After Li Mingsheng passed away, there were constant disputes outside the courtyard. It was obvious that Li Mingsheng's confession was favorable to Liu Qinshi. Some people thought that Liu Qinshi was wrongly accused, but most people still insisted on their opinions, which caused some controversy.
Zhang Fei didn't care about it. To him, who came from the Internet, this was really just a small scene. He immediately came forward with another witness, a peasant woman named Yang Hu from Ruixiang Township.
"Ms. Yang Hu, do you know about the adultery case at Liuyun Temple?"
"Know."
Yang Hu nodded, and without waiting for Zhang Fei to ask, she said, "I knew that woman was not a good wife and mother, but I didn't expect that she would be so lowly as to seduce a monk. Oh, such a shameless woman is really rare."
Zhang Fei asked: "According to the confession you provided to the Royal Police, the criminal Liu Qinshi seduced your husband?"
"Yes, yes, it's really embarrassing."
Yang Hu just kept shaking her head.
Zhang Fei asked: "But did you see it with your own eyes?"
Yang Hu shook her head and said, "I didn't see her. It was Granny Chen at the entrance of the village who saw her. I stayed at the entrance of the village for three days but didn't run into her. Otherwise, I would have taught her a lesson. Now that I think about it, I guess that bitch chose to go out at night."
...
...
Zhang Fei asked, "Have you verified this with your husband?"
Yang Hu said, "Of course I didn't. My husband refused to admit it at first. Later, I told him that Granny Chen saw it with her own eyes. Then he admitted it himself. He came back from farm work that day and happened to meet that whore. She made faces at my husband. It was really disgusting."
"Thank you for testifying."
Zhang Fei smiled and nodded.
Yang Hu said earnestly, "Zhang Daerbi, I have heard of your reputation. You should not ruin your reputation for this whore."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Thank you for your reminder, Auntie. I will pay attention to it."
Next, Zhang Fei directly summoned Yang Hu's husband Yang Dahe.
"Uncle Yang, you should have heard your wife's confession just now."
"Um."
Yang Dahe nodded.
Zhang Fei asked again: "Then can you tell me what happened at that time?"
Yang Dahe said: "I was doing farm work at the time and happened to meet Liu Qinshi. There is a difference between men and women, so I planned to stay away from her. But Liu Qinshi smiled at me. I was stunned for a moment and then left quickly."
Wang Anshi, Lu Huiqing and others were stunned when they heard this.
At your age, with your face full of wrinkles, and you're just an ordinary farmer, would Liu Qin make eyes at you?
this.!
I don’t quite believe it!
Zhang Fei asked again: "Did you see Granny Chen at that time?"
Yang Dahe said: "Yes. Granny Chen was chasing chickens in front of her house at that time."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Thank you, I have no problem now."
Yang Dahe blinked, "Are you done with this question?"
Zhang Fei said: "If there is any problem, I will summon you to court again."
Yang Dahe scratched his head and quickly got up and left.
Zhang Fei also summoned the key witness Chen Po to appear in court.
This old lady Chen was in her fifties, with a hunched back. She walked slowly up the stairs. After sitting down, she looked left and right, as if everyone she looked at was a bad person.
Zhang Fei raised his voice and said, "Mrs. Chen, I asked you to appear in court today mainly because of the case of adultery in Liuyun Temple. I heard that you saw the criminal Liu Qinshi winking at Yang Dahe from the village?"
Granny Chen nodded and said, "Yes, I saw it with my own eyes."
Zhang Fei said: "But do you still remember what you were doing at that time?"
Granny Chen said, "I'm chasing the chickens."
“Where do you drive the chickens?”
“Right in front of my house.”
"Well."
Zhang Fei looked down at the copy, "According to the information provided by the police station, your house is about fifteen steps away from the village entrance."
Granny Chen thought for a moment and said, "Yes."
Zhang Fei suddenly took out a wooden plaque, which was about the size of a human face, with a sad crying face drawn on it. "Did Liu Qinshi wink at Yang Dahe like in the painting?"
Granny Chen narrowed her eyes, looked at it carefully, and then nodded, "Yes, yes, that's it."
Zhang Fei put down the wooden sign and said with a smile: "Thank you, Granny Chen, I have no problem now."
Granny Chen was surprised and said, "That's all the questions."
"Ha ha!"
Suddenly there was a burst of laughter from the surroundings.
Granny Chen looked around and asked, "What's going on?"
Zhang Fei said: "It's okay. Thank you, Mrs. Chen, for coming to court to testify."
The laughter got louder.
Zhang Fei was only five steps away from her, and you couldn't even see that clearly. How could you see Liu Qinshi's winking eyes?
