Chapter 31 Chapter 31
The Spring Festival holiday passed quickly, and the procuratorate held its first meeting of the new year as usual to review last year's major cases and report on the cases currently on hand that have not yet been completed.
There were quite a few people from the criminal investigation department, filling up the entire conference room. Before the meeting started, Hou Liping whispered to Shen Li and joked, "Does your sister-in-law look unwell?" He pondered, "I've seen her three times, and she always seemed a little sick."
Chen Li said it was a coincidence: "The first time you met her, she had just returned from a long journey from Jiangcheng. The second time, she was in a divorce lawsuit that lasted a whole day. The last time, she happened to have a fever and hadn't recovered yet."
Hou Liping laughed and said, "Hearing what you said, it seems like I'm to blame. It seems that if I hadn't met my sister-in-law, she would have been safe and sound during this period of time."
"Of course you can think that way," Shen Li said lazily, sitting in his chair with his arms and legs spread wide. His uniform was straight and well-fitting, and his temperament was outstanding, causing the newly arrived female prosecutors in the back row to whisper to each other, "You always have a clear understanding of yourself."
Hou Liping laughed and cursed, "Bullshit!" He continued, "Why would you have a high fever during the Chinese New Year? Your heating isn't working? That's not right. Didn't you say before that your heating was quite hot and asked me how to turn off the floor heating in a certain room?"
Chen Li suddenly felt a little awkward. He shifted his body, opened his notebook, and wrote two lines: "She went to Upside-Down Mountain before the New Year and caught a cold."
Hou Liping had no doubts: "Oh, no wonder, it snowed heavily before the New Year, so it was quite cold. I've been to the Upside-Down Mountain before, and the wind is strong in the mountains, and the heating is definitely not as good as in the city, so it's inevitable to get cold."
After a few more casual words, the deputy prosecutor in charge of criminal investigation entered the meeting room. Everyone immediately sat up straight and no one spoke anymore.
He put down his teacup, cleared his throat as usual, and began to move the meeting forward.
The meeting proceeded smoothly. Last year's case involving the retracted confession had been handled beautifully, with the prisoner smoothly sent to prison without sparking further public outcry. The deputy chief prosecutor was clearly pleased, pausing to specifically praise Shen Li and Hou Liping.
Hou Liping's mouth was stretched to his ears, but he still had to pretend to be humble, saying that the leadership was in the right direction and that the hospital gave him a lot of support.
When it was Shen Li's turn, he simply looked up and said, "Thank you, my partner."
This simple sentence almost made Hou Liping's eyes red. He slapped Shen Li on the shoulder and was speechless for a long time.
After reviewing last year's cases, it was time for everyone to share their current cases. The Director of the Criminal Investigation Department assigned each case one by one. After a while, he pulled out a file, opened it, and handed it to the Deputy Chief Prosecutor for review. "It's a case of intentional injury. It's not complicated. The motive is clear, the evidence is solid. We can just go through the procedures."
The deputy chief prosecutor took a quick look, his eyes falling on Shen Li and Hou Liping through his glasses. He slid the file bag in his hand towards them and said, "You guys take it. You've been busy all year and exhausted. Give me a simple case to rest your mind."
Hou Liping didn't even look at it carefully and just said there was no problem.
Shen Li took it from him and looked down at it. The director was already arranging the next case.
The director was talking with the deputy prosecutor when he suddenly heard Shen Li's clear voice: "Report."
Everyone in the conference room looked over at him.
The director was a little surprised: "Inspector Shen, what's the matter?"
Shen Li stood up and said to the deputy chief prosecutor and the director, "I cannot take this case. I need to apply for recusation."
So that's why. Everyone has relatives and friends, so it's normal to encounter situations where you need to avoid them when handling cases. It's not surprising.
The heads that were expecting to hear some noise dropped back down.
The director thought they were just ordinary friends and relatives, so he nodded and said, "Then go and report according to the procedures. We'll see who to swap with after the assignment is done."
Hou Liping reached for the file suspiciously, and the deputy prosecutor casually asked, "Is the person involved in the case a relative or a friend?"
