Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 520 - 515: Where Is the Problem? The Identity of the Person Behind the Scenes!

Chapter 520: Chapter 515: Where Is the Problem? The Identity of the Person Behind the Scenes!

Tuesday evening.

Lin Mansion.

Zhang Wei sat alone in his room, quietly, with his laptop open in front of him.

Rows of information flickered across the screen, yet he remained still for a long time.

Clearly, he was thinking, contemplating whether he had missed anything.

"First of all, it’s certain that the mastermind behind this case is definitely not Laura Campbell."

This time, Zhang Wei spoke with conviction.

Laura could not possibly be the person behind the scenes.

Because the words she spoke in court did not seem impromptu, but rather like sincere words prepared long ago that just happened to burst forth.

It seems she had intended to give up her bid for a council position long before.

So if not her, who could it be?

Could this case really be as simple as it appears on the surface?

No!

Impossible!

Zhang Wei hastily shook his head, abandoning this thought.

If it were as simple as it seemed on the surface, then how would Old Cao explain, why the perpetrator would risk being discovered to tamper with evidence in the archives?

And why would they also risk exposure to "flee from justice" out of fear of their crimes?

Could it be that the perpetrator merely harbored a grudge against Yang Chunyuan?

A grudge for being forced into early retirement and for having lost the position of head of the First Forensic Laboratory?

"It’s primarily about the timing!"

Zhang Wei pulled out the photographic record of Old Cao entering the archive room. The timestamp showed it was several days before the court hearing of the case.

"After Old Cao tampered with the evidence, Black then met with Mr. Li, who decided to appeal. The prosecution only accepted the case and initiated a public prosecution against Forensic Yang after all that!"

From the connections between these events, it was apparent that Old Cao was the first to act and the first link in the plan.

And to prevent the plan from being exposed, the person behind the scenes made Cao disappear after he finished his testimony.

Zhang Wei had no doubts that if he or the investigative department sent a large number of people to search for Old Cao, the latter would indeed mysteriously disappear.

Therefore, it was futile to pursue Old Cao’s lead any further, making the second link in the plan Mr. Li and Black.

Mr. Li was clearly unaware, merely a pawn, a tool used to bring down Yang Chunyuan.

The key issue rested with Black.

"Black, huh?"

As soon as he thought of the lawyer from William International, Zhang Wei’s brows furrowed again.

He had no doubt there must be many of the mastermind’s agents around this individual.

If he were to find Black and confront him directly, it obviously wouldn’t yield the results he desired.

But if he resorted to deceit, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that Black, just to be on the safe side, would destroy the evidence.

Moreover, such action could easily alert the enemy.

This was the trouble, the enemy was hidden while he was exposed!

The enemy was aware of their capabilities, but they knew nothing about the enemy.

So, the question returned to the beginning: Who is the person behind the scenes?

About this, Zhang Wei thought carefully.

"Does Prosecutor Zheng know about this? It seems he doesn’t. If he did, why would he willingly be a pawn of the mastermind?"

Zhang Wei then thought of Zheng Fenyong.

It must be said, there was indeed personal enmity between them, but that was Professor Zheng’s own fault.

Although he was not familiar with Zheng Fenyong, judging from the several court hearings, Prosecutor Zheng did appear to have professional ethics, otherwise, he would not have agreed to let Laura testify in court.

So Zheng Fenyong could also be excluded. Like Mr. Li, he was merely a pawn in the hands of the mastermind.

The suspects Mr. Li, the public prosecutor Zheng Fenyong, the original plaintiff’s representative lawyer Black, and the evidence tamperer Old Cao – all of these individuals were just pawns.

Judging by the power displayed by the person behind the scenes now, none of these people were likely to know the true identity of the mastermind.

So, how to find the person behind the scenes?

Zhang Wei started to feel a headache again; there truly was no breakthrough.

Unable to help it, he couldn’t help but complain, "Laura is really something, to think that’s a city council position she’s talking about. If she doesn’t want it, then she doesn’t want it."

How naively he had thought that he had found the mastermind.

How he had believed that he would finally get to match wits with the heiress of William International in court.

