Kingdom’s Bloodline Chapter 221: Kindly (on)
I know.
I knew this day would come.
Since the judgment was made eleven years ago, I have known that this day will always come.
I left home when I was young, abandoned my family business, devoted myself to studying knowledge, and only wanted to study for the rest of my life. I never thought that I would be lucky enough to apply what I learned to help the people.
However, the personnel and affairs are complicated and entangled, which cannot be explained by the study of the study.
For more than forty years, I have been the great judge of the Emerald City. I have experienced wars and peace, and I dare not be negligent in my actions. I put down the gavel, took off my official robe, and still couldn't help but think over and over again:
Every time I read a case, do I study the case thoroughly without leaving any omissions?
Am I detached and impartial in every trial?
Every time I speak, do I think clearly and expound appropriately?
Every time the hammer is dropped, do I live up to my oath and my original intention, to protect the interests of the weak and restrain the reckless actions of the strong, to uphold fairness and not violate the law?
Have I ever wronged a case over the years? Wronged a good person? Contributed to oppression and exploitation?
Have I ever let friendship and loyalty, hatred and anger, interests and gains and losses, cloud my judgment, and I don't know it, or pretend I don't know it?
Or, for many years, I have only deceived myself with righteousness, covered myself with official positions, intoxicated myself with power, sheltered myself under the law, and made excuses for my personal likes and dislikes and self-righteousness?
Leinster and I, as well as so many colleagues who are interested in this, is the dream city we built together still just wishful thinking?
If so, if strife and destruction are inevitable, is the future woven with blood and fire, conflict and death the eternal destiny of all people in the city, and even mortals in the world?
If only in this way can the so-called civilization and progress be achieved, then is the so-called justice, morality and law just a tool for us to unite ourselves and gather popular expectations? Its significance lies in deceiving the public, maintaining power, and serving the rule. Is its value as good as nothing? Is the meaning clear?
What is the difference between what we have learned and used, and the spears in the hands of soldiers, and the saddles on horses?
Justice and public interest, where is the boundary between them? Where is the person who has the right to interpret them?
But I am old.
Thinking is no longer quick, logic is no longer clear, values are gradually outdated, and life is dying, and there is no hope of finding answers to questions.
Only by being able to advance and study more and more will I finally be able to solve my confusion and benefit the world.
The evidence of the old case of the past is all here, and the strange disputes are all in it. Although there are thousands of threads, a capable person should be able to straighten them out.
However, Mo Duo commits crimes and harms innocent people.
When I resigned, there are 29 legacy cases under trial, 15 administrative affairs, 6 unreturned official documents, and 10 letters to be read. Well, I hope that all colleagues and colleagues will be more considerate and take care of you.
The rest of the family's wealth includes a large house donated by the Duke of Leinster in the past, several fields, a collection of more than 13,000 books, 206 gold deposits in the Royal Bank, and 30 gold cash.
The houses and fields were returned to the Emerald City, and the collection of books was donated to the South Bank and even the Xingchen Academy.
(The ten volumes of "On Taoism and Law" were borrowed from the study of the president of Longkiss Academy before I left office, and I brought them to the stars. bit, there is no need to return it.)
The money and wealth are entrusted to the eldest son and the eldest daughter for distribution. My son is upright and prudent, and my daughter is decisive and resolute. Now that we have established families and careers, we should put aside the past and work together, and we will be able to do well.
The housekeepers and servants in the family, keep them as before, and send them away if they are not used.
Four out of seventy gardeners in the front yard met evil masters in the past and became disabled. The fifty-five servants in the back yard were abducted at a young age and did not know where they came from. They all receive their kindness, and they should be treated like relatives, and they should not be negligent in supporting the elderly.
When I go, no matter what the situation is, children, servants, students, peers, and even close friends, there is no need to pursue the old and the old, let alone complain and revenge.
In my funeral, firstly, I must not waste money and money, secondly, I must not talk about the situation to disturb the audience, thirdly, I must not accept public or private condolences and gifts, and fourthly, I must not violate the law and hinder the governance of the city.
My body, no coffin, no tombstone, no niche box, no dead body, no objects to be buried with, no gold to cover my eyes, please follow the old rules of the stars, cremated into ashes , A total of his wife's remains were distributed, and they were scattered on the shore of the South Bank.
