Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 466 - 462: Yuan Dong’s Death, Slinging Mud? Countermeasures

Chapter 466: Chapter 462: Yuan Dong’s Death, Slinging Mud? Countermeasures

Sunday, early in the morning.

Zhang Wei was just about to get up and cook when a phone call disturbed him.

He checked the caller ID and it was surprisingly from Wu Yong.

"Captain Wu, what’s the matter, calling me so early on a weekend..."

"Zhang Wei, there’s a case I need to inform you about, and that is..."

"What, Yuan Dong is dead!"

Hearing the content of the call, Zhang Wei was startled.

But then again, whether Yuan Dong was dead or not, what did it have to do with him, Zhang Wei?

He quickly asked for some details of the case.

"Good gracious, Yuan Dong is not only dead, but at the time of his death, he was holding a crumpled piece of paper that says I drove him to his death?"

He hurried to open his laptop and then searched the news.

"Shocking, the homicide lawyer has added two more lives to his hands!"

"Lawless, is this the bloodless murderer Lawyer Zhang?"

"Who would the victims have thought, that a minor friction from the past could develop into this?"

"Like to refer to Zhang San? I see he is Zhang San!"

"Ordinary lawyer Zhang Wei (×) Lawless thug Zhang San (√)"

In fact, he didn’t need to search; just by opening the Weibo hot search, there would be news about these incidents on the homepage.

Clearly, everything had been prearranged, money had been spent, and these hot searches had been directly pinned to the top.

So, in the era where traffic is king, these traffic-driven businesses are just like prostitutes—whichever gives money gets on top.

Zhang Wei didn’t even need to guess to know who was playing tricks.

Fierce Tiger Hall!

Master Tang!

Obviously, this move was meant to disgust him.

No, it was to slander him.

"Zhang Wei, now that Yuan Dong is dead and the note in his hand at the time of death reads ’Zhang Wei drove my entire family to death’, please come over and cooperate with our investigation."

"Oh, alright, I’ll be right there."

Although Zhang Wei knew it couldn’t have been his doing, he was still left somewhat speechless by Master Tang’s disgusting trick.

Despite his helplessness, he still listened to Wu Yong and hurried to the crime scene.

After all, Yuan Dong’s family was in the antique business, and he had his own apartment in the city center, in a decent location.

Unfortunately, this apartment now became a "homicide scene".

When Zhang Wei arrived at Yuan Dong’s apartment, he saw the windows open and some footprints near the window.

Forensic expert Mo Yuzhu was taking photos at the scene.

"Actually, there’s nothing much to see here, it’s as clean as my parents’ room."

"Your parents’ room?" Zhang Wei came up to Mo Yuzhu and asked with a smile.

What did she mean by that?

"My parents’ room, it gets cleaned by servants every day, but they never come back to stay. The last time they slept together in the same room was probably during my college entrance exams, understand?"

"Understood!"

Councilor Mo and Forensic Yang are both very busy people.

"By the way, where are Yuan Dong and his father?"

"They’ve been taken away, probably sent to ’B1’ by now."

The "B1" Mo Yuzhu referred to was naturally the forensic lab of the investigative department, commonly known as the morgue.

"Congratulations, Zhang Wei, your reputation as a homicide lawyer has been further augmented!"

Mo Yuzhu patted Zhang Wei’s shoulder, as if in congratulation.

But this was a "congratulation" Zhang Wei did not want, because the deaths of Yuan Dong and his father really had nothing to do with him.

"I’m leaving, oh, Team Leader Lin and Captain Wu are over there!"

Before leaving, Mo Yuzhu pointed Zhang Wei in a direction.

"Captain Lin, Captain Wu, hello!"

Although at the office, Zhang Wei liked to call Lin Ruonan team leader, when they ventured out with the team, he would call her captain.

But in his heart, he was murmuring, when would Old Tie stand up for himself and let him start calling her "Mrs. Tie"?

"Zhang Wei, you’re here!"

Lin Ruonan saw Zhang Wei and his eyes turned cold as he signaled his associates with a glance.

"Zhang Wei, you are suspected of murdering Yuan Dong and his father. Please come with us for an investigation!"

"Sure, I’ll cooperate with you."

Zhang Wei naturally didn’t have a problem because he had also seen the crime scene and knew what had happened.

Besides, since Wu Yong had already warned him in advance, how could he not be prepared at all?

