Decision

An acquittal defense...

Not a reduced sentence. Not a lighter charge. An acquittal!

The moment those words fell, it felt as though an invisible hand had seized the hearts of the more than four hundred people in Courtroom One. Everyone jolted, their chests rising and falling sharply.

"An acquittal? The defense attorney is arguing for an acquittal!?"

"How is that possible? If someone dies in an act of self-defense when no life was in danger, it's almost always excessive force. And Li Erniu hadn't even used particularly harsh methods to take her away..."

"But the defense attorney really is arguing for an acquittal, and his reasoning is remarkably tight."

"If Li Erniu really is deemed the one who started the violence... there's no telling where this case will go!"

"..."

The spectators were shaken to their core.

Reporter Zhang Xia stared openmouthed at the lone, slender figure in the courtroom.

An acquittal defense...

This was nothing like seeking a reduced sentence. For that, an attorney only had to argue with the prosecution and find something in the defendant's favor.

An acquittal was different.

The court would only declare the defendant not guilty if the defense overturned every allegation the prosecution had submitted, from beginning to end!

Overturn them all. One person had to refute information jointly verified by the police, the court, and the Procuratorate!

Just hearing that was enough to grasp the difference in difficulty, let alone trying to do it.

Some veteran lawyers might go their entire careers without daring to argue for an acquittal even once!

Yet this young man before her... was he even twenty-five? And he dared argue for Wang Qiang's acquittal!

"Liu Cui..."

Zhang Xia felt her blood boiling. Her breathing quickened.

But the middle-aged reporter beside her was already staring intently at the proceedings and paid her no attention.

"Don't talk."

"Keep watching!"

Zhang Xia nodded and fixed her gaze on the courtroom again.

In the courtroom.

"Prosecution, do you have any objections!?"

Xu De looked unstoppable. His sharp gaze cut across the room and pinned the prosecutors in their seats.

"Well..."

Wang Wei was speechless. The defense had found a tricky angle.

Because Li Erniu had held on to Wang Mei, Xu De argued that the trafficking case had not ended and that Wang Mei remained in danger.

That, in turn, undermined the allegation that Wang Qiang had killed in a fit of emotion and gave him grounds for self-defense.

Wang Wei could only look to Hu Guang.

Hu Guang frowned, piecing together every clue in his mind and thinking hard.

As for Chen Wei and Li Youcai...

"What? The police had already taken that ungrateful girl away! How can my son still be guilty!?"

Once Liu Cui understood what Xu De meant, she stamped her feet in fury.

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

The girl was gone. She had even gotten into a car, with seven armed officers protecting her. She was nowhere near that woodshed anymore.

How could that still count as confinement!?

"Chen Wei, Attorney Chen, say something!"

Beside her, Li Youcai was anxious too. He turned to Chen Wei, the victim's legal representative, and urged him on in a low voice.

Two hundred and twenty thousand.

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

Whether the other side could afford it was beside the point. They would get a hefty sum either way!

The case had looked secure, and the money had seemed within reach. So... how had everything suddenly changed?

What did Xu De mean, Wang Mei had been rescued but was still being held captive!?

"Say something already!" Li Youcai snapped.

But Chen Wei, seated at the prosecution table, gave no response, as though he had heard nothing.

Had he really not heard?

No.

At the legal representative's seat.

Chen Wei's face was flushed dark red. Veins throbbed across his forehead, and his bloodshot eyes glared at Xu De as though he wanted to tear him apart. His hands were clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.

Could he speak?

Of course.

But did he dare!?

That attorney at the defense table had actually dared to set a logical trap during the hearing...

Chen Wei himself was known as a pettifogger, yet even he had to rely on evidence when facing people like Chen Bingxin and Hu Guang. This man had gone ahead and baited him into a concession in open court. Calling it audacious hardly covered it!

Most importantly...

Chen Wei did not dare speak.

That was right. He was a little afraid to open his mouth now. He had said only a few sentences earlier, yet without realizing it, he had fallen straight into the other man's trap...

Who knew what other traps were waiting for him?

So.

Despite Li Youcai and Liu Cui urging and cursing him from behind, Chen Wei could only bury his head in the sand and pretend he could not hear.

Damn you, Sun Hao. You teamed up with him to play me!

Chen Wei cursed inwardly.

This isn't over between us!!!

Whatever he thought, he still did not speak.

The courtroom, which had been in an uproar moments earlier, fell strangely quiet. A tense stalemate began to settle over it.

At the judges' bench.

"Hu Guang has nothing to say. Does that mean he agrees with the defense?"

"No. I'd say the defense's argument caught him off guard, and he can't find an angle to rebut it yet."

