Chapter 66: Trust the Wisdom of Our Seniors! |
6:00 PM.
In the senior year office of Green Forest 18th Academy.
The entire office was empty save for Lü Guangjun, who sat alone, thoroughly restless.
After a long while, he stood up and opened the door.
Two figures stepped inside.
"Hello, Teacher Lü. We finally meet."
Xu De offered Lü Guangjun a warm smile. As he spoke, he placed a shoulder bag on the left side of a teacher''s desk. The bag had a finger-long opening, and through the gap, the glint of a camera lens flickered.
"H-Hello," Lü Guangjun forced out, adding, "Please, take a seat."
Xu De nodded and sat across from him.
"Mr. Lü, please don''t be nervous."
"Our audio and video recording equipment is right here."
Xu De gestured toward Wang Chao and the backpack. "Let me make a statement beforehand."
"From this moment on, for the next hour inside this office, any form of filming or conversation will be deemed valid."
"Furthermore, if either party steps out—such as to use the restroom—any private communications regarding this case, including phone calls made by the remaining party while alone, will also be valid."
"Until we declare it over, the session remains active."
"Teacher Lü, if you agree, please sign this contract."
Right off the bat, he spouted conditions that made one''s head spin.
Looking at the contract handed to him, Lü Guangjun took a deep breath and asked, "Do we... do we really need to sign a contract just to give a statement?"
Xu De smiled. "This is to ensure public credibility. If you have any concerns, you are free to refuse."
The very next second.
"What could I possibly be concerned about?!" Lü Guangjun snapped, as if someone had stepped on his tail.
He snatched the pen from Xu De and decisively signed his name.
"Go ahead and ask!" Lü Guangjun said with forced nonchalance.
"Alright. We came today primarily regarding the conflict between Yang Jiale and the defendant," Xu De said with a nod. His next words made Lü Guangjun''s pupils contract.
"The outbreak of the conflict on the day of her death was a bit suspicious. We suspect a third party may have triggered the defendant''s emotional meltdown, directly causing the incident."
"Teacher Lü, do you have any thoughts on this matter?"
Suddenly, the hairs on Lü Guangjun''s arms stood on end. His chest tightened, and his breathing grew shallow and anxious.
"I... I don''t really know much about it."
He forced the words out, then awkwardly stumbled through an addition. "They argued all the time. Who knows, maybe it was just an accident..."
Sweat pooled in his palms, and his hands clenched involuntarily.
"That really is a shame. Under these circumstances, if such a person existed, they could be charged as an accomplice."
"If they are an adult and the circumstances are egregious, the criminal liability starts at ten years minimum," Xu De sighed regretfully.
Cold sweat broke out on Lü Guangjun''s forehead. "That... that really is a shame."
Xu De shifted the topic.
"Before the incident, the deceased suffered abuse multiple times. Did you ever see her report this to any other teachers?"
"Because if she did..."
"We can fully hold them accountable."
Lü Guangjun was sweating buckets now. He swallowed hard and said sheepishly, "I... I''m not entirely sure."
Xu De continued, "Then..."
He asked a rapid succession of questions related to the case.
Unfortunately, Lü Guangjun either claimed ignorance or gave vague, evasive answers.
Just as Xu De patiently prepared to keep pressing...
Ring, ring, ring—
Suddenly, a phone rang. Xu De answered it, then stood up and apologized to Lü Guangjun.
"I''m sorry, Mr. Lü. An urgent matter has come up for work."
With that, Xu De turned and walked out with Wang Chao.
"No problem, no problem," Lü Guangjun said, scrambling to his feet. He only let out a sigh of relief once the two of them had vanished from sight.
He slumped limply into his chair, yet the words Xu De had just spoken kept echoing in his mind.
An accomplice to murder...
How could anyone be considered an accomplice?!
Agitated and uneasy, Lü Guangjun began pacing back and forth.
After a long time, he glanced at the surveillance camera in the office, then peeked at the hallway outside, confirming no one was around.
Finally, gritting his teeth, he turned his back to the camera and dialed the number for Liu Jingqi''s parents.
Liu Jingqi''s mother answered the phone.
"Hello?"
Lü Guangjun said anxiously, "The victim''s family hired a lawyer. It looks like they''re pushing for criminal charges. Are you guys not getting the letter of forgiveness anymore?"
Silence hung over the other end of the line for a moment, followed by a sharp, piercing voice.
"Criminal charges?!"
"Lü Guangjun, this is all your fault! Why did you have to go out of your way to tell Jingqi that she shouldn''t bully her classmates?!"
"If you hadn''t said anything, Jingqi wouldn''t have killed anyone. And if she hadn''t killed anyone, she wouldn''t be facing prison..."
"It''s all because of you! I''m telling you, if anything happens to my child, you won''t escape either!"
"To think our family sent you so many gifts, and you treat us like this..."
Lü Guangjun had felt somewhat guilty initially, but now his temper flared.
"Can you be reasonable for once?!"
"Liu Jingqi was the one who forced her to stand on the rooftop, and she was the one who deliberately shook Yang Jiale''s legs to scare her, causing her to fall to her death!"
The voice blared through the speaker. "I don''t care! If anything happens to Jingqi, you''re going down too!"
"If you don''t align your testimony with ours, when the time comes..."
Lü Guangjun''s chest heaved with rage. After a long moment, he hung up in fury.
He sat in his chair, feeling utterly exhausted.
If he had known it would turn out like this, he never would have intervened in the first place.
Then he wouldn''t be facing the possibility of becoming an accomplice to murder...
Recalling what the lawyer had said, Lü Guangjun was overwhelmed by panic.
A short while later.
A sudden knock rattled the office door.
Knock, knock, knock!
