Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 266 - 264: Where is Wen Xiaoyun? Brother Young Master Yang? (8000 more)

Chapter 266: Chapter 264: Where is Wen Xiaoyun? Brother Young Master Yang? (8000 more)

Thursday, a day off.

After yesterday’s pre-trial, all was calm.

Although there were some small ripples of public opinion on the internet.

But overall, there were no major waves.

Netizens were actually preparing to spectate, or rather, preparing to follow the crowd.

But... no one was leading the charge!

Everyone had thought that once the case went to trial, the internet would stir up a new storm, but that wasn’t the case.

One of the sources of the storm, Cheng Lisha, had quieted down.

She should have been the one to whip up the storm, but she was backstabbed by the verified V-bloggers, and in recent days she had been much quieter.

Moreover, her public relations and cybertrooper team reported back that their posts with black material about Zhang Wei and Yang Chuanfang, prepared these past few days, seemed blocked from posting.

Even if they managed to post, they were censored in the next second; no matter how many times they reposted, the result was the same.

They knew that someone must be using a censorship mechanism, sealing off all their posts.

Although Cheng Lisha was a veteran media person, the shady tactics she could employ were limited to things like hiring cyber troops to make posts, leading the online public opinion, and so on.

But if the cyber troops couldn’t post, and public opinion was guided by the opposition first, she naturally had no moves left.

With the "front-runner" gone, online public opinion had also quieted down a lot.

The other source was Zhang Wei, but unfortunately, Zhang Wei did not like to manipulate public opinion.

So the whole of Thursday was really calm.

The only pity was that Zhang Wei wanted to investigate, but he had to do it alone.

"Silly is with the major crime squad, representing the prosecution, and I’m with the defense; we can’t act together during work hours, what a pity indeed!"

Zhang Wei sighed helplessly, and alone, he made his way to the coastline near Dongfang Capital.

The Changqing Hotel was located here.

However, since the incident that year, the business of Changqing Hotel in Dongfang Capital had plummeted, and more than half of its land and hotels were sold off.

Now another hotel is running this place.

But there is still a small part that retains the visage of Changqing Hotel.

For example, the seaside mansion where the birthday party was held is considered half the crime scene, and the new owner didn’t dare to touch this bad luck either.

Zhang Wei entered the hotel, and after stating his purpose, the waiter guided him to the long-abandoned mansion here.

The mansion was surrounded by iron fences, with the nearby swimming pool having been drained of water, its surface covered with black stains, and the ground piled with fallen leaves and trash, clearly having not been cleaned for a long time.

"Since that incident, this place has been completely abandoned. The boss also said this place might be tainted with a murder case, touching it would be bad luck, so he isolated this area separately," the waiter pointed at the iron fence and explained to Zhang Wei, "But in my opinion, that’s not a big deal, it’s only our boss, a businessman, who believes in these things. We common folk don’t believe in all that superstitious nonsense."

"Yeah, all that supernatural stuff is fake, we should believe in science!"

Zhang Wei made a perfunctory comment, and after the waiter unlocked the gate in the iron fence, he walked into the abandoned mansion on his own.

This mansion wasn’t small, located close to the beach, with both upper and lower sides.

But because it had been abandoned for many years, the place looked somewhat eerie and terrifying, especially because the ground floor was very damp, with the floors covered in mold and stagnant water, and the air filled with a decayed and turbid smell.

"It is said that the birthday banquet was held in the ground floor hall, let’s take a look!"

Zhang Wei found the floor plan of the ground level and then proceeded to the grand hall.

The place still retained the layout from the birthday banquet, and on the furniture spoiled by mold and decay, one could barely see some ribbons and banners that largely read "Happy Birthday" among other well wishes.

"Many people attended the party, Young Master Yang had invited over a hundred friends, in other words, so many people witnessed the argument between him and Wen Xiaoyun, meaning the prosecution has that many eyewitnesses who could testify to Young Master Yang’s potential for impulsive murder."

"Moreover, I recall after the episodes of "Hotel by the Seaside", they streamed some behind-the-scenes footage and interview clips, in which many of his friends were interviewed, and their testimonies were not favorable for him."

