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But, what will you do when the law cannot ensure full justice?
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It seemed like a simple one at first, but getting slightly more complex towards the end, Yanfei commented. Simply put, it’s another of those cases that made her reflect about Liyue’s state of affairs when it comes to the law.
And more reason to be all for the change in Liyue’s legal system.
A case of juvenile theft in a sundry store in Liyue Harbor. The store was run by an old couple. They reported, and corroborated by some eyewitness testimony, that a young girl would come and steal a few items in the night. It continued for a while, until the suspect was caught red-handed.
A bit too easily in the last attempt — as in, she let herself get caught.
One night, instead of a glimpse of the thief, the couple actually saw her at the stall. She sat on the chair with an apple in her hand, unfazed. Later on, the Millelith’s attention was attracted, and her arrest was processed smoothly. There, Yanfei was sought after by the old couple, and that’s when Yanfei got into cracking the case.
“Perhaps there’s more than meets the eye for this case,” Yanfei said, basing on her past experiences with similar ‘simple’ cases, “but rest assured, I will do my best.”
Of course, the Millelith expressed that there was no need to solve a seemingly clear-cut case, but Yanfei being Yanfei, she insisted on getting to the bottom of this.
And goodness, Yanfei can’t seem to get a rest with ‘simple-at-first’ cases. She managed to resolve it, but something just didn’t sit right with her by the end of this case.
First off, there is a clause in Liyue juvenile law — where Yanfei has issues with Liyue’s ‘unique’ way of handling juvenile law — stating that ‘a child found guilty of any crime would have their sentence meted out to their parents and/or their guardians,’ wherein ‘guardians’ are basically the proven parent figures of the child, ‘as if the parents themselves have committed the crime’.
That’s not all, since there was another clause where ‘the child’s sentence would be carried out by at most half of the entire sentence when they are of legal age.’ For example, if the sentence was a year in prison if a regular adult committed a crime, the child, once they reach that age, would have to serve at most six months in prison. It’s an insane law on minors in Liyue, but only one of the many that Yanfei and a few officials are working to amend.
Second, and with that law, the suspect’s parents would legally receive the brunt of the sentence. Perhaps it was a twist of cruel fate, but the young girl’s parents have long passed from this world, and her legal guardians were proven the same old couple who ran the store.
It was discovered throughout the trial that the suspect had a troubled upbringing after studying her past, leading to her thieving, kleptomanic tendencies. The old couple had volunteered to raise the child as if she was their own. Little did they know that the child would have gone missing the evening the contract had been signed, until today. The contract wasn’t voided or pulled back; the couple simply let it be, and for both reasonable and unreasonable causes.
Yanfei bit her lip. This reminded her of civil cases, especially when hearing that emotion was involved during the old couple’s signing of the contract.
And lastly, the sentence for the suspect was redress: she was accountable for the losses of the old couple and had to pay the old couple a fine, and because of the law, the old couple had to do so as well. It wasn’t too much for the old couple in total since they were quite well-off, but the same couldn’t be said for young girl, especially when she reaches adulthood.
As for the conclusion of the trial, the young girl was to be put under house arrest in one of the houses of the old couple, only ever allowed to go out with a Millelith soldier, the couple themselves, or any legal practitioner. She would regain freedom if all dues have been settled.
Despite Liyue’s crazy laws, there was one that seemed to be sensible, and it was something Yanfei and a few others had fought for its passing. There, people found guilty may seek free professional help as a form of rehabilitation. The young girl was then recommended to one, in hopes for change for the better. It may only be a lone grain of rice of the sack that is the laws that needed reworking, but change truly starts out small.
If only the Qixing’s hands weren’t so tied up with other important matters… Yanfei mused on the obvious insanity of some of Liyue’s laws; juvenile law was only one of the many. One thing’s for sure, looking at all perspectives of this ‘resolved’ case:
Justice wasn’t fully met.
At first, emotion was something that Yanfei found to be not as necessary as cold, hard facts in the face of the law. Still, it was something mortal, something… human. A certain funeral parlor director once told her of how human emotion was still necessary in life during a little tea party on the director’s birthday a few years back.
