Old days in the box

Chapter 254 God is always there and never leaves

The sanctuary church was quiet, and no one felt particularly happy or sad because Father Judge said these words, as if this was a natural thing to happen.

The privilege of indulgence is a special power that belongs exclusively to the Qianhua family under the belief of the Mother Goddess.

According to the teachings of the Mother Goddess, the Lord of the forests and mountains has existed forever, but he gradually awakened more than two thousand years ago. The people named Thousand Flowers are the original followers, servants of God, and deserve unlimited benefits. of grace.

Even if they and their descendants unfortunately commit sins in the future, as the greatest contributor to the reconstruction of Byzantium and the golden family closest to God, they also have the privilege of directly atonement from God and obtain God's forgiveness by purchasing expensive indulgences.

According to the verdict of the trial court, the value of each felony was between ten and fifty gold coins, which added up to more than a thousand gold coins in indulgences.

After purchasing this amount, the gold coins will be returned to the treasury and presented to the Mother Goddess to forgive the sins of the lost lamb, and the Inquisition can no longer pursue or punish the sinner's faults.

This privilege of indulgence was originally only open to the Qianhua family, and not even ordinary nobles and princes had the right to use it, so it had no impact at first.

But over the past two thousand years, the Qianhua family's bloodline has continued to multiply into more and larger bloodline branches, and gradually formed a complicated and powerful family. They had fornications with the wives and daughters of nobles, and intermarryed with their close relatives. , eventually covering the entire upper-class nobility of Byzantium.

Today, although apparently the privilege of indulgences is still only available to the Qianhua family, in fact because most of the upper-class nobles are related to the Qianhua family, they have become a community of interests with no impunity.

"Your Majesty, on behalf of the Thousand Flowers Family - Tilius Branch, I exercise the privilege of indulgences." The lady sitting on the left stood up at this time, holding up a document with the logo of the Tribunal in her hand.

It was a document that also came from the Inquisition, but it was much higher in rank than every clergyman present. It was an indulgence document specially approved by the Chief Judge himself.

In order to obtain the indulgence document in advance, Mrs. Tilius even spent a lot of money to ask the presiding judge to personally approve the document.

Father Judge nodded and stepped forward to take the specially approved document.

The fact that the lady can take out this document means that no matter how high the price of the indulgence is, she has already paid the dedication to God and received God's forgiveness. As a Byzantine person, a servant of God. , they deserve forgiveness.

Father Judge took the document and walked towards the victim's family on the right again.

"As servants of God, people in heaven, the Qianhua family has rebuilt our empire and welcomed the return of our gods. The glory of the past will continue to shine upon them, bringing them exceptional forgiveness and mercy."

"According to the file, in accordance with the privilege of indulgences, this sentencing will allow the Thousand Flowers Family-Tilius Branch to purchase indulgences at the price of 1,170 gold coins. After completing the atonement, the Tribunal will close the file, Restore the innocence of sinners.”

The Father Judge spoke these sentences skillfully, and then handed the document to the first civilian, preparing a pen dipped in ink for him.

"The trial court has made the final verdict. After signing, you will acknowledge the fulfillment of the privileges and receive four gold coins as atonement compensation; you can also refuse to sign, but as long as there are signatures from other witnesses, the document will still be valid."

During the priest's sentencing work during his lifetime, he had said words like this countless times, and he had already become numb.

Hatred is the most primitive emotion at the bottom of human nature, and it can tear through all pretense of civilization. He has pronounced sentences on various cases and seen all kinds of expressions on the faces of the families on both sides, some filled with grief and anger, some furious and crazy. Some of them bargained for the atonement compensation of those few gold coins, which is simply the way of life.

The civilian sitting first on the right seat hesitated for a moment and did not take the pen. Then the document continued to move to the right and was handed over to the second and third civilians in turn.

Originally, this work should have been handed over to a lower-level senior priest, but for some reason he stood still and did not move, just observing the expressions of every civilian family member intently.

The documents were passed around one after another. Most of the eight victims' family members did not sign, but a few chose to sign and received the atonement compensation.

Four gold coins is not a small amount for a civilian family in the Byzantine Empire. In addition, the Qianhua family is the servant of God. If a noble among the nobles goes against them, it is conceivable that the end will be ten times worse than the pain they are suffering now. .

