Chapter 295: Too Meticulous! |
Li Guozhong and his colleagues had predicted in advance that Zhang Fei would certainly engage them in debate over legal principles—specifically, how to allocate responsibility for the accident caused by street encroachment.
This was the crux of the case and what everyone was most concerned about, but fortunately there were no specific regulations on this matter.
Without regulations, precedents became extremely crucial.
Therefore, they had Gu Ji arrange for people to retrieve many cases from the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Punishments for analysis.
They prepared lengthy arguments to debate with Zhang Fei.
Just thinking about it was exciting.
Because regardless of who won, it would be of great reference value and might even enter the history books.
But unexpectedly, Zhang Fei immediately called eyewitnesses and didn’t debate this issue with them at all.
Wang Anshi stroked his beard and said, “Could I have guessed wrong?”
He knew Wang Anshi hadn’t guessed wrong.
But judging from Zhang Fei’s current actions, he seemed to be focused on responsibility for this traffic accident—otherwise, there would be no need to summon eyewitnesses.
If that was the case, Gu Ji and his team would have it easy.
Because what they feared most was precisely the issue of street encroachment.
A young man dressed as a tavern servant came up to the hall. The Bureau of Records now also had a witness stand, though not as refined as that of Kaifeng Prefecture—just a round stool. Many witnesses didn’t like to sit on it, thinking it made them look like criminals.
Zhang Fei stood up and asked, “Liu Tong, may I ask what you do for work?”
Liu Tong replied, “I’m a servant at Solemn Moon Inn.”
“The Solemn Moon Inn across from Spring Breeze Ten Li on Embroidery Lane?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember what you were doing at 9.30am on the eighteenth of this month?”
“I remember.”
Liu Tong nodded. “I had just finished my work at the inn and was sitting at the entrance resting.”
Zhang Fei asked, “What happened on the street at that time?”
Liu Tong said, “A horse cart crashed into the shed outside Spring Breeze Ten Li across the street.”
“Could you describe the specific situation at that time?”
“Well, I first saw a horse cart coming from the south heading toward the south gate of Xiang-guo Temple. When it was going around the corner, another horse cart was approaching from the west. Actually, from my perspective at the time, they wouldn’t have collided, but the horse pulling the western cart got spooked, so it crashed into the shed of Spring Breeze Ten Li.”
Liu Tong recounted vividly while recalling the events.
He felt no fear in his heart, but rather appeared quite excited. This was because the spectacle Zhang Fei brought made commoners approach testifying in court with an excited mood.
After hearing this, Li Guozhong immediately whispered a few words in Li Lei’s ear.
Li Lei nodded. “I understand.”
Zhang Fei continued, “Was the horse cart coming from the south moving very fast?”
“Not very fast.” Liu Tong shook his head. “There were quite a few people at that intersection—who would dare drive fast? That would be asking for death.”
“Were there warning bells?”
“Yes! The bells were ringing the whole time.”
“Did the horse cart from the west have warning bells?”
“I didn’t hear any, because there were many people at the time and it was quite noisy. Plus there were already bell sounds from this side, so I didn’t pay attention.”
“Could you tell whether the horse cart from the west was moving fast or slow?”
“When I saw it, the cart had already lost control, but it probably wasn’t very fast either. Otherwise, it would have crashed directly. Anyway, I think that if the horse hadn’t been spooked, they definitely wouldn’t have collided.”
“Is that so?”
Zhang Fei picked up a document from the table and examined it carefully. “According to the results of the police bureau’s experiment, from your position at that time, you actually could have clearly seen the horse cart approaching from the west. Is it that you simply weren’t paying attention at the time?”
“That’s right!”
Liu Tong scratched his head in puzzlement. “I should have been able to see it, but why didn’t I see it?”
Zhang Fei smiled. “No rush, think it over slowly.”
Liu Tong thought carefully, then suddenly raised his hand and waved his finger. “I remember now! It was because there were many embroideries hanging under the shed of Spring Breeze Ten Li that blocked my view, so I couldn’t see it.”
Zhang Fei asked again, “Do you think the horse cart coming from the south could see the horse cart from the west?”
“I object.”
Li Lei immediately stood up.
Zhang Fei turned to Lu Jiawen and asked, “The police bureau has conducted experiments on this. If many embroideries were hanging on the north side of that shed, neither side could see the situation on the opposite side at all.”
Having said this, he sat down.
Li Lei took the opportunity to ask, “Liu Tong, may I ask how long you have worked at Solemn Moon Inn?”
Liu Tong replied, “About three or four years.”
