Chapter 137-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
Ye Fanjing stood in the court wearing a solemn black judicial robe, his face tense and brows locked tight. He held the gavel in his hand, his gaze uncontrollably drifting in one direction. His palms were sweating a little; he had never held such a heavy gavel.
A muffled sound. The gavel struck the desktop. The middle-aged man said with a serious expression: "Case No. 172 of the Upper District Court is now in session. I am the presiding judge of this case. Everyone please remain silent!"
After Ye Fanjing's voice fell, the courtroom was extremely quiet. His gaze quietly swept over the jury, the gallery, the witness stand, and then the two people standing directly below him. One was a short and fat young man, the other... his daughter.
Unexpectedly, Ye Zheng's expression looked quite good, without a bit of haggardness. Instead, she was even more spirited than him, the presiding judge.
Suddenly, Ye Zheng turned her head slightly. His gaze unexpectedly met her line of sight. Ye Fanjing's face paused, and he subconsciously avoided his daughter's gaze. He looked toward the center of the courtroom and discovered quite a few faces that surprised him, making his heart even more apprehensive for a moment.
"Defendant Ye Zheng, you are charged with first-degree murder of the Empire. Do you understand your rights?" He deliberately asked sternly.
The teenager wearing a white robe below nodded slightly. "Judge, I understand."
Ye Zheng slowly raised her head. Her black eyes looked straight at Ye Fanjing, taking in the other party's dodging eyes and apprehensive expression. A long time ago, she once took pride in her judge father; that was the tallest and most majestic image in her cognition.
And today, even though she stood below him, the father was no longer tall.
"...Very well. Plaintiff David Green, please begin your statement."
Opposite Ye Zheng, the short and fat man with half his face wrapped in white gauze had an indignant expression, his lips moving intensely. "Before this kind of thing happened, I, like everyone here, could not imagine that this lady with such a noble and elegant temperament could commit such shocking atrocities!"
People in the court began to whisper. Such an opening undoubtedly hung everyone's expectations high. Before the court session, they had heard many versions of the case details based on rumors. Today they could finally learn the truth.
Looking at the situation now, this truth might be even more exciting and bizarre than they guessed. After all, the fact that Saintess Ye Zheng, known for benevolence and high purity, would commit the crime of murder was explosive enough in itself.
Feeling the gazes from all directions, David paused for a while and continued: "I am a researcher at an experimental base in the West District. When the Crown Prince's team was tracking the mastermind behind the West District incident, they stayed at our base for a period. During her stay, Ye Zheng murdered three of my colleagues!"
"One died from drowning, two died from explosions. After the person in charge of the base discovered it, he immediately locked Ye Zheng into the confinement room until the base was attacked by monsters, and Ye Zheng luckily escaped."
"The dead cannot speak, but the living must bravely stand up. Ye Zheng, you must pay the price for the cruel crimes you committed!"
The short and fat man's tone became increasingly excited. Many people in the jury and the gallery looked moved; they stared at Ye Zheng in disbelief.
Most of these were nobles of the upper district who had praised Saintess Ye Zheng countless times in social settings.
"Judge, there is a witness who can testify for me. He is the Crown Prince's Knight and can prove what I said."
Ye Fanjing, sitting right in the center, knocked the gavel once. "Summon the witness."
A knight wearing a red uniform walked up and spoke: "I am the close attendant of the Crown Prince. Saintess Ye Zheng was indeed detained by the base leader at the time, Lord Kiran, because of a murder incident."
Ye Fanjing frowned. "You mean, the base leader at the time had already made a judgment on Ye Zheng, but you cannot prove that Ye Zheng indeed killed people. Private punishment does not have legal significance."
The short and fat man hurriedly said: "My Lord, I still have other evidence. Please let me—"
Ye Fanjing suddenly spoke up: "However, the speech of this Crown Prince's Knight is not meaningless. Ye Zheng, do you have anything you want to say about this?"
From the start of the session, Ye Zheng had been standing quietly, like an ivory white statue. It wasn't until hearing her name called from above again that she raised her head to look up.
"Private punishment has no legal significance, but you taught me that some regions enforce special laws. They are endowed with legal autonomy by the Empire, and some cases can only be judged by Canon Law. The leader of this base, Ki..."
"Defendant Ye Zheng! Please mind your identity!" Ye Fanjing seemed to know what she was going to say and shouted sternly to stop her.
Ye Zheng closed her mouth, her black eyes looking at Ye Fanjing eerily. She already understood; someone had specially instructed Ye Fanjing to minimize discussion of the West District base in this incident.
Even if revealing the background of the Hope Project base would be beneficial to her case trial.
Ye Fanjing glared at Ye Zheng and breathed heavily. He shouted: "Plaintiff David Green, submit other evidence."
The short and fat man signaled with his eyes to the back. Someone immediately moved up a clumsy machine, as well as photos and autopsy reports.
In the first photo was a man with a bloated corpse. In the second photo was a mass of bloody flesh, sickening to look at.
"The first one is Henry Jones who drowned. His family also came here today... Sorry, Mrs. Jones, I was powerless to stop all this at that time."
Heart-wrenching sobbing sounded in the gallery.
"The second photo shows the two researchers blown to death by Ye Zheng. They were of commoner origin. Their families cannot even see this trial with their own eyes, but I believe they will definitely receive a fair handling result."
