Chapter 136: Qin Yun's Plagiarism Exposed, Mrs. Qin Faints

Before the hearing even began, the two of them were already exchanging insults.

On one hand it was a blunt way to show reporters and the media how the Qin family had already fallen apart.

On the other hand it provoked the Qin family in advance—after all, the more agitated people were, the more prone to making mistakes they were.

And Qin Jiang, the instigator, sat in the defendant’s seat with a cold gaze and a mocking air, as if he weren’t the defendant but merely a spectator.

[Holy shit, Qin Jiang is way too arrogant, treating his own sister so badly—he deserves to be dragged to court by his family and wait to reflect in prison.]

[Oh my god, Qin Jiang’s mouth really makes the term “keyboard warrior” come to life…]

[In short, everyone in the industry knows what kind of person actress Qin Shuyun is and how outstanding her talent is. Plus, Qin Shuyun has won so many awards—what does Qin Jiang have?]

[A screenwriter who only made one small hit short drama, whose script is involved in a plagiarism controversy—how can he be put on the same level as our best actress Qin Shuyun?]

[I’ve been cursing him online for days and still haven’t seen him log in—he must be too scared to go online.]

[Heh… so bold in real life, but so timid online??]

[I’ve long heard Qin Jiang was a son the Qin family left behind, who picked up terrible habits outside. Even though he has returned to the wealthy family… he still can’t shake those vices.]

[That’s why the high-society Qin family despises him—so useless, he deserves it…]

As the plaintiff in this lawsuit.

Qin Shuyun stood at the plaintiff’s table, and the look she shot at Qin Jiang was full of disgust and disdain.

This younger brother Qin Jiang was literally a leech sucking her dry.

He drained her talent to make himself successful.

A brother like that—she wouldn’t bother glancing twice even if he died.

And as a former queen of films, Qin Shuyun had a huge fanbase. Although people were paying attention to Qin Jiang for giving away $200 for doing nothing, in fact they were also speaking up for Qin Shuyun.

Soon, across major platforms’ livestream rooms.

The commentary had already become one-sided.

Even the negative comments about Qin Jiang were maliciously hyped by some netizens and pushed onto the trending list.

Over the years Qin Yun had followed Qin Shuyun to the entertainment industry and played some supporting good-guy roles in films, so he had gained a bit of fame.

Many netizens recognized him.

[Oh my, our Qin Yun is tall and handsome—the film industry’s rising prince—why is he in a wheelchair now?]

[Could it really be that Qin Jiang drained him??]

[Wow, am I the only one who thinks the Qin family is so united? If Qin Jiang were only disliked by one or two family members it might be a misunderstanding, but if basically the whole family is suing him, then Qin Jiang must be the problem!!]

[I’m so jealous of Qin Yun’s family—so harmonious and loving…]

In the courtroom.

Qin Yun sat in a wheelchair, and Qin Muyun thoughtfully brought a blanket to cover his legs, caring for him meticulously.

“Yun, I’ve said this small matter doesn’t need you to come in person—Second Sister and Fourth Sister will handle it.”

“Your injuries still need rest to recover. If Qin Jiang goes mad and harms you again…”

“These old matters have nothing to do with you.”

Qin Muyun spoke loudly. She had indeed defended Qin Jiang in secret before, but now that he had really fallen out with them, she couldn’t be bothered to pretend.

As she spoke, Qin Muyun soothingly patted Qin Yun’s head to show concern.

Qin Shuyun also cast him a gentle look.

Mrs. Qin, despite her own injuries, tended to Qin Yun with unremitting care.

In contrast, Qin Jiang sitting opposite looked isolated and helpless in a somewhat pitiful way.

Both were sons of the Qin family—this was the difference.

One was the family’s darling, the other was universally regarded as the family’s jinx.

Facing Qin Muyun’s concern, Qin Yun spoke gently.

“Second Sister, we’re one family—your matters are my matters. Besides, Brother Qin Jiang…”

“Second Sister, Fourth Sister, and Mum, my older brother has suffered enough out there these years. I only hope that even if he truly did wrong, you can forgive him and pardon him!”

