Only now did the observing officials suddenly realize what was happening. They finally understood why Zhang Fei had used paintings as evidence, why he had made it so mysterious, and why he had found so many eyewitnesses to prove how the carriage had crashed into the shed.
In fact, everything he had done was to prove one point: the carriage had overturned into the shed because its right wheel had fallen into the ditch.
This single point was enough to win the lawsuit.
Su Shi, who had always been confident, couldn’t help but feel a trace of frustration.
If it had been him, he certainly wouldn’t have fought this way. He favored verbal argunts, but in this lawsuit, Zhang Fei had relied entirely on physical evidence without excessive debate.
“Master, how should we respond?”
Li Lei looked at Li Guozhong with complete bewildernt.
Having been through countless battles, he rarely showed such a lost expression in court.
Li Guozhong sighed, “Forget it! We’ve already done our best.”
Complete surrender.
There was nothing left to fight for.
They had previously thought they had a chance because there were no legal provisions specifically regulating liability determination for traffic accidents caused by street encroachnt.
But there were clear provisions regulating liability determination for traffic accidents caused by digging ditches and wells.
This street encroachnt was already a violation, and yet they had also unilaterally changed the governnt-planned ditch, removed the guardrails, and failed to install new ones.
The carriage had indeed overturned because its wheel had fallen into the ditch.
They had nothing left to counter with.
No matter how much they argued, they couldn’t change this fact.
The watching old faces all looked like frost-beaten eggplants.
They were completely wilted!
Had Fan Chunren’s victory over Zhang Fei last ti really been just an accident?
Since the opposing side had no ans of counterattack and they hadn’t anticipated that Zhang Fei would make his move regarding the ditch, they proceeded directly to closing argunts.
Li Lei stood up first. “The intersection where the incident occurred is located in a busy market area, with vehicles coming and going every day. The ditch that the opposing side emphasizes has existed for a long ti – not just a few days or months, but for two or three years.
According to all the eyewitness testimonies, we can clearly see that although minor collisions occasionally occurred at that intersection, such a serious accident had never happened before.
Moreover, several witnesses just now believed it was caused by the horse being startled, as they heard the horse’s neighing. However, based on this alone, they cannot guarantee it wasn’t caused by improper driving.
At the sa ti, everyone should not ignore one fact: just before this incident, patrol officer Xie Hui had been continuously busy for more than half a month and was physically and ntally exhausted.
Although this point can no longer be verified, whether it was the horse being startled or improper driving, our dynasty has specific standards for judgnt and punishnt. According to our dynasty’s laws, even if the accident was caused by the horse, the horse owner should bear full compensation for all losses, with only the criminal punishnt reduced by two degrees.
In any case, Spring Breeze Ten Li has suffered enormous losses due to this accident.
Moreover, the other party is a patrol officer whose duty is to maintain traffic order. He should pay more attention to safety in this area than ordinary people, providing security rather than fear to the common people. If the Bureau of Records determines that patrol officer Xie Hui is exempt from responsibility, it may cause extrely adverse effects, and patrol officers might beco even more reckless.
Therefore, I respectfully request that the Bureau of Records determine that patrol officer Xie Hui bears full responsibility and compensate Spring Breeze Ten Li for all losses.”
After this speech, Gu Ji and the others, who had been wilted just monts before, imdiately perked up and felt a glimr of hope in their hearts.
On one side were common people, on the other a patrol officer.
Once this issue beca public, the governnt would have to show so consideration, wouldn’t it?
After Li Lei sat down, Zhang Fei stood up, and everyone’s attention imdiately focused on him.
Most people appeared very nervous.
Regarding compensation, they actually didn’t care – after all, this wasn’t the first ti they had lost to Zhang Fei. What they cared about was whether Zhang Fei would escalate the issue.
Whether he would focus on the street encroachnt.
That was the key issue!
