"It seems I have no choice but to consult a lawyer now," Yang Wanqing sighed deeply.

She had wanted to ask in the group chat if anyone knew how to deal with a summons.

But she found...

The others in the group weren't in much better shape than she was.

They had all received summons too.

Some of them were already preparing to head out to find lawyers.

Caught up in this mess... Not knowing much about the law, she could only turn to a lawyer now.

"By the way, Wanqing, wasn't there a senior from the law department who kept pursuing you? Maybe you could... ask him?" her close friend suddenly reminded her.

Yang Wanqing's expression brightened as the realization hit her.

She wasn't unattractive, and she had quite a few admirers at school.

With that thought, she hastily took out her phone and sent a message to the senior from the law department: "Are you there?"

Three seconds later, she immediately got a reply, "Yes."

Following that, she explained her situation to him in full detail.

Lastly, she asked, "I want to know, is my situation serious?"

In her hand, she still clutched the summons and a copy of the complaint.

Waiting for his reply... She felt extremely anxious.

Thankfully, the senior from the law department didn't keep her waiting too long.

He quickly replied, "You've received a summons for a private criminal prosecution. Textbook advice for this is to actively respond, find a reliable lawyer, and try your best to win this lawsuit."

"This case falls under the category of online defamation. Jurisdiction lies where the act occurred. It's best if you go to Jin City before looking for a lawyer."

"Moreover, if you lose this lawsuit, you will most likely end up in prison."

"And, your children will be directly affected, unable to take civil service exams or similar jobs."

Each sentence...

made Yang Wanqing's face grow a shade paler.

She didn't quite understand these jurisdiction disputes.

All she knew was... if she lost the lawsuit, she would be imprisoned.

For her, a vibrant young college student... it was nothing short of a bolt from the blue.

In her mind, going to prison was equivalent to completely ruining her life.

She would be the subject of gossip among relatives and friends, viewed with prejudice.

"If only I had known... I wouldn't have joined that damn group," she lamented, her face mournful, feeling more regretful with each passing moment.

If only she hadn't joined that so-called rights assertion group... none of these events would have happened.

But...

Who could have imagined someone in the world would be so depraved as to wipe out their entire group in one go?

...

「Meanwhile.」

「Jin City.」

In a certain villa complex.

After weighing her options carefully, Cheng Chuxiao ultimately decided to have her case represented by Zhang Wei's Legal Pioneer Law Firm.

On one hand, Zhang Wei's law firm had represented many of Qin Mu's defendants and had extensive experience. They claimed to offer the "highest quality defendant experience."

On the other hand, she was unfamiliar with other law firms and was worried about encountering lawyers like Liu Chengqiang and Wu Yun again.

At that point... Losing the case was one thing, but if Qin Mu managed to get her imprisoned too, she would inevitably be dragged down with them.

And so far, no lawyer from Zhang Wei's law firm had been sent to prison.

This gave her extra peace of mind.

Only now did she understand what Zhang Wei meant by saying that suing Qin Mu carried such great risks.

Rumor had it that even people in the public gallery had been sent to prison before.

It wasn't surprising for the opposing lawyers to be sent to prison either.

"There are only five days left until the trial..."

She lay on the couch, anxiously counting the days.

These past two days, she felt as if each day dragged on like a year, and she hadn't even had time to deal with Binbin's funeral arrangements.

Qin Mu... He might seem like just an intern lawyer, but his level of malevolence was horrifying.

"Sister Cheng, something terrible has happened! The core rights assertion group I set up has imploded!"

Suddenly, as she was fraught with anxiety, Han Tianming sent her a message.

Han Tianming was also a friend of hers. Besides her, Han Tianming was the first of her friends to receive a summons.

This time, in seeking legal representation, she had also entrusted Han Tianming's case to Zhang Wei Law Firm.

"What happened?"

Upon seeing the message, her brows furrowed.

She subconsciously opened a two-thousand-member rights assertion group. Her friends had added her to these groups when they set them up.

Therefore, she could see the situation in each group.

She hadn't looked closely before, but one glance was enough to startle her.

At that moment in the chat group...

Everyone was distraught, as frantic as ants on a hot pan.

"I received a summons, what should I do? Can any expert offer some guidance? Online, urgent!"

"I received a summons from Jin City. Do I absolutely have to go to court? What happens if I don't go?"

"I just checked, and it looks like my local district court has jurisdiction. I shouldn't need to go to Jin City, right?"

"Sigh, I've already bought my train ticket and I'm preparing to head to Jin City. Can anyone recommend a reliable law firm there?"

"Just asking, which law firm in Jin City is the best? The kind that can keep people out of prison?"

"..."

Countless messages kept popping up.

One after another, group members who had received summonses were in the group seeking help.

But...

Everyone in the group was in the same miserable boat.

Nobody could help them.

Anyone with a deeper understanding of the law... had already left the group.

The ones left were all trolls with only a superficial understanding of the law, who had participated in this instance of cyberbullying.

And many, after consulting with lawyers, chose to accept their fate.