"Come to think of it, when you’re rich, you have many fair-weather friends, that’s an undeniable fact; surely many here must have taken Cheng Lisha’s money, right?"

As Zhang Wei walked around the hall, he pondered the difficulties he might encounter at tomorrow’s court session and thought about strategies for turning the situation around.

"Speaking of which, why did Wen Xiaoyun run out of the party, yet her close friends and roommates didn’t follow her home?"

Zhang Wei stopped in his tracks, and his gaze turned toward the exit of the hall.

That year, Wen Xiaoyun had left through that exit, with over a hundred people in the hall watching her argue with Yang Chuanfang.

Yang Chuanfang’s friends would surely comfort him.

But what about Wen Xiaoyun’s besties? Why didn’t they go comfort her?

That was a question.

And because of that question, no one knew where Wen Xiaoyun went after leaving the party.

Had she disappeared, died, or something else happened? No one knew.

But ten years had passed, and Wen Xiaoyun still hadn’t appeared. The likelihood of her being alive was almost zero.

Zhang Wei stood in the center of the hall, his eyes as if seeing a lively birthday party.

"According to what Yang Chuanfang said, although he was very angry, he drank too much that day and his brain had crashed..."

In his line of sight, a scene appeared where Yang Chuanfang and his friends were drinking and frolicking.

Among these people, perhaps some sympathized with Wen Xiaoyun, but they knew better who to flatter, so they all gathered around Yang Chuanfang instead, leaving Wen Xiaoyun alone.

As for whether anyone chased after her, everyone at the scene was so crazy, probably no one would remember clearly.

Zhang Wei scanned the hall again and then shook his head, but not in disappointment.

If there was really evidence here, the investigative department would have found it ten years ago.

He walked slowly out of the hall’s exit, following what might have been Wen Xiaoyun’s trail, observing carefully step by step.

Soon, he arrived near the iron fence, and the hotel’s back door exit was less than a hundred meters ahead.

"No, that’s not right. If Wen Xiaoyun wanted to leave, the gatehouse should have seen it, right? There are not only waiters but also security guards at the hotel’s back door!"

Zhang Wei recalled carefully, based on the records from ten years ago, neither the security guards nor the waiters saw Wen Xiaoyun leave the hotel.

A person this big disappeared inside the hotel?

That would be even less possible. At the time, he remembered, the files wrote that to find Wen Xiaoyun, the investigative department even deployed a search dog.

If humans couldn’t find clues, could a dog’s nose also not find them?

The moment he thought of a dog’s nose, an image of a Simple-minded person popped into Zhang Wei’s head.

This one was like a human-shaped search dog... and a heavyweight!

"No, no, no..."

After discarding the ridiculous thought from his mind, Zhang Wei’s attention returned to the scene.

He stepped out of the iron fence and then looked toward the hotel’s back door.

"Since a search dog was deployed at that time, there is only one possibility: Wen Xiaoyun was indeed in the hotel, so security couldn’t see her leave. But after her roommate reported her missing, was she quickly moved out?"

"But the roommate realized Wen Xiaoyun didn’t return to her hotel room the next morning, and the investigative department started the investigation in the afternoon. That’s only one day. How could they move a live person right under so many eyes?"

"Or maybe, Wen Xiaoyun actually left the hotel the night of the party, but not alone. Someone took her away and managed to deceive the security’s eyes?"

Zhang Wei thought of two possibilities, but whether it was one or the other, it required another person’s assistance.

Wen Xiaoyun definitely couldn’t have left the Changqing Hotel alone!

And who was that person?

The only certainty for Zhang Wei was that the person wasn’t his client, Yang Chuanfang.

Because he was drunk that day and woke up in a hotel room the next day, and none of the security or others saw him go out.

"Could this be the undeniable evidence that my client couldn’t have committed the crime?"

Zhang Wei thought about it; although this argument made sense logically, it wasn’t sufficient to convince a jury and there were many details that couldn’t withstand scrutiny.

