Chapter 373: The Incomparably Harmonious Piece of Paper
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Ming family would not lose their footing just because of a midwife who had appeared from nowhere. Chen Bochang was also good at arguing. Looking at how old the birthmark was, and the advanced age of the midwife, the evidence was not enough to support these aggressive attacks. In any case, they couldn’t just admit defeat like this.
If Xia Qifei’s past only had such deficient evidence, it would not work. After all, the Suzhou Zhizhou, as well as the Jiangnan Road officials, were all leaning toward the Ming family.
Song Shiren was very angry. He thought the Jiangnan people were indeed wicked. He had worked extremely hard to “design” this midwife, yet the other party would not admit to it. They only watched the expression and words of the Suzhou Zhizhou on the bench. Song Shiren knew that their evidence regarding the Ming family property was slightly weak and not sufficiently convincing.
However, he was very confident. Discovering the Suzhou government’s secret bias and unwillingness to believe his words, he couldn’t help using his sharp tongue that irritated people. He wantonly belittled the Ming family and secretly jabbed the Suzhou government a few times. His words were filled with mockery and sarcasm. Besides, he was a famous person of Jingdou. He didn’t care about the methods of the Jiangnan families. Relying on Sir Fan junior’s backing, he was much more daring.
Ming Lanshi, Chen Bochang, and even the Suzhou Zhizhou on the bench were not in a rush. The smiled with narrowed eyes at this performance by the world-famous litigation master, hearing his saliva fly in the court. Although they hated this bastard in their hearts, they had to forcefully suppress it.
“Sir Song, if you want to prove that Xia Qifei was the old Ming master’s seventh son, do you have any other evidence?” The Suzhou Zhizhou clenched his fist in his sleeve and furrowed his brows.
“Sir, the midwife earlier clearly remembers well, why can’ it be evidence?” Song Shiren stood firmly, like an ace in the hall.
“Ah, brother Song, these words are not appropriate.” Chen Bochang stood at the side and raised his clasped hands. “That old woman’s movements are already difficult, her cheeks lacked strength, and is someone about to die. How could the words of someone so old and muddled be accurate? Furthermore, she does indeed know the layout of the Ming family back then very well, but how do know someone with an agenda didn’t tell her these things…and then have her remember and come forward to frame others?”
Song Shiren’s eyes narrowed and he said, “What a shameless false charge.”
Chen Bochang was slightly angry. You dare to do such a shameless thing, can I not even talk about it?
Song Shiren couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge him and said directly to the bench, “Sir, do you also believe this explanation?”
The commoners outside of the court had mostly believed Xia Qifei’s past. After all, that midwife’s acting ability was exquisite. The crowd watching realized that the Suzhou Zhizhou and Ming family would probably deny it to the end. Some who liked to watch a lively show began to make some noise.
Most of the people remained silent since they were still biased toward the Ming family. Particularly since it seemed that the power behind Xia Qifei came from Jingdou, the Jiangnan commoners liked to avoid this kind of situation.
The Suzhou Zhizhou’s old face flushed slightly. He knew that it indeed was inappropriate to deny and not admit the midwife’s statement of confession. Looking at Ming Lanshi’s gaze, he knew that he could only push through with it. He cleared his throat and said, “That midwife is indeed old and muddled. This right of belief lies in my hands. If it was a normal civil case, it would be fine to do as Sir Song argued. Only, Sir mentioned earlier, the Ministry of Justice divides cases into three levels. This matter of the Ming family property belongs, without question, to the first level. If there are no other more detailed and reliable evidence, I cannot judge this case.”
Song Shiren was waiting for these words. He furrowed his brow and pretended to be disappointed. In a high voice he aside, “Sir! This cannot be! The matter happened long ago. Where could other circumstantial evidence be found? I have found a witness, but you have said it is not acceptable. What kind of evidence will be acceptable?”
The Suzhou Zhizhou felt a spark of joy. He thought: No matter how arrogant and famous you Song Shiren are, when you are in court, you are still dough to be rolled around by us old officials. No matter what other witness and evidence you bring, I will always find a way to dismiss their trustworthiness. Hearing Song Shiren’s sudden question, he instinctively said, “With both witnesses and evidence, I can judge the case.”
