Chapter 142 - 94: Raid Addiction

In an instant.

Everyone in the Second Courtroom reacted differently.

The prosecutors were stunned for a moment, then their faces lit up with excitement.

At the defendant’s table, however, they gritted their teeth, hands clenched so tightly it looked like they wanted to gouge a mark into the wood.

"Nan!"

Sun Miaohua cried out again.

But Liu Jingqi still didn’t look up. Her nails just dug into her palms, as if trying to tear the flesh away.

Seeing this, Zhang Bingxin said,

"Defendant, Liu Jingqi, please look up."

Though she was utterly unwilling, Liu Jingqi could only raise her head stiffly.

When she did... the face that was slowly overlapping with her blurry memories struck her like a bolt of lightning. Her complexion turned deathly pale.

At this moment.

Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin asked again,

"Defendant, do you know the witness?"

’If Liu Jingqi was six or seven when she went missing in ’90, she should have some memories. Maybe not of a familiar face, but at least some impression.’

However...

Liu Jingqi’s limbs were trembling. Her lips quivered, but she still managed to say,

"I... I don’t know her."

’She doesn’t know her?’

’Although everyone expected her to say that. After all, admitting their relation would prove she was an adult, and proving she was an adult meant a death sentence. Anyone with half a brain would deny it.’

Someone, however, didn’t feel the same way.

"You don’t recognize me!?"

"How dare you not recognize me!?"

Sun Miaohua was starting to panic, her voice filled with desperation.

’She won’t admit it? If she won’t admit it, how am I supposed to get any compensation!?’

"Zhang Yueyue, I’m telling you, don’t think I can’t recognize you just because I haven’t seen you in twelve years!"

Furious, Sun Miaohua began to curse her out right then and there.

"You ungrateful brat, have you forgotten how I raised you?"

"Now you won’t even call me ’Mom’? You heartless creature..."

She had no class.

But no one paid her any mind. For one, the crucial point of the trial was the defendant’s age, not such trivial details.

Besides, when it came to courtroom decorum...

Things were often more chaotic than one might imagine. The so-called "order in the court" generally only applied to legal professionals. As for clients or witnesses, forget cursing... it wasn’t unheard of for them to start brawling right in the courtroom.

But be that as it may.

Zhang Bingxin obviously couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

"Order, order!"

Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin banged his gavel several times, finally drowning out Sun Miaohua’s voice.

Sun Miaohua fell silent, but her eyes blazed with resentment. She stared at Liu Jingqi as if she wanted to take a bite out of her.

It was hard to believe this woman was supposedly her mother...

The courtroom fell silent once more.

At the prosecution table.

The three prosecutors gave Xu De a strange look.

Even a few of the senior lawyers among the seven at the defendant’s table couldn’t help but look over at him.

Even the bailiffs responsible for maintaining order and the court clerk couldn’t resist glancing at Xu De, their eyes filled with utter disbelief.

Honestly.

Every one of them was a veteran of the legal system.

What kind of cases hadn’t they seen? What kind of evidentiary ambushes hadn’t they weathered?

But...

They had truly never seen anything like this before.

’What kind of logic was this? Helping convict an abductee who’d been missing for twelve years... by finding her biological mother?’

’Seriously...’

’How did those words even end up in the same sentence!?’

Everyone was utterly baffled, completely unable to fathom what Xu De had actually done.

"Unreal..."

At the prosecution table, prosecutor Huang Shi was at a complete loss for an adjective, and just silently spat out a single word.

It was hard to tell if it was a description or a curse.

’If I recall correctly, he only started investigating Liu Jingqi on the evening of the 17th.’

’From the 17th until today... no, wait, it must have been the 23rd. He reappeared in Lusen City on the 23rd.’

’Which means, Xu De only took... six and a half days?’

’In six and a half days, he managed to track down the biological parents of someone who was abducted twelve years ago?!’

’Wait a minute...’

"With that kind of skill, why is he even a lawyer!?" Prosecutor Wang Mang couldn’t help but blurt out.

The others remained silent.

After a long moment...

A voice came from the judge’s bench.

"Witness, you..."

Judge Zhang Bingxin looked at the witness, Sun Miaohua. He opened his mouth to speak, then paused, unsure of what to even ask.