Qin Yun lowered his eyes, looking guilty and frail—a sight that made people pity him and unwilling to refuse his plea.

But Qin Yun’s words were actually pouring fuel on the fire.

Qin Muyun was the first to erupt.

“Huh, Qin Jiang is so capable he put you in a wheelchair—what need is there for you, a victim, to plead for him?”

“If he’s in the wrong, he is wrong—if you err you must be punished!”

“Yun, you’re just too kind and soft-hearted. That’s why Qin Jiang bullies you so easily and robs you of so many achievements.”

Qin Muyun sneered and couldn’t help glancing at Qin Jiang in the defendant’s seat. The man’s expression was lax, posture relaxed, sitting like a rich young master.

For a moment Qin Muyun felt like she had punched cotton.

Her whole body felt stifled.

Qin Jiang had done so many wrongs yet showed no remorse, not even caring a bit?

Truly stubborn and incorrigible!

Soon the judge took the bench and the hearing officially began.

On Qin Shuyun’s side, Gu Hai had already submitted the complaint as their retained lawyer.

But on Qin Jiang’s side, the lawyer’s seat remained empty.

“Defendant Qin Jiang, where is your lawyer?”

Qin Shuyun raised an eyebrow, her expression somewhat suggestive.

“Qin Jiang, how… didn’t your rich mistress even hire a lawyer for you?”

Those words were indeed harsh.

But everyone already knew how terrible Qin Jiang had treated Qin Shuyun, so they enjoyed the show and taunted him accordingly.

“Oh… a lawyer, that’s no problem at all.”

Qin Jiang took the lawyer’s placard from the side and placed it in front of the defendant’s small nameplate.

Then he pulled out his shiny lawyer’s license that he had studied for during his first year and finally passed.

In this country, a lawyer’s license was considered one of the hardest certificates to obtain.

Qin Jiang was only twenty and he already had a lawyer’s license?

Moreover, he was from the finance faculty, yet still took the bar exam to get certified—this was freaking impressive!

“Of course, if you don’t accept that, then I’ll let my bar exam tutor Mr. Luo Xiang represent me in this case.”

Qin Jiang raised his hand, and a man in a suit—average-looking but with a scholarly yet keen demeanor—walked to the defendant’s lawyer seat.

Gu Hai across from him turned pale—shit!

“Mr. Luo Xiang?”

“He’s actually Qin Jiang’s bar exam teacher?… My understanding of everything has been broken, fix it quickly!”

“Mr. Luo Xiang only takes well-prepared cases, but Qin Jiang’s situation is clearly a lost cause. If Luo Xiang helps a plagiarism dog turn it around, he’d be ruining his own livelihood.”

“I don’t care! I trust Mr. Luo Xiang’s judgment—Qin Jiang might really be innocent…”

Whispers continued in the jury seats.

The judge also froze for a moment upon seeing Luo Xiang.

Then his stern gaze swept over Qin Jiang. His upright, square face spoke solemnly.

“Plaintiff Qin Shuyun in her statement provided the creative inspiration and timeline for the script ‘Winter’s Promise’ from three years ago. The inspiration for ‘Winter’s Promise’ is said to come from an art film script ‘Endless Cold’ that Qin Shuyun performed in four years ago.”

“The original author of that script is Mr. Qin Yun!”

“The timeline predates the short drama ‘Promise’ you wrote under the pen name ‘Jiang Feng’. So, from the timeline analysis point of view, the defendant Qin Jiang indeed has suspicion of plagiarism.“

“But whether the scripts actually clash in plot and scenes needs to be carefully adjudicated by professional examiners reviewing both scripts.”

“Regarding this, how does the defendant respond?”

Qin Jiang didn’t speak, but Luo Xiang had already stood up.

“I have evidence proving that the creator of ‘Endless Cold’ is my defendant ‘Jiang Feng,’ and this script happens to be a film about intimate warmth as its main line—if it was twisted into something like ‘Winter’s Promise,’ I’d be planning to sue actress Qin Shuyun for plagiarism and alteration myself!”

