CM | Chapter 22

On the same day, Jin Zhizhong, known as Jin Ye, also returned to Jiangcheng from Licheng.

As soon as Jin Zhizhong stepped into the office, his man handed him a folder. Jin Zhizhong took it, sent everyone out, then flopped onto the sofa and flipped through the folder a few times.

Inside were several sheets of paper and a photo. The photo was a candid shot taken in secret, showing a young man in a suit, tall and well-built. Beside him stood none other than Zhang Ye, a well-known figure in Licheng.

As for the papers, they were documents on a newly opened law firm, and there was also a photo of its legal representative.

A few days ago, Jin Zhizhong had just returned to Licheng’s Zijing Palace, his own turf, the place where he could sleep soundly, one of his nests, so to speak.

But his own nest had been stormed, and by a lone intruder at that. According to his underlings, it had been a very tall, very young man. Not only had he come in looking perfectly respectable, he had also left with all his limbs intact.

Jin Zhizhong felt that Zhang Xiang should not have made such a low-level mistake, so he asked him about the man’s background.

Zhang Xiang hemmed and hawed for a long while before saying that the kid was someone under Xu Haiqing. He was probably just a calf newborn and unafraid of tigers[[N]], not knowing how dangerous these waters were, which was why he had run to Zijing Palace to drum up business. Luckily, it was finally made clear that it was all a misunderstanding, and he was taken back by Zhang Ye from Xu Haiqing’s side.

This was fishy.

Xu Haiqing was one of the top figures in Licheng. She had mixed in the underworld in her early years, and later been brought into line. What she did now were all legitimate businesses, but she had strong connections in both the black and white worlds, and no one dared to make trouble for her. She kept a low profile on ordinary days, and plenty of people came to her for help, but no one had ever seen her go onto someone else’s turf to start trouble.

So how had someone from Xu Haiqing’s side ended up going to Zijing Palace to pick a fight?

Jin Zhizhong knew he would not get anything out of Zhang Xiang. Zhang Xiang still had to keep an eye on Zijing Palace’s business for him, so of course he would not dare offend a local snake on his own turf.

Jin Zhizhong did not intend to make things difficult for Zhang Xiang, but he could not let it go.

That brat had actually chosen the day he was at Zijing Palace to come kick down the mountain gate, and had even specifically said he wanted to see him. Clearly, he had come for him.

But Jin Zhizhong hardly spent more than a few days at Zijing Palace in a whole year. Most of the time he stayed in his Jiangcheng lair. What reason would some brat from Licheng have to look for him?

Soon, he had his other men look into it.

A few days later, his men found a lead. Someone from Xu Haiqing’s side had rented an office in a high-end building in Jiangcheng for the purpose of opening a law firm. The legal representative was called Xu Shuo.

And he was the same person captured by the surveillance camera at the entrance to Zijing Palace.

Then what was the reason for storming the gate?

If it was to drum up business, this method was rather unusual. First Zijing Palace, then chasing all the way to Jiangcheng to open a law firm? Was Licheng such a small place that it still wasn’t enough for him to run wild in?

At the thought of this, Jin Zhizhong stood up from the sofa, opened the safe under his desk, and took out a phone.

He quickly dialed a number. It rang once before being cut off, then he dialed again.

The call went through, and a man’s cool, tired voice came from the other end. “You’d better have something important.”

Jin Zhizhong’s heart tightened. He hurriedly said, “Recently, there’s been a brat with the surname Xu keeping an eye on me. He chased me from Licheng to Jiangcheng, and even opened a law firm here.”

The man on the phone asked, “A lawyer?”

Jin Zhizhong said, “Yes… but for now I don’t know what he’s here for. By rights, it shouldn’t be a problem on my end, but just to be safe, I thought I should give you a heads-up.”

The man’s voice turned several degrees colder. “A lawyer is enough to make you this jumpy? What exactly is going on?”

Jin Zhizhong swallowed. He honestly admitted, “He’s someone from Xu Haiqing’s side.”

“Xu Haiqing from Licheng?”

Jin Zhizhong said, “Yes… but I can swear I handled things here cleanly. I never left any loose ends!”

The man was silent for a few seconds. “If you hadn’t done things cleanly, you wouldn’t have another chance to call me. Go and find out what he’s up to first. Don’t make a fuss, and don’t get into a direct conflict.”

Jin Zhizhong said, “Yes, yes, I understand…”

The man cut off the call first.

At the other side, outside Jiangcheng First Detention Center.

Gu Yao and Xu Shuo were walking one after the other toward the parking lot.

Xu Shuo was still as careless as when they had come, as if he had not been discouraged at all by hitting a wall with Tian Fang.

