Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
When he heard Ding Hao, Ling Yunxiao curiously asked, “What court case?”
Ding Hao said, “City Lord Ling, don’t you think that it’s strange that I awakened in the governor’s office?”
When Ling Yunxiao heard that, he immediately knew something was wrong, so he said, “What sort of court case is this? Tell me straight up, and I’ll handle it for you!”
Governor Zhou Weigen panicked when he heard that. He immediately knelt down and said, “City lord, it’s like this. The family of Ding Laosi came forth with a case against genius Ding Hao, claiming that he has yet to awaken even though he is fifteen and a half years old. Ding Laosi’s son, Juncai awakened to a level three celestial gene, so he wanted to use his right of priority to seize Ding Hao’s celestial seed status. I felt at the time that it was reasonable, since level three geniuses do have special rights, so I ruled at the time that Ding Hao would have a deadline of ten days in hopes that he would be able to awaken in that time!”
‘That bast*rd really knew how to talk. He actually managed to turn his obviously biased ruling into a fair and generous one!’
Ling Yunxiao scrunched his eyebrows and said, “Your ruling is quite reasonable. Even if ten days is quite a short time.”
Ding Hao refused to let him weasel his way out of it, so he said, “Lord governor, you are so overbearing! Do I have the right to talk now?”
Zhou Weigen almost cried hearing that. How could he have possibly known that Ding Hao was a superior level one? He quickly kowtowed and said, “Master Ding is a genius without parallel. How could you possibly not have the right to talk?”
“A genius without parallel?” Ding Hao laughed loudly. He said, “Then do you still want me to quit dreaming? Or do you still think that I’m refusing to give up in the face of defeat? I hadn’t even given up yet, but you gave up for me instead. How mighty of you.”
Zhou Genwei was beginning to regret his actions, kowtowing, even more. He begged Ding Hao, “Master Ding, you are a genius without parallel. An insignificant man like me is nothing to you. I take back everything I said earlier, please forgive me! Forgive me!”
“You said what you said! How could you take back the words and the saliva that came out of your mouth?” Ding Hao was not that forgiving of a person, and he asked coldly, “Let me ask you again, does the accused have the right to speak in the hall?”
Zhou Weigen was so scared he did not dare to meet Ding Hao’s gaze, looking down he said, “Yes.”
Ling Yunxiao saw that Ding Hao had been treated unfairly and could only sigh. “You dared humiliate the greatest genius in Wuzhou? It looks like this needs a thorough investigation. I will reopen the case. Everyone who was involved, enter the governor’s office.”
Zhou Weigen’s entire body was trembling, as he was carried in by the city lord’s officers.
Ding Laosi’s whole family was also brought in, except for Ding Junjie who had gone missing.
Ling Yunxiao sat on the dais of the hall and questioned a few of the guards that were there. He figured out the truth very quickly. He shouted, “Zhou Weigen, what kind of governor are you? You failed to even give the most basic semblance of fairness, giving out a ruling before the accused could even speak. You! You’re an absolute disgrace!”
Zhou Weigen cried as he pleaded, “City Lord, I’m definitely at fault in this matter. My subordinate Ding Junjie was always telling me about a piece of trash in his home. After a long time, I had some misconceptions about him which is why I gave the wrong ruling. Please have mercy on me!”
Ling Yunxiao said, “In consideration of your past achievements, I demote you by three ranks, and you will be exiled from Wuzhou city. You will serve as an officer at the outskirts of Heaven’s Will Door. Do you accept this sentence?”
From a governor in the advanced Wuzhou to an officer in the outskirts, Zhou Weigen was very upset, but the fact that he was still alive after making an enemy of a superior level one genius was already an act of mercy.
Ling Yunxiao pointed down and said, “Ding Laosi, you attacked a genius of Wuzhou with ill-intentions. Do you know your crime?”
Ding Laosi kneeled down on the floor and said, “City Lord, I don’t! Ding Hao did not manage to awaken his celestial gene even when he was fifteen and a half years old. Who could possibly have known he was a superior level one genius? My son managed to awaken a level three-gene, so he had the right of priority. This is the law in the world of Jiuzhou. I used the right of priority to seize the celestial seed. What crime did I commit?”
“You say you’re innocent?” Ding Hao reached into his sleeve and took out the pill Ding Laosi had given him. “City Lord Ling please take a look. This is the Foundation Refining Pill that Ding Laosi brought me from your residence!”
Ling Yunxiao took the bottle and opened it. A strange smell came out, causing Ling Yunxiao to raise his eyebrows. He took a whiff of the scent and his expression changed. “This is definitely not a pill from the City Lord’s Residence! This is a demonic pill, the Meridian Breaking Pill! Ding Laosi, where did you get this from?”
When he saw the pill, Ding Laosi was scared to death. His face was extremely pale.
Ding Hao said, “City Lord, this is what my servant Ding Laosi retrieved from the City Lord’s Residence for my consumption.”
“Rubbish, how could we give out this kind of medicine?” Ling Yunxiao slammed his palm on the table, and furiously shouted, “Ding Laosi you better speak the truth!”
Ding Laosi cursed in his heart at the sly piece of trash. He did not expect the pill to still be there.
He knew that he could never admit the truth. He crawled up to the City Lord like a dog. He cried, “City Lord, I have never seen this pill before! The piece of trash is slandering me!”
“Piece of trash?!” Ling Yunxiao’s face darkened.