Everyone was already accustomed to Zhang Fei's methods and was able to react quickly.
Zhao Yan also shook his head helplessly.
But this is not surprising. Living in Bian Jing, this kind of situation happens almost every day.
Next, Zhang Fei introduced a young farmer named Dongsheng.
"Dongsheng, do you know about the adultery case at Liuyun Temple?"
"Know."
"Then do you know the woman who committed the crime, Liu Qinshi?"
"I know this woman, but I have never spoken a word to her."
"Have you seen it?"
"I have met you once."
"Where?"
"It was at the entrance of the village. That afternoon, I came back from chopping wood in the mountains and happened to see Liu Qin coming back from outside."
"Besides Liu Qinshi, are there any others?"
"Yes, Uncle Yang from the village."
"Yang Dahe?"
"Um."
"Didn't they see you?"
"Probably not, because I was on the slope at the time, and Uncle Yang was staring at the young lady, so how could he notice me?"
"Is the young lady Liu Qinshi?"
"Yes."
"Can you elaborate on that?"
"Uncle Yang arrived at the entrance of the village first. When he saw Liu Qin coming, he stopped and stared at her, scaring her so much that she left quickly."
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
"I said it, but Aunt Yang and Granny Chen scolded me so much that I couldn't afford to offend them, so I didn't dare to say anything more."
"Thank you!"
Next, Zhang Fei invited several villagers who had assisted the Royal Police in the investigation, but they were just repeating what others said and their evidence was not even based on hearsay. When they testified in court, everyone was amused.
However, this did not arouse much sympathy. In fact, this kind of thing is really common. Don’t those scholars know that those are just rumors and may not be true?
The key point is that Liu Qin committed adultery with a monk. This would be immoral in any dynasty and would be intolerable to the secular world.
Unless Zhang Fei can find conclusive evidence to prove that the two of them did not commit adultery, otherwise, none of this means anything.
After questioning this group of villagers, Zhang Fei finally summoned Miaokong, one of the protagonists, to appear in court.
He was a middle-aged man in his thirties, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a burly figure. He was wearing prison clothes and had long hair. He didn't look like a monk at all. The imperial court couldn't help him shave his head and let him appear in court. If that happened, all the monks in the capital would live in the government. Are you really trying to disgust us Buddhist disciples?
Every family has its bad apples.
His appearance also attracted waves of shouts and curses. Looking at his thick black hair, they still cursed him as a bald donkey. Zhang Fei was speechless and could only fiddle with the documents on the table. This was the fun of missing Xu Zhiqian. There was not even any chat.
It was not known whether Zhao Yan did it on purpose or not, but he let the people curse for a while before he spoke up to stop them.
After the audience quieted down, Zhang Fei stood up and said, "Miaokong, do you know Liu Qinshi from Ruixiang Township?"
Miaokong nodded: "Yes."
Zhang Fei asked: "What is your relationship with her?"
Miaokong glanced at Zhang Fei, lowered his head, and whispered, "My lover."
"Adulterer and wife."
Someone outside the yard roared.
Soon, the audience started cursing again, and their curses were very harsh.
"quiet!"
This time, Zhao Yan didn't wait and just struck the gavel. The two court guards immediately raised the wooden sign for silence.
In this way, the shouting and cursing outside the yard gradually quieted down.
Zhang Fei then continued to ask: "Then can you tell me how you met Liu Qinshi and how did you have a relationship?"
Miaokong immediately said: "About seven or eight months ago, when I was patrolling in the temple, I found a woman, Liu Qin, hiding in a corner crying. I kindly went up to her and asked her what difficulties she had encountered.
She told me that she had borrowed some money from outside to help her husband pass the imperial examination, and now she can't pay it back, and she doesn't know how to ask her husband for help.
I felt sorry for her and promised to help her. So I took her to the side room. But as soon as we got there, she fell into my arms and started crying.
I really didn't know what to do at the time, but I never did anything frivolous. Later, when I learned about her family's difficulties, I took the initiative to give her some money to pay off her debts. I also said that if her husband was really educated, I could find a way to help him find a job and not borrow money from outside. Those loan sharks are all greedy and unscrupulous. "
Zhang Fei said: "You mean, without asking for anything in return, you gave her some money and promised to help her husband find a job."
Miaokong nodded: "Yes."
Zhang Fei asked: "Why?"
Miaokong said: "I often help others. This is nothing to me. If you don't believe me, you can ask about my character. I have helped many people and never asked for anything in return."
Zhang Fei nodded and asked, "Then how did you get involved with Liu Qinshi?"
