Chapter 158: The Big Stage
When Sima Guang returned to the Censorate, before even entering the main gate, he could hear hellish roaring from inside.
He silently broke into a cold sweat for Wen Yanbo.
When he entered the building, Liu Shu, Fan Chunren, Qian Yi and others immediately swarmed around him, bombarding him with accusations.
Their words were filled with both grievance and anger.
They had all been willing to take a step back and engage in a lawsuit with a mere pen-in-cap, yet the pen-in-cap had rejected them – it was an utter humiliation!
If they wouldn’t fight, so be it.
They shouldn’t have filed a lawsuit in the first place – weren’t court policies meant to be resolved internally within the imperial court?
Wen Yanbo’s ears were already calloused from listening. Taking advantage of this moment, he quickly took a sip of tea, as his lips were parched from all the talking.
Sima Guang calmly walked to his seat and sat down, keeping his eyes lowered.
A servant hurriedly poured him a cup of tea. Sima Guang took a small sip, set down the cup, then waved his hand saying, “Alright! Alright! I know you all feel wronged.”
Liu Shu immediately replied, “We’re not just wronged, we’re furious. That pen-in-cap Zhang San is becoming increasingly outrageous. If this continues, who will take us seriously anymore?”
Sima Guang nodded and asked in a calm tone, “Would you like to hear what I have to say?”
They gradually quieted down.
Sima Guang continued, “You’re all so angry because you think a mere pen-in-cap has no right to be so nitpicky.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Sima Guang said, “But in the same vein, if His Majesty wishes to examine his own edicts in the most impartial way possible, what complaints could you have?”
Fan Chunren started, “This isn’t impartiality, this is clearly-!”
But he stopped short of saying “making trouble.”
Sima Guang explained, “In court, everything must follow legal precedent. It’s not about moral debates or discussions of right and wrong. Otherwise, problems would certainly arise. Zhang Fei’s concerns aren’t unreasonable – rather, we failed to consider things thoroughly. If your charge of violating precedent were made, many problems would arise. This is why Lord Fu and Lord Han rejected your charge. If you could follow the law and find better grounds for your complaints, Zhang Fei naturally wouldn’t dare say more.”
Qi Hui, Liu Shu and the other judges looked at each other.
Ultimately, it wasn’t Zhang Fei who had rejected their charge, but Fu Bi and Han Qi.
This proved that they indeed didn’t have justice on their side.
But the justice they had in mind was the justice of an arena match, where the losing side must pay a price, not legal justice.
This was the reason for their anger.
But on second thought, they had all grown up studying the classics – surely they weren’t afraid of reasoning.
However, they had never tried using the judicial system to judge such policies before.
For the moment, they were at a loss.
Liu Shu asked, “So how should we proceed, Academician Sima?”
Sima Guang pretended to think, then repeated his earlier stance: “I’ll say again what I said before – let’s wait for the new laws to come out. After all, His Majesty only wants to bring benefits and eliminate harms to the country.”
“No!”
The previously silent Qian Yi suddenly stood up. “Even if His Majesty wants to bring benefits and eliminate harms, he must still follow rules of the imperial bureaucracy. How can he establish a separate bureau? Who will oversee this bureau in the future? Although this is permitted, it further proves that they are up to no good.
Let’s accuse this commission of violating ancestral law. If we can win the case, even if His Majesty changes the name and establishes another commission later, justice will remain in people’s hearts. Everyone will know whether the second commission is the same. If they’re not afraid of ridicule and continue to deceive themselves, that’s their choice.”
The others nodded in agreement.
That was it.
As long as they could win the lawsuit, they would at least hold the legal high ground.
Seeing this, Sima Guang thought to himself that outsiders indeed see things more clearly than those involved – he should have realized earlier that they would agree to this lawsuit regardless. But then again, that Zhang San was also personally involved, yet he had seen this clearly!
Fan Chunren nodded repeatedly and said, “Brother Qian makes sense. If we can win this lawsuit, I don’t believe Wang Anshi would be so shameless.”
Sima Guang nodded with a smile, “That works too. Since we’ve managed to get Lord Han and Lord Fu involved, we shouldn’t let their efforts go to waste.”
Liu Shu worried aloud, “But Zhang San’s litigation tactics are endless, and now he stands in an undefeatable position. This lawsuit may be very difficult to win.”
Fan Chunren pondered briefly before saying, “Therefore, this time we should avoid his sharp edge and not get entangled with Zhang San, but rather confront Wang Anshi directly.”
Sima Guang was slightly startled and asked, “What do you have in mind?”
Meanwhile, when Zhang Fei returned home, Xu Zun and his daughter had small stools ready to hear the story.
This was the first time Xu Zun had ever left work early to return home.
Currently, the Court of Judicial Review officials had no mind for work and were all discussing this matter. Rather than listening to their discussions, he might as well go home to hear the inside story.
