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

Gao Yuan could defend himself so calmly, probably because he was confident that he would not be able to accomplish anything given his background.

He had already passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, but no one had reported him before. It was highly likely that there was really nothing wrong with him, or at least no problems could be found.

It is indeed wrong to provide bail rashly, but as long as it is not intentional, you will generally not be punished.

As for the accusation of colluding with the magistrate, not to mention that Gao Yuan, an ordinary student, really did not have that ability, even if he did, he would not have to do so.

If it was necessary for Li Yun and Li Wei to buy the county notice, Gao Yuan was already a scholar, and there was really no need for him to do anything unnecessary and cause trouble.

Calm and eloquent, regardless of Gao Yuan's background, Qin Yunhe really admired him to some extent.

As for the accusations made by Lin Chan and others, Qin Yunhe basically believed what they said, but this did not mean that Li Yun and Li Wei must have had a sinister background.

This matter needs further verification.

If they really bring disaster to the village, then they should be punished.

But bringing disaster to the community is one thing, and one's origin is another.

"Mr. Lin, what evidence do you have to prove that Li Yun and Gao Yuan have unclear origins?"

"There are many elderly people in the county who can attest to my origins in the Li family. Sir, please come and ask and you will know."

Li Yun said quickly, "Sir, those old people only know that my great-uncle Li Chengwu was a police official, but they are not clear about the inheritance of my family. There is a family tree in the ancestral hall of the common people, and you will know at a glance that my grandfather is indeed Li Chengwen, not Li Chengwu."

Qin Yunhe looked at Gao Yuan again, but saw Gao Yuan looking at Li Yun thoughtfully.

"Gao Yuan, what about you? Do you have any evidence?"

Gao Yuan remained calm, as if these things had little to do with him.

"Your Excellency can send someone to Shengyuan's town to inquire. It should be easy to find out the descendants of the Gao family whose ancestors were magistrates. You can find out if you ask whether our two families are related or not, and what the relationship is. Our two families also have their own family tree, and you can ask someone to check it in detail."

Qin Yunhe nodded, he had the same idea.

"This matter still needs to be verified. You guys go back first. I will arrange for someone to go to your respective homes to get the family tree later."

Li Yun and Li Wei quickly accepted the order and left, but Gao Yuan hesitated for a moment before leaving.

After they left, Qin Yunhe said to Lin Chan and the others, "You should go back and reunite with your families first so that they can rest assured. I will call you to testify again after I have verified the facts."

Lin Chan and others also took their leave and turned to leave.

As soon as they went out, Qin Yunhe heard voices coming from outside.

"Gao Yuan, why are you still here?"

There was silence outside for a while before Gao Yuan's calm voice came: "I still have something to report to the inspector."

Qin Yunhe was a little surprised and said to He Sheng, "Go and see what Gao Yuan wants."

Outside, Lin Chan and others were on the verge of a fight, but Gao Yuan remained calm.

He Sheng said, "Mr. Gao, do you have anything else to ask the Master?"

"Yes, please let me know. I have something to say to the inspector alone."

Qin Yunhe raised his voice slightly: "Please ask Mr. Gao to come in."

Gao Yuan quickly followed He Sheng back into the room.

"Mr. Gao, do you have anything to say to me alone?"

“Sir, I just thought that family trees can be forged, and the Li family tree may not be true or may be difficult to use as evidence.

However, the inspector came suddenly, and the county magistrate may not think of changing the population register. It would be better for you to have someone check the population register from decades ago to see who Li Yun's father recorded as his ancestors. "

Qin Yunhe had never expected that Gao Yuan came back to give him advice on how to verify Li Yun's background. He was puzzled and asked, "Since you have guaranteed the Li Yun brothers, you must have some friendship with them. Why did you come back to say this?"

Gao Yuan's expression rarely fluctuated, but he quickly returned to normal: "I thought the insurance was just a normal thing at the time, and I really didn't think much about it. I didn't expect that things would become so out of control later.

It is simply horrifying that so many juren and scholars with honors were detained and tortured in prison.

It was at this time that I began to doubt whether the Li Yun brothers really had a bad background. After all, if they had a good background, the magistrate would only need to find out the truth. There was no need to disregard the law and take such a big risk to detain and interrogate the scholar.

I only hope to do my best to help the inspector find out the truth and atone for my crime."

A little atonement.

Qin Yunhe looked at Gao Yuan for a long while before he said, "Does Mr. Gao really know nothing about the background of Brother Li Yun?"

“Students really don’t know anything about this.”

Does Gao Yuan really not know the background of Li Yun brothers, or is he pretending not to know? In this matter, I'm afraid we can only listen to his one-sided story.

However, Qin Yunhe was indeed unwilling to ruin someone's future by rashly providing a guarantee.

Qin Yunhe asked: "How did Brother Li Yun find Mr. Gao to issue a guarantee?"

"Although the Li Yun brothers have no official title, their teacher is quite famous here, and sometimes he would invite some writers to form a literary gathering. One time, someone with the same case invited us to participate together, and we got to know each other since then.

Later, Li Yun and his brother invited me to play many times and visited my home several times, and we gradually became familiar with each other. Later, when they were going to take the county exam, I naturally became a guarantor for Li Yun. "

"Why don't they ask your co-defendant to post bail for them?"

"In fact, my partner in crime also gave them a guarantee. But his family background was impeccable, so Lin Chan and others did not report him. As for me, because there was a fellow in the same town with the same surname and my ancestors were from the same family, I was caught and reported together."

"I heard from Mr. Lin, Mr. Gu and others that these two brothers seem to be very domineering in the countryside. Since you are familiar with them, haven't you heard about their bullying of neighbors and tenants? Why did you guarantee such people?"

Speaking of this, Gao Yuan was silent for a while before he said, "Sir, how they treat their neighbors and tenants... I really don't know. But they are indeed generous and righteous to their friends, and I really don't see them being overbearing."

Being righteous...or generous?

Yes, it is also the custom of wealthy families with no family background to make friends with scholars. Since they want to make friends, their attitude towards them will naturally be different from that towards their neighbors and tenants.

But it’s probably impossible to say that I have never heard of such a thing.

I'm afraid that when making friends, people only think about the benefits they get, but don't care about how those who have nothing to do with them are treated.

Qin Yunhe didn't respond for a long time, and Gao Yuan, who had been calm all the time, finally began to feel uneasy.

"Sir, I was indeed not careful enough in this matter. After this incident, I am afraid that I have already been despised by the scholars in the countryside. If I lose my reputation because of this, even if I am allowed to take the exam again in the future, I am afraid that no one will be willing to guarantee me.

I hope you will be lenient to me because I have studied hard and provided evidence for you."

These sentences are much more candid than the previous ones.

Qin Yunhe looked at Gao Yuan, whose forehead was covered with sweat, and said, "Mr. Gao, go back first. We will talk about everything after we find out the truth."

Gao Yuan was obviously still a little uneasy, but he had no choice but to obey the order and leave.

After Gao Yuan left, Qin Yunhe immediately ordered Wang He to take a few clerks to look through the county's adult register.

He also instructed the officials to inform the relevant witnesses to appear in court the next day.