Chapter 56 The Dust Settles
"Brother, I...I really didn't mean it. I didn't push her."
Zhou Lai's voice was filled with tears.
The moment she turned her head, Shi Ye had already hit the railing.
She was completely frightened out of her wits.
"We were walking up the stairs, and Li Yiyan was holding my arm. When that girl shouted, everything changed. None of us reacted."
"There were only three of you at the scene. Are you trying to say that it was Tokiya who bumped into the railing himself?"
Zhou Junheng spoke harshly and slammed his palm on the table.
"But Sister Yi Yan...she also fell down from the upstairs." Zhou Lai trembled as she ruled out the possibility that Li Yi Yan had deliberately pushed Shi down the stairs. She didn't believe that Li Yi Yan, with her gentle nature, could do such a vicious thing.
"Zhou Lai, kneel down!"
The black and white words that Zhang Hao had just compiled were thrown fiercely in Zhou Lai's face by Zhou Junheng.
Her words hurt Zhou Junheng again, and he could no longer bear it.
"Who told you to call her that? You should hold that name in your heart forever. You are a member of the Zhou family, does she deserve it? Do you know what disgusting things she has done? You think so, what do you think?"
"Do you think it's useful?! You think it's just asking your sister-in-law to handle your mess and then having someone harm her, right?"
"Zhou Lai, has your conscience been eaten by a dog?"
"You're lying in the intensive care unit right now, are you aware of this? What benefits did Li Yiyan give you that would make you still betray her?"
All the scolding was directed at Zhou Lai, and flying papers scattered in front of her, like paper money in front of a tombstone.
She knelt on the ground and cried, but didn't dare to hide.
"Brother, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean it... I really didn't know it would be like this."
"sorry……"
She apologized again and again, but she didn't even dare to touch Zhou Junheng's trouser legs.
She knew she was completely wrong this time.
"Is saying sorry any good? Is it any good if you tell me you're sorry? Were you scared when Li Yiyan pushed Shi Ye down? Do you think this is all perfect? Zhou Lai, you're an accomplice, you know that?"
Zhou Lai's eyes under her messy hair were even more terrified. Zhou Junheng's words were like a thunderclap, directly sentencing her to death.
She retorted desperately, "Brother, I'm not, I really didn't."
"She just asked me to delay for a while so she could take a look at Shiye. I really didn't know she would push my sister-in-law. If I had known, I wouldn't have done that. I wouldn't have done that...Brother, I didn't mean to do that. I really didn't know. I just thought..."
"I'm sorry, I was wrong. I really know I was wrong."
"Zhou Lai, it's too late. Everything is too late. And you don't know, you don't know that you are wrong. If you hadn't found that information just now, you would never admit it. You never thought you were wrong."
"Besides, if you say you're sorry, does that mean Shi Ye has to accept it? Should Shi Ye be pushed down from the building? Can Li Yiyan's fall from the stairs cover up the fact that she is a murderer? She brought this upon herself, and you aided and abetted her. If she wants to die, let her die on her own!"
The cold and inhumane words could be heard echoing in the quiet room. The overturned chair was kicked to the far corner, and Zhou Lai curled up unconsciously.
The eldest brother was filled with uncontrollable cruelty and his eyes were full of hatred.
In the suffocating small room, he gave her an ultimatum.
The man twitched his thin lips.
"Zhou Lai, this is the last day you'll be called Zhou. Just this one thing: tell your lawyer the entire story of Li Yiyan's intentional homicide. If you don't know or are unclear, then think about it until you understand it clearly. Don't leave out a single detail. Don't let her be 'wrongly accused'. It's okay if you really can't figure it out—"
"There's another person present who will see more clearly what you and Li Yiyan did. She will definitely not 'wrongly' accuse either of you."
"I'm telling you in advance, there are only two possible outcomes. One is that Li Yiyan will be alone in there enjoying the joy of family in her later years. The other is that you two will be companions, and you'll have all the sisterhood you've ever wanted!"
"Don't you want to avoid kneeling in the ancestral hall? After you've done this, you won't have to kneel in the ancestral hall anymore. You'll be removed from the Zhou family tree, take your mother's surname, go to Canada on your own, and never come back."
