Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The two female police officers shared a glance and said to Gu Nianzhi with some regret, “We will pass on your message to our superiors. Our colleagues handling criminal cases will take over this case.”
“Thank you both.” Gu Nianzhi was very polite to them. “This incident was not your fault. Someone intentionally misled you by taking advantage of your kindness and goodwill.”
“Gu Nianzhi! Don’t make false accusations!” Jin Wanyi saw things were going badly and immediately shouted at Gu Nianzhi to stop.
Gu Nianzhi completely ignored her and smiled at the two female police officers with a wink. “See that?” The two female police officers also smiled back at her before giving Jin Wanyi and Gu Yanran another suggestive glance. They got up and left the witness stand.
The judge banged his gavel. “The second day of court has now concluded. The court and police will cooperate to extradite Ye Xuan back to the Hua Xia Empire. Court is adjourned.” The court staff surrounded President Zhan to escort him out. Gu Nianzhi returned to her seat and began to carefully pack away her things. She put away all the loose files on the desk and placed them back in her laptop bag along with her laptop.
General Ji’s personal secretary, Secretary Cao, had been listening to the entire trial and greatly admired Gu Nianzhi’s sharp tongue, clear thinking, and commanding debate style. He had also started out studying law and enlisted after earning his doctorate. Because he started from an advantageous point and was doing a desk job, he quickly rose through the ranks. After the day’s proceedings concluded, Secretary Cao wanted to leave right away but still walked over to Gu Nianzhi and praised her with a smile. “Miss Gu, today’s trial was very impressive.”
Gu Nianzhi looked up with a smile when she heard him praising her. She discovered it was Secretary Cao. She had seen him before when she was with Huo Shaoheng but never spoke to him. “You are… Secretary Cao?” Gu Nianzhi was a bit surprised. “You were watching the trial?”
“Yes, it was not a wasted trip.” Secretary Cao complimented her once again and patted her shoulder. “Keep up the good work.”
Gu Nianzhi didn’t know what to say. Although she wasn’t familiar with him, she still needed to smile politely. This was the secretary of Huo Shaoheng’s direct superior, after all. She couldn’t afford to cross him. “Secretary Cao is too kind.” Gu Nianzhi nodded politely. “There are still more days left in this case. I’ll keep working hard.”
“Good luck!” Secretary Cao gave her another smile before saying goodbye.
As soon as Secretary Cao left, the assistant whom Speaker Long had sent to attend the trial received a call from Speaker Long. “Little Yang, Little Cao already went over to compliment Gu Nianzhi. Why haven’t you gone over?” Speaker Long was secretly making this call in the hallway. The strategy and eloquence Gu Nianzhi had displayed today completely took Speaker Long by surprise. He was thoroughly excited from watching the entire trial and felt that he hadn’t come across such a talented individual in many years now.
As the Speaker in the Senate, Speaker Long was once the top student in the B University Faculty of Law. The truth was, most of the senators started with law degrees. Because the main function of the Senate was to make laws, someone who hadn’t professionally studied law would have a difficult time mastering the work of a senator. Senators not only had to be familiar with the law but also needed to possess superb eloquence and a quick wit, as well as patience and top-notch logic abilities.
Today, Gu Nianzhi’s performance completely shocked Speaker Long. He suddenly began to understand why General Ji was fully supporting Huo Shaoheng and Gu Nianzhi’s relationship. He was keeping all the talent in his own organization! All the top talent was being moved to the military! That won’t do! Speaker Long couldn’t sit still when the big screen displayed General Ji’s personal secretary, Secretary Cao, taking the initiative to chat with Gu Nianzhi and showering her with compliments. The assistant he had sent, Little Yang, was sitting motionless in the audience and seemed to be daydreaming about something. Speaker Long had no choice but to call Little Yang directly to ask him to greet Gu Nianzhi. Little Yang understood right away. “Don’t worry, I’ll go now.”
Gu Nianzhi had just picked up her laptop bag and was getting ready to leave when she saw a smug and confident man in his thirties walk over. He smiled at her in a bureaucratic manner. “You’re Gu Nianzhi, right?”
Gu Nianzhi wasn’t sure how to respond. She looked around. “Were you here to watch the trial?” How could someone coming to watch the trial not know who she was as the plaintiff? Who was he kidding?
