Chapter 8 — The Thousand-Nyang Lawyer (5)
There was a simple reason I had hesitated over this case.
Even though Ppaengi had actually been drunk, falsely claiming that he had been completely sober gave us an overwhelmingly higher chance of winning.
And as a lawyer...
I couldn't possibly feel comfortable presenting an argument that contradicted the substantive truth.
Still...
Although it left a bad taste in my mouth, the effect of the lie was undeniable.
"..."
Jeongmu, the opposing representative, had fallen completely silent because the trial had taken a direction he never expected.
...The first reason I made that false statement was because if our positions conflicted and the court accepted the other side's version, our chances of losing would rise sharply.
"I ask the plaintiff's representative."
The magistrate's voice silenced the crowd instantly.
"The plaintiff was not drunk. He was of sound mind when he personally executed an agreement to sell royal tribute goods. Yet you claim he never intended to sell them. Explain why."
...And the second reason I chose to lie was so I could argue initial impossibility.
I steadied my breathing.
Then I prepared to put everything into the performance that would win this trial.
"I humbly submit..."
"Speak."
I smiled.
"If a man promises his lover that he will pluck a star from the heavens for her, must that promise legally be fulfilled?"
"...What?"
Kim Jiseok's eyebrow twitched in obvious displeasure.
What in the world is this...?
Kim Jiseok frowned at Doyul's completely uncharacteristic attitude.
"Explain yourself clearly."
"If a man promises his lover that he will bring her a star from the sky, can he truly be condemned for failing to deliver one?"
The magistrate silently stared at Doyul.
Was there some reason the plaintiff absolutely had to lose? I thought this young scholar might someday become a great pillar of the nation... Have I misjudged him?
"Why can he not be condemned? Because everyone knows that bringing down a star from the heavens is impossible."
"...I warn you. Behaving frivolously during a trial will not benefit you."
"How dare he behave like that before the magistrate!"
"Exactly! If he put his hand seal on the agreement, what more is there to discuss?"
"Bring the plaintiff here immediately, and flog that clownish representative too!"
Doyul merely smiled with an unreadable expression.
"My apologies. What I mean is this: just as plucking a star from the heavens is impossible, selling royal tribute tangerines to a servant was impossible from the beginning. If performance itself was impossible, how can the agreement be considered valid?"
The magistrate reconsidered Doyul's words.
At first, comparing the absurdity of plucking stars from the sky with illegally selling tangerines seemed ridiculous.
But after thinking about it, he began to understand.
Unlike bringing down a star, smuggling royal tribute is not literally impossible if one is prepared to risk one's life.
But still... no reasonable person at a drinking gathering would seriously believe that someone meant to sell such goods to a lowly servant.
...Wait.
Kim Jiseok looked at Doyul as though he had just realized something.
"...Are you saying that when the plaintiff made the agreement, he already knew from the beginning that it had no validity?"
"Exactly! Selling royal tribute is an enormous offense. Why would he genuinely intend to sell tangerines? Especially through illegal trade. Exaggerating only slightly, even if someone offered him gold, he'd have to think twice. And where would a servant obtain that kind of money?"
Doyul's argument was simple.
The agreement was so obviously impossible that both parties had no choice but to know it could never actually be carried out.
"Then what was the plaintiff's intention?"
"What was it?"
Doyul answered casually.
"It was merely a joke."
"...A joke? He wrote a contract promising to illegally sell royal tribute as a joke?"
The atmosphere immediately turned cold.
"Yes. Apparently Ppaengi was showing off, boasting that he knew someone on Jeju Island. Of course, there are limits even to drunken jokes, so I gave him quite a scolding last night."
Murmur. Murmur.
"What kind of lunatic..."
"He wrote an agreement as a joke?"
Even in Joseon, people naturally understood how serious contracts were.
In fact, because literacy was much lower than in the modern age, some people feared written agreements even more than tigers or smallpox.
And this man had supposedly written one for fun?
He was sober when he wrote it, but that does not necessarily mean he truly intended illegal trade.
As Kang Doyul says, it is difficult to believe that the plaintiff seriously executed the agreement with the genuine intent of selling tangerines.
Kim Jiseok's mind worked quickly.
...However, even if the plaintiff considered it a joke, if the other side did not know that, then it is still wrongdoing.
"What kind of person writes a contract as a joke? What if the other party genuinely believed the agreement?"
For Doyul to argue that the contract was invalid due to initial impossibility while also avoiding liability, the other party had to know, or at least have been able to know, that performance was impossible.
Naturally, there was little point in applying every element of modern legal doctrine one by one in Joseon.
Doyul's real argument was far simpler.
If a promise was obviously absurd to anyone with common sense, then only a fool would believe it.
"The plaintiff's prank was certainly inappropriate. But who would truly think that agreement was real?"
Kim Jiseok turned toward Jeongmu.
"...Defendant's representative, answer. Did the defendant know the plaintiff was joking?"
Jeongmu immediately replied.
"O-Of course I believed him! I never imagined it was a joke!"
The magistrate rebuked Doyul.
"The plaintiff's representative claims this was merely drunken joking, but the defendant says he did not know that. What grounds do you have to claim that the defendant should have understood it as a joke?"
Doyul's eyes shone.
"How embarrassing. Ppaengi did wrong by going so far as to write an agreement just to tease Dolmok. But I never imagined Dolmok was so foolish that he couldn't distinguish a joke from reality."
"...Plaintiff's representative, choose your answer carefully. Is that the end of your argument?"
If things ended here, the agreement would almost certainly be declared invalid.
But what happened to Ppaengi afterward would depend entirely on the magistrate.
...And the punishment will probably be heavy.
Even if the magistrate accepted that Ppaengi never intended to actually trade the tangerines, he could still punish him severely for deceiving an innocent servant.
But...
Doyul launched his decisive counterattack.
"I had not intended to say this because it is rather embarrassing... but with Elder Park Jeongdo present, how could anyone possibly think the matter was serious?"
At the mention of Park Jeongdo, the entire government office fell silent.
"...What does that mean?"
Doyul answered with an awkward smile.
"The reason the plaintiff and I naturally assumed it would remain nothing more than a joke from a drinking gathering is because Elder Park merely laughed while watching the whole thing. Had it not been a joke... would the most respected gentleman in this county have simply sat there smiling while a heaven-defying crime occurred before his own eyes?"
"...!"
Countless gazes instantly turned toward Park Jeongdo.
"...Explain in detail. Are you saying Park Jeongdo watched them execute the agreement?"
Doyul spoke with an embarrassed expression.
"Goodness, he did more than merely watch. I apologize if bringing this matter before the government office causes any damage to the elder's dignity, but..."
Doyul turned toward Park Jeongdo, looking apologetic.
Naturally, it was an act.
"Ppaengi went to the elder's house to greet him. Then where did the paper come from? Whose brush and inkstone were used? One can determine even from the handwriting on the agreement."
"What are you saying?"
"Naturally..."
Doyul thought.
The final reason I lied was...
Then he smiled.