Investigation Department, Major Case squad office.

In the past, it was always Zhang Wei who came here to bail someone out, but now it was someone else’s turn to bail him out.

No, wrong, Zhang Wei could bail himself out.

Inside the interrogation room, Lin Ruonan, accompanied by an assistant, came over to question him personally.

"Zhang Wei, where were you last night?"

"Team Leader Lin, this is the GPS satellite map from my cellphone from last night. This is the testimony from my roommate, Xiao Xiao, and our next-door neighbor—both can prove that I wasn’t present at the crime scene during the time when Yuan Dong ’committed suicide’."

As he spoke, Zhang Wei threw the two pieces of "evidence" he had prepared in advance in front of Lin Ruonan.

"Who knows if these pieces of evidence aren’t forged by you!" Lin Ruonan didn’t speak, but the assistant looked displeased.

"This trick won’t work on me, Officer!" Zhang Wei laughed mockingly.

You really take me for a suspect, eh?

"Oh, by the way, last night I was busy preparing a case. I can provide web browsing and search records, and the back end of the web pages also records the visitation times. You can check them yourselves against the information codes."

Zhang Wei continued with a calm face, "Whether it’s eyewitness testimony or browser search records, they all prove that at the time of Yuan Dong’s death, I was busy in my rented house the whole time and couldn’t have been at the crime scene."

"Moreover, I have a question. How do you know that Yuan Dong committed suicide?"

Lin Ruonan and his subordinate exchanged glances before confessing to Zhang Wei, "Even though Yuan Dong is currently involved in a lawsuit, his father has been disgraced due to fraud, he himself was fired by the law firm, and he also received a disbarment letter from the Lawyer’s Association due to misconduct."

"But we still don’t believe that someone like him would have the guts to kill himself. Plus, we didn’t find any clues in the apartment suggesting he intended to end his life."

Lin Ruonan signaled his subordinate with a glance.

The latter, although reluctant, stood up and left the interrogation room.

Now, in the interrogation room, it was just Zhang Wei and Lin Ruonan left.

But Zhang Wei looked towards the adjacent monitoring room. Behind the glass of the interrogation room, there might be many people watching him.

"Zhang Wei, I’ll tell you the truth. Yuan Dong and his father obviously didn’t commit suicide. If they wanted to kill themselves, they could have chosen a less painful method like sleeping pills. However, we found suitcases, fake identities and passports for smuggling out of the country, and a large amount of cash in their residence—lots and lots of cash."

"Cash, huh?"

Upon hearing about cash, Zhang Wei understood.

There’s a saying that goes, the most painful thing is... what?

People die, and the money is left unspent.

That was exactly the case with Yuan Dong and his dad. With so much cash in the apartment, it was not in their nature to leave it unspent.

Clearly, the father and son duo had already realized that trouble had struck their company, and last night they planned to use fake identities to flee the country and escape punishment with smuggling.

Such people obviously would not commit suicide.

But at the last moment, they were unexpectedly "intercepted."

"Team Leader Lin, are you telling me all this because..."

"I’m asking if you can provide any clues. We know you wouldn’t have killed Yuan Dong, but do you know who might have?"

"What if I said they were just collateral damage? Would you believe that?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"It’s simple, someone wanted to give me a bit of trouble..."

Zhang Wei explained that because of the case with Dongxing Securities, he had fallen out with Fierce Tiger Hall and had even met with Master Tang.

"Are you saying that Fierce Tiger Hall killed Yuan Dong and his father to secretly strike at your reputation?"

"What else?"

Zhang Wei spread his hands. Was there a more reasonable explanation?

"But to kill Yuan Dong’s family out of anger at you, that’s also..."

"I know, Team Leader Lin, that it’s impossible for you to investigate Fierce Tiger Hall. They are old hands and won’t leave any traces of crime for you."

Zhang Wei said, waving his hand dismissively, and then stood up ready to leave.

"Team Leader Lin, and everyone behind the mirror, I have cooperated as much as I could. Now I have cases to work on and need to leave."

He walked to the door of the interrogation room, but suddenly stopped and added, "If you truly seek the truth, I will tell you that there’s a 99% chance Master Tang did this."

"But I know you don’t have the evidence to touch him for the time being, so I suggest you don’t pursue this case. Consider it a suicide and let it be. That’s the best solution for now!"

"Farewell!"

