Chapter 66: Discussion
◎ She turned her head and met Sura's deep eyes, the gray stained with dark red blood.◎
Step, step, step.
Melia's footsteps trampled on everyone's heart. With a strange smile, she walked over to the evidence, wanting to gently touch the contract.
"Please don't move!" The judges nervously stood in front, fearing that someone would go crazy in court and damage the evidence.
"Ahem." The Chief Justice coughed, signaling her to stop and not think about making a scene in the courtroom. This was a serious trial. His Majesty was still sitting on the throne!
"Ah, excuse me, I just wanted to ask one more question." Melia smiled and looked behind Artetipus. "Lord Sulla, look, this contract clearly says 'gold mine'. I repeat, not a barren mountain, but a gold—mine."
Sura's pupils contracted. No one doubted Melia's motive for questioning him. Instead, they all paid attention to the two emphasis on "Gold Mine".
Since it is a gold mine, is there anything wrong with stating "Gold Mine" in the contract?
If it says "barren mountain" instead of "gold mine", the first person to buy the mine is Muala, and the person who mined the gold later is Melia. The person whose property was transferred in the middle will be in a very passive position.
According to past precedents:
Because Artetips did not immediately notify Melia to return the mine after Muala's death, if the contract stated that the barren mountain was the gold mine, even if Artetips could prove that the barren mountain was the gold mine, he could basically only get a compensation and the initial bid, and the owner of the mine would still be Melia.
Even if Caesar came forward to coordinate, the most he could get would be half for each person, and maybe His Majesty would have to get one-third.
Since the contract states that this is a gold mine, there is no room for dispute; this is the correct way to write it.
But why... Melia smiled so happily, not at all like a rich man who lost his gold mine?
Sura was silent for a moment, then raised his thumb slightly towards Artetips.
Arttips ran forward, as if awakened from a dream, and shouted, "Of course it's confirmed! It's a gold mine! It's a gold mine! When I was trading with Muala, he said it was a gold mine."
What was he hesitating about just now? They had sent many people to survey the area, and the gold produced from this gold mine was of extremely high quality. If the entire area underneath was a mineral vein, no other gold mine nearby could compare to it!
The contract has been made, and the regent signed it for the huge benefits. How can we give up here?
Gulp, he could hear the sound of his own nervous saliva.
"Very good, very good, very good."
Melia raised her hands and clapped slowly. "Your Majesty is seated in the courtroom, and the Regent is also here. Since you are considered a witness, you should be able to swear before His Majesty that you have carefully inspected my gold mine."
The emerald pupils passed over Sulla and came to the face of the regent sitting on the right side of the jury. The regent was equivalent to Caesar's left hand, directly responsible for various people's livelihood issues, deeply trusted, and had great power and responsibility.
In principle, he could not be too deeply involved with the Senate, nor could he use the power in his hands to gain benefits for himself. After all, he was only responsible to Caesar and the Roman citizens.
Many people in the courtroom got goosebumps after hearing Melia's words: "You're going to kill yourself by offending the regent like this? With just a hint from him, he can shut down your business and leave you with nothing."
However, if one only considers Roman law, Melia's request is not excessive. The regent is only an official, not the Roman emperor, and he does not have the right to sign blindfolded.
As a regent, he should have set an example by paying close attention when guaranteeing others and carefully examining both the buyer and the seller. Since this contract was signed by the regent, it can be assumed that he personally reviewed the relevant property.
According to the contract, Muala transferred the gold mine to Arttips during his lifetime.
Then the regent must have inspected the mine they transferred when both of them were present, and confirmed that it could produce gold, and only then did he write "Gold Mine" on the contract.
The regent had his eyes half-closed, looking as if he didn't want to argue with the junior, but when Caesar's gaze swept over him, he stood up almost as if he had been electrocuted.
His eyes silently flew over Sulla. After receiving a positive hint, the regent cleared his throat and replied in a deep voice: "Of course, for Caesar, I will never be careless when signing."
“Ha, ha ha, ha ha ha ha!”
Melia's arrogant laughter echoed in the courtroom, and the judge was so angry that he banged on the bronze pillar next to him: "Quiet! What's so funny! This is a serious place!"
If Caesar hadn't been sitting there, the jurors would have whispered: Look, she's gone crazy again.
