Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 604 - 597: Breaking Through the Truth, Dragon Lord’s Backup Plan

Chapter 604: Chapter 597: Breaking Through the Truth, Dragon Lord’s Backup Plan

The process, of course, had to be followed.

The verdict, naturally, was also to come.

But before the final verdict, there was one last statement to make—the closing argument.

As a representative of the prosecution, Zhu Yuansi didn’t have much to say in her closing argument.

She made only a brief speech before yielding the stage to Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei slowly rose to his feet and approached the center of the room.

"The outcome of this case is already clear," he began. "With the effort of many witnesses, I believe everyone should understand what exactly happened 12 years ago."

As he spoke, Zhang Wei raised his hand to gesture towards the defense bench and the witness stand.

Guan Yuhong, Guan Ping, Tie Ruyun, and even Qing Jiao, bound in bandages, were all participants in the case from 12 years ago.

"Twelve years ago, Longxiang Construction, in its eagerness to acquire the supermarket land, stopped at nothing. They hired the local Qing Jiao Gang to intimidate and threaten the supermarket patrons, forcing them to hastily end their businesses and cede the land to Longxiang Construction for development."

"My client Guan Yuhong, who did not take over the acquisition from Longxiang Construction, was framed by the hired hitman Lin Berte and inexplicably bore the burden of murder. Meanwhile, Tianma Real Estate, Longxiang’s competitor, helplessly gave up the competition upon realizing Longxiang’s seriousness. Thereafter, the two major obstacles to Longxiang Construction’s acquisition were cleared, and no one could prevent them from making money anymore."

"Naturally, my client Guan Yuhong had to defend himself. His attorney at the time was Lawyer Tie Ruyun from Longteng International. Old Tie was diligent and capable. If they really succeeded in their defense, then Sun Mou’s murder case would certainly attract the attention of the Internal Affairs Investigation Department. Therefore, to ensure a smooth acquisition, Longxiang Construction, along with their senior partner Huang Yunhe and the novice attorney Chen Xiao, conspired to defame and frame Old Tie, forcing him to lose his license to practice law!"

At the defense bench, Tie Ruyun shook his head in resignation.

He turned to see Chen Xiao and You Dalei sitting in their seats, their expressions complex, evidently struggling to remain composed.

"Twelve years ago, their plan was impeccable. A series of interlocking schemes cleared all obstacles, and Longxiang Construction then vigorously developed the supermarket land parcel, leading to the current Longxiang Building and Longxiang Shopping Center, Long Teng..."

"Yet, these profits were built upon a human life, built upon my client Guan Yuhong’s twelve years of wrongful imprisonment and the lack of justice served."

"Sitting in the audience, President You, Lawyer Chen, they are making piles of money, with no concern for whether their wealth was earned righteously. To them, the money earned is ’x,’ and their daily expenses are ’y.’ They couldn’t care less where these two lines start; they only care that the graph formed by the two lines is an upward curve, right?"

The entire room turned their gaze towards You Dalei and Chen Xiao, whose complexions turned extremely unsightly.

Never before had they experienced being enveloped by such contempt from an entire room.

The feeling, to say the least, was quite unpleasant.

"Today, 12 years later, now, this case has finally seen the light of justice before the truth was fully uncovered, but what did they do before that?"

"To prevent their past actions from being exposed, as soon as Old Tie arrived in Longdu, they did not hesitate to replay the conspiracy of 12 years ago. Using Chen Xiao’s fabricated identity as a victim, they slandered Old Tie, attempting to revoke his lawyer’s license and prevent him from participating in any cases. What a ruthless move!"

"Afterwards, they dispatched Mr. Jiang and Qing Jiao Gang members to silence Lin Berte, the actual murderer and participant in the past events, and tried to repeat their old trick by pinning Lin Berte’s death on Guan Ping, Mr. Guan Yuhong’s son. I must say, this move was particularly vicious."

"Especially the way they framed him. When the prosecution lacked evidence to convict Mr. Guan Ping, they used Qing Jiao Gang’s surveillance on him to find a replica of the murder weapon at his residence and then forged murder evidence in an attempt to frame him once again."

"And to carry out this plan, Prosecutor Zou, a traitor from the Procuratorate Headquarters, colluded with the puppet of the mastermind behind the scenes, placing the so-called ’murder weapon’ on the prosecuting representative’s desk, attempting a deception."

