Chapter 7

Following the male prosecutor who stood up again and said, "Honorable presiding judge, members of the court, we request the appearance of Witness No. 2 to testify!"

With the presiding judge's permission, a woman in her forties was brought in.

The prosecutor introduced her, saying, "Witness No. 2 is also a staff member of the Tianlu Grand Hotel, working as a cleaner on the sixth floor. She was the first to hear the victim's cries for help. Now, please let her tell us what she saw and heard!"

"My name is Xu Aihua, and I am a cleaner at the Tianlu Grand Hotel, mainly responsible for cleaning the sixth floor. That day, I was cleaning the corridor on the sixth floor when I suddenly heard an argument coming from Room 608, followed by a woman's screams. However, I thought it was just a normal argument or a playful fight between a couple, so I didn't pay much attention. Later, when I heard someone shouting for help, I realized something might be wrong, so I immediately reported it to the front desk."

After the prosecution presented the witness and evidence, the next step was for the victim's attorney to read the statement to the court.

Yang Ling's chief attorney, Hu Yao, stood up and said, "Honorable presiding judge, members of the court: The facts of the defendant's rape of the plaintiff are very clear, and multiple witness statements corroborate this. The evidence forms an effective chain, all confirming these facts, and the defendant has no objections... Therefore, the charge of rape against the defendant is basically established. According to Article 236 of the Criminal Law: Whoever rapes a woman by violence, coercion, or other means shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years. Therefore, the defendant should be subject to a just trial!"

In the audience, Xu Ying and Ji Hanlei looked extremely serious. The evidence and witnesses presented by the prosecution had almost turned this case into an ironclad one, with the evidence and witnesses corroborating each other. Even they began to doubt whether Xu Yinglong had really raped Yang Ling.

After Yang Ling's attorney finished reading the statement, the presiding judge loudly said, "Now, the defense attorney will read the defense statement, and the defendant will make a self-defense statement!"

Xu Yinglong's defense attorney, Min Tianxing, stood up and said, "Honorable presiding judge, members of the court: I have been legally appointed by the defendant, Mr. Xu Yinglong, to serve as his litigation agent. Before the trial, we carefully verified the relevant evidence and found numerous doubts, which I will now legally present!"

"First, the prosecution and the plaintiff have not clarified the relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant. To my knowledge, the plaintiff and the defendant were originally engaged to be married, and they have been in a relationship for over 15 years."

"Furthermore, it was the plaintiff who actively invited the defendant to the Tianlu Grand Hotel, as recorded by the hotel. Therefore, the prosecution's and the plaintiff's attorney's claims of a premeditated rape are baseless."

"Secondly, my client has never admitted to raping the plaintiff, and the statements provided by the police do not prove anything, as my client was not in a state of clear consciousness at the time. This can be attested by Miss Ji Hanlei, the heir of the Tianhai Ji Family, who can confirm that when we found my client at the police station, he was already completely unconscious and in critical condition!"

"Here, I also challenge the legality of the relevant evidence in this case. My client suffered the most severe physical harm in the relevant departments, including a ruptured spleen, fractured left ribs, multiple soft tissue injuries, and a severe concussion. The police involved in this case are suspected of using torture to extract a confession!"

"Finally, due to the efforts of certain individuals, the internet is now filled with calls for my client's execution, while rational analysis is ignored, and extreme statements are widely praised. This has caused significant harm to my client and created an unfair trial environment."

Min Tianxing's words made Yang Ling's legal team and the prosecutor look quite embarrassed. They did not expect this lawyer from Tianhai to be so difficult to deal with, finding so many doubts and loopholes in just a short period of less than half a month.

After the presiding judge struck the gavel, he said, "The court has accepted the defense attorney's objections. Now, please let the defendant make a self-defense statement!"

Xu Yinglong said calmly, "Falsely accused!"

"Defendant, please provide evidence; otherwise, your defense statement will not be accepted by this court due to lack of substantiation!" the presiding judge loudly said.

"Thank you, presiding judge, for giving me the opportunity to speak. I have evidence to support my claim of being falsely accused. First, Yang Ling does not have the qualifications to make me rape her, and I have no need to do so."

Before Xu Yinglong finished speaking, another of Yang Ling's attorneys stood up and loudly said, "Please respect my client; your words and actions constitute personal defamation!"

"Bang!"

