Chapter 139 ABO Results Changed (17)
17
Since Shi Ran was determined to sue the Shen family, Zhu Qingchen would of course support him.
In fact, Zhu Qingchen had already discussed this matter with several famous top lawyers in the empire that morning.
Otherwise he wouldn't know it so clearly.
The matter between Shi Ran and Shen Xiuping had caused a sensation on Starnet, and the lawyers had heard about it a long time ago.
Now that Zhu Qingchen came to them with this well-known case, they were of course happy to serve.
Zhu Qingchen asked them to meet in the reception room of the Marshal's Mansion.
In the reception room, three lawyers, all dressed in black suits, sat side by side on the sofa, with heavy file boxes at their feet.
The butler served them tea and said, "Please wait a moment. Mr. Zhu will be here soon."
As soon as the butler finished speaking, before the three lawyers had time to thank him, Zhu Qingchen appeared at the door of the reception room with Shi Ran.
"Thank you, we are here."
Zhu Qingchen had just finished taking the inhibitor and changed to an inhibitory patch. Due to the estrus period, he was still a little sleepy.
Shi Ran washed his face with a cold towel. His eyes were no longer red. He felt refreshed and eager to try.
He followed the teacher, holding his and the teacher's notebooks in his arms.
The three lawyers stood up and greeted him: "Hello, Mr. Zhu."
"Well, hello." Zhu Qingchen nodded and introduced Shi Ran to them, "This is Shi Ran."
"Hello, classmate Shi."
"Hello, lawyers."
Shi Ran is still a child, so it’s just right to call him “classmate”.
Zhu Qingchen and Shi Ran sat down on the sofa: "We have already discussed this on Starnet this morning. You can probably get the general situation from Starnet, so I won't go into details."
"Yes, we are all clear."
"In that case, I won't beat around the bush." Zhu Qingchen said seriously, "I invited you all here this time because Shi Ran and I are planning to sue the Shen family."
"What you mean is..." One of the lawyers asked tentatively, "You and Shi are going to sue Shen Xiuping for modifying his grades? But this is a case that the Empire will conduct an open trial, so there is no need..."
“No.” Zhu Qingchen leaned back in his chair and said firmly, “We will sue the Shen family for abusing the orphans of soldiers, Shen Xiuping for harassing minors, and restricting Shi Ran’s personal freedom in our personal names.”
"But..." The three lawyers were obviously a little embarrassed. Shi Ran was about to say that they didn't care about winning or losing, but was stopped by Zhu Qingchen.
I can’t say that now.
Not caring about winning or losing is a consensus reached between them as teacher and student, and they cannot tell the lawyer for the time being.
They won't be discouraged by this consensus, but the lawyers might be.
They need to screen out reliable lawyers first.
So, Zhu Qingchen looked at them seriously: "That's why I invited three lawyers to come here at once. I know this case is not easy to handle."
"I won't force you. If you don't want to take this case, just tell me. I will reimburse you three times your travel expenses this afternoon, just like treating you to afternoon tea."
"This case requires a huge amount of time and effort. If anyone wants to take it, I will pay you three times your hourly wage during the work. Regardless of success or failure, Shi Ran and I will not blame you."
The three lawyers exchanged glances, all a little hesitant.
The money has been paid enough, and now everyone is paying attention to this case. If I continue, I won’t have to worry about my reputation.
that is……
One of the lawyers asked tentatively: "Mr. Zhu, if we are all willing to take this case, would you choose..."
Zhu Qingchen waved his hand and said, "Let's go together!"
I want them all!
The three lawyers smiled and felt relieved: "Okay, then we'll listen to Mr. Zhu."
"Okay." Zhu Qingchen glanced at the time. "I'll give you three days. Everyone should quickly hand over the work at hand, and then we'll start working. Is that okay?"
"One day is enough. I just finished a case."
"I don't need it for a day. I don't have any cases on hand."
Zhu Qingchen nodded with satisfaction: "No problem."
Since they all have time, Zhu Qingchen doesn't have to worry so much.
He directly asked the butler to prepare a room in the Marshal's Mansion as a temporary meeting room.