“Right, I was just attending. You’ve done pretty well, but there are areas you can improve on.” Little Yang had also started out with a law degree and loved lecturing others, so he began teaching Gu Nianzhi how to debate in the lawsuit.
Gu Nianzhi felt he was a bit off-putting but still listened politely as she walked outside. Little Yang had only said a few things when he discovered Gu Nianzhi wasn’t paying attention, so he began to look down on her and thought she had a big ego for a person of low status. She seemed to be completely smug after getting a few compliments from Secretary Cao.
Gu Nianzhi was even more disgusted by the way he spoke to her, so she turned around when she saw him continuing to follow her. “May I ask what your name is?”
“You don’t know who I am?” Little Yang looked at Gu Nianzhi with some surprise. “My last name is Yang.”
“Your name is Yang Guo?” Gu Nianzhi questioned him back in all seriousness.
“Of course not. Why do you ask?” Little Yang was very confused. “Yang Guo? That sounds very familiar.”
“Hmm… If you’re not Yang Guo, then why do I need to know who you are?” Gu Nianzhi rolled her eyes internally once more.
Little Yang’s face flushed darkly.
Pfft–! Yin Shixiong, who had been following them quietly all this time finally couldn’t help bursting into laughter.
Gu Nianzhi turned around and saw it was Yin Shixiong, so her eyes glittered. “Brother Xiong, did you drive here?”
“Yes, I’ll drive you back to school.” Yin Shixiong walked up again and naturally took the laptop bag from her. He then nodded to Speaker Long’s assistant, Little Yang. “Executive Assistant Yang also attended the trial?”
Executive Assistant Yang finally recovered some dignity. He looked at Gu Nianzhi and thought her eyes were much too big, her face was too beautiful, her figure too stunning. She appeared very curvy and voluptuous, even in a professional suit, so she didn’t seem like such a capable lawyer at all. Instead, she seemed more like a pretty vase. Putting both hands in his trouser pockets, he nodded to Yin Shixiong. “Colonel Yin was also attending the trial? Why didn’t Huo Shao come?”
“Huo Shao is quite busy. He had no time.” Yin Shixiong chuckled. The truth was, Huo Shaoheng was watching the live stream of the trial with people like General Ji and Speaker Long in the military headquarters complex.
Executive Assistant Yang smiled, then turned around to carefully study Gu Nianzhi. He pondered why Speaker Long had directly called to ask him to greet Gu Nianzhi. There must be a reason for this, but for now he didn’t know what Speaker Long’s reason was. However, he did understand that Speaker Long viewed Gu Nianzhi with some importance. But from the way Executive Assistant Yang saw it, Gu Nianzhi’s performance in court today was likely reciting what someone else had taught her. Maybe it was the people from the Special Operations Forces, or maybe it was Huo Shaoheng himself.
Little Yang’s work had always been focused on the Senate’s side, so he didn’t know the personnel from the military or Special Operations Forces very well. He clearly didn’t know anything about Gu Nianzhi’s impressive history in the courtrooms. Also, he was a top student himself, so he thought that Gu Nianzhi’s performance today was only “satisfactory.” He didn’t understand why Secretary Cao had to go butter her up. However, Executive Assistant Yang had to admit that even if Gu Nianzhi was a vase, she was a precious antique sheep’s fat jade vase, not a glass vase that could be bought anywhere for ten dollars. With such a vase in the office, it could certainly liven up spirits.
Gu Nianzhi didn’t really like the way Executive Assistant Yang looked at her, so she grabbed Yin Shixiong’s arm. “Brother Xiong, let’s go. I still have something to talk to you about.”
Yin Shixiong nodded and took her to the car. He turned around and said to Executive Assistant Yang, “We’ll be going now. Goodbye, Executive Assistant Yang.”
Executive Assistant Yang nodded cheerfully and looked at them suggestively as they left.
…
“Brother Xiong, you watched the entire trial today, right?” Gu Nianzhi sat in the front passenger seat and played with the two clay dolls in the car.
“Listen here, Nianzhi is becoming more and more impressive,” Yin Shixiong complimented her cheerfully. “If anything happens to Brother Xiong in the future, I’ll be sure to hire you as my lawyer.”
