Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 212 - 211: Decisive Evidence, The Reason for Murder!

Chapter 212: Chapter 211: Decisive Evidence, The Reason for Murder!

Who is Zhang San?

I believe everyone involved in this courtroom has an answer in their hearts.

Because they all could tell what the story told by the prosecution represents.

Who is Zhang San?

Naturally, it’s Zhu Tianying!

Then who is the Li Si she murdered? It’s none other than Ren Xinwei.

"Objection!"

From the defense bench, Jiang Fengzhen stood up at the eye signal from Hu Yaode, "Objection, speculation of evidence!"

"Your Honor, I admit the prosecutor’s story is compelling, but after all, it’s just a story, which has no relevance to this trial!"

"Indeed, Prosecutor, your story is quite intriguing, but unfortunately..."

"Your Honor, the prosecution has evidence to prove all this!"

Just as Ni Qiuping was getting ready to strike the gavel to announce that the story couldn’t be accepted as truth, the usually timid Tan Yingying suddenly interrupted her.

If it were an ordinary day in court, Tan Yingying would never dare to interrupt the judge, but this time she felt confident.

As long as one has confidence, even the most timid person can have the courage and strength to face all difficulties.

Of course, this includes facing the judge in court, and the sharp gazes of over a hundred onlookers in the courtroom!

"What did you say, you have evidence?"

"Yes, Your Honor, I have evidence!"

Seeing Tan Yingying’s categorical statement, Ni Qiuping was taken aback.

Could it be, could it be, you actually have evidence that even the investigative department couldn’t find?

"What evidence?"

"It’s a recording!"

Tan Yingying spoke and gave Zhang Wei at the prosecutor’s bench a signal.

The latter promptly opened his laptop, turned the volume up to the maximum, and began playing the recording.

"Hello?"

"Dongjiang Star Hotel?"

"Yes, may I ask who is calling?"

"I am Ren Xinwei!"

"Oh, Mr. Ren, what can I do for you?"

"I want to book the place at the end of the month to host a birthday party!"

"Is it for your wife?"

"Yes, I didn’t throw her a party last year; this year, I want to do something big for her. The scale of the birthday party must not be small. I will invite all my friends to come over, which is why I specifically chose your Dongjiang Star for the event!"

"Mr. Ren, then I’ll arrange it right away for you. I must say, you really love your wife!"

"Haha, it’s not about loving or not loving. It’s just that this woman has been throwing tantrums recently; I need to coax her. Besides, hosting a party is also my way of networking. Many of my business deals are concluded over such gatherings."

"You’re right, Mr. Ren. Even the greatest of men can’t read one book, and that’s ’Woman’!"

"You’re correct, I can’t figure out why she’s angry either. In the first couple of years, she loved the things I gave her so much; I wonder why she has changed lately... Anyway, there’s no point in fussing over this. Remember to prepare the venue well for me. I will have my secretary sort the guest list and send it to you, and as for the deposit, just report it to my secretary; she will handle it with finance!"

"Certainly, Mr. Ren! Rest assured, we will take good care of it for you!"

The recording ended there; it was a phone call recording.

"What is this recording?"

Ni Qiuping paused for a moment, apparently Ren Xinwei was planning a banquet.

"Your Honor, and everyone else, I can tell you that this is the deceased Ren Xinwei making a phone call to the lobby of the Dongjiang Star Hotel, and he personally made the call. Because the Dongjiang Star is not a low-grade establishment, ordinary people might not even secure a reservation, let alone book the entire venue for a day. Therefore, only people with status could book such an event, which is why Ren Xinwei made the call."

"I can also tell everyone that this call was made by the deceased Ren Xinwei two days before the incident. There is a specific time for this call on the incoming call records of the Dongjiang Star Hotel’s lobby. During the call, Ren Xinwei talked about the purpose of holding the banquet, which was to throw a birthday party for the defendant, Miss Zhu Tianying!"

Tan Yingying said this and looked towards the witness stand, "I’d like to ask, if a man knows a woman is cheating, would he still throw a birthday banquet for that woman, and go all out to invite hundreds of guests to attend?"

"If the deceased Ren Xinwei knew about Miss Zhu Tianying’s infidelity, would he still invite all his friends to celebrate Miss Zhu’s birthday?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire courtroom understood.