David Green, standing in the plaintiff's stand, first displayed the two photos around, then handed them to the judge above.
"This is evidence photos left by the base. Besides photos, there is also footage."
"Ye Zheng blew up two researchers in a laboratory. To preserve the experimental process, this laboratory specially set up an Image Recorder. It recorded Ye Zheng's evil deeds!"
Someone stuffed a green ore into the square box and started the clumsy machine driven by Demonic Domain Ore. Blurred footage projected above the machine.
A girl who looked tall and slender, with fluttering black hair and a white dress, stood outside the glass door and pressed a certain button. The two men inside the glass door immediately exploded, flesh and blood splattering.
An uproar immediately sounded below. Many people covered their eyes.
Although they were nobles of the upper district, seeing such a tragic scene with their own eyes, coupled with hearing about the inspiring yet unfortunate lives of the two civilian researchers recently, they immediately filled with empathy for the commoners they usually disdained the most. At the same time, the gazes looking at Ye Zheng carried a few points of fear.
Even Ye Fanjing sitting above showed unbearable and terrified expressions.
Everyone's gaze couldn't help but cast toward Ye Zheng. She maintained the posture of looking up and watching, and laughed once, appearing extremely abrupt in this solemn court.
Before Ye Fanjing had time to reprimand, Ye Zheng spoke leisurely: "Can you prove that this footage is real?"
If Ye Zheng hadn't killed them, perhaps there would be no way to argue against this overly realistic footage. But it just so happened that she really did kill them.
They didn't die from some laboratory explosion at all. One died from the power of the Dragon Bone, and one was transported to above the laboratory, most likely dying from Dragon-Bodied Humans. This footage was clearly forged!
The Image Recorder required extremely expensive Demonic Domain Ore to drive. How could it be activated for daily experiments?
Moreover, Ye Zheng would not let go of such details.
"Ye Zheng, matters have come to this, do you still want to quibble?" David Green questioned.
"Such a clumsy machine. No perpetrator would ignore this special 'eyewitness'. I think you have a misunderstanding of my eyesight."
"By the way, summon that Knight again. I wasn't dressed like that on that day. Mr. Green, when you kill people, do you wear a beautiful long skirt, have loose long hair, and step on small high heels?"
The short and fat man's face instantly turned red. Faint sounds of ridicule sounded from the seats in the rear.
He turned his head hatefully, but met a noble face that was smiling yet not smiling. He immediately turned back sheepishly.
Ye Fanjing's gaze wandered between the two, seeming to be having an intense struggle of thought. He slowly opened his mouth and said: "The footage played by the Image Recorder does have the possibility of forgery..."
"Judge, you can invite someone to appraise it. This Image Recorder comes from the Royal Factory; just ask their people to identify it!"
For a moment, the gazes in the court gathered on the presiding judge. Ye Fanjing had been a judge for nearly ten years. He always enjoyed this kind of moment, as if the power of life and death was all in his hands, and everyone had to wait for his decision.
But this time, hot sweat had already broken out on Ye Fanjing's forehead, as if a beam of extremely blazing sunlight was roasting him. He didn't need to look up to know whom this beam of gaze belonged to.
Ye Zheng, Ye Zheng... his daughter!
But things having come to this, what could he do? This David Green clearly had already obtained the support of the Royal Family. This was the Emperor's will. Could he resist this country for his daughter?
Under the public gaze, Ye Fanjing struggled to speak: "Someone, go summon... summon the Royal Factory's—"
"No need to waste time inviting people, Judge."
Ye Fanjing suddenly raised his head and looked at his calm-faced daughter. Those clear black eyes like a water mirror did not have the disappointment and sadness he imagined; they reflected his cowardly and wretched face.
He saw Ye Zheng hook up a smile at him, then turn her head to look at a certain position in the gallery.
"Expert in machines, Special Consultant of the Royal Factory—Duke Qin Lu, she is sitting right in the gallery."
"Duke, are you willing to come and verify the authenticity of the footage?"
The short and fat man widened his eyes at Ye Zheng, gripping the materials in his hand until they deformed. He turned his head slightly trembling, and once again met that face that was smiling yet not smiling.
The woman with a small ponytail stood up from the gallery and walked forward with composure. She patted the clumsy machine with her hand.
"Oh, I was just discussing the improvement plan for this product with the factory recently. Isn't this a coincidence?"
"Judge Ye, no one is more suitable to appraise it than me."
Ye Fanjing clenched his teeth. He looked at the pale-faced David Green. No one expected Qin Lu to suddenly kill her way out. Qin Lu was not only the most suitable person in the whole venue to appraise the truth of the footage but also the person with the most noble identity. He had absolutely no reason to stop her.
"...Trouble you, Duke."
Ye Fanjing spat out this sentence powerlessly, but his heart inexplicably felt relieved. He looked at Ye Zheng with some hope.
His daughter Ye Zheng was even more capable than he imagined. He might not be able to be a minister the Emperor preferred, but at least he was a good father.
However, Ye Zheng was looking seriously at Qin Lu who was fiddling with the machine, not sparing him a single glance.
Author's Note:
Taking graduation photos tomorrow, decided to sleep earlier today...
Comments
Post a Comment