Chapter 33 - 28: Final Decision

A plea of not guilty...

Not for a reduced sentence, not for mitigation, but for... a verdict of not guilty!

The moment those words were uttered.

The hearts of the over four hundred people in Courtroom Number One seemed to be seized by an invisible hand. A jolt ran through them, their chests rising and falling violently.

"Not guilty? The defense attorney is mounting a not-guilty defense!?"

"How is that possible? If your life wasn’t in danger, any act of self-defense that results in death is almost always considered excessive. Not to mention Li Erniu wasn’t even using that much force to drag her away..."

"But the fact remains that the defense attorney is arguing for an acquittal, and his logic is surprisingly airtight."

"If they can really pin the role of aggressor on Li Erniu... there’s no telling how this case will go!"

"..."

In the gallery, the crowd was profoundly shaken.

The reporter, Zhang Xia, stared with her mouth agape, utterly shocked, at the lone, slender figure in the courtroom.

A not-guilty defense...

’This wasn’t about a reduced sentence. For that, all you have to do is haggle with the prosecution and find some information favorable to the defendant.’

’But a not-guilty verdict is different.’

’You have to completely dismantle every single charge the prosecution has filed. Only then will the court declare the defendant not guilty!’

’Dismantle them! That means single-handedly refuting information that has been jointly verified by the police, the courts, *and* the prosecutor’s office!!!’

’Just hearing about it reveals the massive difference in difficulty, to say nothing of actually pulling it off.’

’Some veteran lawyers go their entire careers without daring to mount a not-guilty defense even once!’

’And this young man... was he even twenty-five? Yet he dared to mount a not-guilty defense for Wang Qiang!’

"Liu..."

Zhang Xia felt her blood begin to boil, her breathing becoming shallow.

But the older reporter beside her was already staring intently at the proceedings, paying her no mind at all.

"Don’t talk."

"Just watch."

Zhang Xia nodded, her gaze snapping back to the courtroom, her focus absolute.

...

In the courtroom.

"Prosecution, do you have any objections!?"

Xu De seemed unstoppable. His sharp gaze cut through the air, pinning the prosecutors in place.

"This..."

Wang Wei was speechless. His opponent’s angle of attack was viciously clever.

He used the fact that Li Erniu still had a hold on Wang Mei to argue that the abduction was ongoing and that Wang Mei was still in danger.

This, in turn, refuted the prosecution’s claim that Wang Qiang had killed in a fit of rage, and instead provided grounds for justifiable self-defense.

Wang Wei could only turn his gaze to Hu Guang.

Hu Guang, however, was frowning, his mind racing to integrate all the clues and think through the implications!

As for Chen Wei and Li Youcai...

"What? The police already took that ungrateful wretch away! How can they say my son was the one at fault!?"

After Liu Cui figured out what Xu De was implying, she was so angry she was practically stamping her feet.

She had seen Wang Mei get taken away with her own two eyes.

The girl was gone! She’d gotten in the car, and there were even seven police officers with guns protecting her. She was long gone from that woodshed.

And he’s calling *that* being held captive!?

"Chen Wei, Lawyer Chen, say something!"

At her side, Li Youcai was also getting anxious. He shot a look at Chen Wei, their representative, and urged him in a hushed, frantic tone.

Two hundred and twenty thousand.

If they won this case, they could make the other side pay two hundred and twenty thousand!

Never mind whether the other party could afford it; they were guaranteed to get a huge pile of cash!

The case had seemed like a sure thing, the money practically in their hands, but... but how did the tables turn so suddenly?

What was this nonsense about Wang Mei still being held captive even after she was rescued!?

"Say something, damn it!" Li Youcai seethed.

But Chen Wei, seated beside the prosecution, didn’t react at all, as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

’Did he really not hear them?’

’No.’

At the counsel’s table.

Chen Wei’s face was flushed a deep, purplish red. Veins throbbed on his forehead, and his bloodshot eyes looked like they wanted to tear Xu De to shreds. His hands were clenched into tight fists, nails digging deep into his flesh.

’Could he speak?’

’Yes.’

’But did he dare!?’

’That lawyer for the defense actually dared to play logical games in the middle of a trial...’

’Even he, a man people called a shyster, had to stick to the evidence when facing men like Zhang Bingxin and Hu Guang. But this guy... he actually dared to set verbal traps in the middle of a hearing. It was more than just brazen; it was outrageously so!’

’And the most crucial part was...’

’He didn’t dare to speak.’

That’s right. Chen Wei was now genuinely afraid to open his mouth. After all, he had only said a few sentences earlier, but in just those few sentences, he had unconsciously walked right into his opponent’s trap...

’Heaven only knew what other traps the man had laid for him!’

’And so.’

Hearing the urging and cursing from Li Youcai and Liu Cui behind him, Chen Wei could only bury his head in the sand and pretend he couldn’t hear them.

Chen Wei cursed internally.

’’Damn you, Sun Hao! You motherfucker, you set me up!’’

’’This isn’t over between us!!!’’

But no matter what he was screaming internally, he didn’t say a word.

Suddenly, the courtroom, which had been in an uproar moments before, fell eerily silent. A tense stalemate settled over the proceedings.

On the judicial bench.

"Hu Guang’s silent. Is he... conceding the defendant’s point?"

"No, I think the defense’s argument was just so unexpected that he hasn’t found an angle for a rebuttal yet."

