Han Dongniang's decisiveness caused an uproar outside the courtyard.
Lu Bangxing's words were so convincing that they all believed that it must be Cao Dongdong who robbed the woman and beat the civilians.
Who would have thought that there would be such a shocking reversal?
Everyone was dumbfounded for a moment!
Wei Yingfang tilted his head and looked at Cao Yi in surprise.
Cao Yi shook his head in confusion.
Wei Yingfang frowned and looked at Cao Yi again.
Cao Yi nodded, as if to reassure Wei Yingfang.
"well!"
Li Min sighed, "Old Lu's character hasn't changed at all. He just likes to do some crooked things. But he doesn't think about it. Yanei and Xiao Ma are experienced people, especially those related to brothels. They have seen everything. This time he is in trouble!"
...
...
Qiu Zhengwen tilted his head and looked at him, "There's one less competitor, why aren't you happy?"
Li Min snorted, "Why should I be happy? I'm not afraid of him in a lawsuit, but he has brought shame to Erbi. Who will be willing to hire Erbi in the future?"
Qiu Zhengwen couldn't help but frown slightly.
"You weren't like this before..."
Lu Bangxing opened his eyes wide and looked at Han Dongniang in shock.
Ma Xiaoyi leaned against the guardrail and said innocently, "That's what Madam Han said in her confession at the police station!"
Han Dongniang nodded firmly.
Lu Bangxing, who had been calm and composed just now, was sweating all over his face in less than a moment. He was stammering and looked very struggling.
After seeing this, Zhang Fei couldn't help but look at Cao Dongdong again, only to see that guy's eyes were looking up, very proud. He turned back to look at Xu Zhiqian and whispered: "These three cobblers are only as good as one Zhuge Liang!"
Xu Zhiqian also saw some clues and whispered, "But it's only because he is the son of a noble family. If it were someone else, the result would not be the same. Our imperial court would be in a passive position."
Zhang Fei said: "But Yanei is also a royal policeman, and they control the power of investigation."
Xu Zhiqian nodded slightly.
After struggling for a while, Lu Bangxing suddenly said, "Judge Zhang, I have no problem."
Zhang Fei nodded with a smile, and then looked at Han Dongniang, "Madam Han, do you have anything else to say?"
Lu Bangxing immediately looked at Han Dongniang anxiously.
Han Dongniang was silent for a while, then shook her head and said, "No."
Ma Xiaoyi suddenly said, "Judge Zhang, our police station has also found three eyewitnesses who can prove that what Madam Han said is true."
You guys are really playing around! You scared me. Zhang Fei looked at Ma Xiaoyi coldly, then said, "Pass it on!"
The three witnesses were all scholars.
The words of scholars are bound to be more credible than those of ordinary people.
Moreover, they witnessed the incident from different angles, but their testimonies were almost consistent with those of Cao Dongdong and Han Dongniang.
At the same time, the three scholars all emphasized one point, that is, if Cao Dongdong did not take action, they would also help.
After the three scholars finished their testimony, public opinion outside the hospital took a dramatic turn, and people began to praise the Royal Police.
A dignified yamen official and a police superintendent, he actually ignored his own danger and drew his sword to help when he saw injustice. He is truly a hero saving a damsel in distress.
All kinds of praises flooded into Cao Dongdong's ears like a tide, making him laugh so hard that his eyes disappeared.
But these people are not the same group of people who just accused Cao Dongdong.
This is also human nature. There are already many people who support the Royal Police. It’s just that Cao Dongdong was so arrogant before, which caused dissatisfaction among many people and made them criticize him. It also made it difficult for those who support the Royal Police to speak out.
It is said that the stronger the oppression, the stronger the rebound.
At the moment, it is clear that the Royal Police have the upper hand. At the same time, after Lu Bangxing's exaggeration, everyone still has a little sympathy for Cao Dongdong.
This good man is always wronged!
"quiet!"
