Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 86 - 85: Plea Agreement, Li Qingmu’s Advice (3 more on the shelves)

Chapter 86: Chapter 85: Plea Agreement, Li Qingmu’s Advice (3 more on the shelves)

"Lawyer Zhang, we can talk now."

The newcomer was none other than Fang Wenbin from the Chengbei District Public Procuratorate’s Office.

Zhang Wei wasn’t surprised by his appearance.

The prosecution was currently in a very advantageous position, but to mock his opponent seemed somewhat unjust, considering the performance of the other party in court just now.

However, as an experienced prosecutor, Fang Wenbin wasn’t likely to be keen on flaunting his victory.

He approached Zhang Wei, his tall stature combined with the posture of a victor, almost looking down on Zhang Wei.

"Lawyer Zhang, this is for you..."

"Oh, wrong, it should be for your client, but anyway, take a look!"

As he spoke, he tore a page from his notebook and handed it to Zhang Wei.

"Is this... a deal?"

Zhang Wei took it and, glancing over the contents, his pupils shrank slightly.

"Indeed, it’s a deal!" admitted Fang Wenbin.

"This is a plea agreement. If Kong Hang pleads guilty before Monday, I will consider his attitude in confessing to be good, and the prosecution might contemplate giving him a lighter sentence. If you act quickly, his sentence might even be reduced by half!"

Hearing Fang Wenbin’s conditions, Zhang Wei’s eyes narrowed to a slit.

But Fang Wenbin didn’t care how Zhang Wei reacted; he continued to look down on him with the posture of a winner.

"You are the defense attorney, and everything should prioritize the interests of your client. I consider this offer to be quite good. You should let your client think it over!"

Having finished speaking, Fang Wenbin planned to leave.

But he had only taken a few steps when it seemed as if he remembered something, he turned back to Zhang Wei and said, "By the way, you’d better discuss it quickly. I’m going to visit Qingmu Law Firm soon, and I’ll also offer a plea deal to Li Qinghe’s client!"

"I’m asking the defendant, Wang Xi, to plead guilty first and testify against Kong Hang, with the condition that she can avoid prison. You can tell your client that, hoping he’ll consider it carefully!"

"But Wang Xi is innocent. She shouldn’t need to go to prison, right?"

"Has Lawyer Zhang forgotten that this is a courtroom? It’s up to the jury to judge innocence. Besides, even if she didn’t participate in the robbery, she might have provided the combination to the safe. That still makes her an accomplice to the robbery, and she’ll have to serve time. Now, I’m offering her a chance not to go to prison on the condition that she sacrifices an irrelevant person. What do you think she will choose?"

Fang Wenbin spoke, then waved his hand at Zhang Wei.

"Lawyer Zhang, as a defense attorney, aside from fighting lawsuits for clients, you also need to persuade them to accept some ’reasonable’ conditions. I’d like to see if you, the newcomer, can handle this."

As he watched Fang Wenbin walk away like a victor, Zhang Wei finally opened his narrowed eyes.

"Offering terms to both sides, one being halving the sentence, the other avoiding prison, pretty good indeed—the ’prisoner’s dilemma’ is clearly well understood by the old chap!"

"Lawyer Zhang, what are you going to do?"

Xiao Baihe approached too, her arms crossed, mimicking Fang Wenbin’s victorious tone: "The terms have been given to you, and they even want to see your ability to persuade your client, aren’t you going to show them?"

Zhang Wei didn’t respond, but instead took a step closer to Xiao Baihe and leaned in, "Prosecutor Xiao, why don’t you enlighten me?"

"Get lost!" Xiao Baihe’s warning came instantly.

"See, such unreasonable terms—naturally, you wouldn’t accept them. So how could I possibly accept similar terms?"

Zhang Wei ignored Xiao Baihe’s reaction and fell into deep thought, contemplating how to counter the other party.

Xiao Baihe took a half-step back and then said, "Prosecutor Fang Wenbin was not wrong, you are the defense lawyer, everything should be in your client’s best interest. Even if you don’t want to sign the plea agreement, you still have to inform your client about it!"

"Of course, I will tell him that. But I will also tell him another thing—he is innocent and shouldn’t have to go to prison at all!"

Xiao Baihe was slightly surprised to hear Zhang Wei say this.

At this point, you still insist that your client is innocent. What are you thinking?

"Aren’t you afraid that the other side will betray you? They have already stabbed you in the back twice in court today, and I saw it all!"

That was also a problem—Li Qinghe had already struck Zhang Wei twice in court.