For instance, when Yang Chuanfang went back to his room alone, was he followed by anyone? The answer was no.

So, the prosecution would use the lack of witnesses as a point of attack.

Second was Yang Chuanfang’s identity at that time - he was the young boss of the hotel. Would security and waiters lie because of his status?

Even if these people swore they didn’t lie, the jury obviously wouldn’t believe it.

After all, these events happened ten years ago. You can barely remember the details yourselves, how do you expect to persuade us, the jury, to believe these verbal statements?

This is nonsense, isn’t it?

And another point...

Yang Chuanfang probably didn’t do it, but if the prosecution insists he did, how will Zhang Wei refute it?

After all, key evidence was missing.

Buzz—

Just as Zhang Wei was contemplating, his phone started vibrating in his pocket.

"Hello?"

"It’s Young Master Yang, why are you calling me?"

"Oh, I’m at the Changqing Hotel, no no no, I mean at the ruins of the Dongfang Capital from the past, I’m investigating at the scene."

"Yes, I just like to visit the site when there’s nothing pressing, because I have this habit, you know, to see things for myself, it just feels more reassuring that way."

"By the way, did you call for a particular reason?"

"Ah, your brother?"

"Oh, okay, I’ll head back to the law firm right away, then I’ll see you in 1 hour!"

Zhang Wei hung up the phone with a puzzled expression.

Yang Chuanfang had a brother, and after hearing about his elder brother’s recent troubles, he had crossed half of Dragon Country to come over overnight.

"Could this brother be of any help to me?"

After pondering for a moment, Zhang Wei promptly set out to return to the law firm.

...

hour later.

Jincheng Law Firm, 25th floor.

In a reception room, Zhang Wei met Yang Chuanfang’s brother; his name was Yang Chuannan, and he bore a slight resemblance to Yang Chuanfang.

One could be certain, both had inherited their father’s genes. As for the differences?

The elder brother was probably a bit more handsome, while the brother’s face seemed relatively gloomy, his narrow eyes vaguely ringed with dark circles, giving the impression of someone harboring worries.

"Lawyer Zhang, this is my brother!"

"Brother, this is my defense attorney, Zhang Wei. He’s also the ace lawyer of the Criminal Department at Jincheng Law Firm. These past few days, I’ve been browsing the internet and have seen a lot about his cases, many of which had concrete evidence, yet he managed to turn them around against all odds!"

Hearing Yang Chuanfang say this, Zhang Wei quickly waved his hands.

"No, no, it was just luck, all luck..."

Modesty, humility.

Zhang Wei felt that these had always been his fine qualities, ones that he must maintain and continue to cultivate in the future.

The three sat down, and Zhang Wei was the first to speak.

"So you are the Second Young Master Yang, right?"

"Actually, I’m not any ’Second Young Master,’ nowadays I just help my brother manage the hotel, it’s a family business, and we brothers are barely keeping it afloat..."

As soon as Yang Chuannan started talking, his tone was inexplicably humble, even slightly pessimistic.

"But as I recall, Changqing Hotel is a chain business, with hotels and office buildings in over a dozen top-tier cities across Dragon Country, right?"

"That’s all thanks to our forebears’ legacy; we brothers just follow the directives left by our late father."

Yang Chuannan gave a sheepish smile, his demeanor extraordinarily humble.

"Haha, Second Young Master Yang is being too modest. If I hadn’t investigated beforehand, just listening to you, I would have thought your family business was in decline and you were penniless elitists!"

Zhang Wei laughed heartily, but inwardly he was calculating: "The assets of the Changqing Hotel chain are estimated to be worth several billion. If they liquidated those properties in top-tier cities, they could easily raise twenty to thirty billion in short order."

With a fortune of twenty or thirty billion, how could that be considered destitute or in dire straits?

"By the way, Second Young Master Yang, rushing back overnight, doesn’t that affect the business in the northwest?"

"To exonerate my brother, the business over there is actually not important!"

Yang Chuannan said, looking solemnly at his elder brother.

"Then, may I ask if you have any leads or evidence?"

"This..."

Yang Chuannan’s eyes dimmed, then he shook his head.

