Me! A disgraced celebrity! Starting by seeking justice for impoverished students.

As soon as Song Mingyuan finished speaking, Prosecutor Zhang Hong stood up and looked sharply at Pei Yanzhou.

"Appellant Pei Yanzhou, I have a question for you."

"Was the victim capable of walking independently and expressing themselves when they arrived at the hotel lobby on the night of the incident?"

Pei Yanzhou clenched his fists, lowered his head and answered softly, "Yes... she can walk by herself, and she's still fairly conscious."

"Yeah?"

Zhang Hong raised his hand to signal the clerk, who immediately projected the surveillance footage onto the screen.

In the scene, Tao Wanwan leans on Pei Yanzhou's shoulder, her eyes closed and her legs weak.

He half-dragged and half-supported her as she entered the elevator.

To protect Tao Wanwan's personal information, the surveillance footage was specially redacted.

"The hotel lobby surveillance footage clearly shows that the victim was no longer able to stand on his own and could not even walk steadily."

"Where does your so-called clear consciousness come from?"

Pei Yanzhou's face turned pale, and he hurriedly changed his story: "I...I don't remember. I was drinking at the time, so I might have misremembered."

"She...at least she can speak."

Anyone with eyes can see that he is lying.

"The second question," Zhang Hong said, his tone unchanged, pressing on relentlessly.

"Why did you insist on taking her to the hotel you had booked in advance, when your classmates offered to escort her back to her dorm?"

"I just... I just thought the hotel was close by and I wanted her to get some rest, that's all."

Pei Yanzhou's eyes darted away. "My classmate has class the next day, and I don't want to trouble them."

"Don't want to bother your classmates, but aren't afraid of bothering the hotel receptionist to book a room late at night?"

Zhang Hong countered with a question, and before he could explain, he threw out a third question.

"After entering the room, did you explicitly ask the victim whether she consented to having sexual intercourse with you?"

Pei Yanzhou stammered, "She...she didn't resist, nor did she say she was unwilling..."

"The victim was severely intoxicated, unconscious, and unable to express himself clearly or explicitly object. Does that equate to what you call 'voluntary'?"

This statement is powerful and resounding.

Pei Yanzhou opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a complete explanation for a long time.

Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead, and his back was also soaked.

He became increasingly incoherent, sometimes saying the victim was fully conscious throughout the incident, and other times saying he was too drunk to remember.

One minute she says she approached him on her own initiative, the next she admits that she helped him into the room.

His statements were contradictory and full of flaws.

In the audience, Zhao Lei's knuckles were clenched so tightly they turned white, and his eyes were filled with rage.

If he hadn't been bound by court rules, he would almost have spoken out and rebuked them on the spot.

Pei Zhenbang's face grew increasingly grim, the veins on his hand gripping the water glass bulging, as if he wished he could answer for his son on the spot.

The live stream chat was already flooded with comments.

[A string of lies! Two flaws in just three sentences, and they still have the nerve to appeal!]

The prosecutor's questions were spot-on! Every single one landed on a lie!

The more they try to explain, the more they expose themselves; it's a classic case of a guilty conscience!

[With this kind of mental fortitude, they think they can overturn the verdict? Hilarious! They're about to collapse before the debate even starts!]

"The prosecutor has finished asking questions."

Zhang Hong took his seat and handed the right to ask questions back to the court.

Song Mingyuan turned his gaze to the plaintiff's seat and asked calmly, "Does the legal representative of the victim in the original trial need to ask the appellant any questions?"

Shen Yi turned his head to look at Jiang Chen beside him and nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

Jiang Chen understood and slowly stood up.

He spoke calmly and slowly.

"Appellant Pei Yanzhou, I only have two questions."

His gaze fell on Pei Yanzhou's pale face.

"First, you have repeatedly argued that the 300,000 yuan was a voluntary gift out of friendship and has nothing to do with personal injury."

"Then let me ask you, after the victim reported the case, your first action was not to demand the return of the gift, but to immediately call the police and claim that the victim was extorting money."

"Since it was a free gift, why is it considered extortion instead of the other party accepting payment and filing a police report?"

After he finished speaking, the courtroom fell silent.

Pei Yanzhou's body stiffened abruptly, his lips moved, but he couldn't utter a single word.

He couldn't very well say outright that the money was originally intended to buy forgiveness and silence.

If the other party refuses to accept the money and insists on reporting it to the police, it's like the money was wasted and you even got yourself arrested, so you turned around and accused them of extortion.

But once those words are spoken, it is tantamount to admitting to obstructing testimony.

Wei Changfeng frowned, wanting to offer a hint but unable to answer on behalf of the person involved.

We could only watch helplessly.

Jiang Chen didn't give him a chance to catch his breath and immediately asked the second question.

"Secondly, you claim that the letter of understanding was signed voluntarily by the victim and that there were no additional conditions attached."

"Then please explain why the prerequisite for paying this compensation is that the victim signs a letter of understanding, withdraws their report, and agrees not to pursue criminal charges against you?"

Why should compensation for lost friendship be tied to dropping the case?

Both questions are based on the most basic common sense logic.

Pei Yanzhou's face was deathly pale, and cold sweat dripped down his chin from his forehead.

He opened his mouth, but his throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and he couldn't squeeze out a single coherent word for a long time.

It's said to be a voluntary gift, but that doesn't explain why it was linked to the withdrawal of the case.

To call it a settlement and compensation is tantamount to overturning one's own claim of innocence!

I'm caught in a dilemma; no matter what I say, it's wrong.

The entire courtroom was completely silent.

Everyone could see that Pei Yanzhou simply couldn't answer those two questions.

A hint of relief flashed in the eyes of the soldiers in the gallery.

But Pei Zhenbang's face was so dark it could drip water, and he turned his head away sharply, unable to bear to look at his son's disheveled appearance any longer.

The live stream chat exploded!

[A killer question! These two questions were absolutely brilliant!]

[This is a classic case of killing someone by attacking their spirit! It's all based on common sense and logic; there's no way to argue against it!]

[Can't answer that, huh? Let's see how he tries to twist the truth now!]

[Attorney Jiang is still steady; his moves hit the nail on the head from the very first strike, without uttering a single unnecessary word!]

These two issues alone are enough to completely dismantle the appeal arguments!

Jiang Chen stood quietly for a few seconds, and seeing that Pei Yanzhou remained silent with his head down, he nodded slightly: "I've finished asking my questions."

After saying this, he calmly sat down, his expression completely unfazed.

It was as if I had only done a trivial little thing.

Shen Yi glanced at him sideways, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes.

Ask the most crucial question in the most nonchalant tone.

This precision and composure are truly rare.

Presiding Judge Song Mingyuan had taken everything in view and had already made his judgment.

He looked up at the defendant's dock: "Appellant and defense counsel, do you have any further questions?"

Wei Changfeng stood up and, forcing himself to be polite, asked Pei Yanzhou a few more trivial questions.

They tried to help him cover up his excuse.

Pei Yanzhou's composure had already collapsed, and his answers were incoherent and only made things worse.

After a long pause, Wei Changfeng had no choice but to give up and said in a deep voice, "The appellant has no other questions."

Song Mingyuan nodded slightly and struck the gavel.

boom!

"Cross-examination concluded. We will now proceed to the courtroom debate."

"First, the appellant and their defense counsel will present their arguments."