365: Joint Trial by Three Judicial Offices

On the ice walls of the Hanyue Valley Underground Palace, the water mirror displayed the scene in the Kaifeng Prefecture courtroom with crystal clarity.

Officials from the three judicial offices sat in rows on both sides, while account books piled up like small mountains on the tables, each page stamped with the bright red seal of the Ministry of Revenue.

Lord Bao sat upright in the main hall; the wings of his black gauze cap trembled slightly with his breathing, and the gavel pressed a shallow indentation into the official desk.

Prince Jing was chained in the center of the hall, the gold threads on his brocade robe torn and messy, his past arrogance now transformed into deep resentment.

He stared at the Justice Seal in Lord Bao's hand and roared, "Lord Bao! You dare to put me on trial? Do you believe I won't have the Emperor strip you of your official cap?"

"Your Highness is suspected of colluding with the enemy to commit treason, embezzling military pay, and conspiring with an evil cult; each count is a capital offense."

Lord Bao's voice came through the water mirror, cold and hard like metal and stone, "Your Majesty has bestowed the Shangfang Sword. Today, at this joint trial by the three judicial offices, even royalty must be judged according to the law."

Jun Xiaoyao tapped his fingertips on the ice desk, where the secret report sent back by Zhan Zhao was spread out—the secret letter between Prince Jing and the Northern Di had been rubbed, and the ink contained the unique grit of the Northern Territory, proving the transaction was real.

Zhao Gao emerged from the shadows, holding a bronze tray with three tokens on it.

"Young Lord, the tokens of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of War have all been obtained. Zhan Zhao says the case files can be accessed at any time."

Zhao Gao arranged the tokens into a triangle, "Additionally, The Net's 'Shadow' group discovered that Prince Jing's biological mother was once a Saintess of the Blood Shadow Cult, a relationship he has hidden for thirty years."

In the water mirror, Zhan Zhao suddenly stepped forward, pointing his zhanlu sword outside the hall, "Bring in the witness!"

Two bailiffs escorted a disheveled old woman into the courtroom. Upon seeing Prince Jing, she suddenly broke free and lunged at him, scratching at his face with her fingernails, "You heartless wretch! To climb the ladder, you even sent your own mother to the Blood Shadow Cult as a sacrifice!"

Prince Jing's expression changed drastically; he kicked the old woman away and roared, "Crazy hag! You're spouting nonsense! My mother passed away from illness long ago!"

"Passed away from illness?" The old woman took a jade pendant from her bosom; the Phoenix pattern on it was identical to the design on Prince Jing's waist token, "She gave you this when you were a month old. She said that when you became Crown Prince, you would bring her out of the cult... but instead, you had the Blood Shadow Cult refine her into a 'Blood Puppet'!"

The commoners outside the courtroom were in an uproar. Someone threw a copy of "The Secret History of Prince Jing" into the hall, the pages hitting Prince Jing in the face, the words "Refining a Blood Puppet requires the essence blood of a close relative" appearing particularly glaring.

Lord Bao picked up the jade pendant and lightly touched it with the Justice Seal. The pendant suddenly seeped black blood, which solidified in the air into a blurry phantom of a woman.

"This commoner... greets Lord Bao..." The phantom bowed gracefully to Lord Bao, her voice mournful like weeping, "I beg you, my lord, for my son... no, I beg you to severely punish this beast..."

Prince Jing collapsed to the ground, his chains dragging across the blue bricks with a grating sound.

He looked at the phantom and suddenly laughed wildly, "So what if I did? Those who achieve great things do not sweat the small details! If she hadn't blocked my path, I would have ascended to the position of Crown Prince long ago!"

"Enough." Lord Bao slammed his gavel down heavily, making the files on the desk jump an inch, "Bring in the physical evidence—the secret letter to the Northern Di, the Blood Shadow Cult tokens, and the molds for privately minting coins!"

The bailiffs presented the evidence one by one, each piece verified and stamped by officials from the three judicial offices.

When the Blood Shadow Cult token was placed in front of Prince Jing, he suddenly struggled and lunged at Zhan Zhao, but was forced back by the Sword Qi of the zhanlu sword. The bloodstain on his wrist perfectly matched the groove on the token.

