The Byoukidere Is Her Sweetie
Chapter 289: 289: Dog-eat-dog fight, the Luo Family is completely done for (first update)

Chapter 289: 289: Dog-eat-dog fight, the Luo Family is completely done for (first update)

Jiang Chundong finished speaking and put down the page-turning pen. “My statement is complete.”

He had just sat down when Du Shaoxing stood up.

“Your Honor, we have some questions about the witness’s testimony, please allow me to question the witness.”

The judge granted permission.

“It’s the same question,” Du Shaoxing approached Xu Pozhi, “Mr. Xu, was the fire in the flower room big? Was there any dense smoke?”

He aimed to negate the witness’s testimony.

Xu Pozhi knew the other party was setting a trap but affirmed resolutely, “I am certain I did not see it wrongly.”

“How can you be certain?” Du Shaoxing didn’t rush to contradict him, “At that time, you too had inhaled an excessive amount of smoke and were in a semi-comatose state. How did you ascertain this?”

Xu Pozhi couldn’t immediately answer.

Du Shaoxing was well-known in the legal circle for skirting around important issues and shifting concepts, skillfully leading people’s thoughts in a direction favorable to himself.

Du Shaoxing handed up a report from the desk, “Your Honor, members of the jury, this report from the forensic department says that these two pieces of evidence have been severely oxidized due to being buried for an extended period, with no fingerprints or bloodstains remaining.” He paused briefly, “That is to say, these two pieces of evidence have no directivity. As for why my client was present when the police discovered the evidence, this is easily explained. The location where the evidence was found is the Luo Family’s home, my client’s residence.” He looked at the jury members, “Is it a problem for my client to be at his own home? Moreover, he only wanted to take care of the flower room and inadvertently dug up these so-called pieces of evidence, nothing more. What does that prove?”

Smooth talking and eloquent.

A prominent lawyer sure is worthy of their reputation, they could even argue that the dead are alive.

“Your Honor,” Du Shaoxing made a request to the judge, “please allow me to call our number one witness.”

The judge consented, and the court clerk called out for the witness loudly.

The first witness for defendant Luo Changde, clad in prison garb, came forth; he stood at the witness stand, and Du Shaoxing approached, “Mr. Peng, could you please introduce yourself?”

Peng Xianzhi faced forward, “Your Honor, members of the jury, my name is Peng Xianzhi. I am currently serving a sentence in Western Prison. Before my incarceration, I was a landscape architect, and I have always been helping the Luo Family manage their flower room.” He paused, then added, “The witness Ah Bin just now was the apprentice I had taken on at that time.”

After the witness’ identity introduction was completed, Du Shaoxing began questioning, “Can you tell us why you were imprisoned?”

They had gone over the testimony before court, so Peng Xianzhi answered precisely, “Eight years ago, I had a gambling addiction and lost a sum of money. Unable to pay it back at the time, I made a deal with my then-employer.”

“What kind of deal?”

“She helped me pay my debts, and I helped her kill someone.”

Du Shaoxing continued step by step, “Is the person you made the deal with in the courtroom now?”

“Yes.” Peng Xianzhi’s gaze swept across the court.

Du Shaoxing immediately asked, “Who is she?”

Peng Xianzhi raised his hand, pointing to Luo Qinghe in the defendant’s seat, “She’s the second defendant.”

Hiring a killer.

This is what Du Shaoxing intended to demonstrate.

“Your Honor,” he began to corroborate, “Our witness, Peng Xianzhi, retained a recording during the transaction with the second defendant. The recording clearly states that it was the second defendant who instructed our witness to commit arson and murder.” He emphasized the point, “The forensic department has verified that the recording is the original, untampered with. The prosecution just played it once, and I think we should play it again.”

The court clerk then played the tape.

There was a lot of static, but the content was still audible.

“Young Miss, please help me.”

“Help you? Sure. But, Master Peng, could you help me with something too?”

“Young Miss, just say the word.”

“My mother always loved this greenhouse. What if you burned it down for her?”

“Only burn the greenhouse?”

“And maybe burn some unclean things along with it.”

“What do you mean by ‘unclean things’?”

“The Luo Family’s unclean things, what else?”