Shi Ran sat next to his teacher, facing the three lawyers, and told them in detail what he had experienced over the past ten years.
"I was adopted by the Shen family when I was five years old. I don't remember the details clearly, I just remember that after my parents got into trouble, I was rescued by the guards and lived with them for a few days."
"I was originally going to be sent to an orphanage, but at this time, the Shen family and their husband came, they adopted me and took me home. I met Shen Xiuping for the first time at the door of the Shen family."
“Chen Xiuping is ten years older than me. He was already fifteen at that time and was preparing for the Imperial Unified Examination.”
"The Shen family is really good to me. When I first arrived at the Shen family, they were afraid that I would not adapt, so they accompanied me all the time, took me to the mall to buy clothes and furniture, and even held a welcome party for me at the Shen family."
Shi Ran is a good boy. Even if he falls out with the Shen family, he will not deny the good things they have done before.
"It's just that I wasn't in the mood to buy anything or attend a party at that time."
The three lawyers looked at each other and saw suspicion in each other's eyes.
One of them asked, "Is the party big?"
"It should be big, they held it at home." Shi Ran thought for a while, "Since my parents' accident, I have been staying in my room and rarely go out. Shen Xiuping took me downstairs for a walk, and I quickly went back to my room."
"Do you remember who attended the party?"
Shi Ran tried to recall it and shook his head: "I don't remember."
He was too young at that time, and was just taken for a spin by Shen Xiuping. How could he remember it so clearly?
But the three lawyers looked at each other again.
Shi Ran's parents just passed away, and the Shen family is busy doing these things. It is really suspicious.
Taking him shopping can also be said to be an attempt to divert the child's attention and make him happier.
But holding a welcome party for him is a bit intriguing.
Shi Ran never left his room and didn't participate in the banquet much, so who was this banquet held for?
We are all adults, and we all know that a banquet is actually a social gathering among adults.
Although children are used as an excuse, it has nothing to do with children in essence.
Seeing that they were silent, Shi Ran suddenly realized, "You mean to say that the Shen family has been..."
The lawyer quickly comforted him: "Don't worry, we just think this may be a breakthrough point, and we need more evidence."
"Hmm." Shi Ran lowered his eyes, seeming to be thinking about the possibility.
The lawyer continued, "Please continue, Mr. Shi."
Shi Ran raised his head again: "When I was young, Shen Xiuping was still a normal brother."
"Then when did you realize that Shen Xiuping had excessive control over you?"
Shi Ran subconsciously looked at the teacher beside him. He couldn't bring himself to say such a thing.
The lawyer comforted her, "Don't be nervous. This is a necessary process. We need to understand what happened so that we can find a breakthrough and better defend you. We will never mention your personal privacy anywhere else except in court."
Zhu Qingchen looked at Shi Ran: "Don't you want to talk about it for now? It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. Let's wait a few days before talking about it."
Zhu Qingchen didn't want to force it, so he turned to the three lawyers and said, "Then we'll stop here today."
"No need." Shi Ran whispered, "It's okay, I can tell you."
Zhu Qingchen asked: "Is it okay?"
"Yes." Shi Ran nodded. "Teacher, didn't you say it? This is not my fault, it's his fault. I just said what he did. I will tell these things to everyone in the empire in the future. I can't back down now."
"Okay." Zhu Qingchen sat back in his seat, "If you don't want to talk anymore, you can stop at any time."
Shi Ran took a deep breath: "It was on the day of my differentiation that I discovered that Shen Xiuping had such disgusting thoughts about me."
"Before I split, he often controlled me, not letting me go out with my classmates, and not letting me stay overnight at my classmates' homes. I didn't take it seriously at first, and the Shen family couple also said that he was just worried about me, so I didn't doubt it."
"Later, he wouldn't let me go to the mecha exhibition, and even dragged me away a few times. I was very angry, but the Shen couple said that he loved me and was worried that I wouldn't be able to get into the military academy because of my poor grades. Although I was very angry, I didn't understand what was going on."
