419 First Trial (1/2)

Under the solemn atmosphere, Ye Qingxuan walked into the pen half as tall as him and sat on the chair. With a click, the handcuffs were chained onto the armrests.

The chair was very high quality. It was comfortable and matched the curves in one's figure. Though it was for criminals, the work was still very fine. This was the Sacred Court, after all. It was the most important judiciary in the world. People who were tried here all had high status. Therefore, the Sacred City would not be stingy here. Even criminals received humane treatment.

However, it reminded Ye Qingxuan of the final meal before an execution in the East. Everyone would treat those about to die nicely, right? The nicer, the less they would want to die—the more painful it would be.

He lowered his head and waited quietly for the session to open. In the silent courtroom, the complex gazes fell on the quiet youth. Other than the packed seats, there were also twelve jurors for fairness. They sat on either side and quietly studied Ye Qingxuan. This matter involved the Sacred City and the nations so the agents from embassies had arrived. Of course, on the surface, they were all high-status nobles from the Sacred City. There were also priests from the various departments of the Church. It seemed to be their first time seeing Ye Qingxuan and they were all a bit shocked.

”Heard he's a white-haired Easterner but I never thought he'd be as pretty as a girl,” the judge from the Corsica Federation murmured. ”I thought he would look manlier.”

”Manly? How?” The old man beside him scoffed. ”Having a face of hair like a bear?”

”As long as he doesn't look like an old monkey.” Before the old man could lose his temper, the Corsica judge turned to the other side. ”What do you think?”

”I can't tell.” The young man smiled wryly. ”I think Easterners all look the same… Why don't you ask Mr. Hu?”

The white-haired middle aged man at the end of the smiled but did not reply. He just gazed at Ye Qingxuan with troubled and heavy eyes. Beside him, the Asgardian ambassador appeared in the juror section without disguises. He was a typical crude Asgardian. Glancing at the quiet Mr. Hu, he asked, ”What do you think of the Sacred City's decision?”

”I don't know. It is difficult to guess the Sacred City's thoughts.” Mr. Hu chuckled bitterly. ”After all, didn't the Pope say that they'll judge with justice?”

”That is what's hard to understand.” The Asgardian ambassador played with his beard and looked up at the empty seat of the judge. There was no problem of dealing with justice but who was responsible? The pope had been appearing less and less. More and more power was given to the other departments. Other than Knights Templar, there were no other directly controlled troops.

Many said that if the previous popes who worked hard in ruling knew about this, they would be turning in their graves. After years of political wars, all the power was finally in the hands of one man but the current King of Red tossed it back out without hesitation.

It was as if he truly was a devout monk who did not care about the outside world. This had caused the Ecclesiastical Order to strengthen. This originally small ascetic group now influenced the majority of departments in the background. Its influence was still growing. Sometimes, they even affected the Cardinals.

These old guys should have been waiting for death. But now, they received some mysterious power and even their relatives benefited. They paced through the city like wraiths.

They had not done anything major yet, but the farsighted ones had realized that the Ecclesiastical Order were preparing to edit the Third Amendment…they wished to recover the Sacred City's supreme glory from centuries ago.

No country wished to see the Sacred City ruling above them, no matter how holy it was. This was why the relationships between the City and countries had become more complicated. Ye Qingxuan's trial became critical.

Without a doubt, Anglo would not let it go if it was not dealt with well or if it could not placate the public. In everyone's eyes, it was as if an invisible hand was rubbing the fuse now. No one wanted to see that.

Thus, everyone on either side gazed in silence. Today was the first trial for Ye Qingxuan's case. How would it end?