Chapter 190 Judgment
At eight o'clock the next morning, armed patrol cars led the way, and a convoy drove directly out of the Police Bureau Headquarters and headed towards the Yangzhi City Appeal Court.
The students of Wuyi had received the news in advance, and they were all very concerned about this matter, so they arrived at the Shenpanyuan on Canglin Avenue in the south of the city early.
Among these people, there are not only freshmen but also graduates who have graduated for many years. They all changed into the formal uniforms of Wuyi College students and stood silently in the square in front of the court. Looking at the dark mass, the invisible aura emitted by these fighters gave people great pressure.
This scene also attracted a large number of citizens to gather around to watch. They did not dare to get too close and just watched from a distance. The patrol officers of the Police Bureau also arrived at the scene one step ahead of time. They not only pulled up barrier ropes, but also arranged a patrol officer to stand guard every few meters on both sides of the street, extending to the end of the road.
At 8:15, when the sun was rising, the police convoy arrived in front of the court.
After one of the armored vehicles stopped, the door opened and Chen Chuan got out of the car. He was still wearing the same formal suit, but he didn't bring the Xue Jun Knife this time.
Although he has a weapons permit, theoretically he can take it anywhere except government departments. However, considering his reputation at the moment, it is still not too irritating to some people.
He looked at the appeal court in front of him. The building was solemn and majestic in the sunlight. However, because this matter involved too many people and forces, almost all the upper echelons of Yangzhi City were involved, the appeal court itself could not play a decisive role.
The most important role is to provide a venue, and to act as an observer and a judge of the final result, following a procedure that is apparently in line with the law.
He also saw the Wuyi students who had come to the square spontaneously. At this time, the deputy sent by Guan Yuming said to him, "Brother Chen, let's go."
Chen Chuan nodded, and walked up the stairs under the protection of a group of patrol officers, and entered the lobby of the appeal court. He adjusted his clothes in front of the mirror and then walked into the appeal hall.
As he walked in, a telegraph operator in a nearby building was transmitting a telegram to a certain location. The telegram was finally delivered to a certain area. The receiver translated it and handed it to Commissioner Cao who was sitting there. After reading it, he said, "Got it. Keep an eye on it."
"yes!"
He glanced outside and saw that the surrounding scenery was rapidly moving away. On the National Avenue, the entire convoy was heading towards Yangzhi City.
In the appeal court, after Chen Chuan entered the appeal hall, he walked up the ramp, passed through the audience seats, and walked forward. He could see that there were already quite a few people sitting in the seats on both sides. At this moment, these people were looking at him with hostility, disgust, hatred, etc., mixed with some vigilance and scrutiny.
According to Gao Ming, this time, not only the families of the 37 students would be present, but also Councillors of the Government Office, the Wuyi School Board of Directors, and Government Office officials. Furthermore, some prominent figures of society, not directly involved in the matter, were also present as spectators.
The judge was sitting in the middle of the courtroom. He was dressed in a black and red judge's uniform, with his hair combed neatly. He wore a pair of round-lens glasses with a gold lanyard, and looked very gentle and refined.
Chen Chuan stood directly at the defendant's position on his right. The position here was relatively high and there was no one around. It was some distance away from everyone, but he could still see most of the people present.
He glanced around and saw Director Lei, Deputy Director Guan and others whom he had not seen before, as well as Wu Yi's teachers such as Bian Feng and Yue Hong. There were also a few other people sitting with them. They had serious expressions and a solemn aura. They were obviously well-trained fighters and should be from the handling bureau.
Because the attendees were all Yangzhi City celebrities and political figures, all the tedious procedures were omitted. After waiting for everyone to arrive, Judge Shen picked up a small bronze hammer and struck the base of the seated Xiezhi statue in front of him, making a loud clang that echoed throughout the venue.
After everyone looked over, he said, "This court is hearing the case of the old Li-An Machinery Factory today. Please allow both the plaintiff and the defendant to read their statements."
