Too Bad I Take Things Seriously

Chapter 838: Chapter 301: The Totally Unresisting Defendant! (2)

He signaled for the prosecutor to present the evidence.

Normally.

This stage is for the defendant to argue in his own defense, then the court sums up the points of contention and proceeds to hear the case.

But now...

Nie Yunxiao pled guilty on the spot, directly shortening the trial process.

Pleading guilty outright means the other side has no objections to the evidence or the facts of the crime.

The defense lawyer doesn’t even need to speak.

"Here is the evidence we collected of the many illegal investment projects Yunxiao Culture Communication Co., Ltd carried out in Lianzhou."

The prosecutor immediately stepped forward and flung out piece after piece of evidence.

Displaying them to everyone.

"Here is Nie Yunxiao’s actual academic record. He never went abroad, and he is certainly not a professor at some famous foreign university..."

"Here is Nie Yunxiao..."

Ten minutes later.

The prosecutor finally finished presenting all the evidence.

Then.

Nie Yunxiao made his final statement.

He admitted in court that all the evidence was authentic, chose to plead guilty, and stated he was willing to accept the punishment of the law.

"Dong—"

Zhou Quanmin struck the gavel and announced that the hearing on Nie Yunxiao’s criminal conduct was concluded.

In a deep voice he said, "Bring in the next defendant, Wu Daoyi."

Right after that.

The court bailiffs stepped forward and re-fitted Nie Yunxiao with restraints.

They escorted him out of the courtroom.

Another bailiff brought the next defendant into court.

The entire proceedings were highly efficient.

Smooth and flowing.

Without the slightest bit of dragging.

From the opening of the session to the end of the hearing, Nie Yunxiao’s case didn’t even take a full hour!

In the gallery.

The old folks who had just gotten interested in watching saw this scene...

And were all a bit dumbfounded.

"What’s that supposed to mean? That’s it? That’s way too cowardly, isn’t it? Not even a little resistance?" fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

"This defendant... is the spineless one I’ve ever seen. At least struggle a bit."

"That kills the fun, doesn’t it? We’re talking about a seventeen-year sentence here. How can he just admit it like that?"

"What on earth is going on?"

"..."

The expressions on Zhang Qingyuan, Li Weiguo and the others’ faces were all a bit stifled.

It was like they’d just finished the bowing at the wedding, drunk the nuptial wine, were all ready for the bridal chamber...

Only to find out the bride was a man.

They had thought they’d get to see a brilliant courtroom showdown.

But instead...

The other side didn’t even bother resisting and simply pled guilty, neat and clean.

A seventeen-year sentence.

He just shouldered it like that.

They couldn’t wrap their heads around it.

"Why do I feel like... he’s taking the fall for someone? Could there be someone behind him?"

"Kind of looks that way, yeah. Isn’t that how it goes on TV? Someone pleading guilty this cleanly—there’s definitely something off!"

"I say investigate thoroughly! This is way too abnormal!"

"They’re not just going to sentence him like this, are they? Let the mastermind behind him walk free?"

"..."

The crowd huddled together.

Whispering quietly.

They quickly filled in an entire conspiracy theory in their heads.

They figured Nie Yunxiao was just the scapegoat.

The real culprit behind this case still hadn’t been found.

Otherwise, Nie Yunxiao wouldn’t have pled guilty so easily.

"Order!"

Hearing the noisy chatter from the gallery, Zhou Quanmin once again straightened his face and barked, "This is a courtroom. Maintain discipline!"

If it had been anyone else.

He would have already had the bailiffs throw these noisy, chattering people out of court.

But...

The people sitting in the gallery right now were all familiar faces.

He knew them all too well.

Practically every time he presided over a criminal case, these people would show up.

It gave him a kind of...

Feeling like he was lecturing students in a big university classroom.

And given that these old folks were all up there in years.

He chose to show a bit of leniency.

After that dressing-down, Zhang Qingyuan and the others didn’t dare speak again.

They all shut their mouths.

Bringing the discussion to an end.

The courtroom returned to silence.

Zhou Quanmin took a deep breath and looked at the other defendant in the dock.

Then he asked, "Wu Daoyi, you are the vice president of Yunxiao Culture Communication Co., Ltd and you participated in and planned all of Nie Yunxiao’s success-lecture events. Do you have any objections to the charges brought by the prosecutor earlier?"

Before this.

