people...

A joint letter of defense signed by 17 people!?

It’s not just the three people from last time!?

In an instant, everyone’s expression changed, their eyes filled with surprise.

Even Zhang Tao and Li Ye, sitting in the audience, frowned deeply at this moment.

"17 people..."

"What’s the situation? Is the defendant hiding some information?" Li Ye was a bit curious.

As they say, a quantitative change leads to a qualitative change.

The testimony of 3 people compared to 69 people could be easily ruled by the presiding judge.

But now, the plaintiff’s witnesses have increased to 17!

This leaves the defendant with only 55 people, making the situation 17:55.

The number is a third of the defendant’s, and the testimony is substantial enough to be taken seriously by any judge!

"17 people? So 14 people have been bought off."

In the defendant’s seat, Xu Liang thought this to himself.

But he didn’t care.

It didn’t matter; they wouldn’t get their commission fees back either, so if they want to betray him, so be it.

There was no expression on his face, still calm and unperturbed.

On the plaintiff’s side, Chai Shiring noticed this and frowned.

"The clients have all turned their back, nearly a third of the witnesses defected...how could he still remain so calm!?"

He thought inwardly and fell into contemplation.

If this case adjourns again, the people from the Mutual Aid Association would surely succumb to the bandwagon effect!

By that time, it wouldn’t just be 17 patients being bought off.

20, even 30 or 40 is possible!

At that point... what would Xu Liang use to fight against him? Even the commission fees might not be secured!

"I want to see what you’re relying on!"

Chai Shiring’s eyes flashed, and he glanced at Sha Jin.

Sha Jin immediately understood and continued, "Your Honor, this is the defense letter from the victims of the Mutual Aid Association, please take a look!"

After speaking, he took out a petition signed by 17 people from his briefcase.

The clerk confirmed there was no issue and handed it over to the bench.

The three judges on the bench frowned immediately upon seeing it.

It was indeed a defense letter.

But as Sha Jin said, it looked more like a petition!

people stated their real names, outlining the threat the drug posed to them, but there was no data to support it, just their belief that the drug caused physical issues.

Zhao Jiaqi said nothing; after all, in terms of data... these people were all patients!

If it were ordinary people, it would be different. If they accidentally consumed some drug leading to consequences, the body would show a strong reaction, and on paper, one is healthy while the other is critically ill, with the turning point being the drug, this is normal.

And these 17 people?

They were all patients!

You simply couldn’t determine whether their physical state was due to the medication or uncontrollable disease progression.

Thinking about this, Zhao Jiaqi pondered for a moment and then spoke:

"Does your side have a witness present in court?"

Upon hearing this, Sha Jin nodded and said warmly, "Naturally."

"Our witness is currently in the court’s waiting room, ready to testify at any time the judge calls!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jiaqi immediately hammered the gavel.

"Bring the witness to court!"

With these words.

The room fell into silence.

Before long, the sealed door was pushed open again, and two familiar figures appeared before the others.

One was Yang Hao, a witness everyone saw during the first trial.

The second was...

"Wang Hu!?"

Suddenly, Feng Nan was taken aback, standing up in disbelief.

The second witness for the plaintiff... was none other than Wang Hu, who had been vehemently protesting in the ward just a few days ago!

The man who at the time wanted to kill a traitor like Yang Hao, and even cursed the people around him, was now appearing as a witness... it was him!?

Feng Nan was in a state of shock, not knowing what kinds of benefits Chai Shiring had offered.

She only knew she had been betrayed.

Xu Liang looked Wang Hu up and down, his expression still calm.

"Wang Hu... Tsk, good advice is hard for the damned to hear."

Xu Liang shook his head, clicking his tongue as he thought.

"Defendant, please control your emotions."

Zhao Jiaqi maintained the order of the court, then turned to the two people in the witness stand.

"Witnesses, the plaintiff just stated that the accused had sold the drug to you at a price of 9,000 per bottle, is this true?"

Yang Hao had not yet spoken.

Wang Hu quickly said, "That’s right! That bastard Li Ye initially sold it for three thousand a bottle, then four, five, and finally directly up to nine thousand a bottle!"

"And those drugs aren’t even authentic, consuming them causes great harm to health!"

"Initially deceived, victims who took more of it even started experiencing organ failure, their entire being in danger, and there were even two or three death cases last year..."

Wang Hu said anxiously.

Occasionally glancing at the stunned Feng Nan.

Every time he looked, not only did he not feel guilty, but his desire to ruin her only deepened.

He spoke solemnly:

"Your Honor, please discern wisely!"

Hearing this, Zhao Jiaqi frowned.

The audience erupted immediately.

"Nine thousand a bottle!? Are you kidding? That’s almost as much as my annual salary..."

"I earn only one thousand a month, I would have to save for over eight months without eating or drinking... and not only did it not cure the disease, but it could even cause organ failure!?"

"Hah, in my opinion, the defendant should be directly sentenced according to the law, there is no need for a trial..."

Wang Chao in the audience seized the opportunity to say.

And the more clear-headed journalists frowned, noticing something amiss.

If it was true...

Li Ye indeed sold the drugs at nine thousand per bottle.

