Chapter 75 - 66: Trust in the Senior’s Wisdom

6:00 PM.

In the senior-year teachers’ office at No. 18 Middle School.

The office was completely empty, save for Lv Guangjun, who sat there, restless and on edge.

After a long moment, he rose and opened the door.

Two figures stepped inside.

"Hello, Teacher Lv. We finally meet."

Xu De looked at the man before him, a gentle smile gracing his features. As he spoke, he placed a shoulder bag on the desk to his left. A slit, about the length of a finger, was visible on the bag. Through it, one could see the glint of a camera lens.

"H-Hello."

Lv Guangjun steeled himself and spoke. "Please, have a seat."

Xu De nodded and sat down across from him.

Wang Chao followed him in, stationing himself beside the bag and holding a digital voice recorder.

"Mr. Lv, please don’t be nervous."

"Our video and audio recording equipment is here."

Xu De gestured toward Wang Chao and the bag.

"For the record."

"From this moment forward, for the duration of our conversation in this office over the next hour, any and all forms of recording and communication will be considered legally valid."

"Furthermore, if one party leaves temporarily, say to use the restroom, any private communication the remaining party has regarding this case, including phone calls, will also be considered valid."

"This meeting is not over until I say it is."

"Teacher Lv, if you agree to these terms, please sign the contract."

He opened with a barrage of dizzying legalese.

Lv Guangjun stared at the contract being offered to him and took a deep breath.

"Gathering evidence... requires a contract?"

Xu De smiled. "This is to ensure its credibility. If you have any concerns, you are free to refuse."

The next second.

"What could I possibly have to worry about!"

Lv Guangjun reacted as if a nerve had been struck.

He then snatched the pen and decisively signed his name.

"Go ahead, ask your questions!" Lv Guangjun said, affecting an air of nonchalance.

"Very well. We’re here primarily to discuss the conflict between Yang Jiale and the defendant."

Xu De nodded. His next words made Lv Guangjun’s pupils constrict.

"The conflict between the two on the day of her death erupted under rather suspicious circumstances. We suspect a third party may have provoked the defendant, causing her to lose emotional control and directly leading to this incident."

"Teacher Lv, do you have any insight into this?"

Suddenly.

The hairs on Lv Guangjun’s arms stood on end. His chest tightened, and his breath caught in his throat.

"I... I’m not really familiar with it."

He forced himself to speak, adding haltingly,

"They were always fighting. Maybe it was just an accident..."

As he spoke, his palms grew sweaty, and he unconsciously balled them into fists.

"That’s a real shame. Under these circumstances, if such a person exists, they could be charged as an accomplice."

"If they’re an adult and the actions are deemed malicious, they’d be facing a minimum of ten years."

Xu De sighed with theatrical regret.

Cold sweat beaded on Lv Guangjun’s forehead. "Th-that really is a shame."

Xu De then changed his line of questioning.

"Before the incident, the deceased was also harmed on multiple occasions. Did you ever witness her reporting this to any other teachers?"

"If so..."

"We can absolutely hold them accountable."

Lv Guangjun was now drenched in sweat. He swallowed hard and said awkwardly,

"I... I’m not very familiar with it."

Xu De continued,

"Then..."

He asked a series of questions related to the case.

Unfortunately, Lv Guangjun either feigned ignorance or gave vague answers.

Just as Xu De, seemingly tireless, was about to ask another question...

RING RING RING~

Suddenly, a phone rang. Xu De answered it, then stood and turned to Lv Guangjun apologetically.

"I’m sorry, Mr. Lv. Something urgent has come up at work."

With that, Xu De and Wang Chao stood up and headed for the door.

"It’s no problem, no problem."

Lv Guangjun scrambled to his feet. Only after they had both left and disappeared from sight did he finally let out a sigh of relief.

THUMP!

His body went limp in the chair, but his mind kept replaying the lawyer’s words.

’Accomplice to murder...’

’How could I be an accomplice!?’

Overcome with anxiety, Lv Guangjun began to pace back and forth.

After a long while.

He glanced at the office’s security camera, then at the hallway outside, making sure no one was there.

Finally... he gritted his teeth, turned his back to the camera, and dialed Liu Jingqi’s parents.

Mrs. Liu’s voice came through the phone.

"Hello?"

Lv Guangjun spoke urgently. "The victim’s family hired a lawyer! It looks like they’re pushing for criminal charges. You’re not going to get that letter of forgiveness now, are you?"

The other end of the line was silent for a moment, then a sharp voice came through.

"Criminal charges!?"

"Lv Guangjun, this is all your fault! Why did you have to meddle and tell Qi that she shouldn’t bully her classmates?"

"If you hadn’t said anything, Qi wouldn’t have killed anyone! If Qi hadn’t killed anyone, she wouldn’t be sentenced..."

"This is all because of you! Let me tell you, if anything happens to my daughter, you’ll be going down with her!"

"And after we gave you so many gifts... and this is how you repay us..."

A part of Lv Guangjun had felt guilty, but now he exploded in anger.

"Can’t you be reasonable!?"

"It was Liu Jingqi who forced her to stand on the rooftop! She’s the one who deliberately shook Yang Jiale’s leg to scare her, causing her to fall to her death!"

The voice from the speaker shot back: "I don’t care! If anything happens to Qi, you’re not getting away!"

"If you don’t align your testimony with ours, then when the time comes..."

Lv Guangjun’s chest heaved. After a long moment, he angrily hung up the phone.

He sat in his chair, feeling utterly drained.

’If only I’d known... I never should have gotten involved.’

’Otherwise, I wouldn’t be facing the possibility of being an accomplice to murder...’

The lawyer’s words echoed in his mind, filling him with terror.