When I went to work by boat, Muhai was a harsh test. On the way, there were many storms and waves, and the newlyweds suffered serious illnesses. Now I go back by waves, and the girl should repay my love. Township.
If the children read it, they will always be between the sea and the sky.
As for my soul, I don't want to see the angel of heaven, I don't expect to meet with my wife and old friends, I just hope that the ferryman will do his duty justly. The boat was stable and reached the shore quickly.
Thirty-one volumes of my work, entrusted to students and friends, keep them if they are useful, and discard them if they are not.
The emerald favored me, so I worked hard to repay it.
(Signed)
Born in Meng'an City, lifetime honorary bachelor of Dragon Kiss Academy, citizen of Emerald City, love and husband of Lynyce Brennan, Johnny Brennan, left a message
Successors, please listen to me:
You have been given great power, and therefore you must tread carefully, trembling, and vigilant day and night.
You are endowed with great power, so when a greater power falls, you have the responsibility to withstand the pressure to maintain the weak and defend the fairness.
You are endowed with great power, so when you lose it, you must be firm and decisive, and never return. Don't be greedy, deceive yourself, and lose your mind.
————
After reading this special suicide note, Thales put down the letter paper and looked at everything in front of him:
Slightly messy desks, scattered documents, overturned chairs, broken wine glasses, stained carpets—and the murder scene marked with chalk after the body was removed.
"Be careful! Step lightly and slow down your movements, especially those evidences separated by labels, so as not to disturb the scene!" Mallos' command sounded.
In the early morning, Judge Brennan's mansion, his former office and study were crowded with people, crying and questioning from time to time. With the help of the Emerald Guardian, carefully investigate the scene of the crime:
Conmuto dealt with the police officers with a smile, and comforted the children of the Brennan family who came to hear the news and cried hoarsely, trying to ask for some information;
Glorver observed the layout of the entire study, and whispered to Morgan about where the murderer might have broken in;
D.D and Itariano were lying on the desk, flipping through the documents on it;
Standing in front of the broken window, Paul squinted and looked out of the window. Opposite him, Rolf stretched out his hand expressionlessly, feeling the gusts of cold wind coming from the window;
Miranda knelt on the ground with a focused expression, not letting go of any clues on the carpet, occasionally getting up and pacing back and forth, measuring the distance between different places.
It is said that it happened in the middle of the night.
As usual, Judge Brennan left a lamp in his study and worked overtime to process documents, but the gatekeeper, night watchman, gardener and servants in the mansion, including the neighbor's family who lived next door , but they all fell into a deep sleep at the same time, and even the housekeeper who went to remind the employer to sleep fainted in the corridor, still clutching a tray of supper.
According to the interrogation, most of the people inside and outside the mansion had nightmares or sweet dreams to varying degrees.
But when the housekeeper woke up, realized something was wrong, and called someone to break open the locked door that no one answered, Judge Brennan had already collapsed in the study, losing his breath forever.
It is said that when he died, his eyes were wide open, his expression was painful, and the large French windows in the study were smashed violently, leaving the door wide open, leaving only the cold wind howling.
"Violent break-in, murder, drowsiness, and it's hard to tell if the dream is true or not," Thales frowned tightly, turned to the broken window, and the biting cold wind hit his face, "Evil spirit whispered , did 'he' do it again?"
The Duke spoke, and the audience was silent.
Mallos waved his hand, and softly asked the police officer and guards to bring the weeping butler and the children of the deceased ("He has found justice for countless people, please be sure to find justice for him, Your Highness) .”) Leaving the room, leaving only the Star Lake Guard’s own people.
"It looks very similar," Miranda stood up from the ground, she nodded, she knew who the person His Highness was talking about, "Unfortunately, there are no witnesses."
"Could it be someone else?" Glover asked back.
Rolf by the window clapped his palms to attract everyone's attention, but he only stared at Thales, flipping his gestures:
[No, it's him. 】
"How do you know?" Thales asked.
Rolf pressed his heart:
[Intuition. 】
Everyone observed back and forth, all frowned, Miranda compared back and forth, but was still confused about the riddle between the mute and His Highness, and D.D was on the other side, mimicking Rolf's hand gestures, shaking his head from time to time, as if Get something.
