What's wrong with this lawyer?!

Zhou Zhixing began to feel nervous as soon as he saw the expressionless Judgment Chief enter the room; although one should be brave when pushed to the edge, anyone would feel anxious under such circumstances.

The pressure was too great; nobody around him looked favorably upon his act of defending his rights.

So much so that Zhou Zhixing nearly had weak knees as he stood up to welcome the Judgment Chief; luckily, Old Tang was there to support him.

"Don't be afraid, there's nothing to fear," Old Tang said, looking at the Judgment Chief onstage, "we've pretty much won this case already."

"I, I'm not scared... huh? Won? We've already won?" Zhou Zhixing said blankly on the side.

Indeed, a lawyer should never promise the outcome of a case to a client, but at this point, Old Tang didn't care about that because he truly believed they had already won.

Two days ago, his side received the defense brief and evidence materials from the sub-bureau; it was this defense brief and materials that gave Old Tang eighty percent confidence.

Then, seeing the Judgment Chief today gave him the remaining ten percent of confidence.

It was none other than the judge who had made the first-instance judgment a few months before...

It might seem too coincidental, but that's reality; under the quota system, there are simply not many judges, and even fewer in administrative courts.

Even if it were a year later and they came to lawsuit, Old Tang wouldn't be surprised to encounter the same judge.

Now that the missing ten percent was filled by the presence of this judge, Old Tang decided to be even more aggressive in court, given that the judge had direct experience with the case.

He had done everything that needed to be done. Three parts fate, seven parts effort, and ninety parts, thanks to the opponent's concessions.

"Just watch calmly, put your heart back in your stomach; treat it like you're watching an interlude animation."

It has to be said, having a renowned great lawyer—who also always speaks with pinpoint accuracy—tell you nonchalantly that you've already won the case...

That kind of confidence infects everyone around.

At the very least, Zhou Zhixing now felt much less nervous; Tang Fangjing really exuded overwhelming confidence.

On the opposite side, Yu Niandong and Lawyer Liu frequently glanced up, wondering what Tang Fangjing was up to, their table still completely devoid of anything.

Amidst this atmosphere, the clerk finished reading the court discipline, and Judgment Chief Sun Zonghao seated above spoke: "Court is now in session."

The proceedings continued as usual, with both sides stating their case. Old Tang stood up ready to read the complaint when Sun Zonghao interjected: "Aside from the opinions expressed in the complaint, does the plaintiff have any other comments?"

This question made Zhou Zhixing, who had just calmed down, tense up again. Something was wrong; why would the judge say that, not even allowing them to read the complaint?

Old Yu and Little Liu on the opposite side were slightly astonished; with their limited experience in court, they did not understand what this could mean.

They could only vaguely guess that not allowing the other side to speak more might be advantageous for them...

In the spectator's gallery, Zhou Zhixing's wife and neighbors were all nervous and would have stood up to ask why they could not make their statement if they hadn't been so timid.

However, upon hearing the question, a smile crossed Old Tang's face as he responded, "No."

"Alright, please let the defendant make their statement."

Old Tang then sat back down, looking even more relaxed. He couldn't be bothered explaining to the others that when the Judgment Chief spoke in such a way, it usually meant they wanted to save time.

In this particular case, the implication was significant. Old Tang sensed that the collegiate panel, perhaps even the court's judicial committee, already had some opinions on the case.

On the defendant's side, Old Yu began reading the defense brief. It didn't take long to finish; it was nothing more than claims that after reinvestigation, Zhou Zhixing's comments indeed constituted behavior that disturbed public order, complying with the provisions of Article 26, Paragraph 4 of the Public Security Administration Punishments Law, making the penalty legal and the evidence conclusive, and so on...

"Now, please begin presenting evidence," said Judgment Chief Sun Zonghao, turning to Tang Fangjing.

Old Tang immediately began, "Evidence one, three financial reports..."

The evidence on his side was much the same, still those same pieces of evidence.

But there was one new piece of evidence.

"Evidence four, the record of our party's real-name report to the authoritative department, as well as the telephone response records from the relevant department, proving he didn't have the intention to create disturbances, but based on actual evidence, sincerely believed there might be bribe-taking actions and was exercising a citizen's right to supervise."

Judgment Chief Sun Zonghao glanced at it and promptly asked, "Were there any responses to the real-name report?"

Zhou Zhixing replied, "There hasn't been any written response yet, but a relevant department previously made a phone reply to me, saying they had received the report material but are temporarily unable to determine the matter."

There indeed had been such a telephone response, which is quite common, especially since it was a real-name report and it was made through the post.

So after receiving the materials, they were obliged to respond, stating they had received the report and initially investigated and found whatever the situation might be.

Judgment Chief Sun Zonghao noted this down and then asked, "Does the plaintiff have anything to add?"

Old Tang shook his head, "That's all."

Unfortunately, Zhou Zhixing did receive phone calls, but his phone hadn't recorded them automatically, so only the call records existed, not the actual content.

Zhou Zhixing had reportedly been timid on the call; when they said they couldn't yet verify the facts, he didn't ask further questions, and the call ended quickly.

Old Tang wasn't concerned about this; the inability to ascertain was a stance in itself, at least they didn't directly dismiss his report as baseless.