Who Made Him a Lawyer?

Chapter 607: Chapter 399: Framing Charges! [Double-Length, Please Vote!]_2

"Kid, you finally got your day, huh!"

Just as he was thinking that, a voice came from beside him.

"Presiding judge, let’s get ready to start the hearing." The judge next to him spoke in a low voice.

"Hm?... Mm."

Liu Shi snapped back to his senses, gathered his thoughts, and was about to start the proceedings.

Only, unfortunately...

Liu Shi had already leaned his mouth close to the microphone, just about to speak, when he suddenly froze.

His gaze abruptly fell on the defendant’s bench; his brows furrowed, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes.

He saw that at the defense counsel’s table right now...

There was no one there!

"Where is he?"

"Where’s the defense lawyer for the accused? We’re about to start, aren’t we? How is the defense attorney still not here?"

"What’s going on? Isn’t he in the waiting room?"

"Where did he go?"

"..."

In the spectator area, everyone also noticed this problem; their faces went blank for a moment, surprise flickering in their eyes.

That’s right...

The defense attorney didn’t show up!

Or rather, Attorney Feng Xiang was currently absent!

Several question marks flashed through Liu Shi’s mind, then he spoke in a deep voice:

"There are five minutes left until the hearing begins. Defense counsel for the accused, please arrive as soon as possible!"

Feng Xiang wasn’t in the waiting room; he couldn’t hear this, so...

Five minutes later...

Feng Xiang still hadn’t appeared in the courtroom!

Now everyone was dumbfounded. They looked at each other, astonishment written on their faces.

Where the hell is he!?

"Defendants, why is your defense attorney absent!?"

Liu Shi couldn’t hold back; he turned to look at the defendants Sun Hu and Sun Biao and questioned them.

But unfortunately, the two of them didn’t know either. Confusion showed on their faces as they stammered:

"I... I... don’t know..."

Don’t know?

You’re the defendants; you met with your lawyer just the day before trial, and now that it’s time for court, you don’t even know where your own defense lawyer went!?

Liu Shi was stunned.

The courtroom is missing a key person!

Although they’d already considered this possibility before the hearing, they never imagined that the one to vanish wouldn’t be Xu Liang, but Feng Xiang!

"What the hell, he was perfectly fine... how does he end up skipping the trial!?"

The other two judges on the bench were also shocked. They exchanged glances and saw the same astonishment in each other’s eyes.

Honestly.

Last time Xu Liang was absent, even though he didn’t show, at least Yang Ruoxi and Su Yu were present in court!

But Feng Xiang... he didn’t leave a single person behind!

"What do we do? I’m afraid Feng Xiang really isn’t coming... should this trial... still go on?"

One of the judges frowned and quietly asked Liu Shi.

In theory, criminal cases must have a defense lawyer for the hearing to proceed!

This is a cornerstone of the judicial system, which is precisely why "legal aid" exists: to prevent people who can’t afford a lawyer from being unable to defend their own rights in court.

It’s only because Sun Hu and Sun Biao have defense counsel that this trial can open.

But the man’s gone!

"This...."

Liu Shi’s mind was a bit of a mess, like a storm swirling all over his head.

He glanced at Xu Liang.

His intuition told him that this had a lot to do with Xu Liang!

After all, a defense lawyer missing his own trial is extremely rare, and the last example was this guy right here; and in this case... the one missing just happens to be Xu Liang’s opponent!

And judging by the man’s professional ethics... Liu Shi had not the slightest doubt that Xu Liang had it in him to pull something like this!

No matter how you look at it, it’s suspicious as hell!

Except...

He probably wouldn’t resort to anything violent, right? If it wasn’t force, then Feng Xiang’s absence... what the hell caused it?

In a daze, Liu Shi stared at Xu Liang and fell silent.

...

At the defendants’ bench.

"What the hell, why does the presiding judge keep staring at you?"

Sitting beside Xu Liang, Yang Ruoxi noticed the gaze and quietly asked him.

Xu Liang said flatly, "No idea. Maybe he’s cross-eyed."

Yang Ruoxi added, "Why are there so many suspicious eyes looking at you from the spectator area too?"

Xu Liang said, "You ask me, who am I supposed to ask!?"

Xu Liang was furious. The one who didn’t show up is clearly Feng Xiang, so why are they all looking at him like that!?

What’s this got to do with him!

Why is every single one of them giving him that suspicious stare!

"What did you do, man?" Yang Ruoxi glanced at the completely empty plaintiff’s table and couldn’t help asking.

She knew Xu Liang might get Feng Xiang hooked and make him miss court... but she’d thought it was just some offhand plan.

