Seeing Cai Yanqing coming, the discussions suddenly became quieter, but at the same time, many people immediately walked up to Cai Yanqing, making all kinds of sarcastic remarks and fanning the flames.

Indeed, the biggest victim in this case is definitely Cai Yanqing.

Because he was the one who judged this case, and it happened not long ago. If it was overturned, it would be overturned by the public security, procuratorate and courts that had just arrived.

This may really have an impact on his future career.

Cai Yanqing knew very well that their little trick was to push him forward to fight against the police, procuratorate and courts. He would not be fooled. In his mind, since the other party was using this case as an excuse, even if he wanted to refute it, he should refute it from this case. Therefore, he had to wait until the trial was over before making any plans. He was just perfunctory and evasive.

Let’s wait and see.

If it really is a misjudgment, wouldn't it be even more embarrassing?

After a while, everyone looked up at the sky again. What time is it? Why hasn't it started yet?

Just as I was thinking about it, I suddenly saw a group of people coming into the hall from the lower right door. There were four of them in total. They came to the long table on the right side of the middle of the courtyard and sat down to organize the documents in their hands.

It was Su Che and his assistant.

...

...

Another group of people entered the courtyard from the upper right door. There were also four of them. They came to the second seat at the top and sat down. They were Cai Jing and others.

“Is this about to start?”

The distinguished guests in the courtyard took their seats one after another, while the common people standing in front of the door opened their eyes wide, looking forward to it.

"Anyone else coming?"

Cai Yanqing suddenly saw that there was an empty row of seats in front of him on the left.

Zhuo Qun shook his head.

Tongpan Wei Yingfang said: "Someone asked just now, but they just replied that it was not a guest seat. It is not known who sat there."

Cai Yanqing nodded slightly.

But after a while, the two groups of people who came in were still sorting out some documents. During this time, Su Che walked over and talked with Cai Jing and others for a while.

There were bursts of discussions inside and outside the court again.

The spectators outside the court were discussing the layout of the courtroom, which was different from any lawsuit they had seen before. No government office was arranged like this.

Why are all the yamen runners standing outside to maintain law and order? There are not even a yamen runner on the left or right sides.

Not majestic at all.

People in the court were complaining about why the game hadn't started yet. They were wondering if Zhang Fei was being pretentious and making them wait here in vain.

They guessed right!

That's it.

When Zhang Fei was a judge, he was used to being the last to appear. Now that he is the chief judge, he will only get worse.

Regarding this, both Cai Jing and others, as well as Su Che, have become accustomed to it.

Just wait.

At this time, Zhang Fei, wearing a dark green official uniform and waving his sleeves, walked slowly towards this side with his two wives, as well as Li Si, Xiao Tao and Qing Mei.

"Can you walk faster?" Xu Zhiqian urged, frowning.

"cannot!"

Zhang Fei snorted, "I haven't slept well recently."

Xu Zhiqian saw that he was full of energy, his eyes were clear and his face was ruddy. She immediately rolled her eyes and said, "You are really lying with open eyes."

Zhang Fei frowned and looked at him: "Master Xu, please pay attention to your attitude towards your superiors."

Xu Zhiqian was so delighted by the name Xu Zhubu that she immediately said in a soft voice, "Judge Zhang, please walk slowly. Don't fall."

Zhang Fei couldn't help but say, "And more! You walked so far ahead, if others didn't know, they would think you were the court president and I was just a chief clerk."

Xu Zhiqian pouted, but immediately stopped and followed Zhang Fei silently.

Li Si, Xiao Tao and Qing Mei, who were walking at the back, couldn't help laughing.

Gao Wenyin looked uneasy and whispered, "Sanlang, if not, we won't go to see it."

Zhang Fei tilted his head and asked, "Why? Madam, aren't you curious and want to see it?"

Gao Wenyin said: "From the sound, it seems that quite a few people have come. It would be bad if we were seen by others."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Madam, isn't what you said self-contradictory? So many people have come here to watch the trial. If they can watch, why can't Madam? You just stand at the back and watch. No one will notice you. Don't worry."

