Judge of the Song Dynasty

As things stood, all that was left to do was a showdown between the parties.

Lu Gongzhu sent someone to inform Wang Wenshan that if he wanted to sue Zhang Fei, he must face him in court.

After all, neither of you could produce evidence.

If this wasn’t done, the Kaifeng Prefectural Office might end up being blamed.

Lu Gongzhu naturally didn’t want his reputation ruined by these two.

Although he was displeased with Zhang Fei, he also believed that at this point, Wang Wenshan had an undeniable responsibility. If it were Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, or other upright ministers, who encountered such a situation with their family members, they would certainly try to avoid suspicion. So they would not actively seek Zhang Fei out?

Wang Wenshan quickly agreed and even insisted on facing Zhang Fei in court.

The atmosphere had already been set. If one retreated half a step, it would be a sign of guilt.

Crucially, he didn’t believe that Zhang Fei had evidence, so he wasn’t afraid at all.

Both sides were extremely firm. Straight to the climax!

News of this spread like wildfire throughout the city.

The commoners were eagerly anticipating the unfolding drama.

This matter had been dragging on for so long, it needed a big conclusion!

To leave it unfinished would be unsatisfactory.

Meanwhile, Wang Wenshan complained to his fellow officials, stating that he had been extorted by Zhang Fei. But he had believed his nephew was at fault first, so he had chosen to compromise, and he didn’t expect such a result.

In terms of the outcome, Wang Wenshan’s words were certainly more believable.

After all, the amount of compensation in the case of Li Si set a record in moneylending circles.

To most people, this was very unreasonable.

They also didn’t understand why Wang Wenshan agreed.

It should be noted that most officials in the imperial court supported Wang Wenshan. Even if Wang Wenshan ordered Zhang Fei to be beaten up, they would see it as justified.

This kid was truly despicable. Last time, he was taught a lesson, but he didn’t repent. He even drummed up a housing loan plan, causing many officials to suffer losses, and even benefiting that dreaded Wang Anshi.

And now, some neutral officials were also beginning to lean towards Wang Wenshan, thinking that the likelihood of Zhang Fei had committed extortion was higher.

Of course, this matter also alarmed Emperor Zhao Xu.

On the matter of housing prices, Emperor Zhao Xu ultimately adopted Zhang Fei’s suggestion, showing that he highly admired Zhang Fei.

He quickly summoned Xu Zun to inquire about the case.

“So that’s how it is!”

Emperor Zhao Xu nodded and continued, “But does he have any evidence to prove it?”

Xu Zun remained silent for a moment and truthfully replied, “From what I know, he… he probably doesn’t have solid evidence.”

Emperor Zhao Xu immediately said, “In that case, why didn’t you stop him? This is clearly an impulsive act. You should have informed me first, and I would have helped him!”

Xu Zun said, “I did advise him, but he seems very confident. And based on his previous behavior, he often has hidden tricks up his sleeves, so I think he must have a way.”

Emperor Zhao Xu frowned and said, “But now that this matter is getting bigger and bigger, if he loses, it would not be easy for me to protect him!”

The Ayun case involved a simple commoner woman from Dengzhou, and yet his judgment was rejected by the officials. This showed that the Emperor could not easily shield someone from the consequences of the judicial process.

Xu Zun felt relieved after hearing this. Saying that it would not be ‘easy’ meant that it was still possible. He hurriedly said, “Your Majesty, please rest assured. Based on my understanding of him, he is very cautious and wouldn’t act impulsively.”

Emperor Zhao Xu nodded and said, “Let’s hope so!”

…

Lu Gongzhu didn’t want to use this matter to attract more attention to the Kaifeng Prefectural Office, so he didn’t delay matters. Instead, he chose to start the trial immediately.

He hoped for a swift resolution.

This case was also very simple; it was about who could produce sufficient evidence to prove their honesty, and who was lying.

Anyway, one of them was definitely lying.

Nevertheless, the number of people who came to observe the trial in the Kaifeng Prefectural Office set a new record.

Although the Song Dynasty allowed commoners to sue officials, there had never been a case of an official and a commoner facing off in open court. Generally, it would be a battle of complaint documents, and at most, there would be a closed-door investigation and trial.

Since Zhang Fei’s arrival, facing off in open court seemed to become increasingly common.

