I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 94

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 94
No immediate reaction came from the courtroom.
Everyone wondered what on earth Patriarch Huangbo was talking about.
“Pa… Patriarch? What do you mean by that?”
A martial artist from the Huangbo Clan barely managed to ask back.
“It is all my fault. You only followed me because you knew nothing.”
“Patriarch?”
Only then did they begin to fear that they hadn’t misheard him, and that he wasn’t joking.
Even so, they still couldn’t accept it.
“Patriarch, what do you mean by that!”
“Patriarch Huangbo, do you admit that the contents of this contract and letter are true? Are you aware of how severe this crime is?”
Lee Jun, realizing it was all over from his perspective as a former lawyer, unfurled his fan and fluttered it gently.
The Great Long Empire punished the False Accusation Crime with extreme severity.
The penalty meant for the victim would be returned entirely to the accuser, with added weight.
Lee Jun felt a bitter tang of memory about a client from his past life who had committed suicide after being ruined by a false accusation because justice and compensation had never been properly delivered.
But here today, he had protected justice alongside Seonwu.
If someone tried to frame a young master as a Demonic Practitioner to kill him, and then sought to bury his family and sect, that person deserved a wretched end.
Only then would it serve as a stern warning to anyone else plotting such a thing in the future.
“A person who attempts to frame another shall receive an aggravated punishment equal to the charges they fabricated. How could I not know the solemn laws of the Great Long Empire? Since the Prefect already knows everything and asks, I merely confess before I disgrace myself further.”
Patriarch Huangbo fell heavily to his knees.
“Blinded by greed, I walked a path I should not have taken. I made a deal with Demonic Practitioners to frame the young master, intending to drive out the Wolyeop Sect after I ‘subdued’ him, so that I could turn this area into the Main House’s sphere of influence. I have committed a sin worthy of death.”
The martial artists of the Huangbo Clan staggered, and some sank to the floor.
“That… That cannot be.”
“Patriarch, you’re lying, right? Right? It’s a lie, isn’t it?”
What was this.
What on earth was happening.
They would have preferred it if the Patriarch had died while subduing a Demonic Monster or a Great Archdevil!
If he had died that way, they might have wept and despaired, but they would have been proud.
But dealing with Demonic Practitioners?
Trying to frame and kill the Young Master of Wolyeop Sect?
The great Huangbo Clan?
No, how could they even attach the word ‘great’ to their name anymore.
This went beyond dragging the family name through the mud.
It had blasted right through the gutter and plunged into somewhere much deeper.
One of the Huangbo Clan martial artists coughed up a spray of blood.
“Urgh, cough!”
The shock was so immense that he suffered an Internal Injury and fell into a Qi Deviation.
Seonwu rushed to his side.
‘Oh, dear.’
He couldn’t forgive the Patriarch, but he hadn’t intended to break a kid like this.
Seonwu quickly stabilized the martial artist’s True Qi.
By blending the Peerless Prajna Divine Art and the Taegeuk Yangui Shingong, he managed to soothe the chaos almost instantly.
“Pant, pant.”
However, the state of the remaining noble clan martial artists was terribly grim.
“Prefect, please halt the trial for a moment so the Huangbo Clan martial artists can stabilize their internal force.”
“Very well. I shall do so. Furthermore, any clan martial artists who find it too difficult to remain in this courtroom may step outside. I will let them rest in a room within the government office.”
“Thank you.”
Yet, no one chose to leave the room.
Instead, a few of them rushed toward the Patriarch.
“Patriarch!”
“Is it really true!”
“Are you serious?”
“Why on earth!”
“Why on earth did you do such a thing!”
Looking at his family members who wailed and wept tears of blood, the Patriarch lowered his head.
“I am the sinner. The true treasure of our family was not Yueyi County, but all of you.”
Seonwu clicked his tongue.
On the other hand, the Young Master of Wolyeop Sect rejoiced.
“The framing is undone! I’m innocent!”
Normally, celebrating one’s own safety when the opponent’s side was wrapped in an atmosphere heavier than a house of mourning would be considered tasteless.
But since he was the very person who had almost seen his entire sect destroyed because of a frame-up, who could blame him?
“Father! I am innocent!”
The Sect Leader of Wolyeop also collapsed into his seat as the tension bled out of him.
Even his Peak Realm cultivation was not enough to keep him standing straight right now.
