Who Made Him a Lawyer?

Chapter 435: Chapter 322: The Trial!!!

"Time’s up, Chief Judge Liu, it’s time to start the trial."

Zhao Yi spoke as he stood up.

Upon hearing this, Chief Judge Liu seemed a bit dazed, and he instinctively glanced at the wall clock.

Honestly, recently he’s been feeling somewhat disoriented, almost fearful.

And this feeling has been intensifying as time progresses, just like...

Like when you were a student and hadn’t finished your homework, but had to watch as the vacation ended and the teacher approached!

Xu Liang is like that strict teacher...

"Let’s go." Zhao Yi patted Chief Judge Liu’s shoulder and then strode away.

Chief Judge Liu’s face showed a stiff smile, then he tugged at the corners of his mouth before reluctantly getting up to walk together to the courtroom.

That short journey felt like an eternity.

Until...

"Click..."

Chief Judge Liu stood at the courtroom entrance, looking at the thick door in front of him, he took a deep breath.

Then... a hand pressed firmly on the door.

"Squeak~"

The door symbolizing justice was slowly pushed open.

Suddenly, a sea of heads appeared like waves, all seated in the audience, reporters fully prepared for the trial.

Looking at them, Chief Judge Liu’s face became stern, intensely serious, even his breathing grew somewhat heavier.

He started walking towards the judge’s bench.

And as soon as they saw him, the courtroom gradually filled with whispers.

"Chief Judge Liu is here, looking at his expression... so calm, he must have verified the evidence from both sides and is ready to make a ruling!"

"Don’t worry, judges in Upper City are all very efficient. There are lots of administrative cases here, their experience will definitely help them quickly resolve criminal cases!"

"Upper City judges are different, unlike local judges. Other judges handling Lawyer Xu’s cases always look troubled, unlike Chief Judge Liu..."

"Judge Zhao is here too, why is Judge Zhao appearing in Upper City?"

"You must be new, he was here since the first opening of the trial, small matter, no need to worry..."

"..."

Buzzing noises like flies emerged alongside his ears.

Chief Judge Liu ignored these gossips and instead checked his wristwatch.

As the second hand aligned with a number... his gaze suddenly became serious and stern, he immediately leaned forward and said in a deep voice:

"I now call for the plaintiff and defendant to enter the courtroom for the hearing!"

His voice was instantaneously transmitted to both waiting rooms via the microphone.

Both parties raised their heads and glanced at the loudspeaker, then, under the guidance of the court police, slowly headed towards the courtroom.

Not long after.

The doors on both sides of the courtroom simultaneously opened.

"Squeak~"

Amidst the countless eyes, Xu Liang calmly stepped into the scene. He stopped and didn’t rush to the plaintiff’s bench, instead turned to look at the defendant.

Right at this moment, the defendant Zhu Haoyi and Li Yang also turned to look at Xu Liang.

Their gazes met, exchanging looks through the judges’ bench.

A long while...

"Humph!"

Zhu Haoyi’s face turned ashen, his eyes dark, first turned his face away, and walked directly towards the plaintiff’s bench, without looking at the other side.

The rare earth is gone, and he still has to risk exposure to transfer technology to No. 1...

Just thinking about it made Zhu Haoyi unwilling, even angry!

"Damn beast, lunatic!"

Sitting at the defendant’s bench, Zhu Haoyi gritted his teeth, internally cursing vehemently.

And the cause of all this... is that madman across the table who loves to overturn cases!

Why be so extreme when we can just go through legal proceedings!

If Xu Liang had notified in advance that Zhengyang City couldn’t file the case, he would have had Liu Jinshui bring Zhang Shan’s head to the Upper City Supreme Court....

Would Zhu Haoyi have stopped him from filing the case in Zhengyang City?

Ten minutes!

In ten minutes, Zhu Haoyi could personally resolve all filing matters, from police approval to court verification, he’d handle it meticulously!

Li Yang beside him seemed to notice his mood, turned his head, and whispered a sentence into his ear.

"Act according to plan."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Haoyi finally controlled his emotions, then took a deep breath and nodded.

"Okay."

At the plaintiff’s bench.

"What are they talking about?" Su Yu looked at the other side, showing a hint of confusion on his face.

"No idea, perhaps they’re praising me." Xu Liang replied casually.

Praising him?

A question mark popped up in Su Yu’s head, but before he could further inquire, the next moment...

"Bang!"

A hammering sound came from the judge’s bench, and everyone turned their heads to look.

It was Chief Judge Liu, his face solemn, glancing at the surrounding crowd, his authoritative voice resonating in everyone’s ears.

"Plaintiff and defendant, are all your personnel present?"

Li Yang replied: "Respected judge, my side is ready."

Xu Liang said: "My side is ready."

As both parties’ words fell, Chief Judge Liu stood and immediately spoke:

"This case is the ’Yangshan Gully Run Dong Weaving Plant’ case, it is scheduled for the first trial on July 17."

"Later, due to the dispute over ’Zhengyang City police’ ’Zhengyang City court’, and the cooperation between Zhengyang City Rare Earth New Materials Company and Zhengyang Mining Company."