So although tonight is called a sentencing, everyone actually knows that this is just a performance with the outcome already known in advance, a meaningless scene.

The document was quickly passed to the last little beggar who didn't even have shoes. He was the brother of the girl who was raped in the tavern. The verdict of his sister's case was written on the header of the document, waiting for him. signature.

The young man read the verdict written on it word for word, then took the pen and signed his name at the end of the document and handed it to the judge priest again.

The young man's gaze was different from the other seven family members. There was neither silent collapse nor hidden anger. It was just as calm as the lake water in the dark night, making it difficult for people to see through the complex emotions contained in it.

Do you want to end this boring sentencing as soon as possible, get the compensation gold coins and leave here? Father Inquisitor thought.

The priest put away the instrument of indulgences, left the seat on the right and returned to the mural.

"Now that all procedures have been completed, I hereby pronounce the verdict that Zimisis Tilius Qianhua has been forgiven by God for all his crimes and has regained his sinless body." The priest read out the final verdict, and four The executioners in every corner took a step forward again, their faces wary.

It turns out that they came tonight not to execute criminals, but to escort the nobles of the Qianhua family.

Once the verdict is read out, if anyone in the victim's family seats loses control of their grief and anger, or deliberately tries to assassinate this member of the Qianhua family, they will immediately take action to defend the outcome of the verdict.

"Goddess above, justice is great!" Tzimisces, who was standing in the middle of the church being judged, finally spoke his first words, clapped his hands and laughed.

He is the only descendant of the Qianhua family, the Tilius branch, and the heir to huge wealth and status. How could he be judged by this group of fools?

His mother, Mrs. Tilius, also stood up at this time, grabbed her son's arm and frowned at him, stopping his wanton behavior; then she took the initiative to walk to the family seat on the right, opened her pocket and took out A few gold coins.

"I have troubled you all to come tonight. This is a little thought from me and Zimisis. I hope you can accept it."

The lady smiled at these civilians and handed each of them a gold coin, regardless of whether they had just signed the indulgence document.

Perhaps this is a hypocritical pretense? A mother's guilt? Or is it to maintain the family's face and show off the magnanimity and generosity of the Tilius family? no one knows.

But this time more people among the common people accepted the gold coin than when they signed.

It seemed much easier for them to take away the gold coin than to sign the heavy name on the paperwork.

The lady walked up to the inconspicuous young man at the end and held out the gold coin in her hand to him.

The young man raised his head and looked at the elderly lady, then his eyes moved down to her chest, and he mustered up the courage to point at her chest.

It turned out that there was an exquisite golden brooch fastened on the lady's luxurious clothing, which was particularly eye-catching.

"You want this?"

The lady immediately understood what the young man meant. This was not the first time she had made this kind of compensation for her son. It was not unusual for civilians to bargain for more.

This little guy really has a good eye. This brooch is an ornament produced by the palace. The pattern of a mother tree made of ground gemstones symbolizes the kindness of the mother goddess. The cost of making it is much more than one gold coin.

But the lady did not hesitate, but took off the brooch and handed it to the young man.

A large number of ornaments like this are sent from the palace every year. To the Tilius family, they are just trivial things. Madam is never afraid of these commoners bargaining, because with their knowledge, they cannot bargain for anything decent. Price, what she fears most are those who refuse to accept any gifts because of their integrity.

The young man accepted the brooch, his face still as calm as the lake without any reaction; while the lady turned around and left with satisfaction, clearing all the uneasiness in her heart.

The senior priest who stood aside indifferently looked at the lady's expression, then looked at the young man's expression, and for a moment he couldn't tell who had the weirder expression. "Then, please leave the family members who have signed the petition first." Father Judge continued on the high platform.

This is the final process of the trial. After the exercise of the privilege of atonement is completed, the family members who have accepted the privilege of atonement should be the first to leave. They will stand up from their seats, pass by the Tzimisces one by one, bow to him, and then Then you can leave the sanctuary.

This is because after the atonement, Tzimisces has received God's forgiveness, and he has made peace with these people, and no longer owes them. On the contrary, these people accepted the gold coins as compensation for Zimisis' atonement. From the etiquette, they Appreciation should be expressed.

