Chapter 357

Lu Wei guessed correctly, the bigwigs above are indeed arm-wrestling! Moreover, Lin Dongfan's brothers are also working overtime, fighting on the front lines.

After Li Jianmin was punched to death by Lin Dongfan.

Yang Qing, realizing the seriousness of the problem, temporarily set aside his own blind date. He arrested Yuan Qiang and his father, Village Chief Yuan, and launched an intensive interrogation.

They also dispatched several officers to station in Blackstone Village to conduct investigations and visits, collecting evidence.

Mainly to investigate the true cause of death of Old Principal Yuan Zhiyuan, and to find evidence that Li Jianmin and the Yuan family father and son conspired to murder Yuan Zhiyuan.

Seven days later.

The province convened a special meeting regarding Lin Dongfan's killing of Li Jianmin.

Lin Dongfan's father-in-law Chu Jinsong, although a member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, did not attend this special meeting due to avoidance of conflict of interest.

However, Lin Dongfan's superior Li Mingtang specially rushed from Jingcheng to Wuzhou.

This special meeting was personally chaired by Jiang Huantian; besides Li Mingtang, the attendees mainly included Feng Weishan, Liu Yishou, and Director Qi from the Jianglan Province Political and Legal Affairs system.

Feng Weishan, the Secretary of the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission, advocated strict punishment according to law.

Feng Weishan emphasized forcefully: "Even if Li Jianmin really had illegal conduct, he should be tried by law! Lin Dongfan beating him to death on the spot is a trampling of the law!"

"Secretary Feng, don't get so excited."

Jiang Huantian maintained a calm smile throughout.

He then turned his gaze to Liu Yishou of the Provincial Procuratorate: "Inspector Liu, this homicide case occurred in our Jianglan Province; should we arrest the suspects? The authority lies in your hands—give your opinion."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yishou was worried sick.

Although this Prosecutor General has the authority to decide whether to approve arrests, in actual work the procuratorate must follow the Provincial Party Committee's directives.

Especially the case of Lin Dongfan, which has a certain degree of speciality and complexity.

This Prosecutor General's authority is really small.

He felt that Jiang Huantian wasn't looking to hear his opinion, but to force him to choose a side—either left or right—either way offending someone.

He thought it over for a while.

Liu Yishou, steeling himself, passed the ball to Director Qi: "Currently, the Provincial Department is investigating this case. Our procuratorate needs to further review the Provincial Department's investigation results before we can make a decision."

In other words, the procedure hasn't reached our procuratorate yet; you should ask Director Qi.

Upon hearing that, Director Qi didn't get angry; Feng Weishan first tapped his knuckles on the table twice, smiling sarcastically, and mocked Liu Yishou: "Inspector Liu, Secretary Jiang isn't asking you to make a decision, just wants to hear your opinion. What are you worried about? Lin Dongfan beating Li Jianmin to death is an undeniable fact..."

"I don't agree with Secretary Feng's statement; it's leading."

Director Qi suddenly spoke up, cutting off Feng Weishan's words.

Feng Weishan, suppressing anger with a smile: "Leading? To add a crime, what need for excuses? Director Qi, I merely spoke the truth; don't slap labels on me."

"Secretary Jiang."

Director Qi stood up directly.

He spoke with reason and evidence: "After seven days of meticulous investigation, our Provincial Department believes that Comrade Lin Dongfan's actions then constituted emergency avoidance and justifiable defense."

Feng Weishan sneered: "There are eyewitness accounts that before Lin Dongfan acted, Yang Qing loudly shouted at Lin Dongfan, telling him not to act impulsively! This means the situation was not urgent enough to require fighting violence with violence! Yet Lin Dongfan didn't heed Yang Qing's advice and still punched Li Jianmin to death."

He paused briefly.

Feng Weishan then turned his gaze to Jiang Huantian: "Secretary Jiang, if this also counts as emergency avoidance and justifiable defense, then wouldn't Lin Dongfan be able to punch anyone he dislikes to death?"

"Secretary Feng, don't rush; first listen to Director Qi finish his words."

Jiang Huantian, smiling calmly, again turned his gaze to Director Qi.

