Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 265 - 263 Pretrial Over, Witness Cheng Lisha? (Third Update)

Chapter 265: Chapter 263 Pretrial Over, Witness Cheng Lisha? (Third Update)

"Do you all have families, and is there someone in your heart that you need to care for or protect?"

This was Xiao Baihe’s question.

The question, in fact, wasn’t difficult to answer.

Because in everyone’s heart, there’s someone they want to protect.

It could be your child, your lover, or even your parents.

Unless you have an antisocial personality, you would certainly have someone in mind.

So after the question was asked, many jurors nodded in agreement.

Xiao Baihe was very pleased with the effect and struck while the iron was hot, immediately posing the second question.

"What if, this family member disappeared, what would you feel?"

No sooner had she spoken than many on the jury bench showed stunned faces, which then turned to worry and anger, with varied expressions.

"Your Honor, the prosecution accepts jurors number 4, 5, 15, 22, and 24!"

Just one question, and Xiao Baihe seemed to have found the jurors she was hoping for, quickly selecting five.

"Well, then..." Judge Wang nodded and was about to make a note.

"Judge Wang, please wait!"

But just at that moment, there came a discordant voice from the prosecution’s side.

Zhang Wei stood up and also looked towards the jury, "Your Honor, the defense requests the disqualification of jurors number 5 and 15."

These two jurors, after Xiao Baihe’s question, not only had expressions of anger in their eyes, but they also directly glanced at the defense’s Yang Chuanfang.

It was clear; they directly attributed the death of Wen Xiaoyun, or their own family member, to the defendant.

For Yang Chuanfang, they were two jurors filled with hostility.

How could Zhang Wei possibly allow them to remain on the jury?

"That’s fine then, please, the two prospective jurors are excused from their seats."

Judge Wang had no choice but to wave the two away.

As they left their seats, Zhang Wei also took the opportunity to sit down.

"Lawyer Zhang, the prosecution has chosen five people. Why have you only rejected two?"

Yang Chuanfang immediately leaned in and asked a question.

"Young Master Yang, it’s not that I don’t want to disqualify more people, but the defense only has six opportunities. If we use five chances now, we’ll be too passive later."

"And besides, I’m not quite certain whether Xiao Baihe’s first question was a test for me, trying to trick me into using up my selection chances."

"So, I could only disqualify the two who were obviously against you. As for the rest, we can only leave it up to fate."

Hearing Lawyer Zhang’s explanation, Yang Chuanfang could only nod while secretly thinking.

This one trivial question, it turned out, contained so much strategizing and mind games—it truly... refreshed his understanding.

In the courtroom, Xiao Baihe continued with her questioning.

Two questions one after another, each time bringing in keywords like family members.

Then she screened out a few more prospective jurors, but unfortunately, after each question, she looked towards the defense bench, yet Lawyer Zhang did not speak.

"Fine, none of the jurors this time have shown too much hostility. Although they are Xiao Baihe’s preferred choices, our side can accept them!"

Lawyer Zhang, with furrowed brows, analyzed each selected juror in turn, but did not waste any opportunity to dismiss them.

"He’s pretty calm!"

Xiao Baihe noticed that Lawyer Zhang had not stood up again and secretly noted this to herself.

"It’s your turn now, Lawyer Zhang!"

Eventually, she finished her questioning and yielded the opportunity to him.

Lawyer Zhang stood up and approached the jury.

"Ahem, first off, I have to ask, among you, who has seen the drama ’Hotel by the Seaside’ produced by Cheng Lisha?"

This question didn’t catch the others by surprise, as most of the people present knew about the drama and its story.

More than 70% of the jury raised their hands—they had all seen it.

Seeing this figure, Lawyer Zhang felt uneasy but was without a solution.

After all, this drama was so popular, with corresponding books, broadcasts, and even derivative products all the rage.

It was just too difficult to find a few people in Dongfang Capital who hadn’t seen or even heard of this drama.

"Well then, my second question. I urge each juror to ask themselves honestly..."

Lawyer Zhang touched his chest earnestly and said, "Even if you’ve seen this drama, can you assure yourselves that you can be fair and just to my client, unaffected by anything else?"

The jurors looked at each other, some even closing their eyes, as if they were truly questioning themselves.

