The Trap Is Sprung!

Words carried weight.

But...

Yours hit far too hard!

The instant defense attorney Xu De finished speaking, the First Courtroom fell silent. More than four hundred people filled it, yet they could hear one another's heartbeats.

No one could process what he had said. They looked up and stared at him, their minds blank.

They understood that there had been a conflict and that the two sides had confronted each other.

Under those circumstances, it would have made sense for the defense to argue self-defense or accidental death.

But... how was this an act of bravery!?

At the defendant's table,

Wang Qiang, who had been waiting for his trial with his head lowered, looked up at Xu De. His face was blank, and so was his mind.

I... I was acting bravely?

"Your Honor, the defense categorically denies the charge brought by the prosecution."

"We also refuse the victim's representative's demand for compensation. It has no basis whatsoever, and the amount is outrageous!"

With that said, Xu De felt a weight lift from his chest. He slowly sat down.

"That concludes our statement."

On the bench,

Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin's stern face showed a hint of bewilderment. He stared at Xu De for a long moment before realizing he had not imagined what he'd heard.

Only then did he turn hesitantly toward the prosecution.

"Does the prosecution have any objection to the defense's statement?"

Honestly, there was no need to ask.

Anyone sitting at the prosecution's table would have bristled at Xu De's argument.

Sure enough,

Before prosecutor Hu Guang could speak, Chen Wei, the victim's representative, lost his patience.

"Absurd! Utterly absurd!"

"Your Honor, the trafficking case clearly agitated the defendant and led him to commit a crime of passion!"

At the prosecution's table, blood rushed to Chen Wei's head. His face flushed red.

He spoke rapidly, feeling as though his blood pressure were soaring. Fixing his eyes on Xu De, he snapped,

"Calling it an act of bravery is absurd! You're twisting the facts!"

Chen Wei had expected the other side to challenge the prosecution or appeal for sympathy.

He had never imagined Xu De would open with something so outrageous!

An act of bravery?

If that argument held up, forget compensation... Li Youcai and Liu Cui would be lucky if they did not have to pay anything themselves!

Chen Wei slapped both hands on the table. "I ask the court to reject that argument!"

At this,

Xu De remained expressionless at the defense table. He did not yield an inch.

"Then produce evidence to refute it!"

"You!"

Chen Wei's blood surged again. He was about to fire back,

But Hu Guang, sensing where this was going, immediately cut him off.

"Counsel for the defense."

"Are you aware that an act of bravery means protecting yourself or others by stopping an unlawful attack in progress?"

Hu Guang's gaze was dark, and his voice carried an oppressive weight.

"According to the case file, the victim committed no unlawful attack during the killing."

"It was the defendant who initiated the confrontation on the bus, acting first and letting his emotions drive him!"

An unlawful attack was essential to a claim of bravery.

It could be a punch or a knife. Whatever form it took, the attack had to exist and actually occur!

Claims like "I suspected" and "I thought" were nothing but excuses and twisted logic.

"When the conflict escalated, the victim posed no threat to anyone at the scene!"

Hu Guang shook his head and stated the facts plainly.

"Any danger there came from the villagers, not from the victim himself."

The danger had come from the villagers, but Wang Qiang had killed Li Erniu. That was plainly neither self-defense nor an act of bravery.

Except...

"Prosecutor."

"You say the danger came from the villagers. Then let me ask you this..."

Xu De frowned and drew a deep breath. An edge crept into his voice.

"Why did the villagers threaten the seven police officers at the scene!?"

He gave the other side no chance to answer.

"Because of the trafficking case!"

"In other words, the trafficking case was the root cause of the threat to the officers' and the defendant's safety!"

"And the central offender in that case was the deceased, Li Erniu."

"Taken together, we can conclude that the villagers of Li Family Village and Li Erniu came into conflict with the police over the trafficking case. The defendant, Wang Qiang, then confronted Li Erniu to protect the officers and everyone else at the scene!"

"In the end, Li Erniu attempted to kill him but instead caused his own death. My client acted in self-defense."

At those words,

Everyone finally understood what he meant.

"That... actually makes sense."

"Wait, I'm still trying to follow it. Give me a second..."

"Why are the prosecutors frowning? What are they whispering about?"

"..."

In the public gallery,

The spectators stared wide-eyed, unable to stop whispering to one another.