"The two sides engage in a heated debate, and the court adjourns to verify the information."

"Now, the time is August 1, 2005, and on the day of the second trial of the first hearing, I now announce...."

Chief Judge Liu paused and then struck the gavel.

The sound of the gavel and his voice fell almost simultaneously.

"Bang!"

"The court is now in session!"

The court is in session!!!

As these four words fell, everyone in the audience straightened up, even Zhang Tao and Li Ye from Hanhai City were startled and immediately opened their eyes, staring intently at the scene as if not wanting to miss a single moment.

"Plaintiff, does your side have any new arguments to submit?"

Chief Judge Liu looked at Xu Liang expressionlessly.

Typically, a judge wouldn’t ask this question.

During the evidence phase, any evidence by either side would already be known to the judge, and even if asked, it would be a matter of procedure to allow both sides to argue over the evidence.

But Xu Liang was different.

To him, the evidence phase was just a resting period. He would only present evidence in court!

Even though it was a surprise evidence attack... Generally, Chief Judge Liu would take a hard stance against such tactics, not recognizing it and giving warnings.

But with Xu Liang... perhaps he’d better handle it.

"Honorable Judge, we have no evidence to submit."

Xu Liang on the plaintiff’s side spoke calmly.

No... no evidence?

Chief Judge Liu was inwardly shocked, somewhat surprised, yet also a bit delighted, and probed further.

"Are you certain there is none? We’ve just opened the session, and if you continue with surprise evidence, the judge has the power to sanction your side!"

As if submitting evidence now wouldn’t count as a surprise attack...

Yet Xu Liang still said, "We have no evidence."

Chief Judge Liu’s eyes brightened, and the burden in his heart was completely lifted.

On the other hand, Zhao Yi next to him tilted his head slightly, frowning as if pondering something, but could never quite see through the other party.

Chief Judge Liu ceased questioning and turned his head to look at Zhu Haoyi and others from the defendant’s side.

"Defendant, regarding the arguments from the first trial, do you have new evidence to submit?"

Of course, they did.

After all, they hadn’t been idle this past half month!

Li Yang was just about to speak when Zhu Haoyi grabbed him.

"What’s the matter?" Li Yang asked with a frown.

Zhu Haoyi’s lips moved, brows furrowed, staring hard at Xu Liang.

According to the plan, they intended to quickly wrap up the second trial and then take time to remove the evidence from the market area.

In other words, even if it meant wounding themselves twice and bleeding heavily, he wanted this trial to end the case!

But...

"Really no evidence?" Zhu Haoyi looked at Xu Liang, suddenly feeling uneasy, his brow tightly knit.

The opponent having no evidence was good news for them, allowing them to quickly conclude the trial.

But why did he feel... strange inside?!

After a long while, Zhu Haoyi finally released his grip, "It’s nothing."

He said, leaving Li Yang somewhat baffled, but he said nothing and instead stood up, looking at the judge’s bench and said:

"Honorable Judge, during the proceedings of the first trial."

"The plaintiff claimed that Zhang Shan, the director of the Run Dong Weaving Plant, and his wife were killed in a conspiracy by Zhengyang Mining Company and the Rare Earth New Materials Company."

"But that wasn’t the truth."

"After the adjournment on the 17th, our side conducted a thorough investigation of all mining company employees and eventually discovered..."

Saying this, Li Yang took a deep breath and handed over a photograph.

"While this matter doesn’t involve the mining company directly, it was indeed the work of an internal employee!"

An internal employee of the mining company...

During the first trial, they had claimed Zhang Shan’s wife ran off with the money, causing Zhang Shan’s panic and subsequent suicide, ending it all.

But in less than fifteen days, it turned into an internal employee!?

"Honorable Judge, according to our investigation, the perpetrator was the project manager for Zhengyang Mining Company responsible for the project extracting rare earth minerals beneath the Run Dong Weaving Plant!"

"The individual incurred a debt of two million at a casino!"

"Unable to repay in time, was coerced, and with the mining company lacking suitable projects..."

The minerals in Zhengyang City had already been over-extracted.

Even if Zhengyang Mining Company had projects, they were minor and hardly profitable.

"Later, discoveries in geological surveys of rare earth minerals beneath the weaving plant gave the project manager renewed hope to repay!"

"Thus, the individual became active within the mining company while managing the contract with the weaving plant, and later coordinated collaborations with state-owned enterprises." Li Yang slowly read from his notes.

This is....

Admitting to something!?

Although neither Zhu Haoyi nor Li Yang were confessing to the murder, both would still bear responsibility for the project manager’s actions!

Why so?

It’s the same old story; there’s no hope for the rare earths, so when it’s time to make a clean break, do it swiftly, even if it means bleeding profusely, both wanted to conclude the trial quickly!

As for whether the scapegoat was truly willing to take the fall....

As long as the money was sufficient, one might do anything, even die!

"During this period, because the project manager wanted to embezzle acquisition funds, they maliciously undercut prices, leading to misinformation between the mining company and the weaving plant."

"Ultimately resulting in the weaving plant’s tragic situation."

Li Yang took a deep breath, looked around seriously and said:

"Which led the case to the current situation!"