Chapter 76: Lawsuit Begins
Three days later.
Outer ring of Kaifeng City, west of the river.
“Woman, will you ever stop? Coming to my house for three consecutive days, it’s truly shameless.”
“Instructor Lin, please listen to me…”
“Enough! This young master Cao is truly overbearing. I’ve not caused trouble for him, yet he sends people to threaten me, even dispatching a woman. What cowardice. Leave! Get out of my house immediately, and tell that young master Cao I won’t let this matter go easily.”
A thirty-something man with a fierce look and sharp eyes scolded a seventeen-year-old girl while forcing her out of the small courtyard.
“I wasn’t sent by the young master. I’m here to help you. If we go to court, you won’t win.”
“I know I won’t win, but so what? I’ve endured enough. I won’t endure anymore.”
Bang!
The courtyard gate closed. But the girl didn’t give up. She knocked on the door and shouted towards the house, ” Instructor Lin, I understand your difficulties. Let’s talk again. Maybe there’s another way…”
…
Meanwhile, not far away, two young men in cloaks stood.
The slightly shorter one said, “Brother San, are you really not going to help Lady Xu?”
“If I could help, I wouldn’t be standing here. Let’s go back!”
…
In the afternoon, at some point, the gloomy sky started drizzling.
Zhang Fei opened the back door and saw a young maiden leaning against the doorframe. Her luscious, dark hair was covered in droplets from the misty air. Her innocent and beautiful face, like the sky, was shrouded in gloom.
After a while, Zhang Fei finally spoke slowly, “Seems like it didn’t go well.”
Xu Zhiqian glanced at Zhang Fei. “Did you already guess that I wouldn’t succeed?”
“To be honest, fifty-fifty!” Zhang Fei said.
Xu Zhiqian looked at him with confusion.
Zhang Fei explained, “Judging from Lin Fei’s behavior, there are only two possibilities. One, he’s extremely eager for fame and fortune, willing to do anything for it. Two, over a decade of resentment has become an obsession, and he needs to vent it out. If it’s the former, you have a great chance of success, or at least to negotiate. But if it’s the latter, it’s hard to succeed.”
Xu Zhiqian sighed lightly, “But this will only cause him more harm.”
Zhang Fei comforted her, “You’ve done your best.”
Xu Zhiqian fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, “Will my actions cause you trouble?”
Zhang Fei shook his head with a smile, “If it would affect me, I wouldn’t have let you go. On the contrary, I’m more confident now.”
“Really?” There was no joy on her face.
Zhang Fei nodded, “Understanding the enemy’s mentality is crucial for me.”
“Enemy?” Xu Zhiqian smiled.
“It’s just a metaphor.”
“I know!”
Xu Zhiqian nodded gently and said, “Don’t underestimate me either. I’ve actually seen many such situations and I can only help in very few cases. But every time I encounter them, I can’t help but feel frustrated, especially… especially when they involve General Di’s ex-soldiers.”
Every time she encountered injustice, she would do her best. However, most of the time, it was in vain. If it weren’t for Zhang Fei, Li Si might have ended up spending his whole life as a monk in the temple.
So it wasn’t like she would sacrifice everything but she still worked hard to keep a clear conscience!
Zhang Fei smiled, “Humans aren’t like plants; who can be without feelings? Feeling frustrated and sad is inevitable, but one must maintain professionalism in their work.”
Xu Zhiqian took a deep breath, looked up at the gloomy sky.
…
During their conversation, the drums of Kaifeng Prefectural Office sounded again.
The runners of the entire Kaifeng Prefectural Office were close to being shattered…
To think the holidays were approaching…
What? It’s not Zhang San?
Oh, that’s good, then!
It seems it wasn’t the drumming that caused distress, but Zhang San.
But they couldn’t relax once they realized what the matter was about.
Apart from Zhang San, anyone who dared to come to Kaifeng Prefecture banging the drums must be involved in a major case.
“Cao Dongdong?”
Lu Gongzhu glanced at Li Kai.
Li Kai nodded, “The grandnephew of the Grand Empress Dowager, son of the Deputy Commander of the Infantry.”
Lu Gongzhu immediately became alert and asked, “Is there evidence?”
Li Kai nodded, “There’s a letter of admission written by Cao Dongdong himself.”
Saying so, he handed over the complaint document.
After reading it, Lu Gongzhu said, “The evidence is conclusive. Send someone to arrest Cao Dongdong for interrogation.”
Li Kai hesitated slightly, “Sir, Cao Dongdong is not an ordinary official’s son. If we directly arrest him, the consequences will be unpredictable.”
He was implicitly suggesting that they should communicate privately first to see how to handle it.
Lu Gongzhu’s face hardened, “If we don’t uphold justice, the consequences will only be worse. Arrest him. Whatever the consequences, I will take full responsibility.”
…
Cao Residence!
“Ouch! Father, stop beasting me! I will take responsibility for what I have done and will not implicate you.”
“Take responsibility?”
Smack!
“You unfilial child!”
Smack!
