Chapter Nineteenth: A Turn for the Better

  Qin Yan closed her notebook and lowered her voice, saying: "Ye Feng, I've been a lawyer for seven or eight years, participated in nearly a hundred cases, and defended some murder suspects like you. However, there's one thing - in all the cases I've defended, those murder suspects, under my efforts, have more or less received some commuted sentences. Either they were changed from immediate execution to suspended death sentence, or changed to life imprisonment. In any case, their final outcome was that they all became convicted murderers and were sent to prison. But you're different. Through my investigation over this period of time, I can clearly feel that there are too many loopholes and missing evidence, even fabricated evidence. You might really be framed. You may not be the real murderer at all. In other words, the person I'm defending this time is very likely to be an innocent person who has been wronged and framed."

  Ye Feng's emotions were stirred up by Qin Yan's words, and he stared straight at her, saying in a low voice: "Attorney Qin, so now do you really believe me? Can you be sure that Liu Yong has a problem and will you believe that he and Liu Mei are the real murderers?"

  Qin Yan shook her head, restoring her calm and composed expression, saying: "I have great doubts about this case, but that doesn't mean I will completely believe your words. Maybe you think my words are contradictory and formulaic, but this is the attitude a lawyer should have. As a lawyer, the only thing I trust is evidence. Before getting effective evidence, I won't make any evaluation of your case. I am not a police officer or a judge, I am just a lawyer, do you understand?"

  Ye Feng sighed and said: "I understand, so the words you just spoke were all prefixed with 'perhaps' and 'possible'."

  Qin Yan smiled and said, "Ye Feng, don't be discouraged or disheartened. After the trial begins, the prosecutor will ask you some questions, just tell the truth. Liu Yong and Liu Mei Mei, as witnesses to the crime scene, will also testify in court. As your defense attorney, I will also question them. All the doubts about this case will be raised during the witness inquiry, focusing on the cremation of the body and the signature of the family members. I believe the trial judge will make a fair judgment."

  Ye Feng didn't know if the judge would be fair, to be honest, since this thing happened, Ye Feng had an unconscious resistance and doubt towards the fairness and justice of this society, especially as a small figure with no background, even if this thing hadn't happened, how much fair treatment and respect could he get in the society?

  After nine o'clock, Ye Feng was led into the courtroom by bailiffs and entered the defendant's seat. Without looking at the judges who were in charge of his case, he simply turned around to glance at his mother and colleagues sitting not far behind him, smiled at them, then turned back, lowered his head, and quietly waited for the trial to begin.

  After the trial officially began, a female judge sitting opposite Ye Feng first announced the list of judges and clerks who appeared in court today, then informed Ye Feng of some litigation rights he should have. Then, a person with a clerk's label on the table first read out the court discipline, followed by the public prosecutor's statement of the case, etc., etc.

  Ye Feng didn't care about what these people were saying, he instead hoped that this trial would end soon and then send him back to the detention center. Ye Feng suddenly felt that standing here to accept the trial was purely a waste of time, because no matter what these people said or did, no matter how many pieces of evidence they presented against him during the trial, no matter how well Qin Yan could defend him, it had all become unimportant. When Ye Feng truly stood in the defendant's seat, his mood had become extremely calm.

  In front of Jiuxing Space, after Ye Feng truly mastered the Soul Capture Technique, these people and things were nothing. Now he only needed one thing: time.

  Ye Feng believed that by the time of the second trial, he would be able to completely turn things around. Qin Yan's doubts and defense, the forensic fake evidence, Liu Yong's background and power, all would be nothing but floating clouds in the face of Xianjia's magical skills.

  When he suddenly realized this, Ye Feng felt that his mood had become much clearer, as if he had gained a kind of intangible sublimation.

  This feeling was wonderful, and Ye Feng was overjoyed. The Space Law had once told him that the Nine-Star Space was all-powerful, able to instantly raise his cultivation, and could grant him heavenly treasures under certain conditions, but it was unable to improve or change his state of mind.

  Improving one's state of mind requires Ye Feng to personally experience, understand, and feel it.

  Cultivating truth, in a certain sense, the most difficult thing to cultivate is one's state of mind. If the boundaries of one's heart are not sufficient, no matter how high one's cultivation is, it cannot be fully expressed.

  So in the entire trial process that followed, Ye Feng only spoke twice. Once was when the public prosecutor questioned him and Ye Feng replied truthfully according to Qin Yan's instructions, with the central idea being that he had not committed murder. The other time was during his final statement, where he said only two sentences: first, that he was a victim of false accusations; second, that the person who falsely accused him was Liu Yong, the head of the criminal police brigade at the Yangtze River District Public Security Bureau, and his girlfriend Liu MeiMei.

  As for Liu Mei and Liu Yong testifying in court as witnesses, accusing Ye Feng of murder and theft, Ye Feng ignored them. He merely glanced at them once before lowering his head and never looking at them again. Especially when he looked at Liu Mei, she clearly didn't dare to make direct eye contact with him. Ye Feng lowered his head not because he was afraid of them or hated them, but because he felt it was completely unnecessary.

  Ye Feng temporarily gave up the opportunity to cross-examine the witness in court this time. He told Qin Yan that he would save this opportunity for the next trial and asked Qin Yan to submit his request to the presiding judge. After consulting with the associate judges, the presiding judge agreed to Ye Feng's request.

  Perhaps Qin Yan's on-site questioning of Liu Yong raised the same doubts and suspicions in the judge, who required the police and forensic doctor to provide proof of cremation and consent from the family members. If they could not contact the family members, then the forced cremation would be a clear violation of established procedures.

  According to the basic principles of law, whoever raises a question must provide evidence. Since Qin Yan raised a defensive question, she needs to present relevant evidence. The key evidence for Qin Yan is two audio recordings.

  These two recordings, one is Qin Yan's full conversation with the forensic doctor, and the other is the full recording of when she went to the criminal police brigade to find Liu Yong.

  This made Ye Feng feel extremely surprised as well. Previously in the detention room, Qin Yan hadn't told him anything about recording beforehand.

  It must be said that Qin Yan's sharp eloquence, rigorous thinking and extremely logical counter-evidence played a crucial role in the entire case, causing some turning points to appear.

  With the help of Qin Yan and Ye Feng's on-site statement, Ye Feng got a second chance to open the trial, and successfully made the judge decide to re-examine the relevant case files, evidence, witness statements, and required the police and court staff to contact the deceased's family and the funeral home where the deceased was cremated as soon as possible.

  Moreover, it was ordered that a special person be assigned to conduct an isolated review of the forensic medical expert involved in the case.

  Now that things have come to this point, the direction of the case's development has undergone a clear change. The final result of the first trial is more or less favorable to Ye Feng.

  After the end of this first trial, Ye Feng met his mother again in the detention room and sincerely thanked her for taking care of his mother in front of Qin Yan. At the same time, from Qin Yan, Ye Feng clearly learned that the second trial of his case was scheduled to take place a week later.

  It's a bit tight in a week, but as long as he works hard, he should be able to smoothly advance his cultivation progress to 90%.

  If everything goes smoothly, by the time of the second trial, he will be able to perform a brilliant comeback in front of Qin Yan, the judge and his mother's colleagues.

  At that time, his fate will truly be in his own hands, while Liu Yong and Liu Mei Mei as well as the police who tortured him will pay a terrible price for their actions.