If she learns of Fang Wenbin’s offer, would Li Qinghe convince Wang Xi to plead guilty and accuse Kong Hang?

One side faced continued court proceedings, with the risk of being deemed an accomplice and the possibility of imprisonment.

The other side had the option to sign the plea deal, merely needing to accuse her ostensible boyfriend to completely avoid the risk of jail time.

If it were Zhang Wei, what would he choose?

"Prosecutor Xiao, have you never had a boyfriend?"

"What are you talking about? Whether I have a boyfriend or not, what’s it to you!"

Hearing Zhang Wei’s words, Xiao Baihe was furious.

So what if she’s still single? If she, Xiao Baihe, really wanted a boyfriend, wouldn’t there be loads of people lining up at her door?

"That’s why I say, you don’t understand what ’eternal vows’ and ’undying loyalty’ mean!"

"You’re the one who doesn’t understand. All I know is there’s a saying, ’When disaster strikes, every man for himself.’ Do you really think that couple wouldn’t stab each other in the back to save their own skin?"

"How about we make a bet? If I win, you let me be the scum once, if you win, I’ll let you be the scum, how about that?"

"Get lost, you bastard, get out of my sight, right now, immediately!"

Upon hearing Zhang Wei’s last teasing remark, Xiao Baihe’s face reddened with rage as she lashed out.

"Fine then, it’s a pity that this great lawyer was thinking of sacrificing himself to let you experience what having a boyfriend feels like. Since you don’t appreciate it, forget it~"

Zhang Wei chuckled and waved goodbye to Xiao Baihe, naturally drawing a round of mockery and rolling eyes from her.

But Zhang Wei didn’t care; he was just teasing her to vent some of the frustrations in his heart.

And it had to be said, it worked wonders.

Bantering with the Procuratorate Headquarters’ ace and the beautiful Xiao Baihe instantly lifted his spirits.

When Zhang Wei stepped out of the Chengbei District Court, the sky was growing dark.

"I have to tell Kong Hang about this condition. Although he definitely won’t accept it, it’s still my duty!"

Zhang Wei looked at the object in his hand, feeling a headache coming on.

It wasn’t that he was pondering whether to persuade Kong Hang, but rather if Wang Xi would agree.

After all, when it came to vows of eternal loyalty and undying love, even he himself didn’t believe in them!

Otherwise, his two ex-wives from his past life wouldn’t have...

Inside the detention center.

"How could that be possible, I didn’t do it, why should I confess to a crime?"

When Zhang Wei met Kong Hang and told him the condition, Kong Hang’s reaction was not unexpected.

"I know you’re innocent, but the condition given by the prosecution is quite good in my opinion, of course, provided you really did commit the crime."

As Zhang Wei spoke, he added, "You know, burglary isn’t too bad, but doing it right in front of the store manager is considered robbery. Add to that the assault and particularly large amount of money involved, you won’t get out in less than 20 years if you did it. If you confess, you can get it reduced to 10 years, it’s actually a good deal."

"Lawyer Zhang, but I didn’t do it!"

Kong Hang still insisted, he really was innocent.

"Yeah, I don’t think it was you either. But what about Wang Xi? Have you ever thought about whether she would testify against you?"

Zhang Wei shared with Kong Hang the conditions Fang Wenbin was planning to offer to the other side.

"Are you saying, as long as Xiao Xi testifies against me, she can be 100% sure of not going to jail?"

"Exactly!"

Seeing Zhang Wei nod firmly, Kong Hang fell into a brief silence.

Whether Wang Xi would betray him or not was something no one could guarantee.

But Zhang Wei could guarantee that if Wang Xi chose to do so, the jury would see even his girlfriend confirming Kong Hang’s guilt.

Then Kong Hang being a robber would be a foregone conclusion.

At this moment, Kong Hang looked pained.

"I believe in Xiao Xi, she won’t do that!"

After suffering the torment, he still chose to plead not guilty and to trust Wang Xi.

"You trust your Xiao Xi, but will she trust her Ah Hang... wait a second, Ah Hang?"

Zhang Wei was about to tease him when he suddenly spotted a blind spot.

"At today’s trial, what did Wang Fugui say? He said he was almost killed by a male suspect, but his female accomplice stopped him. And how exactly did she stop him?"

Kong Hang scratched his head, recalling, "I remember the old gentleman said that the woman called the man Kong Hang and stopped him!"

"Right, Kong Hang, the woman called you by your name, not the nickname Ah Hang."

