Chapter 218: Public Trial (Medium)
No one withdrew to testify, and all twenty-six looked firm: "We are ready, Your Majesty." Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. biquge。 info”
"Very well, General Carlyle claims that you can prove that Sir Rod Foster was involved in the ambush against the Imperial forces in Hill Village. Now, please answer in detail: when and where the battle took place, and how you confirmed that Sir Rod Forster was present and in collusion with the Resistance. Send a representative to answer and interrupt the delegate's account if other witnesses find that the representative's answer is different from their own memory. ”
After some negotiation between them, the tallest of the witnesses came forward: "Back to Your Majesty, a month ago, thirty-five days to be exact, on the tenth day of November, we were alerted that a resistance army had left their nest and was operating in the defense area for which our unit was responsible, and from time to time attacking patrols. According to unreliable sources, some of the villagers of Hill are planning to join them, and the village chief has been planning to provide the Resistance with food, grass, and warm clothing, etc., and we suspect that this Resistance unit has been sent to receive new members and winter supplies, so my detachment under the leadership of Sir Carlyle went to investigate. ”
"Please describe the results of the investigation. ”
"There are no direct clues that the villagers are quietly supporting the resistance, either because the villagers are hiding their things well, or because they are simply false positives. However, we found out that a boy was not at home, there was an extra girl in the house, and his mother could not say exactly where her son was...... Sir Carlyle thought he must have been taken away by the Resistance for training, so he ordered the village chief to be hanged to punish him for not taking care of his villagers—"
"You did that?"
"Yes. ”
There was a small commotion in the auditorium, and such an unvarnished and straightforward narrative caused discomfort among some of the auditors...... Several officers were also embarrassed, but according to battlefield discipline, the troops in combat state had the right to kill targets they considered to be a possible threat.
"Witnesses are invited to continue, skipping the narrative that is not relevant to this trial. ”
"We then dispersed to each household and continued to count whether there were any discrepancies between the residents in the village and the original statistics. Then Sir Rod Forster appeared, rode into the village, and went straight to the house of the missing boy—"
The Emperor interrupted the account of the representative of the witnesses: "Witness, please explain why you know the accused Sir Rod Foster?"
"I don't know. The representative of the witness replied truthfully: "But he voluntarily confessed his identity, and when we heard the news and rushed to the scene of the incident, Sir Foster had already cut Sir Carlyle and two other soldiers to the ground, and then he said that he was the son of Rod Foster, the Duke of Upper Winway and the commander of the Imperial army, and asked to stand trial...... I can't remember exactly how it was said, but that's what it means. ”
Some of the nobles in the auditorium and the crowd stopped by the soldiers all started to talk, and there were even uncontrollable low laughter...... Only the person himself secretly smiled bitterly: he was not stupid at that time, but had to quickly identify himself, otherwise he would be cut into pulp by the imperial soldiers who surrounded him in a few seconds.
But since he wants to exonerate himself by proving his alibi, he naturally has to act as innocent as he doesn't know anything at this moment.
The representative of the witness continued: "Then an Anteli resistance army suddenly appeared, and then there was a scuffle, and since the chief and deputy commanders were killed, we were forced to engage in a hasty battle in a defensive formation, and suffered heavy losses...... Fortunately, the Resistance did not fight us to the death, and they rescued Sir Rhodes and left the scene as fast as they could. ”
The square fell silent, and the inquisitor, Kyle the Great, stopped questioning and looked at the accused Rod, ready to ask if he needed to defend himself.
(Almost.) )
Raven straightened up from her sitting position, lifted the little silver fox on her lap and handed it to her daughter's arms, and stood up from her seat.
Duchess Foster rarely appears in public, this stop immediately attracted the attention of the audience, most of the ordinary people on the periphery are the first time to see her, many men immediately have this feeling: even just to see Mrs. Foster's appearance, it is not in vain to come on this cold day, the imagination is richer and even began to lust, if this time the Foster family is really brought down, this flower-like mother and daughter, I don't know if they will be forced to fall into the dust?
Of course, the female mage didn't know what the onlookers were thinking, and she said with a straight face: "Your Majesty, if someone does something and claims to be my son, my family will be broken in by a group of crazy soldiers and smash a wave of dead and injured guards, how will my family's life continue?
"Woman, you are only a family member, and you are not qualified to speak at the judgment assembly!" the old man, who was handcuffed and ankle-chained, raised his head and glared at Raven viciously.
"Old General, you are now a criminal, and if you want to talk about qualifications, I am afraid that it will not be your turn to charge a duke heir with treason...... We're here today to solve problems, not to discuss 'qualifications'. Raven's expression did not change at all, and she calmly turned to face the emperor on the stage: "Your Majesty, I ask the witnesses to come forward and take a closer look at my son, and answer whether Rod is the person they saw that day." ”
"Well, bring the witnesses up and take a closer look at Sir Rod Foster sitting over there. ”
Twenty-six witnesses, led by heavily armed soldiers, approached the judgment seat and came face to face with Rhodes up close - the young man's hair stood on end, and at least half of the twenty-odd people had indeed seen faces themselves, and nine times out of ten they were really Imperial soldiers who had been ambushed in Hill Village that day, how could they not recognize themselves, what was the mother's idea?
All eyes in the square converged on the judgment table, quietly waiting for the conclusions of the witnesses.
Under the gaze of all, the twenty-six witnesses looked at Rhodes and discussed it again and again, almost into an argument...... After a few minutes, one of the representatives turned his head and faced the emperor on stage.
......
"Your Majesty, after identification and discussion, we believe that ...... This young man was not the assailant we saw that day. ”
The auditorium and the crowd of onlookers exploded, and most of the people in today's public trial came with the idea of "seeing how a powerful son of a high-flying and domineering magnate died and was finally sanctioned", but after a long time, the witnesses who accused the initiator came to the stage, and they who were supposed to prove the guilt of the son of Duke Foster said that they had confessed to the wrong person?
Haven't the mutinies, riots, and purges of the city defense forces all become farces these days?
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