Did he force Wang Hu and Yang Hao to purchase!?

For example, did he threaten to chop off their hands if they didn’t buy such blackmail tactics?

The crowd glanced at Kong Jian’s frail body on the defendant’s seat and immediately dismissed the thought.

Judging by his critically ill appearance... how could he possibly manage such a thing!

So the question arises.

If it wasn’t a forced purchase... then why did Wang Hu and the others, knowing someone died of organ failure, still take the medication?

"Witness, may I ask why you still wanted to purchase?"

Zhao Jiaqi noticed something amiss and frowned slightly.

Wang Hu hesitated slightly and then spoke up about what Sha Jin had instructed.

"Because Li Ye said this was authentic medicine, we thought those who died didn’t respond well to the medicine, which is why we continued to take it..."

Even a targeted drug for a particular ailment can have varied effects on different individuals.

Some people have excellent results, while others experience terrible outcomes.

Zhao Jiaqi questioned further:

"May I ask, where did you get the money to make this purchase?"

If it was nine thousand per bottle... even I, as a judge, couldn’t afford it!

Why could you afford it?

This isn’t contempt, but an objective judgment based on financial transactions.

"Loans!"

Wang Hu recalled and said: "At that time, there were some online lending companies, with low loan thresholds; you only needed a personal ID to get a loan."

"Later, the company went bankrupt before I repaid, but because of this, I managed to eat Li Ye’s smuggled fake drugs..."

These days, something has become rampant.

Exploiting online lending companies!

Indeed, these online loans, you might take a loan yesterday, and the company could close down tomorrow, leaving you without any repayment obligations.

Even if the company wanted to sell off the IOUs, they might not be able to, because their position was illegal usury!

"Respected judge, this is the timeline of our investigation into online loan companies."

Sha Jin abruptly spoke up and submitted evidence.

This evidence wasn’t fabricated, it was indeed records from a lending company.

But...

It showed Wang Hu’s loans paid the hospital fees!

No problem though, it could be forged as loan records for fake drug purchases, making it indistinguishable!

Zhao Jiaqi swiftly scanned the information and then furrowed his brow, consulting with those behind him.

"Why does it feel so wrong..."

"Loan... Would an online lender give a loan to a terminally ill patient?"

A judge muttered, frowning.

The amount one can borrow is often proportional to one’s own value.

If you’re worth ten thousand, you can borrow ten thousand; lenders ensure you can repay based on your worth.

But Wang Hu... a terminally ill person, how could he borrow tens of thousands!?

If that’s the case, this wouldn’t be an online loan company.

It should be renamed a charity foundation!

After pondering for a long time.

Zhao Jiaqi collected his thoughts and turned toward the defendant’s seat.

"Defendant, concerning the plaintiff’s statements and the witness account, do you wish to make a rebuttal?"

He internally hoped the other party would rebut.

From any angle you consider, the plaintiff’s evidence has many suspicious points; Zhao Jiaqi couldn’t discern, so he might as well let Xu Liang and the other party debate, and whoever wins will guide the case’s reasoning.

But...

Xu Liang suddenly spoke up:

"Respected judge, in response to the plaintiff’s statements, our side will naturally offer a rebuttal."

Then, he paused briefly and continued:

"But not right now!"

After speaking.

He didn’t give the other side the chance to let the plaintiff continue speaking, and straightforwardly said:

"What we must do now is submit entirely new evidence!"

Entirely new evidence?

Indicating a brand new point of contention!

How can there be a point of contention that hasn’t surfaced yet...

Zhao Jiaqi tightly furrowed his brows, took a deep breath, and said solemnly:

"Please proceed."

Xu Liang said: "Our side believes, in the case, the deceased Li Guang didn’t die because of smuggled drugs; his true cause of death should be..."

"Caused by blood draws at the hospital!!!"

The case fundamentally has two aspects: medication and Li Guang’s death.

Li Guang was a child, even with leukemia, he shouldn’t just die inexplicably, and from the perspective of the case, the drugs were the only possible cause.

And the drugs contained massive amounts of impurities, highly likely these impurities triggered the leukemia symptoms, leading to death.

This was the court’s preliminary deduction, but now....

Blood draws?

Why draw blood?

Even Chai Shiring also furrowed his brows; these two words he truly didn’t understand.

Zhao Jiaqi sensed something unusual and continued probing.

"Defendant, please continue your statement."

Xu Liang nodded.

He raised a photograph and an autopsy report, loudly speaking, his voice resonating in everyone’s ears.

"This is an autopsy report."

"According to the autopsy, the victim Li Guang weighed 22 kilograms."

"Based on normal proportions, Li Guang had 1540 milliliters of blood, light blood loss usually results in losing less than ten percent, moderate ranges between ten to twenty percent, and severe loss is more than twenty percent."

"And the deceased Li Guang..."

"According to the autopsy decision, he lost at least twenty-five percent of his total blood volume alive!!!"

"Which is the extreme in severe blood loss!"

"In other words, the victim Li Guang wasn’t killed by drugs; his real cause of death was...."

Speaking, Xu Liang paused, and then uttered words that silenced everyone.

"He was drained alive, bled to death!!!"