The Police Bureau and the Esoteric Investigation Bureau have already submitted the materials they collected. This time the evidence is very sufficient, especially since Tan Wang is still alive and can provide a lot of testimony and evidence.
This is the benefit of controlling the scene at the first moment. The materials are very detailed and many things cannot be denied.
The powerful families here also knew about this matter. They had made a lot of preparations in advance, and they reached a consensus that if there was no way to completely get rid of the crime, they would hand over some irrelevant people, but they must portray the powerful children present as the objects of deception.
If things go well, they can even turn around and accuse Chen Chuan of being the one who colluded with the esoteric sect, turning the perpetrator into the victim.
The two representatives of the defendant and the appellant took the stage one after another and began to state their views and reasons. Neither of them was a lawyer, but rather a member of the appellate court. They were merely responsible for reading and did not make any defense.
Everyone in the seat was listening quietly. The focus of the case was on Chen Chuan, but the interests of each party were different. For the Police Bureau and the Esoteric Investigation Bureau, it was related to whether they could investigate the case in depth through Chen Chuan.
The idea of the handling bureau is to take advantage of this incident to weaken or break the pattern of recommending students in a group, and weaken the influence of powerful families on the college.
But the prerequisite for accomplishing this is naturally to protect Chen Chuan first and ensure the justice of what he did, otherwise there is no way to talk about the following things.
As for the many powerful families, their goal is exactly the opposite. If they allow a person who killed their descendants to get away with it, or even walk away without any cost, it will not only be a loss of face, but also a real decline in power, which means that they can no longer maintain the past situation.
In order to protect themselves and survive, they may attack each other in the future, and even more and more people will join in biting and devouring them.
They had made sufficient preparations this time. The first thing they did was to persuade a large number of members of the Advisory Council to side with them, and then influence the Government Affairs Office. This way they could put pressure on the three bureaus of patrol, secret service, and handling from top to bottom.
However, although these MPs have close ties with powerful forces and seem to have the upper hand, the reality is not that simple.
The three departments of Esoteric Buddhism, Processing, and Patrol are all the three most deterrent local government departments with independent military forces. Under the premise that the local governments do not have military power, the Government Affairs Department has to consider the opinions of these departments.
Therefore, if they want to suppress this matter and achieve their goal, they must at least have a justifiable righteousness and reason that complies with the rules of the Dashun Republic. If they use power to suppress it by force, not only will it fail, but more conflicts will arise, and they will not be able to get these departments to cooperate in the future.
Considering the various cult members, resistance organizations, and armed groups out there, not only do they need the cooperation of these powerful departments, but sometimes it involves their lives and property, so they cannot be careless.
So the procedure must be followed.
At this time, the defendant and the complainant had finished their lengthy statements, and then the family members of the deceased came on stage to make their statements. The people who appeared were all elderly people and women from the deceased's family.
They recounted the heartwarming and touching stories of the "victims", one by one, every detail, all told with sincerity and emotion, and couldn't help weeping and crying when they were so emotional, which moved many people in the audience and even heard low sobs from the audience.
Judge Shen watched silently from above. When the others finished their statements, he turned to Chen Chuan and, as usual, asked, "Defendant Chen Chuan, the appellant accuses you of killing 37 practitioners at the old Li'an Machinery Factory in Xigang District on the night of the 20th. Do you admit it?"
This is just a process. Generally, the defendant will deny having done these things. Next, the lawyers from both sides will appear and conduct a defense in court. Considering the complexity of this matter and the number of forces involved, it may be a very long process.
However, he didn't expect that after asking this question, Chen Chuan looked at him calmly and said, "I killed them. I killed all 37 people that night."
Judge Shen was a little surprised. He didn't expect Chen Chuan to admit it so readily. But that was not the point. It was actually difficult to deny this matter. The key was the reason for the murder.
He continued, "Before and during the murder, were you coerced by someone or manipulated by some esoteric ritual, leading you to commit the murder?"
