Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 209 - 208: Back to the Villa, A Clue in the Fireplace

Chapter 209: Chapter 208: Back to the Villa, A Clue in the Fireplace

That evening.

Lin Mansion, Zhang Wei’s room.

Zhang Wei lay flat on the bed, deep in thought.

He was thinking about the court trial on Thursday; he was thinking about the defense’s tactics.

On the prosecution’s side, there were no more witnesses.

President Ding, Aunt Xu, and Su Canguang—they were all the prosecution’s witnesses.

Unfortunately, the three witnesses—President Ding only proved that Zhu Tianying had murderous intent, Aunt Xu testified to Zhu Tianying’s conflicts with Ren Xinwei, they frequently clashed, and Su Canguang proved that Zhu Tianying committed adultery and didn’t obey marital fidelity.

But they couldn’t prove that Zhu Tianying premeditated the murder of Ren Xinwei, nor were they eyewitnesses to the murder case, which didn’t have any decisive effect on the prosecution’s charges.

Moreover, due to Hu Yaode’s performance at the last minute, he even diluted the impact of Zhu Tianying’s affair significantly.

He depicted Zhu Tianying as a poor woman suffering domestic abuse, psychologically terrorized and without comfort, which is why she sought solace in the arms of Su Canguang, the senior disciple at Yangxin Hall.

"A woman abused at home, a woman humiliated and oppressed, seems to have some excuse for having an affair, doesn’t she?"

For some reason, after hearing Hu Yaode’s court defense, Zhang Wei instinctively had this illusion.

He actually wanted to forgive Zhu Tianying’s affair because, before his death, Ren Xinwei must have scolded her, hit her, even... wait!

A sudden insight struck Zhang Wei’s mind; he thought of something.

He sat up in bed, images, and texts swirling in his mind.

"I remember the witness Aunt Xu said Mr. Ren always argued with the defendant. It wasn’t frequent at first, but from the third to the fourth year, the frequency of their arguments increased, eventually reaching the point where they would argue over anything. But..."

Zhang Wei started to review, murmuring to himself, "But, Aunt Xu never said that Ren Xinwei ever hit Zhu Tianying. There was yelling, but Ren Xinwei never laid hands on her, right?"

"Hu Yaode asked Su Canguang in court, and Su Canguang said those injuries were from being beaten. When was the first time Zhu Tianying went to Yangxin Hall?"

"Ren Xinwei was already in his sixties, as the boss of Ren’s Film Industry, he surely had a lot of social obligations. Even if a rich man could spend money to maintain his health, how strong could his body be?"

Zhang Wei grasped a key point, got up from the bed, walked over to his desk to pick up some documents, then lay back down on the bed.

After spreading the documents out at the edge of the bed, Zhang Wei knew it would be another sleepless night.

He started reviewing all the public evidence, the investigative reports, photos of the murder scene.

The process of the incident, all the activity tracks of Zhu Tianying and Ren Xinwei before the case, were all intertwined in his mind.

Time also swiftly passed by.

The sky darkened, then it was almost dawn again...

...

Wednesday, a workday.

Jincheng Law Firm, the criminal division office.

When Zhang Wei barely made it to the office on time, the three colleagues inside were all stunned.

Because Zhang Wei was always early, why was he so late today?

"Damn!"

"Zhang Wei, you!"

"Master, how did you turn into a panda?"

With three exclamations, Old Tie and the two young apprentices all stared wide-eyed at Zhang Wei.

"I couldn’t help it, I stayed up all night yesterday, didn’t close my eyes for a second..."

Zhang Wei, with dark circles under his eyes, said weakly.

"Zhang Wei, you should rest a bit. Otherwise, you won’t be able to hold up!"

"Yes, master, I’ll lend you my nap bed and blanket. Be careful, or you’ll really drop dead~"

Facing the concern of Old Tie and the apprentices, Zhang Wei waved his hand and looked at Li Yueqin.

"Xiao Li, send a message to Xiao Tan and the others later, arrange a time with them, we need to visit the crime scene again. After we get there... ah~"

Zhang Wei couldn’t help but yawn due to sleepiness.

"Well, let’s schedule it for the afternoon. I’ll catch up on some sleep in the morning; otherwise, I really won’t be able to cope."

Although his mind was not tired, his body truly couldn’t take it anymore, and he didn’t insist any further.

"Xiao Meng, give me your blanket; I need to sleep..."

"Ah, you really want it? I was just saying that... "

Seeing that Zhang Wei was serious, Lin Yumeng gripped her pink little blanket even tighter in her hands.

