Are You Crazy? He's only an Intern Lawyer?

Zhang Wei’s investigation into Kong Hang’s network of relationships had yielded no results.

However, it wasn’t without some gain; at least he knew that the party concerned, Kong Hang, was innocent.

For a defense lawyer, there is nothing more important than confirming the innocence of their client.

As a defense lawyer, Zhang Wei cared the most about this issue.

As long as you’re innocent, then evidence can certainly be found to prove it.

On the other hand, if you really committed a crime, then the prosecution will also inevitably find evidence to convict you.

But here comes the problem.

If it wasn’t Kong Hang, then who could the robber be?

Zhang Wei learned about Kong Hang’s work situation through the bar owner, and also obtained Kong Hang’s background information through Zhao Xiaoxiao.

According to what Zhang Wei knew, it seemed that Kong Hang also had an ex-girlfriend.

However, the likelihood of the ex-girlfriend committing the crime wasn’t high; Zhang Wei wanted to investigate, but ex-girlfriends generally do not cooperate.

Moreover, whether the other party was in Dongfang Capital was also a question.

Zhang Wei thought about it and could only give up the idea of continuing to delve into his client’s network of relationships.

Since the Kong Hang lead was a dead end, Zhang Wei had to find new clues.

While Zhang Wei was busy looking for clues, the Chengbei District Public Procuratorate’s Office also had a visitor.

Chengbei District.

Office of the District Prosecutor.

Fang Wenbin leisurely sipped his tea before setting down the cup and looking at the visitor before him.

"The ace prosecutor from the Procuratorate Headquarters with such a distinguished reputation, what brings you to our Chengbei District?"

Although Fang Wenbin’s face showed a smile, his eyes betrayed a hint of displeasure.

After all, this is the Chengbei District Public Procuratorate’s Office, and an ace from the Procuratorate Headquarters wouldn’t visit without reason!

Could it be they’re here to snatch cases?

With the year end approaching, everyone needs cases, and it has been said that prosecutors from the Procuratorate Headquarters have previously "assisted with the investigation" of cases in other districts.

Even Fang Wenbin himself, when he was at the Procuratorate Headquarters, had gone to other jurisdictions in the outer ring to "assist with the handling" of some cases.

So everyone knew exactly what was going on, and Fang Wenbin was all too familiar with the practices of the Procuratorate Headquarters.

"It’s not that I want to come; it’s that Director Zhao Chunming sent me."

"Zhao Chunming sent you to ’assist’ my investigation?" Fang Wenbin emphasized the word "investigate" heavily.

Clearly, the assistance he was referring to was different from what most people would imagine!

Prosecutor Xiao Baihe, after all, was a new recruit and didn’t quite understand the rules here, saying, "Director Zhao asked me to tell you that this time the opposition is not simple; if possible, I could also help you investigate this case!"

Well then, they really did come to scoop up cases!

Fang Wenbin thought he had discerned Xiao Baihe’s intentions, and since they invoked the name of Zhao Chunming, it was clear they intended to get him to give up some of the credit for this case.

"Prosecutor Xiao, considering you’re a newcomer who doesn’t understand the rules, I can pretend as if I heard nothing!"

He immediately issued a warning, swiftly standing up from his seat, his tall stature exuding an aura of intimidation.

"Let me warn you here, this is the Chengbei District Public Procuratorate’s Office, not the Procuratorate Headquarters. Here you have to play by the rules I set. You can sit in on hearings, but I absolutely will not allow an outsider to meddle with my cases at will!"

"Also, go back and tell Old Zhao that I, Fang Wenbin, don’t need his help. Don’t think that just by dumping a newcomer here constitutes help for me. The Procuratorate Headquarters doesn’t want to handle new recruits themselves and instead seeks to trouble me, which is laughable!"

His words carried an unmistakable warning.

"Prosecutor Fang, you’ve misunderstood me; I genuinely came to remind you that the defense lawyer this time is very troublesome..."

"Alright, alright, I get it; you don’t have to tell me. I’m quite familiar with Qingmu Law Firm. In fact, I’ve crossed paths with them a few times, and only Li Qingmu is worth noting; the others can’t even catch my eye!"

Xiao Baihe tried to say something more, but Fang Wenbin waved her off, cutting her off.

"Prosecutor Xiao, you can go back now. The preliminary hearing is tomorrow, so if you want to attend, come early!"

His words were a clear dismissal.

"Prosecutor Fang, it seems you have some misconceptions about me, but I really came to remind you about the public defense lawyer named Zhang Wei..."

