Cheng Ling snorted heavily and said in a bad mood: "This case has already been examined by the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Justice. There is no need to interrogate him from beginning to end. If Yang Langzhong interrogates him like this, the joint hearing of the three departments will take forever!"
Yang Fan spread out his hands and said, "According to what Cheng Sizhi said, then we don't need to bring the prisoner to court. We only need you and I to take out our own Yamen's interrogation records, and we can compare them. Isn't that enough?"
Cheng Ling angrily said: "This official is saying that it is important!"
Yang Fan raised his voice: "This official thinks that this is very important!"
Imperial Messenger Zhao from the Imperial Messenger Bureau quickly tried to smooth things over: "Alright, alright. Since Yang Langzhong thinks that there is a need to interrogate him again, then we will retry him."
Cheng Ling glared at him and said: "So your Imperial Messenger Bureau wants to stand on the side of the Ministry of Justice?"
Zhao Jiulong flew into a rage and said: "Preposterous! This official is saying that since one of you thinks it is necessary and the other thinks it is not, then reexamining him will only take some effort. But according to Officer Cheng's opinion, if the prisoner is not allowed to speak, Yang Langzhong will inevitably say that you handled the case carelessly. Weighing the two sides, of course reexamining him is appropriate. How can it be said that my Imperial Messenger Bureau is standing on the side of the Ministry of Justice? "
Yang Fan hurriedly tried to calm them down: "Both of you, calm down. Don't get angry. Why did the three departments come to the joint hearing? It is to have the three departments review him together and in the end come to a consensus. So in the end, the three departments will stand on the same side. Why should we quarrel over this? "
Cheng Ling and Zhao Jiulong snorted coldly at the same time. They brushed their sleeves and turned their heads to the side.
Yang Fan coughed and said to Chang Zhiyuan: "Chang Zhiyuan, speak slowly. There is no need to rush. Don't overlook anything."
Chang Zhiyuan saw that his expression was amiable and his courage grew. He agreed and began to explain in detail. Until now, Chang Zhiyuan still hadn't recognized that this Yang Fan was the official from the Ministry of Justice who rescued his mother that night. He only recounted how he and his mother met Pan Junyi when they were shopping, and how Pan Junyi took liberties with his mother.
Halfway through, Zhao Jiulong suddenly said, "Wait! You said that there was a Minister of Justice who helped your mother. Who was he? "
Cheng Ling agreed, "That's right! Yang Langzhong, is there such a person in your Ministry of Justice? This official suspects that nothing happened on the night of the Double Seventh Festival. It is very likely that the Chang family owes money to someone and is unable to pay it back, so they are making a false accusation. Hmph, unruly commoners, there's nothing they can't do to avoid paying their debts! "
Yang Fan said solemnly, "What Chang Zhiyuan said is true. That day, it was this official and … my wife who roamed Ding Ding Long Street and saved the mother and son."
When Chang Zhiyuan heard this, he couldn't help but be startled. After a careful look, he vaguely felt that this person was indeed somewhat similar to the person who had lent a helping hand that night.
Yang Fan sighed, "This official saved the mother and son that night by the Tianjin Bridge. Although the sky was dark and the lights by the bridge were not bright enough, I can still remember the child's appearance. This official saw this matter with my own eyes! Alas, at that time, I thought that I had beaten that lecher away and that was it. Who knew that so many things would happen later on. "
Cheng Ling and Zhao Jiulong didn't expect that the witness was actually at the scene, so they could no longer raise this doubt. After the questioning and confirmation, they could only listen to Chang Zhiyuan's narration.
Yang Fan insisted on starting from the night of the Double Seventh Festival. Of course, it was to prove that Pan Junyi had bad intentions. Otherwise, the cause of this case would simply be a tragedy caused by debt collection. His judgment on these two related cases would then have no moral basis.
When the Supreme Court first interrogated the case, they had already intentionally sided with the Pan family, so they didn't seriously investigate this relevant Minister of Justice. They deliberately focused on 'debt collection – murder' and didn't want to implicate too much. They didn't expect that the witness that night would appear out of nowhere and turn out to be the main judge of this case. He wasn't related to the Chang family, so he could be a good witness.
Cheng Ling had no choice but to perk up and try to find something beneficial for himself in the following case. However, as he listened to Chang Zhiyuan's narration, the more he listened, the deeper his frown became.
Chang Zhiyuan's narration was very detailed, such as how Pan Junyi had forced the Chang family to repay their gambling debts, how his father had argued in grief and indignation, how they had quarreled, how Pan Junyi had grabbed his father's throat during the fight, how his father's face had turned red and he had almost suffocated, how Chang Zhiyuan had stepped forward to save his father but was flung away by Pan Junyi and crashed into the coffin, how he had grabbed the memorial tablet and rushed forward to hit it, and how he had found Pan Junyi slumped to the ground with blood at the back of his head …
The more Cheng Ling listened, the more he felt that something was wrong. This case had been tried by him in the Supreme Court. The testimonies of the Chang father and son at that time were no different from what they were now, but they were very different. It was the same because the process was exactly the same, but it was different because … he was speaking in too much detail now!