Zhou Junheng didn't smile at all, and every word he said was full of cold arrows.
His exhausted voice was filled with gloom, giving Zhou Lai an ultimatum, not a negotiation.
…
The door of the ward was pushed open, and when Li Yiyan saw Zhou Junheng, she was still uncontrollably excited.
This is the person she has been thinking about!
It was almost one in the morning. Was he here to visit her?
"Jun Heng——"
She cried out with joy, and the moment she finished her words, she saw Zhou Junheng frowning physiologically and feeling uncomfortable, as well as the other people behind him.
There was also her old classmate, Shi Qing, whom she hadn't seen for a long time. She stiffly but tried her best to act familiar.
"Shi Qing is here too."
No one responded to her call to let the police and lawyers in.
The ward was completely filled in an instant.
"Ms. Li Yiyan, this is the Jingdu West City Third Police Station. We have received a report accusing you of premeditated homicide. Due to your injuries, you are unable to come to the interrogation room. We will now begin your interrogation here. The entire process will be recorded by body cameras and video. Please cooperate with us."
After informing Li Yiyan of the opening remarks, the police officer in charge took out handcuffs with an expressionless face. He handcuffed her hand with one side of the silver ring that shone with a cold glow and handcuffed her hand with the other side to the bed railing.
"This is the lawyer hired by the victim's family. The interrogation will begin next."
Everything happened too suddenly, and Li Yiyan was chilled by the glaring incandescent light.
But everything is still complete.
The key eyewitness Zhou Lai was present, as evidenced by both oral and written information!
"Li Yiyan sent me a message tonight to let me hold the victim down in advance, and then pushed him hard from behind with great force." Zhou Lai presented the message as proof.
The police will record it immediately after verification.
Lawyer Zhang immediately followed up with a question: "Could you please describe in more detail what you saw at the scene, Ms. Zhou? Did the suspect make any other moves?"
Zhou Lai didn't hesitate. She added, "Of course. Although it was a blind spot for surveillance, the emergency passage was empty and quiet. Li Yiyan moved with great force and agility, and she shouted at my sister-in-law, 'Go to hell!' and 'Disappear forever!' She shouted loudly."
Li Yiyan couldn't believe it at all and said in defense: "I didn't - I"
Zhou Lai interrupted: "I definitely don't remember it wrongly. She screamed very loudly, and another eyewitness also heard it, which can fully corroborate her testimony."
The police officer nodded. "Ms. Li, please cooperate with us quietly and don't make any noise! We will verify the authenticity of this information later."
When Li Yiyan heard this, her pupils suddenly shrank.
She seemed to have completely seen through the ending. They would definitely verify all the evidence. Tonight was a trial and a conviction!
"I didn't do it! This is unfair."
Lawyer Zhang interrupted without hesitation and raised his voice to suppress his defense.
"According to the victim's injury assessment report, her head was severely hit, and the witness's description of Li Yiyan's screams was completely intentional homicide, not negligent pushing."
"This fully complies with Article 232 of the Criminal Law. The circumstances are serious, the subjective malice is strong, the means used are cruel, and the situation has caused adverse social impact. Furthermore, the perpetrators have refused to plead guilty or truthfully confess their crimes, and our victim refuses to forgive. Therefore, they should be punished more severely. Copies of verdicts from similar cases: Based on similar cases, it is recommended that a sentence of more than 20 years be applied."
Li Yiyan knew that every word the lawyer said was leading to a heavier sentence, so she had to do her best to redeem herself: "No, I was frightened at the time. I didn't mean to do it. I just wanted to say hello to Shi Ye, and I might have scared Shi Ye, which is why the accident happened."
Zhou Lai immediately refuted her, she must now nail Li Yiyan: "Li Yiyan was not saying hello, she was maliciously scaring the victim, and I told her before that the victim was afraid of heights, so Li Yiyan did it on purpose."
This passage eventually became the important evidence submitted by Lawyer Zhang as additional evidence of "taking advantage of special conditions and knowingly and intentionally intimidating and committing violence."
The printer spits out the signed transcript, and Lawyer Zhang closes the pen.
All evidence of Li Yiyan's attempted murder was quickly confirmed!
It's written in black and white, there is no other possibility.
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