Xu De smiled. "I meant exactly what I said."
"So, what you're saying is..."
Looking at Xu De, Lin Yue's blank expression faltered slightly as she opened her mouth.
"The defendant, Wang Qiang... caused the death of the deceased, Li Erniu, because he was acting bravely for a just cause to protect the police!?"
"Correct." Xu De nodded.
Lin Yue pressed on, "And you're claiming that Li Erniu committed suicide... or rather, his death was self-inflicted? And that he also committed the crime of attempted murder!?"
Seeing that she fully understood his intentions, Xu De looked highly satisfied.
"Spot on!"
Lin Yue opened her mouth to speak, then stopped. She hesitated a few more times before falling completely silent, swallowing all her questions.
'Protect the police? Why would the police need Wang Qiang to protect them!?'
'No, wait...'
"Can these arguments really be used in court?" Lin Yue took a deep breath, her words brimming with intense worry.
"Why couldn't they?"
Xu De found her reaction baffling. He spread his hands and leaned back in his chair, looking at her in confusion.
"I don't know what you've prepared for the courtroom, but just based on what you've told me, don't you think this is a bit..."
Lin Yue crossed her arms, weighing her words carefully before finally stating it as tactfully as she could.
"Arrogant!"
Never mind the actual courtroom debate, with just these claims alone... she feared that the moment he submitted them, the prosecutor would pull out a belt and whip him like a spinning top!
"What's arrogant about it? Everything I've proposed is reasonable and strictly follows the rules."
"If it's illegal, let Chen Wei sue me!"
Xu De couldn't care less. He waved a hand dismissively and said casually,
"Anyway... if True Monarch really wants to help..."
"Just find a male lawyer you have a good relationship with over the next two days to lend a hand. Of course, don't force it if you can't find anyone."
Lin Yue fell silent.
After a long while.
She let out a deep sigh, a helpless expression washing over her face.
"Fine."
She compromised. She had no choice. Although she had no idea how the prosecutor would react to Xu De spouting these claims.
The arguments he brought out were completely legal from every angle. There was absolutely no illegality to them. Even if the prosecutor got furious, they would have no way to deal with him!
As for finding someone...
"I do have someone in mind, it's just..."
Lin Yue reined in her thoughts. As a face surfaced in her mind, her expression suddenly became a bit strange.
Seeing her reaction.
Xu De was intrigued. Sitting in his chair, he raised an eyebrow.
"Just what?"
"It's just..."
Lin Yue pondered for a long time before finally squeezing out a sentence.
"He is somewhat free-spirited!"
"Free-spirited?"
Xu De was taken aback. What kind of description was that?
"You mean he's unrestrained? Doesn't take orders?" he guessed. "Let me make this clear first, I only want someone in the legal field who will listen."
Lin Yue shook her head and spoke gently,
"He is in the legal field, graduated from a top domestic university, and when it comes down to it, he listens to instructions and doesn't make mistakes."
He doesn't make mistakes, and he's competent...
Then what was so free-spirited about him?
Xu De didn't quite understand, but he wasn't the type to split hairs over minor 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. I'll have to trouble True Monarch to go communicate with him."
Lin Yue nodded.
She looked up at Xu De, her eyes complex.
To be honest.
As a lawyer, she naturally knew what the public meant by a 'shyster', and she had even gone up against many of them.
But clearly, those past so-called 'shysters' were simply too pure and innocent compared to the man sitting in front of her!
At the very least, those guys could read their law books until the pages fell out, and they still wouldn't come up with the idea of stealing the child back!
But this man had perfectly circumvented every single illegal point... Even she, who utterly despised shysters, was willing to help him!
Lin Yue's emotions were in a tangle.
This swirl of feelings even made her forget to bicker about him calling her 'True Monarch'. She immediately sighed and said,
"Alright."
"I'll take my leave now."
Xu De offered a friendly smile and stood up. "Take care. I won't see you out."
Lin Yue wasn't one for pleasantries either. She turned and walked toward the door.
Reaching the front door, she pulled her trench coat tighter and wrapped her scarf around her cheeks, as if trying to bundle up her heavy thoughts along with herself.
Creak—
The door opened, and she stepped out into the freezing wind.
Xu De withdrew his gaze.
He didn't feel much of anything; he simply tidied up the documents on his desk and stuffed them into his briefcase.
He had done everything he needed to do.
All that was left... was to wait for the trial to begin in five days!
......
Meanwhile.
"Heh, what a naive, greenhorn idiot!"
On the other side.
Chen Wei left Jinmao Law Firm and returned to his own Yangteng Law Firm with a belly full of rage.
Bang!
He violently shoved the front door open, his face incredibly gloomy. Striding inside, he slammed his briefcase directly onto a desk.
Bang!
Inside the law firm's lobby.
Several lawyers familiar with Chen Wei were drawn by the commotion. Looking up, they immediately saw his deeply displeased expression. Raising an eyebrow, one asked,
"What's wrong, Lawyer Chen? Run into a tricky client?"
Hearing the voice.
The anger on Chen Wei's face didn't fade; if anything, it burned brighter. He took a deep breath and sneered,
"I ran into a lawyer who's still wet behind the ears!"