Clearly, he had no evidence.

"I’m sorry to say, but without crucial evidence, even if you want to testify in court, it would be useless..."

"Isn’t there such a thing as a character witness," I grew up playing with my brother, and I know his character; he would never hurt her!"

"Her?"

Zhang Wei glanced at the Second Young Master.

"Wen Xiaoyun, my brother’s girlfriend. I already thought of her as my future sister-in-law!"

"Did you attend the birthday party that day?"

"Yes, I was there, and I even helped with the layout and rehearsal of the scene... After my brother and they started arguing, it was me who stepped in to separate them."

"Oh, is that so..."

Zhang Wei nodded and then asked, "That day, did you see anyone leave with Wen Xiaoyun?"

"No, I didn’t see anyone!" Yang Chuannan shook his head.

"I’m sorry to say, Second Young Master Yang, that even if you want to be a character witness, you can’t, because you’re a family member, and your testimony won’t be accepted by the court!"

Although it was disheartening to say this, Zhang Wei was helpless because that was the fact.

You can be a character witness, but you’re the defendant’s younger brother. Do you think the jury will believe you?

Moreover, you’re also one of the young owners of the Changqing Hotel, and to put it bluntly, you’re a second-generation rich.

The jury might not believe anything else, but the prosecution just has to point out your identity. What do you think they will make of you?

ZB Family, rich heir, celebrities with scandals...

If you were to list the witnesses the jury dislikes the most, these would rank solidly in the top three.

So if Yang Chuannan took the stand, it wouldn’t just be ineffective; it could even backfire.

"Is... is that so..." Yang Chuannan’s eyes dimmed again, faintly showing his disappointment.

"However, Second Young Master Yang, you did remind me of something!"

Zhang Wei suddenly smiled slightly, then turned to his brother Yang Chuanfang, "A character witness is actually a good idea!"

"Young Master Yang, I wanted to ask, are you and Chief Editor Pei on good terms? I remember they spoke up for you in the headlines back in the day."

"Yes, I’ve known them for over a decade, and even though I left Dongfang Capital a few years ago, we’ve always kept in touch!"

"That’s good. I will make a call to see if they would be willing to testify in court. Your brother can’t be a character witness, but Chief Editor Pei should be able to!"

Zhang Wei didn’t delay and immediately made a phone call.

Chief Editor Pei had no objections to being a character witness. In fact, he even assured Zhang Wei.

Now they had a witness.

The meeting ended shortly after.

In the end, Zhang Wei escorted the Yang brothers out of the law firm together.

"Lawyer Zhang, if there’s anything I can help you with, please command me. I believe my brother is innocent!"

"Thank you, Second Young Master Yang. I’m sure your brother would be happy to hear that. At least he knows there are still quite a few people who believe in him!"

"Yes, not only my younger brother but also Chief Editor Pei and the others. It’s because of their presence that I was able to move on from that time."

"It’s a pity, though, there are too few people like us. Ten years ago was the peak of internet growth, and people back then would believe anything they heard. They didn’t care about whether you were innocent or not; they just wanted to join in the drama and consume the gossip. Unknowingly, they became tools for the manipulative, striving for fame and fortune!"

At the front door, Yang Chuannan, Yang Chuanfang, and Zhang Wei exchanged quite a few words.

Only after seeing off the two did Zhang Wei’s expression start to become serious again.

"Cheng Lisha, you really are vile!"

"But then again, I feel like this Second Young Master Yang might be a bit too enthusiastic. Do wealthy families also have kinship thicker than water?"

"Also, his belief in his brother—isn’t it a bit too unwavering?"

Zhang Wei felt something odd but couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

"The biggest problem now is that the prosecution will surely let the new witness speak first tomorrow. I need to find his weakness!"

"Similarly, I’m curious, why would it take ten years for this new witness to remember some key details?"

Zhang Wei returned to his office, picked up the list of witnesses Xiao Baihe had given him, and started to review it carefully.

The list was long, but he immediately locked onto the new witness’s name and began his investigation.

Tomorrow was going to be a tough battle.