William Bolton nodded and said, “Given my situation at the time, it was only natural for the prefect to suspect me, but that was merely suspicion—there was no evidence to prove I was involved in the case, and John never mentioned me either. Because of this, I truly spent three months in prison for no reason at all, suffering both mentally and physically, and losing three months of livelihood. The losses are immeasurable to me.”

The registrar Robert Clark felt this kid was being unreasonable and said with displeasure, “We were just following the law and did nothing wrong. Besides, you bear a fair share of responsibility yourself, so you can’t blame others.”

This actually touches on a very crucial legal concept: the presumption of guilt versus the presumption of innocence. A thousand years later, all law is based on the presumption of innocence—if there’s no solid evidence, one is innocent.

But now, it’s the presumption of guilt, with only the theory of “doubtful cases should be treated lightly,” meaning that if there’s doubt, the punishment should be lighter, but the benefit of the doubt does not fully go to the defendant. Therefore, detaining William Bolton was entirely reasonable—any clear-headed official would do the same.

Because in reality, the government simply doesn’t have the resources to support the presumption of innocence.

If you don’t detain the suspect and they run away, what then? The Song Dynasty doesn’t have a surveillance system—where would you find them?

William Bolton nodded and said, “The registrar is right, but suppose the prefect intentionally wanted to target me and make me spend a few months in jail—would the outcome or process be any different? The answer is no. Even if the prefect had no intention of abusing the people, the people still suffer as if they were abused. I believe this is even worse than intentional harm, because it’s not illegal and there’s no way to supervise it.”

After hearing this, Edward Foster frowned, but instead of showing anger, he began to ponder seriously, because he felt that what Michael Bolton said made a lot of sense—unintentional harm can be even more frightening than intentional harm.

If someone harms others intentionally, the court has mechanisms for accountability, and the people can appeal. But if it’s unintentional, there’s no law to address it—that’s truly frightening!

After a moment, Edward Foster suddenly asked, “Then in your opinion, what should be done?”

William Bolton said, “I believe the government should at least provide me with some compensation.”

Robert Clark immediately said, “Nonsense! Do you think the government is a charity?”

William Bolton shook his head. “The government is not a charity, but to us commoners, it is the hall of justice. I suffered three months of wrongful imprisonment and heavy losses. Asking for compensation is reasonable and fair.”

Upon hearing this, Edward Foster’s eyes flashed with disappointment—this was not a solution.

If this happens again in the future, what should be done? The government is clearly acting according to the law, but would have to pay compensation every time—that’s impossible.

At this point, Robert Clark was a bit angry—this was getting out of hand. Just as he was about to scold him, Edward Foster suddenly said, “I have acted impartially and committed no wrongdoing, so I will not give you any compensation. However, I am well aware of what you have suffered, and it is only natural for you to feel aggrieved. I will not pursue the charges in this indictment.”

“Thank you for your leniency, Prefect.” William Bolton backed down as quickly as mercury flowing to the ground—clean and decisive.

Edward Foster was momentarily stunned. Just a moment ago, Michael Bolton had been so assertive, and now he had surrendered so quickly.

Before he could recover, William Bolton suddenly changed the subject and said, “Besides that, I have another matter to appeal.”

Curious, he asked, “What is it?”

William Bolton said, “To thank Miss John for saving my life.”

Edward Foster was slightly taken aback, but quickly understood and said, “You want me to pass on your thanks?”

He certainly knew that John had saved Michael Bolton’s life.

William Bolton shook his head. “How could I trouble the prefect? Besides… such a life-saving grace cannot be repaid with mere words.”

Edward Foster asked, “Then how do you plan to thank her?”

William Bolton said, “I believe John should not be convicted of murder, but rather of causing injury.”

Robert Clark was utterly shocked.

This was clearly murder—how could it be just injury?

If you don’t understand the law, don’t talk nonsense!

But Edward Foster was intrigued and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

William Bolton said, “During my interrogation, I learned that after John was apprehended, she immediately confessed. Is that correct?”

Edward Foster nodded. “That is true.”

William Bolton said, “If I remember correctly, during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, there was a case where a criminal cried injustice and accused the yamen officers of extracting confessions through torture, resulting in wrongful convictions. Therefore, Emperor Zhenzong revoked the judicial interrogation powers of the yamen officers, leaving them only with criminal investigation authority.”

So professional? Edward Foster couldn’t help but look at William Bolton with new respect and nodded. “You are absolutely right. The yamen officers do not have judicial interrogation powers.”

This is actually similar to modern times—police questioning is criminal investigation, while court interrogation is judicial interrogation.

William Bolton immediately said, “John confessed right after being apprehended by the yamen officers, before any judicial interrogation had taken place—it was just a regular inquiry. In other words, it can be considered a voluntary surrender.”

Voluntary surrender doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go to the yamen and confess yourself.

In the Northern Song, if you confessed before judicial interrogation, it could also be considered voluntary surrender. This was to encourage people to confess and save the government manpower and resources.

Edward Foster stroked his beard and said, “That makes sense.”