“Knock on wood! Brother Xiong, don’t speak nonsense!” Gu Nianzhi quickly knocked on wood for him. “Good things come true, while bad things don’t. Brother Xiong will not ever need to use me as a lawyer.”
Yin Shixiong knew Gu Nianzhi cared about him and was feeling warm inside. He said quietly, “Nianzhi, had you been thinking about extraditing Ye Xuan for a while now?”
Gu Nianzhi smiled slyly. “This was also thanks to the help of Yanran and Jin Wanyi. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to come back to this key point in the end.” She continued, “When you have time, go back and ask Huo Shao if he thinks this will work or not.”
Yin Shixiong laughed. “You don’t say. When you said those things last week, I still didn’t know what you meant, but Chief seemed to understand it a long time ago. He already asked us to call the Police Headquarters last week to follow the progress of Ye Xuan’s case in the United States.”
“Oh? Really? Huo Shao thought of it last week already?!” Gu Nianzhi was both surprised and delighted. She also thought Huo Shaoheng was really amazing. It was like he knew the lyrics just from the tune. He immediately understood what she wanted to do and discreetly helped her lay out the future path…
“Yes, now the personnel from the Police Headquarters should be contacting the American police to discuss cooperation on this case.” As Yin Shixiong spoke, he called Huo Shaoheng. After the call connected, he said, “Chief, Nianzhi is in the car right now. Do you want to speak to her?”
Huo Shaoheng was silent for a minute and then refused. “No thanks. Tell her not to worry.”
Yin Shixiong snorted before ending the call and turning around to look at Gu Nianzhi. “Nianzhi, Chief is telling you to not worry.”
Huo Shaoheng had already made arrangements, so as soon as Gu Nianzhi made the extradition request in court, the Police Headquarters immediately began working on the criminal case of Gu Yanran charging Ye Xuan for assault. At the same time, they quickly contacted the American police for their assistance with the case.
Gu Nianzhi’s eyes grew a bit misty, and the indescribable feeling that lodged in her chest seemed to be like layers of dark clouds rolling around in the August evening sky blocking her feelings. Looking up slightly, she said, “Thank Huo Shao for me.”
“Nianzhi, you’re still being petty with Chief?” Yin Shixiong looked at her in shock. “Why are you mad for so long this time?”
The gratitude that filled Gu Nianzhi’s heart instantly disappeared. Giving Yin Shixiong a sidelong glance, she said, “Brother Xiong, you need to drive properly. If you keep spouting nonsense, I might just speak poorly of you in front of Qiqi!”
“You’d dare?!” Yin Shixiong instinctively chided Gu Nianzhi but when he said it, he realized he had reacted too strongly. He chuckled. “I was just making a joke. Don’t take it seriously.”
Gu Nianzhi muffled her mouth, and her face was already hurting from laughing so hard. “Brother Xiong, don’t bother explaining it. Explaining it means you’re guilty, and being guilty means it’s actually true. I get it, I get it all.”
Yin Shixiong was stunned speechless. When they arrived at campus and Gu Nianzhi got out of the car, she finally winked at Yin Shixiong. “Brother Xiong, I was just making a joke. Don’t take it seriously.” She repeated his words back to him.
Yin Shixiong was extremely relieved and smoothed her hair. “Go upstairs. How can I get mad at you? You’re just like my little sister.”
Gu Nianzhi nudged her head into his hand and went back in a good mood.
…
Gu Yanran was in a terrible state when she returned from the courthouse. She locked herself up in the bedroom of her villa in Xiangshan, refusing to eat or drink. She also ignored her housekeeper, Mrs. James. She paced around anxiously in her room and was thinking of a way of stopping Ye Xuan from returning to the Hua Xia Empire. Jin Wanyi originally promised her that there would be no way of extraditing Ye Xuan, but she never thought Gu Nianzhi would immediately overturn Jin Wanyi’s reasoning in court and also obtain the court’s approval for extradition.
How could this be? She thought about it all night and decided to contact that person again. Not only did the person’s idea fail, but it seemed to be counterproductive for her situation. Ye Xuan couldn’t remain alive any longer. She must quickly contact that person and have Ye Xuan killed off. However, no matter how many times she called that person, it still came back as an invalid number, and no one picked up. She could vaguely feel that the person really meant it when they told her to, “not contact them again.” But how could she not contact her? It was her idea that got her into this mess!