Back in the Supreme Court, Chang Zhiyuan's testimony was very simple. He said that Pan Junyi had come to his house to collect a debt, and that he and his father had been burning joss paper for his deceased mother. In a fit of anger, his father had gotten into an argument with Pan Junyi, and the two of them had started fighting. Shocked and afraid, he had stepped forward to stop the fight, but because he was young and weak, he had been flung away by Pan Junyi and had picked up the memorial tablet …
The process now was the same, but he had added some descriptive words, such as his father being "grabbed by the throat." "His face had turned red and he was on the verge of suffocation," and he had been flung into the coffin. He had "conveniently" grabbed the memorial tablet and "randomly" hit it a few times. When Pan Junyi had fallen to the ground, he had "suddenly discovered" that there was blood at the back of his head …
He had only added a few descriptive words, but it gave the impression that his father was about to be strangled to death by Pan Junyi during the fight, and he had stepped forward to mediate but was powerless to stop it. In a panic, he had picked up the memorial tablet and had only wanted to stop Pan Junyi from committing murder …
Cheng Ling, of course, knew what these key words meant during the verdict. He immediately and sensitively questioned Chang Zhiyuan repeatedly about these details. Although he had a solemn expression, it was even more frightening when he put on a stern face. Chang Zhiyuan was so frightened by him that his face turned pale and his body trembled, but he did not change his statement.
Cheng Ling's repeated confirmations made these small details even more obvious in the testimony.
Yang Fan had never taught this Chang boy to make a false confession. For such an honest, young, and inexperienced child, if you taught him to make a false confession, there was no need for torture at all. Those experienced judicial officials would only need to use some interrogation techniques to get the truth out of him.
Yang Fan … had only given him a little inspiration.
The father and son of the Chang family were clumsy people, or rather, with their qualities, they did not know how or what to say in their confessions. In addition, the scene at the time was too intense. As people involved in the situation, they would definitely overlook some things. Thus, when they confessed, they could only give a dry and rough account of the process. This way, others could naturally make a big fuss about the details.
A few days ago, when Yang Fan was interrogating the father and son in the second hall, he had repeatedly, going back and forth. In fact, he had only done one thing: inductive excavation!
Yang Fan had dug out all the details that the father and son had overlooked. He had helped them perfect the blank parts that they could not remember through repeated questioning, hints, hypotheses, and conjectures.
The details that had been dug out by Yang Fan were originally their experiences. It was just that they had neglected it, or perhaps they did not feel the need to confess. Now that they had remembered and said it, of course, they would not change their words.
Based on their confessions, Yang Fan had helped them fill in the blank areas of their memories through hints, hypotheses, and conjectures. These naturally became their memories. They were already convinced that they had seen and heard it with their own eyes. Even if you had a lie detector, you would not be able to prove that they were lying.
Cheng Ling was a little uneasy. However, Chang Zhiyuan's confession did not conflict with his confession at the Supreme Court. It was just more detailed. What doubts could he raise? Could he question why Chang Zhiyuan's confession at the Ministry of Justice was more detailed than at the Supreme Court? Then he could only conclude that the Ministry of Justice handled the case cautiously, while the Supreme Court interrogated the case hastily!
Moreover, the Imperial Messenger Station could not possibly support him. The Imperial Messenger Station advocated for a light sentence. Therefore, Zhao Jiulong would definitely make his move when it came to sentencing. At that time, he would argue with the Ministry of Justice about a light sentence or exemption. For now, he would definitely not hold Yang Fan back.
Thinking of this, Cheng Ling could only bear with it. After Chang Zhiyuan had left, he brought Chang Lin to court. The same problem as Chang Zhiyuan had appeared, but his testimony was more detailed and complete.
When he confessed at the Supreme Court, he only said that he was addicted to gambling. In the end, he got into a huge debt when he gambled with Pan Junyi. Pan Junyi suggested that his wife stay with him to pay off the debt. Under Yang Fan's repeated questioning and hints, some of the important points that Chang Lin had overlooked that could help reduce his son's sentence were all dug out.
For example, Chang Lin specifically mentioned that he had never seen Pan Junyi when he gambled before. He also mentioned that because he was poor, he did not gamble a lot of money. However, Pan Junyi was willing to gamble with him and even lent him money to gamble. Another example was that when Pan Junyi failed to collect on his debt and wanted him to use his wife to pay off the debt, he had asked Pan Junyi how he knew that his wife was beautiful. Pan Junyi had once said that he had seen her on the streets of Ding Ding and by the Tianjin Bridge …
With this, Chang Lin's answer confirmed that Pan Junyi had previously taken liberties with the Cheng family's wife and set up a gambling scam.
Cheng Ling began to panic. However, he could not use torture on Chang Lin as he was being interrogated by the three departments.
Cheng Ling's eyes darted around as he thought to himself, "Yang Fan's meticulous planning is naturally to help Chang Zhiyuan get off the hook. However, even if Pan Junyi had taken liberties with the Cheng family's wife and set up a gambling scam to entice Chang Lin to gamble, he was merely lustful and misbehaving. It is a fact that Chang Zhiyuan killed someone. From the looks of it, I can only fight according to the law when it comes to sentencing! "
With this thought in mind, Cheng Ling decided to give up on the idea of being entangled with Chang Lin's confession. His eyes were half-closed as he listened to Chang Lin's testimony. Many relevant laws flashed through his mind, and his mind calmed down.
On the other side, Zhao Jiulong was already resting. Up until now, all the evidence was in favor of reducing Chang Lin's sentence. Of course, he would not raise any doubts. This was because the Monster Trainer Station, which he represented, had originally proposed to reduce Chang Lin's sentence. All he was waiting for was the moment to discuss the sentence.
"Bring Chang Lin down!"
After Yang Fan had given the order, he cupped his hands and said, "My dear brothers …"
"Ah?"
Zhao Jiulong's spirits lifted as he asked, "Shall we start discussing the sentence now?"
Yang Fan smiled and said, "It's already past midnight. Let's have lunch first!"
…
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