Chapter 14: Lawful and Compliant |
Creating urgency... on purpose?
"That... that doesn''t seem right," Lin Yue said weakly, a trace of worry creeping into her voice.
She understood what he meant.
It was nothing less than stealing the child away so the other party could experience the feeling of having their family line cut off a year early, or at least before Wang Qiang went to trial.
That way, Li Youcai would be more desperate than Wang Mei, and his stubborn attitude would naturally crumble.
At the very least, it would bring both sides back to equal footing!
"What''s wrong with it?" Xu De countered.
"If this enrages Li Youcai, Wang Qiang might..." Lin Yue hesitated, her voice trailing off.
It would have been better if she had remained silent.
"It would be better if you hadn''t mentioned that."
"Hearing you say it... just makes me want to laugh."
Then, without giving Lin Yue a chance to argue, he threw out the most crucial point.
"You have to understand, Wang Qiang is the only bargaining chip Li Youcai has against us!"
"But this bargaining chip is counterfeit money!"
"Once Wang Qiang receives a heavy sentence, Li Youcai will instantly lose his only leverage. After that, he can forget about ever getting the child. In other words..."
"Li Youcai and Liu Cui wouldn''t dare let Wang Qiang die!"
"The only path before them is an exchange of needs. This talk of letting Wang Qiang die, of dragging everyone down with them... it simply doesn''t exist!"
The moment those words fell...
Bzzzt!
Suddenly.
An invisible current seemed to surge from her tailbone straight to the crown of her head, making her scalp tingle.
Lin Yue''s eyes widened in shock. It felt as if she had attained instant enlightenment, like parting the clouds to see the bright moon.
Yes...
That was right!
They were using threats against Wang Qiang as leverage, attempting to get the child.
But if Wang Qiang died, their bargaining chip would vanish, and they would completely lose the right to fight for the child!
As long as the child wasn''t in their hands, Li Youcai and Liu Cui would never dare let Wang Qiang die.
"And they''re using something they themselves wouldn''t dare do as a bargaining chip?"
Xu De let out a mocking laugh.
"I haven''t even threatened them yet, and they beat me to the punch to threaten me?!"
"Ridiculous... utterly ridiculous!"
To be honest, if it weren''t for his good manners, he would have pointed at Chen Wei''s face and cursed him out right then and there!
If anyone was going to do the threatening, it should be him!
"This..."
Lin Yue was stunned. She stared at him, dumbfounded and completely overwhelmed.
Yes...
What he said was absolutely right!
Li Youcai didn''t even dare face the consequences of his own bargaining chip, yet he had the nerve to use it to threaten them. It was truly absurd to the extreme.
Furthermore, the court''s verdict depended on multiple factors; it wasn''t a one-man show run by the opposition. As long as Xu De performed well, even if Li Youcai talked until he was blue in the face, there was still room to turn things around!
On the other hand, if they refused to hand over the child... then that refusal was absolute!
With just a few short sentences, he had broken down a case with seemingly no way out with piercing clarity!
In fact, after breaking it down...
It even felt like if they followed his logic... the advantage was actually on their side!!!
Lin Yue found it somewhat hard to believe, experiencing a surreal, almost dreamlike sensation.
Just like that... they had found a breakthrough in the case?
She had racked her brains for nearly half a month without coming up with any solution, while he had taken over the case for less than a day...
"Lawyer Xu... how is your brain wired?!"
Lin Yue murmured. The moment she realized what she had said, she snapped back to reality.
Her face flushed slightly. She frantically waved her hands, flustered as she hurriedly explained, "I... I didn''t mean it like that! I just think you''re... incredible!"
Her words were meant as praise, not an insult.
This method of breaking down a case...
Lin Yue had never seen a second person capable of it in her entire life!
She had studied law since childhood and graduated from Shuimu University, a top institution in Dongguo. She had seen countless brilliant minds.
Not to mention, those outstanding people were already the absolute cream of the crop among Dongguo''s population of over a billion!
Even so...
Lin Yue had never encountered a talent like Xu De. His approach to solving cases... had practically transcended the boundaries of legal study itself!
"You flatter me, Daoist."