"In any case, the body has no obvious trauma, and it has been sent to the Security Office for inspection. I believe the results will be available soon." Kong Mutuo, who was in charge of communicating with the security officer, added.
Thales lowered his head and looked at the letter in his hand again.
"Then what happened to this suicide note?"
This suicide note was written casually, full of the owner's remorse and melancholy, relief and relief, full of mysteries, but intriguing.
Kong Muto coughed:
"A few days ago, Mr. Brennan handed over a key to his most trusted student, saying that he was ill recently, and if he could not perform his duties, he would immediately hand over the key to His Royal Highness."
"Me?"
Thales couldn't help being stunned:
"What?"
Konmuto pointed to Brennan's desk, where countless documents were placed:
"I was about to report to His Royal Highness when Brennan's students rushed over after hearing the news, and opened the safe in his study with the key crying. , a personal letter, in the middle is this suicide note, and below it..."
"Sunset, this is," D.D leaned over to the desk and couldn't help but start flipping through the documents, exclaiming as soon as he opened his mouth, "The original file of the assassination case of the Duke of South Bank!"
Everyone was shocked.
Mallos looked at Thales, who pondered for a while, then nodded.
Therefore, several members of the Star Lake Guard stepped forward, carefully spread out the documents found in the safe, and examined them individually.
"Be careful, these papers are old." Mallos picked up a scroll and reminded everyone.
"But it's still well preserved." Glover spread out a document.
Everyone was in a hurry, assigning tasks under the command of Mallos, reading the documents, and only heard the pages of the documents and the scrolling of the scroll.
Only Thales sat where he was, repeatedly reading the suicide note left by the Grand Inquisitor, his expression unchanged, but his mood complicated.
[The legacy of the old case... Although it is complicated, a virtuous master should be able to clarify...]
Thales squeezed the letter tightly. From the characters shown in the text, he recalled old Brennan's voice and smile, as well as the fleeting but impressive encounter with him when he first arrived in the Emerald City.
As the most respected old judge in Emerald City, he left these things to me, the key to the current political storm in Emerald City.
An outsider who has nothing to do with the Emerald City, and may even have evil intentions towards it.
Why?
Thales' eyes were in a trance, and he was gradually fascinated.
A few minutes later, Miranda broke the silence.
"So, Brennan was one of the presiding judges, responsible for the case of Viscount Sona's brother murder."
Toledo flipped through the documents one by one, his expression becoming more and more surprised:
"And these documents, this is the attendance sheet of the police department, the case record, the investigation log... There are also interrogation archives, evidence testimony, case closing report... the trial documents to the court hall, the discussions of the judges Records, documents and exchanges with Kongming Palace, even the weather and harvest records of Emerald City, land transactions and asset records, everything..."
"Exactly what we need to investigate old cases now." Mallos looked at Thales thoughtfully.
Everyone looked at each other with complicated emotions.
"Some are transcripts and duplicate archives, and some are even, maybe even originals." The herald Toledo carefully inspected the paper, handwriting, and seal of each document, "This judge, he violated the rules, Put these things in your own safe and keep them privately for more than ten years?"
"Why?"
"Like that defender Slimani," Glover said emotionally, "After the incident in Emerald City, Brennan had a premonition that it was his turn, so he made preparations in advance."
"It's much earlier than Slimani," Miranda added. "These documents are all from more than ten years ago... Sona committed suicide when the trial was over, and Brennan knew that one day he would Someone came to the door and looked into the old case, so they took precautions."
D.D scratches his chin.
"So, Viscount Sona was convicted of committing the crime of murdering his brother...is there really a problem?"
"He is the seventh - Lausanne II followed the list and found them one by one," Miranda affirmed, "This matter is far from over."
"The **** Iris, that damned son of a bitch, is Federico or Federek's name," Morgan said fiercely, "Lausanne II is his man, he must have ordered this, even if he is locked up— —Go back and beat him up and you'll know!"
"If it was instigated by someone else," Paul said suddenly, who was silent, "You must know that Federico is just a pawn."
Everyone is stunned.
"Enough."