Unexpectedly, the other party actually gave up.

The fact that they gave up so swiftly and decisively was truly incomprehensible.

"Right, Laura is the young lady of William International, how could she possibly give up without a second thought?"

Zhang Wei pondered carefully, wondering whether Laura had given up too soon.

Even though she wasn’t an archaeologist, an adventurer, a polar exploration enthusiast, nor did she have the combat ability to wipe out an army single-handedly.

But Miss Laura should not simply give up the competition for a council seat so easily, could there be other competitors?

Curious, Zhang Wei opened his laptop and began searching for information related to the city council.

Soon, news reports about the city council appeared.

"Shocking, city council member accused of indulging his wife in fabricating evidence and framing the innocent, it was all because of...

"First Forensic Laboratory fabricates evidence, why so brazen? The identity of her husband is far from ordinary!"

"Are all council members beloved? The reality is obviously not as such, taking you into the true hearts of council members"

The headlines were all dominated by recent cases.

In the case of Yang Chunyuan, the targeted individual turned out to be uniformly Mo Juren.

Zhang Wei only glanced and noticed that the internet hot searches seemed to be targeting Mo Juren on purpose, cutting at him exclusively.

Furthermore, just by opening a few comment sections, he noticed that these netizens were doing the same, relentlessly attacking Mo Juren based on his identity.

What is political correctness on the internet?

Criticizing the rich and the powerful was political correctness!

If you speak up for them, you’re labeled as paid trolls, branded with a big hat.

So without even looking at the comment section, Zhang Wei knew what 99.99% of the people were like.

"Something’s wrong, the internet hot searches and comment sections, they’re all intentional, right?"

As a professional lawyer who had dealt with internet companies numerous times, Zhang Wei just needed one look to know there was something off with these trending searches.

He even saw that the comments were all from paid internet trolls, specifically targeting Mo Juren.

This indicated that someone indeed was gunning for Councilor Mo!

"Considering the current situation, Councilor Mo’s resignation seems to be a foregone conclusion, but who might be the most prominent competitor?"

Zhang Wei skipped the first several dozen smear posts and searched for threads about strong contenders for the city council members.

Finally, on the fourth page of the Baidu search bar, he found a name.

Hawkins!

Like Laura, he was a competitor born overseas, and he had joined the nationality of Dragon Country quite early on.

Hawkins had another identity as well; he was the Commissioner of External Affairs for the city council, serving in the city council’s foreign affairs office.

And now, he announced his run for the position of city council member, evidently contesting for Mo Juren’s seat as well.

"Who is this Hawkins, and why have I never heard of him?"

Zhang Wei searched carefully but unfortunately, the clues he could find on Baidu were limited.

With no other choice, he had to put on a smile and carefully knocked on the door of the second-floor room.

"What’s up?"

When his second daughter opened the door and saw Zhang Wei’s "smile," she immediately put on a defiant face.

"Hawkins!"

Zhang Wei simply reported a name.

"Is it that guy with curly blond hair and a small mustache above his mouth, whose smile is somewhat sleazy?"

To his surprise, Zhao Xiaoxiao seemed to recognize Hawkins and described him directly.

Zhang Wei took out his phone, entered the name Hawkins on Baidu, and opened the photo.

Indeed, he saw a tall thin man with light curly blonde hair and a small mustache at the corners of his mouth.

With a pronounced bridge of the nose and somewhat sunken eye sockets, he indeed looked somewhat sleazy when he smiled.

"Second daughter, you know him?"

"Saw him a few times when I was a kid, but it was always that guy who took me to those parties, seemed to be about overseas investment or something, I can’t remember the details."

The "that guy" Zhao Xiaoxiao referred to was naturally her next-door neighbor, Zhao Qingyan.

Being in charge of Dongfang Capital’s foreign affairs and especially skilled in overseas investment, it stands to reason that Hawkins excelled in business solicitation from abroad.

From Zhao Xiaoxiao’s words, Zhang Wei analyzed a bit of the reason.

"Right, do you know whose faction Hawkins belongs to within the city council?"

