The entire court was bustling with activity, from the presiding judge down to the bailiffs. Everyone was exceptionally busy, their feet barely touching the ground. Almost every moment, defendants were being tried and, after the truth was uncovered, judged on the spot.

Considering the social impact, most of the more than 1,800 people tried today received suspended sentences. Only a few—those who had spread messages far and wide and used extremely vile language—were not granted suspended sentences.

Qin Mu and Zhang Qingyuan were busy from start to finish, moving between the eight courtrooms, sending off one defendant after another. It was like an assembly line.

"Today’s... finally over," Zhang Qingyuan, following behind Qin Mu, couldn’t help but exclaim with relief. After a busy day, his old back and legs were aching all over, and he felt somewhat overwhelmed.

But... for the sake of his own compensation, he had been gritting his teeth and cooperating actively. Earning money... was really not easy at all.

"Let’s continue tomorrow," Qin Mu shrugged, ready to leave the courthouse with Zhang Qingyuan.

In the span of this one afternoon, they had processed 1,800 people. If one counted the whole day, they could complete the trials of nearly 3,000 people. By that estimation... in five or six days, they could conclude the trial of this case that had shocked the entire internet. Overall, the court was very fast.

He and Zhang Qingyuan chatted as they walked outside. But just as they left the courthouse, they saw a sea of people, a scene that made their scalps tingle. Even after seven in the evening, the crowd outside the courthouse had not dispersed. On the contrary, it seemed to have grown even larger. Besides the defendants and their families, many curious onlookers who didn’t know the details had gathered. The defendants who had completed their trials today, with mixed emotions, met their relatives and told them the results of their sentences.

Human joy and sorrow were quietly unfolding outside the courthouse.

"Dad, I don’t have to go to jail," a university student said, his eyes red and voice somewhat choked up as he looked at his father, whose hair was slightly graying, at the courthouse gate. His father, meanwhile, heaved a long sigh of relief, his slightly bent back trembling fiercely. Clearly, he had been on tenterhooks, fraught with fear, the entire time his son was being tried.

"Dad, I know I was wrong. I won’t ever recklessly attack others online again." Hearing his son’s confession, the father cracked a smile and solemnly nodded. "One mistake is okay; we still have a chance to make it right."

With that, he led his son, and they squeezed into the thick crowd. Supporting each other, the two disappeared into the sea of people.

Scenes like this were actually not uncommon. These relatives were unwilling to leave because they were worried about their sons or daughters. Seeing that they had not been sentenced to prison, smiles finally appeared on their anxious faces. For them, as long as their loved ones weren’t imprisoned, it was a good outcome. It meant there was still hope for everything.

"Being a parent is heart-wrenching," Zhang Qingyuan remarked, having overheard some of these comments. He even saw parents nearly sixty years old with their children, who were already in their thirties.

These people really thought the internet was a lawless realm. When doing these things, they hadn’t considered the consequences at all. Even though they received suspended sentences, it still had a huge impact on their immediate children. Certain positions still require political vetting spanning three generations!

Qin Mu silently nodded. For these people, he did not relentlessly pursue them. Many internet trolls don’t inherently have bad natures. They are often swayed by group dynamics and, lacking judgment and critical thinking, become tools in others’ hands. Receiving suspended sentences was, for them, already a considerable punishment. He only hoped that these people would remember this lesson and not so easily take sides in the future. At the same time, this also served as a warning to those online harassers whose actions didn’t meet the threshold for filing a case and thus weren’t brought to trial. They had escaped this time only because the extent of their dissemination was insufficient. Next time, they might not be so fortunate.

「At the same time, in the bank manager’s office in Jin City.」

Pei Xuanqing stared at the computer screen that had gone black, lost in thought. Today, he had sat there, watching the live broadcast all day.

After all, whether Qin Mu won the case would determine if the bank’s investment loan could be recouped. This was also his first time seriously watching a courtroom live stream online. And Qin Mu’s performance... it had impressed him multiple times. He was glad to have become friends with Qin Mu and not offended him. Cheng Chuxiao and the other seventeen individuals were all sentenced; not one received a suspended sentence! Even with the aid of top lawyer Zhang Wei, the outcome hadn’t changed. Instead... Cheng Chuxiao had achieved a certain milestone by being sentenced to ten years, two years more than the recommended eight years! This also taught him something new. A court’s sentence could actually be higher than the sentencing recommendation! Being too arrogant in the courtroom... only ends up harming oneself. And the assembly-line-style trials in the second half... they also thrilled him immensely. Each defendant’s trial was processed very quickly, tackled in batches of a hundred. On just the first day, 1,800 defendants had undergone trial and received the punishments they deserved. This meant... his investment this time was essentially secure! What would follow was the return of litigation fees and Qin Mu repaying a portion of the investment. This time, he had lent assets worth over one hundred million to Qin Mu. Their agreement was...