A carriage slowly arrived at the gate of the Kaifeng Prefectural Office, and Wang Wenshan and Chen Yu got out of the carriage.

“Director Wang!”

“Brother Wang!”

Many officials immediately came forward.

“Director Wang, this time you can’t afford to be lenient anymore. You must punish that unruly commoner properly.”

“That’s right! How dare this unruly commoner extort an official! We can’t let this behavior continue!”

“Brother Wang, we all support you. If that troublemaker can’t produce evidence today, and if the Kaifeng Prefectural Office doesn’t immediately punish him severely, we will petition His Majesty. The responsibility lies heavily with the Kaifeng Prefectural Office for letting this troublemaker reach this point.”

…

A large group of officials surrounded Wang Wenshan, giving him words of encouragement and support.

Despite Zhang Fei being just an ordinary commoner, the amount of hatred he garnered in the imperial court was no less than Wang Anshi’s. These old gentlemen really didn’t like this guy.

He was too arrogant!

He didn’t take them, these old gentlemen, seriously at all.

The key issue here involved class.

If Wang Wenshan won this time in court, he must completely destroy this guy, Zhang Fei, and never give him a chance to turn things around again.

“Thank you all for coming to support me despite your busy schedules. I’m truly…”

Towards the end, Wang Wenshan choked up and couldn’t speak anymore.

Seeing this, the officials became even more angry. Look at what this situation had reduced Director Wang to!

It’s unacceptable.

At this moment, three elderly men walked over. They were Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, and Chen Shengzhi.

Chen Shengzhi looked at Wang Wenshan, who was surrounded by a crowd, then turned to Wang Anshi and Sima Guang. “Who do you think will win this lawsuit?”

Sima Guang shook his head and said, “It’s hard to say! From the information we currently have, that guy probably doesn’t have solid evidence, so that’s why he’s demanding a court trial. It’s his usual trick.”

Wang Anshi, hearing the hidden meaning in Sima Guang’s words, chuckled. “It seems like you’re still brooding over the Ayun case from last time!”

Sima Guang glanced at Wang Anshi. “Do you not know how he truly won that time?”

Wang Anshi laughed heartily, then said, “You lost, just admit it. You shouldn’t shift the blame onto others. That is not the behavior of a gentleman.”

Sima Guang was annoyed, but he had to admit it.

In that courtroom trial, he did indeed lose.

Suddenly, someone shouted, “Zhang San is here!”

Everyone looked up and saw Zhang San, wrapped in a tattered cloak, being helped by Li Si, limping over.

Many still remembered the well-dressed pen-in-cap man.

Now, he had been reduced to this state.

It was truly pitiful to see! Content orıginally comes from novᴇlfire.net

Every commoner could relate!

Wang Anshi asked curiously, “Why isn’t he dressed as a pen-in-cap today?”

Sima Guang said, “He’s not here to sue anyone today. He’s both the victim and the defendant. But I heard his leg was fine. Why is he suddenly limping?”

As he finished speaking, he realized that this guy was trying to garner sympathy.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, “Zhang San, we support you!”

“Zhang San, you must seek justice!”

…

Many commoners cheered for Zhang Fei with great enthusiasm.

The case of Li Si was a joy for everyone.

And this case was an extension of the Li Si case, so they naturally supported Zhang Fei.

Look!

Look at what they had done to this person.

They had gone too far.

Most commoners had been bullied by men in power, but they had not dared to step forward. Now, Zhang Fei stood up to challenge the authority of the officials. Right or wrong, they would surely stand on Zhang Fei’s side.

With tears in his eyes, Zhang Fei bowed to the commoners.

In front of the gate of the Kaifeng Prefecture, the camps became clear immediately.

On the floor of the courtroom, it was official vs commoner. Within the audience, the same was true.

…

After a while, the gates of the prefectural courtyard slowly opened, and Vice-Prefect Li Kai personally came out, bringing Wang Wenshan and Zhang Fei inside. He also personally invited officials such as Sima Guang and Wang Anshi into the courtyard.

This case was really just a very small one, but with the current situation, the Kaifeng Prefectural Office had to give it enough attention.

After they entered, everyone immediately crowded around.

Ordinary commoners didn’t have a place to stand anymore. Those standing in front of the office were all wealthy businessmen like Ma Tianhao and Chen Maoqian.

