As early as four in the morning, a crowd comprising of reporters, bystanders gathered at the premises of LanShao court, to witness the final trial of the heiress to Zhang Corporation. Police cars patrolled the area to keep the crowd under control. It wasn"t until an hour before the hearing that the doors to the main courtroom was thrown open for those who wanted to be at the hearing. Around this time, reporters began readying themselves to interview the people that was deeply rooted to the case. It was almost like an award ceremony for celebrities in the entertainment world, the only thing missing was the proverbial red carpet on the marble floor. Several armed policemen, stood guard around the vicinity of the magnificent stately high one story building of white. Although s.p.a.cious, many had to be turned away from entering the courtroom. Moments later, the President of Zhang Corporation arrived with his army of bodyguards, stopping briefly to give an interview before hurrying along with his men to where the hearing would be taking place.
Tao Jun and her team came in and briskly walked inside, with the help of the police who barricaded the ma.s.s of reporters dying to get an exclusive interview with the "fearless" lawyer handling the case that drove so much criticism and public disapproval. The lawyer representing Zhang Tianyu arrived almost at the same time as the other Judges. Neither stopped to give an interview, as they hurriedly went in, this left the reporters very much upset as they struggled to break through the formation of the police.
At around fifteen minutes to the hearing, Zhang Mi was brought in by three male guards, barefoot the former heiress of Zhang Corporation braved the shouts from the reporters and the rest of the people that stood outside. Handcuffed and surrounded on both sides by the prison guards, Zhang Mi stepped into the place that would determine her fate within the next few hours. Prosecutor Yu came in shortly after with his black overflowing gown flying behind him, he had on a grim look and didn"t bother replying the call from the press to stop for an interview.
This time, the key people missing from the last trial was Duan Feng and his girlfriend, Hong Ruolan, Ding Bohai.
Since there was no form of loudness or ruckus permitted in the courtroom, the people inside had to make do with whispering and pointing at the prisoner as she was escorted to sit by the defense team.
The Judges had their discussion away at an office behind the courtroom, this was the usual ritual that the judicial body took before proceeding with an hearing.
When Lu Yi saw Zhang Mi approaching, he stood up from where he sat beside Yang Lin, rus.h.i.+ng over to give her a hug.
"Don"t be scared, you will be okay. We all have your back and from what I"ve heard, you got a solid person representing you."
Zhang Mi was so choked up by what she heard, that it took a tap from one of the guards to remind her to let go of the other man.
"I hope so..."
Not getting to finish the rest of what she had in mind, the Zhang heiress was walked to her seat by the guards, with Lu Yi following closely. Tao Jun gave a curt nod in the direction of her client, while Yang Lin gave a curtsy. The guards that brought the prisoner, stood behind the seats of the defense team.
On seeing his niece, Zhang Tianyu"s solicitous facade instantly tore off, as he glare in her direction. Meanwhile, Zhou Yunxiang remained impa.s.sive while facing the opposing side. On the other hand Prosecutor Yu"s expression had not s.h.i.+fted from earlier.
Judge Pan Tingzhe had boyishly good looks, but hidden underneath the sweet looking exterior was a man that dealt in underground s.e.x with underage boys. This was a tightly guarded secret that only those who shared the same taste in such pervasiveness would mostly have met him in one of his escapades.
On the other hand, Tao Jun didn"t have a clean record herself, her dark past was sealed off by the government, none suspected her to have ties with a highly secretive group involved in a lot of shady dealings, but all that is in the past. Having broken from the group many years ago, she was able to carry on as a "normal person" in the society.
Not that she discovered it easily, as the lawyer had to seek out ties from the past to uncover anything powerful enough, to force the morally bankrupt Judge from the case.
She had paid her dues, now was the time to reap the fruit from all those years that she had spent as an underling to one of the most dangerous group in the country.