"Hmph, what about Zhang Wei? It’s just an ordinary name after all. Isn’t our court guard at Chengbei District Court also named Zhang Wei?"

Xiao Baihe wanted to say something else, but Fang Wenbin, half pushing and half shoving, had her escorted out of the office.

"Tell Old Zhao not to even think about getting his hands on my cases!"

In the end, he left Xiao Baihe with a stern warning, giving her a cold shoulder.

"This, I..."

Xiao Baihe felt indignant, her silver teeth clenched, her delicate fist tightened, barely suppressing the urge to erupt.

She had come with good intentions from the headquarters, traveling miles just to remind you to be wary of your opponent, and yet this is how you treat me.

"Fine, Prosecutor Fang, you’ve got guts, I really want to see how you’re going to handle this public prosecution case!"

She forcefully held back from kicking open the door and beating up Fang Wenbin, huffing coldly, she turned and walked away.

As for the Chengbei District Public Procuratorate’s Office, she didn’t want to stay another moment.

It was just right to go back to report to Zhao Chunming, and she had decided that she was going to follow this case to the end.

...

Wednesday.

Chengbei District Court.

Compared to the size of the city court, Chengbei District Court was much smaller, only three stories tall.

The courtroom where Zhang Wei and the others were having the trial was on the first floor of the courthouse.

Moreover, compared to the city court’s main courtroom, the district court’s courtroom was more than twice as small.

Fortunately, the impact of this case wasn’t significant, completely incomparable to the influence of Wang Yuqing’s case; the district court’s facilities were sufficient.

Zhang Wei arrived early in the morning and met his client Kong Hang in the preparation room.

As for Li Qinghe and the client Wang Xi, they had not yet arrived.

"These are photos I took at the bar where you work, I also met your boss, asked him about some things, unfortunately, he can’t be a character witness for you."

Zhang Wei said as he spread out some photos.

"Lawyer Zhang, you went to New Trend Bar?"

Kong Hang had not expected Zhang Wei to actually investigate his place of work.

Zhang Wei smiled, thorough investigation had always been his habit.

"By the way, someone mentioned you have an ex-girlfriend, is that true?"

He hurriedly asked the next question, which was his chief concern.

Hearing this question, Kong Hang slightly froze, quickly scanning the surroundings.

After confirming that only he and Zhang Wei were in the preparation room, he said, "Lawyer Zhang, please don’t ever tell Xiao Xi about this, she doesn’t know about my ex-girlfriend!"

"Aren’t you making the case more difficult?"

Zhang Wei’s mouth twitched, feeling speechless.

"You have to understand, for the prosecution, the defendant’s ex-girlfriends and ex-boyfriends are witnesses who can greatly influence the jury. After all, who could hate you more than your ex-girlfriend!"

"If I’m not mistaken, the prosecution must have considered summoning your ex-girlfriend as a witness. Tell me quietly, is this woman in Dongfang Capital? If the prosecution finds her, will she testify in court, and could she give evidence against you?"

Seeing the seriousness in Zhang Wei’s eyes, Kong Hang hesitated only a moment before deciding to come clean.

"Lawyer Zhang, my ex-girlfriend is indeed in Dongfang Capital, and moreover..."

"And moreover what?" freewēbnoveℓ.com

"Moreover, I saw her the evening after I came back from the trip..."

"What?!"

Kong Hang’s words made Zhang Wei stand up abruptly with a "swoosh", the legs of the chair screeched against the floor.

He had never imagined this guy was leading such a colorful life, secretly visiting an ex-girlfriend the day after returning from a romantic getaway with his current girlfriend.

Are you two-timing, huh!

"Are you saying that on Thursday evening, the night of the robbery, you sneaked out to meet your ex-girlfriend without Wang Xi knowing?"

Zhang Wei couldn’t believe it, so he asked again.

"Yes, that’s true..."

Kong Hang, under Zhang Wei’s fierce gaze, seemed unable to lift his head but hesitantly responded.

"Then tell me, what’s your ex-girlfriend’s name? I need to check the witness list provided by the prosecution to see if she’s on it."

"Her surname is Qiu, named Qiu Tiantian..."

Kong Hang quickly confessed, but before he could finish, Zhang Wei raised his hand to stop him.

The door to the preparation room was pushed open, and Li Qinghe and her team entered first.

"Little Zhang, you’re quite early!" As the defense lawyer, Li Qinghe nodded in greeting to Zhang Wei.

