Chapter 31 - 26: The Dagger is Revealed

Words have weight.

But... your words carry far too much weight!

The moment the defendant Xu De’s voice fell, the entire First Tribunal, despite holding over four hundred people, fell so silent that they could clearly hear each other’s heartbeats.

No one could process it. They looked up, staring blankly, their minds a complete void.

They could understand a conflict. They could understand a confrontation between the two sides.

Based on that, it would have been understandable for the defense lawyer to argue for self-defense or even accidental death.

But... what did he mean by "acting for a just cause"!?

At the defendant’s table.

Wang Qiang, who had been waiting for judgment with his head down, now looked up at Xu De with a stunned expression, his mind completely blank.

’I... I was acting for a just cause?’

"Your Honor, the defense refuses to acknowledge the charges brought forth by the prosecution."

"Furthermore, the victim’s litigation agent has no basis for their claims, and we will absolutely not accept their exorbitant demands!"

After saying his piece, Xu De felt a sense of relief wash over him as he slowly sat back down.

"The defense has concluded its statement."

On the judicial bench.

The presiding judge, Zhang Bingxin, his stern face showing a flicker of astonishment, stared at Xu De for a long moment before realizing what he had just heard was not a hallucination.

He then hesitantly looked toward the prosecution.

"Prosecution, do you have any objections to the defendant’s aforementioned statements?"

Honestly, it was a pointless question.

Any living person sitting in the prosecutor’s chair would have been flustered after hearing Xu De’s angle.

And just as expected.

The moment he finished speaking, before prosecutor Hu Guang could even react, the victim’s litigation agent, Chen Wei, was the first to lose his composure.

"Absurd! Utterly absurd!"

"Your Honor, this is clearly a crime of passion, triggered by the defendant’s emotional distress over the trafficking incident!"

At the prosecution’s table, Chen Wei’s face flushed red, blood rushing to his head.

His tone was rushed, as if his blood pressure was spiking. He glared at Xu De and roared:

"This so-called ’acting for a just cause’ is complete nonsense! It’s a perverse twisting of logic!"

Chen Wei had expected the defense to harshly question the prosecution. He had even expected them to play the sympathy card.

But he never imagined that Xu De’s opening would be so shocking!

Acting for a just cause?

If that were to be established as fact, forget about compensation... Li Youcai and Liu Cui would be lucky if they didn’t have to pay something themselves!

Chen Wei slammed both hands on the table and shouted, "I demand the court reject the defense’s argument!"

Hearing this, Xu De remained expressionless at the defendant’s table, not backing down an inch.

"Refute it with evidence!"

"You!"

Chen Wei’s blood boiled once more, and he was about to retort.

Fortunately, the prosecutor beside him, Hu Guang, saw things were getting out of hand and quickly cut him off.

"Counselor."

"Are you aware that the essence of acting for a just cause is to protect oneself or others by stopping an illegal act in progress?"

Hu Guang’s gaze was heavy, his tone carrying a palpable pressure.

"According to the case file, before the conflict erupted outside the car, the victim had never committed any excessive illegal acts."

"It was the defendant who, inside the car, proactively, preemptively, and emotionally initiated the conflict with him!"

The most crucial element of acting for a just cause is the presence of an illegal infringement.

It can be a fist or a knife, but whatever it is, it must exist and it must be present!

Claims like ’I suspected’ or ’I thought’ are pure sophistry and the logic of a bandit, used only to evade guilt.

"When the conflict escalated, no one at the scene was in any physical danger because of the victim!"

Hu Guang shook his head and stated the facts.

"The so-called danger came from the villagers at the scene. It had nothing to do with the victim personally."

The danger came from the villagers, but the person Wang Qiang killed was Li Erniu. This is clearly not self-defense, let alone acting for a just cause.

However...

"Mr. Prosecutor."

"You claim the danger came from the villagers. In that case, let me ask..."

Xu De frowned, took a deep breath, and his tone gradually took on an edge.

"Then why did the villagers pose a threat to the seven police officers at the scene!?"

He didn’t give the other side a chance to explain.

"It was because of the trafficking case!"

"In other words, the root cause of the threat to the personal safety of the police and the defendant was the trafficking case!"

"And the core perpetrator of that trafficking case was the deceased, Li Erniu."

"To summarize, we can definitively conclude the following: the villagers of Li Family Village and Li Erniu came into conflict with the police because of the trafficking case. The defendant, Wang Qiang, in order to protect the police and others at the scene, became entangled with the criminal, Li Erniu!"

"Ultimately, Li Erniu’s attempted murder failed, leading to his own death, while my client, the defendant, was acting in self-defense."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the courtroom finally started to grasp his meaning.

"That... that seems to make sense."

"Wait, my head is still spinning. Hold on..."

"The prosecution... why are they frowning? What are those prosecutors whispering about?"

"..."

In the gallery.

The spectators, one and all, stared with wide eyes, unable to stop themselves from leaning in and whispering to one another.

Even the reporter Zhang Xia, who was trying to take notes on the case, couldn’t help but put down her pen and paper to join the discussion.