Miaokong said: "What a coincidence, Mr. Li is looking for a teacher for his son, so I will introduce Liu Qinshi's husband to Mr. Li.
Later, Liu Qin came to the temple again to thank me, and said that she had no way to repay me but to give me her body. At that time, she hugged me tightly, and seeing her pitiful look, I couldn't help myself and... I knew I had committed a crime, but I still wanted to help her in the first place.
You can ask Liu Qinshi about this. I really didn't force her. She took the initiative to find me. Before we had sex, I had already given her money to pay off her debts and helped her husband find a job. I was just being kind, but I didn't expect it would lead to such a sin. I really feel ashamed of my master's teachings."
Zhang Fei said: "But Mr. Li just said that you are not so observant of the rules and regulations."
Miaokong immediately said, "Because I became a monk halfway through my life, I haven't gotten rid of some bad habits. I occasionally go to Mr. Li's house to drink some wine and eat some meat, but that's all. I haven't done anything else wrong."
Zhang Fei asked: "So, this is your first time breaking the vow?"
Miaokong hesitated, "Two years ago, I broke it once."
Zhang Fei asked: "So including this time, it's only twice."
Miaokong nodded.
Zhang Fei asked: "Do you know a woman named Hong Gu?"
Miaokong's expression suddenly changed, and his eyes twitched a few times, "I don't remember much."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "But she remembers you."
As he spoke, he said to Zhao Yan, "Grand Judge, I would like to summon witness Hong Gu to testify in court."
Zhao Yan said: "Spread it!"
After a while, a woman wearing a veil came to the court and sat in the witness stand.
Miaokong glanced at the woman, her expression was a little panicked, and there was a hint of viciousness in her eyes.
Zhang Fei asked, "Aunt Hong, what do you do?"
Hong Gu replied: "My lord, I am a singing girl."
Zhang Fei said: "Then do you know the person opposite?"
Aunt Hong glanced at Miaokong and said, "I know him. Master Miaokong from Liuyun Temple."
"Pooh!"
"What master? He's clearly just a **thief."
Zhang Fei glanced outside the courtyard, and then continued to ask Hong Gu: "Then how do you know him?"
Aunt Hong hesitated for a while before she replied in a low voice, "He is my old customer."
Zhang Fei asked: "What exactly do you mean by old customers?"
Some idiot shouted, "It's just whoring, don't you know that?"
This immediately caused everyone to burst into laughter.
Zhang Fei looked at the source, his eyes full of helplessness, thinking, you know, why don't you just ask? This is really fucked up.
Zhao Yan had no choice but to scold him sternly after hearing this shouting.
In this way, the audience outside would not dare to continue to act presumptuously.
Zhang Fei could only ask in a different way, "Did Miaokong have sex with you?"
Hong Gu nodded.
Zhang Fei asked: "Do you want to spend money before having sex?"
Aunt Hong nodded again.
Sima Guang and the others shook their heads when they heard this. How could you ask such a question in broad daylight?
There's really no need to ask so sincerely.
Those who understand will understand!
However, most people don’t think so. They hope that Zhang Fei can ask for more details. Isn’t your calligraphy, Zhang Daye, famous for its “details”?
Zhang Fei didn't think there was anything wrong. "So how do you usually conduct transactions?"
Aunt Hong said, "Sometimes he would call me to the vegetable garden behind Liuyun Temple for a tryst, and sometimes he would sneak to my house in the middle of the night."
"You are talking nonsense. You are wronging me."
Miaokong stood up anxiously.
Immediately, two court guards came forward and pushed Miaokong down.
Zhao Yan shouted, "If the prisoner interrupts the witness again, I will punish you for contempt of the imperial court."
Miaokong suddenly became timid.
This was Hong Gu's first time testifying in court, and she didn't understand, so she said directly, "I didn't wrongly accuse anyone. Miao Kong has three scars on his back and a birthmark on his left buttock. I know everything clearly."
This is really exciting.
Many audience members followed suit and started to make a noise.
In fact, they didn't think of Miaokong as a good person. No one was surprised by the monk's behavior. It was not something special.
The scholars and officials just kept shaking their heads, saying that the world was truly going downhill!
Zhang Fei asked again: "How often do you usually trade?"
Aunt Hong said, "That's not certain. If he doesn't have a lover, he'll probably come to see me twice a month. If he does, it might be every three or four months."
"lover?"
Zhang Fei said: "This lover refers to."
Hong Gu said: "He often finds some good-looking women in the temple who are in trouble, and then helps them and asks them to be his lovers."
As soon as these words were spoken, they caused an uproar.
