9
At that moment, I received some new information. Clearing my throat, I announced, “The prosecutor has just presented new evidence. After an investigation, it was determined that the suitcase that caught fire belonged to Tiếu Lâm Na. Security screening in the country she departed from was very lax, so she easily got the bomb onto the plane and set it off at just the right moment. The fire was deliberately started.”
Everyone erupted in an uproar.
[A bomb went off!]
[She really blew up a plane. I need a minute to calm down.]
[I don't believe it, I don't believe it. How could a frail young woman do something like that?]
[Let's see how she tries to talk her way out of this!]
Tiếu Lâm Na was startled for a moment, but quickly composed herself and turned her attention to the plaintiff's table.
A middle-aged woman sitting at the plaintiff's table stood up and said, “I'm Mrs. Tôn. She killed my husband. She's a shameless homewrecker!”
Furious, Mrs. Tôn demanded that the lawyer play the video secretly filmed by a private investigator.
Tiếu Lâm Na was wearing a pink dress and walking with an old man.
As they walked, the two of them arrived at a luxury hotel.
Many of the photos that followed showed the two of them in the same frame.
The old man was the national-treasure-level scholar who had died this time—the one who had been hit.
When the video ended, the woman roared, “People with rotten morals are trash. She knew exactly what she wanted, and she killed innocent passengers. The evidence is undeniable. She murdered them on purpose!”
[So she was the other woman. People like that really are shameless!]
[If someone like that hadn't died, would she still be here celebrating New Year's?]
Tiếu Lâm Na's gaze gradually turned vicious.
She glared at Mrs. Tôn and said sharply, “That old man ruined my life! I just wanted him dead! I didn't want to say anything at first, but you forced me to.”
Her lawyer was well prepared and produced a series of medical records.
There were images of multiple assaults and medical records, along with diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder following the abuse.
Every photo was bloody and shocking.
She looked at the photos and burst into tears. “Do you see this? This is what your rotten old man did to me.”
“I came from a rural village, and the whole village pinned its hopes on me. I studied hard so I could get ahead. I admired thầy Tôn so much that I became his student. I thought it was the start of a new life, but it wasn't. It was the beginning of a nightmare.”
“He used underhanded methods against me and threatened me not to tell anyone. Do you see those scars? He flew into a rage, grabbed me by the hair, and shoved me into the bathroom. I could barely breathe.”
“He even broke my ribs. I got pregnant and miscarried again and again.”
She pulled up her clothes, revealing bruises and old scars on her body. “I hate him. I wanted him dead!”
“So when I went on a business trip with him this time, I decided to make sure he died. I didn't want to drag anyone else into this, but I had no choice. If I didn't stop him, he would've gotten away.”
“How can a piece of trash like him get away with everything and still be a leading scholar? If he hadn't died, there would've been more victims like me. I only did what had to be done. Kill me!”
She sank to the floor and began to sob.
The lawyer promptly reminded everyone, “My client has suffered severe psychological trauma and can no longer judge her actions by the standards of an ordinary person. I ask the judges to consider the facts and impose a lighter sentence.”
[Why do I kind of feel sorry for her?]
[That dead old man really was a beast.]
[The old woman didn't think much of her husband. She let him ruin his own student, and still has the nerve to accuse the victim.]
[So there was more to the story. That damn old man was the one behind it.]
10
I smiled as I watched their performance, then a connection came in from the livestream.
There were ten connections in total, each appearing in its own small window.
The first person said, “I'm one of thầy Tôn's students. I swear on my life that thầy Tôn was a good and highly respected teacher. He absolutely wasn't the kind of person she described.”
“Where's your proof?”
“I was at the hotel for a seminar that day. We were all there. I can testify.”
The others chimed in too:
“We were all there. I can testify too, and I'll stand by what I say.”
Mrs. Tôn's expression grew increasingly sour.
Mrs. Tôn suddenly spoke up. “That time was a seminar. Can you guarantee it was the same every time? Look, she admitted it!”
The female student firmly challenged the woman: “Mrs. Tôn, why are you smearing our teacher? He's dead, and you still want to slander him?”
“Our mentor was always with us. We had a secret team investigating something. How could he have had time to do those things?”
“The claim that he got her pregnant and she miscarried is even more absurd. Tiếu Lâm Na is a man! I'm his roommate, and I happened to discover his secret. If Mrs. Tôn doesn't believe me, she can have him examined in court.”
Gasps rippled through the courtroom.
A doctor immediately stepped forward, intending to examine Tiếu Lâm Na.
She dodged the doctor's hand and said coldly, “There's no need for an examination. I'm a man.”
Everyone in the livestream was stunned.
[Bro, bro, bro…]
[So he's transgender!]
Mrs. Tôn hurriedly said, “It doesn't matter if he's a man or a woman. Let's reach a verdict quickly and stop wasting time.”
Tiếu Lâm Na suddenly turned on Mrs. Tôn and cursed, “You promised to protect me! Now you want to sentence me to death on the spot?”
“You never told me you were a man! You ruined my life!”
Only after Mrs. Tôn finished berating her did she realize she'd made a mistake.
Tiếu Lâm Na stared at the audience. “If you won't protect me, I'll wait until the end.”
Mrs. Tôn wiped the sweat from her forehead and didn't dare say another word.
11
I folded my arms and rested my chin on my hand, speaking each word clearly. “This court will never wrongly convict an innocent person, but it won’t let a guilty person go free, either. Take Tiếu Lâm Na and Mrs. Tôn into the gas chambers, one at a time.”
As she thrashed wildly, Mrs. Tôn was dragged into the gas chamber by the courtroom officers.
I stepped down from the judge’s bench, walked over to the two chambers, and waved the remote in my hand.
“The green button controls the poison gas nozzle in Tiếu Lâm Na’s chamber, and the red button controls the one in Mrs. Tôn’s. I’ll press them in turn, left then right. But if either of you tells the truth, I’ll spare that chamber for now and press the other button.”
Mrs. Tôn pounded desperately on the glass, while Tiếu Lâm Na trembled like an autumn leaf. Neither of them wanted to die.
I pressed the green button first. The nozzle immediately released poison gas.
Tiếu Lâm Na was so terrified she burst into tears. Unable to hold back any longer, she confessed at once: “Mr. Tôn’s wife found me and offered me a large sum of money to kill him.”
“You’re lying!” Mrs. Tôn screamed hysterically from the other chamber.
I continued questioning her. “Why did you kill Mr. Tôn?”
Mrs. Tôn said nothing, so I pressed the red button. Poison gas poured into her chamber.
After a while, she collapsed to the floor, coughing violently. “Help me! Help me!”
I was about to press the green button again, but Tiếu Lâm Na immediately said, “They were after Mr. Tôn’s article. That’s what our secret team was investigating. Mr. Tôn had finished writing it and was preparing to publish it when he returned to China, but they hired me to kill him to stop the article from coming out.”
“Who are they?”
Tiếu Lâm Na closed her eyes. “I don’t dare say. If I do, I’ll die!”
“You could die right now.”
Since she’d given me some useful information, I pressed the button for Mrs. Tôn’s chamber. Another burst of poison gas erupted.
She spat out a mouthful of blood and, no longer daring to hide anything, shouted, “He’s in the gallery! He’s there! He wanted me to confess to murder!”
That was exactly what I’d been waiting for.