Zhang Fei’s gaze swept across the room, as if seeing through their thoughts. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and with a relaxed deanor he said, “I don’t know if everyone present is aware of this, but Judicial Administrator Lu certainly knows very well that from the very beginning, the General Police Bureau consistently expressed its willingness to settle and pay reasonable compensation.”
As he spoke, he looked toward Lu Jiawen.
Lu Jiawen nodded slightly, indicating that Zhang Fei was not lying.
Only then did Zhang Fei continue: “At the ti, so speculated that the General Police Bureau acknowledged responsibility was on their side, hence they hoped to settle the matter quietly to preserve their reputation. But the facts were not so.
The reason the General Police Bureau was previously willing to settle was because they believed this traffic accident was entirely caused by Spring Breeze Ten Li’s street encroachnt behavior.”
He delivered this last statent with resounding force, powerful and clear, as if afraid everyone might not hear clearly.
The observing officials all gritted their teeth, their eyes flashing with malice.
I knew it, I just knew this kid wouldn’t let us off so easily.
Sure enough.
He emphasized this point right from the start.
Zhang Fei continued: “So the question arises: why has Spring Breeze Ten Li encroached upon the street for these past ten years, and why had the previous Patrol and Inspection Office remained indifferent?
This is the sole reason the General Police Bureau was willing to settle. Because the General Police Bureau believed that the Patrol and Inspection Office’s lax enforcent led to everything, and they should bear so responsibility. Given the close relationship between the Patrol and Inspection Office and the General Police Bureau, the General Police Bureau was also willing to assu all responsibility for the Patrol and Inspection Office.
But never did they expect that Spring Breeze Ten Li’s greed knew no bounds – not only did they show no remorse, they demanded several tis the compensation from the General Police Bureau. I truly don’t know who gave them such audacity.”
At this point, he looked directly at Gu Ji – you are the real culprit.
Everyone’s gaze followed to Gu Ji.
Gu Ji imdiately panicked to the extre, his hatred for Zhang Fei now etched deep in his bones.
This was completely unnecessary – you’re deliberately trying to humiliate !
Speaking of which, this vindictive Zhang Fei could never possibly let him off.
Zhang Fei smiled slightly, then looked down at his docunts again and continued: “It was precisely because Spring Breeze Ten Li was so aggressive that it caused the General Police Bureau to change their view of this accident. The General Police Bureau believed that such indulgent behavior would only make Spring Breeze Ten Li more brazen and greedy, which is why they decided to hire our Bianjing Law Firm to litigate. As for this lawsuit?”
Zhang Fei shrugged and smiled contemptuously: “There is not a single piece of evidence that can prove patrol officer Xie Hui committed any violations while driving, but that illegal ditch is right there. I don’t think there’s any dispute about this.
Let add one more thing – the opposing counsel’s remarks just now struck as quite laughable. He seed to be suggesting to the Bureau of Records that they might as well wait for the next major accident to occur before determining whether that illegal ditch impedes traffic.”
“I object.”
Li Lei imdiately stood up. “Zhang San’s words are pure slander, completely without foundation.”
“I retract what I just said. I’m finished.”
Zhang Fei quickly raised his hand in apology, then sat down.
“That rascal,” Wang Anshi said with a laugh, shaking his head. “Based on that last statent alone, there’s no way the Bureau of Records could rule in favor of Spring Breeze Ten Li!”
If they waited for the next accident before making a judgnt, then the Bureau of Records would bear full responsibility.
That remark was absolutely ruthless.
Wen Yanbo stroked his beard and said: “Now we’ll see how the Bureau of Records rules.”
Lu Gongzhu nearby was nowhere near as calm and composed as they were, because he knew clearly that with the lawsuit having reached this point, Lu Jiawen would face trendous pressure.
Sure enough, after Lu Jiawen conferred briefly with the various clerks and legal officers, he did not imdiately render a verdict. Instead, he chose to temporarily adjourn court and went inside with the other examining officials to deliberate.