Indeed!

Ren Xinwei had specifically called the Dongjiang Star Hotel’s lobby two days before he died to reserve a venue for a birthday banquet at the end of the month.

If he knew about Zhu Tianying’s infidelity, let alone throwing a birthday party, he might have divorced her on the spot, right?

After all, no man could endure his woman cheating on him, especially someone as wealthy and influential as Ren Xinwei.

"Objection!"

Seeing that the jury seemed to be affected, Jiang Fengzhen immediately stood up, "The lawyer is testifying!"

"Your Honor, this call recording can prove that the deceased Ren Xinwei was unaware of the defendant Zhu Tianying’s affair, therefore the prosecution asserts that the defendant’s testimony is not credible!"

"Objection, that is slander!"

Jiang Fengzhen stood up again, "Does the prosecution believe a mere recording can question the trustworthiness of my client?"

"What does this recording prove? Could it be that Ren Xinwei made it intentionally?"

"Oh, you’re saying it was intentional now?"

Since Jiang Fengzhen had stood up, Zhang Wei was not about to be left out and immediately retorted with a sneer, "How magnanimous must a man’s heart be to still invite all his friends in the circle to hold a birthday party for his wife who is cheating on him?"

"I asked the manager of the Dongjiang Star’s lobby and after the call that day, Mr. Ren’s secretary personally delivered the guest list. He invited nearly a hundred guests just from the artists under Ren’s Film Industry and cooperating celebrities. Together with the company’s middle and senior managers, the guest list was four full pages of A4 paper, over 400 people. Do you think he would arrange such a grand event for a woman who cheated on him?"

Zhang Wei’s words had many in the jury and the audience unconsciously nodding their heads.

If Ren Xinwei knew his wife was having an affair, how could he possibly hold such a large-scale birthday banquet?

This really does make sense!

"Your Honor, what standing does Lawyer Zhang have here, and is he qualified to speak in court?"

Hu Yaode could no longer sit still, seeing Zhang Wei guide the direction of the courtroom, and quickly stood up to intervene.

"Lawyer Zhang, although what you said makes sense, the court still needs you to sit down!"

Ni Qiuping immediately took a stance, but her first sentence was a direct stab at the defense.

"Sorry, Your Honor, my mistake, I just got too excited and couldn’t hold back!"

Zhang Wei immediately admitted his fault, but the corner of his mouth revealed a cold smile, for his goal had been achieved.

Seeing Zhang Wei’s expression, Hu Yaode’s face turned extremely ugly.

"Your Honor, please stand up for my client..."

"Calm down, the court knows what to do!"

Ni Qiuping gave Hu Yaode a reassuring glance, then looked towards Tan Yingying.

"Prosecutor, although you make sense, just a recording and some speculation alone cannot prove the story you just told!"

Indeed, that was the case. The act of booking the hotel could at most prove that Ren Xinwei might not have known about Zhu Tianying’s infidelity before the incident, but who could say that he did not suddenly receive the news on the day of the incident itself.

"Your Honor, the prosecution is only trying to prove that the deceased Ren Xinwei was completely unaware of the defendant’s affair, not only before the incident but even on the day of the incident, and one might say he was in the dark about it until his death!"

Tan Yingying quickly added, "Because for the two days following the hotel reservation, all the calls he received and people he met were for business, and no one could have informed him about his wife’s affair!"

"The prosecution states this point only to tell everyone that Ren Xinwei had no motive whatsoever to kill the defendant, as the idea of him insulting, beating, or even murdering the defendant over an affair is completely unfounded!"

This statement was a direct slap in the face to Zhu Tianying.

The latter sat in the witness stand, her complexion changing dramatically.

Zhu Tianying quickly looked toward the defense bench.

"Objection, these are all baseless conjectures by the prosecution, without any evidence!"

"The defense is right, we don’t have evidence to prove what Ren Xinwei said at the time of the incident, but we do have evidence that proves Ren Xinwei’s death was not an accident!"

Upon hearing this, the courtroom erupted into noise.

My goodness!

Unable to prove what Ren Xinwei had said, but able to prove how Ren Xinwei died was simply... a reverse checkmate!

