Chapter 191: Dishonorable
Lu Jiawen went down feeling very frustrated, like a motivated young man suddenly transformed into a dejected middle-aged man. It was truly heartbreaking to witness, and only Wang Anshi could understand him.
However, Wang Hong who came up wasn’t in a much better state either.
He had never dreamed that one day he would sit here being questioned by a pen-in-cap whom he deeply despised.
What an utter humiliation!
He gave Zhao Bian an expressionless bow.
Although Zhao Bian didn’t have a good impression of him and definitely supported Geng Ming in this case, Wang Hong was still a county magistrate. Zhao Bian could understand Wang Hong’s state of mind and courteously invited him to sit down, giving him some face.
Wang Hong sat steadily in the witness chair, immediately glaring at Zhang Fei with round, angry eyes.
Facing Wang Hong’s intimidating presence, Zhang Fei showed no fear at all. He stood up directly, even casually rolling up his sleeves, his demeanor making it clear that he was here for revenge.
His personality was actually quite fierce – he would match whatever energy was given to him, repaying both kindness and grudges without fail.
Especially in court, he showed no fear at all. Zhang Fei glanced at the documents and asked, “As I understand it, Magistrate Wang passed the graduate-scholar examination in the second year of the Huangyou era (1050)?”
Wang Hong immediately frowned and said, “I am an official, you are a commoner. Your attitude shows complete lack of propriety.”
At these words, Liu Shu, Qi Hui, Li Kai and others who knew Zhang Fei well could only shake their heads and sigh.
Speaking to this young man like that was just asking for embarrassment.
If he understood respect, he wouldn’t be standing here now.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, “In this court, everyone is equal. Even if Chancellor Han were sitting here, I would question him the same way. So please, Magistrate Wang, answer my question.”
On the side, Han Qi raised his head – with so many officials present, this young man specifically used him as an example, was he taking advantage of his good nature?
Fu Bi secretly glanced at Han Qi and said quietly, “Chancellor Han, please remain calm. His mentioning you actually demonstrates your high position at court.”
Han Qi remained displeased, muttering under his breath, “I don’t need a pen-in-cap to validate my position.”
Wang Hong immediately experienced Zhang Fei’s fierceness firsthand – even he wouldn’t dare to use Han Qi as an example, no matter how tough he was.
At this point, Zhao Bian suddenly spoke up: “Magistrate Wang, please answer Zhang San’s question.”
If we’re allowed to pull rank, why am I even sitting up here ?
Wang Hong glanced at Zhao Bian, then nodded very reluctantly and said, “Yes.”
Zhang Fei continued, “Afterwards, you went to Hongzhou as a judicial officer. Due to good performance, three years later, you were transferred to Guangzhou as a judicial administrator, then promoted to magistrate of Jurong County in Jiangning Prefecture, followed by a promotion to Vice-Prefect of Shou Prefecture, and two years ago was promoted to magistrate of Kaifeng County. Have I stated anything incorrectly?”
Wang Hong nodded with an arrogant expression.
This career history was truly remarkable. His graduate-scholar ranking hadn’t been high, so he was initially sent far away as a judicial officer, unlike Su Shi and others who stayed in the capital as officials right after passing the exam, starting from a much higher position.
Zhang Fei looked around and said, “Many of the officials present here would surely recognize from this career history that Magistrate Wang is absolutely a very capable and outstanding magistrate. Otherwise, he couldn’t have risen so quickly to become the magistrate of Kaifeng. Many officials might not make it to the capital in their entire lifetime.”
The officials all understood what such a career history meant, but wasn’t Zhang San supposed to be seeking revenge? Why was he suddenly praising him?
The officials present all looked bewildered. Even the commoners at the entrance were confused. This was a far cry from the earlier confrontational atmosphere – it was truly eye-opening!
Qian Yi quietly asked, “What is he trying to do?”
Fan Chunren frowned, responding uncertainly, “Let’s wait and see.”
Zhang Fei then asked Wang Hong, “Magistrate Wang, from judicial officer to judicial administrator, then to magistrate and vice-prefect, you must have extensive experience in handling cases, correct?”
Wang Hong nodded.
Zhang Fei continued, “Do you remember how many cases you’ve handled?”
Wang Hong thought for a moment and shook his head, “I can’t remember exactly.”
Zhang Fei nodded, “Roughly speaking? More than a hundred cases?”
Wang Hong replied, “Probably more than that.”
“Thank you!”
Zhang Fei turned to Zhao Bian and said, “I’m done with my questions.”
Zhao Bian was stunned.
That was it? Whose side was he on? These questions essentially highlighted Wang Hong’s achievements! The officials present were all dumbfounded.
Even Cao Dongdong at the entrance remarked, “This is bad! Zhang San must have taken their money. No, maybe he took a lady.”
Ma Xiaoyi scratched his head and asked, “Brother, how do you know?”
Cao Dongdong replied, “Are you stupid? Can’t you see he’s been praising Wang Hong the whole time!”
Ma Xiaoyi shook his head firmly, “I don’t believe Brother San is that kind of person.”
Cao Dongdong snorted, “Well, we’ll see.”
Qian Yi also noticed something suspicious and said, “By asking these questions, he’s trying to prove that Wang Hong has rich experience and expertise in law, making it impossible for him to make wrong judgments. He must have guessed that we’re hoping to prove Wang Hong was only negligent.”