“Yes, you survived. You lived, our family lived, and our sect survived.”
The Wolyeop disciples felt as though they had not only met Ksitigarbha in hell, but had also been pulled out by his hand.
“So… So it means everyone really is completely innocent?”
“I knew it. Our young master might be a bit fond of women, but he isn’t the type to do something like that.”
“Exactly, he doesn’t just play around alone; he buys us plenty of drinks, too.”
Buying them drinks from time to time had absolutely no logical connection to being innocent.
But the Wolyeop disciples accepted it anyway.
Regardless, our young master is not the culprit!
“I always believed in our young master.”
“Cut the crap, where do you think you’re lying?”
“Damn it, who here actually believed in him?”
The Sect Leader of Wolyeop flashed a bitter smile.
He couldn’t even scold his disciples.
‘Even I had a moment where I thought my scoundrel of a son had finally crossed the line….’
He looked at the Sword Dragon and the Chivalrous Xia of the Eunhak Sect.
He also saw the Earth Dragon of the Zhuge Clan.
Three Rising Stars.
He owed a monumental debt, particularly to the Chivalrous Xia who seemed to have spearheaded this entire investigation.
‘Even if the Chivalrous Xia asks me to join a battle where I must stake the life of our sect someday….’
He would leave behind only his son to inherit the family and march out to give up his own life.
He would drag along every disciple who had already secured an heir, too.
This was a debt that demanded such a return.
If they had taken the blame for this frame-up, they wouldn’t just have to leave Yueyi County; they wouldn’t be able to hold their heads up anywhere ever again.
It was a disgrace that would have forced him to hang himself in front of his ancestors’ ancestral tablets.
“My son.”
“Father.”
The two embraced each other.
“Your internal and external injuries are severe.”
“I can endure it. The Great Hero Seonwu of the Eunhak Sect subtly looked after me.”
“Is that so? I must factor that in and repay him properly. First, let us call a physician.”
“Should we not finish the trial first? Before that, please unseal my acupoints….”
The Sect Leader looked at the Prefect.
The Prefect nodded his head in approval.
With that, the young master could finally unfasten his bonds, undo the Acupoint Sealing, stand up, take some Healing Medicine, and tend to his body.
Seonwu watched the scene with a warm heart.
The Demon-Subduing Divine Dragon Sword chattered from his side.
[Hey, to look into and rejoice over every single trivial matter at the bottom like this. You really are a peculiar dragon.]
[No, isn’t it stranger not to feel a sense of accomplishment from something like this?]
[Well, I’ve seen several dragons besides you, but a case like yours is a first.]
[Are you saying my older brothers are just emotionless blocks of wood? Don’t say such weird things.]
[A dragon roams the heavens and governs the great realm of creation so that the principles of heaven and earth do not warp. Why would they care about these petty affairs of the human world?]
Seonwu ignored the chatter of the Divine Dragon Sword.
He couldn’t declare for certain that what it said about his brothers was a lie….
But he didn’t want to hear anyone calling his family cold and indifferent beings.
Instead, Seonwu bragged to Lee Jun.
[Did you see that? That’s the kind of chivalrous Xia I am. I saved the Wolyeop Sect single-handedly.]
[Did you save them alone? Absolute Shadow did the running. I was busy doing this and that. Even the Divine Dragon Sword joined the stakeout.]
[Ahem, well, I’m not saying I did it completely alone, but it’s true that I led it, right?]
[Fine, you’re amazing. A true great hero.]
No matter what Lee Jun said, Seonwu remained full of pride.
‘Ah, this is it.’
This is what it means to be a chivalrous Xia.
When he saved the Zhuge Clan, it had been fulfilling too, but while that had been a somewhat straightforward battle, unraveling a tangled conspiracy this time gave him a different kind of thrill.
As for punishing the Namgung Clan….
‘That was also delivering justice against an abuse of power, but it left a slightly hollow feeling.’
However, now was not the time to simply celebrate; he had to wrap things up.
[Hey, I can’t forgive the Patriarch, but at what level should the punishment be carried out?]
Seonwu sought Lee Jun’s opinion, and Lee Jun couldn’t answer readily either.
[It’s tricky. If this were modern Earth, no matter how grand the false accusation, it would end with the Patriarch’s personal responsibility. But in this world, families share collective responsibility, and what the Huangbo Clan targeted was the entire sect.]