Upon hearing what Tan Yingying had said, whether it was Jiang Fengzhen and Hu Yaode on the defense bench, Cheng Lisha in the hearing bench, or Zhu Tianying in the witness stand, all of their faces changed dramatically.

How is that possible, how can you prove it?

But Tan Yingying didn’t care what they thought and immediately asked, "Miss Zhu Tianying, do you remember when the prosecution stated earlier, they summoned your lover Liang Canguang, who you had an affair with?"

Zhu Tianying didn’t speak but just coldly looked at Tan Yingying.

"He told us that during his time at Yangxin Hall, he not only had an affair with you but also taught you basic martial arts, as well as traditional Chinese medicine and some medical techniques. Is this correct?"

"So what if it is?"

"We saw a lot of traditional Chinese medicine books and human meridian charts on the second floor of the villa; those are yours, aren’t they?"

"Yes."

"Then for you, stabbing through the skin with a knife while avoiding vital points to fake an almost fatal wound shouldn’t be too difficult, right?"

Zhu Tianying didn’t dare to answer this question.

"Objection, counsel is leading the witness to incriminate oneself!"

"Your Honor, our side is only making a reasonable inference based on the testimony of witness Liang Canguang and considering Miss Zhu’s medical and martial arts skills, which are also vitally important to this case!"

After Jiang Fengzhen raised her objection, Tan Yingying immediately defended herself.

Judge Ni Qiuping looked at the two, and finally declared, "Objection overruled, the witness needs to answer the prosecution’s question."

Immediately, the pressure was on Zhu Tianying.

"I did learn some medical techniques for a few days, but so what?"

"You didn’t just learn medical techniques; you also learned martial arts!"

Tan Yingying approached the witness stand, exuding complete calmness, "Then I would like to ask, Ren Xinwei was over 60 years old, and given that he was immersed in drinking and pleasuring himself for years, he had already hollowed out his body and was feeble with age."

"How could such a person subdue you, someone who systematically learned martial arts and self-defense? Don’t try to deny it; we have already asked Liang Canguang. He told us you mastered self-defense very well and could handle any average strong man, let alone Ren Xinwei."

Under Tan Yingying’s pressing questions, Zhu Tianying immediately responded, "I was very scared because he pulled out a knife, and it happened all of a sudden. My mind went blank!"

This response did not surprise Zhang Wei and Tan Yingying.

"Miss Zhu, do you still want to deny it now?"

"Deny what? I haven’t denied anything!"

Zhu Tianying immediately defended herself, "It was Ren Xinwei who wanted to kill me; he was the one who moved first. I was just trying to protect myself."

"You were able to kill the attacker even after being stabbed four times and bleeding profusely. You are indeed very impressive~"

Though it sounded like praise, the sarcasm in the tone was evident to anyone listening.

"Defendant, are you still denying it because you are certain we cannot find new evidence and also aware that the knife only has Ren Xinwei’s fingerprints, not yours?"

"What do you mean?"

"It’s simple, both the investigative department and our prosecution have been pondering why there isn’t even a trace of your fingerprints on the weapon. Logically, after struggling with Ren Xinwei for a long time and finally killing him, there should have been some traces left on the weapon."

As Tan Yingying spoke, she looked towards Zhang Wei, "Later, it was Zhang Wei who reminded us, what if there was never a struggle to begin with? What if you killed Ren Xinwei right from the start, then stabbed yourself four times, using your familiarity with the human meridians to perfectly avoid vital points, and then placed the knife in Ren Xinwei’s hand to forge the illusion of self-defense and destroy the evidence. That would explain everything."

"All you have is unilateral speculation, without any evidence!"

"No, we have evidence!"

As Tan Yingying’s voice had not yet died away, Zhang Wei stood up and submitted a plastic bag.

"Your Honor, the prosecution requests to submit the new evidence collected yesterday, along with the DNA test report gathered overnight from the evidence by the forensics office!"

"Objection!"

"Objection!"

Seeing Tan Yingying submit new evidence, Jiang Fengzhen and Hu Yaode both panicked, and both stood up to express their objections.

"Objection overruled, this court accepts the new evidence!"

Unfortunately for them, Ni Qiuping knew the moment she saw the new evidence that the trial could finally be concluded. There was no reason to object.

"Thank you, Your Honor!"

