"Was he telling the truth?" the prime minister asked seriously.
Everyone around had heard Jiang Chen, and everyone was waiting for Gao Xiong's answer.
"Your Excellency, I was following the rules. Fan Tu from the Southwind Ridge hurt three men severely. Many people saw it," Gao Xiong argued.
"Send those three men over here," the Venerable of the Sacred Institute said before the prime minister could answer.
"Okay," Gao Xiong didn't dare disobey his order.
Soon, the three rogues were brought there.
"Jiang Chen, it's true you're great, but it's also a matter of fact that your clansmen beat us!"
"Yeah. Are you going to ignore the law of the Xia Dynasty now that you have the protection of the Sacred Institute?"
The three rogues had learned what had happened before they came. They had conspired with each other. Their plan was to refuse to admit their guilt no matter what happened and pass the blame to the Jiangs.
However, the Venerable of the Sacred Institute suddenly came forward and tapped on their heads.
"Tell me. What happened?" the Venerable of the Sacred Institute said.
The three seemed to be at a loss. Their leader said, "Qiu Xia from the Black Dragon City came to us. She told us to pick a fight with some people and to make it big. She said she had talked it over with the military. It would be fine, even if we killed some of them."
Then, he and his companions came to themselves. There was fear in their eyes.
Plop!
Gao Xiong couldn't hold out anymore. He knelt down to beg for the prime minister's mercy.
At the same time, someone fell from the air onto the ground. It was Qiu Xia from the Black Dragon City. She had been severely injured.
"Jiang Chen, it was me. I did it because I hated you. You had defamed the Black Dragon City, so I found those people to teach you a lesson! It had nothing to do with the Black Dragon City." She took out a dagger and pierced it into her stomach.
"So cruel."
In this way, the Black Dragon City managed to stay out of the affair.
The voice of the first lady of the Black Dragon City came from the air.
"My maid made a big mistake on such an important occasion. She deserved it. It's the Black Dragon City's fault. We indulged her. We're willing to accept responsibility."
"Jiang Chen, what do you think?" The prime minister looked towards Jiang Chen, expecting his answer.
"It depends on my clansmen's current situation," Jiang Chen said.
The prime minister ordered his men to bring Gao Yue and the others over.
Gao Xiong was praying silently, hoping his people were in good condition.
But he soon felt desperate. The people from the Southwind Ridge looked terrible, not even walking by themselves. Others helped them walk over. Each of them was soaked with sweat, as if they had been kept under water.
Gao Yue was even in coma!
"Mother!" Jiang Chen ran over anxiously.
The prime minister paled. He looked at Gao Xiong coldly.
Fan Tu was still conscious. He swore, "Young lord, this son of a b*tch violently took us away and kept us in a cage smaller than thirty-square-feet. It was so hot. Lady was dehydrated and fainted. I asked for some water and the deputy said that this son of a b*tch had ordered them not to give any water to savages like us, because we didn't deserve it!"
It was too much!
Everyone was surprised to know such things had been happening while the desperate fight was going on.
Many looked at Jiang Chen with pity.
Jiang Chen was full of killing intent. He was so angry that he burst into laughter. He looked toward the prime minister and said, "Are they citizens of the Xia Dynasty as you claimed? Are you sure they're not savages?"
The prime minister's forehead was soaked with sweat. He didn't know how to handle it.
He glanced at Gao Yue, not able to even say a word.
"Behead Gao Xiong, the soldiers who caught these people, and the three provokers!" the emperor suddenly said from the palace wall.
"Your Highness!" Gao Xiong screamed, as if all of his energy had been drawn out.
His deputy and subordinates were the most undeserving. They were kneeling on the ground and cursing all of Gao Xiong's ancestors, but Jiang Chen still didn't air his opinion.
Everyone knew the Black Dragon City was behind all of this. Although Qiu Xia had killed herself, Jiang Chen wasn't going to let them go so easily.
"The Black Dragon City indulged the criminal. They'll compensate ten million low-grade yuan stones to Jiang Chen," the emperor said again from the palace wall.
On the dragon ship, all of the crew of the Black Dragon City looked towards the first lady when they heard the verdict.
The Black Dragon City had already given thirty million low-grade yuan stones because of her son's actions.
And on this day, another ten million was due because of her.
Most importantly, this day it was in front of people from all over the Fire Field. The Black Dragon City would lose their prestige due to this affair.
The upper management of the Black Dragon City all had unreadable expressions.
The first lady curled her lips. It was difficult to hide her embarrassment and regret, but she was trying hard to pretend that she didn't care.
"Jiang Chen, are you satisfied now?" the prime minister asked.
But Jiang Chen ignored him, since Gao Yue was awake. He turned his back on the prime minister.
The prime minister was embarrassed. In the Xia Dynasty, he was second only to the emperor, but at that moment, he was treated with such indifference, yet he couldn't get angry.
Not until Jiang Chen had confirmed Gao Yue was fine did he nod at the Venerable of the Sacred Institute.
The prime minister was heavily relieved.
"Nationality, the Xia Dynasty. And your sect?" the Venerable asked after writing his nationality down.
Jiang Chen looked towards the Three Clarities of Natural Law. The Three Clarities of Natural Law looked towards Yuan Hong.
"What? Are you going to behead me too?!" Yuan Hong had a hot temper. He couldn't hold it anymore due to anxiety and fear.
"Enough!" Fu Hongxue shouted.
Hong Wu accused him, "As a grand supreme elder, and leader of this team, you didn't try to protect a disciple's rights. What's more, you tried to take a disciple down. Why? Because your apprentice is Ning Haotian?"
"The school leader cares a lot about the ethos of the school, but you make light of it."
"From today onward, you're deprived of all authority and benefits of a grand supreme elder. We'll observe your behavior for one year."
The Three Clarities of Natural Law reproached Yuan Hong one by one. They declared his punishment as a way to soothe Jiang Chen's anger.
It was indeed Yuan Hong's fault, so they didn't find it a difficult decision to make.
"What?! I don't accept. It'd be better to expel me from the school!" Yuan Hong didn't accept the punishment, so he threatened the Three Clarities of Natural Law.
As a Reaching Heaven State, he was one of the pillars of the school. He believed his threat would work like Jiang Chen's.
Jiang Chen had great talent, but was Jiang Chen as powerful as he was at that moment?
"All right. We agree. From now on, you have nothing to do with the Natural Law School," the Three Clarities of Natural Law said together.
What?!
The crowd exclaimed. They hadn't expected the Three Clarities of Natural Law to be so resolute. They had given up a Reaching Heaven State so easily.
Yuan Hong was dumbstruck. He had intended to threaten them, but as the saying goes, be careful what you ask for.
The leader of the Hall of Penal Law, Elder Technique Impartation, and the Medicine Elder didn't speak for him to talk the Three Clarities of Natural Law out of their decision.
That meant all of them had accepted expelling him from the school.
It had occurred to Yuan Hong that maybe he should beg for their mercy. After all, as a grand supreme elder of the Natural Law School, he could get many benefits. If he left the school, many enemies who hadn't had the nerve to challenge him would come for him, but he couldn't open his mouth under the gaze of so many people.
"Darn!" Yuan Hong snarled and flew out of the capital.
"If I had had any other choices to deal with these injustices, I wouldn't have done this, definitely not. I did it because I was helpless," Jiang Chen said.
The Venerable smiled when he heard him. He exclaimed to himself how interesting this generation of youngsters was.