Zhang Wei quickly asked Kong Hang, "How did your ex-girlfriend address you?"

"Ah Hang, whether it was Tiantian or Xiao Xi, when I was dating them, I used to call them by their nicknames, and they both called me Ah Hang..."

"That’s right, once you get used to the nickname ’Ah Hang,’ especially in an emergency situation, it should slip out naturally, it’s human instinct. But that female criminal didn’t shout ’Ah Hang,’ she shouted ’Kong Hang,’ what does this tell us? It means that woman is neither Wang Xi nor Qiu Tiantian..."

Zhang Wei immediately stood up, a ray of sunshine piercing the gloomy clouds in his heart.

"Lawyer Zhang, have you discovered something?"

"Indeed, but our top priority isn’t that right now, instead, it’s to persuade your current girlfriend not to sign the agreement. Detention centers don’t forbid suspects from making phone calls, what you need to do is to let Wang Xi know your stance and make her understand that she is innocent!"

"But how can I do it, when Xiao Xi and her aunt won’t listen to my explanations..."

"No problem, if they won’t listen, isn’t there someone who will? Have you forgotten that there is one of our people in their camp?"

In the minds of Zhang Wei and Kong Hang, the figure of Wang Dayang simultaneously emerged.

This son-in-law of the Li Family had, because of previous shared experiences, formed a bond with Zhang Wei and Kong Hang. They had become confidants in a sense, sharing both sweet and bitter times, troubles and hardships.

"Wang Dayang is my future uncle by marriage, your future uncle. He will definitely find a way to help us. We can’t see Wang Xi, but he is her biological uncle, he can definitely do it!"

Zhang Wei said, and promptly started making arrangements.

...

At the same time.

In Chengbei District Business Center, inside Qingmu Law Firm.

"The conditions are right here, please consider them carefully!"

Fang Wenbin came to Qingmu Law Firm and met with Li Qinghe and the concerned party Wang Xi, laying out the conditions for a guilty plea directly.

There was a possibility that Wang Xi was innocent, so the conditions he offered were that as long as she testified in court next Monday that Kong Hang lied, she wouldn’t need to go to prison.

The conditions were quite attractive, at least Li Qinghe was tempted.

Fang Wenbin, however, wasn’t concerned with these details, his goal having been achieved, he quickly took his leave.

"Niece, these conditions are quite good, I think you can sign. Once you sign, we won’t even have to go to court, and you won’t have to expose yourself to the public eye."

After Fang Wenbin left, Li Qinghe began the task of persuading Wang Xi.

"But we haven’t done anything..." Wang Xi was still hesitant.

"Niece, think about yourself, your aunt knows you’ve done nothing wrong, but what about that kid? Is he innocent? How would you know?"

Li Qinghe urged her once more, "Have you considered, what if it really was him who did it? He stole nearly a million worth of jewels and also assaulted someone, these are serious crimes. If you continue with the court proceedings, you may be determined to be an accomplice, and then you’ll also have to go to prison..."

"No way, my daughter can’t go to prison!" Wang Dahai, who was beside them, quickly interrupted, and with a firm tone, commanded:

"Daughter, just sign it. That kid, I can tell he isn’t decent, he must be the guilty one. You shouldn’t waste your best years for a criminal!"

Li Qinghe quickly added, "From your aunt’s perspective, there’s an eighty percent chance that he and that vixen called Qiu Tiantian were in on it together. He must have secretly looked at your phone to get the passcode. Maybe they’ve been plotting this for a long time, just waiting to pull off this caper. That kid doesn’t seem like he’s up to any good, you really need to think it over..."

After that, Wang Dahai and Li Qinghe began taking turns comforting and practically coercing Wang Xi to sign the agreement.

In an office corner.

Wang Dahai stood in an inconspicuous spot, watching his niece being pressured like this by his brother-in-law and his wife, feeling somewhat helpless.

But as a son-in-law who had joined the family, he shouldn’t interfere in this matter.

Ding——

Suddenly, his phone rang, it was a text message.

Wang Dayang opened it and his expression instantly changed.

It was a message from Zhang Wei, containing a lot of information.

"Aunt, let me think about it for a bit..."

Meanwhile, Wang Xi hesitated, but still didn’t agree immediately.

"What’s wrong with you? They are offering such good conditions and you still refuse, are you..."

Seeing that Wang Xi still didn’t appreciate the situation, Li Qinghe was about to lose her temper.

"Lawyer Li, Lawyer Qingmu wants to see you!"

Just then, someone called out from the office doorway.

