Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Gu Nianzhi had already achieved her goal, so she stopped arguing over the point and smiled appropriately. She asked the doctor to sit in the witness stand and began her cross examination. “May I ask if you are Dr. Liu from the Hepingli Hospital?”
“Yes, I am the emergency room doctor. That day…” Dr. Liu was clearly a talkative person, so he couldn’t stop chatting as soon as he opened his mouth.
Gu Nianzhi gently interrupted him. “Dr. Liu, at this time you only need to answer yes or no.”
Dr. Liu felt embarrassed once again, and the angry indignation he felt for Gu Yanran when he first took the stand disappeared just like that. Now he only felt more and more embarrassed, so he didn’t even bother talking anymore.
Gu Nianzhi waited for him to calm down before asking, “Then I wanted to ask you if your hospital received a woman from Tower C of the Hepingli Commercial District Building who had suddenly fainted?”
Dr. Liu used his hand to nudge the glasses up the bridge of his nose and nodded.
“Please answer yes or no.” Gu Nianzhi was gentle yet insistent, her gaze calm and words succinct. She merely stared at Dr. Liu in silence.
Dr. Liu felt a bit better and finally said, “Yes.”
“Then is that woman in the courtroom right now?”
“Yes, it was her.” Dr. Liu pointed in Gu Yanran’s direction. Gu Yanran smiled demurely at him. However, Dr. Liu was already unperturbed at this point. He had been hot blooded and wanted to get justice for the beautiful woman. But in the end, he discovered that the beautiful and rich woman who had stayed in his hospital for several days and had been “extremely grateful” didn’t even care what his last name was. It seemed like his indignation was much too cheap. Or perhaps in that beauty’s eyes, he was inconsequential, so she didn’t even need him to help her get justice at all…
Gu Nianzhi’s first question about the doctor’s last name was like a bucket of ice water poured right over his head. It was also poured on the heads of the nurses, as well as the two female police officers. They looked at Gu Yanran thoughtfully and seemed to have some ideas of their own.
After Gu Nianzhi confirmed with the witness that there was no error, she finally asked again, “Then can you give a simple explanation of the medical condition of that woman you treated, who also happens to be the defendant, Gu Yanran?”
This was Dr. Liu’s field of expertise, so he immediately perked up and began explaining with gusto. “Miss Gu Yanran is actually very healthy, and she probably fainted suddenly from qi suddenly attacking her heart. Nothing is seriously wrong with her. The real problem was the injuries on her body.”
Gu Nianzhi interrupted Dr. Liu’s testimony. “Dr. Liu, may I ask what you mean by the defendant, Gu Yanran, ‘probably had qi suddenly attacking her heart?’ Is it yes or no? Can you confirm clearly?”
Dr. Liu looked at Gu Yanran’s medical record that he had brought. He considered it for a second and said, “I said ‘probably’ because from the results of her examination, her pulse, breathing, blood pressure, and blood sugar were all normal. According to common sense, she shouldn’t have fainted. However…”
Gu Nianzhi quickly continued the conversation. “You mean that the defendant, Gu Yanran, actually pretended to faint?”
The atmosphere in the courtroom suddenly became tense, and everyone’s breathing seemed to freeze. Their eyes inadvertently traveled to Gu Yanran’s figure. She was in a bit of a panic but knew that she already didn’t have a way out, so she used even more self-restraint than normal to control her emotions.
Jin Wanyi frowned and stood up. “Objection, the plaintiff’s conclusion has no basis.”
The judge considered it, then asked Dr. Liu, “Dr. Liu, from your professional perspective, does the plaintiff’s conclusion have any basis?”
Although Dr. Liu didn’t want to, he still nodded. “That is a possibility. However, the human brain is complicated, and although we cannot find the cause of illness sometimes, the illness is real and not faked at all.”
