Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

The military tribunal held a secret hearing.

Inside the spacious courtroom, there were no extra spectators, only fully armed military and police officers lined up on both sides.

The three defendants were brought to the dock in turn.

Grandpa Zhong walked at the front, his specially made prison uniform appearing extremely loose, and his once neatly combed white hair was completely disheveled.

Following closely behind was Zhong Xiaoai, the former high-ranking deputy director of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, whose hair was plastered to her cheeks and who was staggering.

Finally, Hou Liangping, as a related witness, was placed in a separate seat on the side, keeping his head down and not daring to look at the other two.

In the very center of the audience, Mr. Xu sat upright, holding a thermos cup in his hand, his gaze fixed on the defendant's seat.

When Zhong Xiaoai saw Old Xu, her previously dim eyes lit up, and she slammed her hands on the wooden partition of the defendant's dock.

"Old Xu!"

"I'm innocent!"

"I knew absolutely nothing about the Zhong family's affairs, and I didn't even touch those military trade deals. You can't accuse me of treason just because my surname is Zhong!"

Two female military police officers immediately stepped forward, one on each side, and pressed her shoulders back down, forcibly pushing her back into her seat.

Old Xu unscrewed the thermos and took a sip of hot water without even lifting his head.

The military prosecutor stood up from his seat and opened the file in front of him.

A video clip appeared on the big screen, with the background being a basement in the Northview Building on Hong Kong Island.

In the scene, Ouyang Jing and her son Gao Xiaofeng are tied to a chair, while several burly men are on the phone asking for instructions.

A clear telephone recording came through the loudspeaker.

"The people in Handong are investigating too closely. We must shut those people up and deal with them cleanly, leaving no loose ends."

This is exactly how Zhong Xiaoai speaks.

Zhong Xiaoai's face turned deathly pale. She gripped the edge of the wooden board tightly with both hands, her fingernails scraping against it with a harsh, grating sound.

"This is fake!"

"With technology so advanced these days, any software can easily synthesize my audio. You're framing me!"

The technical appraiser next to him stood up and projected a thick document onto the large screen.

"Reporting to the presiding judge."

"After comparison by the military's voiceprint identification center, the audio characteristics in the recording are completely consistent with Zhong Xiaoai's own voiceprint."

"At the same time, we retrieved the original communication link for that period. The base station location showed that the signal that issued the command came from a safe house where Zhong Xiaoai was at the time."

Zhong Xiaoai opened her mouth, making dry, gurgling sounds in her throat, unable to utter a single word in rebuttal.

The prosecutor continued to advance the process.

A silver metal key was placed in a transparent evidence bag on the display stand.

Immediately afterwards, a restored electronic signature appeared on the large screen, along with a scanned copy of the paper authorization letter salvaged from the third basement level of the archives.

"It has been verified."

"The Chung family used their positions to sell the underlying parameters of military radar to foreign forces in exchange for a personal trust fund of eight billion."

"The personal seal and electronic signature on the documents belong to the defendant."

Grandpa Zhong finally raised his head, which had been hanging down, and his face twitched violently a few times.

"I admit that I did fail to properly supervise the project approval process."

"But I don't know exactly what parameters that document contains."

"Xu Wenshan, the consultant in charge of technical coordination at the time, took advantage of my trust and secretly smuggled in confidential documents. I only realized something was wrong later."

The old man completely absolved himself of responsibility, pinning all the blame on a dead man.

Shen Zhong sat in the seat of the special military security representative and sneered.

He picked up the document stamped with a red official seal from the table, strode to the defendant's seat, and slammed the enlarged copy, ten times larger, directly in front of Old Master Zhong.

"Mr. Zhong, take a look at this."

"These are your handwritten comments in the blank space of the approval form."

"Xu Wenshan shall bear full responsibility."

"Three years ago, you had already arranged a scapegoat and staged a car accident on Hong Kong Island to silence him."

"Now you're telling me you didn't know?"

Grandpa Zhong stared at the familiar handwriting, his chest heaving violently, his breathing becoming extremely heavy.

He had planned everything meticulously, but he never expected that this piece of evidence, which should have been burned, would appear in court intact.

Shen Zhong turned around and looked at Hou Liangping, who was sitting to the side.

"Hou Liangping, it's your turn to speak."

Hou Liangping stood up, first glancing at Shen Zhong, then turning his gaze to Zhong Xiaoai, and gritting his teeth.

"I will testify."

"Zhong Xiaoai has been using my identity to register a social media account called 'Beacon of Justice' overseas."

"That account contains all the dirt and money transfer records that the Chung family has collected over the years."

"That silver encryption key was also given to me by her, and I was told to hide it in a secret compartment on the bookshelf in the old house in Handong."

Zhong Xiaoai immediately stood up and started cursing at Hou Liangping.

"Hou Liangping, you beast!"

"You eat the food of the Zhong family, use the things of the Zhong family, and now you're even making up lies like this to get a reduced sentence!"

"You'll die a horrible death!"

Hou Liangping met Zhong Xiaoai's gaze and let out a cold laugh.

"nonsense?"

"The second verification code for that account was one I received in the Supreme People's Procuratorate's internal email account back then."

"When you set up cross-validation, weren't you trying to tie me to the Chung family's chariot too?"

Zhong Xiaoai completely broke down; her legs went weak, and she collapsed onto the chair.

Grandpa Zhong saw the situation clearly.

The chain of evidence is completely closed, with witnesses and physical evidence all available. Shen Zhong has no intention of leaving them any room to turn the tables.

The old man suddenly burst into laughter, the sound of which was particularly jarring in the empty courtroom.

"Shen Zhong, do you think you can sentence me to death based on these facts?"

"You think the Chung family is the origin?"

"Let me tell you, there are far too many people involved in the northern route project!"

"There are plenty of names with higher titles and positions than mine!"

"Do you dare to investigate?"

"If you push me too far, we'll all die together. I want to see if the Handong Military Region can withstand the wrath of those above!"

The courtroom fell silent.

The Northern Route Project is the largest strategic defense deployment undertaken by China in the past decade.

If the Chung family also left a backdoor in this project, the scope of the consequences would be unimaginable.

Shen Zhong stood firmly in place, completely unaffected by the threat.

He turned to look at the presiding judge.

"The Chung family is suspected of selling radar parameters, money laundering, and murder, among other crimes. The facts are clear and the evidence is conclusive."

"As for the northern route project he mentioned, it represents a new criminal lead."

"I recommend that the court pronounce a verdict in this case in accordance with the law."

"The leads regarding the northern route project have been handed over to the military's special investigation team for separate investigation."

This old fox has miscalculated; he's trying to delay the verdict with an even bigger bombshell.

The presiding judge picked up the gavel and struck it heavily on the base.

"Thump!"

"Both the prosecution and the defense have finished presenting their evidence."

"Given that the defendant presented significant classified information in court, this court has decided to transfer the new information to the relevant department for separate handling."

"Regarding the existing charges in this case, the court will adjourn for deliberation!"

"The verdict will be announced in half an hour!"