Chapter 663 - Between Nations
Yang Chen’s words were lost in the ears of Luo Cuishan and the rest of the police force.
But Luo Cuishan obviously had a lot to consider—in addition to her position as the eldest child of the Luo clan, she was the wife of the premier who happened to also be the master of the Ning clan. Her actions had to be carefully considered as they might set off an unwanted chain reaction.
While Luo Cuishan was busy strategizing her next move, a crisp and swift array of high heel footsteps resonated from the entrance of the police station.
Before long, a tall, white brunette came into the office.
She was wearing a black uniform with white leggings, a braid of curly hair along with a pair of golden-framed glasses, resembling a classic Caucasian woman. She was the epitome of a middle-aged beauty from the west.
The policemen were left in a state of disarray. Even Luo Cuishan was puzzled by the sudden appearance of a foreign woman.
The woman scanned the office room upon her arrival, and instantly locked eyes with Yang Chen.
Once she spotted Yang Chen amidst the crowd, her face instantly glowed from exhilaration. Her proper education on etiquette and mannerisms, however, led her to elegantly walk towards Yang Chen before she bowed and introduced herself. “My apologies for the delay, Sir. I was handpicked by Her Majesty Queen Catherine to assist you with the case. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Laura Matterro. I am from London’s Linklaters Law Firm. It is my absolute pleasure to represent you both, Mr Yang Chen and Miss Lin Hui.”
A bombardment of her formal introduction left the majority of the people present dumbfounded.
And among them the only person that understood was undoubtedly Luo Cuishan. It was because Luo Cuishan knew who she was that she frowned slightly.
Queen Catherine? Linklaters Law Firm?
As the wife of China’s premier, Luo Cuishan naturally had decent exposure to the leaders of the world’s great powers, exponentially higher than the leading women of most clans.
She was fully aware of the Queen Catherine that Laura had mentioned—who she was and what her position was in Great Britain. She was also aware of the Linklaters Law Firm as one of the top five best performing law firms on the planet.
The lawyers of the firm had almost in its entirety only dealt with large corporational court cases and they were hardly involved themselves with private cases.
But a lawyer of such status to personally arrive in Beijing to serve as a private consulting attorney for what could be considered an unknown star? That was very hard for Luo Cuishan to swallow.
But there was more.
Yang Chen was unamused by Laura’s introduction, as he frowned from displeasure. “Is everyone here?”
Laura nervously nodded. “Yes Sir, I deeply apologise for the delay. London was shrouded in severe mist yesterday, which ultimately led to the twenty-four-hour delay.”
“Did you know that if you arrived ten minutes later, you’d have come all the way here only to be fed to the sharks?”
Laura went pale as she held her head low.
Yang Chen was stern in his emphasis. “Now that your team will be be dealing with my sister, I expect there to be no more foolish mistakes like this one. Please be aware of the severity of the situation. Had I not be present in Beijing today, the problem would never have been settled so simply.”
Laura aggressively nodded as she replied, “Rest assured Sir, we will do our best to make sure everything will be smooth sailing from this point. In accordance to our promise, everyone from the team was selected from the cream of the crop.”
Yang Chen let out a long sigh. “I’ll stop you there. As for the complete insight of this incident, I believe you should be well-informed by now on your way here. Make it quick.”
Laura felt a strong gush of relief as she dried the cold sweat on her forehead. With her head held high, she exerted her trademark smile of confidence as she faced the police officer. “Sir, may I know if you’re the person in charge here?”
This time, Laura switched to speaking Mandarin albeit being slightly hard to understand with her heavy accent. But for the most part, it was clear and comprehensible.
The stern police officer stutteringly replied with a nod, “Ye—yes.”
Laura however continued with a smile. “I’m Laura, a lawyer from Linklaters. It is in my client’s best interest for me to request an official bail.”
While she made her request, she withdrew a thick array of internationally certified law documents, and placed them on the desk.
The police officer was bewildered by the approach. Ultimately believing that the documents were real, he distressingly stared at Luo Cuishan, awaiting further instructions.
Luo Cuishan lazily shook her head. Even if it was against a team of world-renowned attorneys, she had no intention of allowing Yang Chen to get away with it. She could not just let him go after all the things he had done.
The police officer understood her signal as he faked a cough before replying, “Regarding that erm… Miss Attorney, we went through a series of interrogations before you arrived, with this lady Miss Liu Zishan as an eye witness. She admits to witnessing Miss Lin Hui unauthorizedly breaking into the meeting room and physically assaulting Director Luo Sheng. His injuries here prove exactly that. Not to mention she admitted to her wrongdoings. All in all, we simply cannot allow her to be released on bail.”
Laura had a slight tinge of panic before she shifted her gaze towards Liu Zishan. “You must be the model. May I ask you some questions?”
