Clearly, ng Lei’s words were about to fundantally change the direction of the trial.
In the courtroom, the Judgnt Chief paused for a few seconds before asking, "Was Tian Shulan aware of all the loans you took out after your marriage?"
ng Lei nodded hastily. "She knew about all of them; the chat records on my phone can prove it."
"Then did she ever explicitly try to persuade you or warn you against borrowing money?" the Judgnt Chief asked after a brief pause.
ng Lei shook his head. "No, she never thought there was anything wrong with it. In fact, she would urge to borrow money when we needed it."
The Judgnt Chief pondered for a mont, then looked again toward the other side of the defendant’s dock, asking, "Tian Shulan, is what ng Lei just said true?"
The focus of the case had now shifted from ng Lei to both spouses. The key to the judgnt lay in whether there was any instigation. If she had rely acquiesced, without explicitly directing, instructing, or inciting him, it would not constitute the cri of instigation. Even her awareness of the borrowing, by itself, would not be enough. However, if she *had* directed or incited him, it would undoubtedly constitute the cri of instigation.
"I... I... I did tell him to borrow money a few tis," Tian Shulan stamred from the defendant’s dock, nervous under questioning. "But only a few tis! The... the rest was all his idea."
The Judgnt Chief continued to ask, "During the marriage, did you ever explicitly dissuade or stop him from borrowing money?"
Tian Shulan swallowed hard. She dared not et the Judgnt Chief’s piercing gaze and didn’t dare to answer directly.
During their marriage, she indeed had not discouraged him. Her reasoning was simple: borrowing money was ng Lei’s personal action. All these loans were taken out under ng Lei’s na and had nothing to do with her. On the contrary, the borrowed money could be used to improve their lives, so why not?
After questioning both parties, the Judgnt Chief reached a conclusion. "In that case," he announced, "as new evidence has erged and new criminal leads have been discovered, we will now focus on examining whether Tian Shulan is suspected of incitent."
Initially, this hearing was intended simply to confirm the facts of ng Lei’s cri and pass sentence. But now, another criminal lead had surfaced, necessitating scrutiny of Tian Shulan’s actions. The focus of this investigation, naturally, was whether any act of instigation had occurred.
When Tian Shulan heard this, she paled with fright again and glared hatefully at ng Lei beside her. At this mont, ng Lei wore the sa expression she had displayed just monts before: one of schadenfreude.
"Judgnt Chief, I also want to report that the evidence presented by the prosecutor just now is incomplete!" Tian Shulan declared. She glanced at ng Lei, then, in front of everyone in the courtroom, said through gritted teeth, "To my knowledge, the money ng Lei has borrowed over the years is far more than 730,000."
"He also borrowed a lot of cash from many relatives and friends..." In retaliation, she threw out another bombshell, revealing cash dealings the prosecution hadn’t accounted for.
"I have kept records of all these transactions," she said. Then she took out her phone, opened her notes app, and began to read: "In March last year, he borrowed 2,000 yuan in cash from a colleague and wrote an IOU."
"In April last year, he borrowed 3,000 yuan in cash from a colleague—no IOU, no chat record, no bank transfer record."
"In May last year, he..."
As Tian Shulan read, details of one cash loan after another were made public. All this information concerned cash ng Lei had borrowed in his own na—a total of more than twenty instances, none of which the prosecution had tallied.
Hearing this, ng Lei stared daggers at Tian Shulan, his face growing even more sinister.
Tian Shulan... She was clearly determined to see him rot in jail. He had never encountered such malicious intent in his life! No wonder the ancients said, ’More venomous than a wasp’s sting is a woman’s heart!’
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