Chen Chuan said calmly, "No, I killed these people out of my own free will. I was not coerced or influenced by any esoteric rituals."
As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar in the audience.
"murderer!"
"murderer!"
Finally, someone couldn't help but stand up excitedly and asked in a shrill voice: "My child is well-behaved and honest, and has always been very filial to his parents. He is just a child, still a child... Why did you kill him? Why!?"
Chen Chuan turned and said, "That's because he deserves to die."
The man couldn't help but tremble when he saw him like that, "You, you..."
Chen Chuan looked at the seats, at everyone sitting there, and said sincerely, "Every one of them deserves to die. They tried to control me with esoteric rituals, but they failed. Later, they even shot me. In order to protect myself, I had no choice but to kill them all."
"Intentions? How do you determine their intentions?"
Angry yet justified accusations rang out from the audience, "Even if they shot you, that's no reason for you to kill them. You have no right to do so, you murderer!"
"In fact..." Chen Chuan looked at him, "I have the power."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and reached into his pocket. However, his action made everyone nervous, and some people even wanted to call for security.
Judge Shen also became nervous. He knew that Chen Chuan had killed dozens of armed Wuyi students and security fighters in one breath. If he went crazy on the spot, it would be very dangerous even if there were security guards present.
He quickly said, "Student Chen, what are you doing? If you need anything, our staff can help you get it."
Chen Chuan said slowly: "I'm just showing you my power." He slowly took out his hand, and there was an extra card in his hand. He held the card in front of him and showed it to everyone.
It was a dark blue jade card with blood-red patterns on it that looked like cinnabar, and it looked very much like blood.
Because the distance was quite far, some people couldn't see clearly what it was, but those sitting in the front row saw it clearly. Someone who knew it recognized it and couldn't help but exclaimed:
"Unlimited Defense Certificate?!"
Judge Shen stared intently, straightened his glasses, looked at Chen Chuan, and murmured, "And it's Certificate B..."
Chen Chuan's steady and powerful voice rang out in the courtroom:
"You asked me if I have the authority. I tell you I do. This is the legitimate right of self-defense granted to me by the Dashun Republic government. When I find someone persecuting me, or feel my life is in danger, I have the right to unlimited defense. So... I will eliminate all threatening targets within my sight, leaving no one behind!"
There was total silence in the audience room, with only his final words lingering in the air.
Many people looked at Chen Chuan in fear, and some people's hands were shaking slightly. They couldn't tell whether it was because of the news or for some other reason.
"Unlimited Defense Certificate, how could he have an unlimited defense certificate!? It must be fake!" Someone in the audience immediately raised the question, causing a sudden uproar.
Judge Shen then picked up his hammer and struck it. The clang instantly drowned out the clamor from the audience. He looked at Chen Chuan and said, "Student Chen, in the interest of justice, please allow me to examine the self-defense certificate in your hand."
Chen Chuan nodded and said, "Okay."
The judge stepped down from the stage, took the card from Chen Chuan, examined it, and said, "It's authentic. The material, the number and the name on it all match. And... this is a Class B certificate."
After he said this, a dead silence fell over the audience. Many members of the powerful families present were pale and sat there helplessly, because they knew that with this certificate, unless they were caught in the act or the evidence was extremely unfavorable, it would be almost impossible to be convicted.
Wei Hang couldn't help but close his eyes, knowing that the situation he least wanted to see had occurred.
They had thought of this possibility before, even though the possibility was very low. However, there was no way they would stop because of this inference. Did they have to give up pursuing the matter on their own initiative?
So even if Chen Chuanzhen has an unlimited defense certificate, this step must be taken.
But in this way, they will no longer be able to use the official procedures to kill Chen Chuan, but he still has another choice, although this is also a choice that he can never turn back once he takes it.
He looked at the young man sitting next to him, who nodded to him. Then he stood up with the help of his cane and said, "Judge Shen, and everyone present, I have something to say."
…
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(End of this chapter)
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