Chapter 137 - 92: A Complete Reversal

"Your side..."

The words had barely been spoken. Xu De sat at his table, his gaze like a torch. His eyes were fixed on Zhang Wei, as if they could pierce through flesh and see his very beating heart.

Generally speaking, when both sides had "no objection" to the charges and the courtroom fell silent, it signified a guilty plea.

At this point, the judge wouldn’t announce a verdict, but would confirm the positions of both sides.

Zhang Bingxin hadn’t done that just now.

So Xu De didn’t mind, as the representative, helping the judge confirm the defense’s stance!

Xu De finished his sentence.

"Do you plead guilty!?"

The words fell.

At the prosecutor’s bench, Huang Shi frowned, not understanding what this meant.

’Why even ask that?’

’A lawyer of his caliber... could he really not understand the case!?’

After all, ever since the trial had reconvened, the defense had never explicitly refuted the charges. Subconsciously, this was a guilty plea. And only by pleading guilty could they employ their "turtle" strategy.

It was so obvious.

So why ask again!?

At the judge’s bench.

The three judges were also baffled. Zhang Bingxin’s brow furrowed. A sudden, inexplicable wave of panic washed over him.

It was as if his sixth sense was trying to tell him something, but even after realizing it, he didn’t know why he felt so flustered.

As for the party in question...

At the defense table.

Zhang Wei had a smile on his face.

After all, with Lv Guangjun’s existence and the irrefutable evidence, a conviction was certain. Any further refutation was useless. It was better to work on getting a reduced sentence through a cooperative ’attitude,’ so naturally, they had to plead guilty.

However...

"Our side..."

Just as Zhang Wei opened his mouth to speak, he suddenly froze.

’Something’s wrong!’

A jolt went through Zhang Wei. He swallowed the words he was about to say as alarm bells suddenly went off in his mind.

’Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong...’

’Why would he ask me this question? No, this is very wrong...’

At this thought, Zhang Wei looked up. The smile on his face gradually vanished, replaced by a grave expression as he stared at his opponent.

Xu De met his gaze, his smile still gentle. He even gave a slight nod and asked again.

"Counsel for the defense, please tell me, do you plead guilty?"

It was as if he were just giving a reminder.

But... everyone suddenly realized that no sound was coming from the defense table. It was as if they had fallen completely silent.

Zhang Wei stared intently at Xu De, his mind a raging brainstorm!

’Something’s off. There’s something wrong with this guy.’

’Did he set a trap in this question? No... it’s just a guilty plea. How could there be a trap?’

’This is a normal part of the trial procedure... But if it’s just procedure, why would he suddenly drag it out into the open and ask for confirmation!?’

Countless thoughts tangled in his mind.

Zhang Wei’s brain began to overheat.

His breathing grew ragged, and the more he stared at Xu De, the more anxious he became.

He felt like this scene was somewhat familiar.

How was it familiar?

If he remembered correctly... this was exactly how Lv Guangjun had been trapped!

On December 2nd, the day Xu De went to No. 18 Middle School to collect evidence, he had pointed a camera at Lv Guangjun and started with a whole slew of ’disclaimers’ and ’voluntary statements’!

These things seemed reasonable, part of the process...

But in the end, they had well and truly trapped Lv Guangjun in a situation from which he could never recover!

So right now... what was his opponent’s game?

One second... two seconds... three seconds...

The only sound in the entire Second Tribunal was the breathing of the crowd. Nothing else could be heard. The silence was eerie.

Even the other lawyers at the defense table felt the strange atmosphere.

The Gold Medal Lawyer, Sun Bing, sensed something was wrong. She immediately leaned over slightly, her brow furrowed, and whispered:

"Lawyer Zhang, what is it?"

"If we don’t move to sentencing on the guilty plea now... it’ll be very disadvantageous for us."

They needed to move to sentencing.

They needed to be sentenced while the prosecution had no other evidence and their client was still a minor!

But...

"Don’t talk, I’m thinking!"

Zhang Wei gritted his teeth, glaring at Xu De who was less than ten meters away. He stared at that faintly smiling face, seething.

Logically.

His intuition told him that his opponent’s seemingly simple question might be hiding something unknown.

But... what lay before him was never a multiple-choice question.

Just as Sun Bing had said.

With the ’irrefutable evidence’ of Lv Guangjun, the defense had only one path: to plead guilty. There was no other choice.

If they didn’t plead guilty now, pleading guilty later would mean a total loss!

But if they pleaded guilty...

In that moment of hesitation...

Zhang Wei took a deep breath, steeled himself, and gritted out:

"The defense, regarding the prosecutor’s charges against the defendant in this case..."

"Has no objection!"

No objection... meant a guilty plea!

A smirk touched the corner of Xu De’s lips. He raised an eyebrow and inquired once more:

"Are you certain?"

"We are certain!"

Zhang Wei declared.

’Might as well get it over with.’ Zhang Wei refused to believe there was any other angle in this case that Xu De could exploit.

Even if his "six-dimensional chart" was maxed out... some laws couldn’t be shaken by personal ability alone!

With that said.

The defense table said no more. Xu De didn’t press further either. The atmosphere once again fell into a stalemate.

「Outside the courtroom...」

"What’s going on in there? Why can’t we hear anything?"

"It’s not that we can’t hear, it’s that no one is talking. It seems like... they’re at a stalemate again."

"Did I just hear the defendant plead guilty? If they pleaded guilty... doesn’t that mean it’s time for sentencing!?"

"I don’t know."

"..."

A slight stir rippled through the crowd at the main entrance of the Second Tribunal. Some people frowned.

’No objection’... sometimes, that wasn’t necessarily good news for the accusing party.

Until...

Suddenly, the faces of a few people near the front changed, and they quickly shushed the others.

"Shh, there’s a sound! There’s movement inside!"

...