Zhang Fei let Cao Dongdong feel good for a while before knocking the gavel to stop the outside public opinion. Then he asked Lu Bangxing, "Does the defendant have any more witnesses?"
Lu Bangxing opened his mouth and then shook his head.
Zhang Fei asked again: "Do you have any other questions?"
Lu Bangxing shook his head, "No."
Zhang Fei said: "Then make your closing statement!"
"yes."
Lu Bangxing stood up again, took two deep breaths, and suddenly said in a loud voice: "Mr. Judge, the four assistant judges, and all the prosecutors, I hope you can understand one thing. In this case, Kong Tai and Sun Sheng were drunk, and Han Dongniang was a singing girl in Wanhua Tower. Although she said that she only sells her art and not her body, this has nothing to do with accompanying people to drink or have fun.
Many courtesans who were more famous than Han Dongniang and who also sold their art but not their bodies often drank with customers. I am sure that Han Dongniang must have also drank with customers.
Kong Tai and Sun Sheng were customers of Wanhualou, and they both knew Han Dongniang, which the owner of Wanhualou could prove. Although Han Dongniang said that she didn't know them before, she didn't have any evidence to prove that she didn't know these two customers of Wanhualou. "
At this point, he paused for a moment and continued, "Singing girls are best at pleasing men. Their every frown and smile is enough to make men infatuated. So when a singing girl walks in a place of fireworks, a look or a gesture may cause passers-by to misunderstand. What's more, Kong Tai and Sun Sheng were drunk at the time.
We have no way of knowing whether Han Dongniang hinted to Kong and Sun at the time, or whether her actions led to misunderstanding. But what I want to say is that if the imperial court convicted Kong Tai and Sun Sheng, then other courtesans would most likely follow suit to extort customers or passers-by on the roadside. "
Xu Zhiqian cursed fiercely: "How shameless!"
There were also some boos outside the courtyard, but they were much smaller than the booing against Cao Dongdong just now.
Many people remained silent, and even a few nodded in support.
Although the status of singing girls in the Northern Song Dynasty was not very humble, it was mainly because the literati highly respected singing girls. The boos at this time came from the scholars.
However, there were also many ordinary people who thought similarly to what Lu Bangxing said, and they all believed that singing girls were good at seducing and pleasing men.
You are a woman walking in a place full of fireworks, how can you not attract bees and butterflies?
Especially when facing two drunkards.
"also!"
Lu Bangxing looked at Cao Dongdong again, "I think that Superintendent Cao's handling method seriously violated the Royal Police's Code of Conduct. Although he was in prison at the time, he eventually took Kong Tai and Sun Sheng back to the police station. Obviously, the identity of this superintendent in prison did not change. If he had revealed his identity at the time, perhaps so many things would not have happened. Therefore, in this case, Han Dongniang and Superintendent Cao also bear great responsibility. I'm done."
Zhang Fei nodded, looked at Ma Xiaoyi, and asked, "Captain Ma, do you have anything to say?"
Ma Xiaoyi said, "I don't think Superintendent Cao violated the code of conduct because he was still far away from them at the time. If he had revealed his identity earlier, what if they ran away? Or if they got desperate and took Han Dongniang hostage? When we, the Royal Police, enforce the law, often reveal our identities only after we are sure we have the criminals under control in order to protect the innocent."
Zhang Fei nodded and said with a smile, "Thank you, Chief Ma, for your help."
"No thanks! No thanks!"
Ma Xiaoyi chuckled.
Zhang Fei looked at Cai Bian and the others again, "Do you have any results?"
The four of them looked at each other, and Shangguan Jun said, "We can only quote Article 432 of the Miscellaneous Laws. Anyone who disturbs others in the market or among the crowd will be punished with 80 strokes of the cane. This is what the teacher said about picking quarrels and provoking trouble. Since he did not disturb the crowd, he did not reach the standard of 80 strokes of the cane, so he can only be punished with hard labor."
In fact, there is no crime of provoking trouble in "Song Dynasty Criminal Code". There is only this sentence, which Zhang Fei himself summarized as provoking trouble.
