A movable cordless dark slim mic was mounted on the table of the defense and plaintiff, with four on each end. Each of the Judges had a mic to them. Facing the court the lawyer representing the heiress to Zhang Corporation began her by asking the people at the courtroom a question."How many of you here, have ever felt that you were accused of something you never did, but it was later found out that it was actually someone else?!"
Tao Jun looked as over half of the people had their hands raised in the air, signifying that they had fallen into such a similar predicament. The Prosecutor at this point looked as though he was about to spring up from his seat.
The lawyer asked Zhang Tianyu a brief question regarding the state of his finances, as well as how well he knew Zhang Mi and Yang Lin. The other man grew uncomfortable by the question, but said that one was his niece while the other was an employee of Zhang Corporation, and the man she mentioned was of good moral standing and known to be an excellent employee, but wasn"t too sure of his niece as she had changed after being caught for theft.
"Are any of you aware that Mr Yang here, is the adopted son of the President of Zhang Corporation?! He never for once mentioned that during previous hearings, how well can we take his words to be true, when he lied in this sacred room! Right under the watchful eyes of our esteemed Judges! To make it worse, my client had no prior knowledge whatsoever!"
As Tao Jun spoke, she had on a look of righteous anger in her eyes as she turned almost simultaneously to face the Judges and the people in the room. By this time, loud whispers began to come out from various parts of the courtroom, one was particularly loud enough, "What a shameless man! He actually had a secret son that he forced to be a driver for his niece!"
Many shook their heads and wagged their tongues and fingers at his direction, the statement made by the lawyer was deliberate to call the attention of the fastidiously ascetic Presiding Judge. Who now had a look of disdain in his eyes, as he recalled the time when his sister came to see him at his home in tears, that her husband hid a son from her with his mistress for over twenty five years of their marriage, when she only bore girls for him. The Judges sent an empathetic look the way of Zhang Mi, imagining how she must have felt when she finally discovered the falsehood. The lawyer walked briskly to pa.s.s the proof of adoption doc.u.ments to the Judge in charge of the case, before continuing with her earlier a.s.sertion.
"My client was not at the office, contrary to what the previous witnesses said, she was at home, there is a video clip to prove that and also testimonies from some of the employees at Zhang Corporation who were brave enough to be here along with a few of the staff working at her home and Mr Yang can also testify in regards to that! Mr Lu here is a friend from childhood and can tell us the type of person Miss Zhang was, when they were growing up!"
Three maids and two butlers came forward and testified under oath that their mistress was at home on that day, saying that she came in with Yang Lin and the CCTV at the Zhang villa was enough to collaborate what they said. After they had taken turns to stand in front of the room facing the court, Yang Lin stood up and gave his own version of the story, which was in alignment with what the others said about the heiress alibi on that day. Lu Yi gave his own account of what he knew of Zhang Mi, as a sweet girl from memory and that he found it hard to believe she was who the public and her uncle painted her to be. Two female employee that were her secretary, before being moved to a position higher than where they were, both heading the customer support team. Having been with the company for close to eight years, they stepped forward to give their testimony that the former President of Zhang Corporation kept to a strict routine and had never deviated from it since the time they began working under her as new employees of Zhang Corporation.
Tao Jun never liked to leave loose ends and went on to present the pictures that had being pulled out from the surveillance tapes at the company, showing date and time when she left on that fateful day. This was all due to the a.s.sistance of the men that were her sworn brothers at the mysterious group from her past. After impersonating and breaking into the security office, going through various surveillance videos and in the process doing some recovery along the way. Once they had completed their mission, they disappeared, leaving no trace, that security had been breached.
The courtroom went into an uproar on witnessing the magnitude of Zhang Tianyu"s scheme, the person they thought was kindhearted was actually something else.
"Mr Zhang, do you admit that you set my client up?!
That was when Prosecutor Yu jumped up from his seat, shaking his fists as he spoke, "Objections! The lawyer for the defense is leading the witness!"
Judge Xue gave a solemn nod, causing Tao Jun to back off immediately to return to her seat.
"Do you have questions for the defense?"
The Judge pointedly looked at Prosecutor Yu, who then told the Judge he had questions particularly for Zhang Mi, Yang Lin and Lu Yi. Going on to question them in that order.
They all knew the drill, to watch the signal from Tao Jun whenever they were being questioned, although the lawyer was more concerned about Zhang Mi because she was the reason why they were in court in the first place, emphasizing that she stick to the plan.
