CH 5

What kind of monster have we released from prison!

Liu Hai had been working in the government for over twenty years. Usually, offenders who leave prison do everything they can to stay away from the government. The farther, the better, their hearts filled with fear. Unlike this guy who comes every other day!

“File a complaint? Another complaint?!”

Liu Hai could not control himself and roared furiously at Zhang Fei, “Do you think this government office is run by your family? Are you courting death?”

Zhang Fei put down the sleeve that he had raised to block Liu Hai’s saliva, and spoke calmly, “Please forgive me, Mister Liu. I actually don’t want to disturb you, but this place is the only place where the people can seek justice. There’s nowhere anywhere else! Surely, you can’t expect me to file a complaint with the emperor in the capital!”

“You!”

Liu Hai glared at Zhang Fei, “Are you threatening me?”

Complaining to a superior department was something hated by governmental offices.

Let alone filing a complaint with the emperor.

“No, no, no!”

Zhang Fei shook his head, “I’m just kidding. Of course I do not dare!”

Liu Hai, panting heavily, suddenly snatched the complaint document, glared, and yelled, “Why are you still standing here? Do you actually think court will be held today?”

“Ah? Oh, oh, oh!”

Zhang Fei bowed his hands, “I take my leave, I take my leave.”

It was getting late, and this was a proper complaint that he was filing. There was no chance of a trial today, so he left.

Liu Hai was very reluctant to deal with Zhang San, but he also knew the temper of his boss. If he concealed this, he would certainly lose his job. So, he braced himself and went back to the office. “Reporting to the prefect, that Zhang San has come to file a complaint again.”

Hearing “Zhang San”, Xu Yuan was instantly irritated and murmured, “We really shouldn’t have let that guy out.”

He had strongly opposed the use of ‘exemption from the initial offence’ to reduce Ayun’s death penalty. He thought this could even affect Xu Zun’s political career. But Xu Zun was adamant and had already used this reason to object to the judgment of the Court of Judicial Review.

The root of all this trouble was Zhang San!

Xu Zun did not blame Xu Yuan for grumbling. Instead, he asked Liu Hai, “Who is he filing a complaint against this time?”

Liu Hai replied, “This time he is filing a complaint on behalf of the Wei brothers. The complaint is against Fang Datian for injury.”

Xu Zun was taken aback, “Injury? When did Fang Datian injure someone?”

Liu Hai said, “It’s about the case of Ayun’s intentional murder.”

Xu Yuan immediately said, “Regarding this case, we have investigated it very clearly. Fang Datian did not instigate Ayun’s actions. The Fang family was completely unaware of what she was about to do.”

Xu Zun coughed lightly and said, “Present the complaint document first.”

“Yes.”

Liu Hai immediately presented the complaint document.

After reading it, Xu Zun asked, “Where is he?”

Liu Hai hesitated, “Seeing that it was getting late, I told him to go home and wait for news.”

Xu Zun had wanted to summon Zhang Fei immediately, but seeing that his subordinates were not pleased with the young man, he had to consider their feelings. So he said, “This young man is really a troublemaker. We’ll leave the matter for now.”

However, Xu Zun’s consideration of his subordinates’ feelings was slight. After examining the complaint document, he decided the next day to hold court to hear the case three days later, and also allowed Zhang Fei to represent Wei Ada in court.

Allowing someone to represent a person in court was not very common in the Song Dynasty, but it wasn’t rare either. So Xu Zun wasn’t giving Zhang Fei particularly special treatment.

Due to the Song Dynasty’s policy of free exchange of land, and its policy of not suppressing the merchant class, private economic activity thrived in the Song Dynasty more than in any other era. This led to an increase in legal disputes.

And as the common people lacked knowledge of the law, they definitely needed professionals to assist them in legal matters. Litigators thus emerged as a response to this demand.

The historical records clearly indicate that the study of litigation was born during the Northern Song period.

However, these people were not called litigators during this time, but were referred to as “pen-in-cap”. This is because these people had the practice of sticking a pen in their caps.[1] Other legal professionals included the “pen-in-hand” and the “tea-drinkers”.

“Pen-in-cap” and “pen-in-hand” were different. Although both drafted legal documents, a pen-in-cap could also advocate in court on behalf of litigants, while a pen-in-hand, like modern day solicitors, would only help people draft legal documents.

“Tea-drinkers” were different from the former two, and more like modern day notaries. They only drafted legal documents, but they had to guarantee the truthfulness of the document, and bore legal responsibilities for the contents of the documents.[2]

Of course, whether or not to allow a pen-in-cap to advocate in court was entirely up to the presiding official. This was not a necessary or fixed procedure.

As for holding court openly and before the public, this was also something that Xu Zun could decide, and he would usually hold court in an open session. This was because he hoped to use this opportunity to allow the common people to learn more about the law.

Tomorrow was the day of the court hearing, and the summoned Wei Ada and his brother arrived in the city today. Zhang Fei welcomed the brothers to his room in the inn for the night.

He still had some preparations to make.

“Brother Zhang San, I’m already fine, there’s no need to bandage me up like this,” said Wei Ada, looking at his brother who was busy wrapping his hand. His right hand was almost bandaged into a dumpling shape, which he thought was excessive, so he voiced his opinion to Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei patiently explained, “If you’re bouncing around lively as a tiger in court tomorrow, who would sympathize with you? This bandaging is to let people know how much you’ve suffered, such that it’s only natural for you to seek compensation.”