Of course, the labor punishment was also set by Zhang Fei himself.
This is also to follow the principle of the rule of law.
Zhang Fei frowned slightly and asked, "What about molesting women?"
The four of them looked at each other again.
Cai Bian said awkwardly, "Teacher, there is no law that allows a man to marry into his wife's family through verbal harassment. The minimum requirement for conviction is that the woman must be physically harmed. However, I know there was a case in which a woman committed suicide after being verbally insulted. The government then charged the man with attempted rape, but this obviously does not apply to this situation."
This case actually follows the chastity of virtue in etiquette and law. The woman could not bear the humiliation and chose to commit suicide. This is a manifestation of chastity, so the government has the right to hold the suspect accountable.
Simply put, making frivolous remarks is not a crime, but if it causes the other person to commit suicide, you may be convicted of a felony because the law stipulates that if attempted rape results in injury or death to the person, the offender will be convicted of intentional homicide or manslaughter.
Whether or not frivolous words are hurtful depends on the end result.
If a woman commits suicide because of your words, that may be a form of harm.
Xu Zhiqian said: "But the president of the court can give a precedent."
Cai Jing immediately said, "At present, prostitution is a common practice in the court and among the people, and there are women serving wine in taverns of all sizes. If this precedent is given, it will probably cause an uproar. What Lu Bangxing said was not a threat."
Because this kind of thing is too easy to happen in the current environment, if a precedent is given, neither side will be able to control it.
It’s hard to say whether this is frivolous or not.
Zhang Fei nodded: "If we convict him from a criminal perspective, it is indeed too strict and does not fit the current environment. So we can only convict him from a civil perspective."
Cai Bian said: "Teacher, are you asking them to compensate Han Dongniang?"
Zhang Fei nodded: "That's the only way."
Xu Zhiqian added: "They must apologize."
Zhang Fei glanced at her, pondered for a moment, nodded, took the gavel and knocked it, and said loudly: "After discussion between this court president and the assistant judge, first of all, what Superintendent Cao did was completely legal and compliant, and it adhered to the spirit of the Royal Police, that is, to defend the rights of the people for His Majesty.
The defendants Kong Tai and Sun Sheng were found guilty of provoking trouble on the street and disturbing the market, but because their actions did not cause panic among the majority of people, the circumstances were relatively minor, so they were sentenced to seven days of hard labor as a punishment.
In addition, although Han Dongniang was a singing girl and even though she might have to accompany drinking during her job, she also had the right to defend her dignity, especially since the crime took place in public. The behavior of Kong Tai and Sun Sheng had seriously threatened Han Dongniang and might cause trouble to her future life. Therefore, the two must publicly apologize to Han Dongniang, clarify the matter, and compensate Han Dongniang for all the losses caused by this case.
He still emphasized the location, which was on the street, not inside the Wanhua Tower. If it was in a brothel, it would be impossible to convict her of a crime. The protection provided by the Song Dynasty's criminal code for singing girls only went to the extent of harming and sleeping with them.
Kong Tai immediately shouted: "A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated. I will never apologize to a singing girl."
Zhang Fei glanced at him, frowned slightly, and thought, it was obviously you who insulted others first, how can you still be so justified?
But it was this doubt that suddenly reminded him that this was an ancient society, and his words might win the support of many people, and in the end it might really be difficult to enforce. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "Although you are the defendant, the imperial court will give full consideration to your wishes. If you really don't want to apologize publicly, you can also use seven days of hard labor instead."
Kong Tai said, "I would rather work for another seven days."
Sun Sheng immediately said, "Me too."
"Okay then!"
Zhang Fei said: "Based on the strong wishes of the two defendants, this judge has changed their sentence to have them go to South Street to dump manure for half a month, and to compensate Han Dongniang for the losses she suffered as a result."
"What? Go... Go to South Street to dump manure?"
"Mr. Judge, I..."
"Adjourn the court!"
(End of this chapter)
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