「Ten minutes later.」

She returned home with a court summons and a copy of the indictment. Her expression had turned quite ugly. On the summons, she was blatantly accused of hiring others online to attack Zhang Qingyuan, the nursing home, and Qin Mu. It accused her of committing the crimes of provoking trouble, defamation, extortion, and illegal business operations. The summons demanded she be sentenced to eight years in prison. Furthermore, she was to restore the reputations of Zhang Qingyuan, Qin Mu, and the nursing home online, offer a sincere public apology, and make separate financial compensations to the three parties, totaling 230,000 yuan. This included 50,000 yuan for damages to Zhang Qingyuan’s reputation, 30,000 yuan to Qin Mu, and 150,000 yuan to the nursing home.

The trial would start in seven days.

Seeing this, she trembled with rage, almost wanting to tear the summons to shreds!

"Why?!"

Her face ashen, it took her a moment to spit out those words.

She felt Qin Mu was bullying her excessively. She had already received one summons for compensation, and that litigation was currently ongoing. But now, Qin Mu had sued her again! This time it was even more abhorrent. He was demanding she be sentenced to eight years in prison, directly escalating a civil matter to the severity of a criminal offense!

At this moment, messages began to appear in the core rights protection group chat:

"By the way, why hasn’t Sister Cheng spoken up? I didn’t see her in the live broadcast. She didn’t go to the court, did she?"

"Sister Cheng told me she’s at home today for the seventh-day mourning. She’s worried Binbin might return and panic if he can’t find her. She seems to be at home now."

"She probably thinks this court hearing is a done deal. Whether she watches it or not doesn’t matter. With Lawyer Liu and Lawyer Wu on the case, there won’t be any surprises."

"That’s true. We’re the righteous party, after all. There’s no way the other side can win."

"..."

Cheng Chuxiao scrolled through the group’s messages, then glanced at the copy of the indictment in her hand again, grinding her teeth in fury.

One case unresolved, and now another one starts. Even if I win this lawsuit... another one will be waiting for me!

Taking a deep breath, she photographed the summons and indictment and shared it in the group chat with her friends.

She pleaded, "What should I do now?"

This time is different from the last. It’s a criminal case!

Those dreadful rumors about Qin Mu in Jin City unbiddenly resurfaced in her mind. Those defendants... each had met a fate more wretched than the last.

The thought made her panic, a lingering sense of horror washing over her.

"Unbelievable! I’ve seen shameless people, but never *this* shameless! The villain is playing the victim now?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Has Qin Mu’s conscience been eaten by a dog? Did studying law turn him into a cold-blooded person? Sister Cheng is just revealing the truth. How is that wrong?"

"Bah! Sister Cheng, don’t pay him any mind. The law will naturally give us a fair judgment!"

"Worst comes to worst, we’ll spend more money to hire Lawyer Liu and Lawyer Wu to defend you. We’re guaranteed to win this case, Sister Cheng. Don’t worry."

"..."

When the others saw the photo of the summons she had shared, they were equally infuriated. They messaged one after another, offering her consolation.

Reading their words, Cheng Chuxiao pressed her lips together. She felt somewhat better.

Indeed. Both Lawyer Liu and Lawyer Wu are highly capable. With them on my side, they’ll surely be able to argue my innocence.

However, just as she was starting to relax and about to focus on the live broadcast, a message suddenly popped up in the group chat.

"Holy sh*t! I think I’ve received a summons too!"

The person who sent this message had been consoling her just a moment ago.

Soon after, he uploaded a photo of a summons into the core rights protection group chat. The content of this photo clearly accused Han Tianming of publishing false statements online using the self-media platform account "Little Tian’s Pet." These statements had severely damaged the reputations of Zhang Qingyuan, Qin Mu, and the nursing home, and had been widely disseminated. It demanded he pay compensation totaling 120,000 yuan and accused him of defamation, requesting a three-year prison sentence.

The hearing date was exactly the same as Cheng Chuxiao’s, also in seven days.

"What the hell is going on? How did he find out my address? How did the summons get to my door so quickly?"

In the rights protection group, Han Tianming was utterly befuddled, his emotions a complex mix. While consoling Cheng Chuxiao earlier, he had been able to remain detached and carefree. But now... he had been directly dragged into the fray! At this moment, his mind was filled with a million questions. He couldn’t understand how this had happened at all.

Logically speaking, all I did was a small favor, helping Sister Cheng spread some information. It wasn’t surprising for her to receive a summons. But me... how was I exposed? How would Qin Mu know about me?

You received a summons too?

Inside the villa, Cheng Chuxiao looked at the message and photo Han Tianming had posted, and her heart skipped a beat.

This scene... felt eerily familiar. It was just like when those three thousand defendants first emerged. The scope was so wide, the methods so cruel. None of those involved in that incident had been spared.

"I don’t know what’s going on either. Just now, a delivery person knocked on my door and had me sign for a package. When I opened it... I found it was also a summons!"

In the group chat, Han Tianming could no longer maintain his composure. He hurriedly typed, "Sister Cheng, please talk to Lawyer Liu and Lawyer Wu for me, and ask them to help with my defense too."

Cheng Chuxiao: "..."

The other members of the rights protection group, after a brief silence, resumed comforting both Cheng Chuxiao and Han Tianming.