But the officials present had already anticipated what they were debating.
The General Police Bureau had certainly won, and Spring Breeze Ten Li would definitely be held responsible. The question was whether the Bureau of Records would address the street encroachnt issue.
“Judicial Administrator Lu, regarding street encroachnt, this matter is of great importance and involves many people. Even if changes were to be made, it should be the imperial court issuing orders. We certainly don’t have that authority.”
“If we rule that Spring Breeze Ten Li’s street encroachnt is illegal and require them to make corrections, it will cause great upheaval. I dare say even the Kaifeng Prefectural Office wouldn’t dare make such a ruling lightly.”
“The best approach is to rule that Spring Breeze Ten Li bears full responsibility and provide compensation to the General Police Bureau. As for whether corrections should be made, that should be left for the imperial court to decide.”
These experienced clerks and legal officers, deeply understanding the stakes involved, all advised Lu Jiawen not to get too involved with street encroachnt , but rather to limit the focus of the judgnt to the assignnt of liability.
Lu Jiawen was young and spirited, and also a very ambitious official. He wanted this mont in the spotlight – he had been looking forward from the beginning to creating a landmark legal precedent.
If street encroachnt wasn’t addressed, this would be nothing more than an ordinary traffic accident.
Lu Jiawen nodded and said: “I understand everyone’s concerns, but our verdict must be fair and just. Now the General Police Bureau’s reason for suing Spring Breeze Ten Li is precisely Spring Breeze Ten Li’s street encroachnt. If we rule in favor of the General Police Bureau while ignoring street encroachnt, this would be an incomplete verdict that would certainly invite criticism. Zhang San might even continue to appeal – he ntioned this point more than once during the proceedings.
We have no authority to rule that all street encroachnt behaviors are illegal, but we do have the authority to require Spring Breeze Ten Li to make corrections. If we don’t make this requirent, then who will bear responsibility if accidents happen again in the future?
As for your concerns, I believe there’s no need to worry about them at all, because they brought the lawsuit to us – we’re not actively punishing them. Moreover, we did allow Spring Breeze Ten Li to accept the General Police Bureau’s settlent offer, but Spring Breeze Ten Li was unwilling. Now we can only render judgnt based on the facts. They can’t bla us for that.”
The clerks and legal officers looked at each other.
Indeed!
If you don’t require corrections and another accident happens next ti, they would absolutely be held responsible for it.
In the end, it was Spring Breeze Ten Li who brought this upon themselves. If they had been willing to listen to advice initially, today’s events wouldn’t have happened.
When problems arose, why should they have to clean up the ss?
If only Spring Breeze Ten Li was required to make corrections, the damage wouldn’t be too severe. As for other street encroachnts, that could still be decided by the imperial court.
After a little over an hour, Lu Jiawen returned to his seat with the various clerks and legal officers.
The hearts of those officials jumped to their throats.
Lu Jiawen looked around and declared loudly: “After our deliberation, this traffic accident was entirely caused by Spring Breeze Ten Li’s unauthorized alteration of the drainage ditch and failure to install warning signs and guardrails. Therefore, I hereby rule that Spring Breeze Ten Li shall bear full responsibility.
However, regarding the General Police Bureau’s claim for damages, due to insufficient supporting evidence, Spring Breeze Ten Li need only compensate for vehicle and horse losses, Patrol Officer Xie Hui’s dical expenses, and paint costs, totaling eighty-seven strings and four hundred thirty cash. As for the reputation damages involved, these are unrelated to Spring Breeze Ten Li, and Spring Breeze Ten Li need not provide any compensation for this.
And due to Spring Breeze Ten Li’s street encroachnt having created serious traffic hazards, I order that they must imdiately undertake corrections. During the correction period, barriers must also be installed around the periter. If any accidents occur during this ti, I shall impose severe punishnt.”
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