Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 400 - 396: Zhao Qingyan at a Loss, Preliminary Hearing Approaching?

Chapter 400: Chapter 396: Zhao Qingyan at a Loss, Preliminary Hearing Approaching?

Wednesday, a workday.

Zhang Wei did not go to the law firm.

Because Lin Xiangtian had given instructions that Jincheng Law Firm was not to provide any help to Zhang Wei.

He even threatened his own precious daughter.

If she dared to help Zhang Wei, he’d send her little apprentice off to a northwest pasture to herd cattle.

The Lin Family is really... too damn rich.

No, that’s not it. They’re just too excessive.

This also made Zhang Wei see things clearly, no surprise for one of the Five Great Families, they really are "branches of the same root".

But strangely enough, isn’t Zhao Xiaoxiao also part of the Five Great Families?

Why does the Lin Family only side with the Zhang Family and not the Zhao Family?

In fact, Zhao Qingyan also wanted to clear this up.

Why did Zhang Lang lay hands on his own daughter, why not eliminate his daughter as a target and focus on Liu Dashun and Zhu Erdan instead?

These days, he was neither eating nor sleeping well, and even his work efficiency was down.

He had no choice but to take a few days off, spending them all on the phone.

Unfortunately, he had just finished calling Zhang Tianlong that morning, and the response he received was not what he wanted.

"Little Zhao, I’m aware of your situation, rest assured, I’ll take care of your girl!"

"Your girl is young, and when the time comes, I can arrange something. Maybe after staying inside for two or three years, she’ll be out. What’s there to worry about?"

"It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but you also need to consider my brother. He’s worked hard to make the arrests. If I were to help you open a backdoor just for you, it wouldn’t look good."

"How about this? Have your girl plead guilty, and at the same time turn her into a cooperating witness. I’ll work a bit more and transfer her to a place with more lenient containment measures. After a year, citing mental health reasons, I’ll arrange for some medical bail outside. Then we can get her out. What do you think?"

"For the same crime, those two hackers are getting 10 years, but your girl only 1 year. That’s the result of me pulling strings and my brother making multiple compromises!"

That was Zhang Tianlong’s response.

Liu Dashun and Zhu Erdan, they might have to sit in prison for 10 years, but Zhao Xiaoxiao only needs 1 year.

If it were someone else, perhaps they might agree after some consideration.

After all, a 12-month incarceration can basically be dealt with in a detention center without even needing to be transferred to prison.

But if that’s the approach taken, it would mean Zhao Xiaoxiao would have to bear the burden of sin, and that was something Zhao Qingyan could absolutely not tolerate.

And furthermore...

Who said pleading guilty was the only way out?

In Zhao Qingyan’s mind, an image of someone flashed.

"If it’s little Zhang, there might still be a possibility!"

Zhao Qingyan didn’t originally want to gamble, as his character was not one to take risks.

But after careful consideration and multiple comparisons, he realized that besides asking Zhang Tianlong for help, there seemed to be another choice with huge risks but potentially greater rewards.

Zhang Wei!

This kid had managed to accomplish the task for his clients every time, with means to clear the suspect’s doubts that Zhao Qingyan felt could still offer a chance.

Perhaps, there was a way to save the situation!

Zhao Qingyan remembered that Zhang Wei usually got up very early.

He walked to the door, but his steps hesitated slightly.

Outside the door, several voices could be heard, and as he listened, his face changed.

"Hurry up, can you move any faster?"

"Xiao Xiao, wait for me, I just finished washing the dishes. It’s not like you have to do any chores!"

"Hmph, mind your own business, and hurry up!"

"I’m coming, I’m coming. Let me lock the door. You go ahead to the martial arts school and meet up with them."

"Ow~"

A series of light footsteps passed by the entrance of Zhao Mansion without the slightest delay.

Then came the sound of the neighboring Lin Mansion’s gate closing; clearly, someone was locking up.

Zhao Qingyan knew that his only chance had arrived.

He hurriedly opened a crack in the gate of Zhao Mansion and then poked out half his head.

"Xiao Zhang!"

"Eh, Uncle Zhao, how come..."

Outside, just as Zhang Wei was about to pass by Zhao Mansion, he stopped in his tracks when Zhao Qingyan called out to him.

"Xiao Zhang, this case relies entirely on you!"