Liu Zishan was still traumatized from the preceding events, but she knew clear and well that if she were to tell the truth, her road to fame would be demolished. She nervously nodded before replying, “Sure…”
“May I ask, Miss Liu Zishan, what were you doing the moment Miss Lin Hui broke into the meeting room?” Laura interrogated.
Liu Zishan instantaneously replied, “I was discussing with the director about some details regarding the video. Miss Lin Hui barged into the room and without reason, punched the director in the face.”
“No she didn’t! She was… doing those things with the director!” Hui Lin immediately confronted her lie. “I heard that she was yelling something along the lines of ‘No Director, don’t’. That’s why I broke in to save her. Miss Liu why would you lie about that?”
“Miss Lin Hui, please have some decency. Don’t insult my innocence.” Liu Zishan turned to the opposite corner, intentionally avoiding Hui Lin’s gaze.
Hui Lin’s expression went dull, seemingly unsure why Liu Zishan would betray her like that.
Yang Chen lightly patted her on the shoulder. “You better not cry. I didn’t bring any tissue.”
Hui Lin pouted her lips, as she dispiritedly nodded her head.
Laura loosened her shoulders before turning to the furious Luo Sheng. “You should be Director Luo Sheng. Do you mind confirming if what Miss Liu Zishan said was the truth?”
“Of course. We were discussing about the details for the costumes in her music video, but this crazy bitch came in and assaulted me. I have to sue her.” Luo Sheng was unwavered.
Laura looked frustrated as she asserted, “What a pity that neither of you was willing to tell the truth.”
“Attorney Laura, if there’s anything you want to say, just say it out loud right here,” Luo Cuishan demanded in English.
“Alright.” Laura reached into her bag and brought out her laptop, as she continued, “On the way I got several technicians to retrieve the security camera footage for the exact incident. According to the actual recording, it was extremely clear the footage of the director and Miss Liu Zishan’s apparent sexual intercourse…”
At this moment, the police were all in daze. Luo Cuishan’s face turned gloomy.
Lui Zishan was immensely distressed, while Luo Sheng was dumbfounded.
“Next, I will expose the exact footage of the incident right here.” Laura casually unlocked her laptop, as she prepared to broadcast the footage.
“That’s impossible.” Luo Sheng was panicking hard. “I did some prior inspections. There wasn’t a single security camera in the meeting room. You must be…”
It was at this point that Luo Sheng realized he fell right into her trap!
Liu Zishan stumbled backwards while barely maintaining her balance. She was just an ordinary model. One moment she was about to take her first step into the entertainment industry, the next she was forced into a situation like this. She was first genuinely terrified by the news of the footage, before she knew she was manipulated.
Laura smiled brightly. “Director Luo, why do you need prior inspection on the presence of a security camera for a discussion on minor details of your music video?”
“Tha—that’s because… It’s…” Luo Sheng’s mind went blank as he ran out of excuses.
Luo Cuishan was infuriated as she pushed her brother aside. She immediately went forth and replied, “Attorney Laura, I’m impressed by your methods. However, with the absence of the video footage, you lack any form of solid evidence of the matter. Meanwhile on our side, we have witnesses as a valid reason to keep Lin Hui from bail.”
Laura winked as she replied, “Ah, this must be Premier Ning’s graceful wife. I’ve read up about you before. In that regard, you’re absolutely right. But, it is worth mentioning that my client Miss Lin Hui does have an additional identity that could more than suffice her bail.”
Once she was done, unfazed by the looks of the people around her, Laura retrieved a red booklet from her bag.
“I’m not sure if anyone recognises this,” Laura patiently explained with a smile, “But what I’m about to announce is, Miss Lin Hui’s British citizenship had recently been approved. This is the her passport as evidence. I understand that according to the Chinese law no citizen is allowed a dual citizenship. But since the United Kingdom would allow for one, on a British standpoint, Miss Lin Hui is our citizen.
“And as I speak, the British embassy has received a notification for Miss Lin Hui’s royal pardon in regards to foreign affairs. This also means that the detainment, interrogations and custody of Miss Lin Hui would result in a discussion of foreign affairs. As I am sure that you are well aware, a mere police station like this would not suffice for a negotiation between our two nations.”
As Laura took her time in enunciating the long list of words, the police officer speechlessly sunk into his seat.
A negotiation between nations?
How would insignificant policemen like them bear such a responsibility?
Luo Cuishan naturally was aware that Laura intentionally left certain points out from her remarks. But either way she had to make sure Laura did not escalate the situation to involve foreign affairs.
What was more surprising to her was how she underestimated Yang Chen from his age and connections, that he would have the entire United Kingdom to come to his defence.
Luo Cuishan was also impressed by the quality of a lawyer from an international elite law firm. It was no wonder that they were among the best.
As the incident progressed, it was clear that Hui Lin was certainly untouchable. Luo Cuishan felt the pressure amounting due to her position as the wife of the premier. Above all, her actions could not make it so that foreign affairs would be involved.