Even if they were given a chance to try, it couldn’t be any worse. Cheng Chuxiao and Han Tianming exchanged glances, their eyes brimming with a strong desire to survive. They were trying to save themselves.

Cheng Chuxiao was the first to stand up. Looking at Qin Mu, she bit her teeth and said unwillingly, "We are willing to apologize and compensate—name your price, and we’ll pay it. We will also issue a public apology online, restoring your reputation and that of the nursing home."

She hoped this would make Qin Mu relent and spare them. Although she couldn’t receive a suspended sentence, perhaps it could reduce her sentence by a year or two.

However, Qin Mu simply smiled and said, "The litigation request includes an apology, compensation, and reputation restoration. That’s what you’re supposed to do anyway."

"Tell me, what do we need to do for you to let us go?" Cheng Chuxiao stared at Qin Mu, her emotions nearing a critical point. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

But Qin Mu just shrugged. He turned to Zhou Quanmin and reported, "Judgment Chief, the opposing party is attempting to solicit my conditions in court, effectively trying to bribe me."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Quanmin’s face darkened. He still looked at Cheng Chuxiao and warned, "This is the free debate stage. Please focus on the points of contention and avoid irrelevant topics!"

Rebuked like this, Cheng Chuxiao’s face turned red. She trembled with anger but was at a loss as to how to address the focal points.

At that moment, Han Tianming, standing beside her, stepped forward and countered Qin Mu, "I believe the evidence you listed in the rights defense group illegally infringes upon our right to privacy and should therefore be inadmissible!"

In a bid to get a suspended sentence instead of prison time, he had racked his brains and finally came up with an idea. He remembered once seeing a news story about someone who presented secretly recorded conversations and videos in a lawsuit, which the court did not admit.

Thinking of this, Han Tianming became more animated as he argued, "Your eavesdropping on and dissemination of our group chats violate the privacy of most group members and constitute an illegal act!"

As long as these pieces of evidence were dismissed, it couldn’t be proven that he had ever organized others to commit defamation. He wouldn’t be a core member of the rights defense group, merely a netizen who participated in this online harassment incident, thereby having a chance at a suspended sentence.

After he finished speaking, Cheng Chuxiao and the others beside him looked visibly excited. Within their previously dim eyes, a desire for survival flickered. They were utterly thrilled.

Only Zhang Wei helplessly patted his forehead, a look of utter exasperation on his face. "This is a criminal case, not a civil lawsuit."

On the plaintiff’s side, Qin Mu, without so much as lifting an eyelid at Han Tianming’s rebuttal, added his own offhand remark.

That single remark was enough to confound Han Tianming, Cheng Chuxiao, and the others.

Han Tianming swallowed hard and directly asked, "What... what do you mean?"

However, after Qin Mu made that statement, he didn’t bother with Han Tianming anymore. Instead, Zhang Wei, who was nearby, kindly reminded him, "The illegally collected evidence you mentioned as inadmissible applies to civil lawsuits; criminal proceedings are not subject to this rule."

What Han Tianming said indeed had some merit, but it stemmed from a limited understanding. According to civil procedure law, evidence materials obtained by infringing upon the legitimate rights and interests of others through methods such as surreptitious filming, secret recording, or eavesdropping; evidence materials filmed or recorded without the other party’s permission; and evidence materials obtained through improper means such as inducement, deception, coercion, or violence, should all be deemed inadmissible by the court. This refers to civil lawsuits.

However, criminal cases do not adhere to this evidentiary principle. Consider this: someone in a room cries for help. A neighbor hears it, forcibly breaks down the door, witnesses a crime in progress, and films it. This would certainly infringe upon the other person’s property rights and right to privacy, and the evidence would be considered illegally collected. However, it would still be valid because it pertains to a criminal offense!

And the case they were currently involved in was indeed a criminal private prosecution, not an ordinary civil lawsuit! If it were a civil lawsuit—for example, a divorce case where secretly filmed evidence was used to prove a husband’s infidelity and seek a divorce—the court would not support such evidence.