Shen Li's voice was not loud, but it almost broke the eardrums of everyone present, including the young girls with starry eyes: "The victim in this case, Wen Ying, is my wife."
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Zheng Di was dressed up carefully, wearing a well-tailored, soft and fitting wool coat that wrapped around her exquisitely shaped body.
As she sat down, a faint aroma gradually spread. Chen Li put down his phone and turned his face away slightly while drinking coffee.
"I thought you would never ask me out in your life," she smiled, leaning forward, her fragrance becoming even stronger, "What's the matter with asking me out?"
Before Shen Li could speak, Zheng Di frowned again and asked, "I heard you told others that Wen Ying is your wife?"
Shen Li asked back, "What's the problem?"
Zheng Di's tone was sour that it bubbled. "She's just borrowing you to tide you over a difficult time. She's not truly in love with you. Why do you have to tell others about your relationship? The circle is so small, and it will spread everywhere in just a few days. Shen Li, I never knew you could be so reckless."
Shen Li understood everything and just chuckled without answering.
He hadn't publicly mentioned Wen Ying in recent years, and many people suspected he was using his marriage as a cover. Zheng Di clung to him closely, often feigning intimacy when he wasn't around, enjoying the compliments and admiration that followed her being misunderstood.
Now that Wen Ying's true identity had been revealed, Zheng Di must have felt humiliated. The envy others once felt had turned into a boomerang, spinning in mid-air before returning to her.
"Zheng Di, we've known each other for over ten years now," Shen Li said. "For over a decade, you've been just a classmate to me. I still hope to maintain our relationship in the future. Do you understand?"
Zheng Di's face looked bad, a little blue, and it was hard to tell whether it was because of coldness or anger - or rather, Shen Li didn't have the mind to tell.
"The sun rises once in a while, and it's not like Prosecutor Shen is here to tell me how much you and Wen Ying love each other, right? I'm sorry, but my time is valuable, and your words are worthless compared to my hourly lawyer's fees."
Shen Li took out a brown paper bag from the briefcase beside him and handed it to Zheng Di.
Zheng Di was a little surprised. After taking the bag of materials, a smile appeared on her face. "You want to introduce me to a lawsuit?"
Things haven't been going well for her lately. Ever since the divorce verdict between Zhou Boyu and Guan Qianqian was announced, Zheng Di, as the losing attorney, has had to weather not only Guan Qianqian's storm of complaints but also the suspicion and cancellation of contracts from other clients.
The lawyer world is so small, and there are so many divorces each year. According to the law of conservation of energy, Zheng Di's business is in decline, which means that others are booming.
Failure will not easily make Zheng Di depressed, but the person who made her fail will.
Zheng Di has been getting angry almost every day lately. She can't understand why she loses to Wen Ying in everything, and loses to Wen Ying who is like a floating duckweed with no one to rely on.
If I lose to her in this matter with men, I will lose to her in court.
Zheng Di untied the string from the file bag while complaining to Chen Li, "The final verdict in Guan Qianqian's case was exactly what we predicted—a divorce, with three or five additional properties and buildings. We knew from the start that it would be a divorce, but since she won the first trial, she got too ambitious and started fantasizing about getting a majority of the property, even if the divorce wasn't a success. How could that be possible?! She's the one at fault for the divorce, and who is Zhou Boyu? Much of his property isn't even considered joint property. She's just a rich wife who only cares about eating, drinking, and having fun. How could she possibly stand up to Zhou Boyu?"
Shen Li didn't respond, but raised his hand to pick up the cup and took a sip of coffee.
Zheng Di opened the bag of materials and saw that the paper inside was not too thick, so she lifted up her newly made nails and reached out to take out the materials.
Her expression was a bit disdainful, yet also a bit proud. "Guan Qianqian, don't you think about it? If it weren't for me, would she have won the first trial? If it weren't for me trying so hard to help her, she would have been dreaming about getting these extra properties and buildings. How dare she turn her head..."
Her voice stopped abruptly, and her face was full of colorful colors, which was very beautiful.