"Until the day I was separated, he dragged me back from the mecha exhibition again, and we had a fierce quarrel. He locked me in the room and called my teacher to stop me from going to school."
"When he called, I heard him tell my teacher that he was my fiancé. Then I realized that this was how he saw me."
"Then I passed out due to differentiation. Before I passed out, he was still expecting me to differentiate into an Omega so that he could marry me."
The lawyer asked: "Do you have any evidence for what you said? Surveillance video or audio recording?"
"Nothing." Shi Ran shook his head. "There is no surveillance in the Shen family, and I didn't think of recording at that time."
"In this case, we can't prove that these things really happened." The lawyer thought for a moment, "Perhaps we can go and ask the teacher who called Shen Xiuping at that time." Although the Empire stipulates that recordings without the other party's knowledge cannot be used as evidence, this is a recording of a school teacher at work. It should be possible to use it to prove that Shen Xiuping regarded him as his fiancé without Shi Ran's knowledge.
At this time, Zhu Qingchen spoke up: "There is no surveillance inside the Shen family, but there must be surveillance at the mecha exhibition, right?"
"Yes, dragging in public is a worse situation. It would be more useful if we could find surveillance footage in public places."
"Shen Xiuping dragged Shi Ran away in public, and Shi Ran's classmates must have seen it. They quarreled like this, and the servants and housekeepers of the Shen family must have heard it." Zhu Qingchen said, "As long as you want to dig, you can still dig out evidence."
Zhu Qingchen concluded: "Now there are mainly two directions."
“First, prove that Shen Xiuping’s control and harassment of Shi Ran is real.”
"Secondly, I suspect that the Shen family adopted Shi Ran and used Shi Ran's name to make a profit. But I haven't figured out how to do it specifically."
The three lawyers and Shi Ran all looked at him seriously.
"I will ask the Marshal to send someone to retrieve the surveillance footage and investigate the Shen family and Shen Xiuping's movements over the past ten years to see if we can find strong evidence." Zhu Qingchen said, "Shi Ran, contact your classmates to see if they are willing to serve as witnesses."
Shi Ran nodded vigorously: "I understand."
"Three lawyers, you will be required to handle the relevant documents and procedures."
"Okay." The lawyer said, "This matter is quite special. It involves Shen Xiuping. We can try to submit an application to the Empire and merge it with the case of 'Shen Xiuping tampering with the examinee's scores'."
The group discussed for an entire afternoon, assigned the tasks, and went about their business.
Zhu Qingchen patted Shi Ran's shoulder and encouraged him: "Maybe we can win."
"Yeah." Shi Ran nodded confidently, "Teacher, I feel much better now that I've said it. In fact, these things are not shameful at all. The Shen family should be the one to be embarrassed."
*
Three days later, Zhu Qingchen and Gu Yan's estrus and susceptible period ended.
Another month passed, and the investigation team sent by Gu Yan thoroughly investigated the case of "Chen Xiuping tampering with candidates' scores" and submitted the investigation results to him in written form.
Zhu Qingchen and Shi Ran, along with three other lawyers, collected evidence, found witnesses, and drafted documents, successfully submitting the relevant documents for suing the Shen family for violating the Imperial Orphan Law to the Imperial Court.
The Imperial Court gave its reply three days later - considering that the Imperial Public Prosecution case of "Shen Xiuping tampering with examinee scores" and the "Shen family violating the Imperial Orphan Law" case they submitted had the same defendant and were closely related.
Therefore, the Imperial Court authorized the two cases to be handled together and tried on one day, also in public.
When they received the notification document, the Shen couple fell on the sofa again.
Originally, because of Shen Xiuping's incident, their personal freedom was restricted. They could not go out at will, and had to accept summons and investigations from the investigation team from time to time. They could not go out to make connections or ask for help.
Now that they themselves have been sued, they feel like the sky has fallen.
They just couldn't understand why Shi Ran, who was always obedient and well-behaved, would sue them this time?
They shouted to the guards, wanting to see Shi Ran again.
The soldier passed the message to Shi Ran, and this time Shi Ran's attitude was very firm.
He won't see her. If he wants to see her, he'll meet her in court.