Gu Yao glanced at him and said, “You don’t seem worried at all.”

Xu Shuo turned his head. His pitch-black eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses, which only made him look even more like some idle rich playboy.

“What should I be worried about?”

Gu Yao said, “Weren’t you just blaming me for ruining your case?”

Xu Shuo smiled, revealing a row of white teeth. “There’s still plenty of time. I’m confident I can get her to change her mind. Besides, Tian Fang isn’t some little girl. Just from one meeting and a few words, getting her to hire an extra defense attorney would be a miracle. Unless…”

Gu Yao stared at the dark lenses of his sunglasses. “Unless what?”

Xu Shuo stopped and smiled without saying anything.

Gu Yao waited quietly for his answer, and could not help rubbing her hands together.

The sun was even hotter than when they had come earlier. It was sweltering, but Gu Yao still felt cold in her hands and feet. The chill and temperature inside the detention center were really not something just anyone could withstand.

At that moment, Xu Shuo asked half-jokingly, “Are you worried about me?”

Gu Yao let out a cold snort. “Have you seen yourself?”

What a huge ego.

Xu Shuo said, “Of course. I look in the mirror every day. Objectively speaking, I’m basically the number one handsome guy in the legal world.”

Gu Yao: “…”

After taking a breath, Gu Yao said, “So the legal world’s number one handsome guy actually ran to a detention center in person to solicit clients. Did your integrity get eaten by dogs?”

Xu Shuo blinked, looking a little innocent. “If I really took this face out to solicit clients, I’d definitely debut as center. I’d be starting at at least six figures a night, and a lot of people would love me to death. Maybe even dogs would.”

Gu Yao: “…”

Gu Yao simply turned her face away. One more look and she was afraid she would get pricked.

But she had not lost her reason yet. She still had questions to ask. “Do you suspect Tian Fang is taking the blame for someone?”

Xu Shuo walked along at an unhurried pace, matching Gu Yao’s steps. “Obviously. A little assistant with no power or influence, who had to sell herself just to get ahead, accidentally killed a big client, and there were suspicious drug residues left at the scene. She must have been terrified. Afraid to look for her own handler, she was in a hurry and picked the wrong doctor, so to speak, and ran to her sworn enemy, Likun Law Firm, to clean up the mess. In the end, Likun seized the opening and played her completely.”

While they talked, the two had already reached the parking lot, but neither of them got into the car.

Xu Shuo asked with a smile, “How is it? Is my version of the story exciting enough?”

Gu Yao frowned and pointed out the problem. “Who is the handler?”

“Zhaoyang Law Firm.”

“You mean Zhaoyang is pimping out big clients, using the firm’s junior assistant to sleep with them?”

“To lock down big clients, aside from business capability, if you add just a little satisfaction of basic human needs, wouldn’t that make things even more stable? Likun’s strength is no weaker than Zhaoyang’s, but for so many years Likun still hasn’t successfully poached a single big client from them. Does that make sense?”

There was a second of silence before Xu Shuo went on. “Besides, just now in front of Tian Fang, didn’t you also analyze her period from her resume pretty thoroughly?”

Gu Yao said, “I made a reasonable judgment based on the clues you gave me and Tian Fang’s behavior.”

“Oh? Go on.”

“When you were talking to Tian Fang, she frowned several times. Not only that, the muscles in her cheeks under her eyes pulled upward at the same time, and her eyes opened wider, staying on guard at all times. That’s a retreat-and-defend response.”

Xu Shuo said, “A woman waiting in detention for her trial, with a bleak future ahead of her, suddenly has two uninvited guests come in to gossip. If it were you, you’d also be frowning and glaring, wouldn’t you? Were you expecting her to smile instead?”

Facing Xu Shuo’s habitual provocation, Gu Yao did not get angry. She only said, “Tian Fang must have received relevant expression training, and as a legal assistant, her conversational and negotiating skills also show professional instinct. She rarely answered your questions directly. Instead, she answered a question with a question, like ‘what does that have to do with you,’ ‘what does what you said have to do with me,’ and ‘how do you know.’ This shows that her defense mechanism is very strong, and she must have been trained. But since she’s only a junior assistant, her training time wasn’t long, and the two of us came too suddenly, beyond what she expected. So she still showed one flaw, which was when she said, ‘I don’t understand what you’re talking about.'”

As she said this, the corners of Gu Yao’s lips lifted slightly, revealing a trace of a smile, and there was even a bit of excitement in it. That sort of expression had also appeared last night when she analyzed those two diary entries.

Xu Shuo caught it, but did not interrupt her.