After all, if you want him not to show up, you’d have to get Feng Xiang to willingly sink and stick to the track you set.

And you’d still have to make sure his addiction window overlaps perfectly with the trial time... how the hell is that even possible!?

"Has nothing to do with me!"

Xu Liang was thoroughly displeased.

"I’m not Feng Xiang. You can’t seriously think I made Feng Xiang not show up in court!"

"That was his own choice, that’s all."

With that, Xu Liang stopped talking.

The courtroom fell quiet for a moment, and the suspicious looks aimed at his face only grew.

Until...

"Defendant, due to the absence of your defense counsel, this hearing has already been delayed ten minutes."

"Do you wish to replace him?"

Liu Shi suddenly spoke, frowning as he asked.

Feng Xiang didn’t come... but the other lawyers could take over this criminal case too!

It’s just that...

As soon as they heard the words "replace him," Sun Hu and Sun Biao reacted like they’d been triggered, blurting out:

"No, we don’t want to replace him!"

Their voices instantly rang in everyone’s ears.

Replace him?

With who?

If they changed lawyers and the new guy opened by asking what they stole those stamps for, how were they supposed to answer!?

They couldn’t exactly say they planned to make LSD "stamps" and sell drugs in Eastern Country!

If things got complicated, that’d really be the end of Sun Hu and Sun Biao!

"You don’t want to replace him?"

Liu Shi was at a loss for words; he truly couldn’t understand what was going on in their heads.

If the defendants have no lawyer, the trial date generally won’t be postponed; proceedings can go on as normal.

But... with Feng Xiang absent and no stand-in duty lawyer, that meant Sun Hu and Sun Biao would have to defend themselves!

Those two petty thieves wanted to match wits with Xu Liang in open court!?

Liu Shi didn’t get it.

But Liu Shi chose to respect it.

"All right."

He nodded, then drew in a deep breath and said in a low voice:

"This case."

"Is the Upper City postage stamp case. On October 9th, the defendants Sun Hu and Sun Biao drove off in a stolen postal truck to flee, and during the escape, their driving operation caused multiple injuries..."

"Upon review, the first-instance trial of this case shall be lawfully conducted by the Upper City Intermediate People’s Court!"

"I now declare this case..."

He paused, then two words rang in everyone’s ears.

"In session!"

Court was in session!

Everyone’s spirits jolted, and they focused intently on the proceedings.

Liu Shi turned his head to look at the plaintiff’s side.

"Plaintiff, please state your claims in accordance with the law."

Once he finished.

Everyone’s gaze instinctively converged on Xu Liang.

And right now... Xu Liang was smiling.

That’s right.

He was smiling!

"No defense lawyer, and I get to go straight at the defendants?"

Excitement showed openly on Xu Liang’s face as he stared at the defendants’ bench, at Sun Hu and Sun Biao, the heat in his eyes barely concealed.

In court, a lawyer’s opponent is usually the prosecutor or another lawyer.

Those opponents are hard to deal with.

But if the other side has no lawyer...

It’s like in a game where you’ve killed all the enemy players and are staring straight at their crystal.

"With Feng Xiang gone, doesn’t that mean whatever I say goes?"

Xu Liang’s eyes curved with his smile, making Sun Hu and Sun Biao’s hearts crawl with dread.

But the two of them didn’t have much time to think.

The next second, they heard Xu Liang speak.

"Honorable presiding judge, members of the bench, I am the plaintiff’s attorney, Xu Liang. I will be fully representing the plaintiff in this action."

"In this case, on October 9th, the defendants Sun Hu and Sun Biao robbed the postal truck belonging to my client Zhang Ping’s company, along with the goods inside—’postage stamps.’"

"During the robbery, they caused permanent bodily disability to my client..."

"And by their extremely reckless subjective conduct, they caused multiple innocent pedestrians on that street to be hospitalized for emergency treatment..."

Xu Liang spoke slowly, then changed tack and continued:

"Based on the above, the defendants Sun Hu and Sun Biao..."

"Have violated Article 263 of the Criminal Law, Robbery!"

"Have violated Article 234 of the Criminal Law, Intentional Injury!"

"Have violated Articles 114 through 119 of the Criminal Law, Endangering Public Safety!"

"At the same time, the defendants Sun Hu and Sun Biao have committed Attempted Intentional Homicide!"

"...."

When his words fell.

The courtroom went dead silent; everyone stared blankly at Xu Liang on the plaintiff’s side.

And in the next second...

Shock and terror immediately flashed across the faces of the defendants, Sun Hu and Sun Biao.

Attempted intentional homicide?

Robbery?

No way... it was theft, how did all these charges show up!?

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