"Unfortunately, heaven has a net that lets nothing through. The false will always be false, the plan was uncovered by me, and my investigation eventually led to the identification of Mr. Jiang as a suspect."

"Who would have thought, the mastermind behind the scenes was intent on silencing those in the know, even ready to erase Mr. Jiang, his loyal subordinate from 12 years ago."

"I can only say, those who frequently commit injustices will ultimately bring about their own demise. In the last wave of silencing, Mr. Jiang miraculously survived and saw the true colors of the people behind the scenes. He chose to abandon the darkness and join our side. In the courtroom, he revealed all the numerous crimes of the mastermind, alongside President You and Lawyer Chen."

"Thus, we finally understand the extent of Longxiang Construction’s illegal and criminal activities for the development of the supermarket land parcel 12 years ago!"

"President You, Lawyer Chen, your actions, and those of your behind-the-scenes Dragon Lord, his numerous crimes, have all been laid bare!"

Zhang Wei looked at the two with derision and mockery.

Seeing this, Chen Xiao and You Dalei knew they could not stay in the courtroom.

After all, Zhang Wei was relentlessly accusing them in court, and they were unable to respond. What could be more frustrating than that?

They quickly got up, and under the protection of a swarm of bodyguards, they made a hasty retreat.

They might have escaped, but there were others who could not leave the courtroom.

Zhang Wei’s gaze locked onto Xiao Zou, who was being controlled by the Internal Affairs Investigation Department in the corner of the courtroom.

"Prosecutor Zou, do you know where you went wrong?"

Xiao Zou was taken aback, and at the same time, fell into confusion. Where exactly had he gone wrong?

"Actually, after the first day’s hearing, when I exposed the conspiracy from 12 years ago and gained the advantage in the trial, I knew that the person behind the scenes would certainly act."

"So, when I learned that Prosecutor Zhu was under investigation by Internal Affairs, I knew it was the work of the person behind the scenes, and when you, Xiao Zou, acquired the right to prosecute, I was absolutely certain you were the pawn arranged by the person behind the scenes!"

Zhang Wei looked at Xiao Zou and calmly stated his deductions.

"How could this be, yet you still came to me, could it be that at that time, you already..."

"Yes, at that time I already knew that you were Dragon Lord’s man, everything I did was an act, all to sow discord within your ranks!"

As Zhang Wei spoke, he smiled faintly, "What I didn’t expect was that you, Xiao Zou, would really play along. Whatever I said, you believed, and you obediently became my messenger, relaying everything I said to Dragon Lord behind the scenes, forcing him to come up with a plan to silence me!"

"You..."

"What ’you’? There’s an apt saying, the victors are kings, the vanquished are bandits. You thought you were being clever, but you didn’t realize that you were the most foolish person in the whole room!"

Zhang Wei caught Xiao Zou off guard, lambasting him so fiercely that it contorted Xiao Zou’s face with rage.

"However, when it comes to this case, our victory owes much to you. Without your indirect help, Mr. Jiang would not have been able to see through Dragon Lord’s true colors or to realize that he was just a disposable pawn in the mastermind’s game."

"So, thank you, Xiao Zou. The fact that I, as the defendant, can clear my name and that we could turn the tables at the last minute, it’s all thanks to you!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zou finally couldn’t restrain himself, overwhelmed by the shock of the truth.

He had never imagined that he, who considered himself smart, had been completely played by Zhang Wei, even used by him, and had fallen into his trap without realizing it.

"I, you, Zhang Wei, you..."

Xiao Zou’s chest heaved, and he never got his breath back, then a sweetness rose in his throat, and his repressed emotions erupted completely.

"Zhang Wei, I fuck your entire family, I fuck all your ancestors for eighteen generations, I..."

Pfft—

Complete breakdown!

After a tirade of furious cursing, Xiao Zou spewed blood from his mouth, his spirit instantaneously withered, and his body went limp.

If it weren’t for the quick response of the Internal Affairs investigator to support him, he might have ended up lying on the floor.

"Take him away!"

The head of Internal Affairs saw this and, knowing that Zhang Wei had finished his piece, waved his hand, and they took Xiao Zou out of the courthouse directly.