Luo Xiang submitted the evidence and gave Qin Jiang a comforting look.

Then he mercilessly glared at Qin Shuyun.

Qin Shuyun hadn’t expected that Qin Jiang would not only be accused of plagiarism but would dare to turn the blame onto her.

Rage made her tremble. She glared viciously at Qin Jiang and screamed in disbelief.

“Qin Jiang, you’re utterly despicable!”

“It’s not enough that you plagiarized my original ‘Winter’s Promise’—now you even claim ownership of the original film script ‘Endless Cold’ that Yun specially crafted for me?”

“You shameless thief! Yun is overflowing with talent and could never plagiarize. ‘Endless Cold’ is the art film I meticulously created, which helped secure my Triple Crown as film queen.”

“Such talent only Yun possesses—Qin Jiang, stop daydreaming about taking credit!“

Qin Yun was stunned as well.

Four years had passed since. The original manuscript of ‘Endless Cold’ had long been burned by him and altered to show his handwriting instead.

There was absolutely no room for a flaw here.

Qin Jiang—even if you wrote it.

W**ithout evidence you would have to swallow this bitter loss.

I don’t believe… I don’t believe you can turn this around.

“Brother Qin Jiang… if you liked the ‘Endless Cold’ script I wrote four years ago you could have told me earlier.”

“We’re brothers—what’s mine is yours!”

“You could have just asked me for it and I wouldn’t have refused—how could you… how could you steal from me?“

Every fragile word Qin Yun uttered.

Each word was throwing mud at Qin Jiang.

The word “steal” was about to be branded onto Qin Jiang’s face!

Qin Muyun’s face also went deathly pale as she looked at Qin Jiang with self-righteousness and loftiness.

She put on a showy sigh as if utterly disappointed.

“Qin Jiang, you must immediately kneel and kowtow to Yun and your Fourth Sister and admit your wrongdoing.”

“And publicly apologize on social media!

“Announce your complete withdrawal from the creative and film circles, cancel the ‘Jiang Feng’ screenwriter account, and quit entirely!“

“Second Sister can decide to withdraw the suit.”

This was the only thing she, his second sister, could do for Qin Jiang.

She thought she had been merciful enough, letting him save face.

She hoped he wouldn’t be ungrateful.

Qin Jiang, however, was amused by her theatrics.

“Withdraw the suit?”

“I’m not interested… you should take a look at this evidence first.”

The evidence Qin Jiang threw out was projected by the judge—since it was recorded on a USB drive it was plugged into the computer and displayed.

Four years ago, at 7:30 p.m. local time, Qin Jiang sat cross-legged in a small room and with pen and paper wrote the opening paragraph of ‘Endless Cold’…

It was a video—although the manuscript was gone, the recorded video captured the entire text.

“‘Endless Cold’ was adopted from my revised twenty-sixth draft, but later for publication I revised it again and used the thirty-seventh draft.”

“I also have a digital record of the differences between those two drafts…”

Qin Jiang continued, each word striking like thunder.

Qin Yun looked terrible—he never expected Qin Jiang to still have evidence from four years ago…

No, impossible—how could he have evidence?

He clearly only had the creative manuscript.

And that manuscript had long since been burned by him…

Was Qin Jiang deliberately deceiving him?

Qin Yun clutched his chest and looked at Qin Jiang in disbelief, as if he could barely breathe and his body might flutter apart like drifting willow fluff at any moment.

“Qin… Brother Qin Jiang, you clearly knew I was unwell and asked you to write the manuscript for me—so how could you have recorded it in advance and claimed it as your own?”

Qin Yun’s words made the situation suddenly full of implications again.

Immediately after, Qin Yun clamped a hand over his mouth and coughed up a mouthful of blood…

“Yun! Yun!!”

“Qin Jiang, if anything happens to Yun, I’ll make sure you go with him to the grave!”

Mrs. Qin, Jiang Yuyao, scolded angrily.

But the next second she suddenly collapsed and fainted…

Qin Jiang raised an eyebrow. “Oh, now karma even works by the second?”