Boss Shang walked out from the crowd. “City Lord, please deliver justice. This family of servants has been scheming nonstop, trying all sorts of things to seize young master Ding’s celestial seed status. All four of the people in the household have used everything at their disposal to stop young master Ding from awakening. They’ve mocked and ridiculed him continuously, limiting him in various ways while constantly calling him a piece of trash!”
Mrs. Ding, who was lying on the floor, raised her voice in anger, “You ungrateful man! My family recruited you and tolerated you, and now you are slandering us like this! My family has always been nothing but loyal to the Ding Family. It is nothing like what you said. The Ding family had no money, and I had to use money from my maiden family to feed them. I did not expect to end up raising a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I helped nurture a superior level one gene, and he bites me in the back…”
Mrs. Ding cried and shouted, causing chaos in the hall.
At that time, the prince walked up and said, “City Lord Ling, I have something to say!”
Ling Yunxiao said, “Speak.”
The prince said, “I wanted to ask. If Ding Laosi brought the demonic pill for master Ding, then how come he’s not poisoned? Instead, he even managed to awaken a superior level one celestial gene? I feel like there’s something wrong with this, and we should not take master Ding’s word as the truth.”
Boss Shang said, “I saw Ding Laosi give that bottle to master Ding with my own two eyes! Ding Hao is a genius, so how could he have fallen for the trap?”
The prince said, “Boss Shang, you are definitely speaking the truth. You did see Ding Laosi give the bottle to Ding Hao, but did you ever see the contents of the bottle? Even if you did see the pill, could Ding Hao not have altered the contents himself?”
‘The prince was a vile creature. He did not distinguish right from wrong!’ Ding Hao was furious, and he said, “Prince, do you really think that I, Ding Hao, ate the medicine then placed the Meridian Breaking Pill inside to frame Ding Laosi? They are but a bunch of servants. What would I do that for?”
Min Qingqiu walked into the hall and said, “City Lord Ling, I have something to say as well! Ding Laosi and his family have been nothing but cruel to Ding Hao, calling him a piece of trash every day, and even placing a broken bowl in their main hall to humiliate him! Once, I even saw Ding Laosi’s eldest son threatening Ding Hao with his willow-leaf saber! I feel that it is very possible that they did all this!”
The prince had already made up his mind. He would thwart Ding Hao. In his white clothes, he stood in the great hall and saluted Ling Yunxiao. He said, “City lord, it is because of these small matters that Ding Hao had built up a grudge against Ding Laosi’s family, which makes it likely for him to frame them. I wish to ask, why did Ding Hao not immediately report the matter when he received the Meridian Breaking Pill? Instead, he waited until now to speak up. What is the reason for that?”
Ding Hao was beginning to hate the prince. He said, “Ding Junjie works in the governor’s office. You’ve all seen how Governor Zhou operates. If I had reported it that day, the results would have been obvious!”
The prince said, “So, you hid it until now. Your schemes are so deep!” Even though he looked like he said that casually, it was actually an extremely vile remark.
Ding Hao loudly declared, “Prince, if you are suspecting my character, you can go ask all the onlookers here. Who amongst them would say that I’m a bad person?”
Most of the onlookers were Ding Hao’s clients who he helped meditate. All of them shouted, “Master Ding’s character is impeccable! All of us can testify to it!”
When the prince saw that everyone was supportive of Ding Hao, another scheme hatched in his mind. He said, “Those who appear to be upright in public tend to be the ones with the most secrets to hide. City Lord Ling, no matter what, you can’t go by just the word of Ding Hao. Why don’t you hand this matter to me? I will investigate it thoroughly and make a report. You can then decide based on the findings.”
Ling Yunxiao saw that each side was sticking to their guns, but the prince was royalty in the end, so he had to show some deference, he said, “That is fine.”
Ding Hao cursed in his heart, you rotten prince, you really want to oppose me to the end? This matter could definitely not be left to the prince to investigate, that bast*rd was full of schemes, his investigation would definitely muddle up the truth!
So Ding Hao stepped forward and said, “City lord Ling, I heard that superior level one geniuses in Wuzhou have a special right, to ask Heaven’s Will!”
“What, you want to waste your right on them?” Ling Yunxiao was shocked.
Asking Heaven’s Will was a special right that was reserved for superior level one geniuses. No matter what question they had, they could ask the heavens once, and it would be solved for them! It was a very valuable chance!
Even the prince was shaken, he did not expect Ding Hao to be so resolved.
Ding Hao said, “Since someone is purposely muddying the waters, we’re at a stalemate right now. I can’t just rely on my words anymore. This is the only way I can prove my innocence and prove Ding Laosi and his family’s crimes!”
“Ding Hao, hold on, hear me out!” Min Zhengyuan walked in from outside the hall. He said, “Asking Heaven’s Will is an extremely valuable opportunity that can be used to unravel the problems you will face in cultivation, why would you use it on these people? Are they not but a bunch of servants? It would not affect you at all if you let them off. We are righteous cultivators and believe in leniency and forgiveness. To repay evil with good, and maintain a generous heart. This is the way of a noble person!”
Ding Hao said firmly, “Dean Min, I acknowledge your knowledge, but I can’t agree with your attitude. Ding Laosi and his family have humiliated me for eight whole years! They’ve used cunning schemes and exhausted all means to harm me. If these four people are not killed, I’m afraid my head will never be clear and my state of mind would be unstable. I would even find it hard to go through daily life peacefully, let alone cultivate! Please allow me to do so, City Lord Ling!”
“Ah, when will the cycle of hatred end!” Min Zhengyuan lamented before standing aside.