Finally, Zhang Wei left the Investigation Department, and nobody dared to stop him.

When he got back to Zhang’s Martial Arts School, he saw Xia Qianyue, Zhao Xiaoxiao, and Zhang Xinwu, among others, already waiting for him.

"Zhang Wei, what should we do now? The internet is saying you’re a murderer."

"Yeah, your reputation is so prominent now. Next time I go out, you can be my bodyguard."

Zhang Wei patted his second daughter’s head, then waved his hand at Xia Qianyue and Zhang Xinwu to reassure them.

"Don’t worry, I have it under control."

Everyone returned to the hall of Zhang Martial Arts School, which served as the temporary war room for the case.

As soon as Zhang Wei sat down, his phone started ringing.

"Lawyer Zhang, it’s not good. Our clients seem to have seen your news and have quite a few criticisms about you."

"Lawyer Zhang, this is Xiao Su. The clients have suddenly become unreachable by phone. What should we do? Should I follow the address to find them?"

"Master, there’s big trouble. The clients told me they want to cancel our contract, and they said you scared them..."

One call after another, Zhang Wei was currently handling cases for five clients, all coordinated by colleagues from the law firm.

And then the bad news arrived.

If all five clients canceled their contracts, it would mean losing the plaintiffs for the cases.

Without plaintiffs, how could he proceed with the cases?

"I didn’t expect the impact to come this fast!"

Zhang Wei knew that Master Tang’s purpose in discrediting him was just this, but he didn’t expect the plaintiffs to fall for it so quickly.

"Zhang Wei, what do we do if all the plaintiffs cancel their contracts? Won’t the case just vanish?"

"How about I make a statement of innocence for you, or you write a post, and I’ll help you pin it to the top."

Xia Qianyue looked worried, while Zhao Xiaoxiao hurriedly offered suggestions.

"It’s useless, none of your strategies will work." But Zhang Wei shook his head.

There’s a saying that goes, spreading rumors takes just a mouth, but debunking them takes breaking legs.

Moreover, the effect of debunking rumors is really not good. You spend a lot of time preparing and present evidence, but do the internet trolls care about you?

If they respond with "It’s fake," "The evidence is fabricated by you," or "I don’t care, I just want to criticize you," then what do you do?

"Announcing my innocence is pointless because I’m not the investigative department!"

Zhang Wei said, and in front of his second daughter and the others, he made a call to the investigative department.

He requested a prompt release of a case statement to avoid his social reputation being compromised.

The investigative department acted quickly and called a press conference that afternoon, announcing the findings of Yuan Dong’s death investigation, and solemnly emphasized at the press conference that Zhang Wei was not the murderer!

Seeing the statement from the investigation department, Xia Qianyue let out a sigh of relief.

But Zhang Wei was not so relieved and even felt helpless about Xia Qianyue’s naivety.

"Hey, why hasn’t the trending search dropped? Those articles and posts are still pinned, and their popularity is even higher than before!"

Zhao Xiaoxiao on the side noticed something unusual.

"It’s simple, now is when the internet trolls and haters start to really push hard, and what they are best at is actually ignoring the facts and causing confusion."

Zhang Wei said, instructing Zhao Xiaoxiao to randomly open a post and read the comments.

"@Investigative department, next time you fart, let us know so we can hold our noses in advance!"

"Obviously fake, there’s evidence? Where is it? I didn’t see it."

"It’s fake, all fake, what kind of person is Zhang Wei, a lawyer for Dongfang Capital, surely in cahoots with the investigative department!"

"That’s right, Jincheng Law Firm must have paid money, they are definitely going to defend Zhang Wei to the death, defend this murderer!"

"Is there no justice left? No rule of law? Those were two human lives. If we don’t speak up now, in the future we..."

Below the post, the comments were filled with abhorrent speculations, including conspiracy theories.

"These people are too despicable, they..." Xia Qianyue, looking at these comments, became agitated.

"Stay calm, this is the norm on the internet. Trolls and haters won’t reason with you. They’ll just sling mud and make you explain yourself. The more you get drawn into it, the more successful they become."

Zhang Wei, however, was very composed, but he wouldn’t just sit idly by.

Since they had tried to sully his name, he would have to hit back in turn.

"What do we do now?" Zhao Xiaoxiao immediately leaned in to ask.