Of course such situations existed, but Gu Nianzhi was certain that this wasn’t the case for Gu Yanran. However, she didn’t continue pursuing the question because she couldn’t possibly suddenly expose Gu Yanran. Otherwise, there would be no future acts for this play to continue with. Gu Nianzhi pretended to look convinced. “Very well, then what happened after you accepted the defendant as a patient?”
“Afterwards, we randomly discovered the injuries on her body, both old and new. They appeared to be from domestic violence, so I recommended that she call the police.” Dr. Liu looked at the two female police officers. “As for what happened after, you’d have to ask the police officers.”
Gu Nianzhi thanked Dr. Liu sincerely. “Thank you for your cooperation. I hope that you can provide additional help if it is required in the future.”
“You’re welcome.” Dr. Liu walked out of the witness stand and discovered his back was completely soaked with sweat. He returned to his original seat, and his mood was still very anxious.
Gu Nianzhi then asked one of the nurses to sit in the witness stand. Gu Nianzhi asked the nurse all the same questions she had asked the doctor, and after she received the exact answers, she asked the nurse with great gravity, “I heard that you were the first person to discover the injuries on the defendant, Gu Yanran’s body?”
“Yes, I discovered them that day in the ambulance. Oh, why do you think that man is so cruel?”
“Man? What man? What’s his name?” Gu Nianzhi asked calmly.
“Ye Xuan. Yes, his name was Ye Xuan. The name is special and easy to remember.” The nurse was a young, chubby girl who was also very talkative.
“Ye Xuan? Are you sure it was Ye Xuan? Did you see it with your own eyes or did you hear it from someone?” Gu Nianzhi walked before the nurse and stood still as she confirmed it once again.
“Yes, it was this name.” The nurse glanced at Dr. Liu. “I heard Dr. Liu say it.”
Dr. Liu returned to the witness stand and accepted Gu Nianzhi’s cross examination with the young nurse.
“Dr. Liu , how did you know that Ye Xuan was the person psychically abusing the defendant?” Gu Nianzhi asked severely, her hands still holding pen and paper to take notes.
Dr. Liu’s face flushed a bit, but he still replied honestly, “When I was making rounds, I was at the doorway and overheard Miss Gu speak with her housekeeper. She said it was Ye Xuan… It was Miss Gu’s boyfriend.”
“Really?” Gu Nianzhi turned to face Gu Yanran. Her eyes glittered like mirrors as she quietly looked at her, and they seemed to reflect her very image.
Gu Yanran averted her gaze to avoid eye contact with Gu Nianzhi. She didn’t speak, so Jin Wanyi replied on her behalf, “Objection. My client never said anything about Ye Xuan to the witness. As for the witness claiming that he overheard it at the doorway, that is completely nonsensical. I ask the court to not accept it.” This was equivalent to eavesdropping, and eavesdropped conversations mostly couldn’t be used as official evidence presented in court.
Gu Nianzhi’s eyes glittered as she suddenly declared solemnly, “In other words, the defendant, Gu Yanran, never said anything about Ye Xuan doing this to her, so it was all completely imagined by the doctor, nurse, and the two female police officers?”
The doctor, nurse, and two female police officers all looked up at the same time and stared at Gu Yanran in confusion.
Gu Yanran was feeling uncomfortable from their staring and seemed unwilling to speak. However, she seemed to finally “regain her conscience” from their gazing, so she covered her face and sobbed, “I said it wasn’t Ye Xuan, I said that I was the one who did it… I’m begging you all, please stop causing trouble.”
One female police officer raised her voice to prevent Gu Nianzhi from attempting to defend the criminal. “From our professional opinion, Miss Gu Yanran may have already lost her sense of resistance due to long-term suffering under Ye Xuan’s perverseness.”
Gu Nianzhi looked at the female police officer who had spoken and keenly questioned back, “Then may I ask your professional opinion? Are you sentencing the defendant while he is absent?” Ye Xuan wasn’t even present, and the female police officer hadn’t ever seen him before. How could she imagine such a cheap romance novel about a trashy man and scumbag woman?