It was her favorite pink fleece blanket; she always used it for her naps and had never lent it to anyone else before.

But when she thought that Zhang Wei was her master and that he looked as if he was on the verge of death.

Finally, Lin Yumeng couldn’t bear it and reluctantly lent out her foldable nap bed and blanket.

Zhang Wei didn’t stand on ceremony, lay down straight away, didn’t care whether it was work hours or not—after all, slacking off at work wasn’t a first for him.

p.m.

After nearly three hours of sleep, Zhang Wei finally regained some energy.

He subconsciously wiped the corner of his mouth with the blanket in his hand, but when he opened his eyes, he saw his young apprentice staring at him with a look of grievance.

"Master, that’s my blanket..."

The apprentice pouted, looking unhappy, her eyes fixed on her small woolen blanket, especially the part Zhang Wei had used to wipe his mouth.

"I’ll wash it for you later. I remember there’s a washing machine downstairs in the Jincheng Building, and it’s coin-operated too. I’ll give you money..."

After apologizing to his apprentice, Zhang Wei then turned his attention to the matter at hand.

"Xiao Li, have you notified them?"

"Yes, all notified!"

"Then let’s go!"

Seeing that Tan Yingying’s party had been informed, Zhang Wei, along with Li Yueqin, prepared to leave.

But just as he was about to go, Lin Yumeng suddenly blocked his path.

"Master, my blanket~"

Zhang Wei couldn’t bear his apprentice’s woeful gaze and, with a heavy heart, reluctantly pulled out two coins from his pocket.

...

That afternoon, at Ren Xinwei’s villa.

With the prosecutor identities of Tan Yingying and Xiao Baihe, they again arrived at the murder scene.

Xia Qianyue and Zhang Wei were on their way together, followed by Li Yueqin, while Xiao Baihe walked alongside Tan Yingying.

The group of five marched boldly into the villa.

"Let’s go, straight to the office!"

This time, Zhang Wei’s goal was clear: he headed straight for the murder scene.

Once again in the office with the true fire fireplace, Zhang Wei did not hesitate and went straight to the fireplace on the wall.

He dived into it, searching through the charcoal and ash.

"Zhang Wei, what are you looking for there? How could there possibly be anything..."

"No, there are clues here!"

Xiao Baihe couldn’t help but make a teasing comment, but Zhang Wei shook his head in disagreement.

As he rummaged through, he said, "Don’t you find this case strange?"

"Strange in what way?" Xia Qianyue blinked her lively eyes, somewhat curious.

"Why would Ren Xinwei suddenly decide to kill Zhu Tianying in his own office?"

"What’s so strange about that? Zhu Tianying cheated, Ren Xinwei confronted her—what man can stand such a thing? It’s perfectly normal for him to get murderous, isn’t it?"

Xiao Baihe found this baffling. They all deal with criminal cases on a daily basis and are industry insiders; how could they not understand this basic concept?

Between spouses, if one party is unfaithful, there is a high likelihood of a criminal case occurring.

As a criminal defense lawyer, don’t you understand such a simple concept?

"Ren Xinwei has money, power, and people. If he wanted to off Zhu Tianying, he had a hundred ways to do it. Yet he chose the most foolish, riskiest method!"

"You’ve already said this, but when people are angry, reason can be temporarily suppressed, and it’s not strange to do something impulsive!"

"Even so, if I were Ren Xinwei, I could simply outsource getting rid of my wife. Even if I didn’t outsource it, Zhu Tianying liked acting, right? I could’ve easily made something look like an accident on a film set. Wouldn’t these methods be much safer than killing someone at home?"

As she listened, Xiao Baihe felt that the conversation was going off-topic.

"Hey, hey, hey, Zhang Wei, what are you trying to say?"

"Have you ever considered that Ren Xinwei might not have known about his wife’s affair at all?"

"Ah, if Aunt Xu guessed it, how could Ren Xinwei not know?"

"You’re wrong, Aunt Xu was also speculating. Didn’t you see her performance in court? She had to check Zhu Tianying’s reaction every time she spoke. Obviously, she is cautious and doesn’t dare offend her boss, so she definitely wouldn’t dare to tell Ren Xinwei her suspicions directly!"

"Then why would she dare to speak up in court?"

"Because Ren Xinwei is already dead. Whether she speaks out or not, is Ren Xinwei going to crawl out from the underworld to question her about why she didn’t tell him earlier?"

"This..."

Xiao Baihe was momentarily at a loss for words; she couldn’t respond to that.