"Heh. He won't find an opening in a hurry..."

"The hearing has stalled. This isn't what we expected. What do we do?"

"..."

Judges Liu Jianguo and Sun Dong exchanged a few words, then both looked toward Chen Bingxin.

After a moment's thought, Chen Bingxin prepared to speak.

He picked up his gavel.

Bang!

The sound rang out, and Chen Bingxin opened his mouth.

"Now..."

But before he could say more, a voice cut him off.

"Presiding judge, the defense has more to say!"

At the defense table, Xu De saw that the momentum was with him. Without hesitation, his expression sharpened and he interrupted Chen Bingxin in a firm voice.

Chen Bingxin paused, the words caught in his throat. He swallowed them and lowered his gavel.

"The defense may proceed."

At that.

Xu De nodded. He searched through the papers on the table and finally held up a document.

Chen Bingxin frowned and narrowed his eyes at it. Unable to tell what it was, he asked:

"What is that?"

Xu De replied, "Evidence submitted to the court six days ago by Chen Wei, the victim's legal representative!"

At the prosecution table.

Hearing his name, Chen Wei jerked his head up. He stared at Xu De with a shifting expression, his face grim.

What does he mean, evidence I submitted?

Damn it, can't you find your own evidence? Since the hearing began, you've used either the prosecutors' evidence or mine!

And... what evidence is that?

Chen Wei frowned.

Xu De continued, "It shows that the police conducted a psychiatric evaluation of Wang Mei, the victim of the trafficking case. The assessment was: normal!"

Normal...

Wang Mei had indeed had some mental health problems, but that was before her rescue.

The instant she had been rescued, it was as if she had been given a miracle drug. She had recovered mentally, leaving only psychological scars!

But...

Why was Xu De bringing this up?

As everyone puzzled over it, his next words reached their ears.

"Honorable presiding judge, members of the jury."

"The defense maintains that defendant Wang Qiang acted in self-defense and that his actions also qualify as a 'courageous act' under Greenwood City's rules!"

Xu De had suddenly returned to his earlier point about a courageous act.

Only this time, his reasoning was tighter!

"Chen Wei, the victim's legal representative, previously said that a father has a legal duty to protect his daughter."

"But..."

"Under Articles 17, 18, and 39 of the Civil Code, an adult aged eighteen or over who is mentally sound has full civil capacity. Their parents' legal guardianship ends automatically, without any need for a court ruling!"

"At the time of the incident, Wang Mei met those conditions."

"Therefore, my client Wang Qiang stepped forward when he was under no legal obligation to do so. His actions meet the local criteria for a courageous act!"

Xu De still had not let go of that argument.

And there was more...

"Furthermore, after Li Erniu died, my client was not arrested."

"He turned himself in!"

Xu De dropped that bombshell.

Even Hu Guang, who had remained calm at the prospect of the charges being overturned, widened his eyes and frowned at him in surprise.

Turned himself in?

Xu De did not explain. He had the floor now, and he would not waste the chance to secure every possible advantage for his client.

So...

"At the same time, I once again put a question to the prosecution."

"Prosecution, on what grounds do you conclude that my client Wang Qiang killed Li Erniu?"

Xu De's face was solemn. He delivered one seemingly absurd claim after another without a change in expression.

His voice rang clearly through the courtroom and reached everyone at the prosecution table.

"Is it the statements provided to the police? The evidence left at the scene? Or eyewitness testimony..."

"No!"

"During the incident, there was no evidence proving that my client Wang Qiang, without being coerced or controlled by anyone, voluntarily drove the knife into the deceased's abdomen!"

"The only evidence proves that Li Erniu attempted murder and caused his own death!"

The scene had been chaotic when it happened.

Dozens of people had crowded together, making it impossible to see clearly. The police could only draw conclusions from the fingerprints on the knife handle.

But that raised a question...

In such chaos, who could say whether someone had grabbed Wang Qiang's arm and driven the knife in his hand into Li Erniu?

So, without conclusive evidence...

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

What if someone had deliberately held Li Erniu in place and made Wang Qiang kill him?

"Honorable presiding judge, members of the jury."

"The prosecution's evidence is insufficient, its allegations do not match the facts, and the deceased attempted murder..."

"Meanwhile, the defendant acted in self-defense, performed a courageous act, and turned himself in. In light of all this, the defense maintains..."

Xu De took a deep breath. The barrage had left his mouth dry, but he showed no sign of stopping.

Self-defense, turning himself in, no conclusive evidence, a courageous act...

Those arguments led to Xu De's final declaration.

"The defendant is not guilty!"

"I ask the presiding judge to rule accordingly!"