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

As soon as the Li brothers left the City God Temple, they went to the county government office and went over the content of their interrogations with the county magistrate and others.

In the county government office, Tian Zongyao had just seen off the Li Yun brothers.

The chief clerk still held the same view as before: "...Sir, I think the inspector is just waiting for your opinion."

The magistrate pondered in silence, and was also hesitating whether to send the thing in his sleeve.

He still remembered clearly the unmoved look of the inspector on his first day. No matter how he looked at it, the inspector didn't seem like someone who could be easily moved.

Although he felt it was not easy to take out the things in his sleeves.

But the master just frowned and said nothing.

He was not sure at this moment that the inspector might not know anything else.

Lin Chan and others mentioned that the Li Yun brothers were causing trouble for the village, but it was obvious that the magistrate not only did not punish them, but also repeatedly protected the Li family and even easily sealed their names.

Wouldn't the inspector understand the secret between the Li family and the magistrate?

The chief clerk became even more anxious when he saw that the magistrate and the legal advisor were silent.

"Sir, in my opinion, if you want to go, you'd better go as soon as possible. The later you go, the more difficult it will be."

The chief clerk is more anxious than Tian Zongyao.

He relies on Tian Zongyao to support the county government. If Tian Zongyao falls, they, the monkeys, will not have an easy time either. However, Tian Zongyao has been hesitant.

The magistrate scratched his chin and looked at the legal advisor. The legal advisor frowned and thought for a moment, and finally said: "I still think it's best for you not to act rashly. Let's see how the inspector asks questions tomorrow..."

"Sir," the clerk from the case office rushed in, forgetting to shout, "The clerk who was with the inspector just now has taken people to the case office to look for the old year's register."

"Ouch!" The chief clerk finally realized, "That's right. Brother Li Yun is also stupid. What's the point of them changing the family tree? We still have the Ding book."

A few people were busy discussing how much the inspector knew, and did not think about whether the evidence so-called by the Li Yun brothers was rigorous or not.

The legal advisor and the magistrate were also panicked for a moment, but they soon reacted.

Tian Zongyao said unhappily: "Why bother with them now? They can't hide this matter anymore, so you should think about yourself."

The chief clerk finally reacted.

Indeed, they have protected and concealed the truth for so long, and they have done their best for the Li family. At this moment, I am not sure if I can survive, so how can I care about them?

"But, sir," the chief clerk thought of another question: "When the Li family's pedigree was changed when the pedigree was compiled last year, the new and old pedigrees would be inconsistent. What should I do if the inspector asks about it?"

The lawyer twirled his beard and smiled, "Isn't this a simple matter? The county magistrate didn't compile the register himself, so how would he know why it doesn't match?"

Tian Zongyao immediately understood what his master meant when he saw his pointed look in his eyes.

"Which clerk has the record of the official registration? Call him over."

Tian Zongyao and others called the clerk who had handled the Li family's servant register and explained everything to him.

Just as he finished explaining this, an official came with a message saying that the Inspector General wanted the Chief Clerk to come over.

Several people looked at each other and guessed that the inspector had discovered the problem with the land register. Fortunately, they had already told the clerk about it.

In the City God Temple, Qin Yunhe had already obtained the population register from decades ago.

Wang He and his clerks searched for the entire afternoon and finally found it among a pile of registers in the evening. They were exhausted when they returned.

Gao Yuan was right. They really had not thought of changing the records that were so old.

However, in the new Ding book compiled last year, the father and brother of Li Yun's father Li Qing were changed to Li Chengwen and Li Chengwen's son Li Jiang, etc.

"Master Hu, right? When I was looking up the Li family's register, I found that the genealogy in the register didn't match up. Can you tell me what's going on?"

Hu Zhubu quickly took it with a surprised look on his face: "It doesn't match? How could it not match? The new register was just revised last year."

Hu Zhubu took them with a serious look on his face and compared them carefully. The more he compared, the more he frowned. Finally, he put down the two books and said, "Sir, these books were revised only last year. If there was any tampering, it must have been done by someone in the yamen. Please allow me to check who had the tampering of these books."

Qin Yunhe didn't say anything and let the chief clerk leave in a hurry.

Soon, Chief Clerk Hu came in with a trembling clerk.

"I, Yang Quan, greet the Inspector General."

Qin Yunhe asked Hesheng to give last year's new member register to Yang Quan: "Take a look, was this register made by you?"

Yang Quan took it and took a look at it before saying, "Your Excellency, this register was indeed made by me."

"The names of Li Qing's father and brother in this register are inconsistent with those in the old register from decades ago. Take a look..."

"Please spare my life, sir!" Before Qin Yunhe could finish his question, the clerk suddenly kowtowed and said, "I was blinded by greed and changed the household register."

Qin Yunhe frowned.

He had to deny something like this at least. Why did he admit it before I even asked him?

"You admit that you changed it?"

"Yes, sir, I made the changes."

"Tell me about your process of changing the land register."

"Last year, when Mr. Li Yun was editing the household register, he found me and gave me a few taels of silver to ask me to make the changes."

"Li...Yun...asked you to change it?"

"Yes, sir. Master Li said that Lin Chan and others have been holding on to their unclean backgrounds, and they were afraid that it would delay the county government examination, so they gave me a few taels of silver and asked me to change the registration and change my background."

Qin Yunhe took a look at his chief clerk who was looking at him eagerly, and immediately understood that he was trying to sacrifice pawns to save the chariot.

Perhaps he had already realized that the background of Li Yun brothers could no longer be concealed, and seeing that Qin Yunhe had people look through the old year's census books, he was afraid that the fire would fall on him, so he found Yang Quan, the clerk, as a scapegoat.

Qin Yunhe leaned back in his chair and said, "Yang Quan, do you know what crime it is for a clerk to tamper with the household register?"

Yang Quan kowtowed again and again: "Please spare my life, sir. I still have parents to take care of at home. Please forgive me for my momentary confusion."

"Does anyone else in the yamen know that you tampered with the land register?"

"My Lord, this kind of thing must be kept secret. How could others know about it?"

"Yes," Qin Yunhe nodded and said, "Okay, you go down first. I'll call you back to testify tomorrow."

Yang Quan and Hu Zhubu did not expect the inspector to react so calmly. He neither got angry nor wanted to punish them. The two of them retreated in a daze.

The next day, in the lobby of the county government office, Qin Yunhe slammed the gavel and officially opened the court.

When everyone had gathered, Qin Yunhe looked at the Li Yun brothers who were waiting in the hall with the family tree in hand, full of confidence, and then looked at Yang Quan who was waiting on the side.

"Bold Li Yun, yesterday the county clerk Yang Quan reported that you bribed him to change the household register in order to conceal your background. Do you know your crime?!"