Song Shiren did not wait for him to continue. He opened his lips and in quick-fire succession and threw out his words, “Sir? Who judges the case?”
“Naturally, it is me…”
“Since it is you judging the case, dare I ask what is considered evidence?” Song Shiren pushed aggressively, not giving the Suzhou Zhizhou anymore more time to react.
The Suzhou Zhizhou paused slightly. He began to speak but stopped.
Song Shiren raised his hands and met his eyes. He forcefully asked, “What exactly is evidence?”
The Suzhou Zhizhou was frightened by his imposing manner. It was like he had returned to many years ago to the scene when he had taken the law exam. Instinctively he said, “Marks, the murder weapon, written evidence…”
“Written evidence? Good!” Song Shiren shouted his approval. His eyes narrowed into crescents. “Sir is wise.”
The Suzhou Zhizhou paused, not knowing why he was wise. He hesitantly opened his mouth and said, “Sir Song…”
Song Shiren still did not give him an opportunity to finish his sentence and asked urgently, “Sir, if there is written evidence, could it be used as evidence?”
“Naturally, yes…”
Song Shiren once again cut across him. “If there is written evidence, Sir must admit it!”
The Suzhou Zhizhou angrily nodded his head and said, “What are you saying? I am also familiar with Qing law. How could I not know the power of written evidence? You are speaking much too rudely. If you can bring out written evidence, naturally it will be more trustworthy than the midwife earlier.”
After these words were out, the Suzhou Zhizhou suddenly felt he had said something wrong. Why did he become so talkative all of a sudden?
He unconsciously gazed down the court only to see Ming Lanshi and Chen Bochang’s shock and a trace of disappointment, while Song Shiren’s face was filled with an extremely pleased smile.
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…
Song Shiren had repeatedly cut across the Suzhou Zhizhou’s words and disrupted his thought-out responses. At the end, he suddenly left an opening. After provoking him repeatedly, he had this Zhizhou following his intentions. Before he showed his evidence, he confirmed the importance of written evidence in front of everyone to prevent another shameless scene of denying the evidence.
This was actually a shallow, psychological method and skill in speaking used in debates. It was like waving a sausage continuously in front of a dog but not letting him have the satisfaction of taking a bite. At the end, you could stuff a banana there and the dog would still eat all of it happily and forget that he had originally wanted to eat the sausage and not the banana.
Chen Bochang discovered that the Zhizhou had fallen for Song Shiren’s trick and sighed secretly in his heart. He didn’t have an opportunity to cut in because that bastard, Song Shiren, talked much too fast. His arrogant and cheeky tone of voice indeed angered people easily.
He met Ming Lanshi’s eyes and shook his head somewhat helplessly. He felt a thread of confusion. Exactly what written evidence did the other party hold in their hands that could actually prove Xia Qifei’s past?
The Suzhou Zhizhou knew he had been played by Song Shiren. Looking at his vile smiling face, he wished he could order him to be beaten. But, he could not do that now. He could only ask in a deep voice, “Since you have written evidence, why didn’t you bring it forward earlier?”
Song Shiren respectfully bowed and said, “I will bring it forward now.”
The Zhizhou smiled coldly and said, “If your written evidence is not effective, don’t blame me for ending the case thus.”
Song Shiren smiled sinisterly and said, “Sir, rest assured, although this written evidence is old, it is a dead object. It cannot grow old and muddled…please be assured.
The Suzhou Zhizhou was unkindly silenced.
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…
Song Shiren moved closer to Xia Qifei’s ear and said a few words. Xia Qifei furrowed his brow slightly. It seemed that he hadn’t expected that thing to be brought out so quickly. It looked like it was indeed a difficult matter to prove his past.
He took out a little box from within his clothing and carefully handed it to the advisor. His eyes were fixed on the box the advisor held as if he was terrified that someone would steal it in broad daylight.