Wang Xi, the other defendant, also came in, followed by the brothers Wang Dayang and Wang Dahai. Li Feifei was not present, probably having gone directly to the courtroom.

Both parties took their seats, but Kong Hang’s gaze towards Wang Xi was somewhat evasive.

Zhang Wei knew the reason and felt a bitterness that he couldn’t express.

His client might have already laid a landmine for him in advance.

"Zhang, I’m going to be the one asking questions during jury selection, and let me tell you this, for this case, I’ll be the lead speaker, and you can sit as my associate, how’s that?"

"If my aunt has no objections, naturally, I won’t have any either..."

Zhang Wei outwardly agreed, but he didn’t seal the deal with his words.

His implication was clear, if Li Qinghe couldn’t hold her ground, then she shouldn’t blame him, Zhang Wei, for snatching the lead attorney’s position.

"That settles it, then!"

Li Qinghe didn’t pick up on Zhang Wei’s hidden message and even thought to herself that this kid knew his place.

"It’s about time, let’s get ready for the trial!"

After checking the time, Li Qinghe stood up first.

As the representative of both lawyering parties, she led the way to the courtroom.

Zhang Wei and Kong Hang exchanged looks before following her to the courtroom.

The courtroom was already filled with many people, not just with reporters from Chengbei District but also with many rookie prosecutors from the Procuratorate’s Office who came to learn from the trial.

Sitting in the hearing seats, Zhang Wei spotted some prosecutors from Chengbei District, a few officers from the Martial Association, and even some newcomer lawyers from Qingmu Law Firm, including Lawyer Zhuo who had interviewed him.

Zhang Wei was going to look away, but at the front row of the hearing seats, he saw a familiar girl.

"Xiao Baihe, why is she here too!"

Seeing Xiao Baihe, Zhang Wei couldn’t contain himself and hurriedly broke away from his group to approach her.

"Oh, isn’t this our scumbag Lawyer Zhang? What brings you to Chengbei District today?"

Perhaps noticing Zhang Wei’s approach, Xiao Baihe stayed seated and threw in a tease.

The sarcastic tone and the way she looked at him as if he were a scumbag made Zhang Wei very uncomfortable.

"Xiao Baihe, that’s defamation. How am I a scumbag?"

He wasn’t about to indulge her, even if she was the ace prosecutor from the Procuratorate Headquarters.

"Besides, even if I were to be a scumbag, I wouldn’t do it to you. You, Xiao Baihe, don’t even qualify to be treated that way by me!"

"What did you say!" Xiao Baihe couldn’t hold back and instantly stood up, ready to engage in a courtroom quarrel with Zhang Wei.

"Alright, alright, you’re awesome, you’re formidable, just don’t hit me, okay? You’re a prosecutor..."

Seeing that Xiao Baihe, provoked by his few words, was enraged, Zhang Wei achieved his goal and quickly softened his tone to show weakness.

"But come to think of it, I’m here for a case. What are you doing at Chengbei District Court? The prosecuting party should be from Chengbei District Public Procuratorate’s Office, right?"

"Hmph, it’s none of your business. Can’t I just come to watch?" Xiao Baihe, still upset, gave Zhang Wei the cold shoulder.

"Alright then. For Prosecutor Xiao Baihe’s sake, I’ll also do my best during the trial. Remember to cheer me on~"

Seeing that the judge was about to enter, Zhang Wei teased her once more and then quickly headed to the defense seats.

"What a joke, as if I’d cheer for you. You might as well drop dead!"

Xiao Baihe never expected Zhang Wei to dare tease her.

She wanted to scold Zhang Wei for being delusional, but thinking of Fang Wenbin’s attitude yesterday, she hesitated.

Although she found Zhang Wei annoying, Fang Wenbin’s demeanor irritated her even more.

Xiao Baihe felt that it didn’t matter who won or lost this trial; she’d be pleased either way, whether Zhang Wei or Fang Wenbin lost.

With that mindset, Xiao Baihe prepared to spend the next few days of the trial as a front-row spectator.

...

In the courtroom.

Fang Wenbin arrived, accompanied by people from Chengbei District Public Procuratorate’s Office, and he also brought along a female assistant carrying a pile of documents.

"That guy who uses newbies like lackeys, he sees himself too highly and thinks no one is on his level!"

Watching Fang Wenbin’s actions, Zhang Wei made a mental note.

The prosecution and defense took their seats.

Next to Zhang Wei sat Kong Hang; next to Li Qinghe sat Wang Xi. The four of them were squeezed together in two adjacent law seats.

"Please welcome the respected Judge Qi to the courtroom!"