With the last of the opponents gone, Xiao Zou also left, though it was being carried away lying down, it nevertheless indicated the situation.

After concluding his piece, Zhang Wei let out one last sigh.

"What a pity, we all know that this time I could only restore the truth to this case, allow my client to be cleared of charges, but I couldn’t punish the person behind the scenes, let alone the true culprits from 12 years ago!"

"But I know, justice will never be late, and I believe everyone has a conscience, and understands one thing: these bad people, those who thought they sat above the clouds looking down on everything, will definitely pay the price!"

"My closing statement is finished, thank you all."

With that, the closing statements from both sides ended.

minutes later, the deliberation was complete.

"Foreman, please announce the result!"

Under everyone’s gaze, the juror that Zhang Wei had the most faith in stood up, holding the verdict in his hands, and publicly declared:

"After the jury’s deliberation, the retrial verdict for the 12-year-old Sun Mou murder case is as follows: the defendant, Mr. Guan Yuhong, is found not guilty!"

As soon as the result was announced, the entire courtroom breathed a sigh of relief.

Upon hearing the words "not guilty," Guan Yuhong finally couldn’t control his inner excitement and wept openly in court.

This was the result he had longed for so many days, a craving once unattainable.

And now, at last, he could stand in court and hear the jury publicly announce his innocence.

"Father, we’ve won!"

Guan Ping, at his side, could not contain himself and leapt up.

This moment had been awaited by father and son for a full 12 years!

Twelve years—God knows how they had endured these 12 years.

Father and son held each other tightly, sobbing uncontrollably, in tears of excitement and relief.

"Twelve years, it’s finally over!"

Tie Ruyun also let out a sigh of relief. Though he had not been deeply involved with the case, the stone in his heart had finally been lifted.

And all this was thanks to one man.

"Zhang Wei, you really pulled it off, something we almost couldn’t manage!"

"Old Tie, what are you talking about? This is everyone’s achievement!"

Zhang Wei chuckled, not taking all the credit for himself.

"Lawyer Zhang, congratulations to you!"

After the verdict was announced, Zhu Yuansi and Judge Bao both approached Zhang Wei.

"You truly are the one even Senior Procuratorate Qin praised; I, Bao, have now seen what a real master is. You, kid, really are..."

Judge Bao patted Zhang Wei’s shoulder and then nodded to Tie Ruyun, Guan Yuhong, and others, smiling as he left the courtroom.

After all, the truth of the case was unveiled, and he was beyond reproach.

"Lawyer Zhang, Judge Bao acknowledges you, and so do I. You are indeed incredible!"

Zhu Yuansi also extended his congratulations, making Zhang Wei feel a bit embarrassed.

"Actually, all of this is thanks to everyone..."

"Lawyer Zhang, don’t be too modest; I know who the real driving force behind this case was!"

Zhu Yuansi said, walking up to Qing Jiao.

"So, Lawyer Zhang, I have to take Mr. Jiang to complete the evidence collection first, so I’ll be leaving now!"

The so-called evidence collection naturally meant sanctioning the real culprit.

Although Guan Yuhong had been freed, someone had to be held accountable for Sun Mou’s death.

The mastermind behind the crime 12 years ago hadn’t pleaded guilty yet, so clearly, Zhu Yuansi was preparing to prosecute You Dalei, Chen Xiao, and others again.

"Prosecutor Zhu, I’m not saying that lightly, but if the Procuratorate Headquarters could have one traitor, there’s no guarantee there won’t be a second. Be careful!"

"Rest assured, Lawyer Zhang, I, Zhu Yuansi, have a clear conscience!"

Zhu Yuansi said this and left the courtroom with Qing Jiao, escorted by the court guard.

"Let’s go, we should also head out!"

Zhang Wei said, gesturing broadly as he led Xia Qianyue and the rest out of the courtroom.

This case had only truly ended now.

However, the aftermath of the case was unlikely to subside.

...

Friday evening.

In a high-end villa in Longdu, in the drawing room.

"After an investigation, it was found that the truth behind the murder of Sun Mou 12 years ago was very complicated. Fortunately, with the help of the public-spirited Lawyer Zhang, the prosecution finally uncovered the truth. It turns out that 12 years ago, Longxiang Construction, in order to..."