Looking at Xia Qifei’s cautious expression, Chen Bochang furrowed his forward. He moved closer to Ming Lanshi’s ear and asked, “Young master, can you guess what it is?”
Ming Lanshi’s expression was somewhat confused. Suzhou was not like Jingdou; they did not have such things as birth certificates. What exactly was the written evidence?
The Suzhou Zhizhou on the bench opened the box. He and the advisor scanned it together, and their expressions immediately changed. The Suzhou Zhizhou glanced at Ming Lanshi with a complicated gaze.
Song Shiren’s smiled slightly. He was incomparably calm. He raised his voice another octave and said in a clear voice, “This written evidence is a will written by the personal hand of the previous Ming master. The will clearly states that all of the Ming family property is left to the seventh son, Ming Qincheng…this will has always been held in Sir Xia’s hands. It is enough to prove that Sir Xia is the seventh son of the Ming family!”
Not waiting for the public to wake from their shock, Song Shiren changed the topic and got in first to add an extra layer of protection. He gazed at the Suzhou Zhizhou with a cold smile and said, “Of course, there will be some ignorant people who will say that Sir Xia had coincidentally picked up this will and so has come forward pretending to be a descendant of the Ming family. Only, earlier there was the midwife and now there is the written evidence. If there are people who dare to bring false charges forward so brazenly…hmph, the people of this world are not blind, and they are not stupid. The officials up and down Qing court, the people of Jiangnan, who would believe it?”
The will of the old Ming master!
The direction of the wind in the court changed. The commoners outside let out a roar, while Ming Lanshi and Chen Bochang in the court seemed like they had been struck by lightning and stood there in a daze. Ming Lanshi’s face was full of shock as he muttered to himself, “No way! When did grandfather write a will? This has to be fake!”
Song Shiren stood at the side and watched the young master of the Ming family. He smiled superficially and said, “As expected, without even having a look, someone has already begun to say it is fake…perhaps the Ming young master is an immortal?”
Ming Lanshi was still deep in shock. Hearing Song Shiren’s words, he angrily shook his arms and said, “This will has to be fake!”
Hearing these words, Song Shiren felt pleased and knew that the situation he had most feared had not happened. His extra protection had come at the right time. If the other party did not argue the authenticity of the will, but rather had done as he said earlier and bit down on the fact that Xia Qifei had found this will and was here today to pretend to be the seventh son of the Ming family to steal family property, that would have been the most difficult to deal with. If the other party continued with such shamelessness until the end, he actually had very little he could do.
But now, in his shock, the young master of the Ming family was only concerned with the authenticity of the will and had not accused Xia Qifei of using the will to pretend to be…now, as long as he could prove the will was real, then… the reality of Xia Qifei as the seventh son of the Ming family would be confirmed.
Song Shiren gently let out a breath. It looked like he had been making a scene in the court, but every word he said, and the order in which they were said, had been planned and carefully chosen. It was only in this way that he could direct this difficult situation they way he wanted.
The best litigation master in the Qing Kingdom indeed deserved his reputation.
The Suzhou Zhizhou’s face was ashen. He waved his hand to gesture for the litigation masters of both sides to approach the desk. “The written evidence is present, only we don’t know if it is real or not…”
Song Shiren was set on not letting the Zhizhou be happy today and said, “Sir, whether it is real or not, a verification will suffice. Where is the dilemma?”
Chen Bochang was, after all, a famous litigation master in Jiangnan. At this moment, he had long already shaken off the previous surprise. He knew that Song Shiren used the trick of surprising the opponent. He smiled slightly and said, “Sir, since the other party says this is the will of the old Ming master, then, of course, it will be verified. At this moment, the young master of the Ming family is present, why not let him have a look?”
He turned to Song Shiren and warmly said, “You have no objections, right?”
“As long as the young master Ming won’t go crazy and swallow the will, what is the harm in looking?” Song Shiren narrowed his eyes with a sinister smile. “Brother Chen’s ability to be unperturbed is indeed incredible.”
“You too, you too,” Chen Bochang smiled slightly and replied.
