Chapter 461: Chapter 46: Harnessing Popular Sentiment

April 30, 2018

When Wang Jiu heard the cheers of hundreds of thousands of people, he realized he had already secured victory.

The toughest step in the entire plan was stepping onto the stage. Once that was accomplished, the rest of the tasks would be smooth sailing and unstoppable.

Shang Lanfei’s allure was unparalleled. With Wang Jiu’s current level of Illusion Sword Technique, he could at most emulate a tenth of her real standard. However, that was enough to astonish millions in Golden Jade City. She couldn’t be compared to any second or third-rate actress.

How could a woman who once stood alongside Zhao Chenlu as one of the Jiu Immortal Venerables be akin to an actress who made it through shady dealings?

So when Wang Jiu activated the Illusion Sword Technique and took the stage in Shang Lanfei’s form, he immediately seized control of the entire scene. Those well-trained silver-armored soldiers dared not approach for a moment. Only after Zhao Hongwu roared repeatedly did they reluctantly surround Wang Jiu with their weapons, yet still didn’t dare to act.

Zhao Hongwu was furious, shouting, "What are you waiting for? Quickly arrest her!"

Wang Jiu sneered and said, "Arrest me? On what grounds? What law have I violated that warrants such an audacious public arrest?"

As soon as these words were spoken, tens of thousands of people echoed around.

"Yes, on what grounds are you arresting her!? What law has she broken?"

"Even under Zhao Chenlu’s harsh rule, it wasn’t forbidden for such a beautiful girl to save her sweetheart, right?"

"Even if Zhao Chenlu is at fault, this girl is innocent!"

The hundreds of thousands of voices created an uproar across the city, leaving Zhao Hongwu with a headache. He gritted his teeth and loudly replied, "I’m not planning to arrest her, but today is the critical moment for the public trial assembly, and maintaining order is essential. So we must ask her to step down..."

Wang Jiu said, "Yet I see you’ve set up a stage and put up subtitles, and I thought you were continuing with the final act in the name of love."

Startled by Wang Jiu’s words, Zhao Hongwu indeed intended to perform the sixth act, which he and his brother painstakingly wrote, in front of the millions in Golden Jade, but in the current situation, there was no leisure for a musical.

So Zhao Hongwu put on a stern face: "Ridiculous, at such an important public trial assembly, where is there any room for musicals?"

Wang Jiu then turned to the audience and said, "Lord Hongwu has said, no performance today."

In the next moment, the crowd erupted like an avalanche and a tidal wave.

"Why not perform!? We want to see In the Name of Love!"

"Watch the performance, watch the performance!"

"Whoever prevents us from seeing the musical is our enemy!"

Zhao Hongwu became even more exasperated, quickly explaining, "It’s not canceled, just delayed. We originally scheduled the public trial assembly for the morning and invited numerous dignitaries, including emissaries from the Saint Sect. It’s difficult to change the timing. Once the public trial is over, we will immediately stage In the Name of Love, okay?"

Saying this, Zhao Hongwu felt utterly humiliated at heart.

Even as the City Lord, though temporarily, compromising in such a lowly manner in front of everyone was truly disgraceful.

During Zhao Chenlu’s tenure, the cries of a million people couldn’t stop her whims; no one could prevent what she wanted to do.

It’s a pity that Zhao Hongwu was not Zhao Chenlu. He had to suppress his resentment and appease the crowd.

But the crowd was not satisfied.

"That’s not our concern!"

"We demand to see In the Name of Love! If not, we’ll rebel!"

"Watch the performance, watch the performance!"

By now, the situation had turned into a fervent farce. Zhao Hongwu ground his teeth, his primordial spirit frantically surging, conjuring vivid scenes in his mind: as a Great Cultivator of the Mountain-Overturning Realm, Zhao Hongwu calls forth storms and buries a million rebellious subjects beneath a dark calamity.

However, all of this could only happen in his mind. In reality, Zhao Hongwu had to continue patiently explaining: "The venue is limited, as is time, there must be an order..."

The audience immediately clamored: "The musical first!"

"No public trial, it’s boring!"

"Watch the performance, watch the performance!"

Zhao Hongwu finally lost his patience: "Do you intend to rebel!"

At this moment, someone below shouted loudly, "Learn from Lord City Lord!"

This statement was sharper than a knife, piercing Zhao Hongwu on stage, making him feel like he was in a living dream. His position as the Temporary City Lord was gained through rebellion and a coup, and now being called out by someone from Golden Jade City, he truly found it hard to defend himself. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Fortunately, at this time, amongst the many guests Zhao Hongwu invited, at least one person was willing to stand up and speak up for him.

"I can understand everyone’s feelings, but things indeed need some sort of sequence and priority; although the musical is wonderful, the public trial is ultimately more important, so I ask everyone to remain calm."

Such high-sounding words, if said by others, would certainly have resulted in boos from the audience, but even the most troublesome troublemakers were silent at this moment.