Hearing this question, Zhao Xiaoxiao’s face showed disgust, "Who else could it be? The Zhang family’s."

"The Zhang family’s people?"

"Yep, the Zhang family seems to really like investing overseas and dealing with foreigners. Anyway, anyone in charge of foreign affairs is sure to be one of theirs!"

"Zhang Tianlong’s men..."

Zhang Wei’s brows slightly furrowed, as if he had caught onto something.

"Second daughter, just check this Hawkins out for me, I need to confirm some things!"

After instructing Zhao Xiaoxiao, Zhang Wei immediately ran downstairs and dialed a phone number.

"Hello, is this Classmate Mo?"

"Right, right, right, I have some questions to ask you now."

"No, no, no, it has nothing to do with Forensic Yang, if she’s asleep, don’t disturb her."

"I want to ask, is your dad at home?"

On the other end of the phone, Mo Yuzhu was somewhat startled.

Not looking for herself, nor her mother, why did Zhang Wei want to find her father?

Still, Mo Yuzhu went to the study on the first floor, where she saw Mo Juren already lying on the couch.

"My dad is here, he seems to be asleep too..." Mo Yuzhu replied in a very low voice.

"Oh, wake him up!"

On the other end of the phone, Zhang Wei was blunt and had none of the usual pleasantries in his tone.

Mo Yuzhu hesitated for just 0.1 seconds before decisively pushing her hand to wake her father from his deep sleep.

"Who is it... Oh, daughter, what do you want from me?"

Mo Juren blinked and, upon seeing it was Mo Yuzhu, looked puzzled.

What did his girl want, waking him up like this?

"Zhang Wei is looking for you!"

Mo Yuzhu handed him the phone.

"Zhang Wei?"

Mo Juren was astonished; his girl really couldn’t be held back.

But he quickly adjusted himself and took a deep breath before taking the phone.

"Lawyer Zhang, what’s the matter, calling me so late at night..."

"Councilor Mo, I want to ask you, how is your relationship with Zhang Tianlong?"

"Councilor Head Zhang?"

At the mention of "Zhang Tianlong," all traces of sleepiness vanished from Mo Juren’s face.

"My relationship with Councilor Head Zhang is naturally excellent. He and I have been old friends for decades; we’ve always had no secrets between us!"

"Really?"

"Of course!"

Hearing the distrust in Zhang Wei’s voice over the phone, Mo Juren became defensive. "Zhang Wei, I know you and Councilor Head Zhang have some misunderstandings, but he is a magnanimous and reasonable man."

"Just look at the recent incident when his brother Zhang Dihu was falsely accused by you of being Lord Tiger from the Fierce Tiger Hall. I haven’t seen him make any fuss about it. He’s still diligent at work, meticulous in meetings as well as press conferences."

"Right, some of us councilors, worried about the incident’s extensive impact, even tentatively moved for his impeachment to diminish the influence of the Fierce Tiger Hall matter, but didn’t he have no objections?"

On the other end, Zhang Wei was noticeably silent for a moment.

"Impeachment?"

"Yes, impeachment!"

Mo Juren, not yet aware of any oddity, continued to explain, "If we councilors notice any misconduct by the Councilor Head, we can initiate an impeachment against him!"

"Oh, I understand now!"

"What do you understand?" Mo Juren was taken aback, then quickly shook his head, "We didn’t actually initiate an impeachment, it was just to prompt a statement from him!"

"Besides, even if an impeachment were initiated, it would require a vote from all the councilors, and it needs more than half in favor for the impeachment to succeed!"

"Thanks Councilor Mo, I’ll hang up now. You should rest early too!"

On the other end, Zhang Wei seemed to grasp the truth of the situation and immediately hung up.

"Beep——"

Looking at the phone that was now giving a busy tone, Mo Juren was plunged into confusion.

This kid woke him up in the middle of the night just to ask a few incoherent questions and then hung up on him?

What does this mean?

"Daughter, why does Zhang Wei like to act so crazy?"

"I don’t know." Mo Yuzhu took the phone and shook her head without understanding.

"It’s okay, if you two end up together, just keep him in line. And don’t be like your mom, always busy with work, creating such a mess with me."

