Chapter 65 Court

◎Is this mine going to have a new owner now?◎

Clang!

The sword's hilt struck the table, but it reverberated through the hearts of those around it. Suddenly, the courtroom was filled with the sound of a pin drop.

The nobles all have their own gods to worship. Although everyone's level of piety varies, and there are many false believers who say one thing and do another, in such a world where magic exists, everyone is generally in awe of the gods.

Even Sulla's companions showed a trace of panic: Mars is the patron saint of war and national property. Having him witness the trial means that the fact that they had forged the contract was known to the gods.

It is naturally impossible for the gods to monitor human affairs at all times, and the most petty-minded queen of heaven in the legend will not bring down divine punishment on everyone who betrays their marriage.

People who do bad things always comfort themselves by saying that it's just a small matter and the gods won't mind. They can make amends elsewhere and strive to enter the kingdom of another god after death.

But—Meliya, she said it!

How dare she speak out in such a solemn court!

Hadn't she plundered the other party's property? How could such a cruel, cunning, and extravagant Melia dare to seek the favor of the God of War?!

This kind of behavior is simply hurting the enemy by a thousand and hurting yourself by ten thousand.

[You were already cursed before we were punished by Mars, right?]

They comforted their pounding hearts and waited for the Chief Justice to announce the opening of the court session.

"Dong!" The white-robed judge struck the bronze pillar with his hammer. The Chief Justice stood before the copper plate inscribed with the law and solemnly announced, "Please swear by Jupiter, the king of the gods, and by Caesar, the king of Rome, that everything you say in court is true."

First, it was the plaintiff. Melia discovered that the first person to speak was not Sulla, but Artetips.

He wiped the sweat from his face, his fingers curled slightly inside his robe. "I swear, what I say must be the truth."

Then came Sulla and his accomplices: "I swear that everything I say is true."

Melia retracted her gaze: As expected of Sura, even in the situation yesterday where it seemed impossible to lose with the dragon riding on his face, he was unwilling to jump out and steal the spotlight, and just stood in front of the barrier.

She raised her head, meeting everyone's gaze. "I swear by Jupiter, I swear by Caesar, that today in this courtroom—I will not tell even a single lie."

Whether they were familiar with Melia or not, they were slightly forced back by her burning gaze and lowered their heads: they could tell whose oath was more fervent and more certain.

After the initial shock of the dagger, the people around Sura gradually calmed down:

The judge remains neutral in name only, but the court is overwhelmingly on Sulla's side. How can Melia fight against the overwhelming evidence?

It is impossible to achieve success by relying solely on eloquence and impression points.

This isn't a gladiatorial arena where life and death are decided by thumbs and pinkies. The jury's opinion can't override the decisions of the elders and the judges.

Besides, many people on the jury disliked Melia in the past. How many people could she win over with her pretentiousness over the past year?

Just as the Chief Justice gestured for the judges to present the plaintiff's evidence one by one in the courtroom, the door on the other side of the courtroom opened.

The gilded columns were spread out to the sides, and only one person in all of Rome could forcibly "break in" when the court was in session - the Roman emperor, Caesar.

Today's Caesar was more gloomy than Melia or anyone else had ever seen him. He frowned and seemed to be thinking about something unpleasant.

He walked quickly over the copper coins and went to the throne behind the Grand Chancellor, which was reserved for gods or emperors.

It wasn't until Caesar took his seat that he nodded slightly, as if he had just seen everyone. "Are there any other cases today? You guys continue."

Sura and Melia exclaimed almost at the same time: Oh no, something big must have happened to Titus.

Melia knew the inside story very well: that guy was most likely stabbed by an assassin. Now I came to the court definitely because I want the court to send someone to investigate. After all, the military can't judge cases.

Of course, there aren’t even any cameras these days, and Caesar should know that if he fails to catch the murderer on the spot, he will never be able to find the real murderer of his son.

Sulla pursed his lips. Melia had returned safely, but Titus hadn't sent any news all night. He'd thought it was just the boy being careless, but now it looked like something had probably happened.

[Caesar must be in a bad mood today.]

They pretended not to notice this and forced their attention to the new evidence.

At Caesar's "Proceed," the white-robed judges quickly laid out the evidence Artetippus had provided. There were parchment and copper-plated contracts, each bearing the mark of the regent.

If there is a flaw... probably only one out of ten was signed by Caesar.

Caesar was very busy, so of course he would not sign any contract. However, it was a bit suspicious that he only intervened in trivial industries when it came to important property changes of the richest man in Rome.

Melia followed the jury representative to examine the evidence through the chains. As expected, the stores with Caesar's signature had the best sales.

Of course, Caesar had never seen these shops. Generally speaking, two important figures would pay a large sum of money to ask Caesar to sign in order to ensure the highest legality of the transaction. The emperor himself would not remember these documents, he was only responsible for collecting money.

Melia looked at these signatures and had an idea in her mind: Sulla was playing a big game. Maybe Muala really had some transactions approved by Caesar together with him, but it was definitely not that many.

Forging the emperor's signature is a serious crime. He probably did not forge the signature, but instead obtained the signed parchment in some way and wrote the contents of the contract on it.

Caesar remained silent until everyone had looked at all the evidence, as if he had acknowledged the authenticity of the signature.

Arttips wiped the sweat off his face, a hint of pride showing on his lips: "At least the signed part of the contract can't be overturned. What's the point of you jumping around and building so many businesses? Isn't it just to make wedding clothes for us?"