The sound struck like a hammer against his raw nerves. Lü Guangjun snapped his eyes open. "Who is it?!"
"Teacher Lü, it''s me."
Xu De pushed the door open and walked straight inside. He picked up the signed contract from the desk and smoothly grabbed the backpack.
"I forgot the contract and the bag. Sorry to take up your time again."
With that, he turned back toward the door.
"Mr. Lü, I have an urgent matter to attend to, so as for our recorded audio and video conversation..."
"As of right now, it is officially concluded."
"If you believe the video and audio recordings carry public credibility and have no objections..."
Looking at Lü Guangjun, Xu De flashed a warm smile. "Then we''ll be taking our leave."
Lü Guangjun felt a strange prickle of unease, but right now, he just wanted the man gone. "No objections. Everything I said was the truth."
"It''s good that you have no objections... I recall you will be appearing in court as a witness, Mr. Lü..."
"In that case..."
Xu De nodded, a smile spreading across his face.
"See you in court."
Lü Guangjun felt a weight lift from his chest. "See you in court."
...
...
7:20 PM.
Inside a sedan parked outside the gates of Green Forest 18th Academy.
"See you in court..."
Xu De played the recording, the audio from the speaker echoing in their ears. The entire car fell into dead silence. The next second...
"Holy crap!"
Wang Chao poked his head over from the back seat, his face filled with utter shock.
What had he just witnessed?
A kamikaze attack!
That was right, Lü Guangjun had completely self-destructed, explaining the entire background of the case in meticulous detail!
"It really was him... Damn. No wonder Liu Jingqi targeted Yang Jiale that day!" Wang Chao muttered.
The contents of this recording... if nothing else, that single phrase ''deliberately shook her legs'' was enough to pin intentional homicide on Liu Jingqi!
Only...
Wang Chao pondered for a moment, then looked at Xu De.
"Isn''t this... considered an illegal collection of evidence?"
He was worried that even though they had the evidence, they wouldn''t be able to use it. After all, by any standard, this fell under ''procedural violations''...
"Heh, don''t worry."
"Why do you think I said so much to Lü Guangjun right at the beginning?"
Xu De wasn''t worried in the slightest.
He knew all about surreptitious recording and illegal evidence collection, which was why...
The logically airtight conditions he laid out right off the bat, along with that contract, were designed precisely to circumvent ''illegal evidence collection''!
Of course, there was still risk involved, but then again... no piece of evidence was entirely without risk.
With that in mind...
Wang Chao''s eye twitched, and he blurted instinctively, "Legalized illegal evidence collection?!"
As he recalled the brief exchange, he realized Xu De''s concise statement had managed to bypass ninety percent of the criteria for improperly obtained evidence!
"What violation? If it''s legal, then it''s perfectly compliant!" Xu De shook his head.
Wang Chao praised from the side, "Brother, you''re even more devious than I am."
Then, he added excitedly, "Should we submit this evidence to the Procuratorate and the court right away?"
Although the trial was approaching fast, they were still within the evidence submission period, so there was still time.
However...
"Why would we submit it now?" Xu De asked, puzzled.
Wang Chao replied, "How else are we going to use it? You can''t just spring an evidence ambush in the middle of..."
Midway through his sentence, Wang Chao abruptly froze.
"You''re planning an evidence ambush?!" Wang Chao practically jumped out of his seat.
"Is there any specific law explicitly stating a lawyer cannot stage an evidence ambush?" Xu De countered.
Wang Chao paused, his top-tier law school brain running through the answers before he turned his gaze toward Lin Yue.
Lin Yue sighed and answered for him, "The law doesn''t forbid it."
Exactly. The law did not prohibit evidence ambushes; doing so merely lowered the judge''s goodwill and required an immediate cross-examination.
Therefore...
"I haven''t broken any laws."
"As for whether this counts as perjury, secret recording, malicious evidence fabrication, or illegal collection..."
Xu De paused.
A smile spread across his face.
"Remember this: if we were the defense and pulled this out, the judge, the prosecutor, the plaintiff, and their agents would be furious."
"But we represent the plaintiff. We have allies."
The public prosecutor and the civil plaintiff''s agent were natural allies, bound by a shared interest.
So...
"The moment we whip this out in court, the ones more anxious than us, the ones who will want to ''legalize'' this evidence more than anyone else, won''t be us..."
"It will be the public prosecutor!"
Precisely. Once the evidence was brought to light, as long as everyone knew the evidence was genuine...
Even if the judge claimed the evidence was gathered unlawfully, the first person to snap would absolutely be the prosecutor. They would argue tooth and nail that the evidence was as legal as it could possibly get!
Wang Chao was dumbfounded, holding his head in utter amazement. He had never imagined a case could be fought this way!
What was this?
Using the opponent''s strength against them? Pitting tigers against wolves?
Or shutting the door to unleash the hounds? Xu De would close the door, and Huang Shi would act as the hound?
They never taught this in law school! Damn it, those old law professors back at the elite university had actually held back and hidden this trick from him!
In any case...
Xu De looked at Lin Yue.
"How long until the trial begins?"
Lin Yue was still reeling from Xu De''s terrifying tactics, but she answered regardless, "Soon. I expect the summons will be delivered within the next few days."
Xu De nodded.
Improper evidence collection? A fifty percent chance of being inadmissible?
First of all, that also meant a case with zero breakthroughs now had a fifty percent chance of securing a conviction.
Secondly, even if it was thrown out, it would still heavily influence the judge''s discretionary sentencing power.
Most importantly...
"Just use it with peace of mind."
"When the time comes, a prosecutor will naturally step up to carry the weight for us."
Xu De stated calmly:
"We must trust the wisdom of our seniors!!!"