The Suzhou Zhizhou could not understand what the two great litigation masters were praising. Only Song Shiren and Chen Bochang understood that since they were fighting a family property suit, proving Xia Qifei’s identity was only the beginning. The important question was to whom exactly the enormous family fortune belonged. Even if the will Xia Qifei had brought out was real, following Qing law, the Ming family still seemed to stand on a certain victory.
Thus, Chen Bochang was not really panicked, and Song Shiren was not really happy. They both knew that there was still a long road ahead of them.
Ming Lanshi walked over and looked at the will on the table with a face full of unease.
In the Ming Garden, there were still many letters left by the old Ming master. The descendants of the Ming family saw them regularly and had long remembered them. Thus, when Ming Lanshi saw the thin and dry handwriting on the will, he knew it was indeed his grandfather’s personally written letter. And the paper that was used for that will was indeed the Qingzhou paper the old Ming master favored.
Ming Lanshi’s expression was slightly afraid. He bowed to the Zhizhou and retreated.
Chen Bochang moved closer to his ear and asked gently, “Is it real or fake?”
Ming Lanshi furrowed his brows and said, “I’m afraid…it might be real…” But this young master of the Ming family had, after all, already helped the clan manage their businesses. His will had been sharpened to be firm and persistent. In a flash, he felt a thread of oddness and remembered some of the old secrets his father had once revealed to him about those years. His expression became strange and he lowered his voice. “No…this is fake!”
Chen Bochang asked, “Oh? How did you determine that?”
Ming Lanshi gritted his teeth and said in a dark voice, “Given the methods of that ancestor in my family…if she wanted to act back then, how could she leave behind something like a will?”
Chen Bochang was startled. He knew that Ming Lashi was talking about the Ming family matriarch. After a moment of thought, he agreed it would be so. If the Ming matriarch wanted to steal the family fortune, and kill and chase them out back then, the first matter of business would have been to determine the matter of the will. Logically speaking, this will could not possibly have been left in this world.
“Then this will…” He furrowed his brows.
Ming Lanshi said in a quiet voice, “It is the same as that midwife. They’re probably both fakes made by the Overwatch Council.”
It was only now that the Ming family suddenly discovered how much time and effort the Overwatch Council supporting Xia Qifei had put into this matter. That perfectly crafted will would have taken months of time, otherwise, it would certainly not be so meticulous. Just the antique finishing on that paper and choice of materials were both extremely complicated matters.
It must be noted that this kind of Qingzhou paper had stopped being produced a decade ago. Who would have thought the Overwatch Council would be able to find some.
While the tricks used by the Overwatch Council were powerful, the method of using a lawsuit was extremely shameless. To falsify evidence from beginning to end…was there still justice in this world?
Ming Lanshi thought sorrowfully, but a person floated unbidden into his mind’s eye. It was the young and delicate imperial envoy. He seemed to be standing somewhere and looking at him with a warm smile on his face. His lips were slightly parted like he was about to eat a big meal.
Sir Fan junior was the main instigator behind this matter.
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…
Since the will was out, it had to be verified for authenticity. The Suzhou government had already sent someone to the Ming Garden to retrieve the old Ming master’s letters. At the same time, following Song Shiren’s apparently fair suggestion, they had sent for the bidding signatures in the palace treasury transport company archives. They also invited the official of the Fourth Bureau of the Overwatch Council stationed in Suzhou to come and verify the age and paper of this will.
Everyone knew that the Overwatch Council was an expert in doing such work. Since they were experts in forging fakes, naturally they were experts in determining fakes. However, this was forged by the Overwatch Council, and they were being asked to verify it. It was like asking a wolf to solve a case of missing sheep.
The Suzhou Zhizhou cursed loudly in his heart, but he did not dare fault the Overwatch Council directly. He could only allow this suggestion, however, he had other thoughts. He sent others to invite the Imperial Censorate as well as the powerful criminal law master from the Jiangnan governor’s manor to come determine the authenticity of the will.
