Chapter 244: Gu Yuan's Methods

Gu Yuan was still wearing his judge's robes, sitting calmly in the center seat. As everyone settled in, a familiar figure trailed at the very back and slowly walked into the courtroom—it was the prosecutor, Fang Lichang.

Since the court adjourned two days ago, Fang Lichang had been hiding at the Meli Hotel and hadn't appeared in the sight of Gu Yuan or the others. His sudden reappearance now drew strange looks from the presiding officials.

Fang Lichang certainly felt these gazes, but he didn't take them to heart. Instead, he looked at the aged back sitting in the judge's seat and sneered inwardly.

"No matter how brilliant one's talent was in their youth, one must eventually bow to old age... Today, I will make you and this archaic courtroom lose all face."

As Fang Lichang thought this, he walked toward the prosecutor's bench. Seeing Gu Yuan turn his head slightly to look at him, he instinctively straightened his back and didn't even glance at the judge... Since they had already torn off the mask of civility, there was no need for hypocritical pleasantries.

"Fang Lichang." Gu Yuan spoke suddenly. Fang Lichang acted as if he hadn't heard and kept walking.

"Fang Lichang!"

As Gu Yuan raised his voice and called out again, Fang Lichang finally stopped.

"Your Honor, is there something you need?"

"Fang Lichang, what are you doing here?"

Fang Lichang met Gu Yuan's gaze directly and replied unhurriedly, "Naturally, I am here to fulfill my duty of fairness and justice, and to complete the sentencing of the defendant, Han Meng..."

"That won't be necessary," Gu Yuan said flatly. "Did you not see the internal personnel adjustment notice? As of yesterday... you are no longer a prosecutor."

Fang Lichang stood frozen in place.

"You... what did you say?"

"Following an internal audit, we discovered that during his tenure, former prosecutor Fang Lichang repeatedly abused his position to intimidate and bribe subordinate officials, with the illegal intent of manipulating court verdicts and influencing sentencing... After a series of reviews and assessments, Fang Lichang has been officially stripped of his position as prosecutor. His own trial and sentencing will be scheduled for a later date..." Gu Yuan's aged voice echoed slowly through the courtroom.

This sudden turn of events left not only Fang Lichang but also the others in the gallery stunned.

Chen Ling scanned the room and noticed that it wasn't just Fang Lichang; several members of the jury had also been replaced, their seats taken by young, unfamiliar faces.

The group that had supported Fang Lichang in court two days ago had all been removed... These current ones were likely Gu Yuan's hand-picked confidants.

"This Gu Yuan is actually quite interesting..."

With things having developed to this point, Chen Ling could certainly see that Gu Yuan was determined to protect Han Meng, even using this opportunity to completely overhaul the entire tribunal. For Chen Ling and the survivors of the Third District, this was undoubtedly an unexpected piece of good news.

"No... when was this review and assessment conducted?? Why was I not notified??" Fang Lichang panicked and immediately retorted.

"Logically, an internal audit and assessment would require notifying you so you could present a defense... Unfortunately, we couldn't find you." A young law enforcement officer walked over, passed by Fang Lichang, and sat in the prosecutor's seat that had once been his. He smiled and said,

"If Mr. Fang Lichang has any objections to this decision, you may have your defense attorney speak on your behalf when your own trial commences."

Fang Lichang stood below the judge's bench. Above him stood a row of solemn, black-clad officers. Under the oppressive weight of this iron-walled atmosphere, he stood there like a statue.

Gu Yuan glanced at him. "The court is about to begin. Those with no business here, please leave."

Several officers stepped forward to escort Fang Lichang out, but he shook them off. He stared fixedly at Gu Yuan. "Fine... even if I am no longer a prosecutor, as the primary accuser in the previous round, I should be allowed to remain as the accusing party in this one... That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"It is not." Gu Yuan nodded.

Fang Lichang snorted, shook off the two officers, and walked straight to the accuser's bench, his face as dark as water.

He knew, of course, that Gu Yuan was deliberately targeting him, but he had to stay on the scene no matter what. Only then could he ensure that the course of events wouldn't be completely controlled by Gu Yuan...

*Thud—*

As Gu Yuan struck the base with his new gavel, a dull sound instantly suppressed all the whispering in the court.

"Bring in the defendant, Han Meng."

Han Meng, wearing black prison garb, was slowly brought out by two officers and returned to his original seat. His gaze swept across the room again, landing on the Third District group in the gallery... and on Chen Ling, who sat in the front row.

His eyes lingered on Chen Ling for a moment before he turned his head toward the judge's bench above.

"Defendant Han Meng, having abused his position to conduct underground trades involving organs and drugs outside Aurora City, extorted protection money from Third District residents, and subsequently joined the top-wanted organization 'Twilight Society,' colluding with 'Heart 6' under the identity of 'Spade 6' to release a virus within the city, resulting in multiple deaths..."

Fang Lichang, standing to the side, repeated the charges in a deep voice. "In summary, due to the extremely heinous nature of these acts and his willful commission of crimes, according to the laws of Aurora City, he should be sentenced to death by slow slicing, to be carried out immediately!"

As these words were spoken, the onlookers in the gallery began to whisper, nodding from time to time, their eyes filled with anger as they looked at Han Meng.

Gu Yuan was not surprised by this; he simply turned his head slowly to look beside Han Meng:

"Defense attorney, do you have anything to say?"

The defense attorney this time was also a new face. He wore a crisp suit and nodded solemnly at Gu Yuan:

"Your Honor, the opposing side's accusations are purely fabricated... During his tenure in the Third District, the defendant never committed any illegal acts. The organ and drug trades mentioned by the accuser are absolute frame-ups!"

"Fabricated?" Fang Lichang sneered. "I have paper transaction records here as evidence. They record every transaction the defendant secretly conducted, and the profits he has reaped over the years are astronomical... On what grounds do you call this a frame-up? Do you have evidence?"

The defense attorney raised an eyebrow and spoke with a light laugh:

"It seems the accuser hasn't read today's 'Aurora Daily' yet?"

"'Aurora Daily'?" Fang Lichang paused, a look of disdain appearing in his eyes. "Since when can articles fabricated by the media be used as a basis for judgment in court?"

The defense attorney unhurriedly took a stack of newspapers from the side and tossed them onto the floor in front of Fang Lichang.

"See for yourself."