Chapter 384 - Xiong De's Doom (II)

Xiong De instantly recognized the woman. She was none other than Bivia Chang!

She was a great lawyer and was said to have a strong network with the prosecutors. Who would have thought the famous lawyer who was known to fight only for justice was actually working under the snake man like Guan Gao Huan!

Guan Gao Huan's spring water was surely deep.

Xiong De felt like he suddenly found an oasis in the middle of the desert. 

"Miss Bivia Chang!"

The tall and beautiful woman smiled politely. "Mr. Xiong De, it's a pity we meet like this. Don't worry, I already talked to the higher-ups. They will give you the right to discuss things with me."

Xiong De sighed in relief. He looked up at the ceiling, seemingly seeing the night sky. 

"Thank goodness. I thought I will spend my night here," he jokingly said.

The butler and Bivia Chang held different expressions. Xiong De finally noticed it.

"What's wrong?"

Why did the guard not open the door for him yet?

"I am sorry, Mr. Xiong De. I only managed to convince the supervisors to meet you tonight. Unfortunately, I cannot help you out with the detention. There's no choice but to stay here."

"What?!"

"Don't worry about it, let's talk about more important things."

"Hold on—"

"I already looked into your case. The charges against you have strong evidences, but I will still do my best—"

"Wait, Miss Bivia Chang! I couldn't quite catch on. Since you are already here and guaranteed them that I will not run away from the charges, why do I still need to stay here?"

Bivia Chang smiled politely. Patiently, she explained the lawful procedures. 

"Again, the charges against you are big and the evidences are strong, so the detention time needed to be at least twenty-four hours. Only after that will you be either released..." she paused before continuing, "...or get charged. However, all the strong points against you are already present. The bureau doesn't have to investigate that deep because the opposite side already presented all the evidences needed. The investigation team only needed to verify if they are all true."

Xiong De paled. "I-if...they verify it within twenty-four hours...I wouldn't be discharged? I'll stay here...?" 

Bivia Chang regretfully nodded. "That's most likely the case."

Xiong De felt all his blood was drained away from him.

That old man had already prepared everything. Based from his calls with the officials, they were not willing to help him because the tide was against his favor. In other words, he could not deny any of the charges, nor could he buy some time to cover his tracks. 

The investigation was already zoning in on the evidences.

"T-then quickly! Butler Lin, contact XX, tell them to cover all important tracks as soon as possible!" 

He needed to erase as much as he can. At least to lower the sentence period.

Bivia Chang's eyebrows quirked. She watched as the butler hastily made phone calls.

"Then, how can you help me?" Xiong De began pacing back and forth. "That man surely has a way to get me out of this shithole, right?"

'That man?'

Despite her confusion, Bivia Chang's face remained calm. "There was no plan. I was told to assist you as much as I can."

Xiong De frowned. His mind ran quickly. 

What could he do to lighten the punishment as much as possible?

He was banished already from the Xiong family, thus, he could not use the surname Xiong anymore. 

He must persuade the people in charge through different means. 

"Miss Bivia Chang, how many years do you think they can charge me with?"

The woman just calmly replied. "Life imprisonment."

!!!

"There's no need to be so surprised. The one who pressed charges against you is the head of the legendary Xiong family. He had a great influence in politics and law enforcement department. He can easily cut off your connections with the officials. What's more, he can hasten up the investigation process. You have multiple charges on your head, and they altogether put you beyond the possibility of being granted pardon."

Xiong De gritted his teeth and angrily kicked the wall. 

No! Impossible!

It was not yet his end. He would not let it end like that!

"To how many years do you estimate you can reduce the sentence? Ten years? Twenty years?"

"The least I can do is to let you avoid capital punishment."

(A/n: Capital Punishment- in republic of china it is the death penalty)

The restless man froze.

"...What...?"

"Actually, with the charges pressed against you, you are likely to get executed. Attempted murder, illegal smuggling, and drug trafficking are synonymous to capital punishment. But with my help, I can help you reduce that to life imprisonment. "

"..." 

Xiong De could not believe it.

"No... I-it... It should not be the end."

He still has ways!

"Butler Lin! Come here!" 

The butler hurriedly ran forward. 

"Give me your phone!"

The warden was about to protest but Miss Bivia Chang looked at him and nodded. This Lawyer Chang had a deep network with the higher ups, so the warden did not have any choice but to let it go. A phone call would not do much harm.

Xiong De paced back and forth as he tried to call someone.

"Yes, Butler Lin?" 

The call went through.

"It's me. Pressure the trade deals on every side. I want the imports and exports to be suspended within twenty-four hours. I don't care how much money you use! As long as they give an answer by tomorrow and help me out in this case!"

"Master Xiong De! Hold on! We got a big problem." 

"What problem?!" 

Was there even something worse than what was happening to him now?!

"The deals are nulled. They said they found a new trader that is less expensive than us."

"What?! When did this happen?! "

"They got contracted a month ago and they just opened the trade yesterday night. They split the profit five to five as a starter. Our partners favored them and left us. This new trading group is practically stealing our business. So right now, I am really occupied in getting them back..."

"Useless! How could you not notice it before?! What can I use now to pressure them?!"

Xiong De planned to use the underground dealings to pressure the officials. But it turned out that a new group took this opportunity when he was down.

His intuition suddenly alarmed bells.

How could they prepare everything well and strike now? The timing was too impeccable! It was almost as if they had foreseen it.

In Xiong De's mind, a thought occurred to him. 

Was this new group arranged by the old man as well? 

If that was the case...then they really got him!

Xiong De gripped the phone tightly. He could not use his company, he could not use the underground deals! What was left?!

His business overseas?

He tried to call people multiple times.

This time, he was using his own companies that was independent from the Xiong Empire. 

However, all of them had their stock prices go down in just a day!

"What happened again!?"

"Sir Xiong, we tried to contact you since yesterday night! But your line is busy. A large group was controlling the companies' stock price, buying the shares then withdrawing. Now the stock prices had totally crashed. Other shareholders are alarmed and also began withdrawing their investments!"