When Huang Zilin saw that her boyfriend was rolling on the floor in pain, she shot out of her seat with an angry look on her face, as she made her way to where Zhang Mi was. Full of so much fury, she raised a hand up to deliver a resounding slap across the face of the Zhang heiress. The guards held on to Zhang Mi, this made it difficult for her to fight back. Two of them held on to Huang Zilin after she had slapped the Zhang heiress, as they tried to stop her from further a.s.saulting the prisoner. Both women had almost identical expression of frustration and rage from being detained by the prison guards.Meanwhile, Duan Feng was still howling on the floor in pain, such that the Judges had to suspend their discussion, rus.h.i.+ng out of the office to see what was causing that much noise in the courtroom. The Judges dashed across in a fury of black gowns to sit at the high seat reserved for the judicial bodies.
What they met was utter chaos, as everyone was speaking all at once, making it difficult for Judge Pan Tingzhe to be heard above that much noise. Upset at the disorderly conduct that was taking place right under his nose. Judge Pan Tingzhe took to the wooden gavel and slammed it repeatedly on the stand. That alone brought everyone back to their senses.
Judge Pan Tingzhe was a man in his early forties, soft eyed and one would say he was the approachable type, he had the air of a decent person and very good looking. His smooth looking face made it difficult for people to easily guess his age.
Pointing to Prosecutor Yu, the Judge chastised him in front of the court, for not making any effort to bring the situation under control. Prosecutor Yu kept gritting his teeth in anger at being talked down to, when it was no fault of his.
Turning to the police men in the room, Judge Pan Tingzhe gave them a piece of his mind, telling them how disappointment he was at their slow action in bringing order to his court, he did so without mentioning the prison guards.
Although, they appeared apologetic, none of them made a move to a.s.sist Duan Feng from where he was on the floor.
Finally, Judge Pan Tingzhe turned to face the people that was involved in the fight. He began by asking what led to it. Zhang Mi refused to speak, while Duan Feng was still groaning on the floor in pain. Leaving only Huang Zilin, Tao Jun and Yang Lin to talk.
Dressed in corporate suit, Yang Lin started by explaining that he brought a lawyer to represent his former boss, but on presenting the lawyer to her, she coldly rejected his offer of help.
The Judge asked him, if she had prior knowledge of the a.s.sistance that he was offering to render. He told the Judge that she did, but also rejected the initial offer, with today making it the second time that he was presenting her with it. The response from Yang Lin annoyed the judge that he sentenced him to a month of community service for being an accessory to disorderly conduct in his courtroom.
When Huang Zilin saw the questioning look that the Judge threw at her, she knew it was her turn to speak up, she started by saying that Zhang Mi kicked her boyfriend, while leaving out the part that she slapped Zhang Mi. She went on to explain that, the guards held her back from avenging her partner. The young woman had on a see through orange gown hidden by a black trench coat. Although, her face looked as if she had no layer of makeup, Huang Zilin had someone come in very early that morning to have her face made up and hair styled without appearing as though she had spent too time in trying to look gorgeous in the courtroom.
The Judge looked at the prisoner and saw someone, who was at the brink of bursting into tears. Her hair looked messy and blisters formed on her bare feet. What made her even more pitiful was the way the faded uniform fell across her body like a sack. Looking pale and gaunt, her cheekbones stood out starkly under the fair skin.
He waited on the prisoner to answer him, without raising his voice. Zhang Mi could feel the gaze of the Judge as if stuck by needles. She kept s.h.i.+fting from one leg to the other, not wanting to give in and tell her side of the story. When the Judge saw that the staring tactic wasn"t working, he switching to addressing her directly.
"Miss Zhang, can you tell the court what exactly happened?"
The Zhang heiress could hear the gentle tone that he used in communicating with her, unlike the last time when she felt as though the Judge was not willing to be patient and hear what she had to say.
The head that was lowered, became raised as the Zhang heiress told her side of the story, which was in line with what Yang Lin said, in addition to what Huang Zilin left out from her version of what took place.
The Judge then turned to the courtroom and asked if any of what they said was true. Most of them pointed that Zhang Mi spoke the truth, this left a small fraction that didn"t say a word in support. Wanting to appear fair in his judgement, Judge Pan Tingzhe left the courtroom taking with him three of the twelve police men that was in the courtroom, to view the tape from the security room.
It didn"t take up to ten minutes with the Judge and police officers returning to the courtroom, to decide on what took place.
Judge Pan Tingzhe sentenced Huang Zilin to three months of community service and a fine of 10.000 Yuan for the offense of giving false statement and acting disorderly in court.
