Chapter 141 - 94: Addicted to Raiding

I have brought the defendant Liu Jingqi’s biological mother to court...

I request to summon a witness to testify in court regarding Liu Jingqi’s parentage...

The instant he finished speaking, the entire Second Courtroom plunged into a bizarre silence.

Everyone froze, their expressions stunned, their minds going blank as they stared at Xu De.

His words were like a massive sledgehammer, swung high and brought down hard on their heads, leaving everyone seeing stars.

’What does he mean... a biological mother?’

’What does he mean, he’s requesting to summon the biological mother of a missing orphan to testify at trial!?’

It was bizarre.

The logic of his statement was perfectly clear, yet as they tried to process it, their thoughts tangled into knots.

At the defendant’s table.

Zhang Wei and Sun Bing were also stunned. They turned and stared at each other, utterly bewildered.

Both were so shocked they wondered if they had misheard him...

At the judge’s bench.

After a long moment, Zhang Bingxin finally reacted.

He opened his mouth, but hesitated. A moment later, he finally spoke:

"Counsel, you mean to say..."

"You’ve found the biological mother of the defendant, Liu Jingqi... the orphan who’s been missing for twelve years?"

"And now."

"You are requesting that she be brought before the court to testify?"

Xu De frowned and nodded.

"Yes."

’Wasn’t I clear enough? Anyone should be able to understand that.’

Zhang Bingxin fell silent, as did the other two judges.

A moment passed.

Judge Lu Guowei took a deep breath, collecting himself, and asked:

"Where is the witness now?"

Xu De replied, "The witness is already here at the Lusen City Intermediate People’s Court, waiting in the witness room."

As soon as he finished speaking, Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin didn’t hesitate.

He struck the gavel.

"BANG!"

Zhang Bingxin declared:

"Bring the witness into the courtroom!"

Generally, witnesses, like any other evidence, must be disclosed during the discovery phase.

However, because people are an unpredictable element, they can sometimes appear without prior disclosure.

In fact, in later years with the development of the internet, testimony could even be given via a two-way video call.

Before long.

"CREAK~"

The heavy doors of the Second Courtroom were pushed open.

Two bailiffs escorted a woman inside.

The moment the woman entered, every one of the dozens of people in the Second Courtroom turned to stare, their eyes sizing her up from head to toe.

Their first impression was of a gaunt woman with above-average looks.

The crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes, however, showed she was no longer young.

And Liu Jingqi...

The instant she saw the woman, her pupils constricted and every muscle in her body tensed. The force was so great that the chair beneath her began to wobble noticeably.

"SCREEECH!"

The legs of the chair scraped against the floor, emitting a sharp, grating sound that set one’s teeth on edge.

The bailiffs led the woman toward the witness stand.

"BANG!"

Judge Zhang Bingxin struck the gavel again. The sharp sound drew the woman’s attention.

She looked up and met Zhang Bingxin’s hawk-like gaze, and her heart immediately lurched.

"Witness, please state your personal information," Zhang Bingxin said.

His voice was level.

But it carried an authority that made Sun Miaohua’s heart clench. She swallowed hard, mentally reviewed the procedure Xu De had explained to her, took a deep breath, and spoke:

"I... I’m Sun Miaohua."

"I live in Taocun Village, Lianshan County, Yan’an City, Your Province. I’m thirty-eight years old, female..."

Sun Miaohua, 38 years old...

Hearing her age, the crowd paused.

’If the evidence Xu De submitted is true, then Liu Jingqi is an adult... not just eighteen, but possibly even nineteen...’

’A thirty-eight-year-old with a nineteen-year-old daughter? That means she gave birth at nineteen? Or was even pregnant at eighteen!?’

Although it wasn’t uncommon these days.

Still, everyone subconsciously felt the age was questionable.

But when they looked up and saw Sun Miaohua’s face—a face so strikingly similar to Liu Jingqi’s—they were struck dumb.

Her features, her face... she really did look just like Liu Jingqi!

"Witness Sun Miaohua!"

"Counsel stated earlier that twelve years ago, in 1990, you lost a child named ’Nan’?"

Zhang Bingxin asked.

’Sun Miaohua wanted to say no—after all, she’d never even wanted a child—but for the sake of the compensation, she nodded.’

"That’s right. My kid was only six back then, gone so young..."

Zhang Bingxin asked again:

"Then in the time between 1990 and today, December 28th, 2002, have you seen her?"

Sun Miaohua shook her head. "No."

Strictly speaking...

She had actually seen a photo, one taken of Liu Jingqi at the orphanage in ’91.

But that could be considered negligible, as the picture was taken not long after she went missing.

Judge Zhang Bingxin nodded.

Then, instead of continuing his questions, he turned his gaze toward the three defendants at their table.

His eyes were piercing as he spoke slowly, his voice deep:

"Witness, please look at the defendant’s table."

’The defendant’s table?’

Confusion appeared on Sun Miaohua’s face. She didn’t know where the defendant’s table was, so she simply let her eyes sweep across the entire room.

Her gaze swept past the prosecutor’s table, then the counsel’s table, then past Zhang Wei and Sun Bing at the defendant’s table, and finally...

Her gaze landed, as if in a trance, on a seat at the defendant’s table.

It stopped on the figure with tightly clenched fists, her head bowed low!

Even though they hadn’t met in twelve years, and even though Sun Miaohua had never truly cared for her, in that moment, the bond of blood made her freeze. She couldn’t stop herself from subconsciously blurting out:

"Nan!?"

The single word fell abruptly into the silence.

Every eye in the room immediately flew to the defendant’s table, to the bowed head of Liu Jingqi.