Indeed! This was also a contentious issue, but I had never thought of helping Wang Hong escape punishment from this angle. He was more thorough than me. Fan Chunren smiled, “Well, we weren’t planning to have Wang Hong play dumb anyway.”
As a novice, he didn’t know how powerful playing dumb could be. In court, evidence was everything, and subjective judgment was the hardest thing to prove.
Therefore, Zhang Fei spent considerable effort to establish first that Wang Hong, with his rich judicial experience, couldn’t have made a wrong judgment due to incompetence when handling such a case.
He stood up and bowed to Wang Hong, which was actually mocking Zhang Fei – while everyone should be equal in court, basic courtesy should still be maintained, which had nothing to do with equality.
Wang Hong understood and returned the bow.
Such manners!
Xu Zhiqian smiled slyly, “They’re mocking you!”
Zhang Fei sneered, “These officials are so petty.”
Then Fan Chunren asked, “Magistrate Wang, what were you doing when the incident occurred?”
Wang Hong replied, “I was busy collecting taxes at the time.”
Fan Chunren pretended to just realize, “Ah yes, this is the season for collecting summer taxes. I hear tax collection is a very complicated matter.”
Wang Hong nodded, “Yes, especially in Kaifeng County. Because of its large population and proximity to the capital, tax collection duties are extremely complicated. These days I’ve been getting home around midnight.”
Fan Chunren nodded and asked, “Does this affect your ability to handle cases?”
Wang Hong nodded, “Of course it does. Unless it’s a major criminal case, I usually wait to handle them later. In most counties across our country, due to insufficient staff, civil litigation is suspended during this time and cases typically pile up until winter.”
He sighed and continued, “This lawsuit has already affected tax collection duties in Kaifeng County. I hope the imperial court will understand if there are delays of a few days.”
“Don’t worry, Magistrate Wang, the imperial court will certainly understand.”
After offering this reassurance, Fan Chunren asked, “Given your busy duties, did you carefully review Geng Ming’s complaint document?”
Wang Hong sighed, “No, I did not!”
Zhang Fei frowned and said to Xu Zhiqian, “They’re going to abandon Wei Yushan!”
Xu Zhiqian nodded, “It seems so.”
Zhang Fei clicked his tongue, “Damn, this really caught me off guard.”
Xu Zhiqian said, “It can’t be that serious.”
“It wasn’t before – I was planning to have him executed anyway. But…” Zhang Fei said glumly, “You forgot that Prince Chang came to see me. Now that they’re abandoning Wei Yushan, I’ll have to defend him. What a mess! Quick, find me Wei Yushan’s case file. I never expected them to be so dishonorable.”
“Oh.” Xu Zhiqian hurriedly started searching.
They simply hadn’t prepared adequately or considered Fan Chunren and Qian Yi’s personalities.
Fan Chunren knew Geng Ming was wronged and never planned to argue for Wei Yushan – he even intended to criticize him.
Helping Wang Hong was already pushing their bottom line. Fan Chunren had struggled for a long time deciding whether to help. Initially he stayed quiet, only speaking up later when it developed into a struggle between judicial and administrative powers, finding an excuse to take the case.
But he didn’t intend to argue for Wang Hong’s innocence – rather, he hoped for a verdict of negligently condemning the innocent.
The severity of punishment for this charge would depend on the court.
It could be light or heavy.
Fan Chunren had thought it through clearly – he could both have a rematch with Zhang Fei while letting Wang Hong be suitably punished.
The others present weren’t paying attention to their subtle moves, quietly listening to Fan Chunren’s questioning.
“No?” Fan Chunren asked in surprise. “That’s dereliction of duty! How could such an experienced magistrate make such a careless mistake? Or is there more to this story?”
Wang Hong explained, “This was because the pen-in-cap at the Bianjing Law Firm were using tax calculations as a pretext to rile up the common people, causing many problems for Kaifeng County and wasting much of our time.
I was overwhelmed with work at the time. Since this case was from three years ago, investigation would have been very difficult. If I had insisted on investigating, it would have definitely delayed tax collection, and we might not have even been able to clear Geng Ming’s name. As the county magistrate, I had to prioritize, so I overturned the Judicial Court’s verdict that day.”
Many officials present, including Han Qi and Fu Bi, nodded in agreement.
They all understood Wang Hong’s actions.
Of course, between matters of national importance and the innocence of one man, priority must be given to the former.
Fan Chunren asked, “Did Magistrate Wang ever imagine things would come to this point?”
Wang Hong shook his head and sighed bitterly, “Not at all.”
Fan Chunren asked, “If Magistrate Wang had another chance, what would you choose?”
As he spoke, he secretly glanced at Zhang Fei, as if guarding against him shouting “objection,” but saw that Zhang Fei wasn’t listening at all and was instead intently examining a document with a serious expression.
He felt pleased inwardly, thinking Zhang Fei had lost his composure.
Little did he know that Zhang Fei was actually worried about how to convict Wei Yushan. His side had been so dishonorable, directly abandoning their client – wouldn’t that leave Wei Yushan like meat on a chopping block? If they weren’t careful, he might end up being exiled.
Wang Hong, who knew nothing of the art of objecting, paid no attention to Zhang Fei, answered firmly: “Although I never imagined things would develop to this point, even if given another chance, I would still choose to overturn the verdict, because I know what’s more important.”
His words carried such righteous conviction and moral authority.
“I have no further questions.”
Fan Chunren bowed with clasped hands again before sitting down.