His words were concise, and his colleagues immediately understood.
Law was a rather extreme profession. Newcomers to the industry were usually either completely black-hearted and cunning, or brimming with hot blood, wanting to fight for justice and the world.
For veterans like them, whenever they encountered the latter in certain cases...
It was a genuine headache. After all, those types were stubborn mules. No matter what you said, they wouldn't change their stance and would fight you to the bitter end.
"Enough about that. Are my two clients here?"
Chen Wei took a deep breath, reining in his emotions, and looked at the crowd to ask.
A colleague replied, "The clients for the Wang Qiang case?"
Chen Wei nodded. "Yes."
It was only because of their demands that he had even gone to discuss things with Xu De. He had assumed that after their initial talk at the police station, the other party would have thought things through over the past few days and chosen to cooperate. Unfortunately... he never imagined he would get cursed out a second time!
"Tsk, tsk. Lawyer Chen, your case is causing a massive uproar out there,"
the colleague remarked.
"Besides, the trial starts in just a couple of days. How could the clients not show up? They're waiting in the reception room."
How did one determine the severity of a case?
By looking at public opinion!
And this case, which had taken place in Lijia Village, had already caused a massive uproar in Greenwood City!
A child abducted, a ten-year search, the buyers treating the victim like a dog, their refusal to return her, the victim's father killing the buyer, and now facing charges of intentional homicide...
Just piling these factors together made it hard for the public outcry not to be severe!
"Alright, I got it."
Chen Wei nodded again.
Without even picking up his briefcase, he headed straight toward the reception room.
Soon, he stood at the door, placing his hand on the knob and giving it a gentle twist...
Creak—
The door opened.
Li Youcai and Liu Cui appeared through the gap. The two had been dozing off, but upon hearing the noise, they snapped their heads around.
Seeing it was Chen Wei, their eyes immediately lit up, and they rushed forward.
"How did it go? Did that ungrateful wretch agree!?"
Liu Cui asked excitedly.
As she spoke, it was as if she could already see the image of Wang Mei serving her for the rest of her life, her tone brimming with anticipation.
"Heh heh, that's the crime of murder! He committed murder, so he has to be punished!"
Li Youcai smugly started puffing on his dry pipe, his voice drifting through the swirling smoke.
"If he doesn't want to be punished, he has to sign."
His tone carried a sense of absolute certainty.
It was as if he had Wang Mei completely in the palm of his hand, just like he had controlled her for the past ten years!
So what if they had trafficked her? The other party still couldn't do anything to them!
Unfortunately, reality was the exact opposite.
Hearing this, Chen Wei's face looked a bit grim. He hesitated for a moment before finally closing the door and replying,
"They... didn't sign."
As his words fell.
The two people in front of him froze slightly. A second later, a sharp voice, thick with a rural dialect, rang out.
Li Youcai looked stunned. He pulled the dry pipe from his mouth and said, "Didn't sign?"
"Did they eat a bear's heart and a leopard's gall!? How dare they not sign!?"
Liu Cui's face turned even uglier, her sharp, monkey-like features instantly contorting as she shrieked in anger.
"Her father killed my son! We just want our grandson, and she won't even give us that!?"
With that.
Liu Cui started slapping her thighs and wailing at the top of her lungs.
"Oh heavens, is there no justice left!? Are you trying to kill us!? Isn't this forcing people to end their family line!?"
Listening to her howling.
"Don't panic. The court has already issued the subpoena. The trial begins in five days!"
Chen Wei repeatedly tried to placate them.
"Once we gain the upper hand in the courtroom in five days, then..."
"They will be the ones begging us to sign the letter of forgiveness!"
In his eyes, the opposing side was simply refusing to turn back until they hit a brick wall. The first-instance arguments in five days would completely tear their unrealistic delusions to shreds!
Hearing this.
Liu Cui and Li Youcai's eyes immediately lit up, and they instantly stopped howling.
"Really!?"
Chen Wei offered a confident smile and took two sips of the tea on the table.
"The opposing lawyer is just a wet-behind-the-ears kid. I asked around at his law firm; he has absolutely zero record of criminal trials. His defeat is a certainty!"
"Haha, then we'll be counting on you, Lawyer Chen!"
Li Youcai and Liu Cui were instantly overjoyed.
Having received his affirmative answer.
The two then hurriedly left, preparing to go home and play with their grandson.
After seeing them off.
Chen Wei let out a long breath. He watched their retreating backs and began to ponder.
The factors that decided the direction of a case, aside from [evidence], often included another.
The judge's discretionary power!
In other words, the judge's personal will. This was crucial. Besides evidence, the only thing that could influence the outcome of a case was who the judge personally favored.
And the thing most likely to influence a judge was...
Public opinion!
In the year 2002, the medium that best reflected the state of public opinion regarding the Lijia Village case was newspapers.
Thinking of this.
Chen Wei walked straight over to the nearby public newspaper rack and pulled out a newspaper delivered to Greenwood City that morning, still holding a faint trace of warmth.
Rustle—
The newspaper unfolded, the paper making a crisp sound.
The next second, the social news covering the case instantly caught Chen Wei's eye!
【Moral Decay! Greenwood City Shocked by...】