"Ah, this..."

Mo Yuzhu was no longer composed when she heard her father’s words.

"What do you mean, ’being with Zhang Wei in the future’? There’s nothing going on between us."

"Alright, I’m going to sleep. I don’t want to meddle in you young people’s affairs. After this case is over, if your mother is alright, you youngsters can sort it out yourselves!"

Mo Juren did not pay attention to the unusual look in his daughter’s eyes but urged her to leave the study.

Mo Yuzhu never expected that in her parents’ eyes, she and Zhang Wei had already reached that step.

If Mo Juren and Yang Chunyuan were awake, perhaps Mo Yuzhu would have clarified everything to them.

That she and Zhang Wei were actually just "ordinary friends," and it really wasn’t as they imagined.

...

Elsewhere.

At Lin Mansion, inside a room.

"I knew it, I just knew it!"

After hanging up the phone with Mo Juren, Zhang Wei finally found a clue.

The person pulling the strings from behind the scenes was none other than Zhang Tianlong!

He had finally figured out who was targeting Yang Chunyuan and who was targeting Mo Juren—it was all Zhang Tianlong.

Why him?

Simple.

The person Zhang Tianlong truly wanted to deal with was Mo Juren.

The man who dared use "impeachment" to threaten his position as councilor head.

Once there is a precedent for impeachment, there could be a second time.

If it starts to form a trend, then in the future, if he makes mistakes, wouldn’t the city council start impeachment proceedings again?

He might get by the first or second time, but what about the third or fourth?

Who can guarantee that some councilor won’t suddenly have a brain fart and cast the decisive vote, passing the impeachment?

Nobody leaves their future to the mercy of others.

Especially someone as hypocritical as Zhang Tianlong—he would never entrust his position and destiny to a few councilors who could have brain farts at any moment.

So, what would he do?

First, suppress the person who initiated the impeachment: Mo Juren was the primary target.

Mo Juren had a good reputation, and finding dirt on him was difficult.

So, what do you do if you can’t get to Mo Juren right away? Simple.

You go after his family.

By ruining the reputation of his family members, you create public pressure to force Mo Juren to submit his resignation.

Then, with Zhang Tianlong’s hypocrisy, he might even put on a little show.

"Old Mo, life is unpredictable, I really didn’t want you to go."

"Who could have thought that Forensic Yang would do such a thing! Due to the influence on public opinion, I have no choice but to accept your resignation!"

"Old Mo, the blue hills will never change; the green waters will ever flow. If you need my help in the future, I will do my utmost to assist you as payback for all your contributions to Dongfang Capital. Please take care of yourself from now on!"

Just thinking about Zhang Tianlong messing with Mo Juren and Yang Chunyuan while faking these insincere words, Zhang Wei’s expression turned bizarre.

Truly damn hypocritical!

But thinking about it being Zhang Tianlong, he wasn’t surprised.

And with Mo Juren’s resignation, a position in the city council would be vacated—perfect for lifting "one of their own" into place.

In this way, he could ensure one city councilor would always stand by his side.

Even if someone initiates impeachment again in the future, Zhang Tianlong could ensure he would have someone on his side, casting a vote in his favor.

To have the city council’s general direction in his hands was Zhang Tianlong’s objective in dealing with Mo Juren and elevating his own people.

Zhang Tianlong clearly had enough influence to carry out these tasks.

People like Old Cao and Black were nothing but pawns in Zhang Tianlong’s hands.

Likewise, his stakeholder Yang Chunyuan was merely a tool for Zhang Tianlong to use against Mo Juren.

"No wonder Laura gave up, she knew Hawkins was Zhang Tianlong’s man, and she could never win a councilor position!"

"No wonder this case called for a high prosecutor from the southern headquarters—it was Zhang Tianlong fanning the flames from behind the scenes!"

"No wonder the online public opinion is so fierce—all Zhang Tianlong’s manipulations!"

Now that he had identified the true mastermind, Zhang Wei decided on the next day’s course of action.

The most critical step still required Judge Liu’s help.

If possible, he wanted to summon Zhang Tianlong himself to court!