The Suzhou government’s trial of the case came temporarily to a close because of the appearance of the will. It would take some time to verify the will, so the watching commoners quickly went to the tea houses to buy some tea and cakes. After satisfying their thirst and hunger, they rushed back to watch the show. By the time they returned, the best spots had already been taken by those who had endured their hunger. They could only curse silently as they would not be able to get them back.
The Ming family had long ago sent over a lunch box, and Ming Lanshi ate without tasting. Chen Bochang said something in his ear and only then did his mood improve slightly.
Hua Garden didn’t try to avoid suspicion at all and sent a lunch box to Xia Qifei. There were few people on his side, only he and Song Shiren were eating lunch. Song Shiren glanced at the Ming family’s side and said quietly to Xia Qifei, “With the reveal of the will, you’re past can come into the light.”
The excitement in Xia Qifei’s eyes appeared and was immediately hidden. He gratefully said, “Thank you for your hard work.”
“However…” Song Shiren said seriously, “confirming your identity as a descendant of the Ming family does not mean you can take back what belongs to you.”
Xia Qifei understood what he was saying.
Song Shiren sighed. “Qing law is very strict and follows the scriptures. It is explained in the marriage laws, and the rules for the inheritance of family property are too rigid. The other party is the eldest son of the wife, so they have a definite advantage. Even if you have the will of the old Ming master in your hands, you will not be able to make the officials give the Ming family property to you. Furthermore, these Jiangnan Road officials…it looked like, they all listen to the Ming family.”
Xia Qifei nodded and said, his face full of determination, “If I can establish my name today, it will be a happy surprise. As for the matter of the family property, everything is as you say. Sir has also said that this matter cannot be rushed. As long as the will is confirmed, it doesn’t matter even if we don’t fight the case.”
Song Shiren smiled slightly and shook his head. “We will definitely fight it out. Even if we know for sure we cannot win, we still have to keep fighting. We have to continue until the Ming family is beaten black and blue, without any strength to respond. I do have the power to drag it out until the Ming family is humiliated.
This litigation master said it easily and casually, but actually, he secretly had a bellyful of discontent toward Fan Xian.
He had been summoned from far away to Jiangnan. Who knew it was to fight…a case they were certain to lose. Fan Xian had ordered him to drag out the process of this case for as long as possible. Song Shiren had only lost once in his career in court, and now he had to lose for the second time because of Fan Xian. When he thought of this, he became full of resentment, but there was nothing to be done. Who made him lean toward Sir Fan junior, and who made Sir Fan junior so generous?
By afternoon, the verification group formed—including the Overwatch Council official, Suzhou government official, Imperial Censorate official, and master of criminal law from the Jiangnan governor’s manor—had studied this yellowing paper for a long time.
First they compared the handwriting and signature. The old Ming master’s thin and dry characters were extremely hard to imitate, and each person had their writing habits. For example, all the bottom of the walking radical were dragged down. All of these were sufficiently demonstrated on this will.
Second, the paper used was indeed that of the Qingzhou paper that had stopped being produced a long time ago. The master of criminal law determined, based on the yellowing and extent to which it had been affected by damp, that the time this will was written was close to when Xia Qifei claimed it had been.
The tone and diction of the will were also completely in line with what the old Ming master used during his life.
Most important, the seal, after being compared to the old Ming master’s one brought over from the Ming Garden, was exactly the same.
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It was this perfection that made the experienced old official from the Jiangnan governor’s manor feel slightly strange. For a will that had been stored for a dozen years, the color of the seal had indeed become old and faded, but the fine details were still visible in the seal and exactly the same…this was too strange.
However, this old official understood that this matter was very complicated. This point could not be considered a point of suspicion, so he did not pay too much attention to it. As for the officials of the Suzhou government and Imperial Censorate, they only wanted to prove the will was fake. In the end, they even used the magnifying glass that was a specialty of the palace treasury. Yet, they still could not find any flaws.
After the officials had a discussion and came to a consensus, the Suzhou Zhizhou unwillingly and without any other choice announced in the court: The will was real. Xia Qifei was the seventh young master of the Ming family that should have died long ago—Ming Qingcheng.