Gao Wenyin nodded.

She had never seen how Zhang Fei taught in class. After listening to Qingmei, Li Si and others talking about it, she couldn't help feeling a little curious. She just slightly expressed her desire to see it for herself. However, when Zhang Fei found out, he immediately forced her to come and see.

Do we want to treat everyone equally?

You can't just show your power to Xu Zhiqian.

When they arrived at the back door of the courtyard, they separated. Li Si and Xu Zhiqian followed Zhang Fei to the left, while Gao Wenyin, Qingmei and Xiaotao stood at the back door and secretly looked into the courtyard.

“So many people are here!”

Gao Wenyin was slightly startled.

Qingmei said, "When my third brother was in court in Kaifeng Prefecture, there were no fewer people like this."

"Yeah?"

Gao Wenyin asked curiously, "What's so interesting about this lawsuit?"

Qingmei said: "It's quite interesting to see Third Brother fight a lawsuit, but this time Third Brother is not the judge, but the president of the court. I have never seen this before."

As he spoke, the courtyard suddenly became silent.

Glancing to the side, I saw Zhang Fei, Xu Zhiqian and Li Si entering the courtyard from the special passage on the left and coming to the podium in the center.

Cai Jing, Cai Bian, Shangguan Jun and Ye Zuqia stood up immediately.

Su Che and his three assistants below also stood up immediately.

But the VIPs on both sides did not move at all. Some of them who were originally standing even did the opposite and sat down directly.

Who do you think you are?

Zhang Fei glanced at both sides and suddenly said in a loud voice: "Standing up at this time is just to show respect for the imperial court and the Song Dynasty Criminal Code. Only the emperor can not stand up in this world."

Shameless!

Those officials and doctors cursed in their hearts, but they could only stand up.

He has said so, only the government can refuse to stand up, if you still sit here, what do you want to do?

"Everyone, please take a seat!"

Zhang Fei nodded slightly, then sat down.

The rest of the people sat down one after another, and before the trial even started, the people in the VIP seats were already filled with anger.

This is outrageous.

Qin Zhongshou whispered to Cao Dongdong beside him: "Dong'er, is this the rule of the imperial court?"

Cao Dongdong blinked a few times, "I don't know, the imperial court in the capital doesn't seem to have this rule."

Qin Zhongshou immediately said angrily: "That's just something he made up."

Cao Dongdong fanned the flames and said, "Maybe. Zhang San loves to make up stories. His lies sound like the truth. Uncle Qin should be careful of him in the future."

A military officer at the side asked, "Yanei, aren't you and Zhang San on the same side?"

Cao Dongdong opened his eyes angrily and said, "Who made up this rumor? Our police station and the Imperial Court are not subordinate to each other. He is not my superior."

The people around looked at each other, thinking, it turns out they are not together, then!

"Why is there another woman?"

A white-haired old man looked at Xu Zhiqian beside Zhang Fei and frowned.

Although Xu Zhiqian was dressed in men's clothes today, anyone could tell at a glance that she was a woman.

"I heard that the woman is the wife of Judge Zhang and the chief clerk of the Imperial Court."

"How can this woman be an official in the imperial court?"

The system of female officials has existed since ancient times, but 90% of them served in the imperial palace. Women were not allowed to hold official positions in the outer court.

"It seems that her position as chief clerk is of no rank and is employed by Judge Zhang."

"That's shameless!"

The scholar-official just cursed and didn't say much.

The chief clerk of a prefect was usually appointed by the imperial court and had ranks ranging from ninth to sixth. However, this imperial court was a new government office, and there was no regulation on the chief clerk of the court president.

If it were another man, the court would definitely give him a rank, but Zhang Fei wanted Xu Zhiqian, and officials could hire their own staff, and female officials were relatively common in the Song Dynasty.

Especially in many professional fields, they are inherited from the family, but they rarely show up in public and appear in such solemn occasions.

