Huo Jialan’s testimony revolved around her seeing Bai Jinyi leaving hastily just when she arrived at Luo Xinxue’s room.
What greeted her upon entering the house was a room that was thoroughly messed up, and Luo Xinxue laying on the floor, unconscious.
She thought that Luo Xinxue was merely asleep, so Huo Jialan carried her to the bed and tidied up the room before leaving.
However, the footage showed that Huo Jialan did not have an opportunity to witness Bai Jinyi leaving the place.
It’s fine if Bai Jinyi lied about going to Luo Xinxue’s room, but what was strange was that she did go to her room, and it was before Huo Jialan arrived. She left immediately before Huo Jialan arrived. The time in between was less than 5 minutes.
Now, this is interesting.
“Huo Jialan, what exactly are you hiding? What exactly did your mother tell you before she passed on?!” Gu Nianzhi questioned over and over, until Huo Jialan was reaching her breaking point.
Her gaze travelled across the courtroom, and landed on the stern and silent Huo Shaoheng.
She looked at him, and made a decision. Closing her eyes, she relented: “Yes, I lied. But I did not kill anyone! I did not kill my mother!”
“You can tell us the truth; I will appeal for a lighter sentence for you.” Gu Nianzhi held onto the poles of the witness stand and leaned forward.
Her clear eyes and firm gaze did not give people a sense of stress. On the contrary, she exudes a sense of security, allowing people to feel that she was someone dependable.
“It’s just her who murdered her own mother!” Jin Dazhuang grasped the opportunity and shifted the attention of everyone.
The best tactic to fight a murder case for a client, who happened to be a suspect, was to look for a new suspect for the case.
The lawyer of the defendant usually had to do this mission. However, Jin Dazhuang did not expect Gu Nianzhi, the plaintiff lawyer, to have completed this arduous mission for him.
Gu Nianzhi’s fixed her clear gaze at Jin Dazhuang. He shrugged his shoulders smugly, clearly thinking that he had the upper hand in the case.
Gu Nianzhi smiled. She knew they were celebrating success to soon.
“Look, Huo Jialan, look at what you’ll get yourself into if you refuse to tell the truth?” Gu Nianzhi was tall for a lady, almost comparable to the big sized Huo Jialan, but she was way thinner. Standing in front of Huo Jialan, Gu Nianzhi looked extremely fragile.
However, when she leaned forward to whisper into Huo Jialan’s ears, Huo Jialan began trembling feverishly. Now it seems like the fragile one was Huo Jialan, and not the Gu Nianzhi who was at least 2 sizes smaller than her.
Zhao Liangze and Yin Shixiong looked at how effortlessly Gu Nianzhi was performing in court. Albeit being her first time, and she hadn’t even attained her lawyer’s license, she was making the elite lawyers from the Bai’s run around in circles.
This, should be exactly how you will define a genius…
They thought in awe.
The only person who did not show any form of surprise was Huo Shaoheng. He was poised as he sat amongst the audience.
Huo Jialan, upon the reminder from Gu Nianzhi, finally began narrating the truth from that night.
“…Yes. I arrived at my mother’s room, but did not see anyone leave. My mother was also not unconscious. She leaned against the bed and told me weakly: ‘Jialan, Bai Jinyi snatched your father’s phone. You have to get it back! Your father had treated us so well; we are indebted to him. We have to repay him! You have to tell your second uncle! Take back the phone… Your father… Your father…'”
Huo Jialan recalled the day’s events with a straight face, “I was shocked when I heard all these, and asked, ‘What exactly happened? Mum, what are you talking about?'”
“The effects of the sleeping pills my mother took should have kicked in by then; she had been taking those pills to help her sleep better all these years, so she had a certain level of immunity to them. She forced herself to continue talking to me in bits and pieces, and told me… Told me that I wasn’t my father’s biological daughter… I couldn’t accept it when I heard it, so I screamed and shouted at her, and ran back to my room after giving her a shove.”
“I felt so horrible the entire night for doing that, so I decided to apologize to her the following morning. However, when I entered her room, I realized that she had already stopped breathing…”
Huo Jialan choked and began crying.
Gu Nianzhi nodded.
This explanation sounded reasonable and acceptable.
Now, worst come to worst, Huo Jialan would only be to not save her mother; she would never be the culprit of her mother’s death.
She even came clean on her life experience; Gu Nianzhi did not push her anymore.
“Bai Jinyi, Luo Xinxue had been talking to you a lot a few days leading to her death. What were the conversations regarding? Did she realized that you have been carrying a torch for her husband, but went to be her brother in-law’s girlfriend, so she felt that you were disgraceful, and called you endlessly to scold you?” Gu Nianzhi phrased her sentences carefully so that Bai Jinyi would be angered.
Bai Jinyi just couldn’t control herself every time she hears anything about Huo Guanyuan.
She ignored the order of which she should not speak given by Jin Dazhuang, laughed coldly and said, “Gu Nianzhi, is your vision that narrow? You are only able to see jealousy in your eyes? People ought to murder just because of a man?”
“Oh? So, in the eyes of physicist Bai, there are more important things you need to pursue before it’s worthy to kill someone?”
“Of course — Who would be as shallow as you?” Bai Jinyi snorted. She only cared about the bicker between Gu Nianzhi and herself, but totally did not realize what she had just said.
Jin Dazhuang broke out in cold sweat. He glared at Bai Jinyi before standing up, “Objection! The plaintiff lawyer was using words as bait to make my client say things which are untrue!”
“Jin Dazhuang, you cannot insist time and again that my words are baits to your client whenever she reveals her thoughts. I am not a psychologist, and therefore am unable to control her mind and thoughts.” Gu Nianzhi chuckled, “why can’t you face the truth? Your client wanted the data that was in the phone. She committed murder because she wanted those data!”
“What data are you talking about? Lawyer Gu, I can report your unprofessionalism to the board if you continue to accuse my client without any evidence!” Being in the industry for so many years, Jin Dazhuang had countless contacts and network in the industry; these are things that a fresh graduate, Gu Nianzhi, was unable to match. One word from him, and it would even be possible for Gu Nianzhi to not be able to get her lawyer’s license.
“Lawyer Jin, I can also report you for bribery if you continue to blackmail and threaten me with my professional career!” Gu Nianzhi straightened her back, and threw her chest out. With her clear eyes, she suddenly looked imposing.
“Lawyers of both parties, please calm down. Let’s return to the case.” The judge could not take this anymore. He knocked his hammer a couple of times in an attempt to warn Jin Dazhuang and Gu Nianzhi. It was obvious that he was unhappier with Jin Dazhuang. “Lawyer Jin, please watch out for your words. Use logic and law to speak and defend your client.”
Gu Nianzhi turned around, controlling her anger. She raised her hand, and showed the court. “Look, everyone. This is none other than the phone belonging to Huo Guanyuan. The phone model is old. If we were to think of its manufacturing year, it should be no less than 20 years. It has been so many years. This phone make Bai Jinyi, the director of the Insitute of High Energy Physics, be so coveted to the extent that she had to murder someone to get her hands on the phone. Did anyone think of the reason? Will it be due to the high performing battery this phone has?”
With trembling hands, Bai Jinyi’s held her breath…
What did Gu Nianzhi mean by this? Does she know something? How did she know? Or… The army already gotten wind about this?
Bai Jinyi’s gaze travelled to Huo Shaoheng and contemplated. Albeit smart, Gu Nianzhi had absolutely no foundation.
The person behind her was Huo Shaoheng. Gu Nianzhi herself was just his puppet.
Bai Jinyi felt that she had the clearest picture on that.