Meanwhile, Xia Qianyue had already approached the fireplace.

"Zhang Wei, what are you looking for?"

"I’m looking for decisive evidence!"

"Such as?"

"Such as..."

Zhang Wei looked back at Xia Qianyue, "Silly, how is your nose?"

"It’s fine?"

"Then sniff around for me, do you smell any strange odors here?"

Zhang Wei spoke as he pointed to the blackened burned materials beneath him.

Having stayed up late the previous day, even though he had rested, his condition was not good, and he felt his nose was stuffed.

Xia Qianyue sniffed lightly with her dainty nose, then her delicate brows lifted as if she had discovered something.

"It smells nice, but there’s a slight hint of burnt plastic, and it’s a strange scent..."

"You can really smell it?"

This time, it was Zhang Wei’s turn to be surprised.

Could this simple-minded person really have the nose of a hunting dog? It had been so many days since the crime, yet she could still find clues in a pile of charred remains.

Xia Hanhan followed the visual clues, stepped into the fireplace, and then pointed towards Zhang Wei’s feet, "It’s right here!"

Zhang Wei got the message, took out latex gloves from his pocket, put them on, and started searching.

Soon, he found the source of the odd smell amid the piles of charcoal — a clump of melted latex.

The chunk of latex was only the size of a thumb, and most of it was charred and melted into a lump. However, because it had melted around the edges, something inside had been partially preserved.

Zhang Wei brought the object in his hand closer for a careful examination.

He discovered that inside the charred lump, there seemed to be some liquid, and on the surface of the latex, there was also a trace of scorched blood.

"Good lord, this is exactly the key evidence I was looking for!"

Seeing this, Zhang Wei realized his guess had been correct.

This was the key evidence of Zhu Tianying’s murder of Ren Xinwei that could only be found in this fireplace.

Zhu Tianying had made a mistake!

A fatal error!

Her cleanup job was not thorough!

"Quick, notify the forensics department, no, contact Mo Yuzhu directly, have her prepare the lab, and we’ll start testing as soon as we get this there!"

"The trial starts tomorrow, and we must get this test report done by tomorrow!"

Zhang Wei began to arrange the work, and they would be busy for the whole next day.

Meanwhile.

Inside Zhu Tianying’s hospital room at the VIP Recovery Center.

Today, Hu Yaode and Jiang Fengzhen had also come to visit Zhu Tianying.

Actually, Zhu Tianying’s condition had basically recovered with the help of the oxygen cabin and the doctors.

Although she had been stabbed several times, none of the wounds were fatal, so it was just some bleeding at that time and no lasting effects.

Plus, with the money in place, recovery naturally sped up.

However, Zhu Tianying had no plans to be discharged.

The recovery center was very quiet, but once discharged, she would have to face countless paparazzi and reporters, not to mention the board members of Ren’s Film Industry.

She apparently wouldn’t leave until she gained control of the entire Ren’s Film Industry.

"Miss Zhu, the current situation is actually very favorable for you. The prosecution has not presented any substantive evidence against you, and your actions are undeniably in self-defense!"

Even though Hu Yaode said this, Zhu Tianying’s expression did not look very good.

"But my affair has been exposed, how do you explain that?"

The murder of Ren Xinwei was something she actually didn’t care much about, as she believed she had covered her tracks well.

Her primary concern was whether she could gain the 60 billion assets of Ren’s Film Industry, as well as the control Ren Xinwei had before his death.

Zhu Tianying longed to reach the pinnacle of Ren’s Film Industry, to give commands, to crave the power to control everything.

And now, all that might slip away from her.

Because of her extramarital affair, the board of Ren’s Film Industry would certainly use this matter to criticize her rights of inheritance.

"Miss Zhu, this issue can actually be resolved quite easily, just like I stated in court. You engaged in a relationship with Su Canguang because you lacked a sense of security. Regarding the affair, you are also a victim. As long as we focus on this point, it will suffice. After all, compared to you, the public has an even worse impression of a ZB family like Ren Xinwei!"

"We just need to casually dig up some negative reports about Ren Xinwei from the past, even if it’s just a swear word he uttered, or some slightly excessive actions he took, we can exaggerate and portray him as a brutal and vicious man."

"Once Ren Xinwei’s reputation plummets and his public image deteriorates severely, public opinion will then shift in your favor!"