This was Li Qingmu’s assistant, and Li Qinghe had no choice but to reply.

"Xiao Xi, you need to think this through, don’t cause me any trouble!"

Li Qinghe could only give another warning before she left the office.

The office was left with only the brothers Wang Dahai and Wang Dayang, along with Wang Xi.

"My girl, what’s with you? What’s so good about that kid? There are plenty of fine young men around, if all else fails, let your aunt find you a good lawyer at the law firm. Why must you insist on being with that kid..."

"Big brother, let me have a talk with Xiao Xi. You’re putting too much pressure on her!"

Seeing that Wang Dahai was about to apply more pressure, Wang Dayang hurriedly interjected.

With Li Qinghe gone and only family members left, he felt emboldened.

"Fine, then you persuade your niece. I’ll step out for a smoke. Make sure you talk some sense into her, alright!"

Left with no other choice, Wang Dahai admonished Wang Dayang before pulling out a cigarette and heading outside.

Now, the office was left with just the uncle and his niece.

"Xiao Xi, tell your uncle the truth, do you think that kid is a criminal?"

"Uncle, I... I believe Ah Hang is innocent; he really wants to live a peaceful life with me..."

"Alright, I understand. Listen, Lawyer Zhang has told me a few things and he wanted me to ask you some questions..."

Elsewhere.

Inside the largest office of Qingmu Law Firm.

Li Qinghe met her elder brother, also the founder of the law firm, Li Qingmu.

As a member of the Li Family, Li Qingmu also presented himself with cultured refinement, wearing glasses and a suit, and his hair was combed in a retro side-part, looking every bit the gentleman.

"Big brother, you called me here because..."

"The case you’re handling is critical to our law firm. I called you here for this very reason!"

"Big brother, what about my case?"

"You’ll be up against Fang Wenbin of the Chengbei District Public Procuratorate’s Office. You guys had better not plead guilty, otherwise it will look like I, Li Qingmu, am scared of him, Fang Wenbin!"

"But big brother, if we don’t plead guilty, wouldn’t that be..."

"No, you misunderstood me. I’ve just asked Lawyer Zhuo, and he briefed me on today’s situation. I think the strategy you’re taking in the courtroom is correct; pushing all the blame onto the other defendant is a good approach. Continue with this approach in Monday’s court session!"

Seeing her big brother offering such guidance, Li Qinghe was slightly surprised but still nodded her head.

If Zhang Wei knew that not only his aunt was stabbing him in the back, but also his uncle was reminding his aunt to keep it up, he’d probably be cursing by now.

"By the way, Lawyer Zhuo also told me that you had a conflict with the defense attorney for the other side in court, is that true?"

"Yes, just mentioning that makes me angry. That little Zhang is really oblivious to favors. After all, I was the one who let him come to our law firm for reporting, it seems I need to reconsider this matter seriously."

Mentioning Zhang Wei made Li Qinghe’s blood boil.

"You know about Qing Hua, right? That kid is her prospective son-in-law, Xiao Yue Yue’s boyfriend?"

"Oh, our sister’s prospective son-in-law?"

Li Qingmu was still surprised; didn’t Li Qing Hua dislike lawyers?

Ever since their third sister married out, she hadn’t kept in touch with the Li family much due to not passing the bar exam.

So the news that Li Qing Hua had a prospective son-in-law was genuinely unknown to Li Qingmu.

But Li Qinghe continued venting, "How dare that kid, right there in the courtroom, in front of Judge Qi, he actually dared to talk back to me, it really made me furious..."

Seeing his sister still venting, Li Qingmu was already pondering; this prospective son-in-law of his third sister seemed to have quite the temper.

"Since you’ve said so, big brother, I’ll go down and tell Xiao Xi not to sign that agreement just yet!"

"Alright, go ahead. For Monday’s court session, I’ll have Lawyer Zhuo and the others assist you. You should discuss the court strategy privately over the next two days. We must win this lawsuit and protect the reputation of our Qingmu!"

"Alright then, just watch me!"

Li Qinghe said and was about to leave.

"By the way, the prospective son-in-law of Qing Hua, the defense attorney for the other side, what’s his name again?"

Li Qing Hua reached the door and after thinking for a moment answered, "You’re talking about little Zhang? His surname is Zhang, his name is quite common, it’s Zhang Wei!"

With that, she left the office.

"Zhang Wei, it does sound quite common... wait a second, Zhang Wei!"

Li Qingmu seemed to have realized something, his pupils contracting sharply.