Chapter 463: Chapter 48: Procedural Issues

April 30, 2018

Faced with Zhao Hongwu’s aggressive questioning, Wang Jiu felt even more confident.

The opponent’s reaction was completely within expectations.

For the Celestial Divine Sword, who was not skilled in social affairs, this sense of predictability was a delightful surprise, akin to Shen Qingming scoring over 5 in an intelligence test, a moment worth remembering in history.

So Wang Jiu cherished this temporary victory. When Zhao Hongwu questioned how he would defend himself, Wang Jiu remained calm, first using the Illusion Sword Technique to display a mesmerizing smile, then said in a confident tone, "Her actions are essentially no different from yours."

"What?!" Zhao Hongwu never expected the other party to argue from such an angle, "No different from me?! Ridiculous, when have I ever been as arrogant and vicious as her?!"

Wang Jiu said, "Just now, you ignored the speaker’s subjective wishes and objective needs, forcibly removing him from the scene, causing severe mental and physical trauma. This behavior is essentially no different from Zhao Chenlu’s."

"Nonsense!" Zhao Hongwu said angrily, "Although I admit there were procedural flaws, I expelled him to reserve reasonable speaking time for others!"

Wang Jiu said, "Zhao Chenlu had the same motive when she cleared various cultural branches in the city, also to make space for advanced culture."

This argument left Zhao Hongwu completely stunned: "What advanced culture?!"

Wang Jiu did not elaborate, directly taking out a Recording Talisman: "Please play."

Although Zhao Hongwu was unwilling to cooperate, he wanted to see what the other party was up to, so he nodded and connected the talisman to the public trial’s on-site array.

The next moment, the images from the talisman transmitted through the array to every corner of Golden Jade City.

First was a soothing and gentle melody, like a lullaby in the night. However, upon hearing this simple music, more than half of the tens of thousands of people present started nodding their heads instinctively.

Because the melody was so familiar, it was etched deep into their bones.

As memories were awakened in the people’s minds, the talisman began to show images. In the night, thick clouds suddenly parted, pure moonlight spilled onto the earth, casting an endless silver landscape.

Amidst the brilliant silver, a fairy in white emerged from the moonlight, taking form from the light, and gracefully landed on the ground.

The moment her snow-white toes touched the shiny earth, the night’s world was utterly awakened.

The vast earth started to tremble with the woman’s steps. Mountains, rivers, and streams quietly nurtured life. Grass, insects, and fish gently swayed to the rhythm of the earth, as if dancing with her.

The woman did not actually dance; she simply walked. Yet, every step was so natural that her gestures turned into the most mystical and beautiful dance, enough to resonate with everything in nature.

Her figure was enchanting, and her beauty made everything around her pale in comparison.

As if she were the supreme fairy born from the moonlight.

The recording captured only a brief moment, but after it finished playing, the scene fell into a prolonged silence, even onstage figures like Zhao Hongwu had nothing to say.

In the face of such profound beauty, even the most jaded hearts couldn’t help but be moved.

Only Wang Jiu was unaffected. After a while, he said, "This is advanced culture. I believe the people of Golden Jade City still remember. Five years ago, Zhao Chenlu whimsically performed the Moonlight Dance, a dance that moved the heavens and earth. Phenomena spread from Golden Jade City all the way to Heaven-Reaching City, even causing the Sect Leader of the Saint Sect to sigh. Since then, no one dared to question her title as the number one beauty of Xiangzhou."

"So what?" Zhao Hongwu, after all a Cultivator in the Mountain-Overturning Realm, quickly regained his composure and retorted, "What does her dance’s beauty have to do with advanced culture?"

Wang Jiu said, "Culture, in essence, is a pattern of human behavior, an aesthetic criterion. Since Zhao Chenlu can reach the pinnacle of beauty, shock the world, and be universally acknowledged for her beauty, she naturally represents advanced culture."

"What kind of absurd theory is this?!"

"Culture should inspire, delight, and guide people. So, tell me, what in this world can inspire, delight, and guide people more than the recent Moonlight Dance? Those cultural critics complaining about Zhao Chenlu—can any of them approach her realm?"

Wang Jiu’s question received no response.

To compare oneself to Zhao Chenlu’s Moonlight Dance? How shameless would one have to be!

"Therefore, since Zhao Chenlu embodies absolute advanced culture, it’s only reasonable that she clears away low-grade culture to make way for advanced culture."

"Sophistry!" Zhao Hongwu exclaimed, "Even if we set aside whether culture can be so simply divided into advanced and low-grade, just because she’s more advanced does not mean she has the right to negate others’ existence value! A hundred flowers blooming and a hundred schools of thought contending is Golden Jade City’s tradition..."