Everyone then realized that this was a routine!
Zhang Fei asked: "How did you know?"
Aunt Hong said, "Because... because there were one or two times when he couldn't show up, so he asked me to pass the message to his lover."
Zhang Fei asked: "Then do you know how many lovers he has had?"
Aunt Hong said, "I only know four."
Zhang Fei asked: "Can Liu Qinshi in this case be included?"
Aunt Hong nodded, "In addition, he likes Liu Qinshi very much, so he only came to see me twice in the past six months."
"Thank you for being able to testify in court."
Zhang Fei then said to Zhao Yan: "Our procuratorate has found some women who were also raped by Miaokong, but we think they are all pitiful people and should not be disturbed anymore."
Zhao Yan nodded, then looked at Miao Kong and said, "Prisoner, do you have anything else to say?"
Miaokong was silent for a while, then suddenly looked at Zhang Fei, "Prosecutor Zhang."
Zhang Fei looked at him with a smile.
Miaokong said: "I didn't force them, it was all their own will, right or wrong?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "According to the evidence we have, you did not force anyone, and the other party was also willing."
Miaokong added: "I didn't deceive them. I really helped them. Isn't that right?"
Zhang Fei nodded, "That's right."
Miaokong said: "Then I have nothing to say."
"I don't have anything to ask." Zhang Fei said to Zhao Yan, "I don't have any questions, and I don't have any witnesses to call."
When these words were spoken, everyone was stunned.
That’s it?
You want to turn the tables?
You asked so many questions, but they are not as good as Miaokong’s two questions. This is definitely the sin of adultery.
And you just want to play the sympathy card?
The key point is that Liu Qinshi has not appeared in court yet!
We have been waiting.
Zhao Yan was also somewhat puzzled by this, but he still ordered the court police to take the criminals and witnesses away, and then asked Zhang Fei: "Although there are some hidden secrets in this case, it is also a fact that Liu Qin and Miao Kong committed adultery. There is no problem with the judgment of the Xiangfu County Imperial Court."
Zhang Fei replied: "Our procuratorate has never denied the fact that they committed adultery. Our procuratorate just believes that the Xiangfu County Imperial Court should still follow the principle of arresting the adulterer's husband, so we appealed."
Zhao Yan said: "The judgment of the Xiangfu County Imperial Court did not abide by the principle of arresting the adulterer following the husband. However, this court chief also agrees with the explanation of the Xiangfu County Imperial Court, because it was not that someone went to the Imperial Court to report them for adultery, but that some Buddhist scholars discovered their affair in the temple and reported it to the Imperial Court. It is impossible for the Xiangfu County Imperial Court to ignore such a thing that is so immoral."
The people sitting in the yard nodded frequently as they listened.
The impact is so bad and it has become such a big deal, doesn't the royal court care?
Zhang Fei said: "Sima Xueshi's explanation of adultery is very accurate. I would like to borrow it here. If the matter is ambiguous, the adultery is not convicted because of the husband's report, and the husband divorces her without his consent. If the door to accusation is opened, it will surely become a prison."
Zhao Yan said: "But no one was wrongly accused in this case."
Zhang Fei said: "Yes."
"Who was wrongly accused?"
"It's Liu Qing and his wife."
Zhang Fei said: "The testimonies of the witnesses just now have already shown that after the verdict of this case, both Liu Qing and Liu Qinshi have suffered huge criticism.
Liu Qinshi did not seduce Yang Dahe, nor did she seduce Li Mingsheng, and she was not a fickle woman who could seduce anyone. However, she had to suffer this unjust accusation and be cursed by others.
And Liu Qing, he knew his wife was not as the rumors said, he knew there was a misunderstanding, so he tried hard to prove it for his wife, but what was the result? "
At this point, he picked up a few newspapers and magazines. "These are all articles published at the time about this case, mocking Liu Qing as a coward, and even questioning him for letting his wife marry Miaokong in order to make a living. And Liu Qinshi was portrayed as a whore who could be married to anyone."
He put down the newspaper and continued, "For Liu Qing, not to mention fame, even his livelihood has become a problem, and his relatives and friends have cut off all ties with him. He may be trapped in this for the rest of his life. Isn't this the principle of framing and wrongfully imprisoning a woman according to the principle of arresting her husband?"
Zhao Yan said: "This is because of Liu Qin's own misconduct."
Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "No, from a judicial point of view, this is caused by the government's misjudgment."
Zhao Yan questioned: "Can all this be avoided based on the principle that adultery should be arrested by the husband? I don't think so!"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "I'm not referring to whether this can be avoided."
