Judge of the Song Dynasty

Bad?

Fan Chunren turned his head toward Zhang Fei and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

Zhang Fei’s expression grew serious as he explained, “If we cannot expose Mr Huang ugliest side, our chances of winning this case will be much smaller.”

This case was being fought on extralegal grounds, so the sentimental aspect had to be properly addressed. Otherwise, it would be difficult for sentiment to break through the boundaries of law.

Fan Chunren pondered briefly: “The presiding judge will ask the necessary questions. If not, you wouldn’t even need to appeal – the other judges standing beside him would surely object.”

“It’s not the same!”

Zhang Fei shook his head.

Fan Chunren asked, “How is it different?”

Zhang Fei explained, “A pen-in-cap’s questioning is aggressive and can set traps within the questions, while the judge asks questions with an impartial attitude, without aggression, only raising doubts about suspicious points. The opponent can easily anticipate and prepare countermeasures, making it difficult to expose their ugliest side.”

Fan Chunren nodded slightly and asked, “Then which questioning method do you think is more just?” Zhang Fei smiled, “That goes without saying – the former, of course.”

“Why?” Fan Chunren asked.

Zhang Fei explained, “Because both sides’ pen-in-caps will do their utmost to protect their clients while relentlessly attacking the opposition – this is almost certain. If the questioning is mainly led by the judge…” He turned to Fan Chunren and smiled, “You’ve had two cases against me, so you should know that many questions, though seemingly fair, can have vastly different effects depending on their timing and order.”

Fan Chunren furrowed his brows in silence.

This point particularly resonated with him.

From his encounters with Zhang Fei, he knew many advantageous questions had to be held back, waiting for the opponent to make their move before bringing them out as counterarguments. If revealed too early, they might be countered by the opponent.

If the judge led the questioning, who knew what they were thinking or what their purpose was in asking certain questions?

Xu Zhiqian, standing in court, also sensed something amiss, uncertain from Liang Dong’s attitude how much room they would have to maneuver.

According to the usual questioning methods, pen-in-caps could also ask questions, but the main thread remained in the judge’s control, with solicitors only able to argue based on the judge’s questions.

Sure enough.

When Huang Yongli took the stand, Liang Dong directly asked, “Huang Yongli, as an only son, why didn’t you have your elderly mother live with you?”

Since the Song Dynasty placed great emphasis on filial piety, the Song Code of Punishments contained a provision that living separately from one’s parents and negligence in supporting parents could be punished as unfilial conduct.

This meant that if children divided their parents’ property and established separate households while their parents were elderly, resulting in failure to fulfill their duty of supporting their parents, it could be punishable by death.

Therefore, no matter how ruthless Huang Yongli was, he wouldn’t dare sell the house while his mother was still alive.

Liang Dong questioned this point first.

Huang Yongli immediately pleaded innocence: “Your Honor, I’ve been wronged. Since my father’s death, I’ve always wanted mother to live with me, but she was accustomed to living in the old house and consistently refused to live with me. We even argued about this several times.”

Xu Zhiqian immediately interjected, “If you were truly filial, why haven’t you appeared at any of your mother’s birthday celebrations in recent years?”

Huang Yongli wore a sorrowful expression and shook his head, “This was indeed my oversight. These years I’ve been so focused on earning money to support my family that I neglected mother’s birthdays. I truly am an unfilial son!”

As he spoke, his voice became choked with emotion, and he wiped his eyes.

Li Lei from the opposite side immediately said, “Regarding this point, the court recorder can send someone to inquire about how busy Huang Yongli is every day, working from dawn to dusk, often forgetting even his own birthday. Miss Xu, having been raised in privilege, naturally cannot understand the hardships of common people.”

Xu Zhiqian was forced to change her line of questioning and turned to Liang Dong: “If the court recorder knew what Huang Yongli was doing on the eighth day of the seventh month two years ago, he would know these are all lies and cannot be trusted.”

These questions were originally meant for Huang Yongli, but now she could only try to convince the presiding judge directly.

Liang Dong asked Huang Yongli: “What were you doing on the eighth day of the seventh month two years ago?”

Huang Yongli thought for a moment and replied somewhat nervously: “That day seems to have been my thirtieth birthday.”

Liang Dong immediately looked toward Li Lei. Googlᴇ search novel⁂fire.net

Huang Yongli quickly explained: “That was all my wife’s doing, it had nothing to do with me!”

Xu Zhiqian asked: “Did you invite your mother that day?”

Huang Yongli answered: “Of course I invited her, but mother refused to come.”

He certainly hadn’t invited her, but this was difficult to prove.

Xu Zhiqian said: “An only son’s thirtieth birthday, yet his mother refused to attend. Mr Huang, can you explain why?”

Upon hearing this, Li Lei’s eyes flashed with delight.

Huang Yongli said: “Didn’t I mention earlier? I had several arguments with my mother before, and she was angry with me.”

Just as Xu Zhiqian was about to continue questioning, Liang Dong spoke first: “You kindly invited your mother to live with you, which shows filial piety. Even if she was unwilling, she shouldn’t have been angry with you. Tell the truth, was there something else going on?”

Seeing that Liang Dong’s question was reasonable, Xu Zhiqian remained silent.

Huang Yongli glanced nervously at Liang Dong and said: “I dare not deceive Your Honor. The truth is, I wanted mother to live with me so I could sell the old house.”

“Outrageous!”

Liang Dong immediately scolded: “So in the end, you weren’t acting out of filial duty at all, but trying to seize your parents’ property. This is absolutely absurd!”

Li Lei quickly said: “Your Honor, these aren’t mutually exclusive. Huang Yongli did want to sell the old house because it would have been beneficial in two ways – he could fulfill his filial duty while also obtaining money to improve his business.”

