Darkstone Code

Chapter 1264 - 1262: Testimony

The Eldest Prince sitting in the defendant’s chair watched the prosecutor’s constantly moving lips, recalling the beginnings of this matter.

A landowner from a remote countryside, with some money in hand, somehow heard that making money in the big city is better and quickly hooked up with some merchant on this side of the Imperial Capital.

In Gafura, there are no "capitalists," at least from the official perspective, that’s the case.

All the merchants are like lambs kept by the Lord; they are not dangerous at all. When the aristocrats have needs, they will shear their wool.

These lambs have attempted rebellion at different times, but the outcome is never surprising; all the lambs become roasted lamb.

So, the lambs learned to be low-key, learned to be obedient.

In this power-centric country, capitalists can never stir up any waves.

So there are no vicious capitalists here, only docile lambs—merchants.

This rural landowner quickly used his foolish and hypocritical face to deceive many people and also gained some friendships.

Someone introduced him to a job, a laborious and thankless task, building cheap apartments.

Gafura also has cheap apartments, but these cheap apartments, in essence, are very different from those in the Federation.

In the Federation’s cheap apartments, tenants only need to pay no more than fifty percent, most of the time only twenty to thirty percent of the rent to move in.

The rest is paid using various financial subsidies; for example, in Sabin City’s cheap apartments, people only need to pay one-third of the rent for a family to live well.

The city finances pay the remaining sixty percent.

Of course, when discussing this issue, there is no need to consider how the Federation’s capitalists use cheap apartments for interest transmission and wealth acquisition; at least it solves many people’s food and clothing problems.

In Gafura, cheap apartments are more like a... superficial project.

The lack of capitalists is a very important link, so much so that local governments are not very interested in building cheap apartments.

After all, the more residents, the greater the city’s financial burden; building as few as possible is the most correct choice.

Moreover, the profit from such projects isn’t much, far less than the prosecutor said to be able to make something like two million.

Damn, after the landowner completed the project, he even lost hundreds of thousands!

He undertook this project mainly to forge connections with the aristocrats.

This matter relates to the Eldest Prince because at that time, the Eldest Prince was actively establishing his positive image.

He is the destined heir to the throne; a tyrant relying on slaughtering siblings to ascend to the throne actually created a primogeniture system for the children’s mutual slaughter.

Once grown, the Eldest Prince must establish himself as a "wise monarch" in front of the Gafura public.

Some charitable projects, rescue projects, are obviously excellent choices.

Without spending any money but gaining benefits, he could project his reputation of wisdom and empathy for the people; why refuse?

He "lent his name" to many similar projects, naturally, that rural landowner also got what he wanted.

Although he lost the capital.

The Eldest Prince’s eyes slightly moved, his gaze towards the prosecutor revealed a sense of mockery, as if mocking a person who should speak the truth but began to lie for political reasons.

At this moment, the Eldest Prince’s mind was incredibly active, so active that he began to perceive the world with a very clear understanding.

The prosecutor felt somewhat uncomfortable being watched by his gaze; he pretended casually to turn his head, glancing with the corner of his eye at the Chief Prosecutor.

The high Chief Prosecutor had a stern face, his gaze lowered, not noticing his glance.

"If you need, I can summon the witness, that merchant."

The Eldest Prince’s expression was still one of disdain, "He can betray and frame me; in the future, he will also betray you and yours."

"Today, you stand on the execution platform questioning me from the executioner’s viewpoint; one day, you will stand here, facing another’s judgment."

His words made the prosecutor somewhat afraid and somewhat angry; he felt belittled.

Overthrowing the Imperial Family is the unanimous will of the aristocracy, not something easily changed.

He forced himself to act fiercely, pressing, "It seems the Eldest Prince does not acknowledge his wrongdoings. I request the judge to summon the witness."

The prosecutor turned, looked at the Chief Justice, and bowed.

In Gafura, the Chief Justice is also held by aristocrats.

The Chief Justice nodded, allowed the prosecutor’s request, and then a chubby merchant appeared in the witness stand.

"He seems to have not been beaten," Lynch sitting in the gallery, concluded after careful observation.

"There’s no issue with his posture when walking, nor with his expressions or gaze. The Eldest Prince is in big trouble."