Gu Yao said, “When she said that sentence, she spoke first, then shook her head to strengthen the point. That was clearly a lie. People’s micro-expressions can be trained and controlled, reducing the chance of being seen through, but the very first reaction is instinctive. That’s her nervous system and muscles working together, and training can hardly change that kind of conditioned response. For example, if you go to buy a product but you’re worried about after-sales service, so you ask the salesperson whether it can be repaired later or even returned or exchanged, if the salesperson says ‘yes, no problem’ while nodding hard at you, then you can choose to believe him. But if he first says ‘yes, no problem,’ and only then nods at you, you should be careful. He is very likely lying. Tian Fang was just like that.”

Xu Shuo raised an objection. “How high is the success rate of that kind of judgment? Maybe she just happened to be one of those rare slow-reacting people. After all, life in detention isn’t easy. Maybe she was sleep-deprived, so her body and mouth weren’t in sync.”

Gu Yao smiled. “Did you notice her nails?”

“Her nails?”

“She should have had a long-term manicure habit. There were strips of white peeling on her nail beds, caused by manicure work, and there were also bite marks on her nails and the edges around them. Usually, people only bite their nails when they feel anxious. I guess she used to get manicures to correct the habit of nail-biting. When you brought up the example of self-defense, her eyes looked away for the first time, and she almost bit her nails. But she held back. Her hand only scratched twice at the hollow of her neck, then rested on her thigh. And to keep herself from losing control, she even gripped her knees tightly with both hands. When I asked why her resume mentioned her period, she showed the exact same reaction a second time. Also, when you introduced me as a psychological expert, she was very alert. When I asked how her injuries came about, she immediately retreated toward the door.”

“People can lie, but instinctive bodily movements can’t. There’s an essential difference between genuine reactions and acted ones. If your guess were wrong, she should have been very relaxed, maybe even looked down on you. But from her reaction at the time, your probing hit the mark nine times out of ten. And I made my judgment based on the clues you gave me and her reactions. Zhaoyang Law Firm should be using female employees for sleep-with-clients business binding, to win over major clients.

If that inference is correct, then the injuries on Tian Fang’s body must be related to the executive from ‘Jiangcheng Gene’ who died in an accident…

Xu Shuo listened with great interest. Leaning against the car, he said, “An expert really is an expert. Coming with you was the right call.”

Gu Yao asked, “You used the example of self-defense. Clearly, you knew she had suffered sexual abuse. Did you know before you came, or after you saw her?”

Xu Shuo raised a brow. “She was hurt so badly that even the way she walked wasn’t natural. Could that have happened from falling in the detention center? I was just making a reasonable inference based on prior experience in criminal cases. Besides, didn’t you also use a domestic violence example to test her? That shows we saw things the same way.”

It was indeed like that. Tian Fang had too many flaws. Even a blind man could tell something was off at a glance. Presumably, after the police got involved, they had also checked her injuries. If they really found signs of violent sexual assault, they would have thought of self-defense. How could they then prosecute it as ‘intentional homicide’?

After a few seconds of silence, Gu Yao voiced the question.

Xu Shuo let out a low laugh. “That’s still possible. For example, if she personally confirmed that she had not suffered any violent sexual assault, and even said it was a matter of personal preference.”

Gu Yao: “…”

For a moment, she almost thought Xu Shuo was just spouting nonsense. After all, he was rarely serious. But on second thought, there really was such a possibility.

Gu Yao said, “I don’t understand. If she suffered sexual abuse, why would she say it was a preference?”

“You said it yourself too. Someone taught her micro-expression training, so someone could also teach her to say she had a special kink.”

“For what purpose? Even if she said it was self-defense, so what? Who would that hurt?”

Xu Shuo raised a brow. “Why don’t you think of it this way, how can all the charges be pinned on one pawn, so that she alone takes the fall.”

Gu Yao froze.

Seeing her stunned expression, Xu Shuo continued, “If Tian Fang acted in self-defense, then that executive would be a sexual abuser, which would definitely damage the image of ‘Jiangcheng Gene.’ If Tian Fang and the executive were engaged in a sex transaction and she accidentally took medicine that killed him, once it was confirmed that those drugs were related to ‘Jiangcheng Gene,’ the company’s image could collapse at any moment. If Zhaoyang Law Firm lost a major client because of this, not only would they be in deep trouble, but other long-term clients would also feel uneasy because of Zhaoyang’s poor handling of the case. They might even be willing to pay a huge breach of contract penalty just to jump ship to Likun. In that situation, there is only one version of the story that can sacrifice the pawn to protect the king[[N]] , and that is Tian Fang and the dead man being a mutually willing S and M couple. What does a little bedroom fun have to do with anyone else? It’s just that this time they played too hard, and Tian Fang made one wrong move. Oops, she accidentally killed her lover.”