"At this time, you don’t debunk rumors because you can’t clean them up. Internet trolls and haters won’t engage in reason. Anyone who reasons isn’t a troll or hater," Zhang Wei said, scoffing. "Now, the best strategy is to go on the offensive!"

"Offensive?" Xia Qianyue and Zhang Xinwu, who had been silent until now, exchanged glances.

Isn’t that a tactic used in martial arts combat?

"Simply put, if they sling mud at me, I’ll fling it back at them and see who gets more disgusted." Zhang Wei started giving orders.

"Xiao Xiao, are the posts slandering me occupying half of the trending search?"

"Yes,"

"Then let’s take over the other half of the trending search, as for the specific posts, I’ll go get them for you!"

Zhang Wei hurried back to Lin Mansion and then came running back with a stack of documents.

"Just post these and pin all this content to the top!"

"Okie dokie~"

Zhao Xiaoxiao took the order and began to post.

"Do these actually work?" Xia Qianyue pointed at the documents, looking puzzled.

"Yeah, Zhang Wei, I may not understand the internet, but with you being blamed for so many days, can you handle it all by yourself?"

"Silly, Sister Xiao Wu, don’t worry, I actually anticipated this and I’ve prepared a strategy to deal with it!"

Zhang Wei still looked unperturbed.

"Done!"

In no time, Zhao Xiaoxiao’s posts were up, and with her hacking skills, they directly took over the other half of the top ten trending searches.

"Shocking, the shadow of the underworld emerges under Dongfang Capital’s rule of law!"

"Fierce Tiger Hall, the name that people desperately avoid, turns out to be..."

"Unbelievable, in this age, there still exists such a terrifying power!"

"Lord Tiger, have you ever heard of this person? His deeds will scare you to death!"

"Crossed Lord Tiger 18 years ago, now in the delivery room, haven’t even opened his eyes"

These posts were seen by the netizens of Dongfang Capital right away and many couldn’t help but click to watch.

Once they did, they were instantly stunned.

The content of the posts was filled with violence and gore, along with conspiracies and dangers, greatly shocking the netizens of Dongfang Capital.

Suddenly, these five new trending posts replaced the original ones slandering Zhang Wei and took over the top five spots pinned at the top of web pages.

Many online onlookers saw these explosive pinned trending searches and left comments.

In just a few minutes, the trending searches had a complete makeover.

"Good lord, Fierce Tiger Hall is truly lawless!"

"Who on earth is Master Tang, to be able to commit so many outrageous acts?"

"This isn’t a history of growing teeth, this is a complete ’Criminal Law’! Lord Tiger is too ruthless!"

"@InvestigationDepartment, please thoroughly investigate and deliver justice!"

Seeing the comments from the netizens, Zhang Wei was satisfied with the outcome.

I may not be clean, but as long as you’re dirtier than me, the public will be more forgiving towards me!

That was his goal.

To defend against the enemy’s online public opinion tactics was the most foolish thing to do; attacking was the best course of action.

You throw dirty water at me, I’ll throw feces at you.

I’m dirty, but you stink.

Who do you think the public will accept more?

Fierce Tiger Hall, you wanted to disgust me, but I’ve now lifted up your underpants.

Now, it’s your turn to be incessantly nagged by the netizens of Dongfang Capital online.

Don’t think that the netizens are just individuals, but when tens of millions of them gather online, that’s a force not to be underestimated.

Ding-a-ling!

Almost instantly, Zhang Wei’s phone rang again.

"Master, a client just called me, asking us to protect them, they’ve seen the posts online," said they’re scared Fierce Tiger Hall will trouble them, they’re frightened~"

"Lawyer Zhang, it’s Xiao Su. How did you do it, the client has contacted us again?"

"Lawyer Zhang, the client suddenly called me again, they said..."

Hearing the updates from his friends, Zhang Wei had naturally anticipated this.

"See, that’s settled."

Zhang Wei put the phone down, then raised an eyebrow at Xia Qian and the others.

That issue was dealt with, wasn’t it?

"This..."

Xia Qianyue and Zhang Xinwu clearly hadn’t expected such a targeted operation to be resolved so easily by Zhang Wei.

"Let’s not get sidetracked by this, let’s hurry up and prepare for the case, the pretrial is first thing tomorrow, who knows what tricks the defendant will come up with!"

Zhang Wei, however, paid no mind to how the online public opinion was fermenting; all he intended to do for the time being was to prepare for the