Because the person speaking was the Holy Sect Envoy.

From the position of the Holy Sect, they almost never interfere with the internal affairs of the Seven Great Noble Families, as long as it does not endanger the peace of the continent or possibly result in a massacre, they won’t meddle even if the families fight to the death.

However, once they do make a move, they won’t stop until they achieve their goal, and by the means of the Holy Sect Envoy, when they go all out to accomplish something, rarely do they fail. The years of prestige of the Holy Sect, after all, were not gained simply through word of mouth, but through solid achievements in battle.

Thus, when the Holy Sect Envoy spoke, the noise in the square gradually died down, and even those leading the jeering unwillingly shrugged and shut their mouths.

After order was restored, the Holy Sect Envoy nodded towards Zhao Hongwu, then retreated a few steps back to the guest seats, no longer interfering.

Zhao Hongwu, as if granted a great pardon, finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you all for your cooperation. Next, we will proceed with the public trial meeting, and I ask unrelated personnel to leave for now..."

Saying this, he then gestured to the soldiers in silver armor, signaling them to clear the area quickly.

However, before those silver armored soldiers could step forward, Wang Jiu said, "Hold on! The Temporary City Lord said it’s unrelated personnel that should leave; as Zhao Chenlu’s proxy, I have the right and duty to stay here to defend her!"

"What a joke, this is a public trial meeting, not a debate forum, there’s no need to appoint any proxy!"

Wang Jiu said, "Precisely because it’s a public trial meeting, in front of a million spectators, a clear and upright result is even more necessary, rather than your one-sided monologue."

Zhao Hongwu shouted through gritted teeth, "All the evidence has been authoritatively certified, there’s no need to listen to your sophistry!"

Wang Jiu said, "The biggest authority in Golden Jade City is suppressed beneath the City Lord’s Mansion by you. If you believe that powerful force equates to authority, that you can do whatever you want, then why gather a million people for a public trial? Why not directly execute Zhao Chenlu? Are you playing with the millions of earnest feelings of the people in Golden Jade City? Since today is a public trial meeting, I think it’s necessary to hear the public’s opinion. Do you all think Zhao Chenlu needs a proxy to defend her?"

This question was met with a response like a mountain roaring and a sea billowing.

"Yes, yes!"

"We want to see the young maiden verbally battle the scholars!"

"Choose her as the proxy, choose her as the proxy!"

"You..." Zhao Hongwu deeply wished to crush everyone to death, "Fine, even if a proxy is needed, why must it be you? What qualifications do you have to be Zhao Chenlu’s proxy?"

Wang Jiu said, "Given my relationship with Zhao Chenlu, it can be considered extremely close, naturally, I have the qualifications to act as her proxy in the public trial meeting."

When the relationship with Zhao Chenlu was mentioned, Zhao Hongwu suddenly thought of someone: "Just because you say you’re related doesn’t mean you are? If we talk about a concerned and close proxy, the people I have here are the legitimate ones!"

After saying this, he beckoned Zhao Xinyu to come forward.

Moments later, Zhao Xinyu walked up to the stage, boldly speaking to the million citizens: "Sorry, I’m just a fake, a pre-arranged actor, all to cover for the real protagonist appearing today, please forgive my previous lies."

Zhao Hongwu’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head: "Zhao Xinyu, what nonsense are you saying!?"

Zhao Xinyu honestly replied, "Sir, the lines were taught to me by you."

Zhao Hongwu was momentarily stunned, suddenly recalling that, according to the original script, before the public trial meeting, the sixth act of the musical was to be performed, strategically launching the female lead he selected, then discarding Zhao Xinyu’s identity. And the originally designed lines were indeed Zhao Xinyu admitting he was a fake, with the real one being the female lead of the musical... But now, the plot had completely gone awry, and this damned fool was still reciting lines according to the original script!

"You did it on purpose, didn’t you!?"

Zhao Xinyu said, "Sir, previously you warned me, if I dared to improvise on the spot, not following the script, I’d face eternal damnation..."

"You..." Zhao Hongwu was about to faint from anger, but now he also knew that he couldn’t let these fools keep dragging and wasting time.

Under everyone’s gaze, the more said, the more loopholes there would be, especially with those million citizens, who amid chuckling at his Temporary City Lord’s expense, were becoming increasingly distrustful of the various legends about Zhao Chenlu that had circulated in the city before.

Zhao Hongwu, controlling the United Hearts Array, could clearly feel the tumultuous shift in public opinion, like a volcano ready to erupt at any moment with just a spark. If this was left unchecked, everything could be ruined!

"...Alright, if you want to be Zhao Chenlu’s proxy, then, anyway, her numerous crimes are irrefutably proven, nothing your sweet talk can change!"

Hearing this, Wang Jiu smiled as expected: "Alright, then I’ll await your solid evidence."