Decay of the major families (5)

Once he was done, Yang Qing went for the jade slips that were lined on his podium. They contained the testimonies of those who had witnessed what the eight Zhang clansmen before him had done. 

Unsurprisingly, those witnesses were all fellow soldiers, some even being their fellow clansmen. It was thanks to the efforts and close relation that some of the inquisitors of the Yellow Plains Branch had with those soldiers that they were willing to divulge such information.

If it wasn't that relation, they would have likely taken what they knew to the grave. However, their cooperation only went as far as written statements on the events they witnessed. Real-live testimonies were out of the equation for them. They still hoped to continue their duties at the border, and if it got out they reported their colleagues or clansmen for some, to the Order, they would never be trusted.