"It seems, I cannot..."

"I can’t do it either..."

Among them, two or three women slowly stood up and left the jury bench directly.

"Your Honor, these three left their seats on their own accord, it wasn’t me who dismissed them!"

Zhang Wei hastily explained to the bench, "They all admitted they were not up to serving as jurors and could not maintain a fair and impartial attitude towards my client, which I believe everyone here can see, right?"

"Hmm, I can certainly see that!"

Judge Wang could only nod in agreement—what else could he do after such a statement?

"By the way, I would like to request the dismissal of jurors number 1, 3, and 9, and thank them for their participation!"

As Zhang Wei spoke, the expressions of these three jurors showed some reluctance, but they had no choice but to leave their seats.

"Hmph, pretending too hard. It’s obvious they can’t be impartial, yet they still wanted to stay in the jury box!"

Zhang Wei watched the three leave, a trace of resignation flashing in his eyes.

If these three stayed, it would be extremely dangerous for Yang Chuan’s side.

"Do you have any more questions?"

Judge Wang, seeing the awkward silence, turned his gaze towards Xiao Baihe who was sitting down, and then to Zhang Wei in the courtroom.

Xiao Baihe shook her head; clearly, the prosecution did not intend to continue questioning.

"Your Honor, I have one more question!"

"Oh, make it quick!"

Urged by Old Wang, Zhang Wei immediately approached the jury box.

"I would like to ask the jurors, do you agree with the concept that ’when a man gets rich, he turns bad’?"

"This..."

The jurors looked at each other again, many dumbfounded.

That was a difficult question to answer.

Because they were not wealthy!

"What do you think about this saying, sir?"

Zhang Wei then singled out an elderly man and asked for his opinion.

"I don’t know, I’ve been a worker all my life and haven’t made much money, but I think rich people lack common sense!"

The old man’s straightforward answer made Zhang Wei dismiss him with a heavy heart.

"Lawyer Zhang, have you finished asking your questions?"

"Judge Wang, may I trouble you with one more question, please? I would like to ask another one!"

"You... well, fine, I’ll give you one last chance!"

Zhang Wei still had the opportunity to dismiss jurors and he wasn’t about to waste it.

The previous question had only led to the dismissal of one hostile juror, which wasn’t the outcome he wanted.

"Ahem, jurors, you all must have heard the stories of Sun Wukong when you were little, right?"

Once again, the jurors exchanged bewildered looks—what kind of question was this?

Stories of the Monkey King are well-known in every household in Dragon Country; almost everyone has heard or seen related movies or TV shows. The Monkey King is a national-level character here.

"So as children, you must have believed Sun Wukong really existed, didn’t you?"

Hearing this, many jurors couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

Indeed, when they were young, they had imagined that the Monkey King was a real immortal, truly existing.

"Now, as you’ve grown up and your parents and elders have told you that Sun Wukong is actually a fictional character, what do you think?"

"This..."

Stumped by Zhang Wei’s question, the jurors were perplexed again.

How on earth were they supposed to respond to that?

When they first found out the Monkey King was fictional, they couldn’t even clearly remember what they thought at the time.

"Madam, what did you think the first time you found out Sun Wukong was a made-up character?"

The woman rolled her eyes and said irritably, "I felt like a fool!"

"And you, sir?"

"I felt like an idiot!"

"What about you?"

"I thought I was an idiot!"

"And you, sir?"

"I thought, well, it’s not so bad..."

"Oh, not so bad, huh?"

Zhang Wei then called several other jurors by name and finally found one who had a different opinion from the others.

"Judge Wang, our side accepts jurors number 12, 13, and 21, and requests that juror number 17 leave the bench!"

This final question from Zhang Wei used up his last chance to dismiss a juror.

As for the purpose of this question, Zhang Wei had his own plan in mind.

"Great, now we have a jury!"

Judge Wang finally breathed a sigh of relief; the jury selection process was finally over, and the preliminary hearing was taken care of.

"Ahem, let’s check the time, shall we? The trial will commence this Friday, no objections from either the prosecution or the defense, right?"

Although Judge Wang was the one announcing it, Old Wang felt he should give Zhang Wei and Xiao Baihe some face, so he asked anyway.

