Chapter 136 - 91: The Time Has Come! The Oriole Behind

"Furthermore, according to the case file, this was a standard criminal investigation and arrest. It has absolutely nothing to do with a voluntary surrender!"

Huang Shi’s face was stern, and his voice was loud and clear.

’Voluntary surrender?’

The police didn’t apprehend the suspect until three hours after the incident.

’He’d never heard of a case where the police having to show up and arrest someone three hours after a murder was considered a voluntary surrender!’

"I must correct the prosecution on one point!"

But Zhang Wei immediately retorted.

"The law clearly stipulates that cases of ’able to flee but choosing not to’ are considered a form of voluntary surrender."

"The defendant, Liu Jingqi, and her two accomplices, had ample opportunity to flee the crime scene—No. 18 Middle School—after the incident, yet they chose to remain and wait to be taken away by the police."

"Furthermore, they did not resist arrest and were subjectively compliant!"

That was true.

The scene at the school was chaotic and crowded. If they had truly wanted to run, three hours would have been more than enough to escape.

Even if they couldn’t get out of the city, they could have at least hidden somewhere in Lusen City. After laying low for a few months, Liu Jingqi could have easily left and started a new life under an assumed name elsewhere.

It might have sounded unrealistic.

But that’s how things were in 2002. The level of social control was worlds apart from what it would be twenty years later—a difference like night and day.

However...

"Objection!"

"The defendant never cooperated with the police. Your statement is a gross misrepresentation of the facts!"

"Voluntary surrender is always defined by the full context of events, yet you are isolating their actions to the grounds of No. 18 Middle School and twisting their fear into ’compliance’!"

"Furthermore, the crime scene was the rooftop of the main academic building. They were arrested in their dormitory, which is outside the designated perimeter of the crime scene."

"In conclusion, the defendant, Liu Jingqi, did not ’refrain from fleeing.’ She had already fled, attempting to hide in her dormitory and use the chaos to her advantage!"

Prosecutor Zhang Qing suddenly spoke up, his expression grim.

He rose to his feet and declared:

"The definition of voluntary surrender must also take subsequent actions into account."

"The defendant, Liu Jingqi, attempted to have her family collude with Lv Guangjun to create favorable circumstances and conceal her crime. This is a clear case of ’refusing to confess’ and should be punished severely!"

A voluntary surrender is never determined by a single snapshot in time.

You have to look at the entire sequence of events!

First, did they flee? Second, how were they taken into custody? And finally, did they cooperate afterward?

Let me put it this way.

Even if you walk into a police station on your own accord, if you then refuse to say a word and resist confessing, it doesn’t count as a voluntary surrender.

That’s right.

Even if you voluntarily walk into a police station, as long as you don’t confess, it doesn’t even qualify as ’turning yourself in,’ let alone a full ’voluntary surrender’!

Voluntary surrender is a simple equation: turning oneself in plus a truthful confession of one’s crimes equals a voluntary surrender.

Liu Jingqi’s subsequent refusal to cooperate, her lack of confession, and this whole affair with Lv Guangjun—no matter how you spin it, her actions are heinous.

In short...

Prosecutor Zhang Qing took a deep breath.

In that moment, he unleashed all the pent-up arguments he had replayed in his mind countless times over the past few months.

"Shameless! Defense counsel, that is an utterly shameless, unethical, and deceitful argument!"

"Everything you’ve just said is completely heartless and unconscionable!"

"Your Honor, I move to have the defense’s statement dismissed!"

’Is he...’

’Is he actually cursing them out in court?’

Honestly, courtroom decorum normally forbids such outbursts, but Zhang Qing had gone ahead and done it anyway...

Xu De instinctively glanced at Zhang Qing. Looking at the prosecutor’s back, he felt there was something strange about the way he’d delivered those words.

As for the defense table...

Zhang Wei, the Gold Medal Lawyer, also had a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

"Why such a strong reaction?"

Zhang Wei muttered to himself.

He had expected a reaction, but he’d never imagined Zhang Qing would resort to a direct outburst in court...

「On the judge’s bench.」

"Defense counsel, your fourth point regarding the defendant’s voluntary surrender is without merit. It is hereby rejected!"

Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin spoke, his words sharp and precise, leaving no room for rebuttal.

’Trying a stunt like that... they should have considered who was on the bench today.’

’For him, Zhang Bingxin, to accept that argument? Not until hell freezes over.’

Of course.

"Mr. Prosecutor, mind your decorum."

"This is a court of law. Do not engage in personal attacks or character assassination!"

"You are warned."

Zhang Bingxin turned to Zhang Qing, a move that amounted to a slap on the wrist for both sides.