Mallos puts down a witness file:
"Guardian Kong Mutuo, tell the security department that these are important evidences for His Highness's arbitration, and we will pack them up and take them away. Go back to the palace and check carefully, and we must not let go of every clue."
Thales listened to their inferences, looked at the suicide note in his hand, and frowned more deeply.
Boom, boom, boom——Rolf tapped on the table, attracting everyone's attention.
Golover leaned over, followed Rolf's fingers and lowered his head, took out another bundle of documents from the safe, and spread them on the table: "It's not just the case records, Your Highness, look at the documents he left on the upper floor of the safe." stuff."
"What is this?"
D.D leans over and picks up the top few letters.
"Oh, this is a love letter he wrote to his wife when he was young. It's a thick stack, touching and nasty, ah, so good."
Doyle smiled complicatedly, and immediately looked at the next few letters:
"There was also the letter of renunciation from his father before. It seems that someone was at odds with the family, left his huge family property behind, and ran away from home... The reprimand letter from the dean of the college seems to be against him. Brennan’s punishment for helping students protest against the oppression of the Dragon Kiss Academy system, ah, it seems that he can’t get along with his boss... There are also letters of thanks from the students, well, at least he is very good to the juniors... Of course the most is , oh, here!"
D.D paused and showed everyone a stack of letters.
"These are... the letters that the Duke of Leinster wrote to Brennan when he was still studying at the Dragon Kiss Academy in the Principality of Anrenzo?" Miranda opened one of them.
"Almost every letter contains heated discussions between the old Duke and him, back and forth, back and forth, involving history and current affairs, law and jurisprudence, city construction and governance systems, talking about everything, every day At the end of the letter, the old Duke asked Brennan to come to the Emerald City to take a job in the Emerald City."
Paul opened letter after letter, read them quickly, and passed them on to the next person:
"Looking at the date, it should have lasted for several years."
"Thus, Brennan was moved by his kindness, and set off for the Emerald City." Glover took one of the long letters, and together with the others, restored the life trajectory of the murdered judge.
"Hey, high salary, low income, high income, and being respected, I am willing to change it," D.D sighed, and then reacted to the strange eyes of everyone, his face turned ashen, and he waved his hand repeatedly to deny, "Uh , I am not talking about me, Your Highness, I am very satisfied with my current job! You have a good leadership, and Star Lake Castle is comfortable and pleasant... I was just talking about this old judge..."
But Thales focused all his attention on Brennan's suicide note and ignored his defense. Rolf patted another bundle of letters into D.D's arms, and pressed them together with his long-winded explanation.
At this time, Miranda who was reading the letter suddenly said:
"And even when he arrived in the Emerald City, he never broke the letters with the old Duke, and his tone was the same as that of a close friend for many years."
"Look, everyone, this is Brennan's letter of appointment officially as the judge of the Emerald City, with the old Duke's autograph and seal on it," Niexi picked up a picture frame in amazement, which contained a neat page Ornate document, stamped with a prominent iris flower, "seems to have been valued by him, framed and carefully preserved over the years."
"There is no better luck in life than meeting a confidant," Paul sighed, "and he has both."
"Not all," Nexi carefully hugged the picture frame, studying every pattern on it, "the old duke is not the only one who signed this letter of appointment, there are others at the bottom."
Following his fingers, everyone took a closer look:
"The Viscount of Arch Sea City, Sona Cavendir?"
Neixi nodded, triumphantly.
"So, Brennan's appointment was also approved by Sona, and they have a good relationship?" D.D scratched his chin, wondering how much His Highness had listened to his "high salary job hopping" words just now.
"Exactly the opposite."
When everyone turned around, Miranda showed the two letters in her hand and handed them to everyone.
"Looking at these two letters, it seems that Brennan and Viscount Sona once worked together to try a peasant riot case..."
"Uprisings, riots," Morgan muttered, "before the **** year, the kingdom was everywhere."
Miranda glanced at him, and continued: "It seems that Sona insisted on sending all criminals to the gallows as a warning to others, while Brennan advocated that the accomplices should not be prosecuted, and the principal criminals fled. The politics of the Emerald City."