Judge Qi of the Chengbei District Court seemed almost 60 years old with white hair and was somewhat unsteady on his feet.

However, despite Judge Qi’s weathered appearance, his gaze frequently drifted towards the defense seats, scrutinizing them. This showed that the elderly man was not as frail as he appeared.

"Oh my, as the New Year approaches, to handle such a big case, they really think highly of this old man!" Judge Qi tapped his shoulder the moment he sat on the bench.

"Judge Qi, how was the acupuncturist I recommended to you a few days ago?"

Fang Wenbin greeted the elderly judge with a smile.

"Haha, I feel much better now, and my legs are more agile, but I reckon I’ll retire come next spring. This case might be the last one I handle in the judicial system," the old judge said with a chuckle to Fang Wenbin.

The old judge also gave Fang Wenbin a smile.

Zhang Wei saw this scene and thought to himself, "That’s not good."

Sometimes, a local advantage can make all the difference.

Fang Wenbin and Judge Qi seemed to share more than a casual acquaintance.

However, recommending an acupuncture clinic to someone can’t be used as a reason to reject a judge’s request, and even suggesting it might offend the judge!

Meanwhile, Li Qinghua was completely oblivious to the issue, her head buried in the jury selection documents.

"Alright then, let’s begin the pretrial..."

Judge Qi spoke and rapped his gavel, looking towards the defense bench, "You have two defendants this time, so we’ll need the defense attorneys for each to declare their respective positions in court. Who’ll go first?"

"Your Honor, representing our client Wang Xi, we declare a defense of innocence!"

Li Qinghe stood up without so much as a glance at Zhang Wei and began to speak.

"Your Excellency, representing Kong Hang, we also declare a defense of innocence!"

Zhang Wei naturally stood up and added his piece.

"Hmm, understood, both believe they are innocent, right?"

The judge noted down the information, then gestured to the court guard by lifting his hand.

"Please bring in the prospective jurors!"

Following the announcement by the court guard, the prospective jurors entered the jury box.

Li Qinghe stood up again and walked directly towards the jury box, ready to question them.

Only Zhang Wei and the two defendants, Wang Xi and Kong Hang, remained in the defense bench.

Kong Hang looked at Zhang Wei and whispered, "Lawyer Zhang, why aren’t you up there?"

"She’s my future aunt, how can I dare?"

Zhang Wei’s mouth twitched as he hurriedly replied.

Kong Hang opened his mouth, then seemed to understand.

In front of the jury box, Li Qinghe began her questioning.

"Do you think it’s reasonable for a couple who just came back from their honeymoon to rob someone the next day?"

Upon hearing this question, the jury exchanged puzzled looks.

Zhang Wei at the defense bench opened his mouth, growing more speechless.

What kind of question was Li Qinghe asking? Wasn’t she just giving the jurors an idea of what their clients might have done?

While it’s a tactic in jury selection to insinuate your narrative to the jurors, you can’t be so direct about it.

If you want to make it clear that it was improbable for Wang Xi and Kong Hang to rob the day after their wedding, you should do so with subtle questions, not in such a straightforward manner.

He turned around and saw every other lawyer at Qingmu Law Firm, except Lawyer Zhuo, scribbling notes as if everything Li Qinghe was saying was of great learning value.

"Fuck, a bunch of rookie lawyers who don’t know shit, taking notes as if they’re useful at all. Are they planning to write a reflection on the court session when they get back?"

Seeing this, Zhang Wei felt overwhelmed.

What he didn’t know was Lawyer Zhuo had indeed assigned the task of writing a reflection...

If Zhang Wei had known, he would definitely have slapped him twice without hesitation.

Why learn these useless questioning techniques?

Li Qinghe’s interrogation continued, and she questioned a woman who responded that it seemed unlikely.

"Your Honor, the defense accepts this juror!"

Then she pointed to a young man who answered "possible," telling Li Qinghe that all he needed was a good night’s sleep to be up and ready for anything the next day.

"Your Honor, the defense rejects this juror!"

...

Zhang Wei disliked Li Qinghe’s approach.

Keeping the woman juror and rejecting the younger one might benefit Wang Xi but was disadvantageous to Kong Hang.

Broadly speaking, conservative women could sympathize with Wang Xi but might harbor animosity towards Kong Hang, who had a criminal record; whereas the modern thinking of the young man could be understanding and beneficial to both young defendants.

Zhang Wei was considering whether to interrupt Li Qinghe.

He couldn’t let her continue like this; otherwise, the jury would be greatly biased against them.