"Don’t worry, Uncle Zhao, I will give it my all!"

"Right, about Xiao Xiao..."

"Rest assured, Uncle Zhao, I definitely won’t let her go to prison!"

Hearing Zhang Wei’s assurance, Zhao Qingyan felt greatly relieved.

"Then, Xiao Zhang, I entrust my daughter to you!"

After giving another reminder, Zhao Qingyan finally closed the door, feeling much better than before.

Looking at the closed gate of Zhao Mansion, Zhang Wei had a peculiar expression on his face.

What did Zhao Qingyan mean by his last words, entrusting his daughter to me?

But it didn’t really matter; Zhang Wei genuinely regarded Zhao Xiaoxiao as his own daughter from the bottom of his heart.

Your daughter, isn’t she also my daughter?

"It seems that even for Uncle Zhao’s sake, I have to fight this case well!"

Zhang Wei felt enormous pressure, but he also accepted the responsibility.

At the same time, he guessed that Zhao Qingyan would not have sought him out without reason; the other party must have tried using the Zhao Family’s connections to rescue Zhao Xiaoxiao.

But judging by Zhao Qingyan’s demeanor, it was clear that he had failed again.

The Zhao Family’s connections were of no use among the Five Great Families!

Understanding Zhao Qingyan’s predicament, Zhang Wei walked into Zhang’s Martial Arts School with a grave expression.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!"

"Wake up, wake up!"

Just like when the martial arts school first opened, but this time it was Zhao Xiaoxiao holding a bronze gong, standing at the door of the dormitory and striking it vigorously.

Soon after, Liu Dashun and Zhu Erdan came out of the dormitory, reluctant and dragging their feet.

Looking at the bronze gong in Zhao Xiaoxiao’s hand, the two felt a headache coming on.

"Xiao Xiao, why must you do this, when people want to sleep in..." Zhang Wei said with some remorse when he saw this scene.

But Zhao Xiaoxiao planted her hands on her hips, her tone indignant: "Sleep, what sleep? When you’re dead, you’ll have all the time to sleep!"

"Yet someone used to stay up all night and couldn’t be woken up no matter how much you shouted in the morning. Who was that person again?"

Hearing these words, Zhao Xiaoxiao’s face turned red, but then she immediately pouted, her face full of indignation: "Who, who’s always oversleeping, I don’t know anything about it, who are you talking about?"

Looking at his cheeky younger daughter pretending to be impervious to boiling water, Zhang Wei smiled inwardly.

This younger girl, still so adorable!

Before long, everyone had gathered in the main hall of the martial arts school’s front courtyard.

As co-defendants, there were Zhao Xiaoxiao, Liu Dashun, and Zhu Erdan.

Zhang Xinwu, the martial arts school’s bodyguard and guardian, was responsible for their safety during the case and to prevent any petty troublemakers from approaching the school.

Zhang Xinyan, Zhang Wei’s driver and bodyguard number two might not have been counted on for his combat prowess, but as a hardworking driver, he was still up to handling some of the physical tasks.

The great hall had been turned by Zhang Wei into a temporary operational point, akin to the War Department’s combat laboratory.

He had also moved the evidence board from his room here, making it look quite professional.

After all, the battle they were about to face was indeed one where their lives hung in the balance, a fight to the death if they did not prevail.

"Let’s go over each point, starting with the prosecution’s public evidence. Since they’ve charged you with espionage, they must prove that you endangered national security and colluded with foreign powers to sell state secrets..."

After informing those present about the espionage charge, Zhang Wei pointed at several names on the evidence board.

"Yuanfeng Shipyard, Yuanfeng Chemical, Yuanfeng Machinery, Yuanfeng Secret Instruments, Yuanfeng..."

After a series of company names, Zhang Wei tapped the evidence board and asked, "You all remember these names, right?"

Zhao Xiaoxiao and the others looked at each other, and Zhu Erdan suddenly raised his hand: "I seem to recall, last year or the year before, we seem to have hacked into a few of their accounts..."

Liu Dashun also added, "Now that you mention it, I vaguely remember someone commissioning me to make some surveillance devices. That person gave me a slip with the words ’Yuanfeng’ on it."

"A slip?"

Hearing what Liu Dashun had said, Zhang Wei immediately took out the public notice and flipped to the last few pages, indeed, he saw a list among the evidence.