From that and her growing experiences of numerous cases, she felt that emotion was one of the many reasons why laws are put into place. Could it be that these insane laws were put in place because of that? One thing’s for sure, the definition of justice was different between people to people.
Usually, Yanfei considers cases she had handled that were resolved legally as done and dusted. If there was one case where she sensed something was off, she would restudy the entire transcript. That was the case for the last one. She reviewed the case’s court transcript once more.
During the trial, a few questions and statements were raised by Yanfei that seemed to be driven by emotion.
“What made you do it?” Yanfei asked the young girl, the defendant of this case.
“I… don’t know. It’s like… It’s there. I just had to do it, and I just, y’know, stole from them,” she responded.
“But, didn’t you feel like it was wrong?”
“Only in the end.” The young girl looked away from Yanfei. “Try fighting to live on your own, Ms. Yanfei. Oh, and try finding a place to stay. You’ll understand.”
“Now just—”
Uh oh.
Yanfei nearly let her emotions get the better of her. She was about to yell something along the lines of ‘But you know the law!’ or ‘But your legal guardians could shelter you!’ or something similar. It’s unlike her to do that, but… that could be her biases — her emotions speaking.
She was speaking to a mere child, but she felt something… something that this young girl had gone through far worse than a regular child. If dealing with children was difficult, this was something else. She had to tread carefully and remember her strategy.
“Ahem, pardon me.” Yanfei fixed her scarf before continuing. “And… when you finally turned yourself in, what did you exactly feel?”
“I…” The child still looked away from Yanfei. Something was there, alright. In her softest voice, Yanfei asked the young girl to look at her while speaking. That seemed to make her answer Yanfei a little more easily.
“I just… felt tired.”
“Tired?”
“I… I don’t know. I just felt that.”
Suddenly, the defendant didn’t want to answer immediately. It was gonna be a long day, Yanfei thought to herself.
…
And she was right.
There were many things going on in each of the seven nations of Teyvat, from the pettiest of cases to nationwide incidents with global repercussions, like when the Traveler and their partner were apparently involved in a trial in Fontaine that escalated to the whole nation being severely flooded!
Flooded!
As in, the whole Fontaine drowned!
By the Lord of Geo, was it by luck or fate that her would-be trip to Fontaine was canceled a week prior for ‘undisclosed reasons’?
She even heard parts of Sumeru, Natlan, and even Liyue’s Chenyu Vale were under red alert and had to do something about it. Fortunately, everything was kept under control. On Liyue’s side, a few adepti helped in suppressing the floods from entering.
But, even though Yanfei hasn’t yet heard about the ‘juicy details’ of the trial — something the Traveler owes, she thought with a chuckle — she knew that justice was eventually met, receiving a reply to her letter from the Traveler themself. Sure enough, one thing leads to another, like a domino effect.
You could say Yanfei was selfish in seeking justice for all, but that’s just a silly little ideal concept in her head. One, laws differ between nations — Fontaine’s might have a lot more insane laws; two, everyone had a different view on justice; and three, what can a lone xiezhi adeptus do in changing things in just a snap of a finger? Maybe the Lord of Geo could, if they were still with them, and willing.
In any case, Liyue has had her fair share of petty cases and world-shaking incidents. As much as she wanted a utopia — a perfect world like what she heard from stories from Granny Ping in her childhood, the law was imperfect. Liyue’s history spoke volumes of it. Reality is… often disappointing.
But, that’s not stopping her for the fight of justice. One of these days, she’ll see these insane laws in Liyue change for the better. As a half-adeptus, she’ll definitely see it and help in its evolution. Ganyu once told Yanfei of her own experiences of injustices in people that had long gone.
As for the latest case with the young girl and her old foster parents, that may be only a droplet of the many cases that ended quite bitterly to Yanfei’s taste, no thanks to the limits of Liyue’s laws. But, sooner or later, they’ll meet the closure they’ll need. Not now, or perhaps not in the near future, but eventually. That can be brought about with change.
Yanfei will be there to see the law evolve, into something that people can turn to when they need help. And, as a practitioner and guardian of it, Yanfei will be there when people need someone adept with the law and trustworthy.
After all, Yanfei is Liyue’s top legal expert and advisor.