Chapter 861 - A Brand-New Way of Testifying in Court
Gu Nianzhi contemplated quickly.
Should she get Ye Xuan to testify?
The judge had already made himself clear that even if he was to testify, the chances of his statement being used would be very low.
However, to think from another perspective, if Ye Xuan testified, Gu Yanran would be faced with an immense amount of emotional stress.
Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, Gu Nianzhi still decided to get Ye Xuan to testify.
It would take more than Ye Xuan’s words to prove that Gu Yanran’s list of inheritance was falsified, anyway.
Gu Nianzhi nodded firmly to the judge. “Yes, Your Honor, I would still like to summon Ye Xuan to testify in court.”
What a joke. Would she give up on an opportunity like that?!
Professor had put in so much effort so that Ye Xuan was able to come back to Hua Xia Empire safely. She would not give up on the opportunity to allow Ye Xuan to testify for this lawsuit.
Jin Wanyi was also prepared. The worst-case scenario for her would be that Ye Xuan was able to testify in court.
She did not expect that even after all her measures, including applying for a personal protection order for Gu Yanran, she would still be unable to stop Gu Nianzhi from allowing Ye Xuan to testify for this lawsuit.
Gu Yanran’s face turned pale. She whispered to Jin Wanyi, “…I thought we had applied for a personal protection order. How can he still come to court with that? Wouldn’t they be ignoring the sentence of another case?”
Jin Wanyi told her to calm down.
Indeed, after seeking Gu Nianzhi’s opinion, the judge turned to Jin Wanyi and asked, “Defendant lawyer, do you agree to it?”
Due to the fact that Ye Xuan had a personal protection order on him, he had to get Gu Yanran’s consent if he was to testify in this court, as he would require her approval to appear within ten meters of her radius.
If Gu Yanran did not agree to it, Ye Xuan would not be able to testify in court.
Jin Wanyi stood up with a smile. “Ye Xuan has previously caused my client a lot of harm. No matter the reason, my client does not want to see him, let alone be in the same room as him. I hope that your honor will be able to place more consideration on the personal protection order that my client has obtained from her other case and restrict Ye Xuan from appearing within ten meters of my client’s radius.”
This was a blatant rejection of allowing Ye Xuan to testify in court.
The judge also felt caught in between. He looked at Gu Nianzhi and said, “Plaintiff, due to the fact that the defendant has obtained approval for a personal protection order against the witness, I am afraid the court will not be able to adhere to your request.”
Ma Qiqi felt cold sweat on her palms when the judge said that.
What could they do now?
It was obvious that Nianzhi was not prepared for this.
She looked at Gu Nianzhi worriedly and considered asking her to put this case on hold and wait until she got a letter of approval to allow Ye Xuan to testify before continuing.
However, Gu Nianzhi did not want to do so, as she could not bear to wait any longer.
This case had already been delayed long enough. She did not wish for Gu Yanran to be able to throw her weight around any longer.
Allowing Gu Yanran to hold onto such a large amount of wealth would open up endless other ways to end her life.
Therefore, when Jin Wanyi was blabbering away, Gu Nianzhi thought quickly about the personal protection order. Even though it was rather sudden, she managed to come up with a solution very quickly.
Gu Nianzhi smiled as she looked towards the judge. “Your honor, may I ask if there are any connections to utilize any projection system in this courtroom, please?”
The moment she asked this question, the judge understood where she was coming from. He could not help but nod in approval with a smile, and replied gently, “Of course we have. Our court is able to connect to all social media platforms.”
“That would do.” Gu Nianzhi clapped her hands together. “I hereby request that the court allow my witness, Ye Xuan, to testify using a webcam, just like how people do for online meetings. We will question him from here, and he will answer our questions in real time from his end.” With that, she turned to look at Jin Wanyi and Gu Yanran. “May I know if both of you would be agreeable to this arrangement, please?”
It was precisely like this in court– a truly capable lawyer would always have the upper hand when it came to thinking on their feet.
This was because everyone knows how to do preparation work. However, what distinguishes a capable lawyer from a normal one is how that lawyer can work their way out of situations where they were not as well prepared as their opponents.
Jin Wanyi glared at Gu Nianzhi and gritted her teeth in anger.
She had not expected that Gu Nianzhi would be so witty as to bypass her personal protection order so easily by using an ‘online questioning’ tactic!
Gu Yanran was dumbfounded as well. She looked around in court and mumbled, “You can do that as well?”
There was a webcam in the courtroom?!
Jin Wanyi steeled herself and shouted, “Objection! The possibility of falsifying would be too high if we were to use a webcam for questioning. Who would know if the person sitting there was truly Ye Xuan? Who could be sure that no one is influencing him on how he answers our questions?! We will not agree to such a method of questioning!”
Gu Nianzhi looked at Jin Wanyi like she was a joke. She extended a finger and shook it. “Lawyer Jin, even though I had said that we would be using a real-time webcam, I did not mean that Ye Xuan would be attending the questioning across the ocean… I meant that we would be selecting a room here, ensure that it is ten meters away from Miss Gu Yanran, and allow Ye Xuan to sit there alone in that room and video call us directly from there. We can have a police officer stand guard outside the room to ensure that no one will be able to enter. Then we will be able to ensure that the person there will definitely be Ye Xuan, wouldn’t we? On top of that, we would also be able to ensure that he wouldn’t be influenced by anyone outside.”
How could she come up with such an idea!
When Gu Nianzhi came up with it, Huo Shaoheng, who was watching the entire hearing from the headquarters of the Special Forces, smiled as well.
Since things were going in this direction now, Jin Wanyi and Gu Yanran could only glare at Gu Nianzhi. They couldn’t think of any other methods to stop Ye Xuan from testifying anymore.
The judge smiled and nodded. “Sure. We shall go according to the plaintiff’s suggestion. Open the small meeting room adjoining Court C. There is a webcam there that can be connected to this room.”
By saying that, it meant that the judge had agreed to allow Ye Xuan to testify in court.
Jin Wanyi’s face fell. She sat beside Gu Yanran silently and whispered some things into her ear.
Gu Yanran looked at her nervously. “Is there really no other ways to stop this?”
Jin Wanyi shook her head. She remained quiet, but her expression had already confirmed that this was something she was unable to change.
Just like what Gu Nianzhi had predicted, the main aim of Ye Xuan being able to testify was not about the validity of the list of inheritance that he produced, but to further stress Gu Yanran out emotionally.
Very soon, Ye Xuan, who was waiting outside the main entrance of the court, was called in.
Gu Nianzhi told him the new method of being questioned.
When Ye Xuan realized that he did not have to face Gu Yanran directly, he breathed a sigh of relief as well. Smiling, he replied, “That would be amazing. This would be the most ideal way to testify in my opinion.”
He followed the police officer to the small meeting room adjoining Court C.
The staff of the court set up the webcam for him and connected it to the projector in Court A.
A screen for the projector dropped down slowly over at Court A.
When the internet was connected, a handsome Ye Xuan appeared on the screen.
“Good afternoon, Your Honor. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Ye Xuan.” Ye Xuan introduced himself politely, his deeply-set eyes making him look extremely attractive.