"This was retrieved from your home by the investigation team, and it’s been listed as evidence to prove you hackers attacked Yuanfeng’s enterprise!"

"Lawyer Zhang, what exactly is the issue with Yuanfeng’s enterprises?"

Liu Dashun and Zhu Erdan clearly had not realized the severity of the issue yet.

"This Yuanfeng enterprise, on the surface, is a private enterprise, but have you ever seen a private enterprise that has no sales staff, no public website, and even no business orders, yet still thrives?"

"Are you saying that Yuanfeng isn’t as simple as it seems on the surface?"

"Isn’t that obvious?"

Zhang Wei was somewhat at a loss for words. I’ve made it so clear, how can you two still not understand?

"If my guess is correct, the Yuanfeng series should all be enterprises that cooperate with Dragon Country’s official agencies, responsible for manufacturing and processing for the War Department or other important departments; the information of these enterprises is absolutely confidential!"

As he spoke, he looked at Liu Dashun and Zhu Erdan, "And you, who attacked these enterprises, have truly endangered national security and stolen confidential information, which is straightforward espionage!"

"Damn it!"

The two were shocked to hear Zhang Wei describe the situation with such severity.

"Heavens know, we’ve always been honest folks, we truly haven’t done such preposterous acts!"

"Yeah, I almost forgot about this matter, which shows that we didn’t find anything significant at the time. If it really involved Dragon Country’s secrets, how could we possibly forget?"

The two hurriedly explained, emphasizing their innocence.

Zhang Wei ignored the two and turned to look at Zhao Xiaoxiao.

The latter blinked, equally puzzled.

She clearly couldn’t remember such an incident either.

"Xiaoxiao, you don’t remember Yuanfeng either?"

"I have some recollection of it, seems like it was last year or the year before, when there was a hacking operation that included the word ’Yuanfeng’. But I can’t remember much of it now."

Zhao Xiaoxiao tried to recall: "If you hadn’t highlighted it, I wouldn’t have remembered such a term. I suppose we didn’t find any important information that time, otherwise, I would definitely remember."

"Really?" Zhang Wei was somewhat surprised.

Although the background of the Yuanfeng series wasn’t simple, with Zhao Xiaoxiao and their hacking skills, how could they possibly have found nothing?

"Do you remember the details of that cyber-attack?"

Zhao Xiaoxiao and the others looked at each other, then all closed their eyes, trying to recall.

"All I remember is that it seemed to be a chat room where someone posted a task."

"I also remember that someone posted a task, but I’ve almost forgotten the exact details."

"At that time, I received tasks every day, I had missions to complete every day, I just can’t recall anymore."

The information they could provide was limited.

Zhang Wei caught something and quickly asked, "You’ve mentioned ’chat room’ several times; what is this chat room?"

"That, it’s a chat application constructed by a bunch of top domestic hackers, only the most top-notch hackers who pass the test can join, and even friends’ recommendations need to be assessed."

Liu Dashun explained, "The chat room is just a general term; it contains lots of information that only hackers can understand, such as some cutting-edge technology, software, and even big companies’ commissions."

"Of course, it also provides us with some conveniences for making friends and chatting. If someone receives a task they can’t complete, they can share it or recruit companions to act together."

Zhang Wei nodded, "So this chat room is pretty much like your hackers’ own guild, huh?"

"You could say that!" Zhu Erdan nodded and then added sheepishly, "But the most tasks I’ve received from the chat room were to hack the accounts of internet celebrities and stars, to steal some of their basic information."

"But I must admit, those fans are really willing to pay, especially for a piece of information that could be sold hundreds or thousands of times. Some female internet celebrities with lots of fans could even be sold tens of thousands of times; each time you charge a few hundred..."

"The money from crazy fans is so easy to make!"

Zhu Erdan began to look sleazy as he talked.

"Ahem..."

But Zhang Wei coughed.

Zhu Erdan became aware of the disapproving looks around him, immediately turned serious, and fell silent.

"So, the attack you carried out on Yuanfeng actually yielded nothing?"

At this point, Zhang Wei frowned; although Zhao Xiaoxiao and the others all said so, this also proved they had been involved in the attack on Yuanfeng.

Even if they didn’t get any information, what they said is one thing, but how the jury sees it is another.

Ding ling ling!

