Chapter 15 - 11: Social Death

"It looks like..."

"You seem to need a little help."

Xu De offered a gentle smile. He wore a black, slim-fit suit that made his posture look perfectly straight.

Hearing his seemingly placating voice, the people before him seemed somewhat dazed.

The female lawyer, however, just stared at Xu De, utterly stunned.

"Wang Mei, Miss Mei, I am the defense lawyer for Wang Qiang’s murder case."

"My name is Xu De. You can call me Lawyer Xu,"

Xu De introduced himself.

"Your name is Xu De?"

The female lawyer beside him frowned, studying Xu De. After a moment of thought, one of her eyebrows suddenly shot up as she asked tentatively.

"The paragon of legal ethics?"

Hearing her voice, Xu De turned to see a beautiful female lawyer... who looked somewhat familiar.

When the female lawyer saw him frowning, she immediately put her hands up, twisting her hair into a topknot and staring at him with wide eyes.

Xu De’s frown smoothed out, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

’Isn’t this the "fellow enthusiast" I ran into when I was "feeding the wild man"?’

When she saw that he recognized her, a gentle smile appeared on Lin Yue’s face, but it froze in the next instant.

Xu De suddenly asked in astonishment:

"You’re the ’Nine Heavens Flying Dragon Jade-faced Thunder Origin Universal Transformation of Living Beings Demon-subduing Longevity True Monarch’?"

Lin Yue: ?

Almost instantly!

First, a blush crept up Lin Yue’s long, fair neck. Then, that blush became scorching hot, climbing all the way to the base of her ears until her earlobes were so red they looked ready to bleed.

Her heart skipped a beat, yet she forced herself to look composed as she said:

"This is a courthouse. Why don’t we..."

"...find another place to talk?"

Xu De chuckled, deciding not to press the joke any further.

Right now, the matter at hand was more important. As for how to solve it... he already had an idea.

"Alright."

...

...

Meanwhile.

In Lusen City, at the Yangteng Law Firm.

In the reception room.

Li Youcai and Liu Cui sat in their chairs, wailing loudly as they wiped away nonexistent tears.

"Lawyer Chen, you have to help me!"

She tearfully pleaded with the lawyer before her, a man named Chen Wei.

"My son was only in his thirties! He was still so young! He can’t have died just like that, for no reason!"

Li Youcai stood beside her, saying nothing, merely sizing up Chen Wei with a pair of shifty eyes.

The lawyer before them was in his thirties.

He was gaunt, with sunken cheeks, no flesh on his jaws, and prominent cheekbones—an unsettling face to look at.

"Rest assured. The contract has been signed. Our firm will, without a doubt, put our client’s interests first!"

Chen Wei put away the contract, replying with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Hearing this, Li Youcai and Liu Cui finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Their case regarding Li Erniu had been accepted.

Chen Wei would act as the legal representative for the victim’s family during the trial, fighting to secure Li Youcai’s interests.

This was the fourth law firm Li Youcai and Liu Cui had approached.

The first three firms had all turned them away for various reasons. Chen Wei knew full well why: they all saw the case as too "dirty."

That’s right.

Representing the family of a human trafficker to further persecute the victim... a great many lawyers would find that hard to accept. They couldn’t get past their own conscience.

And that was especially true for a case like Li Erniu’s.

But Chen Wei was different!

To him, whether Wang Qiang lived or died was not important.

He only cared about money and his win rate!

How could he possibly pass up a criminal case like this—a guaranteed win, practically served up on a silver platter?

Whether Wang Qiang deserved to die... that had nothing to do with Chen Wei. Even if his maneuvering resulted in a death sentence for the man, he wouldn’t care in the slightest.

After all, he wasn’t the one dying.

As for their demands...

"Your objective is to gain custody of your grandson, correct?"

Chen Wei grinned, his already small eyes narrowing into slits.

"Yes! We can’t let that ungrateful wretch take him!" Liu Cui nodded her head emphatically, like a hen pecking at grain.

She had two goals: first, to make sure Wang Qiang died; and second, to force Wang Mei to give in and hand over custody of the child to them.

If they could achieve the second, they were willing to sacrifice the first.