The Grand Inquisitor did not dare to sit down before Caesar. He stood behind the table and asked in a loud voice, "Meliya, do you admit this evidence?"

Melia immediately replied, "Of course I acknowledge the part signed by His Majesty."

Arttips pressed anxiously, "Wait, those unsigned ones are also true. It's just that Muala didn't ask Caesar to witness every contract back then!"

"One thing at a time," Melia drawled. "With His Majesty's signature, I have no doubts. The unsigned part needs a thorough investigation. Do you think the regent who signed and testified is comparable to His Majesty?"

"This, this, this, of course not." Artetips closed his mouth, secretly hating in his heart: Too cunning, and doesn't even think about the regent's high position and power. Be careful that sooner or later you will fall into his hands, humph.

The atmosphere was a little tense. Sura waved his hand and said, "Meliya, let's first discuss the signed contract. Those shops were transferred to me one by one before your father passed away to offset some of the debt."

He expected Melia to deny her guilt, and then he could present the additional evidence he had prepared. With both witnesses and evidence, he was sure to satisfy the jurors and the elders.

Unexpectedly, Melia nodded happily. "Okay, what do you say? Let me tell you, since I'm your junior and my father sold you at a low price, let me buy you back at the original price, okay?"

Sulla held his breath. The elder next to him slapped his thigh in anger. "What do you mean by that?! Lord Sulla let you run the business for a few more months for your father's sake. Pay off the profits first!"

"Profits? Oh, you mean the food and clothing business?" Melia glanced at the contracts and smiled knowingly. "What a coincidence! You didn't tell me which stores my father transferred to you, and I wasted so much time using them... They just happen to be the flagship stores of my new business."

Su La ignored her sarcasm and continued with the previous topic: "It's really a coincidence. I heard that you made a lot of money. I am also interested in this business."

Shameless old fox. Melia raised an eyebrow. "In the end, you're just reluctant to part with your profits. Okay, to be honest, these stores—they're losing money every day."

What?! Loss! If I lose money, I won't get a penny! Arttips' face twisted in surprise. "How could I lose money? There were so many people who saw the coins piled up like a mountain in the basket!"

"Hmph, I can tell you've never run a shop. Judge, please let me present the account books." Melia clapped her hands, and the judge nodded in approval. Then the court officials came in carrying pieces of cloth that looked like flags.

They set up a wooden pole and hung the cloth up to show it to everyone. Only then did everyone see that the income and expenditure of a certain day and month were recorded in a fresh embroidery style in the center of the cloth.

Melia considerately walked over to the jury and shook the cloth. "That's only a small portion, but it doesn't matter. Just look at the cost and you'll understand the benefits. Take the cheapest egg roll, for example. It sold for four coppers each at the Colosseum. The cost of the bread, sauce, and eggs was also exactly four coppers."

"nonsense!"

Arttips subconsciously objected, then suddenly realized: No, she wasn't lying. The eggs and flour in his household account books were a full double the price.

Although there are farms that raise chickens and grow wheat to reduce costs, making an egg roll yourself will definitely cost more than 4 copper coins, so it is reasonable to say that it is not profitable.

Some of the jury nodded in conviction, while others loudly questioned, "Not making money? Why would you open a shop if you can't make money?"

"Haha, of course there are profitable projects, but you can look at the market costs, round them up and calculate carefully... these stores will lose an average of 300 gold coins every month~" Melia clasped her hands together and replied with a smile.

She wasn't lying, was she? If they bought their raw materials from different sources at market prices, these shops would indeed be losing money.

But Shadow Rome's mills, transportation advantages, and textile machines, etc., of course, are completely ignored.

There was a moment of silence in the courtroom. Based on their experience, they felt that Melia was right. The account books still calculated expenses based on cost price. The combined loss of several stores was only 300 gold coins per month, which was the limit.

Even if she has special skills to reduce costs, it will be difficult for these stores to survive if they are taken over by other people.

Fashionable styles and cheap fabrics in clothing stores, affordable bread rolls in grocery stores—these things are not difficult to imitate; the hard part is gaining first-mover advantage and reducing costs.

Some people came to their senses and looked at their "creditors" such as Artetips and Sulla with meaningful eyes: What choice will you make?

If Melia were allowed to buy it back at the original price, it would be equivalent to giving up the right to reclaim the shop. However, if Melia was forced to hand over the shop, her remaining shops were all nearby, and if she continued with her original business, she would definitely not make any money.

Arttips glanced nervously behind him. If he had made the decision alone, he would have already agreed to sell the store to Melia. Even if the profit was less, at least he wouldn't have to bear the risk.

Sura tapped his knee. Arttips' eyes lit up and he quickly turned around. "Let's put aside whether the shop is profitable or not. Muala left behind a great gold mine! In fact, he sold that mine to me."

After that, the white-robed court official walked up to Caesar holding a cowhide booklet and asked him to examine it alone.

The transfer document of the mines was not signed by the emperor, but only by the regent, Artetips, and Muala. However, it was in full compliance with the formalities and was a valid document.

Here comes the gold mine!

Everyone was excited. Everyone knew that Melia had a stroke of luck, having unearthed a gold mine from the barren mountains. Was this mine going to have a new owner now?

"Wait a mininute."

Melia blinked and gave a strange smile: "I saw it written on the contract... Gold Mine."

The author has something to say:

Thanks to Luomuxiaoxiao and Elainya's Leilei~

Thanks to I Can Do It, Wu Chu for the irrigation~