Just then, his phone rang.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Oh, it’s the city court. The pretrial date has been set; it’s this afternoon. Old Li is asking if we have any objections?"

Zhang Wei glanced at Zhao Xiaoxiao and the two others, noticing none of them reacted.

"Of course there’s no problem. We naturally wouldn’t want to make things difficult for Old Li. I heard he’s been living in his office these days, unable to go home."

"Alright then, we’ll bring the parties involved this afternoon!"

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Wei looked at the three people before him with a solemn expression.

"The prosecution intends to make a quick battle of this. It’s their usual tactic, and I’m not surprised."

"After all, they may have been collecting evidence for this case for months, whereas I’ve only had two days to prepare."

"Using the time lag and information gap to gain an advantage, while having the backing of the Investigative Department, as well as Zhang Lang’s CSB Department, is the prosecution’s greatest reliance, and an advantage that the defense can’t match!"

Hearing Zhang Wei’s words, the expressions of Zhao Xiaoxiao and the others turned somewhat grim.

"Then why did you agree to their timing? Couldn’t you have delayed it a bit?"

"Delaying it any longer would be meaningless!"

Zhang Wei shook his head, "The information we have can never catch up with the Investigative Department’s, so it’s pointless to seek more time. The information gap will always exist."

"And it goes without saying, you also know that we are now under CSB surveillance. They’d probably love for you to resort to hacking, and they must be ready with countless detection methods to prove your hacker identities."

"Rather than being passive and living in fear, it’s better to confront them directly in court. That’s our only chance of winning!"

We definitely can’t compete with them in terms of evidence, so the only area where we can try our luck is in courtroom tactics.

I just hope that this Senior Inspector Qin Yang is a figure with an undeserved reputation.

Only then will I have room to maneuver.

...

Meanwhile.

Procuratorate Headquarters, inside a temporary office.

"Uncle, these are the files of all the cases Zhang Wei has worked on that I specifically instructed my subordinates to prepare. I had them categorized according to specific tags, for you..."

"No need. I’ve already looked through them."

"Uncle, Zhang Wei has worked on quite a few cases. You’ve read them all?"

"Yes, after receiving this case, I briefly reviewed them in Longdu. When I arrived at Dongfang Capital Procuratorate Headquarters, I asked Zhao Chunming for an even more detailed set, which I have just finished reviewing."

Hearing his uncle’s words, Qin Shaocong wasn’t too surprised.

He already knew that his uncle was no ordinary man, particularly in the control of case details and the ability to judge key evidence. In Dragon Country’s judicial world, these skills were top-notch.

That’s precisely why Zhang Lang dared to take the risk of being criticized and requested an inspector to be transferred from Longdu to assist with the case in Dongfang.

By doing so, it indicated a lack of trust in Dongfang Capital Procuratorate Headquarters and a lack of confidence in them.

But Qin Shaocong could say that selecting Qin Yang as Zhang Wei’s opponent was definitely Zhang Lang’s best move.

"Shaocong, I must say, this Zhang Wei does have some ability, otherwise you wouldn’t have lost to him, right?"

"Uncle, why do you have to bring up the past like this..."

"Who told you not to listen?"

Qin Yang glanced at his nephew, "Didn’t I tell you not to bother me if it’s not necessary? You’re a defense attorney, and I’m a prosecutor. It wouldn’t look good if word got out."

"Uncle, look at what you’re saying. It’s okay for a nephew to visit his uncle, right? Plus, I’ve deliberately turned down all my cases recently, so I have no conflicts of interest with the Procuratorate Headquarters or even the Procuratorate’s Office at the local level. I did all this to alleviate your concerns!"

"Looks like you’re going to observe the whole process?"

"Supporting you is what a nephew should do, Uncle."

"Okay then, but you’d best not appear in court. You would distract me!"

"Alright, I’ll try my best not to show up."

Seeing his nephew’s enthusiasm, Qin Yang couldn’t outright refuse and could only make a small request.

Moreover, the nephew had said he wasn’t involved in any cases and had no conflict of interest with the prosecution.

"Okay then, let’s meet this youngster this afternoon."

"I want to see how he managed to beat you, what abilities he has, and whether he’s really as remarkable as these files suggest!"

Looking at the files before him, Qin Yang’s expression remained calm, but his brows revealed a trace of coldness and severity.

Whether or not Zhang Wei is worthy of his attention, the afternoon will tell.