Xu De waved his hand, cheekily offering a humble response to defuse the awkwardness.
Then, he let out a cold snort.
"As long as we go and steal the child."
"When the time comes... we won''t be the ones feeling anxious."
Only by stealing the child would Li Youcai realize that they, too, were in a desperate hurry now!
Wang Mei shouldn''t be threatened by them. At the very least, both sides should be sitting at the same table, facing each other as equals.
In fact, upon closer inspection, Wang Mei even held the upper hand!
After all, Li Youcai''s only threat was Wang Qiang, but they themselves didn''t dare harm him.
When that happened, Li Youcai and Liu Cui would be left screaming to the heavens and pounding the earth with no one to answer them.
And what about Xu De?
"We take the opportunity to negotiate terms with them?!"
Lin Yue''s heart rate gradually accelerated, and her eyes grew bright and clear. Feeling a faint surge of excitement, she spoke tentatively.
"Negotiate terms?"
Xu De frowned, looking at her with deep dissatisfaction.
"The child is already in our hands, and they don''t dare risk a total fallout... and you want to negotiate terms with them at a time like this?"
"Then wouldn''t I have stolen the child for nothing?!"
Xu De expressed his immense disapproval, flatly rejecting her suggestion.
"Threats."
"We must threaten them, nakedly and outright!"
"Heh, as for how to make the threat most effective so it influences the criminal case... you don''t need to worry about that. I have my own arrangements!"
It was the same logic.
Xu De hadn''t even threatened them yet.
Instead, Chen Wei and Li Youcai had beaten him to the punch and threatened him first!
It was one thing when the child wasn''t in their hands; they could endure it because the opposition hadn''t yet realized the severity of the problem.
But...
If Xu De went through the trouble of stealing the child and they still held back, wouldn''t the child have been stolen for nothing?!
As for the concern that even if the child could force Li Youcai to sign a letter of forgiveness, the letter might not be enough to turn the tide in a criminal case...
He could only say she still didn''t understand what exactly they should threaten the other party to do!
"You..."
Lin Yue stared at him again as if looking at a monster, feeling her entire worldview shatter.
She had lost count of how many times she had looked at him this way.
This man kept saying things that sent shivers down her spine!
Setting aside the act of stealing a child.
No normal lawyer would ever let those words leave their mouth!
And to speak of threats so openly and righteously.
What kind of decent lawyer would keep that word on the tip of their tongue?!
Was this guy really a lawyer? With that tone, if the setting were different, Lin Yue would readily believe he was a bank robber!
She recalled that the bar exam also tested professional ethics... how on earth did this man pass?!
"Wait."
In her daze.
Lin Yue suddenly snapped out of it. She shook her head, tossing those wandering thoughts aside, and knitted her brows.
What he said did make sense.
Once the deed was done... Li Youcai would be a fish on the chopping block, left completely at Xu De''s mercy!
However...
"This... this is illegal, right?"
Lin Yue hesitated, finally voicing her greatest concern.
"Stealing a child is essentially the same as human trafficking. To be honest... this is already breaking the law!"
Stealing the child might be effective, but it was still illegal.
They were lawyers; they couldn''t do illegal things. Setting aside professional ethics, if the opposition reported them... the police would show them the true meaning of the government''s iron fist!
Her worry was not without merit.
However...
"Illegal? What''s illegal about it?"
Xu De frowned, looking at her with complete incomprehension as he tilted his head.
"We are clearly acting in a lawful and compliant manner!"
Lin Yue: ?
Lawful... and compliant?
Looking back at every single word he had spoken, down to the commas.
Lin Yue simply couldn''t find where the legality lay, nor could she see how it complied with any regulations.
On the contrary, the Criminal Code could practically be used as his dictionary!
She couldn''t hold back another exclamation, "You''re about to steal a child and threaten the other party, and you call that legal?!"
"Of course it is."
Xu De raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat puzzled as he replied as if it were a matter of course. "Is that so strange?"
"Since I started working in this field, I''ve always relied on being law-abiding and compliant."
Lin Yue: ?
Lin Yue''s eyes widened, and she couldn''t help but cry out, "No... is there even a single word in what you just said that is legal?!"