The dialogue ended there. After listening, the members of the jury appeared contemplative.

At this point, the second defendant’s lawyer, Jiang Chundong, stepped forward to question Peng Xianzhi, “Witness, did my client personally ask you to burn Luo San or Tang Guangji to death?”

Peng Xianzhi did not answer.

Jiang Chundong looked into his eyes and raised his voice a little, “Witness, please answer my question. Did my client personally tell you to burn Luo San and Tang Guangji to death?”

Peng Xianzhi glanced at Du Shaoxing before responding, “No.” His tone was certain, “But I knew who she meant.”

“You knew?” Jiang Chundong immediately seized on the inconsistency, “So you’re saying this is all your speculation?”

Peng Xianzhi, sensing something amiss, immediately shook his head, “No, the young miss has always disliked Luo San, and she would regularly torment him. She meant for me to help her remove the thorn in her eye.”

“What does it matter, as long as Luo Qinghe doesn’t say it himself.”

Jiang Chundong methodically refuted the witness’s testimony, “Mr. Peng, this is all your personal speculation, entirely without basis. My client was dealing with the pain of losing her mother at that time. The greenhouse reminded her of her mother, which is why she asked you to dispose of it. But she never asked you to commit arson and murder. You assumed and imagined her words to carry that meaning on your own.”

Peng Xianzhi shook his head: “No, that’s not—”

Jiang Chundong interrupted, “Moreover, eight years ago, you were addicted to gambling.” He faced the courtroom, then the jury, “Your Honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, if a convict, who is addicted to gambling and willing to commit arson and murder for money, were given money again, wouldn’t he do anything?”

He was working to reduce the impressiveness of the witness, trying to weaken the reliability of the testimony, after all, Peng Xianzhi was a prisoner serving time; his words were bound to be taken with a grain of salt.

Du Shaoxing was all too familiar with this tactic and immediately stood up: “Your Honor, the insinuations made by the defense attorney for the second defendant severely slander my witness and also deny the attitude of all prisoners who have reformed. I request that Your Honor dismiss his arguments.”

The judge tapped the gavel, “Defense attorney for the second defendant, please be mindful of your language.”

Jiang Chundong fell silent, his questioning was over, and he returned to his seat.

Du Shaoxing continued the defense, “I wonder if anyone present heard a piece of news at the end of last year? The financial news section wrote it like this,” he picked up a magazine from the table and read according to it, “Zhangjiang Bridge, two vehicles collided, the elder lord of the Luo Family tragically met with disaster, falling into the river and perishing.”

The news of Luo Changde’s death had made the headlines and caused quite a stir in the business world; many in the audience were aware of it.

“This incident occurred after my client received this recording.” Du Shaoxing asked the jury members, “Is this not a curious coincidence?”

He put the magazine down, then spoke again, each word ringing clear and resolute, “My client had just obtained the recording evidence when she was kidnapped. While the second defendant was on his way back after paying the ransom, the sedan carrying my client was hit by a truck on the Zhangjiang Bridge and went over the rail, and, the second defendant, who was supposed to be in the same car as my client when the accident happened, was not in the car, nor did he immediately call for help. While the police hadn’t yet recovered my client’s body from under the Zhangjiang, the Luo Family already announced her death.” He paused for a breath and then questioned rhetorically, “All of these occurrences, aren’t they just too coincidental?”

Indeed, they were.

Too many coincidences suggested they were human-made.

Du Shaoxing led into his question, “Doesn’t it seem like a murder cover-up?” After asking, he turned rapidly towards Luo Qinghe and his tone intensified, driving forward with every sentence, “Having failed in one scheme, the second defendant, Luo Qinghe, concocted another. In an attempt to cover your own misdeeds, you bit back at my client, redirecting all the blame for the arson and murder unto her, resulting in today’s tragic scene of a daughter and father at odds, facing each other in court.”

Luo Qinghe’s expression remained unchanged, giving no reaction at all.

With such mental fortitude, she was indeed much stronger than Luo Changde had been.