In the small room, Lynch learned a lot of interesting knowledge, such as how to judge a person’s state through some subtle expressions.

When someone can decide to betray without undergoing any harsh torture, it means that this betrayal will be very thorough.

This merchant might even wish for the Imperial Family’s downfall more than the nobles do, otherwise, it will be his end!

The prosecutor had a faintly concealed smug smile on his face. He adjusted his expression while turning around.

He walked over to the merchant and asked, "Please place your hand on the Bible and swear that everything you say is the truth, without lies."

The merchant placed his plump hand almost covering the Bible, swearing in a comically serious manner that he would definitely not lie.

The prosecutor was satisfied with his expression and attitude as he swore, then asked, "Tell me about your transactions with the Eldest Prince..."

There were occasional gasps from the back of the audience as the merchant narrated.

No need to wonder; those were ordinary people, civilians, citizens of the Empire. Call them what you will, but they weren’t nobles.

Only civilians would gasp, while the nobles sitting in the front row knew that everything the merchant said was false!

Yes, everyone knew because these rules of the game have been in place in Gafura for hundreds of years.

Every noble has such people around them, trying all means to please the nobles just hoping to say, "I have cooperated with..." to avoid risks when encountering trouble in business.

For this, they are willing to give up some profits, as they understand that using the nobles’ prestige is not free.

Everyone knew the Eldest Prince was being framed, yet the ones who knew the truth were precisely those who framed him, which is very... sad.

The sorrows of the Eldest Prince and the Imperial Family.

"Enough..."

When the merchant talked about stripping his niece and presenting her to the Eldest Prince, the Eldest Prince interrupted him.

The merchant’s face showed a conflicting, awkward, timidly humble smile, and when the Eldest Prince looked at him, he lowered his head humbly, not daring to meet his gaze.

"Continue reading my next charge," he said, his face devoid of expression, only disappointment and numbness remained.

Disappointment represented his immaturity, while numbness represented his naivety.

The prosecutor was about to ask if the Eldest Prince admitted to the first charge when the Chief Prosecutor glanced at him.

Humans, like many animals, have less competent static vision compared to dynamic vision.

In just that instant of subtle change, the prosecutor caught it.

He skipped the question and began reading the second charge against the Eldest Prince.

By midday, except for a few charges lacking witnesses, almost all other charges had witnesses testifying against the Eldest Prince’s crimes in these cases!

Upon leaving, Lynch could already imagine what Gafura would look like after the new day dawned!

Claiming that faith would collapse might be a bit exaggerated, but the fact is that many people indeed regarded the Imperial Family as their faith.

After a group of scientists couldn’t prove the existence of deities in any way, leading to the rise of atheism, even the faith in the Imperial Family collapsed. It’s truly a terrible era!

As the whole of Gafura’s public opinion began to ferment rapidly, Lynch found himself once again facing the Prime Minister.

But this time, he was not there as a noble but as a diplomat from the Federation.

"When I saw you coming in earlier, I thought that after today’s negotiations are over, I must call Mr. Truman and have him send someone else!"

The Prime Minister smiled lightly, not strongly, subtler than a smile, "I thought my opponent wouldn’t know much about the issues we need to discuss, but I didn’t expect to meet a ’familiar face’!"

Lynch knew Gafura well, with many noble friends, which meant that the Prime Minister couldn’t hide anything from Lynch during the negotiations.

How much one gains from negotiations often depends on how much information one holds. As the ’host’ and the one dictating the terms of negotiation, the Prime Minister should have had some advantage.

But these advantages disappeared when facing Lynch.

Lynch played with the pen used for taking notes, meeting the Prime Minister’s gaze, gentle, restrained, yet strong.

"Isn’t this just right?", he retorted, "I have sufficient understanding of both Gafura and the Federation, and I can eliminate certain misunderstandings between us that shouldn’t appear or exist. I am the most suitable person!"

The Prime Minister chuckled twice, perfunctory, with undertones of "utter nonsense" in those simple chuckles.

Lynch also chuckled twice, suggesting the value of a good brain, as if anyone wouldn’t understand.

The Prime Minister’s perfunctory smile faded, he apologized first, then put on his reading glasses, glanced at a few documents, then took off the glasses and looked at Lynch, "We need food..."