Li Lei said, “To your knowledge, do accidents like this occur frequently?”
Liu Tong said, “This is the most serious one I’ve ever seen, but normally…!”
Before he could finish, Li Lei continued asking, “You just said that in your judgment, there definitely wouldn’t have been a collision, but it was because the horse from the western cart was startled and lost control that it crashed?”
Liu Tong nodded.
Li Lei said, “What makes you say that horse was startled and lost control?”
Liu Tong said, “Because I heard the horse neigh at that time.”
Li Lei asked again, “Can you guarantee it was the horse losing control, rather than poor driving?”
Liu Tong quickly shook his head, “I wouldn’t dare guarantee that.”
“I’m finished with my questions.”
“You just said this accident was the most serious you’ve seen, which means you may have witnessed more than one?” Zhang Fei stood up and asked.
Liu Tong nodded, “That intersection does frequently have accidents, but most are just minor bumps and scrapes. This kind of situation is the first I’ve seen.”
Zhang Fei asked again, “Then you must have a vivid memory of the scene at that time?”
Liu Tong nodded repeatedly.
Zhang Fei said, “I have three paintings here. Can you identify which painting depicts what happened at that time?”
The surrounding officials, and even Li Guozhong and others, were stunned.
Could… could it be done this way?
Using paintings as evidence had never appeared before.
Li Lei directly asked Lu Jiawen, “Judicial Administrator, is this allowed?”
Lu Jiawen had never encountered this either. After thinking it over, he said, “Paintings are the same as written words. There’s nothing improper about this.”
Li Lei sat down helplessly.
Fei Ming said puzzledly, “Where does this kid get so many tricks?”
Li Guozhong said, “This is his most frightening aspect. No one knows how many more methods he has hidden.”
Su Shi, who was standing to the side watching, murmured to himself, “Could this be what he calls technique?”
Fan Chunren heard him clearly and said, “But what can this prove?”
Su Shi was equally puzzled, “Yes! What can these paintings prove?”
After receiving Lu Jiaqian’s permission, Qiu Zhengwen stood up, took the three paintings and walked over, displaying them one by one for Liu Tong to see.
After looking, Liu Tong said with a firm tone, “The second one.”
Qiu Zhengwen asked, “You mean the one marked with the symbol 2?”
Liu Tong nodded repeatedly, “Yes, yes, yes, I recognize this symbol.”
Arabic numerals had quickly become familiar to everyone through license plates, and even those who couldn’t read recognized these symbols.
Qiu Zhengwen immediately presented all three paintings to Lu Jiaqian.
After looking at them, Lu Jiawen looked at Zhang Fei with bewilderment. What could this prove?
Zhang Fei smiled, “I’ll explain later. I’m finished with my questions.”
Then he sat down.
Li Lei stood up and said, “I respectfully request the court to summon the suspect, patrolman Xie Hui, to the court.”
“Summon Xie Hui.”
Before long, Xie Hui came to the court. After performing the proper courtesies, he sat in the defendant’s seat.
Li Lei stood up and said, “Xie Hui, can you describe the specific circumstances when the incident occurred?”
Xie Hui said, “I remember that day I was ordered to transport a batch of green paint from Xiang-guo Temple to the police station. When passing through the intersection entering Embroidery Lane, a horse cart suddenly emerged from the south, causing my horse to be startled. I tried very hard to control it, but still overturned.”
Li Lei asked, “Were you going fast at the time?”
“Not fast. Just normal speed.”
“Did you hear any bell sounds coming from the south?”
“No. If I had, I would have stopped the cart.”
“At such a close distance, how could you not have heard it?”
“The intersection was very noisy at the time. I truly didn’t hear it.”
“I hear that your police station has been extremely busy lately due to the license registration system, working until very late every day?”
“Yes.”
“How long has it been since you’ve had any rest?”
“About half a month or so.”
“Not even a single day of rest?”
“No.”
“Could it be that you were too exhausted and therefore didn’t hear it?”
“No, I knew the day before that I had to go to Xiang-guo Temple early in the morning to transport goods, so I went to sleep early.”
“Who can verify this?”
“I’ve been sleeping at the training ground these past few days. Many people can verify it.”
“But I’ve also questioned many patrol officers, and they’re just like you – they collapse into bed exhausted every day after work, and they still feel tired.”
“Working every day certainly makes one tired, but not to the point of not hearing bell sounds.”
“But you just denied it?”
“I…”
“I’m finished with my questions.”
Without giving Xie Hui a chance to respond, he sat down.