Zhao Yan asked, "What do you mean?"
“Protect it all.”
Zhang Fei said: "The purpose of this principle is to worry about the possibility of false accusations, so this principle is established to give husbands and wives the power to protect themselves. Maybe some rumors cannot be avoided, and the same thing may happen again, but this is not a reason to deprive them of this power.
In this case, Liu Qing completely lost the power to protect himself and his wife. He could only endure it all silently, but he should have had this power, which was granted by the law.
In every explanation given by the Xiangfu County Imperial Court on this case, it actually did not explain the reason for depriving Liu Qing of the right to protect himself and his wife. It only explained the reason for punishing Liu Qinshi.
As a result, this verdict not only punished Liu Qinshi, but also destroyed this family, which is exactly what the adultery arrest is intended to protect. "
At this point, he looked around and said loudly: "I hope everyone can understand that this is an appeal about judicial regulations, not an appeal to seek justice for someone.
Can the president of the court make an exception in certain special circumstances? Yes, but it must be used with caution and subject to supervision.
The key is that an exceptional judgment must at least follow one principle, that is, your exceptional judgment must be for the purpose of protecting the content that the law is intended to defend. In simple terms, when there are loopholes in the existing laws and regulations and the content that is intended to be defended cannot be defended, an exceptional judgment is made as a last resort. "
Zhao Yan nodded slightly, as if thinking about something.
Zhang Fei continued, "When I was the chief judge of Hezhong Prefecture, I gave some principles and explanations because I had the power to make precedents. Of course, I also explained this in the Legislative Council. But you can take a closer look. The principles and explanations I gave are all to defend the original laws. I just improved or supplemented them, but did not change the core demands of the regulations."
At this point, he took out a copy of the document and glanced down. "Back to this case, the Xiangfu County Imperial Court's exceptional ruling broke the rule that adultery should be arrested with the husband, but judging from the experience of Liu Qing and his wife, the Xiangfu County ruling completely ignored the content of this principle. His explanation is to protect something else.
This is not called making an exception, but sabotage. If this verdict is implemented, it will be equivalent to completely abolishing the principle of arresting adulterers following their husbands, and this is something our procuratorate cannot accept, because the Xiangfu County Royal Court does not have this power, only the Legislative Council can do this. "
Wang Gong and Qi Ji looked at Zhang Fei at the same time. The closer they looked at the Dar'er pen, the different it was!
In fact, there is no specific principle for making exceptional judgments, but you are absolutely not wrong to say so. If an exceptional judgment is not made for the purpose of defending the content that the exception is intended to defend, then it is tantamount to directly abolishing the entire regulation.
My judgment is above the regulations.
Even the emperor didn't dare to do this.
Wang Anshi laughed and said, "This explanation is really insightful. This guy wins again."
Lu Huiqing said: "He is cutting off the fire from under the cauldron. Since the fact of adultery cannot be changed, as long as this principle is upheld, this verdict cannot be counted."
Wang Anshi laughed and said, "That's because he is now a prosecutor. If he were still an erbi, I believe he would be able to win without using this trick."
"I see."
Sima Guang suddenly realized, "No wonder he has been making a fuss about those rumors and Liu Qing's experience. It turns out that his lawsuit is all based on this principle."
Liu Shu asked: "So, he won again?"
Sima Guang nodded and said, "Only the Legislative Council can repeal a law. The president of the court cannot possibly have this power, so it certainly doesn't count."
Qi Hui, who was standing by, heard it clearly, but he still felt dissatisfied and suddenly stood up and asked, "Why didn't Prosecutor Zhang mention the law of the rule of law?"
Sima Guang wanted to stop it, but it was too late.
In fact, he noticed early on that Zhang Fei never mentioned Qi Hui. He always emphasized the imperial court of Xiangfu County. Obviously, he did not want to bring too much negative impact to Qi Hui.
But if you, Qi Hui, take the initiative to stand up, Zhang Fei will not be able to protect you even if he wants to.
Zhang Fei tilted his head to look at him, a hint of helplessness flashed across his eyes, and he replied calmly: "Because I think it may not be fair to Judge Qi to mention the law of the legal system. After all, Judge Qi may not be able to use the law of the legal system proficiently."
Qi Hui smiled and said, "But I think Prosecutor Zhang is trying to evade the main point."
Zhang Fei asked, "Judge Qi, why don't you speak frankly?"
Qi Hui said: "What Prosecutor Zhang said just now is correct. His exceptional judgment is to defend something else, and this something else is etiquette and law. This belongs to the interests of the country and the monarch. Shouldn't it take priority?"
(End of this chapter)
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