Xiao Baihe nodded, and Zhang Wei also flashed Old Wang a smile.

Neither had any objections, which meant they both agreed.

"Alright then, the trial will start Friday morning. I hope no one is late!"

Judge Wang finally let out a sigh of relief and decided to get up quickly.

Everything was done; time to make a quick exit!

Zhang Wei and Xiao Baihe were each preparing their documents.

"Lawyer Zhang, here is the prosecution’s witness list!"

"Prosecutor Xiao, here is our defense witness list!"

Once both were ready, they approached each other and handed over their respective lists.

Zhang Wei took the witness list and quickly scanned it.

"Huh, aren’t several of these people the ones interviewed in "Hotel by the Seaside"?"

"They are all people who stayed at the hotel that year, and some of them were friends of your client, attending that birthday party. It’s only logical to ask them to testify in court," Xiao Baihe explained coldly, her face showing no warmth towards Zhang Wei.

"Speaking of which, why did you add her to your list?"

Xiao Baihe also scanned Zhang Wei’s list and immediately found a name.

Cheng Wumei!

With the hot search scandal dominating, everyone in Dongfang Capital now knows that Cheng Wumei is the media queen, Cheng Lisha.

Cheng Wumei is indeed her real name, so it’s perfectly legitimate for it to be on the subpoena list.

"Lawyer Zhang, I remember she was neither a hotel guest nor a participant in the birthday party back then, and she doesn’t even know the defendant Yang Chuanfang or the missing person Wen Xiaoyun, does she?"

"But in the eyes of everyone in Dongfang Capital, she is indeed the person who understands the incident best. Inviting her to the stand to give a statement shouldn’t be a problem, right?"

Xiao Baihe snickered in her heart and gave Zhang Wei a contemptuous look, "Aren’t you afraid that inviting her up will result in her not cooperating with you?"

"Even better. If that happens, she’ll become a hostile witness, and I can use leading questions on her. Wouldn’t that play into our hands?"

Zhang Wei just smiled slightly, not caring in the slightest.

In fact, if Cheng Lisha turned out to be uncooperative, that would suit his purposes even more.

Once a hostile witness takes the stand, the defense would have free reign!

"Hmph, you better think carefully about whether they’ll cooperate with you or not!"

Xiao Baihe glared at Zhang Wei again and swiftly glanced at the first row of the audience seats before turning and walking away.

In the first row of the audience seats, the Cheng Lisha team also started to get up and leave.

However, just as she and Hu Yaode reached the entrance of the main hall, a court guard blocked their way.

"This is a subpoena, please, Miss Cheng, take it!"

The court guard looked at Cheng Lisha and handed her the document.

"What is this crap?"

Cheng Lisha didn’t receive it but looked to Hu Yaode for explanation.

A court subpoena, why would it be for her?

As though guessing something, Hu Yaode immediately took it from the court guard, opened it, and saw.

"As expected, that kid actually dared to do this..."

Hu Yaode handed the subpoena to Cheng Lisha and whispered something to her.

"What, Zhang Wei wants me as a defense witness!"

She cursed under her breath, her eyes growing dark and stormy.

Cheng Lisha turned back, her gaze falling upon the approaching defense party.

This Zhang Wei, not only did he summon her as a defense witness, but the scandal that topped the news last night until this morning was also clearly his handiwork.

All things combined, the two had become thorough enemies.

"Zhang Wei, are you looking for death?!"

Unable to contain herself any longer, she spat out the venomous words.

"Wow, what’s the matter, Host Cheng? Why the murderous look?"

Zhang Wei was originally accompanying Yang Chuanfang, but upon seeing Cheng Lisha’s outburst, he immediately retorted sarcastically.

At the same time, media reporters who had been ready to leave the audience seats noticed the tension, and all perked up, sensing a story.

We get up early and stay up late, isn’t this what we’ve been waiting for?

Hurry up, start arguing, hurry up and argue.

No, it’d be even better if a fight broke out, that way today’s headlines would be set.

Since the judge has left the bench and the pretrial is over, photography equipment can now be used in the courtroom.

Quite a few people even took out their phones, pulled out their video recording devices, ready to live broadcast on the spot.