[Hmm, their property and spiritual medicine?]
[That seems reasonable. The Patriarch faces the death penalty…. And an execution where his body won’t be left intact, at that.]
Dying didn’t mean the same thing for everyone.
In this world, a death penalty where the corpse remained whole and one where the corpse was mutilated were considered entirely different punishments.
In particular, whether a proper funeral could be held afterward or if a funeral was outright banned carried immense weight.
[It’s a bit of a waste, though. He is a Transcendence Realm master in his own right.]
Masters of this caliber weren’t non-existent, but they weren’t common either.
In the Wulin alone, he ranked among the Top One Hundred Masters.
They said the Imperial Court possessed a few more, but it wasn’t as if they had a surplus.
Battles raged endlessly at the borders, and demonic monsters and demonic practitioners popped up constantly in the rear. If a master like him had set his mind straight and contributed, how much could he have achieved….
‘Oh? Come to think of it, that’s true.’
[Hey, what about Patriarch Huangbo? Instead of killing him, how about sending him to the border to serve in the army in white clothes?]
[Hmm? That deviates from precedent, but….]
[What if we hold his family hostage, force him to dedicate his life there, and tell him to diminish his disgrace? If we tell him that the punishment inflicted on his family will vary depending on his performance, wouldn’t he fight desperately for the sake of his children and grandchildren?]
[That makes sense. From a practical standpoint, your idea is better.]
Lee Jun agreed with Seonwu’s words.
However, a punishment that strayed from precedent like that wasn’t something a mere Zhuge Clan could decide.
Even a fifth-rank official like the Prefect couldn’t decide it.
Even the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, who represented the judiciary of Jiangxi Province, would find it difficult.
Only one person could do it.
[If you obtain permission from His Imperial Majesty, you can punish him that way.]
[Father will probably grant whatever I ask for. It’s not a bad proposal anyway.]
[True.]
Lee Jun summarized it in a single phrase.
Absolute power.
If you will it, it happens.
How remarkably convenient.
Seonwu relayed the final verdict to the Prefect through Absolute Shadow.
Thus, the Prefect voiced it as if it were his own judgment.
“I shall now resume the trial. Everyone, quiet down.”
The martial artists of the Huangbo Clan also fell silent.
However, they still didn’t look completely sane.
They were merely forcing themselves to endure.
“Patriarch Huangbo, you contracted with Mashu Xuesheng to target the Wolyeop Sect, and you devised a scheme to frame the young master as a Demonic Practitioner to kill him. Do you admit to this?”
“Yes.”
“The Demonic Cultivation Manual said to have been discovered in the young master’s room was actually brought and placed there by you, correct?”
“It was something I carried in my robes.”
Every time the Patriarch confessed, the Huangbo Clan martial artists staggered anew.
Some shed tears once more.
Blood dripped from someone’s tightly clenched fist.
“The plan was for the Demonic Practitioners of Aewolru to subdue the young master, place him at the scene, and then you, having arranged the time and place beforehand, would raid it. The only reason the plan went awry was because the Chivalrous Xia of the Eunhak Sect intervened slightly ahead of you.”
“That is correct.”
“The Demonic Practitioner who actually murdered the women is a separate individual, correct?”
“Yes.”
Seonwu chimed in to answer.
“My junior disciple tracked that man down separately and has already killed him. You may rest assured.”
“Is that so? That is a relief.”
Hearing those words, the spectators also felt a massive wave of relief.
“It appears there are no other Demonic Practitioners in Aewolru besides the four deceased, but we must still inspect everyone to ensure no one is hiding their Demonic Qi.”
“I shall perform the inspection right now.”
Though it took some time, Seonwu checked everyone and reconfirmed that there were no others.
‘There’s no way a Demonic Practitioner capable of fooling me would be in a place like this.’
High-level talent didn’t just grow on trees.
If there was an informant who hadn’t learned demonic arts at all, that couldn’t be helped.
One had to accept falling prey to that level of espionage.
Ordinary informants like that would be far more plentiful in the Beggars’ Sect right now.
“Splendid. With this, one anxiety is cleared. Now, as for the Huangbo Clan, hmm….”
The Prefect pretended to deliberate over the verdict for a moment, but in truth, he was merely following what Seonwu dictated through Absolute Shadow.
Even so, in the eyes of others, it looked like a final, heavy contemplation.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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