As for that...

At the defense table, Zhang Wei wasn’t bothered. ’So it was rejected. So what?’

As long as he stuck to his defensive, turtle-like strategy, the scales of victory would inevitably tip in his favor.

’As for the voluntary surrender claim?’

’It didn’t matter that it was thrown out. His core strategy relied on the first three points anyway.’

First, dilute responsibility. Use the defendant Liu Jingqi’s status as a minor, in conjunction with the Juvenile Protection Law, to shift a portion of the blame for the murder onto the school.

Second, make Lv Guangjun the scapegoat.

And third, conclude with the argument that ’the focus should be on rehabilitation’...

The logic and feasibility of his plan were practically airtight.

Why?

Because all three points of his mitigation defense were intertwined with the Juvenile Protection Law. He never expected them to be dismissed entirely. As long as even a fraction of his argument held...

"Fifteen years?"

On the bench, Judge Lu Guowei frowned and muttered in a low voice,

"If this is the case... I’m afraid we won’t even be able to sentence her to eighteen years."

Before the trial, Vice President Qian Hu had suggested increasing the sentence by two years, but now... if the defense’s arguments were accepted, he doubted they could even get a sentence of eighteen years.

"Mr. Prosecutor, do you have anything further to add?"

Zhang Bingxin asked, looking at Huang Shi.

Huang Shi opened his mouth, then fell silent.

Any further arguments would have to be based on evidence, but he... had no more evidence.

The defense had even chosen to ’avoid a direct confrontation.’ They weren’t refuting the charges at all; their entire case was built around mitigation and sentence reduction, refusing to engage head-on.

"The prosecution... has no further evidence to present."

Huang Shi shook his head and sighed deeply.

’Just as I thought. The case is going exactly as I predicted.’

Suddenly.

The entire Second Tribunal fell silent.

Even the crowd of reporters outside the courtroom fell quiet, straining to hear the faint sounds trickling out from within.

The prosecution had no new evidence.

The defense offered no rebuttal to the charges—a de facto admission of guilt—and presented only arguments for mitigation, leaving the rest to the judge’s discretion.

There were no heated clashes, no further objections, no more questions.

In that case...

According to court procedure... the conviction phase had reached its final moment.

Once the judge brought down the gavel, the trial would move to its final stage: sentencing.

’And sentencing based on the current state of the case... fifteen years? They’d probably get fifteen years.’

’So this is it... Just like I thought from the start, a case with no twists, no openings. A completely hopeless outcome?’

Just as the courtroom was plunged into silence...

「On the judge’s bench.」

Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin suddenly seemed to remember something.

He paused, and his gaze shifted... landing on the one person who had been the quietest throughout the entire trial, the one who had never once tried to ’obstruct the mitigation arguments’: the counsel for the victim. Or rather...

Xu De!

’He... isn’t saying anything?’

’No, that’s not right. Zhang Wei is using his own tactics. This is clearly a provocation...’

’He’s staying silent even as Liu Jingqi’s sentence is about to be reduced. Zhang Wei’s arguments... are enough to get the sentence down to fifteen years!’

’So why isn’t he saying a single word?’

In a normal criminal case, a victim’s counsel might indeed remain this quiet.

But for Xu De... it wasn’t right. It was ten, no, eleven-out-of-ten not right.

The man was too quiet. Unnaturally quiet. Eerily quiet.

In a flash of realization,

Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin seemed to realize something was terribly wrong. He frowned and opened his mouth.

A sudden voice cut through the silent courtroom.

"Counsel for the victim."

"Do you... have any objections to raise?"

The counsel for the victim?

In that instant, everyone’s attention snapped toward him.

And with those words... Xu De, who had practically been invisible, was thrust back into the spotlight.

’But it didn’t matter.’ After all...

’The time... was right.’

At this moment.

From the victim’s counsel’s seat.

"Your Honor, I have a small question for the opposing counsel."

Xu De suddenly lifted his head, his gaze falling upon Zhang Wei at the defense table, who was completely oblivious to what was about to happen.

"My question is..."

’He thinks he’s in complete control of the courtroom’s tempo?’

’Too bad for him. The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.’

And then.

After sitting silent for the entire proceeding, now, on the very eve of a verdict, the counsel for the victim finally, slowly, began to speak.

He formally asked his first question of the trial... an seemingly innocuous question, utterly devoid of any bite.

"To the defense, regarding the charges brought by the prosecution in this case..."

Xu De’s tone was mild. He looked at Zhang Wei with a faint smile and continued slowly,

"Do you have any objections? Or, to put it another way..."

"Are you pleading guilty?"

...