"Liu, I’m getting a strange feeling about this..."

Liu, who was beside her...

’What a joke. Did they think a veteran reporter with over a decade of experience wouldn’t find this strange!?’

"The case isn’t over yet," Liu said, shaking her head. "Let’s just keep watching."

...

"What the hell is this kid spouting!?"

At the prosecution’s table.

Prosecutor Wang Wei looked at Xu De as if he’d seen a ghost, then couldn’t stop himself from turning to Hu Guang.

"Doesn’t he know that fulfilling a personal duty doesn’t constitute acting for a just cause?"

The father-daughter relationship between Wang Qiang and Wang Mei.

Legally, Wang Qiang protecting Wang Mei is his duty. Even if he indirectly protected others in the process, the duty is the primary factor, so it does not constitute an act for a just cause.

’Could Xu De really be unaware of this regulation!?’

’This young man...’

Hu Guang’s brow furrowed. He had a feeling Xu De’s real goal wasn’t this.

’But if he never intended to argue for ’acting for a just cause’... why would he bring up those four words?’

’Is he trying to...’

In a flash, it was as if an electric current shot through his brain.

Hu Guang’s eyes widened, his pupils constricting slightly as a possibility flashed in his mind!

He was just about to speak, but unexpectedly...

"Counsel for the defense, legally, Wang Qiang’s protection of Wang Mei is a duty! It’s something he is obligated to do, not some so-called ’act for a just cause’!"

"Therefore, although there was coercion at the scene of the crime, it had nothing to do with acting for a just cause! Furthermore, this coercion had nothing to do with the deceased, Li Erniu, either!"

Beside him, when the victim’s litigation agent, Chen Wei, noticed the prosecutor had no intention of speaking, he stood up. His face was stern, his upturned eyes fixed on Xu De.

"Your argument does not satisfy Article 183 of the Civil Code in any way!"

The moment these words fell, Hu Guang closed his eyes. His heart sank.

’Damn it, he fell for it...’

’He fell for it... Chen Wei was played. Or rather, that daring brat from the defense, a one-man team, had just outmaneuvered the entire prosecution table!’

Why say that?

Because...

"So, your side’s point is that the defendant, Wang Qiang, does not qualify for ’acting for a just cause,’ but..."

Almost at the exact moment the other man’s voice faded, Xu De instantly picked up the thread of conversation. He let out a long breath, a relaxed smile spreading across his face as he looked gently at the other man.

"But you don’t deny that when the conflict occurred, the danger faced by the police and others stemmed from the trafficking case, correct?"

At this point, Xu De paused. He gave the four hundred people in the courtroom no time to react before his expression shifted, becoming solemn. His voice, loud and clear, echoed throughout the First Tribunal.

"Your Honor."

"The facts of the case are now abundantly clear!"

"From the evidence provided by the police, the danger they felt at the time of the incident clearly shows that the deceased Li Erniu’s trafficking crime had not yet concluded!"

"Therefore, his illegal act—the ten-year-long imprisonment of Wang Qiang’s daughter, the victim Wang Mei—had also not yet concluded!"

"I would like to ask everyone present, especially the prosecution..."

"Does this decade of imprisonment and abuse not count as striking the first blow? Does it not count as a threat to Wang Mei’s personal safety!?"

At this moment, Xu De had finally revealed his hand, completely exposing his true intentions.

’The case... it can’t be split in two!’

’If you only look at Wang Qiang and Li Erniu, it’s a simple crime of passion, falling under intentional homicide. Arguing that path is a guaranteed loss!’

’Therefore, there was only one thing he had to do.’

’Consolidate the case facts. Turn this trial from one that starts with Wang Qiang’s murder into one that starts with Li Erniu’s human trafficking!’

’First, use ’acting for a just cause’ to draw their attention, secretly betting they would overlook the fact that ’the villagers threatened the police *because* of the trafficking’.’

’As long as they overlooked it and subconsciously agreed...’

’Then he could use that agreement to definitively establish that the trafficking case was not yet over!’

’And as long as the trafficking case was ongoing at the time of the killing, then Wang Qiang had a justifiable reason for his actions. There was no intentional homicide. The one who struck first could only be Li Erniu. As for the moment he struck...’

’...it was the moment he imprisoned Wang Mei ten years ago!!!’

And so, the moment these words fell, everyone in the entire courtroom was gradually filled with astonishment, their hearts leaping into their throats!

"Let me ask."

"In this trafficking case."

"A father has his daughter stolen from him. That daughter is then imprisoned and tortured for ten years. When he fights back under these circumstances, is that considered self-defense in fulfillment of his legal duty, or..."

With that, Xu De paused. He reached out and slammed both hands on the table. The BANG! BANG! echoed throughout the courtroom like a war drum, like rolling thunder, making everyone’s eardrums tremble!

Then, he spat out two terrifying words!

"Intentional homicide!?"

Suddenly, the two words were like a hurricane, erupting from him and sweeping out in all directions.

Everyone in the gallery stared with wide eyes, their hearts pounding wildly in their chests!