Zhang Wei. How could you not know this? But you said that they were related to the same clan. How shameless!

Chen Xiu became even more anxious. He glanced at Qin Yunhe in panic and spoke incoherently: "What are you talking about? How would I know about Lian Zong? Others said they are from the same clan..."

Zhou Defu ignored him and turned to Qin Yunhe, saying, "Sir, don't listen to his nonsense. My family has lived next to Zhang Wei's family for several generations, and I know his family best. His ancestral tomb is in our village, and everyone in the village knows it.

The one about Zaojiazhuang and Zhangjiazhuang, they just wanted to make friends with Awei because he saw that Awei passed the imperial examination, so they wanted to become relatives in the name of having the same surname.

Avi didn't know whether his family was a police official or something else. It wasn't that he looked down on his family background. He just felt that his family was poor and didn't want to associate with such a wealthy family, so he refused.

Fortunately, he refused. If he had agreed, Chen Xiu would have insisted on it.”

Zhou Defu glanced at Chen Xiu and said, "Fortunately, the magistrate was wise and did not listen to the little thief who wrongly accused A Wei."

Chen Xiu seemed to realize something and became even more panicked: "Zhou Defu, you, you don't talk nonsense, don't go too far!"

Judging from the reactions of these two people, there is something behind Zhou Defu's words.

Sure enough, Zhou Defu suddenly said, "Don't think I don't know that you stole Avi's poems and showed them off everywhere."

"You, you are talking nonsense. I did it when I went to Xishan for fun."

"I didn't say it was the Xishan one, how do you know that's the one I was talking about?"