Zhang Fei stood up and said, “Xie Hui, how many years have you been driving carts?”
Xie Hui said, “Eight years.”
“How would you describe your driving skills?”
Xie Hui answered, “Pretty good.”
“How good?”
“Uh…”
Xie Hui appeared somewhat bashful.
Zhang Fei then asked, “Is there anyone at the police station with better driving skills than you?”
“Probably not. About the same.”
“Do you have proof?”
“Last time our police station specifically conducted evaluations on driving and horsemanship. I came in first place for driving.”
“You’ve been driving for eight years. Have you ever encountered situations where horses were startled?”
“Yes.”
“Did any accidents occur?”
“No.”
Xie Hui said with confidence, “Actually, horses getting startled is quite common, but I usually manage to control the situation.”
“Why couldn’t you control it this time?”
“That’s because there was a small drainage ditch beside that shed. At the time, the right wheel got caught in the ditch, which caused us to crash into the shed. If there hadn’t been that ditch, I would have been able to avoid it.”
“I’m finished with my questions.”
Zhang Fei sat down.
Lu Jiaqian looked toward Li Lei again.
Li Lei shook his head, indicating he had nothing to ask.
Zhang Fei said again, “I respectfully request that the court calls witness Shuangxi.”
A young servant wearing a blue cap came up to the hall.
Zhang Fei asked routinely, “Shuangxi, do you remember what you were doing around 9.30am on the eighteenth of this month?”
Shuangxi answered, “At that time, my master ordered me to go to Solemn Moon Inn to get some vegetarian dishes.”
Zhang Fei said, “You were on your way to Solemn Moon Inn?”
“Yes.”
“What did you see then?”
“At that time, I saw a patrol officer driving a horse cart toward Embroidery Lane, and then suddenly another horse cart came running out from the south. The patrol officer then crashed his cart into the shed nearby.”
“Was the patrol officer’s cart going fast?”
“Not fast.”
“Could you hear bell sounds coming from the opposite direction at that time?”
“No.”
Shuangxi shook his head.
Zhang Fei asked, “At such a close distance, you shouldn’t have been unable to hear it!”
Shuangxi thought for a moment, “I remember now. At that time, there was a cake vendor shouting nearby, and the patrol officer’s cart was also ringing its bell, so I didn’t hear the bell from the opposite direction.”
“Thank you!”
Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, “I’m finished with my questions.”
Lu Jiawen looked toward Li Lei again.
Li Lei still shook his head, indicating he had nothing to ask.
But Fei Ming behind him muttered, “Strange! The questions he’s asking have nothing to do with the street encroachment situation. Could it be that he’s just making a feint, with the real purpose being to let everyone know that this incident wasn’t the patrol officers’ fault?”
Li Guozhong nodded, “That’s possible. He’s often done this before, finding an excuse to appear in court.”
Zhang Fei then summoned another eyewitness named Kang Wen.
After the routine questioning, Zhang Fei asked again, “So you witnessed the entire incident?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember how the cart crashed into the shed?”
“I should remember.”
“I have three drawings here. Please identify them.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Jiawen picked up the drawings from the table and was about to hand them over, when unexpectedly Qiu Zhengwen stood up first and produced three drawings of his own.
Everyone was bewildered.
What was this about?
Did the same incident require preparing so many drawings?
Li Guozhong gradually began to sweat, “You need to pay attention – there’s definitely something mysterious about these drawings.”
Although Li Lei nodded, he felt uncertain inside. He had never encountered this tactic before.
“The third one.”
Kang Wen quickly gave his judgment.
Qiu Zhengwen asked again, “You mean this drawing marked with the symbol 3?”
“Yes.”
Qiu Zhengwen then handed these three drawings to Lu Jiawen.
Lu Jiawen hurriedly examined them, but became even more confused.
Li Lei indicated he still had nothing to ask. What Kang Wen said was identical to Liu Tong’s testimony – there was no difference.
Zhang Fei summoned another eyewitness, then again produced three drawings for the person to identify. After the identification was complete, he handed them to Lu Jiawen.
But since Qiu Zhengwen only showed the drawings to the witnesses and Lu Jiawen, the others couldn’t see them and were extremely curious.
Were they looking at the same drawing or not? If so, why prepare so many copies?
What kind of strategy was this?
This time Zhang Fei didn’t act mysteriously and quickly revealed the answer. He asked Lu Jiawen, “Judicial Administrator Lu, have you seen all the drawings they confirmed?”
“I’ve seen them all.”
Lu Jiawen displayed the three drawings for everyone to see.