Director Qi continued: "Just now Secretary Feng said Yang Qing once told Lin Dongfan not to act impulsively, which indeed happened. But afterward Yang Qing also said he had misjudged the situation, seriously underestimating Li Jianmin's dangerousness."

Upon hearing this, Feng Weishan smiled angrily.

He thought: Yang Qing really is Lin Dongfan's good brother, willing to sacrifice his own reputation to clear Lin Dongfan of guilt! As a criminal investigator, he actually gladly bears the stigma of "misjudging the situation."

Feng Weishan gathered himself and firmly rebutted Director Qi: "Even if Yang Qing's words are true, that still cannot prove Lin Dongfan's actions constituted emergency avoidance and justifiable defense."

It was obvious that Director Qi had long anticipated Feng Weishan's move.

Director Qi calmly emphasized:

"Li Jianmin is an extremely dangerous person, having gone in and out of prison three times! His rap sheet stacked up is thicker than the pile of documents before me. Currently we have evidence proving that the old principal of Blackstone Village, Yuan Zhiyuan, was knocked unconscious by Li Jianmin with a stick, then pushed off a cliff by the Yuan father and son, resulting in death."

Upon hearing Director Qi say this.

Feng Weishan interjected: "Li Jianmin killing Yuan Zhiyuan and Lin Dongfan killing Li Jianmin are two unrelated cases; don't conflate them."

"Secretary Feng, I merely wanted to tell everyone: Li Jianmin is a heinous, extremely dangerous killer; we cannot judge him by ordinary standards."

Director Qi lifted the tea in front of him to moisten his throat.

He then continued:

"Li Jianmin at the time set fire to a gasoline-soaked coffin, committing arson! In that environment, no one can guarantee he won't further expand the fire, burning the ancestral hall and surrounding residential buildings."

"His actions directly threatened the lives and property safety of all villagers present."

"At that time, Lin Dongfan had to act to protect the villagers' lives and property, and thus his act of stopping Li Jianmin's violence qualifies as emergency avoidance."

His words left Feng Weishan speechless.

Director Qi further emphasized:

"At that time, Lin Dongfan had verbally warned Li Jianmin, even giving him a legal briefing on the spot, showing that Lin Dongfan did not intend to meet violence with violence."

"But despite Lin Dongfan's repeated warnings, Li Jianmin still chose to commit arson."

"Li Jianmin's such behavior possesses obvious violence and danger."

Lin Dongfan, in a situation where he could not stop 【the other】 by other means, took necessary measures and knocked him down with a punch to prevent more serious consequences, which meets the constituent elements of justifiable defense.

Saying this, Bureau Chief Qi distributed the aforementioned material to everyone present.

He continued saying: "These are the testimonies of the villagers present. Especially Xu Yue, the teacher, and the two children, who at the time suffered varying degrees of bodily harm. These testimonies are sufficient to prove that Lin Dongfan had no choice but to strike in order to protect them from harm. At present, Xu Yue, the teacher, is still waiting with the two children at the entrance of the Provincial Party Committee, hoping that good deeds will be rewarded. If we arrest Lin Dongfan without distinguishing right from wrong, how can we answer to the common people?"

As soon as his words fell, the entire conference room fell silent.

Everyone present lowered their heads to look at the testimony materials in their hands, each with their own thoughts.

Procuratorate's Liu Yishou was relieved that he had not made a blind arrest.

Feng Weishan, meanwhile, was secretly cursing the lackeys of the Qi Bureau; in order to clear Lin Dongfan's name, he had almost used every available means, short of bringing all the villagers of Wushi Village to the provincial committee's gate to kneel and apply pressure.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau chief, Li Mingtang, who had remained silent, suddenly furrowed his brow.

Li Mingtang adopted a solemn posture: "Whether it was emergency avoidance or legitimate defense, Comrade Lin Dongfan's motive in taking action was to protect the lives and property of the people, which is entirely understandable. Our bureau intends to commend and reward Comrade Lin Dongfan's heroic conduct, promoting righteousness."

!!!

In an instant, Feng Weishan only felt a faint ache in his heart, as if pierced by thousands of arrows.