Melia finally put away her smile and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Because—the Regent's lies are just too ridiculous~"
"You are slandering me! How dare you slander me?" The regent immediately looked at Melia with hawk-like eyes, full of threats.
An ominous premonition flashed through Sura's mind. He had always been cautious and trusted his own judgment, including his intuition.
He had clearly sent many of his trusted associates to explore the gold mountain, and even climbed up the mountain himself one night to watch the gold being transported out along the slope.
Those were definitely freshly mined ores; Melia had no way of buying gold ore. His men were stationed on every road all day and all night, so any ore-carrying convoy would surely be visible to them.
Common sense suggests that she was bluffing.
From the first moment she entered the courtroom, Melia used all kinds of exaggerated actions and words to embellish herself and make herself appear confident.
She is like an old gambler in the casino, using all means to make the opponent believe that she has the advantage and give up the additional bet.
——This should be the case, but why is a dangerous intuition pricking his brain? It's like a poisonous snake crawling around a fire, ready to be burned to charcoal at any moment.
Was it just overthinking, or was it truly dangerous? Reason and emotion burned Sura anxiously.
"How dare I! I dare not anger a loyal regent."
Under everyone's gaze, Melia walked around the seats and headed towards the center. The white-robed court officials quickly climbed over the fence and tried to drag her back, but they saw her with her arms outstretched.
"Everyone, I have something to announce. Please don't panic."
She took a deep breath and let her voice echo through the high dome: "The so-called gold mine is fake!!"
The gold mine is fake, fake, fake...
For a moment, everyone seemed to hear an echo in their ears, and it took a long time to realize what Melia said.
Wow—the spiral courtroom was filled with exclamations and uproar. The gold mine was fake?! This was terrifying!
There are no fools here, and countless thoughts swept through his mind in an instant:
If the gold mine is fake, then the regent has undoubtedly betrayed Caesar! All contracts signed by the regent are naturally invalid, and he himself will surely face the death penalty!
None of the plaintiffs here can escape, as they jointly provided guarantees and filed the lawsuit together.
Artetips was sentenced to death, and even if the other witnesses were deceived, they had to pay Melia a large amount of reputation compensation that was enough to express their "apology"!
According to current laws, the compensation must be at least three to five times the amount of the property being sued.
If Caesar showed special mercy and allowed Melia to show magnanimity, they would have to pay for a pure gold statue that was equal to Melia's weight or half her height, and inlaid with high-quality gems - depending on the amount involved, it might be half her height... Oh my God.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible—I saw it with my own eyes, I really saw it with my own eyes, cough cough cough."
The regent completely lost his usual composure, his temples graying with panic. He struggled to stand up, grasping at straws. "She's lying! I saw the gold mine myself! Ahem!"
Artetips, who had just fallen to the ground like a dead dog, now struggled to his feet and cried out, "Yes! Your Majesty, she is lying! Maybe, maybe she has hidden the gold mine with magic!"
What a great attitude, he can still hold on to it at this time.
Melia nodded in satisfaction. She puffed out her chest, spun around toward Caesar, and bowed. "Your Majesty, if you're interested in the lies and farces of these disloyal and unjust people, why not join us and witness the so-called 'gold mine'? It will be a truly magnificent sight."
Crash! More than half of the people in the court stood up one after another. They couldn't help but go to the outskirts of the city to watch the excitement.
A gold mine? No, no, no, the interesting thing is the falling heads.
Whether it was the wealthy Melia or the powerful regent and one of the highest senators, one or both of them would be hanged from the high city walls, their bodies exposed for three days. This was truly a rare spectacle, rarely seen in ten years.
Even Caesar perked up a bit, his scowl fading. He raised his hand and waved it briskly at the judge, "Come on, let's go take a look. Don't forget to bring the ropes. Anyone who lies will be strangled to death, and their bodies will be displayed for three days."
You have other things to do, don’t waste your time on a public trial.”
After the order was given, many people turned pale and were horrified.
Melia followed the judges out of the court briskly, and turned back to wink at Sura.
Arttips took a deep breath and looked at Sura, hoping to get some spiritual support, but he saw deep...fear in Sura's eyes.
…
In the afternoon, the jury and the audience lined up, and everyone surrounded "Meliya's Gold Mountain".