A few days later, the court posted a notice announcing the merger of the two cases, and the Star Network was once again in an uproar.
As Zhu Qingchen expected, there were many people on Xingwang who supported Shi Ran. Their main argument was that "Chen Xiuping even dared to modify Shi Ran's grades, so Shi Ran must have suffered more grievances in normal times."
But there are also many people who verbally attack him.
Either they say he is ungrateful, or they say he is an ungrateful person and is too ruthless in his actions. In any case, they are not good things to say about him.
Fortunately, Zhu Qingchen had already given him a heads-up, and he didn't take these remarks to heart. He even quit using his communicator and never went online to read comments. He just focused on preparing for the trial.
The students didn't care, but Zhu Qingchen was very angry.
He opened a small account and every night before going to bed, he would have a fight with the Starnet netizens who insulted his students.
Gu Yan urged him to go to sleep, but he slipped into the quilt and continued fighting.
At the strong request of the people of Star Network, the Shen family case was publicly tried earlier.
The trial date was set for half a month later.
Prior to this, the Imperial Court had only tried war cases publicly, which ordinary people could not understand and were not interested in. Every time the on-site reservation was opened, the number of people who showed up was no more than a dozen.
But this time it's different.
The Empire originally arranged for the trial of the case to be held in an ordinary court, and according to the procedure, on-site seat reservations were opened half a month in advance.
As a result, as soon as the reservations were opened, hundreds of seats were snapped up in less than five seconds, and tens of thousands of people were refreshing the webpage waiting to be placed on the waiting list.
There was no other way, the Empire could only change the trial venue to the largest court of 10,000 people in the capital, and also issued a statement that the entire trial would be recorded and live-streamed on the day of the trial. People who failed to make a successful appointment did not have to worry, as they could watch the live broadcast on Starnet.
Everything is ready, just waiting for the day of trial.
*
On the day of the trial, the sky was cloudless.
Early in the morning, Shen Xiuping was taken out of the prison cabin by several soldiers, put into a car, and sent to the 10,000-person court through a special passage.
Shen Xiuping spent several months in the prison cabin, and his life was not easy.
His whole body deflated like a balloon, his eye sockets and cheeks were deeply sunken, his cheekbones were protruding, and his eyes were bloodshot.
His originally gentle and handsome face has now become gloomy and distorted.
While getting on the bus, he raised his head and looked at the sky.
This was the first time he had left the prison cabin in several months.
In the prison cabin, isolated from the outside world, he had no way of knowing what was happening outside, but based on how he was treated, he had almost guessed it.
The matter had become so serious that it was impossible for his parents not to know about it. If they had any way, they would have asked someone to look after him long ago.
But no, he lived in the prison cabin for several months with no one to take care of him.
This means that the matter is too serious and the family needs to stay out of the spotlight for a while.
Shen Xiuping got into the car and looked at the scenery that flashed quickly outside the railing.
Faced with the fear of the unknown, his face remained calm, but his mind was already a mess.
He comforted himself that it was no big deal.
He is a general in the military. No matter what, the court cannot sentence him to death.
At most, it will be exiled to a garbage planet.
He just treated it as a vacation. His family still had connections in the capital, so he could just make some arrangements and come back when the storm was over.
As long as the family connections are still there, there is still hope and there is nothing to be afraid of.
As he thought this, the car drove into the Imperial Court through a small door.
Shen Xiuping was shocked and couldn't help asking, "Why did you come to the Ten Thousand People Court?"
The soldier escorting him laughed and said, "Of course it's because Admiral Shen is very famous, and the people of the empire all want to see Admiral Shen's style."
Of course, Shen Xiuping knew that this was irony.
Shen Xiuping originally thought that this matter could be tried in an ordinary court, but now it has become a court of 10,000 people, and a court of 10,000 people is often associated with live broadcast trials.
In other words…
Shen Xiuping was such a face-conscious person, but when he thought about his trial being watched by hundreds of thousands or even millions of people, his face turned pale.
The car stopped. He was in a daze and was taken out of the car. He walked unsteadily in the passage reserved for suspects.
