Chapter 417
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Chapter 417: Verdict and Discussion
The situation escalating to such a degree was something no one had expected; even Li Ke and Gou Miao were wide-eyed with shock as a faint scent of blood permeated Luo Ji’s office.
Looking at Sun Mingrui’s gradually cooling corpse and the stunned Sun Peng beside it, Luo Ji couldn’t help but rub his forehead, forcefully massaging his brows.
After a long period of calming down, Luo Ji again looked up at Sun Peng, who was kneeling below, holding Sun Mingrui’s body, completely dazed.
A surge of anger rose in his heart.
All faults stemmed from his doting on his younger brother, Sun Peng.
It was no exaggeration to say that all of Sun Mingrui’s faults, big and small, were related to Sun Peng.
Without this good-for-nothing brother, he would have been a pure and upright official.
Yet, even until his death, he remained unrepentant, not forgetting to plead for his worthless brother when he drew his sword and committed suicide!
The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
Although he was just a small village chief, that fishing village was by Azure Water Lake, a crucial resource point!
Luo Ji’s decision to appoint Sun Mingrui as the village chief of Azure Water Lake Fishing Village already showed his regard for him, but the outcome was…
“Take the body away…”
At this point, Luo Ji’s mood was undoubtedly dreadful.
He had originally intended to order the guards to remove the body and bury it somewhere, to keep it out of sight, but the words caught in his throat and ultimately went unspoken.
After a moment of changing expressions, Luo Ji seemed to accept his loss and forced the words out his mouth.
“Give him a lavish burial!”
Once Sun Mingrui’s body was carried away by the guards, Luo Ji’s gaze slowly fell upon Sun Peng, who had caused all of this, and he immediately became furious!
“Drag him away and throw him into the East Mountain Mine! If this worthless fellow remains unrepentant, then he shall stay there until he dies!”
As Sun Peng was dragged away by two soldiers, the atmosphere in the office became extremely tense.
Facing a truly enraged Luo Ji, even Li Ke and Gou Miao unconsciously held their breath.
Leaning back in his office chair, Luo Ji rubbed his forehead and, after calming himself down, his noticeably calmer voice spoke again.
“As for Gou Shan, although the cause of this incident was not your fault, in the struggle, one person died and many were injured. Although it was self-defense, there is a suspicion of excessive force. You are fined 100 strings of cash and sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment. Do you accept this?”
Gou Shan, who had thought he would surely die, had his life spared. How could he possibly be unaccepting?
He quickly kowtowed, stammering loudly.
“This commoner accepts! This commoner is willing to accept the punishment!”
“Then, Gou Miao, Li Ke? What about you two?”
Gou Miao and Li Ke, whose names were called by Luo Ji, immediately stood up.
At this moment, even Li Ke, who held a prejudice against kobolds, stood with the kobold chief and said in unison.
“Thank you, Your Majesty, for upholding justice for our Beastman Race!”
“Then this matter ends here. Afterward, I will have someone write a public notice about the entire incident and proclaim it to the world.”
With that, Luo Ji waved his hand, signaling for everyone to withdraw.
After leaving Luo Ji’s office and stepping outside, Gou Miao, the chief of the Kobold Tribe, couldn’t help but thank Li Ke again.
“Thank you, Chief Li Ke, for this matter.”
“It’s all thanks to His Majesty’s fairness. I didn’t help much, and you don’t need to thank me.”
If the incident hadn’t involved the relationship between the Human and Beastman races, Li Ke, with his personality, would never have stepped forward for a kobold.
This time, Li Ke could say he made a trip in vain, yet Luo Ji still managed to subtly increase his loyalty.
On the other side, Gou Miao watched Li Ke walk away on his own.
He couldn’t help but turn his head and glance back at Luo Ji’s office, a hint of an inexplicable emotion flashing in his eyes.
Afterward, the public notice regarding this incident, just as Luo Ji had said, was posted on the notice boards of various cities 2 days later, and then further disseminated through storytellers.
Luo Ji’s reason for doing this was that the matter was significant; though seemingly minor, it involved many complexities.
By revealing the truth to the world, he aimed to prevent animosity between the Human and Beastman races and to clearly state his stance: in his eyes, there was no racial distinction, only right and wrong!
For a time, the entire Myriad World Civilization was filled with various discussions, which could be said to be quite lively.
“I think His Majesty’s handling of this matter wasn’t very proper. We are all humans; he should have helped his own people.”
“Nonsense! His Majesty is fair and just, acting according to the law! What’s wrong with that?”
“Exactly! If Sun Peng were innocent, would His Majesty not help him? It’s because he made a mistake himself!”
“Well said. I know that Sun Peng; he’s a scoundrel. On the contrary, his elder brother died pitifully, all because of his scoundrel brother.”
“You can’t say that. Have you read the recently published Three Character Classic? ‘If a child is not taught, the father is to blame!’ An elder brother is like a father! Sun Mingrui himself didn’t properly discipline Sun Peng. Who else can he blame? In my opinion, he brought it upon himself.”
“Alas! You all misunderstood me. I mean, we are all humans, and His Majesty is also human, while that kobold is a beastman. Between us humans, there should always be some consideration for sentiment!”
“Consider sentiment? Then why have laws? If we have to consider sentiment for such matters, wouldn’t the law become a mere decoration?”
“Exactly, knowingly breaking the law is an even greater crime!”
Debates erupted throughout the Myriad World Civilization, and through the Mirror Division’s intelligence network, these discussions naturally reached Luo Ji’s ears.
In essence, the human population of the Myriad World Civilization was now divided into three factions.
The first faction advocated that the law brooks no sentiment.
In their view, the Sun brothers knowingly broke the law, making their crimes even worse, and their fate was self-inflicted.
The second faction argued that the law is not devoid of human sentiment.
Even if the Sun brothers made mistakes, they were still humans, and Sun Mingrui, as an official of the Myriad World Civilization, had contributed, so he shouldn’t be treated so heartlessly.
As for the third faction, they neither agreed nor disagreed with either side.
To put it bluntly, they were just there to watch the show.
For Luo Ji, these discussions meant little, as long as no malicious individuals tried to stir up trouble.
After instructing the Mirror Division to pay more attention to this matter, Luo Ji leaned back in his office chair, lost in deep thought.