Tan Yingying immediately expressed her thanks and picked up the plastic bag. "This is new evidence found at the crime scene: a piece of burnt residue from a latex glove, collected from the real fire fireplace in Ren Xinwei’s office."

"Within this piece of evidence, we found blood residues and liquid residues locked inside the fingertips. After testing conducted by the forensics office, we discovered that the blood traces came from Ren Xinwei and the defendant Zhu Tianying, carrying both their blood residues, while the DNA from the liquid residue belongs solely to the defendant Zhu Tianying!"

"Therefore, we have concluded that the defendant Zhu Tianying wore gloves while committing the murder, which is why no fingerprints were found on the murder weapon. She took Ren Xinwei by surprise, stabbed him to death, then staged the crime scene, stabbing herself four times. The gloves would have traces of both their blood. She then placed the murder weapon in Ren Xinwei’s hands and finally removed the gloves to burn the evidence in the real fire fireplace. This is also why there was a scattering of blood near the fireplace at the scene."

"If it really happened as Zhu Tianying says, and she was the victim, then her first instinct after breaking free from Ren Xinwei’s hold would be to frantically escape towards the office’s only exit, not towards the fireplace on the inside of the office!"

Tan Yingying looked at Zhu Tianying. "At that moment, after being stabbed four times and taking off your gloves, you were too weak to control the strength in your hands, and after throwing the gloves into the fireplace, you immediately called the police. You only saw the gloves being consumed by the flames, thinking you were safe, not realizing that one glove had fallen to the side of the fireplace, with one of the fingertips not completely burned, right?"

"Zhu Tianying, this is the decisive piece of evidence in this case. You were wearing the gloves at the time of the crime for what reason? Don’t tell me you wanted to do housework, we’ve already asked Aunt Xu, and as long as she has been a maid, she’s never seen you do housework even once - you have her cut even your fruit."

"I..."

"If you say it was a whim that day, how do you explain Ren Xinwei’s bloodstains? You might hurt yourself doing housework, but you couldn’t have possibly injured Ren Xinwei. Aunt Xu also said, Mr. Ren similarly doesn’t do housework; he doesn’t even set foot in the kitchen!"

"This..."

"Moreover, Aunt Xu said that Mr. Ren was very fond of the real fire fireplace in his office. He exclusively bought charcoal made from fruitwood and only allowed burning this type of charcoal in the fireplace, never allowing household trash to be burned there, let alone latex products that, once burned, would emit a pungent odor. Thus, the one who threw the gloves in the fire could only be you!"

Tan Yingying approached Zhu Tianying, lifting the burnt evidence in her hand, stepping closer and closer.

"Ren Xinwei naturally wouldn’t let you throw trash into the real fire fireplace because it was his treasured office. So, it could only have been on the day of the murder, after his death, that you could have thrown the latex gloves you wore onto the fire, because you wanted to destroy the evidence, you wanted to fake the crime scene. You had to get rid of those gloves; they were the only evidence that could prove your crime!"

"No, I wore the gloves just because..."

"You admit to wearing gloves?"

In her frantic explanation, Tan Yingying quickly caught the crucial point.

"Ren Xinwei’s villa is very warm, and the office even has a real fire fireplace. I don’t suppose you had any reason to wear a pair of latex gloves indoors, unless you had a specific purpose for wearing them, and that would be to commit murder without leaving fingerprints, Miss Zhu, am I right?"

"No, you’re wrong, I wore gloves just because, just because..."

"Just because what? You can’t explain, can you? Because even you don’t know. Other than murder, why would you wear gloves when you haven’t done any housework these five years, have you?"

"I..."

Indeed, as Tan Yingying suggested, Zhu Tianying found no reason to refute.

"You wore gloves to kill your husband Ren Xinwei, then staged the scene, packaging yourself as a victim in an attempt to escape legal punishment. You truly are callous!"

"No, you’re wrong, I didn’t kill him!"

"Miss Zhu, stop denying it. Is it so hard to find a reason you would want to kill someone?"

Seeing Zhu Tianying still struggling, this time it was Lawyer Zhang who stood up from the prosecution’s side.

He let out a cold laugh and declared loudly, "I can think of many reasons, but the most obvious one is a number..."

What number?

Naturally, it was 60 billion!

For so much money, who wouldn’t lose their senses?