The Prosecutor ruthlessly questioned the former heiress, saying that he knew she was guilty and that she just wanted to gain public sympathy and drive a wedge between Yang Lin and Zhang Tianyu. Zhang Mi answered with a yes or no, looking at her lawyer from the corner of her eyes during the questioning. When Tao Jun touched her hair using various means it meant that Zhang Mi must answer "No" and if she placed a finger towards her nose or face then she must answer "Yes". It was a nerve racking moment for the heiress as she struggled not to get caught by the over zealousness of the Prosecutor. After he was done questioning her, Zhang Mi almost collapsed in tears, her lips trembling in humiliation from the callous tone of the Prosecutor.
Yang Lin wasn"t spared at all, as he was blasted for being a traitor to both sides, the questions insinuated that he was seeking monetary gain from whoever was willing to pay the most. By the time the questioning ended, the young man was now seen as a mercenary by the court.
During Lu Yi"s questioning, his memory of Zhang Mi was challenged by the Prosecutor, with the motion to cast his testimony as unreliable and faulty, since it had been several years he had seen the heiress. Stating that people change within a short period of time, and Lu Yi did not know the current heiress of Zhang Corporation, instead his belief was based on "fluffy" memories of a young child.
The Judges looked to each other, on hearing the demands made by the Prosecutor. Shortly after this, Tao Jun rose from where she sat, to whisper in the ears of the Prosecutor.
"You better take your hands off and play nice, don"t think for once that I won"t use what I have on you in court. It takes but a moment for your career to go down the drain. You know as well as I, that that woman is stupidly naive and manipulated by her uncle. I have a lot of dirt on him, but that would only make him run and I will lose my license, because people behind him will take immediate action. They are too much to number, I"m only doing it for the publicity and fame. Since my actions may reflect badly on those that I want to "protect" this is why I will stop here and I suggest you do so, before it gets uglier."
Tao Jun ended her warning by patting her colleague in law on the shoulder, before straightening up to face the court to wrap up her case.
"In my hand is a signed doc.u.ment from Judge Pan Tingzhe withdrawing the unfair ruling regarding a.s.sault in court by my client. I believe that Judge Xue Zihao is a fair and upright Judge and would give a verdict that will satisfy the pain and anguish my client had to face from people that misuse the law for their gain!"
After she was done speaking, Tao Jun handed the doc.u.ment in a yellow medium sized envelope, as the Judge pulled out a single signed letter headed paper of white, collaborating what the defense lawyer said, before pa.s.sing it to other Judges for them to read. The Judge knew it was time to pa.s.s his verdict, with the usual solemn look on, as his eyes swept through the room to say, "Miss Zhang Mi, is hereby acquitted of all charges to be paid the sum of 10.000.000 Yuan by Mr Zhang Tianyu for damages sustained during the said time. Should Mr Zhang Tianyu default on payment within 10 business days from now, he is to be arrested and placed in prison for ten years."
The guards left where they stood, to position themselves on each end of the bench, two on one side and one on the other side. Leaving Zhang Mi to choose where she wanted to meet them.
By this time the court went into a ma.s.sive uproar, as Lu Yi who sat by her, tightly held Zhang Mi in his arms, laughing almost uncontrollably from the news. Yang Lin began making his way out of the court, followed by the staff from Zhang villa. Tao Jun was getting her things ready to leave, while Zhang Tianyu was still in fixed daze from shock, after hearing the verdict. While his lawyer quietly left his side to prepare the people at his firm for possible termination by Zhang Tianyu.
Tears of disbelief rolled down Zhang Mi"s pale face, as she kept muttering to no one in particular, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!...."
It took several minutes for Lu Yi to release the heiress of Zhang Corporation from his arms. Turning around to face the lawyer, the heiress gave a deep curtsy, something that people of her caliber would never do. This threw the arrogant lawyer aback, never in a million years could she have imagined the sole heiress of Zhang Corporation to show her this form of respect. A deep flush appeared on the usual cool exterior of Tao Jun, as she felt at a loss on how to handle the new Zhang Mi. To cover up her embarra.s.sment, Tao Jun took her bag by the hand and left the courtroom, because Zhang Mi had her head still lowered she didn"t see the way her action affected the other woman.
All this time, the prison guards waited patiently on Zhang Mi who rose up and was met by a guard that unlocked the handcuff on her wrists.
"I can"t believe it is over!"
The heiress spoke in a voice infused with wonder at the turn that her life had suddenly taken. Lu Yi responded by lightly squeezing her shoulder.
"I think we need to leave, before it gets crazier."
True enough, the people of the court had gone into a frenzy, as the officers stationed in the courtroom left their post to remind them of the need to remain quiet.