A madman in France? How come he's always at crime scenes!

The day for Ding Hu's trial arrived quickly.

The 9.15 task force is at a standstill. It's difficult to find anything out about Tan Yongren. Although the police have spread the word that Shen Xuejun was successfully rescued, there has been no new progress for the time being.

Meeting Room No. 3, Tongcheng Detention Center.

Ni Dayong had his hair shaved short, his stubble cleaned, and was wearing the detention center's uniform blue vest.

"Attorney Wu."

Wu Liang sat down opposite the glass partition, and before taking out his documents, he asked, "Did you take your medicine on time?"

"I've taken it." Ni Dayong nodded. "Director Ma has arranged it; the dosage has been adjusted once."

"That's good." Wu Liang opened the case file and spread out the materials for the court hearing one by one. "The hearing is the day after tomorrow, and there are a few things I want to confirm with you."

Ni Dayong sat up straight.

"First, the court is taking into account that the case involves the victim's privacy, and the old case of Sha Yuanbao has not been fully declassified, so there won't be too many people attending the hearing."

Ni Dayong didn't react much; he didn't quite understand these procedural matters, but he trusted Attorney Wu's arrangements.

"Secondly," Wu Liang's tone became slightly more serious, "the presiding judge is Guo Yong, the presiding judge of the First Criminal Division of the Tongcheng Intermediate People's Court. I've dealt with him once before; he's highly competent and of good character. So don't worry, you'll have a good fight."

Ni Dayong nodded, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"Third, the Criminal Division of the Provincial High Court sent two people to observe the hearing."

Ni Dayong didn't understand what this meant, but judging from Wu Liang's expression, it seemed that this was no ordinary matter.

"It means that the higher-ups are watching this case." Wu Liang closed the case file and looked at Ni Dayong. "How your case is judged isn't just a matter for Tongcheng City. In the future, other cases might use your case as a benchmark."

Wu Liang only learned of this information recently, and he wondered if it was due to the influence of the Zhou Hai case.

Ni Dayong remained silent for a while.

"Attorney Wu, my daughter..."

"That's good." Wu Liang replied, knowing what he was going to ask. "Your wife has been in a mental hospital these days, arranged by Director Ma. Ni Xiang is staying at my law firm now. My assistant has an extra bed in his room, so the two girls are keeping each other company."

Ni Dayong's shoulders visibly relaxed a bit, but Wu Liang immediately followed up with a sentence.

"She wants to attend your court hearing."

Ni Dayong immediately refused.

"No!"

This was the first time he had been excited since entering the detention center.

"What would a child like her do in a place like that? She..."

"Ni Dayong," Wu Liang interrupted him, "your daughter will be eighteen next month; she's not a child anymore."

Ni Dayong lowered his head, his rough-looking expression gradually becoming uncontrollable.

"The young lady has been at my law firm for a few days now, and she hasn't fallen behind in her studies; she's also very interested in law. Yes, yesterday she asked me if I was afraid in court."

Wu Liang looked into Ni Dayong's eyes.

"Your daughter went to sit in on the class to support you, and also to personally realize that her father is not a bad person."

"To grow, one must face the truth."

Ni Dayong's fingernails dug deeply into his palm.

A long time passed.

"Then... let her come."

……

Yuanda Law Firm.

Ni Xiang sat on the sofa with her knees drawn up to her chest, with the criminal law textbook that Wu Liang had bought for her spread out in front of her. It had only been unpacked for less than a week, and the edges of the book were already worn from being turned so many times.

Zhang Jiajing poked her head out of the kitchen, her hands covered in dish soap foam: "Xiangxiang, are you hungry? I'll make you a midnight snack."

"I'm not hungry." Ni Xiang looked up, her eyes sparkling. "Sister Jiajing, I have a question for you."

"Go ahead and ask."

"How exactly do you distinguish between manslaughter and an accident? I've seen three cases, and the verdicts are completely different."

Zhang Jiajing rinsed off the foam, dried her hands, and walked out with an expression as if she had seen a ghost.

"Why are you, a senior in high school, worrying about this?"

"I'm curious," Ni Xiang turned her head. "Besides, Brother Wu Liang said that if I get into university and study law, I can do an internship here."

Zhang Jiajing felt a little jealous.

After years of hard work in the legal field, I painstakingly submitted a lot of resumes before finally finding a backup internship at Yuanda Law Firm, where I also had to take on multiple roles.

That young girl hasn't even gone to university yet, but she's already starting at the same level as me.

But she didn't pay much attention, walked over and sat down next to Ni Xiang, pointing to the book:

"You have to differentiate between different cases, whether the parties involved foresaw the possibility—never mind, let me put it another way. Zhang San is driving, someone warns him there's a pothole ahead, but he doesn't notice and falls in—that's negligence. Li Si is driving, a flat road suddenly collapses into a hole, and he falls in—that's an accident."

"It's that simple?"

"The logic is simple." Zhang Jiajing shook her head. "But in court, how do you prove whether you saw it or not? That's complicated. Look at the case your brother Wu Liang handled for Zhou Hai last time; he took more than two hundred photos."

Ni Xiang gave a thoughtful "oh".

Just then, the door opened, and Wu Liang came in carrying a briefcase.

"Boss, you're back! How's Brother Ni?"

"It's alright, better than I expected." Wu Liang put his bag on the table, walked to the sofa, looked at Ni Xiang, and said, "Your dad agreed. You can sit in on the class next Monday."

Ni Xiang suddenly jumped up from the sofa.

"real?!"

"Really. But there are conditions."

Wu Liang sat down opposite her, his expression unusually serious.

"Once you're in court, no matter what you see or hear, you can't make a sound or cry."

Ni Xiang nodded vigorously.

"Also, you might hear things you don't want to know. About your parents, about what happened back then. Can you handle that?"

Ni Xiang paused for a moment.

"I know some things," she said softly. "I know my mother was abducted..."

Wu Liang remained silent.

"Last summer vacation, I overheard Grandma Wang chatting with someone at the village entrance and she let it slip."

Ni Xiang raised her head, her eyes red-rimmed, but she didn't shed a tear.

"So I'm not afraid. Brother Wu Liang, I want to see my dad walk out of the courtroom with my own eyes."

Wu Liang looked at her for a while, then stood up and ruffled her hair.

"Okay. Go wash your face and help me prepare the court hearing outline later. Zhang Jiajing, you need to work harder; I think this young lady is more talented than you."

"What?!"

Ni Xiang covered her mouth and laughed, instantly easing the atmosphere in the law firm.

After Ni Xiang went to the restroom, Zhang Jiajing nudged Wu Liang's arm.

"Boss, are you really letting Ni Xiang sit in on the meeting?"

His tone was very worried.

Wu Liang turned to look at the bathroom door and said softly:

"If a setback and the truth cannot be avoided, it is always better to face them sooner rather than later than to remain in the dark."

……

September 22nd, court hearing day.

Courtroom No. 1 of the Intermediate People's Court of Tongcheng City.

Ni Xiang sat on the far right of the last row in the audience.

She had her hair in a ponytail and was wearing a clean white shirt.

The bailiffs pushed open the door.

The moment the defendant, Ni Dayong, walked in handcuffed, his eyes immediately fell on that corner.

His Adam's apple bobbed violently, and he quickly lowered his head, afraid of losing his composure.

Ni Xiang remained silent, her fists clenched, staring blankly in Ni Dayong's direction.

Presiding Judge Guo Yong took his seat, and the gavel struck softly.

"The Criminal Court of the Tongcheng Intermediate People's Court is now in session."

"The defendant, Ni Dayong..."

Wu Liang sat at the defense table and opened the case file.