After Hu Yaode finished speaking, he instructed Jiang Fengzhen, "Contact Cheng Lisha one more time, have her mobilize all the media to dig up all the dirt on Ren Xinwei. Then within today and tomorrow, run the stories in a rolling broadcast. I want everyone in Dongfang Capital to know one thing — Ren Xinwei was a villain deserving of his fate!"

"Lawyer Hu, I can reach out to Cheng Lisha, but to get her to work, it takes that..."

Jiang Fengzhen spoke while making a gesture of rubbing the thumb against the forefinger and middle finger,

The meaning was quite clear; her help could be enlisted, but it would require extra payment.

Cheng Lisha was well-known, and she liked to talk about her so-called "professional ethics," implying that adequate compensation was necessary for her to take action.

"After all, if you want me to break professional ethics, you’ll have to pay up,"

This cost won’t be low, and there’s no way Blackfoot Law Firm would reimburse this money.

And the person footing the bill must be...

Jiang Fengzhen and Hu Yaode both turned their gazes toward Zhu Tianying.

"You’re the defendant in this case; you’re the one who has to pay."

Zhu Tianying’s face turned green. The 60 billion from Ren’s Film Industry was still up in the air, and now just the legal costs and "public relations fees" for the lawsuit were a hefty sum draining her funds.

She originally had 40 million, and now almost half of it was gone.

"As long as I can get Ren’s Film Industry, no matter the cost, I can afford it. I’ll pay this money!"

...

Wednesday evening.

Inside the Lin Mansion.

Zhang Wei was preparing for tomorrow’s court session.

But the messages in the WeChat chat group on his phone just wouldn’t stop flooding in.

He couldn’t resist and took a look.

999+ messages.

Geez, when women start chatting, it really is terrifying.

[Xiao Baihe: @everyone, turn on the TV, watch that channel from the day before yesterday!]

[Xia Qianyue: Is it Lisa’s Talk again?]

[Xiao Baihe: Yes, and this time, it seems like they’re going to attack the deceased. There’s a lot of Ren Xinwei’s dark past being exposed online, and someone’s posing as his ex-wife, writing an essay of accusations against him!]

Seeing this message, Zhang Wei immediately opened the web browser and started searching on Weibo.

As expected, searches for Ren Xinwei had shot straight to the top of the trending list.

And second on the trending list was Ren Xinwei’s domestic violence.

The third was Ren Xinwei assaulting and verbally abusing employees.

Eighth on the list was an early tearful accusation against Ren Xinwei.

Tenth was revelations of workplace sexual harassment by Ren Xinwei’s female secretary.

Zhang Wei searched for Ren Xinwei’s ex-wife and hundreds of recommended accounts popped up, each one listing themselves as the ex-wife of Ren Xinwei, chairman of Ren’s Film Industry.

In the comments section of these accounts’ posts, there were all kinds of vile remarks from internet trolls slandering Ren Xinwei, like ’loves them and leaves them’ and ’worse than a beast’—you name it, all sorts of unbearable comments.

The internet, although not a lawless land, does amplify the worst human behaviors due to anonymity. Everything you see online is forever resetting your moral compass to new lows.

"Wow, these media people really have no limits. Where did Ren Xinwei get hundreds of ex-wives?"

Zhang Wei closed the webpage; he couldn’t be bothered to look further, as he could tell at a glance that this was one of Blackfoot’s tactics.

They were engaging in another public opinion warfare.

Ding ding!

Another message arrived in the WeChat discussion group.

[System Notification: Xiao Baihe has invited Mo Yuzhu to join the group chat]

"Mo Yuzhu is here; could it be?"

[Mo Yuzhu: The test reports for the water stains and blood have come back. It’s Ren Xinwei’s blood, and DNA was found in the water stains. I’ve compared it with the scene, and it’s Zhu Tianying’s!]

[Zhang Wei: Gee, it really is a gee whiz, a woman’s heart sure is poisonous!]

[Xiao Baihe: ???]

[Li Yueqin: ???]

[Mo Yuzhu: ???]

[Xia Qianyue: ???]

[Zhang Wei: What’s the fuss, are you all so excited you want to be women now?]

[Xiao Baihe: Drop dead!]

[Mo Yuzhu: Remember to prepare a little umbrella, or it’s easy to be targeted...]

[Xia Qianyue: ???]

[Li Yueqin: ???]

[Zhang Wei: Wow, you’re really the old hand here! @Mo Yuzhu]

[Mo Yuzhu: No, not really, I just understand a tiny bit (shy.jpg)]

Zhang Wei shook his head and put down his phone.

Since Mo Yuzhu had worked overtime to produce the test reports, it was time to wrap up the case!