"That was the statement from the head of the Procuratorate Headquarters, Prosecutor Zhu. As everyone can see, this retrial involves a very big... click!"

The TV screen on the wall was abruptly cut off by someone’s actions.

Subsequently, the person holding the remote control turned their gaze to the two people sitting across from them.

"Dragon Lord, we..."

"You two don’t need to explain; I don’t want to hear it!"

Dragon Lord waved his hand, stopping the two in front of him from making excuses.

As he saw it, a win was a win and a loss was a loss.

After a loss, all explanations were disguises, excuses, and he didn’t want to hear them.

"This Zhang Wei is really impressive; he’s got me curious. This kid actually managed to cause such a big problem for me all on his own!"

In front of him, You Dalei and Chen Xiao didn’t dare to breathe too loudly, only lowering their heads, showing a penitent attitude.

"But rest assured, although this has been a serious setback, for me, it’s not really trouble. I just need to play one of my trump cards to smooth things over!"

Dragon Lord said, snapping his fingers.

Immediately, his subordinates brought over a bottle of high-end whiskey and three glasses.

Dragon Lord picked up the whiskey and filled all three glasses to the brim.

He picked up his own glass, while his minions naturally delivered the other two to You Dalei and Chen Xiao.

"The failure this time can only be counted as our underestimating the enemy, but next time... Forget it, let’s not talk about that now. You two, punish yourselves with a drink right here!"

"Thank you, Dragon Lord, thank you, Dragon Lord!"

You Dalei and Chen Xiao were overjoyed. Self-punishing with a drink meant that Dragon Lord had forgiven them and was willing to give them a chance to correct their mistakes!

Both drank the contents of their glasses in one go, but then they realized that Dragon Lord’s own glass had not been touched.

"Dragon Lord, you are...?"

Dragon Lord let out a cold laugh, flipped his wrist, and the whiskey in his glass spilled onto the ground.

"President You, I feel a bit dizzy..."

Chen Xiao, who was beside him, suddenly went weak at the knees and slumped onto the ground, clutching his head in agony.

"Dragon Lord, I..."

You Dalei also noticed something wrong with his body, clearly there was something in the drink.

"Don’t worry, it’s not poison, just something to put you to sleep. Rest assured, once you fall asleep, you won’t feel any pain!"

"I really envy you two, being able to take the last step of life without any pain. I wish you pleasant dreams, oh no, I mean, go wash up and sleep..."

Thump!

Thump!

Chen Xiao and You Dalei lost consciousness one after the other and collapsed onto the ground.

"Someone come here, take these two to where they belong, and remember to clean up a bit. I don’t want the coming events to involve me anymore!"

"Understood, Dragon Lord!"

A group of black-clad bodyguards walked into the parlor and carried You Dalei and Chen Xiao straight out.

Dragon Lord watched as his two subordinates left, a cold smile appearing on his face.

"Next, there’s one more person to deal with. It seems I’ll have to play my trump card again for the Internal Affairs Investigation Department!"

"Ah, this case really bothers me. An insignificant brat made me use so many trump cards just to cover for him. No wonder Zhang Tianlong also found this kid hard to deal with!"

Dragon Lord’s gaze turned to the distance, toward the east, as if he understood the difficulty someone was facing.

At the same time.

Inside the office of the Internal Affairs Investigation Department.

Xiao Zou had been interrogated for several hours by the officers of the Internal Affairs Investigation Department, to the point of exhaustion.

Now, he lay alone in a detention room, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Xiao Zou, there’s a message from Dragon Lord!"

Suddenly, a voice sounded from outside the detention room.

"Dragon Lord, what about Dragon Lord? Is he going to get me out!" Xiao Zou was ecstatic upon hearing these words.

With Dragon Lord’s power, he could definitely be fished out.

But the premise was that he had to be valuable enough for Dragon Lord to use a trump card to save him.

Xiao Zou felt he was valuable.

After all, he was a budding prosecutor. As long as he could get through this, his future was limitless!

So, Xiao Zou looked at the person outside the door with excitement on his face.

"What did Dragon Lord say?"

"Dragon Lord said, go wash up and sleep!"

But the expression of the person outside suddenly turned cold.

Hearing this response, Xiao Zou felt a chill all over, his face filled with despair!

Unexpectedly, he had become expendable as well!