D.D took the letter, frowning while reading:
"The old duke sternly criticized Brennan in a rare way... He said that Viscount Sona was neither disregarding human life without asking the reason, nor was he cold-blooded and merciless to the people, but he had to use extraordinary methods in extraordinary times...and told Brennan not Let’s talk about the nonsense of ‘Suona is in power, and there will be a catastrophe on the South Bank’...and he will also reprimand his own brother, let him know more about the sufferings of the people, and respect the authority and professionalism of the grand judge..."
"Not close relatives, as a foreigner traveling thousands of miles, dare to criticize the lord's younger brother, this Brennan is really kind." Paul thought deeply.
"It's not just kindness," Mallos lamented in a rare way, "it's more loyal."
Miranda picks up the third letter:
"In the end, it seems that the old Duke made a compromise order, and the principal criminal was sent to the prison of bones, and the accomplice was fined and sentenced, forcing the two to compromise and get back together—at least on the bright side."
The crowd reviewed Brennan's letters one after another.
"So to sum up, Brennan has a deep relationship with the old Duke himself, even a close friend, but his relationship with Sona is not good, it can even be said to be bad, and opinions are often at odds. When it comes to attacking each other, the old Duke needs to be in the middle The degree of harmony."
D.D smiled ironically:
"And don't forget, back then, Brennan was responsible for the trial of Sona's brother murder case."
"Take these letters away, too," Mallos said firmly, "There must be a reason for them to be left here—Your Highness?"
Everyone was quiet for a while, and all looked at the prince.
Thales frowned.
Originally, he was devastated by the emerald city's predicament, and tried to reach a compromise with Zhan En, letting him go on this case in exchange for stability, but now that this case comes out...
"How's it going outside?" Thales said slowly, putting away Brennan's suicide note, "How does the entire Emerald City see this murder case?"
Mallos glanced at him, hesitated to speak.
Miranda, Paul, Glover, D.D, Nehsi...all of them looked at each other, not daring to speak, and in the end it was Mallos who coughed:
"Judge Brennan is highly respected, Your Highness, people... are very concerned."
Got it, got it.
Thales automatically filtered out the modifications in Mallos' words, and sighed helplessly:
"Very good, so now the emerald city is full of excitement, everyone is watching, and everyone is in danger..."
Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay.
"Plus the situation is getting worse every day, I want to be sloppy and not go down to investigate the old case...it's impossible."
Let alone reach a compromise with Zhan En.
What a coincidence at this time.
Thales shook Guertaxa in his pocket, thinking about what a difficult day he was going to have. At this moment, Kongmutuo came back to report.
"Your Highness, the post-mortem report from the Security Office is here, and the preliminary judgment is: Brennan died of... um, died of poisoning?"
Thales was taken aback.
"What?"
Everyone was also surprised: "Take poison?"
"What kind of poison did you take? Where did you get the poison?" Mallos' complexion changed.
At this moment, D.D's voice suddenly sounded from across the desk, full of surprises:
"My God, this is the batch of 646 classic limited cellar wine from the Principality of Anrenzo! It was specially brewed in the cellar to celebrate the marriage of the "Three Sisters of the World" of the Gust family! Ah, look at the pattern, this The bottle is the Saoirse version!"
Under the suspicious eyes of everyone, Doyle excitedly opened the wine bottle on the table, brought his nose closer, and sniffed the wine intoxicatedly:
"You actually drank it by yourself! Tsk tsk, with the current price of this wine in the market, you say that this old man is not corrupt, anyway, I don't believe it—"
Tel suddenly changed color!
Hoo! call!
It was too late and then quickly, Miranda was nimble and rushed ahead of everyone, the figure turned over the desk in a flash, and snatched the precious wine bottle from D.D's hand!
"Hey don't, I'll just smell it—"
On the other side, Glover's figure pressed down like a hill, knocking Doyle to the ground!
"Idiot!"
Miranda's face was livid, and she put the cap back into the wine bottle through the glove, pressed it firmly, and then slammed it back on the desk!
"What, what's wrong? Is something wrong?"
D.D, who was pressed to the ground, realized something was wrong.
Mallos' eyes moved, and Kusta took out a piece of cloth with great experience, and wrapped the bottle of wine firmly.
Miranda snorted, carefully and quickly took off her gloves, threw them on the ground, and carefully wrapped them in cloth.
D.D watched the action of the female swordsman, then looked at the bottle of wine, and widened his eyes:
"Take poison! You mean, this wine is the poison he took!"