But since there is no explicit prohibition, it is allowed.

If it were in the capital, probably no one would be surprised, because the couple have always been inseparable, and the lawsuit has been fought from Kaifeng Prefecture to the Council of Government, so everyone is used to it.

It is said that experts look at the details, while laymen just watch the excitement.

For the spectators outside the court, what they saw was a feast for the eyes. The five officials sitting above were no more than 25 years old, and all of them had extraordinary appearance. Cai Jing was a famous handsome man in history, and Zhang Fei was even more so.

The only weird thing is the ugly Li Si, but flowers always need green leaves to set off them.

“Boom boom boom!”

Zhang Fei suddenly knocked a few times with a small wooden hammer in his hand, "Silence!"

He had tried the gavel, but was not used to it. If he was not careful, he would hit his hand. In winter, it would be very painful. So he made this small wooden hammer, which was easy and comfortable to use.

When Cai Yanqing saw the small wooden hammer, he was delighted. It worked well! But then he thought that he didn't have the chance to knock on the gavel, and he couldn't help feeling a little sad.

Since it was their first time in this imperial court, everyone was still somewhat awed and immediately quieted down.

Zhang Fei suddenly looked up at the judges outside the door. It was a sea of ​​black people. He asked, "Is it crowded outside?"

Cai Jing and the others were stunned and looked up. Even the prosecutors such as Su Che below turned around to look.

Not bad!

Ma Xiaoyi, who was standing by, said, "To answer the judge's question, there are many people watching the trial today, so it's a bit crowded."

Zhang Fei nodded and suddenly pointed to the upper left seat and said, "There is a row of seats here. It's empty anyway. Let some people come in and watch. Don't make it so crowded to avoid accidents."

As soon as these words were spoken, the court fell into complete silence.

The common people outside the gate couldn't believe it, and the distinguished guests inside the gate couldn't believe it even more, especially those officials sitting in the back. What do you mean it's empty? If I don't sit there and watch, it's because you don't let me!

You know, that's a great place to watch the trial.

Not to mention them, even Cai Jing and Su Che were confused. They had always been curious about what those seats were reserved for. Just now, Su Che stepped forward to negotiate with them and asked this question.

I never thought it was prepared for the people.

Ma Xiaoyi didn't think too much about it. He immediately stepped forward and let go of the wooden fence.

However, no common people dared to go in.

Everyone is still full of fear of this government. Anyone who dares to sit in a government office for no reason will be skinned alive if not killed!

I saw a middle-aged lady standing at the back and asked, "Can I come in and sit down?"

Ma Xiaoyi nodded and said, "Madam, please."

The old lady was not afraid and pushed through the crowd and walked in.

Zhang Fei asked with a smile: "What's your name, ma'am?"

The lady said, "My last name is Lu."

Zhang Fei asked again: "Excuse me, what do you do, ma'am?"

The old lady saw that Zhang Fei was handsome and approachable, so she was not afraid and replied, "I sell tea on the street, and the neighbors call me Tea Lady Lu."

Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, then extended his hand to lead the way to the seat, "Madam, please take a seat."

"Thank you, President! Thank you, President!"

The old lady went to the corridor and sat down with secret joy.

"If this woman dares to come in, what else can we not dare to do?"

I heard a rough voice and saw another big man asking to go in.

Zhang Fei asked two more questions, and found out that the man’s surname was Liu and he was a butcher.

Some bold spectators asked to enter the courtroom to watch the trial.

Peasants, scholars, warriors, almost all kinds of people were there, sitting together. It was really a weird combination, and it seemed awkward no matter how you looked at it.

Su Che, Cai Jing and others kept exchanging glances and asked each other, do you know why?

But even Xu Zhiqian looked confused.

The VIPs next to and opposite to us had the idea of ​​getting up and leaving. Let us sit with those people, our seats are not as good as theirs. Aren’t you deliberately disgusting us?

(End of this chapter)