The pen was forced into Zhang Baochen’s hand, but he trembled for a long time time without signing with it. He finally mustered his courage to say, “I…I won’t sign this!”
“You won’t sign it? If you’re indeed Zhang Baochen, you must sign it!” The police officer was resolute. “It’s written on there in black and white that you will be detained if you refuse to sign it!”
“I-I-I-It’s not that I won’t sign it, but I need a lawyer! I need to hire a lawyer to represent me, and will sign it after consulting with them!” Zhang Baochen’s thoughts finally fell into order. He set the pen down and refused to sign the document.
“Hire a lawyer?” The officer paused and then asked, “Do you have one?” The rich folks need a lawyer just to sign a document. How fussy. The officer mocked him in his thoughts.
“I do, and I’ll call them right now!” Zhang Baocheng frantically searched for the best lawyer to deal with the police. The crimes committed by Dacheng Industries Ltd. were still within the scope of the internal audit by the military, and the military had no intention of pressing charges in court due to the relationship between Zhang Feng and Grandfather Huo. The police had gotten involved because they were assisting the military with verifying basic information, and so had not been sent by the court. Thus, Zhang Baochen’s request to have a lawyer represent him was perfectly legal. The police couldn’t stop him if he wanted to hire a lawyer.
“Then you can call them right now.” The officer took back the document. “We’ll wait here.”
Zhang Baochen grimaced as he turned back to the apartment. He went the study on and quickly searched fo the best domestic law firms. However, he was only connected to their voicemails when he called. It was nearly noon, so he figured that even the scant number of employees were probably on lunch break. Sweet and melodious robotic voices sounded from the phone, saying “Hello, if this is an emergency, please call 110. If this is a criminal case, please press 1. Economic case, please press 2. Legal representative, please press 3…” He entered in a series of numbers and still only got the voicemail in the end. Zhang Baocheng didn’t have the luxury of doing this right now. The police were waiting outside and wouldn’t leave until he called a lawyer right away. He desperately searched online for a reliable and available local law firm in the Imperial Capital to to become his legal representative. His cursor came across a “Sovereign Law Office.” This law firm had been established not too long ago and was on the smaller scale, with a team of less than 15 people. However, the owner was very powerful and according to the website introduction, he was partnered to the largest law firm in the United States, a tenured professor at the Harvard Law School, and had a long string of lawsuits in his CV—one of which being a case against the US Military. This lawyer had dared to attack even the US Military, which meant the Imperial Military should be no problem. Zhang Baocheng rubbed his chin and swiftly called the number listed.
“Hello, this is Sovereign Law Office, how may we assist you today?”
Zhang Baochen yanked at his tie before asking hastily, “Hello, I urgently need a lawyer to be my legal representative. Can you please send a lawyer over right now?”
The voice on the other end of the line seemed to pause, then said politely, “Can you please tell me the specifics of the situation? Today is the second day of the lunar new year, so it will not easy to find someone available. However, we will try our best to match you with the right lawyer. Please tell me the entire situation.”
Zhang Baochen hurriedly gave an explanation, and concluded by saying, “They’re still at the door right now and are trying to make me sign a document, but I don’t know if I should or not.”
The woman on the line paused again; she seemed to be making notes. She then quickly resumed questioning. “What proof does the police have that Dacheng Industries Ltd. is insolvent? It stands to reason that it cannot be determined in this short amount of time.”
“This… I don’t know about, actually.” Zhang Baocheng didn’t want to talk about the military portion of the situation. He had finally found a real person to talk to instead of a robot, so he was worried it might scare her off.
“Mr. Zhang, please tell me the truth. You are not harming our interests, but your own if you don’t disclose everything to us.” The women’s voice was very gentle. “No matter what happens, we will still charge our fees and all losses will be borne by you. Please think about it again: is there anything else you need to tell us?”
Zhang Baochen was defeated by this woman and had no choice but to tell the woman everything he knew. She was silent for a long while afterwards. Zhang Baochen thought she had already ended the call already. However, her voice sounded once again. “Ok, we will accept this case. Where are you located right now? I can contact our firm’s lawyers to act as your legal representative.”