"No problem."

Chen Wei nodded, agreeing instantly.

In his view, there was a great deal of room to maneuver in this case. He just needed to use Wang Qiang to coerce Wang Mei, and she would obediently surrender.

What?

As for whether it was too cruel for Wang Mei, a woman who had been abducted and imprisoned for ten years, to be unable to even keep her own child...

...if it could be exchanged for money and a higher win rate, Chen Wei would gladly take on a mountain of such cases with a clear conscience!

"Does the defendant have a defense lawyer at the moment?"

Chen Wei asked.

Liu Cui nodded, a dark look in her eyes. "He does!" she muttered venomously.

"Some heartless bastard, I don’t know who, bullying a poor old couple like us..."

"When did they take the case?" Chen Wei asked.

"Yesterday. I found out when I went to the police station," Liu Cui said.

’Yesterday, huh...’

Chen Wei mused internally. ’Wang Qiang’s family members are Wang Mei and Xu Hong, so the defense lawyer would have most likely contacted them. And Wang Mei just recently finished her custody lawsuit... Considering the timing, Wang Mei must have gone to the police station to handle the matter of Wang Qiang’s case.’

’And that lawyer... should be at the police station meeting with them right now!’

’From a lawyer’s perspective, the defense’s chance of winning is minuscule. I’m sure their lawyer knows this as well.’

’So now is the perfect time to go have a talk with them!’

’Or rather...’

’To kick them while they’re down!’

A sharp glint flashed in Chen Wei’s eyes. He immediately stood, gathered his things, and headed out.

"I’m going to go have a talk with him."

...

...

「Three-thirty in the afternoon.」

Lusen City Police Department, inside the main lobby.

The mother and daughter, Wang Mei and Xu Hong, had gone to find the relevant police personnel to hand over the court’s ruling.

Meanwhile, Xu De and Lin Yue were sitting side-by-side on a bench in the lobby, staring blankly at each other.

After a long silence, Xu De suddenly spoke up, clicking his tongue in mock wonder as he looked her up and down.

"Tsk, I never would have guessed a True Monarch could have so many identities. Besides being the Longevity True Monarch, you’re also secretly a True Monarch of Law."

"Quite a surprise."

At his words, Lin Yue’s face flushed a visible shade of red, the blush spreading from her neck all the way to the base of her ears. Still, she forced herself to remain calm and continued to explain:

"My father is a law professor at the university. His mental health has been a bit unstable these past few years... so he moved into a Daoist Temple for some peace and quiet."

"That’s why I live at the Daoist Temple, too... On most days, I just chant scriptures and meditate. I haven’t taken any vows!"

So that was the reason.

Xu De understood. The legal field could be quite extreme. The top experts in the field had a higher rate of depression, so it wasn’t unheard of for them to become monks, Daoists, or even followers of a foreign religion.

"So, does this mean the True Monarch is now ’descending the mountain to slay demons and defend the faith’?"

Xu De said with a teasing grin.

"I’m just taking a few cases, that’s all. And..."

Lin Yue finally couldn’t take it anymore.

She lowered her head and covered her scorching face with her slender, pale hands, leaving her bright red earlobes exposed. Her mortified voice seeped through the gaps between her fingers.

"I haven’t taken vows."

"And that Daoist title... I was really just messing around. My mistake, I’m sorry..."

Xu De nodded in understanding.

"Okay, True Monarch of Law. I get it, True Monarch of Law."

Lin Yue: ...

Lin Yue was filled with despair. She felt a small part of herself die... a social death.

She had only blurted out "Nine Heavens Flying Dragon Jade-faced Thunder Origin Universal Transformation of Living Beings Demon-subduing Longevity True Monarch" on a whim...

She swore she’d forgotten it the moment she said it. It was such a long title, she couldn’t recall it at all.

’But how, after more than twenty days have passed...’

’...can he still remember it so clearly!?’

’He even added "True Monarch of Law" to it...’

"Forget it. Let’s talk about the case first."

Lin Yue took a deep breath, suppressing her turbulent emotions. She pretended not to care and looked at Xu De with a serious expression, though her face was still bright red.

"The Wang Qiang case..."

"Are you confident?"