Chapter 24 - 19: Arrogant

A smile appeared on Xu De’s face. "Take it literally."

"So, you’re saying..."

Looking at Xu De, the stunned expression on Lin Yue’s face wavered slightly. She opened her mouth.

"The defendant, Wang Qiang... caused the death of the deceased, Li Erniu, because he was acting heroically to protect a police officer?!"

"Correct." Xu De nodded.

Lin Yue pressed on, "And Li Erniu committed suicide... or rather, died by his own hand? And he was also guilty of attempted intentional homicide?!"

Seeing that she had fully grasped his meaning, Xu De was quite satisfied.

"Exactly!"

Lin Yue looked like she wanted to say something, but then held her tongue, then wanted to speak again. After a long moment, she fell silent, swallowing all her doubts.

’Protect a police officer? Since when did a police officer need Wang Qiang’s protection?!’

’No, that’s not it...’

"Can this kind of argument really be used in court?" Lin Yue took a deep breath, her words filled with deep worry.

"Why not?"

Xu De found her reaction baffling. He spread his hands, leaned back in his chair, and looked at her in confusion.

"I don’t know what you have saved for the courtroom, but based on what you’ve just said, don’t you think this is a little..."

Lin Yue crossed her arms, choosing her words carefully for a long moment before finally speaking euphemistically.

"Audacious!"

’Forget using it in court, with arguments like these... the moment he submitted them, the prosecutor would probably take off his belt and whip Xu De like a spinning top!’

"What’s so audacious about it? Everything I’ve proposed is reasonable and compliant with the law."

"If it’s illegal, he can let Chen Wei sue me!"

But Xu De was completely unconcerned. He waved his hand dismissively and said casually,

"Anyway... if you really want to help, True Monarch..."

"Just find me a male lawyer you’re on good terms with in the next couple of days... Of course, if you can’t, don’t force it."

Lin Yue fell silent.

After a long while, she sighed deeply, a look of resignation on her face.

"Fine."

She had given in. There was nothing else to be done. ’I have no idea how the prosecutor will react when he hears Xu De say these things.’

But everything Xu De had come up with was, from every conceivable angle, completely legal. There wasn’t a hint of illegality. Even if the prosecutor flew into a rage, there was nothing he could do about it!

’As for finding someone...’

"I do have someone in mind, but..."

Lin Yue reined in her thoughts. An image of a face appeared in her mind, and her expression turned a bit strange.

Seeing her expression,

Xu De’s interest was piqued. He sat up in his chair and raised an eyebrow.

"But what?"

"It’s just that..."

Lin Yue thought for a long time before finally forcing out the words.

"He’s a bit... free-spirited!"

"Free-spirited?"

Xu De was taken aback. ’What kind of adjective is that?’

"Unrestrained? Doesn’t follow orders?" he guessed. "Let me be clear, I need someone in the legal field who will listen to instructions."

Lin Yue shook her head and said gently,

"He’s in the legal field, a graduate from a top domestic university. When it comes to work, he follows directions and doesn’t make mistakes."

’Doesn’t make mistakes and is capable...’

’So how is he free-spirited?’

Xu De didn’t quite get it, but he wasn’t the type to get hung up on details, so he didn’t dwell on it.

"Alright, if he’s willing to come..."

"I’ll pay a fee of one thousand yuan out of my own pocket. Please trouble yourself to speak with him, True Monarch."

Lin Yue nodded.

She looked up at Xu De, her gaze complicated.

To be honest.

As a lawyer, she was naturally aware of what the public called ’shysters,’ and she had even gone up against many of them.

But it was obvious that all those so-called ’shysters’ from the past... were far too innocent compared to the man before her!

At the very least, even if those guys read the law books until they fell apart, they would never have come up with a tactic like ’stealing the child’!

And yet, this man had somehow managed to perfectly avoid anything illegal... to the point that even she, who despised shysters, found herself willing to help him!

Lin Yue’s emotions were in a tangle.

This turmoil even made her forget to fuss over the "True Monarch" title. She sighed and said,

"Okay."

"I’ll be going now."

Xu De gave a friendly smile and stood up. "Take care. I won’t see you out."

Lin Yue wasn’t one for dramatics, so she simply turned and walked out.

She reached the main door, tightened her trench coat, and wrapped her scarf around her cheeks, as if bundling up her dense thoughts as well.

"CREAK~"

The door opened. She lifted her foot and stepped out into the cold wind.

Xu De retracted his gaze.

He felt no particular emotion, simply tidying up the documents on the table and stuffing them into his briefcase.

What needed to be done was done.

All that was left... was to wait for the trial to begin in five days!

...

「Meanwhile.」

"Hah, what a wet-behind-the-ears fool!"

Over on this side, Chen Wei left Jinmao Law Firm and returned to his own firm, Yangteng Law Firm, fuming with anger.

"BANG!"

He shoved the main door open forcefully, his expression exceedingly grim. After striding inside, he slammed his briefcase directly onto a table.

"SLAM!"

In the law firm’s main hall,

several lawyers who were familiar with Chen Wei were drawn by the commotion. They looked up to see his displeased face, raised their eyebrows, and asked,

"What’s wrong, Lawyer Chen? Run into a difficult client?"

