Chapter 175: The Court Session

First Hall of the Department of Inspection.

Three tiers of staggered gallery seating were arranged in a well-ordered fashion, guarding the Chief Inspector's bench at the very front of the trial hall.

Between the gallery and the Inspector's bench lay the defendant's podium and the plaintiff's podium—one on the right, the other on the left.

Wang Chen walked over to the left podium and stood firmly.

Opposite him stood Jiang Qinngen, the Deputy Chief of the Public Security Bureau.

Jiang Qinngen was a middle-aged man approaching fifty, with a bloated figure and only a sparse fringe of hair left on his crown, presenting the classic look of the local supporting the central.

The spectators in the gallery had entered one by one. In one of the rows sat almost entirely students, who were representatives sent by every high school in Luzhou.

At this moment, their gazes burned as they looked at Wang Chen, and a few students even raised their arms in gestures of encouragement.

Long Wushuang and Tang Ruotong were seated among them. Without a single word, their gazes alone conveyed their unwavering support to Wang Chen.

Wang Chen smiled and nodded at them, then turned his gaze to the defendant's podium directly across from him.

The proceedings had not yet officially begun, but beads of sweat were already glistening on Jiang Qinngen's temples, gluing those few strands of hair together.

His eyes lacked any spirit, and his lips were dry and chapped with white crusts, presenting the appearance of someone resigned to the mercy of fate.

Noticing his condition, Wang Chen frowned slightly.

Clearly, this fellow was the one who had ultimately been pushed out to take the fall.

To sacrifice even a deputy bureau chief just to save the higher-ups—they certainly spared no expense.

Yet, a trace of lingering reluctance stirred in Wang Chen's heart.

It seemed that clearing away the deep-rooted corruption in Luzhou remained a long and arduous journey.

...

Suddenly, two figures walked in through the aisle beside the gallery.

Their arrival caused a small stir.

"Is that Lu Han?"

"Shouldn't be any doubt, I've seen him on television!"

"And that person next to him looks like it should be his younger sister, right?"

"..."

The newcomers were none other than the Lu siblings.

Attracted by the commotion, Long Wushuang turned his head to look.

Frowning, he muttered, "Why is Lu Shiyu here?"

Hearing his whisper, Tang Ruotong also turned her face to look.

She guessed, "Here to cheer Wang Chen on, probably?"

Long Wushuang's brow remained furrowed. "Cheer him on? Chenzi isn't playing a basketball game; he doesn't need a cheerleader."

Hearing his tone, Tang Ruotong asked with some confusion, "Why do you and Wang Chen both seem to dislike Lu Shiyu? She's clearly a girl with a nice personality, and she's so pretty."

Having been helped by Lu Shiyu earlier during her confrontation with Cai Kun, she held quite a favorable impression of her.

After giving her a couple of glances, Long Wushuang turned back and folded his arms across his chest. "Because she has no brains."

"Ah?" Confusion flickered in Tang Ruotong's eyes.

Long Wushuang's tone was cold. "That whole business between Chenzi and her, I figured most of it out on the public channel yesterday."

"I just don't understand why she had to issue a party invitation to Chenzi in broad daylight."

"Were there really no other opportunities? Or couldn't she have said it in private?"

"Why did it have to be right when Wang Chen awakened the Life Shaman class and was being scorned by everyone, that she played the savior and extended a helping hand to him?"

Tang Ruotong frowned. "Doesn't that precisely show that Lu Shiyu genuinely likes Wang Chen? Even though the class he awakened wasn't good, she was still willing to form a team with him."

"As for why she didn't invite him in private, maybe she simply didn't think that much into it."

Long Wushuang sneered. "That's why I say she has no brains. She might have thought she was helping Chenzi, but doing that was equivalent to placing him on a fire to roast, making him the target of public criticism."

"If it weren't for Chenzi's formidable luck, he probably would have lost to Lu Han and Cai Kun in the gambling match. Has she ever thought about that?"

Tang Ruotong argued, "But the gambling match only happened afterward, didn't it? No one could have foreseen that."

"You can't really blame her for that, can you?"

Long Wushuang looked at Tang Ruotong and sighed. "Teacher Tang, sometimes I really envy your innocence."

Amidst Tang Ruotong's uncomprehending gaze, he continued, "Lu Shiyu is Lu Han's own sister. After living together for over a dozen years, doesn't she know what kind of temper her brother has?"

"She likes Chenzi, but she couldn't even figure out Chenzi's personality. Would he accept that kind of help which so obviously looked like bestowing pity?"

"Regardless of whether it took the form of a gambling match or not, Lu Han was bound to cause trouble for Chenzi anyway. That's a conclusion anyone could easily deduce."

Listening to Long Wushuang's words, Tang Ruotong's mouth opened slightly in astonishment. It appeared she had never thought of it that way before.

Seeing this, Long Wushuang sighed helplessly. "My brother here has such a bitter fate, always being fancied by rich young ladies."

"Rich young ladies always think that liking someone is the best thing they can do for that person, disregarding everything else."

"Yet they never consider how much trouble their affection will bring to a poor young man. When all is said and done, romance-brained airheads are lethal."

Tang Ruotong asked with curiosity, "Has Wang Chen been liked by other rich young ladies before?"

"Oh, practically countless times. Back in middle school, he suffered unmerited disasters more than once because of similar reasons," Long Wushuang said. "The two of us got into fights with quite a few people over it."

"So that's how it is..." Tang Ruotong murmured.

A myriad of emotions stirred in her heart, deepening her understanding of the bond between Wang Chen and Long Wushuang.

The two of them were not merely good friends because they had known each other for a long time. A greater reason was that Long Wushuang truly understood and sympathized with Wang Chen, always putting himself in his shoes.

Tang Ruotong increasingly felt how far behind she lagged.

...

As the inspectors took their seats, the trial officially began.

An elderly inspector with graying hair slowly asked, "Plaintiff Wang Chen, you accuse the Luzhou Public Security Bureau of committing multiple violations of protocol during the execution of their duties, is that correct?"

His voice was magnified several times over within the peculiarly structured trial hall, sounding almost like operatic bel canto.

Thus, the elderly voice grew all the more majestic, inevitably inspiring tension in those who heard it.

Yet Wang Chen showed not the slightest sign of abnormality. He nodded naturally, "Yes."

"Do you have physical evidence?" the inspector asked.

"None, but I have two hundred and nine witnesses," Wang Chen said, "along with their joint petition and blood-written indictment."

"Very well, the petition and the blood oath have both been received and verified by this court," the inspector adjusted his glasses. "However, the number of your witnesses is far too large for this court to summon them one by one, so you are specifically instructed to select five representatives."

"Have you chosen them?"

Wang Chen nodded. "Chosen. They can be summoned to the court at any time."

"Good." The inspector looked toward Jiang Qinngen. "Does the defendant have any objections?"

Hearing his name called, Jiang Qinngen shuddered all over and hurriedly replied, "None, Lord Inspector."

"Then summon the witnesses to the stand." The inspector looked toward the bailiff standing nearby.

The latter turned, opened the wooden door, and led the witnesses who had been waiting outside into the chamber.

They took their positions at the witness stand directly in front of the inspector's bench.

"What specific cases involving problematic duty enforcement have each of you experienced?" the inspector asked.

Following Wang Chen's arrangements, the five witnesses answered one by one.