He was brought in through the suspect door of the court of ten thousand people by a group of soldiers.
The court of 10,000 people is extremely tall, like a white tower magnified countless times. It has three underground floors and six above-ground floors. It is cylindrical in shape, and each platform is slightly inclined to allow the audience in the back row to see more clearly.
This doesn't feel like a courtroom, it feels more like a stage.
There were huge crowds of people, and the seats were all occupied, all waiting for Shen Xiuping to perform on stage.
For Shen Xiuping, this was tantamount to torture.
His steps were unsteady and he almost fainted.
The two soldiers escorting him quickly held his hands and sent him to the trial seat.
Shen Xiuping sat down on the judge's bench and subconsciously looked up.
Three judges sat on the high judgement seat.
The marshal and a dozen high-ranking officials of the empire sat in the jury box nearby, including some officials who were familiar with the Shen family.
Shen Xiuping opened his mouth to them, and the next second, those officials turned their heads away as if they were afraid of being called by him, pretending not to see him.
Shen Xiuping could only lower his head.
But at this moment, a roar suddenly came from not far away.
"Shen Xiuping! I'll kill you!"
Shen Xiuping looked up and saw a middle-aged man wearing the same suspect vest as him, being escorted by two soldiers from the special passage.
He is one of the persons in charge of this unified examination——
Wang Fu.
Wang Fu was the person in charge who took him in and out of the examination room on the day of the unified examination.
In order to please the Shen family and Shen Xiuping, he not only took Shen Xiuping to watch the surveillance in the examination room on the day of the exam, but also used the backend authority to help Shen Xiuping change Shi Ran's results after the results came out.
On the first day the incident was exposed, the investigation team sent by the Marshal dug him out.
So, he was brought here now as well.
Wang Fu, who was originally dejected, saw Shen Xiuping on the trial bench, and shouted angrily, and rushed forward with strength from nowhere. "Shen Xiuping! You hurt me! You hurt me!"
Seeing him rushing towards him, Shen Xiuping was frightened and subconsciously stretched out his hand to block him.
Wang Fu fell on the bench and his handcuffs hit the railing with a loud bang.
Two soldiers held him down and took him to the nearby judge's seat.
The judge on the bench picked up the gavel and banged it: "Silence!"
Wang Fu struggled hard, knocking on the railing with his bare hands, making noises: “Chen Xiuping, what did you tell me at that time?”
The judge could not bear it any longer, so he held the gavel and knocked it three times: "Silence! Three warnings. This court has the right to take compulsory measures against the suspect. One warning! Two warnings! Warning..."
Before the third warning, Wang Fu quickly calmed down.
And Shen Xiuping kept his head down quietly from beginning to end, not daring to make a sound.
Of course it wasn't because of the Inquisitor's warning, but because...
It's so embarrassing.
From birth till now, he had never experienced such a shameful thing.
Not to mention, there were tens of thousands of people watching him at the scene, and there might be millions or even tens of millions more on the live broadcast channel.
He never thought that one day he would stand in court and be judged by tens of millions of people.
The public and live trial had a firm grip on his life, making him afraid to move.
But even if he didn't speak and kept his head down, everyone's eyes were always on him.
Shen Xiuping felt like a thorn in his back and was restless.
I don't know how long it was before the judge finally banged the gavel again, and the courtroom of tens of thousands of people fell silent.
The judge cleared his throat and said, "The First Supervisory Council of the Imperial Capital Star, hereinafter referred to as the Capital Supervisory Council, is suing General Shen Xiuping of the Empire for colluding with Wang Fu, the Second Minister of the Examination Institute, to tamper with the test takers' scores. The trial is now open."
"Please ask the Capital Supervisory Commission to present evidence and make a statement."
The staff of the Supervisory Council stood up from the plaintiff's seat and said, "Thank you, Judge."
"According to our investigation over the past month, Shen Xiuping and Wang Fu had close contacts in the past. After the unified examination began, the two repeatedly disrupted the examination order and even tampered with the test scores of candidates."
“The relevant evidence is presented below.”