Wei A’er thought that Zhang Fei’s reasoning made a lot of sense, so he said, “Big Brother, just listen to Brother Zhang San. He won’t harm us.”

Wei Ada nodded awkwardly, but his face was still filled with unease.

Zhang Fei laughed, “Don’t be afraid. You are the only victim in this case. All your demands are completely reasonable. No one will blame you. Leave everything to me tomorrow.”

Wei Ada nodded and said, “I…I understand. I’m not afraid.”

Despite what he said, his voice was trembling.

Zhang Fei was helpless about this. After all, these common people would rarely have dealings with the government in their lifetime, so it was natural for them to feel afraid.

Early the next morning, Zhang Fei and the Wei brothers were already out of their rooms.

At this time, quite a few people were eating breakfast downstairs. When the three of them came down, the room instantly fell silent, everyone was staring at Zhang Fei in astonishment.

Zhang Fei, who had to adapt to local customs, had specifically bought a cap and inserted a short pen into it. To be honest, he really liked this style, it suited his taste.

Handsome, with a dash of casualness and free-spiritedness.

He was simply too cool.

In Dengzhou, pen-in-caps were not very common. The guests of the inn suddenly discovered that they were living with a pen-in-cap and couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised.

Zhang Fei just gave everyone a slight smile, then led the Wei brothers away. He had asked the innkeeper to send breakfast to his room, and they had eaten before coming down.

After he left, a wave of discussion erupted within the inn, and everyone began to talk about the Wei Ada case.

Regarding this case, rumors had already leaked, and everyone was discussing it.

It turned out that when the Ayun case occurred, it was already the talk of the town.

And it had already been proven that Ayun’s intentional murder of Wei Ada was entirely her own doing and had nothing to do with the Fang brothers. Now, however, rumors were spreading that Wei Ada had filed a complaint against the Fang brothers for injury, which piqued everyone’s curiosity.

Could there be more to this case than meets the eye?

After a short walk, Zhang Fei and the Wei brothers arrived at the prefectural office. By now, a few townspeople were already standing outside the gate, waiting for the spectacle.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man rushed forward and started shouting furiously at Wei Ada.

“Wei Ada, you ungrateful dog! I kindly arranged for my niece to marry you, yet you repay my kindness with malice and false accusations. You will not die a good death!”

This man was the accused, Fang Datian.

Wei Ada, scared, quickly hid behind his brother.

He was a simple fellow, and due to his ugly appearance, he had very low self-esteem.

Zhang Fei stepped forward, smiling, “How about three strings?”

Fang Datian was taken aback, “What three strings?”

Zhang Fei laughed, “This is a government office, so causing a ruckus here is punishable. However, you can spend three strings of coins to hire me to defend you, so that you may avoid physical punishment.”

Fang Datian glanced at the entrance of the government office, a trace of fear flashing in his eyes, but he didn’t hold back his words, “Oh! So it’s you who encouraged Wei Ada to falsely accuse me.”

Zhang Fei replied, “If the prefect rules in our favor later, then your insistence of ‘false accusation’ would imply that the prefect is unfair. This constitutes the crime of defaming an official. If you want me to help you defend this charge, it will cost you thirty string. After all, you’re defaming the prefect!”

“You!”

Fang Datian, after all, was just a commoner. He was afraid of the authorities and was instantly stunned by Zhang Fei.

At this moment, a man came up from behind him. His name was Fang Dagen, the younger brother of Fang Datian. He pulled Fang Datian aside and said, “Brother, don’t argue with him. I believe the officials will give us justice.”

After saying that, he led Fang Datian away.

After a while, more and more locals started to arrive. Entertainment was scarce in olden times, and court sessions were not a regular event, so many curious people came to watch.

After about another short period of time, the doors of the prefectural office slowly opened.

Liu Hai and two guards emerged from the door. His gaze swept around and directly locked onto Zhang Fei. He glared at him fiercely, then loudly summoned Fang Datian, Wei Ada, and Zhang Fei.

Upon entering the office, they were first led to the west corridor where the complaint document was officially handed over to a clerk for examination. They then waited for a while before being summoned from the corridor into the courtyard.

Because it was an open court session, the trial was not arranged inside the hall, but in the courtyard in front of the hall.

Compared to the casualness of the first time, this time was much more solemn!

On each side, eight bailiffs, each holding a pole-staff, chanted slowly in unison, “Awe and strength.”[3]

Meanwhile, wooden signs were erected on both sides.

“Stand back!” “Silence!”

This was the solemnity of the court.

The courtyard of the prefectural office suddenly went silent.

Wei Ada was so scared that his legs gave out and he was about to collapse to the ground. Zhang Fei quickly grabbed him and said with a smile, “Don’t be afraid, this is just to scare the bad guys. We are good guys.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Fang Datian next to him. Although he did not collapse, his legs were trembling. Zhang couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. The other party didn’t even have a lawyer, which made him wonder if he was being too overbearing.

Amidst this majestic atmosphere, Xu Zun, dressed in his official robes, entered from the east corridor. He had witnessed the actions of Zhang Fei and Wei Ada. He thought to himself that this young man was indeed extraordinary!

[1] This image is a depiction of a pen-in-cap (guy with a feathered pen in his cap).



[2] I will generally translate pen-in-hand as solicitor and tea-drinker as notary for ease of understanding. But as the title of this chapter suggests, Zhang Fei is a pen-in-cap and there is narrative significance in people calling him that, so the term pen-in-cap will be used.

[3] This image depicts how a court session would be held, and this video portrays the chanting of the bailiffs (at 1:42).