This barren mountain has been a hot topic in recent months. More than one person has publicly claimed to have seen carriages carrying gold ore up and down the mountain, and more than one store has received Melia's special gold.
The gold is of excellent quality and is made into perfect spheres or rectangles with extraordinary craftsmanship. There are collectors who are willing to pay double the price to take it home for collection.
How could such a gold mine with such solid evidence be fake?
Pasha, Melia stepped onto the mountain and opened her arms to everyone. "Everyone, this is the barren mountain my father left me. I've planted fruit trees here and hired people to raise chickens and ducks. You can climb the mountain from any direction and search for the nonexistent mine. If you do find gold, you can take it all. After all, the dead don't need gold."
Behind her was a road leading up the mountain, with an archway in the middle of the road.
There was a gold coin with no visible pattern right above the arch, but no one paid attention to it. They rushed up the mountain path, fearing that they would miss the gold mine hidden inside.
Melia looked at their backs with a smile: Look for it, look for it quickly, it’s impossible to find it.
After all - the gold coins on the arch have been replaced with ordinary gold coins, meow hahahahaha. The gold mines are all in Shadow Rome, you didn't expect it~
The sun gradually sank into the earth, and before Caesar completely lost his patience, the crowd returned to their ranks one after another.
Some of them had dejected faces, lamenting that they only found half a chicken feather and no gold mine at all, while others looked at Artetips and the regent with high spirits - they had already lost confidence and their faces were pale.
So, Sura, how are you going to break the impasse?
Melia turned her head happily and saw Sura walking slowly towards her.
"Please accept my apology."
He bent down, his gray eyes swirling with complex emotions, but his expression was indeed full of apology. "I will compensate you according to His Majesty's orders, Miss Melia."
"And what then? Lord Sulla?" Melia raised her head and spoke to the crowd in an inspiring voice, "Lord Regent, Lord Artetipus, you and I have no grudges against each other. Did someone trick you into doing this?"
"This..." Arttips hesitated to speak.
The rope next to it was already in place, and the court officials tied it to a nearby big tree, so that they could hoist a few people up at any time as long as Caesar gave the order.
Melia covered her heart earnestly and said, "I just want to investigate the mastermind. If you can tell me who ordered you, I am willing to plead with Caesar."
Artetips gritted his teeth and finally lowered his head helplessly, not looking at anyone. "It was my own greed that blinded me. No one ordered me to do that."
Damn it! Melia quickly turned to look at the regent. He was Caesar's trusted confidant, not Artetippus. Surely Sulla didn't hold anything more important than his life?
Not far away, the regent knelt before Caesar and kowtowed deeply: "Your Majesty, I have failed you. This contract was forged by me. I originally wanted to take possession of this gold mine and then offer it to Rome after mining it for a while."
"Really? I used to think you were my friend. Now I just ask you, do you prefer the rope or the scimitar?" Caesar's eyes were deep, as if he was looking at him, but also as if he was looking at a distant time.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. It is my duty to share your worries."
The regent raised his head, and the sword he carried pierced his chest and he fell heavily to the mud.
Caesar lowered his eyes: "Killed with one blow, you have not slacked off in martial arts." He raised his hand, perhaps wanting to cover the regent's eyelids, but finally clenched his fist and walked away quickly.
"Your Majesty, then I--" Arttips looked around, lowered his voice, gritted his teeth, and ran to the horse next to him.
An officer hesitated to arrest him, but heard a voice shouting, "I am still the Supreme Elder. Don't stop me!"
His Majesty had indeed not issued any order, but the regents were all dead? They looked at each other in bewilderment, and suddenly heard a "whoosh" sound that broke through the air.
Caesar sat on his horse and looked away indifferently: "Good shot, let's go, don't waste time."
The judges hurried to catch up, and the two slowest runners quietly picked up the body on the ground and took it back with them.
Melia waved to Elena who was hiding among the jurors, but before she could take a few steps, she suddenly felt a heavy gaze.
She turned her head and met Sura's deep eyes, the gray color soaked with dark red blood.
We will fight till death.
She didn't need the Rose Princess to translate; she immediately understood the look in his eyes. Melia bit her lip and mouthed, "May you be shattered to pieces."
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