Without letting Song Yue explain herself or even letting the third prince interfere, Mark took the matter into his hands and argued with Zhang Kong, "I said that I have nothing to do with her. Did you perhaps witness that we met in private or something? Did you or anyone witness any incident that can be stated that her loyalty towards you was wavering? If your statement is true, then, aren't you the one who was feeling insecure?
Someday in the future, if your wife praises that the Emperor is so mighty, then, does that mean she's not faithful to you, anymore?
Praising a man's looks is considered unfaithful and a man's strength isn't considered unfaithful? What kind of bullshit is that?"
Turning towards the Emperor, Mark then said, "This kind of man is the reason that women were looked down on in the society."
"Uhh…" The Supreme Commander was stumped by Mark's reply. "Another lecture?"
He couldn't help but pity the poor guy who dug his own grave. On the other hand, the third prince gave double thumbs up in his head.
After Zhang Kong was thoroughly lectured on how to respect the woman, he hung his head down in shame, feeling like a loser.
"Crown prince Zexi, I'm waiting." The Emperor looked at his son. He could understand what Mark was trying to say but he also doesn't want his eldest son to look like a complete loser without even being able to fight back.
In a hurry to prove his point, the Crown Prince argued that it was wrong for Lu Zhen to extort huge sums from the clans and also he violated the rule of escaping the city for a week, without informing the officials when he know that his name is recorded in the observational list.
The Emperor was satisfied with it and he shifted his attention to Mark.
It was then the second prince decided to strike the nail with a hammer to finish this trial once in for all.
"Your Majesty, I wish to say something." He opened his mouth for the first time.
"Go on." The Emperor also wanted to listen to what his second son as to say to defend Lu Zhen.
Shang Wen then announced, "I don't want to mention it when Lu Zhen himself doesn't wish to, but seeing that he was dragged to the public trial because of the Crown Prince's half-done investigations, I couldn't hold the truth any longer.
The day he disappeared from the Imperial City, I met him at Jin Province. We fought together on the battle against the beast tide and Lu Zhen is the summoner that killed Cerberus, earning him the title of Cerberus Slayer. I can attest to this fact even by taking an oath with the Heavens as the witness.
Just one corpse of Cerberus will earn him a gold mine. Why would he bother extorting mere 10 thousand or 100 thousand? I believe he wanted to teach them a lesson.
Instead of honoring him with rewards, the Crown prince tried to turn Lu Zhen into a traitor of the Empire. Such irresponsibility cannot be forgiven, and Your Majesty, it won't look good for the Emperor if he cannot give justice to the hero who saved not only the people of Jin province but also forced the Sui Clan to free the slaves and turn them into employees with proper wage and good living conditions."
Now, it was Mark's turn to receive a surprise. From the start, he planned to tackle the situation alone, depending on two things, one is to drag the society into his problem, and the other is to depend on his 9 points of charisma to convince the public so that they will be on his side.
Little did he expect the second prince will be arguing with his father on behalf of him…
Whatever motives the second prince had, Mark was impressed by his actions. He planned to reward him, later.
Meanwhile, the third prince, the ministers, the eldest prince, and everyone else heard the second prince go into shock. They couldn't believe their ears.
"Oh, boy, that careless brat of mine unnecessarily provoked an Exalt realm expert." The Emperor suddenly felt like his head is in pain.
The Crown Prince and the other noble clan heads don't look like they were going to open their mouth any time.
So, the Emperor took the charge, "Lu Zhen, I wish to ask you three simple questions. If you don't wish to answer it, you have the right to be silent but you cannot lie. For that, take a soul oath with the heavens as the witness."
Mark fell into thoughts. He hesitated about taking an oath because there are a lot of secrets in him and sometimes, even silence can be considered an answer.
Sensing his dilemma, the system came to the rescue.
*Ding! The oath of the heavens has no effect on the system. There will be no repercussions even if you take an oath and do not fulfill it.
Even though Mark felt like this sassy system is boasting itself, he didn't comment on it and just focused on the situation before him. He nodded and took the oath.
My first question, do you belong to the Xu sect or any other hostile organizations that the Imperial family had banned?"
Mark answered it right away, "Whether in the past or at present, I don't belong to any sect, any guilds, organizations, or have contacts with the foreign Empires."
"Good," The Emperor believed him and proceeded to ask his second question, "What is your purpose of coming to this city and opening up a store at a Commoner district?"
Mark answered immediately once again, "To sell the firearms and make money."
The Emperor then asked the final question, "Your weapons, so-called firearms are unique and are of unknown origin. If you don't wish to disclose the identity of the manufacturer, then, will you be able to arrange a meeting? His/her identity will be protected. I give my word.
Mark shook his head in response without hesitation, "That's not possible, Your Majesty. The manufacturer cannot meet anyone but me. It was a soul contract, so, I can't reveal the details. What I can say is that I was, I am and I will be the sole weapon seller."
"Alright," The Emperor nodded in understanding. If not for the fact that Mark took a soul oath, he would have suspected him because it's weird for a manufacturer to have a sole weapon seller unless they have a strong relationship.
The Emperor then stood up from the throne, "I, Shang Fu, 32nd Emperor of the Shang Dynasty, announce Lu Zhen and Song Yue as not guilty. For trying to malign the image of a warrior with baseless accusations, I punish Crown Prince Zexi with a house arrest of 15 days, where he cannot attend to the court matters nor can he step outside the palace for any reason. Violating this decree will be subjected to harsher punishment.
I declare Zhang Clan is guilty of trying to ruin the image of Son Yue to cover Zhang Kong's mistakes. Zhang Kong will be punished with twenty whips on his back and for a period of 15 days, the duties of Zhang Clan will be handed over to Grand Secretariat Li. Zhang Kong and Zhang Lei will apologize to Song Yue on their knees.
According to the conditions stated before, I order the Crown Prince to apologize to Lu Zhen, right now, and then, court officials, later. After that, his punishment of house arrest will be commenced.
As for Zhang Clan, Minister Zhang Lei will resign from his post and hand it over to a worthy successor.
If the public is satisfied with my judgment, please stand up. If not, continue to sit. According to the rule of the public trial, you hold the decision to override the judgment. You have five minutes to decide."
Usually, the spectators would follow the decision of the Emperor because of fear but today, they were really satisfied that the Emperor judged in favor of the commoner who talked about their rights.
Almost every one of them stood up on their feet while praising him, "May the Emperor live and reign for ten thousand years."
Soon, the crown prince bowed to Mark and apologized for accusing him without properly investigating the matter. He secretly vowed in his heart to take revenge for sure.
Zhang Lei and his son Zhang Kong fell on their knees in front of everyone and apologized to Song Yue. The latter didn't even reply as she was heartbroken by her ex-fiancées words.
Meanwhile, Zhang Clan's Grand elder's face turned red due to embarrassment and anger. But, he wasn't foolish to take action and swallowed the humiliation.
Just when it seemed like everything was going well for Mark, an interruption came in the form of a person.
"The justice hasn't served yet, Your Majesty." A powerful roar escaped from the spectators.