Gu Yanran thought about it all night and finally thought of an idea. Early the next morning, Gu Yanran had someone post online to create an early leak about the news of the Police Headquarters’ attempt to extradite Ye Xuan back to the Hua Xia Empire. She believed that as long as this news could gain enough publicity online, then that person would see it and also agree to lend her a hand. Wasn’t that right? That person was even more powerful than she could imagine. Not only did she know the address of Gu Xiangwen’s lawyer, but she was also able to burn his entire family to death in one night and frame Ye Xuan for it. Such things couldn’t be accomplished merely with money.
…
“What? The Hua Xia police want to extradite Ye Xuan back to the Hua Xia Empire?” The Sheriff of Little Rock Canyon, Utah, was very shocked. “But he committed a crime here. How can he be extradited? Also, I don’t think he is a citizen of the Hua Xia Empire.” A Federal Bureau of Investigation agent came to Little Rock Canyon to investigate the case. In the United States, interstate and international cases were all handled by the FBI. Of course, the local police could also ask the FBI for help when they couldn’t solve cases. This was different from the Hua Xia Empire’s police systems, as all the police stations in the United States were localized but did not have superior and subordinate relationships. They only differed in sizes of jurisdiction. The only criminal investigation organization in the country was the FBI. When the FBI received the Hua Xia Imperial Police Headquarters’ request for cooperation, agents were sent to Little Rock Canyon to investigate Ye Xuan’s case.
“This is their request, and we previously signed a memorandum.” The FBI agent patiently explained the reasoning with the Sheriff of Little Rock Canyon. “Not only that, but the crime he committed here is also significantly linked to a domestic case of theirs. It’s understandable that they requested our cooperation.”
“But Mr. Vanderbilt was our citizen. This person is the only suspect, so we can’t release him.” The Sheriff of Little Rock Canyon was very insistent. “No, that won’t do. You’re the ones who signed a memorandum with the Hua Xia Empire, not me. Don’t force this over my head.”
The FBI agent was having a hard time with such an obstinate person. However, he had no choice since they didn’t have a superior and subordinate relationship, so he couldn’t command the Sheriff of Little Rock Canyon to hand over Ye Xuan and allow the Hua Xia Empire to extradite him. Because the memorandum had read “cooperate,” it didn’t mean it was mandatory. “Consider it carefully. This is a photocopy of the letter from the Hua Xia Imperial Police Headquarters. I’ll leave it here, and when you think it through, you can call me.” The FBI agent left a business card before heading back. The Sheriff of Little Rock Canyon was a stubborn man and decided to go head to head with this incident. He refused to release Ye Xuan back to his own country.
…
Gu Nianzhi was very anxious when she learned of the news. She couldn’t pay attention in class and wanted nothing more but to go to the United States herself and bring Ye Xuan back. He Zhichu noticed her being distracted and asked her to stay behind after class. He asked her cheerfully, “What is it? Something on your mind?”
Gu Nianzhi didn’t hide it from He Zhichu and told him about how the local police in Little Rock Canyon were refusing to extradite Ye Xuan back to the Hua Xia Empire. She even vented to He Zhichu. “The lawyer over there is too weak. He didn’t defend him at all. I really want to go there myself and ask that sheriff what right does he have to detain Ye Xuan! This is actually all for the sake of sending someone over there to protect Ye Xuan’s safety. Otherwise, I’d be able to get him released without charge immediately and also demand a huge compensation!” If this was extradition, then there would be a high degree of police protection in order to guarantee Ye Xuan’s safety.
He Zhichu quietly brought over his tablet and began checking the entire situation concerning Ye Xuan’s case. His expression remained aloof and cool, his cruel lips pressed tightly together as he calmly read all the information. He Zhichu walked into the kitchen to pour a glass of red wine and swirl it in his hand.
Gu Nianzhi saw that He Zhichu had stopped speaking, so she put on her backpack. “I’ll go back now. Goodbye, Professor He.”
When she walked to the door, He Zhichu seemed to finally make a decision. He downed all the red wine in his glass and suddenly called after her. “Nianzhi, I’ll go to the United States to be Ye Xuan’s lawyer and bring him back to the Hua Xia Empire.”