"Heh, an opening like that isn’t something you can find in a moment’s notice..."

"The trial is at a standstill, not what we expected. What now?"

"..."

Judges Liu Jianguo and Sun Dong conferred for a moment before turning their gazes to Zhang Bingxin.

After a moment of thought, Zhang Bingxin prepared to speak.

He picked up his gavel.

BANG!

The sound echoed through the court as Zhang Bingxin opened his mouth to speak.

"Now..."

Unexpectedly, he had uttered only one word when another voice cut him off.

"Your Honor, the defense has more to say!"

At the defense table, Xu De saw that the momentum was in his favor. Without a moment’s hesitation, his expression turned serious as he cut in, his deep voice interrupting Zhang Bingxin.

Zhang Bingxin froze, the words caught in his throat. He swallowed, visibly annoyed, and put the gavel down.

"The defense may proceed."

Hearing this,

Xu De nodded. He shuffled through the papers on his table before holding up a document.

Zhang Bingxin’s brow furrowed. He squinted at the document but couldn’t make out what it was. He asked immediately:

"What is that?"

Xu De replied, "This is the evidence submitted to the court six days ago by the victim’s legal representative, Lawyer Chen Wei!"

At the prosecution’s side.

Hearing his name, Chen Wei’s head snapped up as if by reflex. He stared at Xu De, his expression flickering and his face grim.

’What does he mean, "evidence I submitted"?’

’Damn it, can’t you find your own evidence? The trial has barely started and he’s already using either the prosecutor’s evidence or mine!’

’And... what evidence is it, anyway?’

Chen Wei’s brow furrowed.

Xu De continued, "It shows the results of the psychiatric evaluation the police conducted on the abduction victim, Wang Mei. The assessment: Normal!"

’Normal...’

’Wang Mei did indeed have some psychological issues, but that was before her rescue.’

’The moment she was rescued, it was as if she’d been given a miracle cure. Her mental state recovered completely, leaving only psychological trauma behind!’

’But...’

’Why is he bringing this up?’

Just as this thought crossed everyone’s mind, Xu De’s next words rang out.

"Your Honor, members of the jury."

"The defense maintains that not only did the defendant, Wang Qiang, act in justifiable self-defense, but his actions also qualify as ’defending a just cause’ under the laws of Lusen City!"

Xu De had suddenly revived his earlier argument, bringing up the ’defending a just cause’ claim once more.

Except this time, his logic was even more airtight!

"The plaintiff’s representative, Lawyer Chen, previously stated that a father’s protection of his daughter is a statutory duty."

"But..."

"According to Articles 17, 18, and 39 of the Civil Code: an adult who has reached the age of 18 and is of sound mind is a person with full capacity for civil conduct. The legal guardianship of the parents is automatically terminated and does not require a court ruling!"

"At the time of the incident, the victim, Wang Mei, met all of the above criteria."

"In conclusion, my client, Wang Qiang, stepped forward when he was under no legal obligation to do so. This perfectly aligns with the local statutes regarding ’defending a just cause’!"

Xu De was still fixated on the ’defending a just cause’ angle.

And what’s more...

"Furthermore, after the death of the deceased, Li Erniu, my client, Wang Qiang, was not arrested."

"He turned himself in!"

Xu De wouldn’t stop until he’d shocked everyone. The moment those four words landed,

Even Hu Guang, who had remained composed even as his case was being dismantled, couldn’t help but stare, his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

’Turned himself in?’

Xu De didn’t elaborate. He had the floor, and he wasn’t about to waste the opportunity. He had to create every possible advantage for his client.

And so...

"At the same time, I must once again question the prosecution."

"Prosecution, on what grounds do you assert that the deceased, Li Erniu, was killed by my client, Wang Qiang?"

Xu De’s face was grim as he delivered a series of seemingly absurd statements, his expression unwavering.

His voice was loud and clear, ringing in the ears of everyone at the prosecution table.

"Is it based on a police confession? Or evidence left at the scene? Or perhaps the testimony of eyewitnesses..."

"None of the above!"

"At the time of the incident, there is no evidence to prove that my client, Wang Qiang, voluntarily stabbed the deceased in the abdomen, free from any coercion or control!"

"The only evidence proves that it was the deceased Li Erniu’s own attempted murder that ultimately led to his death!"

The scene of the incident was extremely chaotic.

Dozens of people were crowded together, making it impossible to see anything clearly. The police could only make their judgment based on the fingerprints on the knife’s hilt.

But here’s the problem...

In such a chaotic situation, who’s to say someone didn’t grab Wang Qiang’s arm and force the knife in his hand into Li Erniu!

So, in the absence of ironclad proof...

What if someone wanted to use Wang Qiang to get rid of Li Erniu?

What if someone deliberately held Li Erniu in place, allowing Wang Qiang to kill him?

"Your Honor, members of the jury."

"The prosecution’s evidence is insufficient, their indictment is inconsistent with the facts, and the deceased is the one who attempted murder..."

"Whereas the defendant has demonstrated justifiable self-defense, has a claim to defending a just cause, and turned himself in—all commendable actions. In summary, the defense believes..."

Xu De took a deep breath. The rapid-fire ’bombardment’ had left his mouth dry, but he had no intention of stopping.

Justifiable self-defense, turning himself in, no ironclad proof, defending a just cause...

All these points of argument built up to Xu De’s final statement.

"The defendant is not guilty!"

"We await your judgment, Your Honor!"