After a while.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the office door.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

The sound was like a hammer blow to his nerves. Lv Guangjun’s eyes snapped open. "Who is it!?"

"Teacher Lv, it’s me."

Xu De pushed the door open and walked in as if he owned the place. He picked up the signed contract from the desk and used it to cover the backpack.

"I forgot the contract and my bag. My apologies for taking up more of your time."

With that, he turned and headed for the door.

"Mr. Lv, I have that urgent matter to attend to. As such, our recorded conversation this time..."

"...is, as of now, concluded."

"If you believe the video and audio recordings are both credible and have no objections..."

Looking at Lv Guangjun, Xu De offered another gentle smile.

"...then we’ll be on our way."

Something felt off to Lv Guangjun, but all he wanted was for them to leave, so he said,

"I have no objections. Everything I said was the truth."

"Good that you have no objections... I recall you’ll be appearing at the trial as a witness, Mr. Lv..."

"In that case, then..."

Xu De nodded, a grin spreading across his face.

"See you in court."

Lv Guangjun breathed an inward sigh of relief and replied,

"See you in court."

...

...

7:20 PM.

In a car parked at the entrance of No. 18 Middle School.

"See you in court..."

Xu De played the recording. The last words echoed in the silent car. The next second...

"Holy shit!"

Wang Chao, leaning forward from the back seat, had a look of utter shock on his face.

What was he seeing?

A suicide run!

That’s right. Lv Guangjun had basically just detonated a suicide vest, explaining the entire cause of the case in perfect detail!

"So it really was him... Damn it. No wonder Liu Jingqi went after Yang Jiale that day!"

Wang Chao murmured.

The contents of this recording... forget everything else, that one phrase—"deliberately shook her leg"—was enough to convict Liu Jingqi of intentional homicide!

But...

Wang Chao thought for a moment, then looked at Xu De.

"This... counts as illegally obtained evidence, right?"

He was worried they wouldn’t be able to use the evidence they’d just acquired. After all, by any measure, it was obtained "illegally."

"Heh, don’t worry."

"Why do you think I said so much to Lv Guangjun at the beginning?"

Xu De didn’t seem to care at all.

He was well-versed in the nuances of secret recordings and illegally obtained evidence, which is why...

the meticulously logical speech he gave right at the start, along with that contract, were all designed specifically to bypass the "illegally obtained evidence" rule!

Of course, this was still risky, but then again... no piece of evidence is without risk.

And so...

The corner of Wang Chao’s eye twitched, and he blurted out,

"Legalizing illegally obtained evidence!?"

He quickly replayed the conversation in his head and realized that Xu De’s brief spiel... managed to circumvent ninety percent of the conditions that would render evidence inadmissible!

"What do you mean, illegal? If we made it legal, then it’s legal and compliant!"

Xu De shook his head.

Wang Chao praised him from the side. "Man, you’ve really got more finesse than I do."

Then, he asked excitedly, "So, should we submit the evidence to the prosecutor’s office and the court?"

The trial was starting soon, but they were still within the discovery period, so there was time to submit it.

But...

"Why submit it?" Xu De asked, puzzled.

Wang Chao said, "How can we use it if we don’t submit it? You can’t just spring the evidence on..."

Halfway through his sentence, Wang Chao suddenly stopped.

"You’re planning a trial by ambush!?" Wang Chao nearly jumped out of his seat.

"Is there any law that explicitly states lawyers aren’t allowed to ambush with evidence?" Xu De retorted.

Wang Chao paused, his top-tier-educated brain processing the answer. He turned his gaze to Lin Yue.

Lin Yue sighed and answered for him.

"The law doesn’t prohibit it."

That’s right. The law doesn’t forbid trial by ambush. It’s just frowned upon by judges and opens the evidence up to intense scrutiny.

So...

"I’m not breaking the law."

"As for whether it’s considered false evidence, a secret recording, maliciously manufactured, or illegally obtained..."

Xu De trailed off, then paused.

A smile appeared on his face.

"You must remember, if we were the defense and we pulled this, the judge, prosecutor, plaintiff, and their council would all be furious."

"But we represent the plaintiff. We have allies."

The public prosecutor and the plaintiff’s attorney are natural allies, a community of shared interests.

"So..."

"...once we reveal this in court, the ones who will be more desperate than us to see this evidence ’legalized’ won’t be us..."

"It’s the public prosecutor!!!"

Exactly. Once the evidence was out, as long as everyone tacitly understood that it was authentic...

Even if the judge ruled the evidence inadmissible, the first person to lose their cool would, one hundred percent, be the prosecutor. They would argue that this evidence couldn’t be more admissible!

Wang Chao was floored. He clasped his head in his hands, his face a mask of astonishment. He’d never imagined a case could be fought this way!

’What do you even call this?’

’Using their own strength against them? Setting a tiger on a wolf?’

’Or maybe "lock the door and sic the dogs on them"? With Xu De locking the door and Huang Shi playing the attack dog?’

’They never taught this in school! Damn it! Those old law professors at my elite university were holding out on me!!!’

Anyway...

Xu De looked at Lin Yue.

"How long until the trial starts?"

Lin Yue was still processing Xu De’s terrifying strategy, but she replied,

"Soon. I estimate the summons will be sent out in the next few days."

Xu De nodded.

’Illegally obtained evidence? A fifty percent chance of being thrown out?’

’First, it means a case with no breakthrough now has a fifty percent chance of a conviction.’

’Second, even if it gets thrown out, it can still influence the judge’s discretionary sentencing power.’

’And most importantly...’

"We just need to use it with confidence."

"When the time comes, the prosecutor will be there to carry the burden for us."

Xu De said coolly,

"We must trust in the wisdom of our elders!!!"