The presiding judge struck the gavel again and warned, "No shouting! Defendant, please be mindful of your words!"

Xu Yinglong sneered, "Yang Ling is my fiancée, a fact known to the upper echelons of the SaiBei region. We have been together for over 15 years and grew up together. We lived together until I was 18. If I wanted her, I wouldn't need to rape her."

"Moreover, it was she who invited me this time, and the Tianlu Grand Hotel is a property of the Yang family. How could I, a homeless dog without family protection, dare to do such a thing on her territory?"

Yang Ling's attorney rebutted, "Defendant, to my knowledge, although my client is indeed engaged to you, your relationship does not seem harmonious, and you did not live together as you claim. This time, my client, Miss Yang, invited you to discuss the termination of the engagement. Out of anger and lust, you raped my client, didn't you!"

"Bullshit! I find it strange that someone with your intelligence can be a lawyer. Is your logic that of a donkey? If our relationship was so bad, why would she agree to the engagement, and why has this engagement lasted for nearly 20 years?" Xu Yinglong said disdainfully.

"That's because it was a political marriage. Miss Yang never agreed to the engagement from the beginning; it was her elders who made the decision!"

"Then why didn't she terminate the engagement earlier? Why did she wait until now? Why didn't she object to the marriage for the past 20 years?" Xu Yinglong continued to press.

"That's because your Xu family was powerful, and Miss Yang did not dare to express her true wishes!"

"Ha ha ha! Can I understand it this way: she didn't say anything before because our Xu family was still in power and useful to her. Now that our Xu family is in trouble, she wants to break the engagement. The Yang family is really pragmatic!" Xu Yinglong laughed maniacally.

Xu Yinglong's dialogue with Yang Ling's attorney caused a stir in the courtroom. The reason people were so interested in Xu Yinglong's case was largely due to the fact that the forces behind Yang Ling had posted the case online, portraying Xu Yinglong as a lawless and immoral second-generation official, while Yang Ling was depicted as a powerless and weak woman.

However, through Xu Yinglong's dialogue with Yang Ling's attorney, people discovered that the case had a deeper layer. The expected narrative of a corrupt official second-generation preying on a weak woman had suddenly turned into a story of enmity and intrigue between wealthy families.

The so-called "victim," Yang Ling, did not seem to be the delicate and weak woman people imagined. She and her family seemed to play a less than honorable role in the case. Proposing to break the engagement while the Xu family was in trouble and then suing Xu Yinglong, regardless of whether he actually raped her, the Yang family could not escape the label of kicking someone when they are down.

Xu Yinglong wanted this effect. He wanted to teach the Yang family a lesson. Although he did not have the power to completely destroy the Yang family and their supporters, he could make them suffer.

It was easy to imagine that after this case, the Yang family's reputation, which they had carefully cultivated for decades, would be completely ruined, including Yang Ling's personal reputation. Regardless of whether Xu Yinglong's claim of living together was true, the fact that Yang Ling proposed to break the engagement when the Xu family was in trouble and then sued Xu Yinglong would make her and the Yang family bear the stigma of being materialistic and opportunistic, which would affect the entire Yang family.

Imagine, who would still want to deal with such a family? The Xu family, who were betrayed today, might be the next to be stabbed in the back.

Yang Ling's attorney clearly understood this and said with a pale face, "The defendant is confusing the issue and diverting attention. Whether the plaintiff and the defendant are engaged and why the plaintiff wants to break the engagement are irrelevant to this case and cannot prove the defendant's innocence. I request the presiding judge to consider this."

The presiding judge said sternly, "Defendant, please do not ask questions unrelated to this case. Have you finished your self-defense statement? If not, please continue!"

Xu Yinglong sneered, "I just said I had no need to rape Yang Ling. If this does not prove my innocence, then I will have to use the method I least want to use to prove myself."

After a few minutes of contemplation, Xu Yinglong said, "The reason I claim to be falsely accused is, on one hand, that I had no need to do it, and more importantly, I did not have the ability!"

"Defendant, please explain clearly what you mean by not having the ability," the presiding judge said loudly.

Xu Yinglong looked at the judges on the bench and said, "Honorable presiding judge and members of the court, this matter involves my personal privacy. Although I wish to keep it hidden forever, I cannot do so under the current circumstances to prove my innocence. I am not a real man; I suffer from a congenital sexual dysfunction, commonly known as being a eunuch!"