The crowd didn't answer, they just looked at him with strange expressions.
D.D's complexion changed drastically, and he quickly took out the handkerchief from Glover's pocket, blowing his nose desperately, as if wanting to blow out the aroma of the wine he had just inhaled, while at the same time he struggled to escape from the bottle of wine. as far as possible.
"Go and see him," Thales frowned, "and then remember to punish him so that he can have a long memory."
Mallos nodded with gloomy eyes.
"Okay, don't cry, just smell it, such a small amount is fine, just scared," Itariano stepped forward to check D.D's nose, "You know how much you have Are you lucky? If Kongmuto came a little later...don't pick it up, it's bleeding!"
Ignoring D.D's grateful lament over there that he was lucky enough to survive the catastrophe, Thales returned to the present, looking at the bottle of wine wrapped in cloth:
"So, Old Brennan was not murdered by Lausanne II, but committed suicide by taking poison in his study?"
Mallos also frowned, and everyone looked at each other in blank dismay.
"No, I think Lausanne II is indeed here."
Miranda put on new gloves again, thoughtfully:
"But for some reason, he couldn't handle that well-informed and seasoned old judge."
Everyone looked at the female swordsman.
I saw Miranda pacing slowly, walked to the opposite side of the desk, and patted the overwhelmed guest.
"According to the traces in the room, I think that after Lausanne II activated his ability and broke in unimpeded, he came to Brennan's study, sat in this position, sat opposite the desk, and began In the old case, interrogate old Brennan."
Miranda walked to the bookcase, measuring the distance:
"Perhaps because of overconfidence, he felt that an old man with no power to restrain a chicken would not pose a threat to him, so Lausanne II did not even bind Brennan."
"With his ability, it doesn't matter if he is bound or not." Morgan said angrily.
"Knightly demeanor." Mallos said suddenly.
"What?" Miranda was taken aback.
Mallos looked towards the door.
"Except for Brennan himself, no one in the whole mansion was injured, not even bloodstains or signs of fighting, and even the watchdog fell asleep." The watchman narrowed his eyes, "It can be seen that he did not make trouble or torture Brennan."
Thales' eyes moved when he heard this.
"Impossible!"
On the other hand, he almost died young, so D.D, who was unwilling to do so, blew his dying nose over and over again, while saying indignantly:
"I still remember that innocent mistress, her expression before she died - he tortured her and let her blood dry on the bed, just to torture her lover."
D.D blew his nose again, and then returned the handkerchief. Glover held back his disgusted face, and kindly signaled that he could keep it for himself.
"At the end of the day, the old man taught a murderous **** to kill his classmates first, and then the innocent," Doyle said sullenly, putting his handkerchief back in his pocket, "fucking knight."
Listening to these words, everyone had different thoughts, Thales coughed:
"Mira?"
Miranda nodded, continued to pace, came to the desk, and pointed to an empty wine glass on it:
"The old judge came to his senses and understood what had happened after seeing Lausanne. So while he was dealing with the killer calmly and buying time, he walked to the bookcase and opened this bottle—perhaps it had been treasured for many years. Poisoned wine."
Everyone looked at the wrapped bottle of famous wine, full of surprise.
Paul tutted:
"Knowing that there is no escape, why not kill yourself?"
"It's really kind." Morgan's evaluation was concise and powerful.
"Not only, look here," Miranda walked to the corner, pointing to an empty wine glass lying in the corner, "the second glass."
Thales' gaze changed.
"Yes~IndoMTL.com~Master Brennan," Miranda sighed, looking at the two cups on the table, "He not only drank by himself, but even tried to invite the killer to drink with him."
Everyone was shocked.
"The setting sun is above, this old man is not only kind, but also a tough guy." Hearing this, Morgan couldn't help but change color.
Looking at Brennan's fallen position, Glover shook his head:
"Unfortunately it didn't work out."
"No, he succeeded!"
Unexpectedly, it turned out to be D.D lying on the ground, looking at the second wine glass carefully with disgust and caution:
"This is a glass, and there are lip marks on both glasses - the killer must have drunk!"
D.D's eyes shine:
"Lausanne II, he is poisoned! Terribly poisonous!"