The inspector pressed the remote control in his hand, and the picture appeared on the big screen in the courtroom.
"In the past few years, Wang Fu would send gifts to the Shen family during every holiday. Wang Fu would always invite Shen Xiuping to the Wang family banquets. In addition, the two of them often exchanged what they had at work and helped each other solve problems."
"Here are some photos that prove they were close friends, at least."
"On June 10th this year, it was the unified imperial examination. Shi Ran, the adopted son of the Shen family, signed up for the unified examination. Shen Xiuping personally 'escorted' him and waited outside."
"For the time being, it is unknown for what purpose. During the exam, Shen Xiuping, under the leadership of the exam director Wang Fu, repeatedly violated the 'principle of fairness and justice' emphasized by the marshal. The two openly entered and exited the internal examination room and the internal lounge."
“In addition, Wang Fu used his power to fix the surveillance videos that were supposed to appear randomly in Shi Ran’s examination room for Shen Xiuping to watch, with the duration ranging from ten minutes to an hour.”
"The surveillance video is too long, so here are a few time points. The first time Shen Xiuping entered the examination room, the first time Shen Xiuping watched the surveillance, the second time, the third time..."
"According to statistics, Shen Xiuping and Wang Fu watched the exam surveillance together for a total of two hours, three minutes and forty-seven seconds. It was not until the marshal noticed and sent someone to interrupt that Wang Fu hurriedly sent Shen Xiuping away."
When the inspector said this, Shen Xiuping and Wang Fu suddenly understood something.
Marshal? Isn't the Marshal with Zhu Qingchen?
It turned out that at that time, what they thought was a call from a colleague with good intentions was actually a call from someone sent by the marshal.
So, why didn't the marshal punish them directly at that time?
Was it to deliberately lead them into a trap? To deliberately lead them to make a bigger mistake?
The two men looked at Gu Yan sitting in the jury box at the same time.
Gu Yan folded his hands, leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and rested, as still as a mountain.
Before they could think about it, the inspector continued, "It is now June 27th. On this day, the results of the Imperial Unified Examination will be announced."
"As the person in charge of the exam, Wang Fu used his authority to log into the backend of the exam institute and check Shi Ran's exam results."
"After finding out that Shi Ran had scored the third best result in the entire capital, he immediately took out Shi Ran's paper transcript and went to report the good news to Shen Xiuping."
"This is the surveillance video of the Examination Institute that day. It can be clearly seen that Wang Fu took out the transcript and left the Examination Institute at 12 noon. Not long after, he appeared at the entrance of the military department where Shen Xiuping worked."
"But he didn't expect that after seeing the report card, Shen Xiuping was not only unhappy, but also very angry. Shen Xiuping used the resources and money of the Shen family to bribe Wang Fu and ordered Wang Fu to change Shi Ran's score to 'no score'."
"As you can see, at 12:30, two people came to the examination hall together. Next, Wang Fu logged into the backstage and modified Shi Ran's score on the grounds of damaging the examination room mecha. This is the modification record. At one o'clock, Shen Xiuping left the examination hall."
"After the incident, the investigation team quickly went to the Examination Yuan and arrested Wang Fu on the spot in the monitoring room. At the same time, the staff also found a huge check signed that day on Wang Fu's body. The owner of the check was Shen Xiuping."
"This is the whole story. I propose that we summon Shi Ran, the person involved."
"Accept the proposal and summon the client, Shi Ran. Since Shi Ran is still a minor, this court has granted permission for Shi Ran's tutor, Zhu Qingchen, to accompany him."
When Shen Xiuping heard this, he looked up suddenly.
Daylight shines through the semicircular arched windows and white plaster Roman columns onto the witness corridor outside the courtroom.
Zhu Qingchen, wearing a black suit, round glasses with gold rims, and Shi Ran, strode towards here.
Shi Ran was wearing the same suit as his teacher and followed behind him. After not seeing him for a few months, he seemed to have grown a lot, and he was very energetic, with a face full of confidence.
The sunlight shone on him, as if it had coated him with a layer of light.
This was Shi Ran that Shen Xiuping had never seen before.
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