As he spoke, Xu Shuo even made a two-handed choking gesture, vividly acting it out.

Gu Yao did not respond. She only stared at Xu Shuo, the scene he described already forming in her mind, her thoughts following along, and the more she thought about it, the more chilling it became.

Xu Shuo suddenly looked serious again and said, “In that case, ‘intentional homicide’ can have a chance of being argued down to ‘negligent homicide,’ because Tian Fang did not premeditate killing the victim, but caused it through carelessness and lack of foresight. Once the charge stands, the court will also sentence according to the facts of the crime, its nature, the circumstances, and the degree of harm to society. There might even be a sentence. I’m guessing maybe three to five years. Using a few years of a junior assistant’s time to help a large company and a law firm get through a crisis smoothly, that’s a very easy deal to calculate.”

Hearing this, Gu Yao turned her face away and looked into the distance.

She felt a mess of conflicting emotions and did not want to say a word.

Xu Shuo waited a moment, then suddenly straightened up, startling Gu Yao.

Gu Yao turned to look at him and asked, “What exactly is your purpose in butting in?”

Xu Shuo said solemnly, “Of course it’s to draw in all those wrongdoers with charges piled in a basket. You know this too, the richer the people, the more secrets they have behind them. Every year they have to invest a huge sum in lawyers and accountants to patch up loopholes. If I can successfully get Tian Fang acquitted on self-defense grounds and released without charges, I believe that on the very day of the verdict, my resume will automatically be delivered into the hands of every powerful figure in Jiangcheng, and I’ll rise overnight to become the top name in Jiangcheng’s legal world.”

Gu Yao sneered twice. “There are so many death-row cases in Jiangcheng, and you picked this one?”

“This case is the hottest, and the media coverage is the most aggressive.”

“But getting involved will directly offend ‘Jiangcheng Gene’ and Zhaoyang Law Firm.”

“If you want to be a dark horse, you always have to pay a price.”

“Oh? Or is it because you want to deal with Zhu Shengxi? Otherwise why investigate him, and how did you manage to get his sister’s diary?”

Their exchange was almost perfectly timed, and neither was willing to back down.

Only then did Xu Shuo smile and say nothing.

Gu Yao kept pressing him. “You’re not here for fame. Your target is only Zhu Shengxi. You just want to use this chance to ruin him. Having a scum like you in the legal world is a disgrace.”

Gu Yao’s words were very harsh, but Xu Shuo did not get angry at all. Instead, he said, “Then what about Zhu Shengxi? Sacrificing the pawn to protect the king, letting a woman like Tian Fang shoulder it all. Does he not know about that?”

Gu Yao was a little angry. “It’s not like Zhu Shengxi told Zhaoyang to use sex transactions to win over client resources. Zhaoyang dug its own giant hole, so of course it has to find a way to clean up the mess. Clients pay to avoid trouble, but how to fight the lawsuit, what to say in court, how to teach Tian Fang to make up a story, those strategies are all part of a law firm’s job, and have nothing to do with Zhu Shengxi.”

Xu Shuo let out a low laugh, as if he had heard some huge joke. “If it has nothing to do with him, then why are you so agitated?”

Then he lifted one long leg and was in front of Gu Yao in less than half a step.

“Since Tian Fang is the law firm’s sexual tool used to bind clients, then…”

Being this close made Gu Yao pause. Instinctively, she wanted to create some distance, but Xu Shuo was faster. He had already bent down, lowered his head, and the cool breath from him brushed across her ear and cheek.

“Tell me, did she and Zhu Shengxi ever sleep together?”

Gu Yao’s expression changed instantly. All her manners and restraint left her in that moment. Before she even realized what she had done, her foot had already lashed out.

There was a sharp cry of pain, and Xu Shuo, unable to dodge in time, ended up with a clear footprint on his expensive Italian leather shoe, and it was from a high heel.

The pain went straight to the bone!

His handsome features twisted instantly. He instinctively took a step back, one hand braced against the car body, the other still in his pocket to preserve his last shred of cool, barely resisting the urge to bend down and grab his instep.

Agony beyond words!

Pain tearing him apart!

Gu Yao, however, gave him a cold look, turned around, got back into the car, and floored the accelerator as she roared past him, deliberately kicking up a cloud of exhaust and dust in his face.

Gu Yao: “Idiot.”

At the same time, Xiao Chuan, who was watching the surveillance feed, could not help but shudder, and immediately called Xu Shuo.

“Bro, y-you’re okay, right…”

Then, amid the flying dust and dirt, there came a burst of violent coughing. “Fuck, this woman… she really stepped on me! I fucking…”