The situation was already crystal clear.

Sun Miaohua would accuse, and Liu Jingqi would deny. No matter what he asked, their answers wouldn’t change.

More importantly... there didn’t seem to be anything left to ask.

Zhang Bingxin fell silent.

Fortunately, another voice broke the silence.

"Your Honor, that is merely a unilateral, verbal accusation from the witness!"

At the defendant’s table, Zhang Wei, mustering what little strength he had left, continued his desperate struggle.

Though he felt utterly exhausted and weak, he refused to give up, struggling to get the words out:

"The opposing counsel still cannot prove that the defendant, Liu Jingqi, and this ’Zhang Yueyue’ are one and the same person!"

The mother, the information, the household registry—these things might form a chain of suspicion.

But... it’s still not enough to constitute irrefutable proof!

Unless...

’Unless the opposing counsel can prove, right here and now, that a blood relationship exists between the witness, Sun Miaohua, and the defendant, Liu Jingqi. If he could do that, this entire chain of suspicion would instantly transform into a chain of *evidence*!’

’At that point, it wouldn’t matter if the details about the orphanage or the human traffickers were still unclear. The established fact would stand on its own.’

As for how to prove it...

’There’s only one way: a biological DNA parentage report!’

’Zhang Wei refused to believe it. In a mere eleven-day recess, how could Xu De not only find Sun Miaohua but also find the time to get a DNA test done?!’

’Unless it was an official rush order from a judicial body, a test like that would take three days at the absolute minimum!’

’So, if the court adjourned now without irrefutable proof, there would be at least a seven-day recess. That would be enough time for the defense to prepare a new argument to overturn the case.’

Therefore.

"Unless the opposing counsel can submit a piece of objective, physical, irrefutable proof, then as for the proceedings of this trial..."

Zhang Wei stood up, and his voice carried to every corner of the room.

"We object!!!"

’He objects?’

That was a formal objection!

At the prosecution table, Prosecutor Huang Shi’s brow furrowed. He clenched his fists, about to speak up.

"Your Ho—"

But he had barely opened his mouth when a voice from beside him cut him off.

"Your Honor!"

"We have one more piece of evidence to present!"

Xu De spoke up again. This time, he was holding a document that had clearly been printed just moments ago.

’There’s... more?’

’Wait... you have more!?’

At the defendant’s table.

Zhang Wei and Sun Bing nearly coughed up blood. They could feel their blood pressure skyrocketing, their heads pounding as if about to explode. Speechless, they could only grit their teeth and glare at him.

But he completely ignored them.

Xu De continued,

"Before this hearing, in the interest of rigorous and objective identification, we anonymously arranged for..."

"...the witness, Sun Miaohua, and the defendant, Liu Jingqi, to undergo a biological parentage test—a DNA test, for short."

"The report clearly states..."

"...that there is a confirmed biological parent-child relationship between the witness, Sun Miaohua, and the defendant, Liu Jingqi. They are mother and daughter!"

"I now submit this report for the court’s consideration."

As he finished speaking,

the court clerk slowly took the report and handed it to the judge’s bench, all under the stunned—and in some cases, murderous—gazes of the courtroom.

On the judge’s bench.

The three judges stared at the conclusive test results, mouths agape, completely at a loss for words.

’A surprise attack...’

’Another evidentiary ambush...’

’Leaving no one any time to prepare...’

’The court had no contingency plan for this sort of thing. In fact... this surprise evidence had no official judicial standing whatsoever!’

"Counsel, this wasn’t ordered by a judicial body..."

Zhang Bingxin’s face was grim as he stared at Xu De and forced the words through clenched teeth.

’So much evidence...’

’And this man hadn’t submitted a single piece of it for pre-trial discovery!’

’The first time, he had reluctantly turned a blind eye... But now, it seemed this man was addicted to ambushes. It was never-ending!?’

Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin took a deep breath, reining in his emotions. In a low voice, he asked, "Are you ambushing the court with evidence?"

But Xu De seemed not to notice the judge’s expression, replying calmly,

"Your Honor, while our actions may bear some resemblance to an ’evidentiary ambush,’..."

"this time, we have a justifiable reason!"

’So there’s a justifiable reason *this* time... which means you’re admitting you didn’t have one last time!?’