Gu carried his old memorandum to the records table. He set it beside the rubbing of the response plate from the ruin chamber, leaving the original sealed in Luo’s evidence box. The two documents had been written years apart. Their marks looked related, though the old one used a worn square seal and the new plate bore a crescent nick.
“This memorandum belongs to the Registry branch where I worked before my dismissal,” Gu said. “The response plate uses a later office mark. The ruin was altered after I filed my objection.”
Zhao looked toward the elders. “Gu is using a personal grievance to attack the laboratory.”
Gu nodded once. “I remained in the Registry after I filed that objection. I did not challenge the later alteration when I first saw the new seal. Put that in the record too.”
The courtyard quieted. Yan had expected Gu to defend himself. Instead, Gu placed his own delay beside the evidence.
The central elder asked him to explain what the mark could establish. “The plate’s seal belongs to a branch office,” Gu said. “It connects the ruin to Registry procedures. It does not name an author or prove who ordered the changes.”