Although Wu Daoyi and the others hadn’t been in the courtroom, they could watch the entire live broadcast from outside.

Naturally, they had also heard the prosecutor’s accusations.

"I... I, I..."

In the dock.

Wu Daoyi nervously glanced around; his will to survive had never been stronger.

He hurried to argue, "I was only hired by Nie Yunxiao. He was the mastermind behind everything. I just lent a hand. At most I’m an accomplice. The false advertising and fraud have nothing to do with me..."

He was different from Nie Yunxiao.

He wasn’t a repeat offender.

He still had a chance at a reduced sentence.

So.

He was fighting tooth and nail to win himself a lighter punishment.

As long as he could distance himself from Nie Yunxiao as much as possible and play down his own role in the success-lecture scam, there was a real chance his sentence could be reduced.

However...

Once Zhou Quanmin finished summing up the issues in his case.

The prosecutor unhurriedly tossed out several pieces of evidence and handed them to the court.

"Here is the chat log from last March, in which, according to Nie Yunxiao’s statement, Wu Daoyi approached him and suggested they could ’make money together.’"

"Here is the dividend statement from inside Yunxiao Culture Communication Co., Ltd that Nie Yunxiao provided, detailing the distributions Wu Daoyi received. He even took the opportunity to sleep with some of the trainees."

"Here is what else Nie Yunxiao provided..."

With each sentence.

The look on Wu Daoyi’s face got darker.

By the time the prosecutor had presented all the evidence, Wu Daoyi had completely collapsed back into his chair. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

His face was ashen.

And inside he was grinding his teeth in fury.

Not only had Nie Yunxiao stopped resisting and pled guilty, he had also spelled out every detail of the crimes involving him so clearly!

It was obvious...

He meant to drag all of them down with him!

"Wu Daoyi, what do you have to say about the evidence just presented?"

Frowning, Zhou Quanmin once again asked.

Wu Daoyi let out a bitter laugh.

He could only turn his gaze to Zhang Wei beside him, seeking help.

This time.

All seventeen of them had hired the same defense lawyer: Zhang Wei.

And seeing the look of utter defeat on Wu Daoyi’s face...

Zhang Wei could only shake his head helplessly.

Before the trial.

He had warned them not to improvise.

But Wu Daoyi still hadn’t listened.

As soon as the Judgment Chief asked him a question, he rushed to distance himself, trying to dodge responsibility.

Luckily, Zhang Wei had already prepared himself mentally, knowing it was inevitable he’d run into a pig-headed teammate.

He took a deep breath.

Stepped forward and said to Zhou Quanmin, "Your Honor, members of the court."

"My client has no objections to the above evidence, but although he is a co-offender in this case, his role was secondary."

"In addition, my client is a first-time offender..."

He continued, from several angles, to bring his sentence-reduction expertise into play.

Arguing in Wu Daoyi’s defense.

Meanwhile, in the gallery.

Seeing Wu Daoyi’s desperate will to live, Zhang Qingyuan and the others finally looked satisfied.

Their faces clearly said they’d gotten their money’s worth.

"Now that’s more like it. You gotta argue a bit, then get slapped in the face. That’s what’s fun to watch."

"All that evidence the prosecutor mentioned just now... was it all provided by Nie Yunxiao?"

"Nie Yunxiao’s got something, all right. Did he just plead guilty himself and sell out the whole company along the way?"

"Very possible. One look and you can tell he’s no saint."

"Tsk!! Sure enough, if your heart’s not ruthless, your position’s not secure. One man’s dragging the whole company into losing any chance at reduced sentences."

"..."

Having learned their lesson just now.

This time, Zhang Qingyuan and the others kept their voices much lower.

But the more they thought about it, the more they felt that Nie Yunxiao was not someone you could be around.

He couldn’t reduce his own sentence.

And he’d dragged everyone else down with him.

If they really ended up in the same prison...

That would be lively.

After watching so many trials, they had also learned from Qin Mu what prison was like.

They knew it was a fairly free place.

Apart from not being able to leave, it had all sorts of facilities—you could study, listen to music, play cards, play ball, and so on.

You didn’t have to wear handcuffs either.

With what Nie Yunxiao had done...

He would definitely be in mortal danger!

...

At the same time.

In Jin City.

In a certain villa district.

Xie An Country and Wan Zhongyuan were sitting on the sofa, watching the trial’s live broadcast on the TV screen.

The two of them were utterly engrossed.