Hearing the question,

the anger on Chen Wei’s face didn’t subside but instead flared up even more. He took a deep breath and said,

"I ran into some snot-nosed lawyer who’s still wet behind the ears!"

His words were concise but telling, and his colleagues around him immediately understood.

Law is a profession of extremes. Newcomers are either black-hearted schemers or full of righteous passion, thinking they can establish a new world order.

For old hands like them, running into the latter type on a case...

...was a real headache. After all, those types are impervious to reason. No matter what you say, they won’t change their stance and will fight you to the bitter end.

"Enough about that. Have my two clients arrived?"

Chen Wei took a deep breath, reining in his emotions, and looked at the group to ask.

A colleague replied, "The clients for the ’Wang Qiang Case’?"

Chen Wei nodded. "Yes."

It was only at their request that he had gone to negotiate with Xu De. He had assumed that after their discussion at the police station, the other party would have seen reason and decided to cooperate by now. Unfortunately... he never expected to get chewed out a second time!

"Tsk tsk, Lawyer Chen, this case of yours is causing a huge stir outside."

The colleague said,

"Besides, the trial starts in a couple of days. How could the clients not show up? They’re waiting in the reception room."

How does one gauge the significance of a case?

By the public outcry!

And this case, which took place in Li Family Village, had already caused an uproar in Lusen City!

Child abducted, a ten-year search for family, the buyer raising the victim like a dog, refusing to return the child, the victim’s father killing the buyer, and now being charged with intentional homicide...

With just these factors stacked together, it was hard for public opinion not to explode!

"Right, I got it."

Chen Wei nodded again.

Then, without bothering with his briefcase, he headed straight for the reception room.

Soon, he was standing at the door. He placed his hand on the handle and gave it a light twist...

"CREAK~"

The door opened.

Li Youcai and Liu Cui appeared in the doorway. The two had been dozing off, but they turned their heads at the sound.

Seeing it was Chen Wei, their eyes instantly lit up, and they scurried forward.

"How’d it go? Did that ungrateful brat agree or not?!"

Liu Cui blurted out excitedly.

As she spoke, it was as if she could already picture Wang Mei waiting on her for the rest of her life, her tone filled with anticipation.

"Heh heh, it’s murder, you know. He committed murder, so he has to be punished!"

Li Youcai, meanwhile, smugly began to smoke his long-stemmed pipe, his voice drifting out from the swirling smoke.

"If he wants to avoid punishment, she has to sign."

He spoke with an air of absolute certainty.

It was as if he already had Wang Mei wrapped around his finger, just as he had controlled her for the past ten years!

’So what if we bought a trafficked child? She’s still powerless against us!’

Unfortunately, reality was the opposite.

Hearing their words, Chen Wei’s expression soured. He hesitated for a moment, then finally closed the door and replied,

"They... didn’t sign."

The words hung in the air.

The two in front of him froze for a second. The next moment, a sharp voice, thick with a heavy rural accent, erupted.

Li Youcai was stunned. He pulled the pipe from his mouth and said, "Didn’t sign?"

"Have they grown a spine of steel? How dare they not sign?!"

Liu Cui’s face was even uglier. Her sharp, monkey-like features contorted as she shrieked in anger,

"Her husband killed my son, and all we want is a grandson, but she won’t even give us that?!"

With that,

Liu Cui started slapping her thighs and wailing.

"Oh, heavens, is there no justice? How are we supposed to live? Isn’t this forcing our family line to end?!"

Listening to this caterwauling,

"Don’t worry! The court’s ’Summons to Appear’ has already been issued. The trial starts in five days!"

Chen Wei quickly tried to placate them.

"After five days, once we gain the upper hand in court, then..."

"...it’ll be their turn to beg us to sign the letter of forgiveness!"

In his eyes, the other side was simply refusing to give up until they hit a brick wall. The arguments in the first trial, five days from now, would completely shatter their unrealistic fantasies!

As he said this,

Liu Cui and Li Youcai’s eyes lit up, and the wailing stopped.

"Really?!"

Chen Wei revealed a confident smile and took a couple of sips of tea from the table.

"Their lawyer is just a young punk. I asked around at his firm. He has no criminal trial record. A loss for him is practically guaranteed!"

"Haha, then we have to thank you, Lawyer Chen!"

Li Youcai and Liu Cui were overjoyed.

Having received his confident reply,

the two of them hurried away, ready to go home and play with their "grandson."

After seeing them off,

Chen Wei let out a long breath. He watched their departing figures and began to ponder.

Besides evidence, there is often another factor that determines the direction of a case.

The judge’s discretionary power!

In other words, the judge’s personal will. This is crucial. Besides evidence, the only thing that can influence a case’s outcome is which side the judge personally favors.

And the thing most likely to influence a judge is...

Public opinion!

In the year 2002, the best representation of public opinion on the Li Family Village case was the newspaper.

Thinking of this,

Chen Wei walked directly to the public newspaper rack nearby and pulled out a copy of a Lusen City paper that had been delivered this morning and was still warm.

"RUSTLE~"

The newspaper was unfolded with a crisp sound.

The next second, a headline about the public’s reaction to the case instantly appeared before Chen Wei’s eyes!

[Moral Decay! Lusen City Shocked by...]