“You’ve disgraced our Cao family.”
Smack! Smack! Smack!
“Ow! Ow! What are you all waiting for? Hurry up and arrest me! I’m right here, arrest me quickly!”
Cao Ping raised his arm and delivered blows left and right, using both hands and feet, pounding Cao Dongdong all the way from inside the house to the front yard.
Beaten, Cao Dongdong could only seek help from the runners of the Kaifeng Prefectural Office.
If they didn’t take him away soon, he might not survive!
“Deputy Commander, please calm down.”
Li Kai hurried forward, grabbing Cao Ping, “Deputy Commander, please calm down. We are still in the investigation stage…!”
Cao Ping glanced at him, “Without evidence, why would the Kaifeng Prefectural Office come to make an arrest.”
Li Kai was speechless.
“Bring my sword!”
Cao Ping said, “Today, I’m going to uphold justice and punish my own flesh and blood.”
“Oh no!”
Hearing this, Cao Dongdong was terrified and ran for the door as fast as he could.
“Unfilial son, don’t run!”
Cao Ping made a move to chase after.
“Master! It’s all our fault. It’s us who failed to keep an eye on the young master. If you want to kill someone, kill us.”
Several idlers who had been following Cao Dongdong suddenly knelt in front of Cao Ping, clutching his clothes and legs, crying out.
“You think you can stay out of this? I’ll deal with the unfilial son first, then deal with you.”
With that, Cao Ping kicked and pushed them away.
“Deputy Commander!”
Li Kai once again stood in front of Cao Ping, “Let us handle this matter at the Kaifeng Prefectural Office!”
Cao Ping glanced at Li Kai, “Fine! But the Kaifeng Prefectural Office must promise me that it will handle the matter justly. I’ll pretend I never had this son.”
Li Kai nodded, “Yes, we will handle it justly.”
After Li Kai left, Cao Ping suddenly felt faint.
“Master!”
An old servant rushed forward, supporting Cao Ping, and advised, “Master, don’t be angry. Pay attention to your health. The young master is a good person, nothing will happen to him.”
“Get lost!”
Cao Ping pushed away the old servant, “Damn it, I don’t even have the mood to care about that unfilial son now. I’m in danger myself. If Auntie finds out about this, I… I’m finished. I’d rather be the one arrested by the Kaifeng Prefectural Office.”
In the Cao family, who wasn’t afraid of the Grand Empress Dowager?
Compared to that, Kaifeng Prefectural Office was simply heaven!
But paper cannot wrap up fire.
Soon, news of this matter spread.
A member of the most prestigious Imperial-In-law family had committed the grave crime of assaulting an instructor’s wife.
This sensational news, like a fire in winter, like the bright moon in the night sky, attracted the attention of all the people in Bianjing.
Almost everyone criticized the young master Cao, nobody had a shred of doubt that he was guilty.
…
Imperial Palace.
“My discipline was lax, leading to Dong’er committing such a great mistake. Please punish me, Auntie.”
Cao Ping knelt on the ground, trembling.
The white-haired Grand Empress Dowager sat on the cushion, closing her eyes and praying with prayer beads, with a gentle expression. After a while, she said slowly, “You should first resign from the position of Deputy Commander.”
“Yes, I will do it later.”
“If I find out that you pressured the Kaifeng Prefectural Office, don’t blame me for not having any regard to our familial relationship.”
“I would not dare.”
“You may leave.”
“Yes.”
…
Kaifeng Prefectural Office.
“Cao Dongdong refuses to confess.”
“With conclusive evidence, what else does he have to say?” Lu Gongzhu frowned.
Li Kai said, “He claims that he was framed by Lin Fei, and was also extorted by him.”
“Does he have any evidence?”
Li Kai shook his head, “None. And he also admits that the admission letter was written by him.”
“He’s a young master, an imperial in-law. How could Lin Fei force him?” Lu Gongzhu snorted, “I think he’s just waiting for the Grand Empress Dowager to save him.”
Li Kai said, “At first, I thought so too, but he has asked for a pen-in-cap to defend him.”
“Zhang San?” Lu Gongzhu blurted out.
Li Kai was also startled, “That’s impossible. Zhang San currently doesn’t have the right to represent others in litigation in court. If he wants to defend the young master, he must first obtain authorization from a bookstore.”
“But such cases have never involved pen-in-cap.”
“Exactly!”
Li Kai nodded, “Cao Dongdong only mentioned asking the Fan Family Bookstore to represent him, but didn’t specify who. But the Fan Family Bookstore couldn’t possibly collaborate with Zhang San. That time, it was they, together with Wang Wenshan, who restrained Zhang San’s litigation rights.”
“Fan Family?”
Lu Gongzhu frowned, “Cao Dongdong actually invited a pen-in-cap to defend him, this is too suspicious.”
…
Fan Family Bookstore!
“Why… why are you here?”
When Fan Li saw Zhang Fei appear in the bookstore, he couldn’t help but be both surprised and pleased.
Zhang Fei smiled, “I’m here to fulfill my end of the bargain.”