“Oh, Really?!” Zhang Baochen exhaled sharply and finally felt hopeful again. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and continued speaking, “I am in Suite 1043, Tower C of Baolongyuan in Zhichun Precinct in the Fourth Ring Road. Can you have him come right now?”
The woman laughed lightly. “I’ll call him straight away.”
“May I ask what your name is?”
“My name is Wen. Wen Shouyi.”
Wen Shouyi set the phone down and chuckled quietly. She didn’t celebrate Lunar New Year, so the first and second days of the lunar new year meant nothing to her. She had came to the office alone to prepare materials and get ready for classes to begin; she had never expected to pick up such a case. She sent the payment information to Zhang Baochen—he would first pay 10 thousand RMB as a deposit and then legal fees would be deducted from that deposit. Zhang Baochen quickly sent 10 thousand RMB over. Wen Shouyi confirmed the deposit and called Lawyer Jin. “Lawyer Jin, I have someone urgently looking for a legal representative. Are you available?”
Lawyer Jin had been fired from the JD Law Offices after losing the Bai Jinyi case. All the other law offices in the Imperial Capital were worried about offending the Bai family, so no one had dared to hire him. The Sovereign Law Office was the only place that had given him a chance. He was determined to rebuild his reputation and earn back his honor as the leading counsel. Although he was having lunch with his family and friends when Wen Shouyi called, he quickly agreed. “No problem. Where is he? I’ll go right now.”
Wen Shouyi nodded with satisfaction. “I’ve sent you the specifics by email; you should be able to see it right away. The client’s name is Zhang Baochen; his address is Suite 1043, Tower C of Baolongyuan in Zhichun Precinct, Fourth Ring Road. Phone number 136XXXXXXXXXX. ”
“Ok, I’ve got it.” Lawyer Jin unlocked his phone and saw an email from Shouyi in his work inbox. He took a cursory look and but was immediately excited. Wen Shouyi had prepared an excellent memo for him, which not only outlined the entire incident, but also introduced all the parties involved. For example, Zhang Baochen was only a manger of a financial company, but his mother Zhang Feng was the Head Nurse of the second-in-command of the Supreme Military Council. Although Huo Xuenong was now retired, he still held the rank of General. His son, Huo Guanchen, was the Director of the Political Department of the military, while his grandson was the famous Major General Huo Shaoheng. The names rattled off the screen and Lawyer Jin couldn’t be more familiar with them. It had been the Huo’s who had pressed charges against Bai Jinyi for murdering Luo Xinxue, the widow of the elder Huo son, Huo Guanyuan. Lawyer Jin had met Huo Shaoheng in court. When he thought of Huo Shaoheng, he also couldn’t help remembering Gu Nianzhi, who had completely defeated him.
“Lawyer Jin, as Huo Xuenong’s Head Nurse, does Zhang Feng have a close relationship to him?” Wen Shouyi had only recently arrived at the Huaxia Empire and wasn’t familiar with these relationships.
Lawyer Jin wore his Bluetooth headset and took out an iPad to mark on the important points as he walked outside. He said to Wen Shouyi over the phone, “Lawyer Wen, the Chief’s Head Nurse has quite a bit of authority. They can control the Chief’s schedules at times and determine who they can see and cannot see. In some cases, they may have a stronger relationship to the Chief than even their own wives do.”
“Oh? Really now?” Wen Shouyi was intrigued. “Who can qualify as the service nurse?”
“If it’s within the army, they must be at least the rank of a Commander or General. That’s the same minimum rank to qualify for Personal Secretaries.” Lawyer Jin explained politely. “I still have to look up the specifics. If Lawyer Wen is interested, I will send you my findings.”
“Oh, no need. I was just wondering.” Wen Shouyi turned to her computer and looked online. “Hurry to him now; he’s quite anxious.”
Lawyer Jin set down the phone and got inside his car to quickly drive to the Zhichun Precinct in the Fourth Ring Road. The roads were very quiet on the second day of the lunar new year. He found Zhang Baochen’s address and called him. “May I ask if this is Mr. Zhang? I’m Lawyer Jin from the Sovereign Law Office.”