How delightful!
“Hehe…”
Xu Zun stroked his beard and smiled, “I knew you wouldn’t feel comfortable unless you offended Lord Han and Lord Fu.”
Zhang Fei sheepishly asked, “What do you mean by that, Benefactor?”
Xu Zun said, “The first thing you did after getting out of prison was to sue me. Now that you’ve built up some wealth, you just had to go offend the chancellors!”
That plural “chancellors” was truly deadly!
Xu Zhiqian lightly huffed, “This time it’s fine, but next time are you going to offend His Majesty?”
Zhang Fei glared at her, “Thanks to you, I already have.”
Xu Zhiqian blushed, “We’ve discussed this so many times, you can’t blame me.”
Zhang Fei rolled his eyes and continued, “Actually, it’s not about offending or not offending. They are the judges and should be fair and impartial. I’m not targeting them, I’m targeting the accusations from the other side. If I wasn’t trying to fight for my client’s interests, why would I make such a fuss?”
If he had just given up, there would have been no need for all this trouble.
“That’s true,” Xu Zun nodded.
Xu Zhiqian said, “In that case, doesn’t this mean the lawsuit won’t need to proceed?”
Zhang Fei smiled, “There’s no escaping it.”
Xu Zhiqian asked, “Why?”
Zhang Fei explained, “They may not be able to use the charge of violating precedent to fight this lawsuit, but if they want to accuse us of violating ancestral law, they can still find grounds for that. Besides, since I accepted the first time, it wouldn’t make sense to refuse the second time!”
Xu Zhiqian said, “But even if they file the accusation, it won’t change anything.”
“Not necessarily.”
Xu Zun waved his hand and said, “If they win, they’ll have the upper hand legally. Although they can’t stop it, it would be unfavorable for public opinion regarding the new laws.”
“That’s right.”
Zhang Fei nodded, then confidently added, “But they won’t possibly win.”
Actually, there was no need to even think about it – this lawsuit was inevitable.
After all, the arena had already been set up and the judges were in place.
Both sides were fired up, everyone’s lips swollen from arguing.
If they didn’t fight it out, this matter certainly couldn’t be resolved!
Although Zhang Fei played tricks to try to ensure Wang Anshi’s undefeated position, whether it was truly undefeatable still required taking the first step.
As long as they could win, they would still hold the initiative.
Of course, many mid-level officials, seeing the other side still playing tricks and making trouble, hoped even more to maintain the first verdict.
The problem was that since the charge of violating precedent could no longer be cited, maintaining it would be useless.
They only had one choice.
Fight!
Qian Yi submitted another complaint document.
This time Zhang Fei accepted it.
He had no choice but to accept – the edict establishing ancestral law could be interpreted in different ways, and the decision-making power lay not with the pen-in-cap but with the judges.
Since this lawsuit was a continuation of the previous one, both sides had already made thorough preparations.
Fu Bi and Han Qi didn’t give them much preparation time, indicating they would begin the hearing three days later.
Today was the day of the hearing, so before dawn, Gao Wenyin rose early. While instructing Xiao Tao to quickly prepare breakfast, she waited outside Zhang Fei’s door. When Zhang Fei got up, Gao Wenyin immediately entered to help him wash up.
Regarding the process of getting up, Zhang Fei basically didn’t need to think, and Gao Wenyin’s delicate, gentle hands gave him immense pleasure. In his daze, he was already sitting in front of the bronze mirror.
Gao Wenyin stood behind him, tenderly helping him comb his hair.
After a while, Zhang Fei slowly opened his eyes and gazed through the mirror at Gao Wenyin’s graceful, voluptuous figure, especially her fullness that even loose robes couldn’t hide. He couldn’t help but swallow, clenching his fists, thinking that this woman’s service had reached perfection, beyond reproach – perhaps it was time to take things further.
While helping Zhang Fei get ready, Gao Wenyin suddenly felt his body becoming tense. She secretly glanced in the bronze mirror and saw Zhang Fei had opened his eyes, his gaze fixed and seemingly nervous. She couldn’t help feeling worried and stammered softly, “Husband.”
“Ah?”
Zhang Fei started suddenly, asking very guiltily, “What is it?”
Gao Wenyin had no idea that at this moment Zhang Fei could still have such thoughts, assuming he was just anxious, so she asked, “Husband, are you going to court against the chancellors this time?”
Zhang Fei thought for a moment and nodded, “More or less.”
Gao Wenyin slightly furrowed her brow, seeming to want to speak but holding back, her large bright almond eyes revealing worried glances.
Zhang Fei asked, “If you have something to say, my lady, just say it.”
“I…”
Gao Wenyin stammered twice before saying softly, “I just feel that commoners shouldn’t fight against officials.”
Zhang Fei smiled, “Did Shi Tingjun fight against officials?”