Xu Zhiqian, who was accustomed to sneaking in through the back door, quietly came to the front yard and found that there was no room left. Moreover, the people standing in front were all high-ranking officials.

Chen Shengzhi, Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, Qi Hui, Wang Shiyan, Tang Jie…

As for officials like Lu Huiqing and Chen Yu, they had already moved to the corner.

The feeling was really like a decisive battle in the Kaifeng Prefectural Office!

Fortunately, Lu Gongzhu had a wealth of experience and wasn’t afraid at all.

“Awe and strength…” The usual opening chants echoed.

Of course, Wang Wenshan was given special treatment. He sat in the lower left corner, while Zhang Fei stood in the middle.

Lu Gongzhu banged his wooden slab that served as a gavel and asked, “Zhang Fei, do you have evidence to accuse Director Wang of hiring someone to injure you?”

Straight to the point.

Wang Wenshan looked at Zhang Fei calmly.

Zhang Fei said, “Naturally, I do. Firstly, during the trial of the case of Li Si, Director Wang, as an imperial official and the uncle of Chen Yuteng, secretly came to see me. Whatever he said at the time, there is a natural suspicion of obstruction of justice.”

Lu Gongzhu frowned slightly, appearing displeased.

You’re just beating around the bush. Do you have evidence or not?

Show it!

He was getting impatient.

During this period of time, obstruction of justice wasn’t taken as seriously. Wang Wenshan, as Chen Yuteng’s uncle, went to see Zhang Fei to inquire about the situation. That wasn’t enough to constitute the crime of obstruction of justice.

Wang Wenshan didn’t mind. It seemed like he had anticipated these words. He sighed and responded, “You’re right, my actions were indeed inappropriate. But do you understand how heartbreaking it is for an uncle to learn about such actions from his nephew? I truly felt guilty towards my deceased sister. So I went to see you, hoping to apologize to Li Si on behalf of my nephew and express my willingness to compensate him regardless of the court’s decision.

I remember at that time, you insisted on me paying five hundred strings of cash before you would drop the case. Originally, my nephew was reluctant, after all, five hundred strings is not a small amount. I had to force him to agree.”

He explained all this in a very gentle tone, but he was insinuating that Zhang Fei had extorted him.

“Director Wang, you forget things easily!” Zhang Fei laughed. “I remember clearly that at that time, you were very clear in your words. If I continued to pursue the case, you would make sure that I would never have a chance to argue in court again.”

With this statement, Wang Wenshan was stunned.

Why aren’t you playing by the rules? You didn’t mention when you filed your complaint!

Lu Gongzhu was also dumbfounded.

How did it come back to this?

There was an uproar amongst the audience.

The people thought, “We knew it! It was revenge from the start.”

Xu Zhiqian, standing in the corner, smiled. What a clever trick. She secretly glanced at the officials in front.

Sure enough, some of them looked uneasy.

They had completely forgotten about this matter.

Xu Zhiqian thought to herself, let’s see if you dare to use such despicable methods in the future.

Sima Guang muttered to himself, “This is a trap.”

Wang Anshi chuckled, “Good thing it’s not you, or else you would have lost.”

Sima Guang glared at him, thinking, “What a cunning boy, indeed!”

They hadn’t thought of this.

The new rules restraining litigation were the decision of the imperial government, not a decision of the Kaifeng Prefectural Office. From this perspective, the new regulations were a separate matter from the Li Si case.

But Zhang Fei cleverly weaved this outcome into his conversation with Wang Wenshan. This drew a link between the Li Si case and the subsequent regulations restraining him from participating in litigation.

“Nonsense!”

Reacting swiftly, Wang Wenshan stood up directly and said, “You’re simply talking nonsense. I never said such a thing.”

He was genuinely aggrieved!

He indeed didn’t say those words; though he did act in retaliation later.

Lu Gongzhu also turned to Zhang Fei and asked, “Do you have any evidence to prove this?”

Zhang Fei sighed, “As a commoner, I don’t have the authority to investigate. Moreover, if I were to investigate, I’m afraid it would alert them and they might destroy the evidence. But I heard that the Kaifeng Prefectural Office received dozens of complaints in just one morning. Weren’t you surprised by that? It’s clearly someone manipulating things behind the scenes. You can send someone to investigate. By conspiring with so many people to flood the office with complaints, he must have left some traces behind.”

