Chapter 148 - 98: Huang Shi: How can you still have evidence!?

In later years, with sufficiently advanced technology, it might not even take a full day; you could have the analysis report in hand the very same day.

The three-day timeframe was, in reality, a very conservative estimate.

It was mainly to give the court time for evidence gathering and verification, and for the judicial committee to meet and discuss sentencing.

So...

"Go home and get some rest. I’ll contact you if anything comes up."

Xu De said.

Hearing this, Lin Yue and Wang Chao breathed a sigh of relief, exhaustion showing in their eyes.

Although they had only played support roles during the trial, it was still exhausting. The only reason Xu De showed no reaction was that the man was an absolute machine, as if his muscles never fatigued!

"I’ll be heading out then."

Wang Chao stood up, yawned, and headed for the door.

CREAK—

The main door of the law firm was pushed open.

Wang Chao had just stepped outside, ready to leave, when he suddenly froze.

There...

Outside the law firm, a large crowd of people was walking over, clearly targeting the firm!

Some of them wore police uniforms, others wore black suits with red ties, and as for their identities...

Police officers? Prosecutors!?

Wang Chao’s heart skipped a beat. He took a closer look and saw that the man in the lead was none other than Prosecutor Huang Shi.

The prosecutor’s expression was grim as he led the group toward the office.

Just as he thought.

’Just as the Director figured, the prosecutor would be in such a hurry he wouldn’t even bother clocking out. He’d come straight to the law firm for the evidence.’

Wang Chao stroked his chin, thinking to himself as he watched them approach.

The case was time-sensitive. A trial that should have concluded with an immediate verdict had been forcefully adjourned by Xu De.

This unexpected development clearly didn’t align with the City Prosecution Office’s ’procedures,’ so of course they were anxious.

"This doesn’t look good," Wang Chao muttered thoughtfully.

It wasn’t long before Huang Shi and his group reached the law firm. He merely shot Wang Chao a passing glance before looking away, intent on entering.

Just as he was about to push the door open,

Wang Chao called out, almost by instinct:

"Hey!"

"Knock on the door. Are you just going to barge right in?"

At the main door, Huang Shi, who had planned to barge right in and give Xu De a piece of his mind, stumbled.

He straightened up and turned to look at Wang Chao. Clearly holding back his anger, he hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"I’m a prosecutor!"

’Xu De was already treating them like dogs... If he had to knock just to enter a law firm, wouldn’t that make them look way too meek!?’

"So what if you’re a prosecutor?"

"You’re not clients of the firm. It’s fine if clients don’t knock, but you’re here to see Lawyer Xu. That makes you guests—and guests who are asking for a favor, no less."

Wang Chao retorted, full of confidence:

"Guests who need a favor just barge in without knocking? You think that’s right!?"

’So formal?’

Among the crowd, a few of the police officers looked surprised and were at a loss for words.

Huang Shi, however, was left speechless. Clearly, Wang Chao’s words had struck a nerve.

He raised a hand and pointed accusingly at Wang Chao, then turned around and rapped sharply on the door.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The sound echoed into the reception area.

Xu De, who had been bracing for a storm, suddenly raised an eyebrow and called out:

"Come in."

The moment he spoke,

the main door was pushed open.

Huang Shi and his men swarmed inside.

’So it really was the prosecutor who knocked!?’

Slightly surprised, Xu De immediately offered his praise.

"Worthy of a prosecutor from the City Prosecution Office! So polite!"

’To be fair,’ Xu De thought, ’I’ve made a complete monkey out of him, ambushed him twice in court, and thrown out a mountain of evidence without giving him a single hint beforehand...’

’Under these circumstances, for him to come settle the score and still knock first...’

’That was polite to an extreme!’

But the look in Huang Shi’s eyes grew increasingly dangerous. He didn’t speak, merely narrowing his eyes and staring menacingly at Xu De as he slowly approached.

Though startled, Xu De maintained a calm expression as he stood up and backed away.

"Prosecutor Huang, what are you trying to do?"

Huang Shi took another step forward. "Don’t move. I just want to see if you got hurt on your two-thousand-kilometer evidence-gathering trip."

His expression unwavering, Xu De stood behind the sofa.

"I don’t think that will be necessary..."

’Don’t move?’

’Only a fool wouldn’t move!’

’Prosecutors are people, too, and people have emotions.’

’If anyone else were in Huang Shi’s shoes, after being screwed over twice in a row like this, it’s a wonder they wouldn’t be cussing me out already.’