"Lawyer Hu, could you please ask your client if she was just now preparing to threaten my personal safety?"

Zhang Wei looked at Hu Yaode with a trace of mockery on his face.

It was you who provoked us first, Cheng Lisha, you better think carefully, this is the courthouse, there are so many media reporters staring at you.

"Miss Cheng, patience is key to a greater plan, even if you can’t bear this kid, you can’t lose it here!"

"But this kid wants to subpoena me as a witness, how can I swallow my anger?"

"Let’s find a solution for the subpoena later, but you must not give people something to talk about here!"

The two of them whispered to each other in front of Zhang Wei.

"Hmph, I’ll let you go just this once today, but I hope you don’t regret it!"

In the end, Cheng Lisha heeded Hu Yaode’s advice, tossed out a harsh sentence and turned away.

"Lawyer Zhang, we at Blackfoot also hope you can perform well, and strive to make a bigger splash in the upcoming trial!"

Hu Yaode also threw a word of "encouragement" to Zhang Wei and then with his subordinates followed Cheng Lisha out.

"Thank you for the encouragement, Lawyer Hu, I will certainly do my best!"

Zhang Wei chuckled coldly, inwardly sighing in disappointment.

Despite the poor character of Cheng Lisha, as a celebrity, she still knew to be mindful of her image and didn’t make a scene on the spot.

Otherwise, it’s possible that today could have gained a lot of interest at Cheng Lisha’s expense.

"Young Master Yang, let’s go as well!"

Zhang Wei quickly left the courtroom with Yang Chuanfang.

The surrounding media reporters, seeing the main characters disperse, were full of disappointment.

Coming to see the pretrial today, only to witness such meager events, how will they report this?

The expected friction didn’t materialize at all.

With disappointment maxed out, the media were quite unhappy.

...

That afternoon.

Zhang Wei was still in his office thinking about strategies, when he received a notice from the court.

"Oh, is there really such a thing?"

He immediately left the law firm and rushed to the city court.

In Old Wang’s office, he naturally met Judge Wang, but Hu Yaode was also present.

Old Wang himself was also having headaches, but seeing Zhang Wei, he still gave the two of them the office space.

"Lawyer Zhang has arrived, then I’ll get right to the point!"

Hu Yaode spoke and pulled out a psychological assessment, tossing it directly to Zhang Wei.

"Lawyer Zhang, and Judge Wang, this is a psychological diagnosis from a psychologist."

"My client, Miss Cheng Lisha, is slightly depressed because of the internet public opinion pressure these past few days, hence the doctor has issued this certification."

"I can tell both of you that my client’s condition is not fit for appearing in court, the primary doctor and several psychologists have co-authored a report to inform the court of this situation."

Upon hearing this notice, Zhang Wei barely smiled.

"That was quick, I just instructed the court to serve the subpoena this morning, and you’ve got your ’authoritative report’ ready by the afternoon, must have cost quite a bit, right?"

"Lawyer Zhang, I don’t understand what you are talking about, I just know that my client, recently, has been under immense psychological stress, her mental state is always on the verge of collapse, even her show’s crew has stopped production recently, so please don’t speculate wildly!"

As Hu Yaode said these words, his tone was full of righteous indignation, as if Cheng Lisha was genuinely suffering from tremendous mental trauma.

But both Judge Wang and Zhang Wei knew this was a maneuver by Cheng Lisha and Hu Yaode.

A diagnostic report from an authoritative medical institution, especially in terms of psychology, actually has the most loopholes.

Because mental conditions can have many outcomes, and it’s really not easy for the average person to judge.

"So, Lawyer Zhang, Judge Wang, I especially notify you that although my client is eager to testify in court and fulfill the duties and obligations of a citizen, her mental health condition does not permit her to do so."

"Therefore, regarding the issue of her being a defense witness, I ask that both of you no longer insist, and I hope the court can understand the mental pressure my client has been under recently, and I trust Judge Wang won’t coerce anyone beyond their means, right?"

As Hu Yaode spoke, he looked at Old Wang.

"Alright, since your client is in such a condition, the court naturally won’t force her to do it!"

Old Wang agreed, his reluctance apparent, and in the end, could only acquiesce.

The matter of Cheng Lisha testifying in court was thus shelved.