Liang Dong said: “That’s pure sophistry. Are you saying he couldn’t be filial without selling the old house?”

Li Lei fell silent sheepishly.

Huang Yongli also hung his head in shame.

Liang Dong struck his gavel and demanded: “Quickly, tell the truth!”

Huang Yongli said: “I… I wanted Mother to live with me, and yes, I had some selfish motives, but I truly did want her to come live with me.”

Li Lei explained further: “Your Honor, some disputes between mother and son are only natural. Though Huang Yongli showed some unfilial behavior, he ultimately respected his mother’s wishes and didn’t force her to sell the house.”

Liang Dong nodded slightly.

Xu Zhiqian was completely stunned. With Liang Dong’s series of questions, she hadn’t even had a chance to interject. He had completely disrupted her rhythm.

Though Liang Dong’s questions seemed impartial, he was actually following the respondent’s answers rather than raising challenges.

While it appeared disadvantageous to Huang Yongli, it had indirectly proved that he genuinely wanted his mother to live with him, regardless of his reasons – at least he had that intention.

Although filial piety was mixed with self-interest, who could calculate what proportion was genuine filial piety versus personal motives.

Moreover, he could use arguments with his mother to explain many of his unfilial behaviors.

Tension between mother and son could be considered unfilial since a son should yield to his mother, for scholars this would certainly draw criticism. But for common folk, this was simply human nature.

It certainly wasn’t an unforgivable crime.

This was evident from the attitudes of the onlookers at the entrance.

No one appeared particularly angry.

Some even thought the old lady was too stubborn – living with her son would benefit both of them, especially since running a business wasn’t easy.

Xu Zhiqian became flustered. The situation had turned unfavorable for her. Liang Dong had already established his position regarding whether Huang Yongli had invited his mother to stay with him. If she couldn’t reverse this, it would be very troublesome.

However, as the presiding judge, Liang Dong wouldn’t accommodate these pen-in-cap. After a brief pause, seeing Xu Zhiqian’s silence, he announced loudly, “Bring in Madam Liu.”

Xu Zhiqian startled and hurriedly said, “Your Honor, I… I haven’t finished my questioning?”

Liang Dong smiled and asked, “What other questions do you have?”

Xu Zhiqian couldn’t think of a strategy.

Liang Dong said graciously, “He has to remain here anyway. You can ask more questions later when you think of them.” Then he repeated, “First, bring in Madam Liu.”

Fan Chunren, watching from the side, saw Zhang Fei sweating profusely and couldn’t help but laugh, “Perhaps you were right before, but this proves that with a different questioning approach, your method becomes ineffective.”

Zhang Fei suddenly had an idea and chuckled, “Ineffective? If Remonstrator Fan can guarantee I won’t be beaten with the rod, I can immediately turn this situation around and nail Huang Yongli.”

Fan Chunren, intrigued, asked, “What do you plan to do?”

Zhang Fei said casually, “I’ll just shout a few things. That’s all it will take.”

Fan Chunren didn’t believe that just shouting could turn the case around – did Zhang Fei think he was divine? Thinking that shouting wouldn’t be a serious offense, he nodded, “Fine! If you only shout a few things, I guarantee you won’t be beaten.”

“Watch carefully! Don’t blink!”

With that, Zhang Fei rushed forward, jumped up, and angrily shouted, “Huang Yongli, you beast worse than pigs and dogs! For the sake of selling the house, you wouldn’t hesitate to harm your own mother – you are a murderer who committed matricide!”

His outburst shocked everyone.

A murderer? Matricide? Was it true?

One official reacted first, quickly ordering the bailiffs, “Stop him, quickly stop him!”

Two bailiffs immediately rushed to restrain Zhang Fei, who struggled while shouting, “Huang Yongli, you beast! For two years, your mother suffered from illness, yet you turned a blind eye, not even calling for a doctor. You were just waiting for your mother to die so you could sell the house sooner!”

Huang Yongli panicked and instinctively retorted, “That’s not true! You’re wrongly accusing me!”

You fool, Zhang Fei shouted, “Wrongly accusing you? Did you ever take your mother to see a doctor? Did you ever spend money on her treatment? You’re worse than beasts, willing to sacrifice your mother’s life for money. But you didn’t expect it, did you? Old Lady Huang saw through your intentions and would rather give the house to others than to you. That serves you right! Karma! Karma! Haha!”

Liang Dong finally reacted, burning with anger, “How did this fellow get in? Seize him immediately! This is outrageous, causing such a disturbance in my court! Today I must-!”

“My apologies! My apologies!”

Fan Chunren suddenly ran over, panting, “Registrar Liang, I brought him in. I’m terribly sorry for disrupting your court proceedings. I’ll take him away now.”

Seeing Fan Chunren, Liang Dong had to show respect – after all, he was a Remonstrator who could impeach officials. He had to extend this courtesy. He coughed, “Remonstrator Fan, please take him away quickly.”

“Yes, yes! Another day I shall come to formally apologize.”

Fan Chunren repeatedly bowed apologetically, then pulled Zhang Fei toward the exit while appearing to scold him.

Zhang Fei wasn’t listening at all. He turned back and secretly winked at Xu Zhiqian.

Outside, Fan Chunren exclaimed excitedly, “You’re falsely accusing someone!”

Zhang Fei defended himself, “How am I making false accusations? Didn’t Remonstrator Fan just hear him admit it was about money? Think about it – who benefits most from his mother’s death from illness? He finally gets the house he wanted.”

Fan Chunren said, “That’s just speculation, there’s no real evidence.”

Zhang Fei nodded and said, “Yes, I’m just speculating, but Registrar Liang doesn’t have to agree with what I say! Hehe.”