“Ah?” Gao Wenyin’s delicate body trembled, nearly dropping the comb, her expression becoming dejected as she shook her head slightly and said softly, “No… no.”
As a pen-in-cap, Zhang Fei wouldn’t dwell on things that had already become fact. He smiled slightly and said, “So you see, if you don’t solve problems, problems will come to you. There’s no escaping them. The saying that commoners shouldn’t fight officials has some truth, but it depends on who we’re talking about.”
Gao Wenyin nodded slightly and said, “I just saw that you seemed anxious earlier, so I…”
“Anxious?”
Zhang Fei found it puzzling, then suddenly realized – yes, all the blood had drained from his brain, how could he not be anxious? But he smiled and asked, “Are you worried about this?”
Gao Wenyin nodded.
Zhang Fei nodded with a smile: “That is a good thing.”
Gao Wenyin looked bewilderedly at Zhang Fei’s reflection in the bronze mirror.
She hadn’t realized that before, she had only been busy with her duties, never caring about other matters, but now she was gradually becoming concerned with all the household affairs, big and small.
After fixing his hair, Gao Wenyin skillfully brought out a new set of green-colored robes and helped Zhang Fei put them on.
She then brought out an exquisite small wooden box. Zhang Fei selected a short pen from it and inserted it in his hat brim, then walked out of the room.
Arriving in the front courtyard, they saw Xu Zhiqian anxiously pacing back and forth.
“Good morning, Miss Xu.”
Zhang Fei walked forward.
Xu Zhiqian stomped her foot lightly, “How can a grown man be so fussy, taking longer to prepare than a woman like me?”
“What would a single woman like you know? Don’t couples need to talk?” Zhang Fei said proudly.
“Couples?” Xu Zhiqian sneered with disdain.
Gao Wenyin’s face turned completely red, unable to speak.
Zhang Fei coughed once, looked Xu Zhiqian up and down, and seeing she was wearing the same black robe with red trim, couldn’t help saying, “Why are you wearing this again? Don’t you have anything else to change into?”
Xu Zhiqian’s phoenix eyes widened: “Aren’t you the same?”
Zhang Fei huffed, “Mine is brand new, yours is already worn out.”
Xu Zhiqian’s beautiful oval face immediately turned bright red as she spat, “I’m not as wasteful as you.”
Zhang Fei snorted, “What waste? This is called showing respect for the court.”
Gao Wenyin suddenly said, “Husband, Miss Xu, it’s getting late, we mustn’t be tardy.”
The angry Xu Zhiqian saw everyone as an enemy: “Then you should have spoken less to him earlier.”
“I…”
Gao Wenyin nearly bit her tongue.
Zhang Fei instead gave Xu Zhiqian an appreciative look.
Seeing she had hurt her friend, Xu Zhiqian stomped her foot lightly and said, “Hurry up and let’s go.”
Zhang Fei laughed heartily and said to Gao Wenyin, “My lady, please have the wine warmed. I’ll be back soon.”
Gao Wenyin nodded woodenly, suddenly looking at the weather and thinking, in such hot weather, does he still want warm wine?
Zhang Fei and Xu Zhiqian walked towards the courtyard exit.
Li Si followed behind carrying a bamboo box, but he was only responsible for seeing them to the palace gate – he couldn’t enter inside.
At the gate, Niu Beiqing and Feng Nanxi, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately came forward to greet them.
“We wish you victory at first strike.”
“No need for wishes, just have the wine and meat ready.”
“Don’t worry, I will take care of it.”
After Zhang Fei and Xu Zhiqian got into the carriage, Niu Beiqing said, “Benefactor and Miss Xu really make a good match!”
Feng Nanxi immediately scolded, “You’re talking nonsense again.”
Niu Beiqing nodded repeatedly, “Yes, yes, yes, Benefactor and Sister-in-law are the real couple.”
Sister-in-law?
As soon as he said it, he felt something wasn’t quite right, and couldn’t help looking at Feng Nanxi as if asking how he should phrase it.
Suddenly they heard a shout from behind: “Niu Beiqing, what nonsense are you spouting?”
The two turned around to see Gao Wenyin glaring at them with a bright red face.
“I’m going to chop meat.”
“I-I’m going to buy wine too.”
Inside the carriage.
“Father said this court session will be held in the courtyard in front of the Chamber of State Affairs, and almost all court officials will come to observe.”
Xu Zhiqian said uneasily as the carriage gently swayed.
Zhang Fei looked her over, seeing sweat beading on her snow-white forehead, and smiled as he asked, “Are you very nervous?”
Xu Zhiqian said, “Of-of course I’m nervous. Aren’t you?”
“Of course not.”
Zhang Fei tugged at his collar: “This outfit of mine was made for the big stage. I shine more brightly with more people. It’ll be less fitting with fewer people. I wonder when I’ll get to argue cases in the main hall.”
“…?”