After a long while, Zheng Di's lips moved, and her face turned even greener: "...What do you mean?"
Shen Li put down the cup: "You know exactly what I mean."
The papers in his hand seemed to have thorns, and Zheng Di threw them on the table.
The tabletop is smooth and the papers are spread out in beautiful fan shapes.
On the paper was the conversation between Zheng Di and the online troll army, as well as some bank transfer records and the platform's background records, showing the complete chain from the first post to the final hit on the hot search.
Zheng Di suppressed her anger: "You hired someone to investigate me? Shen Li, we've been friends for over ten years, and you actually hired someone to investigate me?!"
Shen Li emphasized: "I just said that you and I are just classmates, that's all."
Classmates - not even friends.
Zheng Di gnashed her teeth and said, "Who did you ask to investigate me? Who else knows about this?"
Since they were all in the same circle, Zheng Di was worried that if the news got out, it would become a big deal. After all, no one wanted to hire a lawyer who would hire an online troll army to smear someone.
Filing lawsuits is common, but using this method to file lawsuits is despised by all legitimate lawyers.
Chen Li shook his head: "You don't need to know so much, but you can rest assured that this matter will not be spread outside. Zheng Di, I asked you out today to show you these things, not for anything else, just to tell you not to get along with Wen Ying anymore. Because -"
He paused, then slowly said, "Because this is why I didn't choose you. Even if Wen Ying wasn't around, I wouldn't have considered you. If you feel unwilling or angry, please come to me, because I'm the root cause of all this, not Wen Ying."
Her delicate face was slightly distorted, and she pointed at the materials on the table and said, "You are a prosecutor, and you actually investigated me privately for Wen Ying. Shen Li, do you think your behavior is any different from mine? I am acting for my own selfish reasons, and so are you."
"My selfish motives didn't hurt anyone, but you did hurt Wen Ying and Zhou Boyu. Also, because of the scandal you fabricated, Bosheng Group's stock price plummeted," Shen Li said. "Zheng Di, we're not meant to be on the same page, but as a fellow disciple, I really want to warn you. It's very dangerous for you to continue like this. What do you think would happen to you if I gave these materials to Zhou Boyu?"
She was shocked. "You didn't hurt anyone?! You hurt me! You even threatened me!"
"Zheng Lu, don't change the subject. I need to correct you. What you did isn't harm, it's what you deserve. I'm not threatening you. I'm just trying to expand your thinking and not just see the small profits in front of you."
Without waiting for Zheng Di to speak, Shen Li pushed the materials in front of her. "Your behavior is suspected of being a crime, Zheng Di. It's understandable to want to win the case, but you can't use such illegal means to win. If we weren't from the same school, and if I hadn't done this for Director Zheng's sake, where do you think you would be now?"
"Should I thank you for not reporting me?" Zheng Di said sarcastically, "I thank you, but Chen Li, if anyone else knows about this besides you and me, plus the people who helped you investigate me—you're finished. Do you think I wouldn't dare touch you, or Wen Ying?"
Chen Li's face remained expressionless, only a hint of contempt flashed in his eyes. "Zheng Di, stop spouting such unrealistic nonsense. If you want to touch me, you should at least have something to hold against me. But I'm warning you, if you dare to mess with Wen Ying, I will hand over all this information to the police and Zhou Boyu. Do you believe me?"
Zheng Di had just been shocked to the point of losing her mind by the sudden impact. After five or six rounds of verbal battle, she suddenly regained her composure.
The anger on her face gradually faded, replaced by a smug, mocking smile. "Prosecutor Shen, you're a criminal investigator, and you're most focused on the chain of evidence." She pushed the materials on the table toward Shen Li with one finger, her bright red fingertip reflecting the bright arc of the overhead light. "These things only prove that someone was behind this, but it doesn't prove that I was the one pushing this."
She crossed her arms in front of her chest, raised her chin slightly, and looked at Shen Li with complacency.
Chen Li lowered his head and took out a USB flash drive from his bag, plugged the Type-C port into his mobile phone, opened the video player and handed it to Zheng Di.
She was shocked at the first sight.
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