Even Zhang Xia, the reporter who had been taking notes on the case, put down her pen and joined the discussion.

"Liu, why does this feel strange to me...?"

The older reporter beside her fell silent.

Of course it felt strange! She had been a reporter for over a decade; did Zhang Xia think she could not tell?

"The case hasn't been decided yet. Keep watching," she said, shaking her head.

"What nonsense is that kid spouting!?"

At the prosecution's table,

Prosecutor Wang Wei stared at Xu De as if he had seen a ghost, then turned to Hu Guang.

"Doesn't he know that fulfilling a personal duty doesn't count as an act of bravery?"

Wang Qiang was Wang Mei's father.

Under the law, Wang Qiang had a duty to protect Wang Mei. Even if doing so indirectly protected others, that duty came first. His actions therefore could not be considered an act of bravery.

Did Xu De really not know that rule!?

"This young man..."

Hu Guang frowned. He had a feeling Xu De's real aim lay elsewhere.

But if Xu De had never intended to argue that Wang Qiang's actions were an act of bravery... why bring it up at all?

Could he be trying to...

A thought flashed through his mind like an electric current.

Hu Guang's eyes widened, his pupils contracting as a possibility occurred to him!

He was about to speak, but...

"Counsel for the defense, under the law, Wang Qiang had a duty to protect Wang Mei. It was something he was obligated to do, not an act of bravery!"

"So while there was a threat at the scene, it has nothing to do with an act of bravery. Nor does that threat have anything to do with the deceased, Li Erniu!"

Beside Hu Guang,

Chen Wei had noticed that the prosecutor was not speaking. He rose, his face grave, and fixed his upturned eyes on Xu De.

"Your argument does not satisfy Article 183 of the Civil Code at all!"

As soon as Chen Wei said it,

Hu Guang closed his eyes. His heart sank.

Damn. We fell for it...

They had fallen for it. Chen Wei had been played—or rather, that audacious young lawyer, alone at the defense table, had played the entire prosecution!

Why?

Because...

"So your position is that Wang Qiang's actions do not constitute an act of bravery, but..."

Xu De seized on Chen Wei's words the instant they left his mouth. He breathed out deeply, smiled with relief, and looked at him mildly.

"But you do not deny that the danger facing the police and the others during the conflict stemmed from the trafficking case. Correct?"

Xu De paused.

He gave the four hundred-odd people in the courtroom no time to react. His expression turned solemn, and his voice rang through the First Courtroom.

"Your Honor."

"The facts of this case are now clear!"

"The evidence provided by the police shows that, when the incident occurred, the danger the officers faced came from Li Erniu's trafficking case. That case was still ongoing!"

"Therefore, his unlawful imprisonment of Wang Mei—Wang Qiang's daughter and the victim of that case—for ten years had not ended either!"

"I ask everyone here, especially the prosecution..."

"Did imprisoning and abusing her for ten years count as striking first? Did it threaten Wang Mei's safety!?"

At last, Xu De had shown his hand, exposing his true aim.

The case... could not be split in two!

Look only at Wang Qiang and Li Erniu, and it was a crime of passion, falling under intentional homicide. He would have no chance of winning that argument!

There was only one thing he could do.

He had to bring the facts together and make this trial begin not with Wang Qiang's killing, but with Li Erniu's purchase of Wang Mei!

He had raised the act-of-bravery argument to draw their attention, gambling that they would overlook the fact that the villagers had threatened the police because of the trafficking case.

If they overlooked that point and accepted it without thinking...

Then he could use their own position to establish that the trafficking case had not yet ended!

And if that case was still ongoing when Li Erniu died, Wang Qiang had a reason for his actions. It was not intentional homicide. Li Erniu was the one who had struck first. As for when he had done so...

It was the moment he imprisoned Wang Mei ten years ago!!!

And so, the instant Xu De's words sank in,

Everyone in the courtroom grew stunned, their hearts rising into their throats!

"Tell me."

"In this trafficking case,"

"A father had his daughter stolen from him, then she was imprisoned and tormented for ten years. When he fought back, was he acting in self-defense and fulfilling his legal duty, or was it..."

Xu De paused, then delivered four chilling words.

"Intentional homicide!?"

The words swept outward from him like a gale.

Everyone in the public gallery stared wide-eyed, their hearts pounding!