He told the Zhang heiress that he will reserve his judgement about her conduct in court until it was time to give a verdict on her case. Yang Lin and Tao Jun were dismissed from taking part in the defense case, both escorted out of the courtroom by two police officers.
When all this took place, the heiress of Hongsheng Holdings was about to get up, when the lawyer firmly shook his head, letting her know that getting involved will only make the situation more messy. Reluctantly, Hong Ruolan had to sit back as the Zhang heiress was being taken advantage of. They both wore somber black. Bare faced, Hong Ruolan had on a black gown suit and dark heel, her shoulder length hair was styled in such a way to mask the lack of earring on both ears.
Judge Pan Tingzhe announced it was time to hear the case from both sides. Beginning with the plaintiffs, Zhou Yunxiang brought out evidence of the Zhang heiress caught in extortion and battery. The Judge listened to Zhou Yunxiang, then the witnesses Duan Feng and Huang Zilin. Afterwards, the Judge called the defense team consisting of Hong Ruolan, Ding Bohai and Zhang Mi. They sat in that order. The prison guards stood behind their seat.
Ding Bohai presented the evidence he collected from both the heiress of Hongsheng Holdings and those he got through his investigations.
The courtroom erupted into angry calls for the Zhang heiress to receive the justice she deserved, the public was now aware that the Zhang heiress was only defending herself, not as what the social media portrayed her to be, both Duan Feng and his girlfriend cowered in sheer embarra.s.sment that they had been caught in another lie.
This left the defense lawyer to prove his client wasn"t stealing money from the company. This was a hard battle, because there was a signed list with the names of directors that approved the Zhang heiress disposal. Also, a bank statement that showed an extremely large amount of money wired into her account, along with electronic approval of the transaction that was traced to the computer in her office.
Ding Bohai provided evidence that the time of accepting the wire transfer did not align, because his client was at home. Judge Pan Tingzhe asked if there was anyone that could serve as proof of her alibi, but Yang Lin that could have testified that she was at home and also urge the staff of the Zhang heiress to serve as witness that Zhang Mi was at home during that time, was nowhere to be found. Since the Judge had dismissed Yang Lin, there was no one left to prove her innocence.
After much deliberation, Judge Pan Tingzhe pa.s.sed his verdict by sentencing the Zhang heiress to five years imprisonment on grounds of embezzlement, with an additional two years for multiple a.s.sault in the presence of officers of the law.
"I"m finished!"
Those were the words that echoed in the mind of Zhang Mi, as it suddenly dawned on her that no matter what she did, her Uncle would remain on top. With trembling lips, she asked the Judge if she could show her respect to her uncle as a sign of filial piety, as she did not know when next they will see each other. The Judge had on his face an expression of "feeling touched" by the request of the Zhang heiress, giving her the permission to see Zhang Tianyu without anyone to accompany her.
Every eyes in the courtroom watched as Zhang Mi walked towards her uncle. The President of Zhang Corporation had a look of caution in his eyes, the Zhang heiress gave a respectful curtsy to her uncle, with no words pa.s.sed between them. As though about to turn around and head back to her seat, without any warning whatsoever, Zhang Mi lifted the mic along with the stand from the table and smashed it on the head of Zhang Tianyu, with the last strength she had left.
There was unspeakable shock on the faces of everyone in the courtroom. Zhang Tianyu lost unconsciousness after the hit, only to be saved right on time from landing on the floor by Prosecutor Yu who sat by him. The Zhang heiress collapsed on the floor after the attack, with the guards and police officers running to where she was. When that occurred the court became uncontrollable as the people in the courtroom wanted to have a look at the Zhang heiress. Now the officers had their hands full with trying to control the crowd and safeguarding the two that laid unconscious in the courtroom. Within five minutes paramedics rushed in, separately wheeling out Zhang Mi and Zhang Tianyu in a stretcher. The Judge had to dismiss the court, by letting them know that the trial had come to an end and the case was now closed.
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Dressed in a cream colored skirt suit of the finest brand was Madam Hong, across her shoulder was a grey mink coat and both ears had spiral dangling earrings of silver. Holding in one hand a floral dainty teacup from which she took sips of Tieguanyin tea known to be one of the most expensive tea leaves, while watching the coverage of the Zhang heiress trial. Nothing prepared Madam Hong for Hong Ruolan"s interview, she wanted to dismiss it, not wanting to believe that her daughter will be so bold enough to be a.s.sociated with the Zhang heiress scandal. When she saw her daughter"s name prominently displayed on the screen, the shock became to much for Madam Hong. Choking on the tea she was sipping, the coughing sounds alerted the maids as they rushed in to see, brown liquid flying from the nose and mouth of Madam Hong.