Jun Xiaoyao looked up at the summoning array. The spiritual power at the center of the array had risen to 95% due to the truth being revealed. As the runes flowed, a line of text appeared—[Justice atmosphere detected, Ultimate Verdict can be triggered].

[System Prompt: Verdict-type Summoning—Rule of Law]

[Origin: Manifestation of Legal Principle from "Cases of Lord Bao"]

[Form: Tiger Head Guillotine (Artifact Spirit)]

[Realm: None (Specializes in executing royalty, ignores Realm suppression)]

[Ability: Law Allows No Mercy (If the person being touched has committed grave crimes, they are immediately exposed)]

[Summoning Cost: 90% Spiritual Power]

Golden light erupted from the summoning array, and the phantom of the Tiger Head Guillotine pierced through the water mirror, landing in the center of the Kaifeng Prefecture courtroom.

The tiger patterns on the guillotine suddenly came alive, opening their mouths to let out a deafening roar, sucking away all the evil Qi from Prince Jing's body and revealing a birthmark on his chest that resembled the one belonging to the Blood Shadow Cult Saintess.

"Prince Jing, do you confess your crimes?" Lord Bao's voice spread throughout Kaifeng Prefecture, reaching even the military camp thirty miles away.

Prince Jing looked at the Tiger Head Guillotine, fear finally appearing in his eyes, and he kowtowed repeatedly, "I confess! I beg Lord Bao to spare my life! I am willing to donate all my family assets to the soldiers in the Northern Territory!"

"It is too late." Lord Bao picked up the Shangfang Sword, the tip pointing at the Tiger Head Guillotine, "Men, execute the sentence!"

The commoners outside the courtroom cheered in unison, the sound wave causing the wind bells on the eaves to jingle.

Zhan Zhao and Pei Donglai stood as Protectors on the left and right. The moment the Tiger Head Guillotine fell, a beam of golden light shot into the sky, dispersing all the haze over the Prince Jing's estate and revealing a clear blue sky.

In front of the water mirror, the moment Jun Xiaoyao watched the guillotine fall, he said to Zhao Gao, "Have The Net take over Prince Jing's assets. Send 70% to the Northern Territory and 30% into the Beyond Heaven treasury."

"Yes." Zhao Gao handed over the last secret report, "Young Lord, Your Majesty has sent a commendation order, stating that he is willing to co-manage the Northern Territory iron mines with Beyond Heaven and will give us 30% of the annual revenue."

Jun Xiaoyao threw the secret report back onto the desk, the chill from the ice desk making the paper tremble slightly.

He looked at the summoning array; the Artifact Spirit of the Rule of Law had returned to the array, merging with the runes. The spiritual power at the array's center began to slowly recede, but it was more refined than before.

Inside the water mirror, Lord Bao was consoling the commoners, Zhan Zhao was helping the old woman down from the courtroom, and Pei Donglai's Scarlet Flame Blade glowed red in the sunlight, dispelling the last trace of the smell of blood.

A child picked up a storybook from the ground and discovered a line of text on the last page: "The Heavenly Dao favors Reincarnation; who has Heaven ever spared?"

"Interesting." Jun Xiaoyao traced his fingertips across the ice desk, and the water mirror suddenly switched to the Northern Territory.

Yue Fei's Yue Family Spear Formation was in the middle of training; the cold light of the spear tips reflected the luster of the dark iron from the mines, and the Ice Plain Wolf tribe in the distance was bowing in submission toward the direction of Hanyue Valley.

Zhao Gao said softly, "Young Lord, after this incident, although Beyond Heaven has not revealed itself, it has already made both the Jianghu and the imperial court understand our rules—"

"We do not stir up trouble, nor do we fear it." Jun Xiaoyao took over, his gaze landing on the new runes slowly condensing in the summoning array, "The next step is to clear out the remnants of the Blood Shadow Cult."

The underground palace returned to silence, with only the laughter of the commoners coming from the water mirror.

Jun Xiaoyao watched the spiritual power in the array's center recover to 80%; the flickering runes seemed to be saying that this game of chess was finally about to enter the endgame stage.

And the rules belonging to Beyond Heaven would, along with the golden light of the Tiger Head Guillotine, be engraved in everyone's hearts.