After everyone looked at them, they became even more curious.
These three drawings actually depicted the scene of the cart overturning from different angles.
What was the significance?
Zhang Fei smiled and asked, “I believe Chief Clerk Lu is also very curious why I prepared nine drawings to ask about the same incident.”
Lu Jiawen nodded, “I am indeed curious – what is the significance?”
Zhang Fei said, “Because I only want to prove one thing – that the cart at that time didn’t crash directly into the shed, but rather its right wheel got stuck in a ditch and it overturned sideways.”
Lu Jiawen asked again, “What does this prove?”
Zhang Fei said, “This is sufficient to prove one point – if there hadn’t been this ditch, this accident could have been avoided.”
Li Guozhong was suddenly alarmed and immediately asked, “What’s mysterious about that ditch?”
Fei Ming spread his hands, “I don’t know either.”
Li Guozhong said anxiously, “Didn’t you investigate it?”
Fei Ming replied, “I only investigated the street encroachment matter at Spring Breeze Ten Li. Why would I investigate that little ditch?”
“We’re finished!”
Li Guozhong said, “There’s definitely something wrong with that ditch.”
Lu Jiawen looked at the drawings again and said, “Even so, what does it prove?”
“I have two more drawings here.”
Zhang Fei turned around, and Qiu Zhengwen, accompanied by three pen-in-caps, brought out two scrolls to the center of the hall and unrolled them.
Xu Zhiqian covered her face with both hands.
Last time it was essays, this time it was drawings. Everyone around her was a literary master who could draw better than her with their eyes closed. This was truly embarrassing to the extreme.
But at this moment, no one paid attention to these details. Their attention was entirely focused on the content of the drawings.
Zhang Fei approached the drawings, “The drawing on the left shows the scene of this street intersection five years ago, which I had drawn based on the recollections of over ten witnesses I found from Xiang-guo Temple and Embroidery Lane. The one on the right shows the current situation.
Everyone can clearly see that five years ago, the ditch passing through the intersection was twice as wide as today’s, and also deeper, with railings set up alongside it. This was to prevent people from accidentally falling into the ditch.
But the intersection at that time was very spacious and clearly visible, and with the railings installed, no incidents of people or carts falling into the ditch ever occurred.
As for today’s intersection, I believe everyone knows without looking at the drawing that it’s very narrow and congested. All of this is caused by Spring Breeze Ten Li’s street encroachment behavior. For Spring Breeze Ten Li to expand their shop, they had to fill in the previous ditch, but this ditch was the drainage channel for all of Embroidery Lane and couldn’t be eliminated.
So Spring Breeze Ten Li unilaterally changed the route of the ditch, but to save costs, the width and height of the ditch were far inferior to the original, and they didn’t install railings to provide safety. Moreover, before this shed existed, if one came from the west, one could see this ditch, but because the shed covered part of the ditch, if one wasn’t paying attention, it was completely invisible at the street corner.
And our dynasty’s traffic regulations are almost entirely inherited from the Tang Code, but during the Xianping era, a law specifically targeting traffic roads was added.”
As he spoke, he had already walked to his desk and just picked up a document, when Lu Jiawen spoke first: “I remember this—it’s about how when digging ditches, wells, or even mud pits within the city, property owners must install railings to prevent harm to human life. Otherwise, if an accident occurs, the property owner will bear full responsibility.”
Zhang Fei put down the document in his hand and nodded: “Exactly, but there’s actually another sentence after it—if the ditch results in injury or even death, the property owner must pay compensation. This was to ensure that ditches and wells wouldn’t be dug in places where accidents could easily occur.”
“Correct, that’s the meaning.” Lu Jiawen nodded.
Zhang Fei said: “In this case, because of Spring Breeze Ten Li’s street encroachment behavior, they not only unilaterally changed the ditch route, but also removed the original railings without installing new ones, and later built a shed that obscured part of it. Although they made it very narrow and shallow, the accident occurred precisely because of this. According to this law, Spring Breeze Ten Li must bear full responsibility.”
While Zhang Fei was making his lengthy argument, Xu Zhiqian kept staring at Li Guozhong, Li Lei, and the others across from them, because when she was helping Zhang Fei prepare, she hadn’t expected that Zhang Fei would make such a big issue out of this ditch.
The opposing side had already fallen silent, their faces ashen.
This was playing things too meticulously!
They had mainly investigated the street encroachment behavior, focusing their attention on the buildings and shed, never thinking that Zhang Fei would deduce from the posture of the carriage entering the shed and then push all the blame onto that inconspicuous little ditch.