"Heh."

Huang Shi sneered, his eyes hostile, looking as if he was ready to grab Xu De at any moment.

’This bastard...’

’He really knows how to screw people over. Absolutely zero credibility!’

’When we met at the Medical University two days ago, he said he was just visiting a friend... then he turns around and whips out an anonymous DNA test in court.’

’Stupid... I’m so stupid. I only knew he was holding back the evidence on Lv Guangjun.’

’But I didn’t dig deeper into the testing facility. I thought he wouldn’t lie again...’

Huang Shi grumbled to himself, like a broken record.

To him, procedure was paramount. Many people might resent it, but in reality, if you didn’t follow procedure, it could create huge problems; the number of wrongful convictions alone would increase exponentially.

It was only because Xu De’s evidence was so ironclad; otherwise, anyone else would have completely lost their temper by now.

"Alright."

After a moment, Huang Shi took a deep breath, suppressing the emotions churning inside him.

He was short on time—he hadn’t even had a moment to rest after work—so he wasn’t about to waste any more of it messing around with Xu De.

He immediately held out his hand and demanded:

"Where’s the evidence?"

"And the witness. Where are they?"

Evidence with legal standing still had to be processed by the prosecutor. Of course, the court would also conduct its own verification, making it a two-pronged approach.

Huang Shi was no less invested in the case than Xu De.

He was simply constrained by his position and the rigid procedures, but now that he had an opportunity, he would naturally seize it.

"Over there."

Xu De pointed behind him.

When Huang Shi turned around, he saw a stack of files neatly arranged on the table, and his eye immediately twitched.

’Of course.’

’Did the guy anticipate getting roughed up, so he had all the evidence ready and waiting!?’

Prosecutor Wang Mang stepped forward to inspect the files.

As he read the information inside, he became visibly excited and nodded at Huang Shi.

’Once this evidence is stamped and given legal force...’

’He couldn’t imagine how they could possibly lose this case!’

Huang Shi looked away from the files.

He thought for a moment, then suddenly looked back at Xu De, asking cautiously:

"Where’s the rest of it?"

Xu De paused. "The rest of what?"

"The other evidence," Huang Shi said, his eyes scanning Xu De from head to toe.

’He’s definitely still hiding something!’

"That’s all I’ve got."

The corner of Xu De’s mouth twitched.

Huang Shi scoffed. From now on, as far as he was concerned, Xu De’s credibility was in the negative.

"Are you sure?"

He circled Xu De twice, eyeing him like some priceless treasure.

’If he could...’

’He probably wanted to pick Xu De up and give him a good shake, just to see if any more evidence would fall out.’

Xu De felt his skin crawl under the intense scrutiny.

"There’s really nothing left. Prosecutor Huang, you have to believe me."

Huang Shi still didn’t speak. He just stood there, as if trying to discern the truth of Xu De’s words, and fell into deep thought.

’Then again,’ he thought,

’At this stage, there really was no need to hide any more evidence.’

’If he did have more... it wouldn’t make sense to save it for the second appeal.’

’Going all-in to crush Liu Jingqi was the only logical move. Another surprise attack in a third court session... could easily lead to a third adjournment.’

’All things considered...’

Huang Shi concluded that Xu De probably didn’t have any more evidence. Pressuring him like this was starting to make him feel a bit ashamed of himself.

"Actually, it’s not that there’s nothing else at all,"

Xu De suddenly said in a low voice, feeling extremely uncomfortable under the prosecutor’s gaze.

In that instant,

Huang Shi froze. He slowly raised his head and stared at Xu De in silence.

Xu De said,

"But it’s just a minor piece of evidence... mainly because it has to be used in conjunction with the DNA test."

"Before we confirmed that Zhang Yueyue is Liu Jingqi, it would have been useless, so I held onto it. I was thinking I’d wait until after you finished your verification and the court was back in session."

"If things were looking bad... for instance, if it seemed like she might only get a twenty-year sentence, I would use it then."

"But I didn’t expect..."

As he spoke,

Xu De scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.

"Haha, I didn’t realize you had such sharp eyes, Prosecutor Huang."

Huang Shi: "..."

Huang Shi opened his mouth, but not a single word came out. After a long moment,

he could no longer maintain his ’composure.’ With his eyes wide in shock, he stared at Xu De and let out a question that came from the depths of his very soul.

Seeing the look on his face, Xu De paused for a second.

Xu De: ?

"You didn’t know!?"

"You really had more!?"