Du Shaoxing didn’t rush to see her true nature revealed, but continued presenting the evidence, “Your Honor, this is a bank wire transfer statement; the payee is the family of the Zhangjiang Bridge accident’s driver. The man has passed away, from liver cancer, and this money, after several rounds of transactions, was deposited into his wife’s account. Since it didn’t go through formal banking channels, the sender can’t be traced. But the timing of the transfer coincides with the third day after the Zhangjiang accident. Furthermore, a day before the accident, the second defendant, Luo Qinghe, withdrew a sum of money from her personal account, the whereabouts of which remain untraceable, yet the amount aligns exactly with what the truck driver’s wife received. Isn’t this yet another curious coincidence?”

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, consider this, what kind of abilities could a terminally ill liver cancer patient who is virtually knocking on death’s door have to secure such a large sum of money unless,” Du Shaoxing looked towards Luo Qinghe, “unless he committed a murder on someone’s behalf, exchanging his life for another’s.”

At this point in the defense, it seemed Luo Changde was already sensing victory, his mouth was curling upwards crazily with pride and provocation as he regarded Luo Qinghe.

“The second defendant,” Du Shaoxing asked Luo Qinghe, “may I ask what your relationship is with my client?”

Luo Qinghe remained silent, not speaking a word from beginning to end.

Du Shaoxing played his final emotional card, the vehemence flaring as he exclaimed, “I’ll answer for you; you are father and daughter, relatives by blood.” He articulated each word with precision, indicting and accusing: “To cover up the truth behind the fire from eight years ago, you went so far as to kidnap and attempt to murder your own father. Even till today, you show no sign of repentance, shifting all the blame for the murder onto your father’s head, committing such a heinous act that defies human decency and kinship. Don’t you feel a twinge of conscience?”

Luo Qinghe’s mouth twitched slightly as if she found something amusing, her hands resting lightly on her belly, brushing her lower abdomen now and then.

Her attorney, Jiang Chundong, didn’t offer any rebuttal either.

Their defense strategy was clear, not to argue innocence, but to pin the murder charge on Luo Changde.

Her trump card was still to come.

On Du Shaoxing’s side, the argument was for innocence, “Finally, there’s one more point I would like to reiterate to the honorable judge and members of the jury: the second defendant has consistently claimed that my client committed murder at the fire scene, but my client had absolutely no motive to kill. The victim, Tang Guangji, was my client’s right-hand man, and the other victim, Luo San, was an adopted son of the Luo family, having very little interaction with my client, unlike the second defendant, who was at odds with Luo San.” Du Shaoxing emphasized once again, “My client had no motive to commit murder.”

Without any motive, how could intentional homicide be established?

Just then, the door was pushed open, and Jiang Zhi and Zhou Xufang came in.

Jiang Chundong, who had been silent all along, finally stood up, countering Du Shaoxing’s last statement, “There was a motive to kill.”

Luo Changde looked back at Jiang Zhi.

Luo Qinghe also raised her eyes; the show was about to begin.

Jiang Chundong walked to the front, “Your Honor, please allow me to call our third witness.”

The judge granted permission.

The third witness took the stand, Luo Yinghe, and as she entered, Xu Yunci stood up, screaming out of control, “Yinghe, come back to me!” She shouted, “Luo Yinghe, do you hear me?”

Luo Yinghe turned a deaf ear and walked to the witness stand.

Xu Yunci rushed out of her seat, “Luo Yinghe!”

At this moment, the judge struck the gavel and called out in a stern voice, “Order!”

Xu Yunci glared at her daughter with red eyes, but it was Luo Huaiyu next to her, who remained expressionless from start to finish, as if the trial had nothing to do with his Luo family, watching the fire from across the river, just glancing up at Jiang Zhi.

What a grand game.

Jiang Zhi, holding Zhou Xufang’s hand, sat down next to Zhou Qingrang.

The trial continued, and Jiang Chundong walked up to Luo Yinghe, “Witness, please introduce yourself.”

She looked at the audience and said, “I am Luo Yinghe.”

The opposing attorney, Du Shaoxing, didn’t quite understand this turn of events and looked towards Luo Changde, who was also bewildered, unclear about how the situation had suddenly changed.

Jiang Chundong began to question Luo Yinghe, “What is your relationship with the two defendants?”