Wang Jiu said, "A hundred flowers blooming is meant for adequate competition to determine the victor best suited to the times. Since Zhao Chenlu has already reached the absolute state, why waste time on adequate competition? One might say, Golden Jade City having Zhao Chenlu as City Lord is partly thanks to the tradition of diverse competition. But since Zhao Chenlu has emerged and the times have changed, the old tradition naturally needs to be revised. As the embodiment of absolute advanced culture, it’s only natural for Zhao Chenlu to clear away low-grade culture."

"If she is really so high-end, why would she need to use the City Lord’s authority to shut down others’ doors?"

Wang Jiu said, "In the face of absolutely advanced culture, the retreat of low-end culture is inevitable, the difference is merely in the process. And the minor flaws in the process are of the same nature as your forcible expulsion of the speaker just now."

"You..." Zhao Hongwu felt tongue-tied, momentarily at a loss on how to continue the argument.

Fortunately, there were others hosting the public trial.

Zhao Hongwen timely took over the topic and said, "Enough time has been wasted on this topic already. Today’s public trial is not a debate, the conduct of Zhao Chenlu, whether good or bad, will be judged by the public."

Wang Jiu nodded and said, "Indeed, so I would like to ask everyone present, do you wish to continue watching the Moonlight Dance in the future, or the Hundred Flowers Blooming, appreciating the traditional culture represented by the speaker just now?"

"Enough! This topic ends here!"

However, Zhao Hongwen’s interruption came slightly too late. After Wang Jiu posed the question, hundreds of thousands of Golden Jade residents began to voice their answers.

"We want to see Zhao Chenlu!"

"Long live City Lord Zhao Chenlu!"

"Long live the Moonlight Dance!"

"City Lord Zhao Chenlu did well in sealing off!"

"Let the old zombie return to the coffin! We will always support City Lord Zhao Chenlu!"

The scene was as fervent as a mountain roaring and a sea storming, turning the hosts on the stage pale.

The development of events had completely gone out of control. In the original plan, by this step, it should have been the people condemning Zhao Chenlu, seeking justice for the victims of past years.

What is this now? Zhao Chenlu tyrannically harmed so many old seniors, yet it has become her merit instead?!

Is there no right or wrong in this world anymore?!

Thankfully, Zhao Chenlu had always been reluctant to showcase her beauty in front of people, otherwise, if such a Moonlight Dance were to occur every now and then, wouldn’t the entire city be brainwashed into loyal dogs by her?!

And what was worse, as the public opinion surged, the massive Wish Power collected by the United Hearts Array also began rapidly transforming in quality. Zhao Hongwu could clearly feel the previously unshakeable suppressive force, solid as a mountain, starting to boil, as if something were about to be unleashed...

"Enough! This ends here!" Zhao Hongwu fiercely slapped the table. The powerful cultivation of the Mountain-Overturning Realm caused this strike to echo like thunder, instantly clearing the noise of tens of thousands of people below.

"Proceed with the next segment." Zhao Hongwu said with a dark face, putting the failure of the first segment behind him.

In any case, even according to the original plan, the first segment was just an appetizer; the real main course was in the second segment.

The greatest crime during Zhao Chenlu’s tenure as City Lord.

The economic issue.

"As everyone knows, during Zhao Chenlu’s twenty-year tenure as City Lord, Golden Jade City’s prosperity far surpassed the past. This has been an important reason why everyone has reluctantly endured her tyranny. But you probably don’t know, the biggest beneficiary in this process was not the ordinary Golden Jade residents, but precisely herself!"

Zhao Hongwu said, revealing a terrifying number.

"During Zhao Chenlu’s twenty-year tenure as City Lord, she embezzled and misappropriated assets exceeding ten billion Spirit Stones by abusing her position."

Ten billion Spirit Stones.

This figure made everyone present silent for a few seconds before a burst of heated discussions ensued.

"Ten billion?! And in Spirit Stones, how much money is that?"

"Let me calculate, my monthly income is 10 taels of Silver, which means..."

"Damn it, don’t bother calculating. I found a data point. Last year, the City Lord’s Mansion of Golden Jade City announced that the annual public expenditure of Golden Jade City was... seventy million Spirit Stones?"

For a prosperous city renowned throughout the world, an annual public expenditure of seventy million Spirit Stones is already quite astonishing. But compared to the ten billion Spirit Stones amount, it’s utterly insignificant. Roughly calculated, Zhao Chenlu embezzled about as much as the entire city’s annual expenditure each year!

What concept is this?

In the two thousand years of Xiangzhou’s history, there’s probably never been such a terrifying corrupt official! Even the top ten in history so far combined may not match Zhao Chenlu alone! 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"This figure is not something I made up out of thin air, but was calculated by financial experts we hired from various places in the past few days, including the Divine Calculation True Master from the Saint Sect. It should be said to be somewhat authoritative. Moreover, ten billion is just the figure so far. There will undoubtedly be more added later... For such a corruption case, even the Divine Calculation True Master repeatedly exclaimed that it’s unprecedented, beyond imagination. So, in the face of such ironclad evidence, I want to know, how can you still argue?!"