At the bench, Presiding Judge Yang Yu leafed through the documents.
At the defense table, Ye Fei nearly lost her mind when she heard Su Bai's words.
Xie Jing conspired with her attorney, Ye Fei, to defraud our client? What the hell was that supposed to mean?!
Fuck!
She was sitting in the attorney's seat at the defense table, and now she had actually become a defendant?!
And an accomplice to fraud, no less?!
Ye Fei raised her hand aggressively. "Presiding Judge, the plaintiff's attorney is fabricating completely baseless allegations. I request that the evidence submitted by the plaintiff be rejected!"
Bang, bang, bang!
Yang Yu looked up at Ye Fei at the defense table.
"Request denied. We are currently in the evidence presentation stage. Defense counsel must not disrupt the proceedings with objections."
"As this is defense counsel's first objection, this will serve only as a reminder.
"Should it happen again, a second warning will be issued. If the disruption is serious, you will be forcibly removed from the courtroom. Defense counsel, please observe courtroom discipline!"
Ye Fei realized that her emotions had become unusually volatile.
She had been perfectly calm before!
She had been absolutely certain of victory.
But now...
Clearly, Su Bai, the plaintiff's attorney, had gotten under her skin!
Ye Fei stared straight at Su Bai, her eyes blazing with anger!
Li Xuezhen tugged at Su Bai's clothes. "Lawyer Su, that female attorney seems pretty upset about us submitting evidence..."
"She's glaring at us right now..."
"This is the third lesson I'm teaching you."
Su Bai glanced up at Ye Fei, then turned his gaze back to Li Xuezhen with a smile.
"The third lesson?"
"The third lesson is to provoke opposing counsel in court through legitimate, measured actions. The angrier and more furious they become, the more likely they are to fall into your line of reasoning, and your chances of winning will rise dramatically."
"Oh, okay. I understand, Lawyer Su..."
Li Xuezhen nodded earnestly.
Su Bai looked toward the bench.
Presiding Judge Yang Yu was reviewing the relevant evidence. Once he finished, the trial would reach its most critical point.
The key to this trial was whether they could establish that Xie Jing and Ye Fei had committed fraud.
As long as they dragged the other side into that debate...
It would be as good as winning.
If they failed to establish fraud...
The other side would pay up and get fuck all from the division of assets.
If they succeeded...
The other side would pay up, get fuck all from the division of assets, and go to prison.
Every last person at the defense table would be going to prison!
Whether fraud could be established hinged on the presiding judge's assessment of the offense and this lawsuit.
Su Bai already had a clear idea of how that would go.
At the bench...
Yang Yu frowned slightly. After reviewing all the evidence submitted by the plaintiff, Su Bai's side, he passed it over to the defense table.
"The plaintiff has accused the defendant and her attorney of defrauding the plaintiff and has submitted evidence. That evidence has now been provided to defense counsel. You may review it and raise any questions in court."
After receiving the evidence, Ye Fei froze for several seconds.
This...
This was evidence?
Wasn't this just the chat history from her fan group, her statements in that group, and the content on her video profile page?
This could count as evidence of fraud too...?!
And another thing...
Where had they gotten the content from her fan group?!
There were requirements for joining her fan group. She did not just let anyone in.
If the other side had obtained it illegally, not only would the evidence be invalid, but she could turn the accusation back on them!
Having thought it through, Ye Fei gathered the evidence and placed it on the table.
"Presiding Judge, I would like to ask on what grounds the plaintiff and his attorney are using these chat logs to allege that my client and I committed fraud.
"And where did the information in this evidence come from?
"If this evidence was obtained illegally, then you, Lawyer Su, as the plaintiff's attorney, are you aware of the consequences you face for knowingly breaking the law and using illegally obtained evidence to bring accusations in court?!"
That last part!
It was an outright threat, though a lawful one.
Su Bai paid no mind whatsoever to Ye Fei's questions.
"Presiding Judge."
"I request permission to disclose the source of the submitted evidence!"
Bang, bang!
The gavel sounded.
"Request granted."
Everyone in the courtroom focused their attention on Su Bai.
Su Bai turned to Li Xuezhen.
"Hand me your phone..."
"Oh, okay, Lawyer Su."
Su Bai took the phone from Li Xuezhen, unlocked it, opened the group chat, and tagged Ye Fei. As he did so, he said:
"This is the phone belonging to a trainee lawyer at our White Jun Law Firm. She joined your fan group, Ms. Ye. You can check your own group chat to verify whether our evidence was obtained legally."
Bang!
"Defense counsel may check her phone to confirm whether the evidence was obtained legally."
The gavel sounded.
Half skeptical, Ye Fei opened her phone and saw that "Snow," the promising client she had been so eager to secure, had tagged her in the fan group.
The message read: Ms. Ye, surprised? Didn't see that coming, did you?!
Pfft...
Ye Fei nearly exploded with anger on the spot!
What was this supposed to mean? If you wanted to disclose the lawful source of your evidence, then just do it. Why mock me too?!
Fucking hell!
If she had not retained some reason in the courtroom, Ye Fei would have wanted to fight Su Bai to the death!
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before Ye Fei finally suppressed her anger.
"The plaintiff's attorney, Lawyer Su, mocked me in the group chat and used false information to gain entry to my fan group. Doesn't that count as breaking the law?"
Watching the woman grow furious and unreasonable, Su Bai countered:
"Ms. Ye, we did poke fun at you when posting that message in the group chat, but we used no abusive language whatsoever. Surely that isn't illegal?"
"False information? What do you mean by false information? Our trainee lawyer left a message in the comments section without causing anyone or anything any
"financial loss.
"You were the one who insisted on inviting our trainee into your fan group and demanded proof of assets.
"The proof of assets was genuine!
"There was nothing illegal at any point in that process.
"Nor was there any fraud or inducement afterward. You were the one who took the initiative to contact our trainee lawyer.
"On what grounds are you claiming that my evidence was obtained illegally...?"
"Would you like us to provide the chat history from that time to show just how eagerly you invited our trainee lawyer into your fan group?
"And just how enthusiastic you were back then, Ms. Ye?"
Su Bai looked at Ye Fei, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
By now, Ye Fei had completely lost her composure!
What was Su Bai trying to do?!
Was he deliberately rubbing salt in her wounds?!
Ye Fei took a deep breath, realizing that if she kept arguing over this point, she would lose the lawsuit!
She could not lose this case!
Otherwise, she would be finished!
(End of chapter)
Before you continue