Gu Yuan was still wearing that set of judge's attire, sitting calmly in the most central position. As they gradually took their seats, a familiar figure trailed at the very back, slowly stepping into the court. It was precisely Prosecutor Fang Lichang.
Ever since the court adjourned two days ago, Fang Lichang had been hiding in the Meili Hotel, never appearing in the field of vision of Gu Yuan and the others. His sudden appearance at this moment instantly attracted the strange gazes of a crowd of judgment officials.
Fang Lichang naturally felt these gazes, but didn't take them to heart. Instead, he looked at that aged back sitting on the judge's seat, sneering in his heart.
"No matter how outstanding your natural talent was when you were young, people still have to concede to old age... Today, I will make you, this old man, and this conservative court, lose all face completely."
As Fang Lichang was thinking, he walked towards the prosecutor's position. In his peripheral vision, he saw Gu Yuan slightly turn his head to look at him. He unconsciously straightened his back, not even taking a glance at Gu Yuan... Since they had torn all face to this degree, hypocritical pleasantries were no longer needed.
"Fang Lichang." Gu Yuan suddenly spoke. Fang Lichang acted as if he hadn't heard, continuing to walk forward.
"Fang Lichang!"
As Gu Yuan raised his volume and shouted once more, only then did Fang Lichang stop his figure.
"Lord Judge, is there a matter?"
Fang Lichang faced Gu Yuan's gaze directly, unhurriedly speaking, "Naturally it is to fulfill the fair and just duties, and complete the verdict against the [Defendant] Han Meng..."
"This won't bother you to worry about." Gu Yuan said indifferently. "Did you not see the internal position adjustment announcement? Starting from yesterday... you are no longer a prosecutor."
Fang Lichang stood blankly on the spot.
"You... what did you say?"
"After internal self-examination, we discovered that the original Prosecutor Fang Lichang during his tenure, multiple times utilized the convenience of his position to intimidate and bribe subordinate officials, achieving the illegal purpose of manipulating court verdicts and influencing sentencing... After a series of review and evaluation, Fang Lichang's prosecutor position has already been formally stripped. Regarding Fang Lichang's conviction and sentencing, another court session will be opened on a chosen date to hold a trial..." Gu Yuan's aged voice slowly echoed within the court.
This sudden unforeseen event caused not only Fang Lichang, but also the other crowd of people coming to audit to be somewhat astonished.
Chen Ling's gaze swept over the surroundings, discovering that not only Fang Lichang, but also quite a few members of the jury were all entirely swapped out. Replacing them were young and unfamiliar faces one after another.
That group of people who supported Fang Lichang in court two days ago, had all been swapped away... The ones right now were probably all trusted aides single-handedly promoted up by Gu Yuan.
"This Gu Yuan, is actually somewhat interesting..."
With the matter developing to this step, Chen Ling naturally could see that Gu Yuan was iron-hearted on protecting Han Meng. He was even using this opportunity to let the entire Court of Judgment complete a major change of blood. To Chen Ling and the District Three Survivors, this was undoubtedly unexpectedly good news.
"No... when was the review and evaluation conducted?? Why did no one notify me??" Fang Lichang was anxious, immediately asking in return.
"Logically speaking, conducting an internal self-examination and evaluation naturally requires notifying your person to carry out a refutation... It's a pity, we couldn't find you." A young Enforcer slowly walked over, passing by Fang Lichang's side and sitting in the prosecutor's position that originally belonged to him, smiling as he spoke,
"If Mr. Fang Lichang holds objections towards this handling, you can leave it to your defense lawyer to make a speech when the trial court opens later on."
Fang Lichang stood below the judgment platform. Above him, was an entire row of solemn and respectful black-clothed Enforcers. Under this oppressive force like a wall of bronze and iron, he stood blankly on the spot like a sculpture.
Gu Yuan glanced at him. "The court is opening immediately. Unrelated personnel, please leave."
Several Law Enforcers stepped forward, preparing to take Fang Lichang away, but were directly broken free from by the latter. He stared deadly at Gu Yuan. "Fine... Even if I'm not a prosecutor, as the primary accuser of the previous round, I should remain as the accusing party in this round... This point, shouldn't have any problems right?"
"None." Gu Yuan nodded his head.
Fang Lichang coldly snorted. Breaking free from the two Law Enforcers, he walked straight to the accuser's seat, his face sunken like water.
He naturally knew this was Gu Yuan deliberately targeting him, but no matter what, he had to stay at the scene. Only like this could he guarantee that the development of the matter wouldn't be thoroughly manipulated by Gu Yuan...
Thud——
As Gu Yuan used a new gavel to strike the base, a muffled thud instantly pressed down all the whispering sounds within the court.
"Bring the [Defendant] Han Meng."
Han Meng draped in a black prison uniform was slowly brought out by two Law Enforcers, returning to his original Defendant's seat. His gaze swept over the surroundings once again, seeing the District Three crowd on the spectator seats... as well as Chen Ling sitting in the very front row.
His gaze paused on Chen Ling's body for a moment, before turning his head to look at the judgment platform above.
"Defendant Han Meng, borrowed the convenience of his duty to conduct underground trades of organs and drugs outside Aurora City, and collected protection fees from District Three residents. Later, he joined the Realm's highest-wanted organization Dusk Society. Using the identity of [Six of Spades] he colluded with [Six of Hearts] to release a virus inside the city, resulting in the deaths of many people..."
By the side, Fang Lichang repeated the contents of the accusation in a deep voice. "To sum up, due to his behaviors being extremely vile, Willful Violation, according to Aurora City's laws, he should be sentenced to death by a thousand cuts, executed immediately!"
Once these few sentences came out, the spectating crowd in the spectator seats instantly started whispering, nodding their heads from time to time, their gazes looking towards Han Meng full of fury.
Gu Yuan was not the least bit surprised by this. He merely slowly turned his head, looking to Han Meng's side:
"Defense lawyer, do you have anything to say?"
This time the defense lawyer was also a completely new face. Wearing a straight Suit, he nodded solemnly towards Gu Yuan:
"Lord Judge, the other party's accusations are purely fabricating something from nothing... During the Defendant's tenure in District Three, he never had any illegal behaviors. The organ and drug trades from the accuser's mouth are absolute framing and planting of evidence!"
"Fabricating something from nothing?" Fang Lichang sneered. "I have paper transaction records here as evidence. It records every single transaction the Defendant conducted in secret. Over the years, the benefits schemed from this are already an astronomical number... On what basis do you say this is framing and planting evidence? Do you have proof?"
The defense lawyer raised his brow, speaking with a light chuckle:
"It seems, the accusing party hasn't read today's Aurora Daily?"
"Aurora Daily?" Fang Lichang was startled for a moment, disdain emerging in his eyes. "Since when can an article fabricated by the media also be used as the basis of judgment in court?"
Unhurriedly, the defense lawyer took a stack of newspapers from the side, throwing them onto the ground in front of Fang Lichang.
"Look at it yourself."