novelraw Chapter 229 Acting Skills
Chapter 229 Acting Skills
Jin Qiqi stood in the witness stand and took a deep breath. Her gaze swept across the courtroom—over the whispering crowd in the gallery, over Attorney Liu's impassive face, and over Lian Bichen's seemingly innocent eyes.
Then, she raised her hand, her finger pointing steadily at Lian Bichen.
"I will prove her wrong." Jin Qiqi's voice trembled slightly, but each word was as clear as if etched on glass. "Lian Bicheng—used me to lure Lu Xiran to her home and repeatedly attempted to kill her!"
The courtroom erupted in chaos. Exclamations, whispers, and the sound of chairs being overturned mingled together, like a pot of boiling porridge. It took the judge several strikes with his gavel to barely quell the commotion.
"I didn't!" Lian Bichen's reaction was astonishingly fast, as if she had prepared this expression all along. Her eyes widened, her lips trembled, and her entire face was filled with shock and disbelief—"Qiqi, I know you don't like me..."
Her tears came suddenly, streaming down her cheeks. She turned her head slightly, letting the tears fall perfectly into the light of the camera lens, glistening and pitiful. She looked like a pear blossom ravaged by a storm all night.
"But you can't wrong me like this..." Her voice was choked and broken, each word sounding like it was being ripped from her heart.
"Qiqi." Gu Yanxu stood up from the audience, his voice almost breaking into a pleading cry. His eyes were red, and his Adam's apple bobbed. "Qiqi, you won't—"
"Your Honor," Jin Qiqi said without even glancing at him, her voice so calm it sounded like she wasn't speaking to anyone, "Could you have the bailiffs take this observer out? His emotions are affecting my testimony."
The presiding judge nodded.
Two bailiffs approached Gu Yanxu. Gu Yanxu initially tried to struggle, reaching out to push them away, his eyes fixed on Jin Qiqi, his lips trembling: "Qiqi, do you know what you're saying—"
The bailiffs didn't give him a chance to finish speaking. They grabbed his left and right arms and dragged him away. Gu Yanxu's body was pulled backward, but his eyes never left Jin Qiqi's retreating figure.
The door closed behind him.
The corridor was quiet, except for the screen on the wall still broadcasting the court hearing live. Gu Yanxu leaned against the wall, slowly slid down, and buried his head in his hands.
He didn't know who he should hate. Jin Qiqi? His mother? Or fate, the unreasonable scriptwriter?
In court, Jin Qiqi finally spoke.
She only managed to say half a sentence before being interrupted by a muffled thud.
Lian Bichen's eyes suddenly rolled upwards, her body went limp, and she slid off the defendant's seat, crashing heavily to the ground like a piece of chopped wood.
"Mom—!" Gu Yanxu's scream came from outside the door, and even through the thick wooden door, it was still heart-wrenching.
The courtroom was in complete chaos. Attorney Liu practically lunged forward, his voice urgent and loud, drowning out the din: "Your Honor! My client already has high blood pressure! I request that, in consideration of my client's health, the trial be rescheduled! Witnesses can be questioned later!"
The court clerk froze, the judge frowned, and the bailiffs rushed over. Several people hurriedly helped Lian Bichen up. Her face was as pale as paper, her eyes were tightly closed, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and her breathing was shallow and rapid—it was unclear whether she had truly fainted or if there was some other reason.
A police officer with basic medical knowledge quickly stepped forward, examined Lian Bichen's eyelids, and felt her pulse. He frowned slightly, but said nothing.
After all, no one dares to gamble with a person's life in court.
The presiding judge pondered for a moment, his gaze sweeping over Lian Bichen's bloodless face, then at the prosecutor, then at Attorney Liu, and finally landing on the live broadcast camera.
"Given the client's physical condition," his voice was heavy and slow, "this court has decided to postpone the hearing to a later date. Court adjourned."
The sound of the gavel falling was dull and distant.
Jin Qiqi stood in the witness stand, watching Lian Bichen being carried out by a flurry of hands. Her expression was calm, so calm that it was almost devoid of any emotion.
Her fingers, gripping the railing, were white at the knuckles.
There were traces left from her hesitation all night long—blood marks from her fingernails digging into her palms, and the text message she typed dozens of times, deleted, and ultimately didn't send.
The message contained only one line:
"I'm sorry, I can't do it."
She finally came.
Because some things are more important than love. For example, conscience, and Lu Xiran, who was tried to kill by Lian Bichen but never harmed anyone.
Lian Bichen was carried out.
She lay "unconscious" on the stretcher. Her eyes were tightly closed, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and her breathing was shallow and rapid. Gu Yanxu almost tripped over his own foot when he rushed over. He lunged to the side of the stretcher and grabbed his mother's hand.
That hand was ice-cold, so cold it made his heart clench.
"Mom, wake up, look at me..."
His voice was choked with sobs, and his eyes were red as if they were about to bleed. As the stretcher was pushed forward by the medical staff, he jogged along behind, bending over and holding his mother's hand tightly, not daring to let go for a moment.
Lian Bichen was rushed into the emergency room.
Gu Yanxu stood outside the door, like a tree swaying precariously in the wind. The lingering warmth of his mother's body still lingered on his hands—that coolness didn't seem feigned.
It couldn't have been faked.
Attorney Liu appeared beside him at some point and reached out to grab his arm. The hand was strong, carrying a seasoned steadiness. Attorney Liu gently shook his head, his lips moved but no sound came out, yet Gu Yanxu understood the lip movements:
"fine."
Two words, as light as a feather, yet like a reassuring pill, settled into his churning chest.
Gu Yanxu took a deep breath and clenched his fist.
More than an hour later, the emergency room door finally opened.
When Lian Bichen was wheeled out, she had already opened her eyes.
"Mom!" Gu Yanxu rushed over.
Lian Bichen's eyes slowly moved, finally focusing on her son's face. Her lips moved slightly, and then—her eyes reddened, and tears silently welled up, sliding down her temples and into the white hair at her temples.
"Yanxu..." Her voice was as weak as a wisp of smoke about to dissipate, "I really didn't know... I didn't know Qiqi hated me so much..."
Tears streamed down her face, soaking her pillowcase. Her aged, haggard face was etched with grievance, helplessness, and the heartbreak of a mother betrayed by everyone.
The doctor standing nearby frowned and quickly stepped forward to dissuade them: "Family members, please control your emotions. The patient has just woken up, and his blood pressure is still unstable. Too much emotional fluctuation could be dangerous."
He then turned to Gu Yanxu, his tone serious: "You need to calm your mother down quickly; she can't be agitated any further."
Gu Yanxu held his mother's hand and nodded firmly. He gently wiped away Lian Bichen's tears with his other hand, his voice hoarse but gentle: "Mom, don't cry. I'm here."
Lian Bichen closed her eyes, and tears squeezed out from her tightly closed eyelids.
No one saw that her hand, under the covers, was quietly clenching the sheets.
That kind of grip doesn't seem like something a weak and powerless person could do.
The online public opinion exploded once again.