This lad doesn’t play fair!

Lu Gongzhu asked, “But what needs to be proven now is whether Director Wang indeed hired someone to injure you.”

Zhang Fei said, “Prefect Lu, don’t forget, besides that, Director Wang has accused me of falsely accusing him. So if it can be found out that Director Wang was behind that incident, it’s enough to prove that I didn’t falsely accuse him. It proves that he’s lying, that he did in fact threaten me. So why would he lie? Simple. It’s because he hired someone to injure me. One lie needs countless other lies to cover it up, but the truth will eventually come out!”

Lu Gongzhu pondered in silence.

When Zhang Fei accused Wang Wenshan earlier, the reason was that Wang Wenshan had threatened him, which Wang Wenshan vehemently denied. If it could be proven that Wang Wenshan did in fact threaten Zhang Fei, it would indirectly prove that Wang Wenshan was highly likely to have hired someone to injure him.

However, Zhang Fei didn’t present evidence on the spot but instead asked the Kaifeng Prefectural Office to investigate.

“Nonsense!” the agitated Wang Wenshan said. “Prefect Lu, he’s just spouting nonsense, it’s not credible at all. No one deprived him of his right to litigate.”

Zhang Fei chuckled, “That’s because the current emperor is wise, but it doesn’t mean you haven’t done anything. I remember that you had submitted a memorial to the imperial court, accusing me of inciting litigation amongst the people.”

“Watch your words, young man!”

Many officials in the courtyard inexplicably became nervous.

Wang Wenshan angrily retorted, “I was just stating matters as they were.”

Zhang Fei immediately responded, “But just now, you said that you felt apologetic for your nephew’s actions, and were willing to pay compensation. How kind and benevolent of you. Yet, you turned around and criticized me. Don’t you think that that is self-contradictory?”

Wang Wenshan began to struggle to keep up with Zhang Fei’s pace. After a moment of silence, he said, “Li Si is Li Si, you are you. I feel sorry and sympathetic towards Li Si, but I find your extortion and blackmail despicable.”

Zhang Fei immediately replied, “So you sent someone to attack me.”

“You… you’re spouting nonsense. As a high-ranking official of the imperial court, how could I use such despicable means?”

“Then why are you stopping the Kaifeng Prefectural Office from investigating?”

“When did I stop the Kaifeng Prefectural Office from investigating?”

“Then let them investigate!”

Zhang Fei shrugged, “If you haven’t done anything wrong, what are you afraid of?”

“I’m not afraid.”

Wang Wenshan was sweating profusely and continued, “You said you had evidence, but now you haven’t presented any.”

Zhang Fei said, “Almost everyone knows that the new rules restricting litigation were targetted at me, yet no one investigated the matter at the time. I believe I’m not the only one curious about this.”

The commoners at the door nodded in agreement.

The commoners weren’t fools; they all knew it was targetted at Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei continued, “As long as the Kaifeng Prefectural investigates, they will definitely find evidence. In fact, you should support a thorough investigation by the Kaifeng Prefectural Office to clear your name.”

Wang Wenshan immediately bowed to Lu Gongzhu and said, “Prefect Lu, please investigate and clear my name.”

After what Zhang Fei had said, he could only say so.

Lu Gongzhu hesitated.

This was not evidence!

Zhang Fei said, “As long as the Kaifeng Prefecture investigates, they will surely find evidence. I’m even willing to stake my own head on this.”

“Really?” Wang Wenshan was excited.

Zhang Fei asked, “Are you willing to bet your head against mine?”

“…”

Wang Wenshan was dumbfounded. Betting my head against yours? Officials are legally exempt from many punishment for most crimes. My head is as secure as can be. Why should I bet with you?

He kept silent.

Agreeing would be a huge loss to him.

But not agreeing would make him appear guilty.

He regretted his previous words, why did he say that?

Lu Gongzhu originally thought Zhang Fei would settle the matter like last time, resolving matters within a single trial. But he didn’t expect him to change his approach this time. If they investigated, the case would drag on for some time. However, there was no other choice. Both sides had requested an investigation, and Zhang Fei had even laid down the gauntlet. Not investigating was not an option. So, he said, “Who is lying will be revealed through investigation. Today’s proceedings end here. Court adjourned.”