The few people who had just signed stood up, walked feebly to the middle of the church, bowed slightly towards the devil who smiled wantonly, and then turned around and left.

This was the price they paid for accepting those gold coins. In order to survive, they must prostrate themselves at the feet of God's servants, just as these servants also prostrate themselves at God's feet.

The three signed family members bowed and left one after another. Seeing that the final process was about to be completed, the senior priest walked forward and came to the position side by side with the priest. At this time, only the young man who didn't even have shoes was left. Slowly walked up to Zimisis.

The boy was still far behind the age of adulthood, and compared to the well-nourished Tzimisces, he looked extremely short and devoid of any threat.

He walked up to Tzimisces, bowed deeply, and buried his head piously——

Then, as if he was doing stretching exercises, he used all his strength to suddenly pull away quickly, and the cold light in his hand waved upwards with the rising inertia!

In a moment of change, something sharp in his hand quickly swiped upwards, directly penetrating Zimisis from his chest to his throat, and carved a bright red wound along the midline of his body!

"What are you doing!" Father Judge roared from the high platform, showing an expression of disbelief, but it was already too late.

A fatal wound was accurately cut on Zimisis' body, and blood flowed all over the floor. The lady screamed in pain, and the young man threw the murderous weapon in his hand to the ground without making any further resistance. plan.

The crisp sound of metal collision came from the ground, and what he threw to the ground was the brooch he had just asked for, with blood still on it.

He didn't know when he straightened the pin of the brooch. It was like a protruding sharp tool in his hand, extremely sharp.

No one knows how he did it. He only had a moment of opportunity. Even if the pin of the brooch was raised, it was only the length of a thumb at most. He had to draw it accurately in such a short distance and at such a fast speed. It was simply impossible for a little boy to pass through Zimisis' body.

Ever since his sister was killed and people from the Inquisition came to the door, the young man knew exactly what would happen next, so he had been preparing for this day.

Every day and every night, he trained this movement. He repeated this movement hundreds or thousands of times. He used trees and walls taller than himself as imaginary enemies, and waved them countless times just to be in front of him. It was left with an unmistakable deep scratch.

In fact, he was not so poor originally, but in order to train, he gave up his livelihood, and in the end even had to sell his clothes and shoes in exchange for food rations, so he appeared here with this appearance.

Because he knew he didn't have time to wait. The trial court launched an investigation and it would only be a month before the file was established. Then the sentencing would be held. That was his only chance to see the murderer, because the status gap between them was really too big. Once he misses it, he may never see this nobleman named Qianhua again in his life.

So he must seize this opportunity. This is his only chance to avenge his blood relatives.

Everyone was stunned. No one believed that a young man could do such a thing. The executioners in the four corners also looked at each other, and no one planned to step forward.

There was no point in taking action at this time. Their purpose here was originally to guard the scene, but now that Tzimisis was dead, the matter became another independent case of deliberate murder.

Unless he resists, the criminal should not be summarily shot to death at this time, and the trial court should file a separate case and decide.

The lady held her son who was lying in a pool of blood, sobbing non-stop and speechless.

Father Judge, on the other hand, had a face full of shock. He had not been able to recover from this incident for a long time. A member of the Qianhua family died at the scene of his sentencing. Just thinking about it, he knew what the consequences would be.

The young man didn't say a word, and had no intention of escaping or resisting. He just waited quietly for the next result.

He was just a boy from a civilian area, unable to compete with the powerful Mother Goddess Orthodox Church, so he never thought about what happened next.

As long as the blood feud has been avenged, he doesn't care at all what will happen next.

Seeing that Father Judge had not made any move for a long time, the senior priest on the side held up the file in his hand and walked up to the young man.

"You should be very clear about the consequences of killing this person, right? You are killing a member of the Qianhua family, a servant of God, and the supreme noble in this empire. You will receive a punishment that is ten times more painful than death. .”

"I understand, I admit all my sins." The young man did not raise his head, but quietly looked at the corpse in front of him and said calmly.

"Even so, don't you regret it? Aren't you afraid of heaven's punishment for killing His servant in front of the great Mother Goddess?" the senior priest asked coldly.

"I know God does exist, but He is too high. I can't see Him, and He can't see me." The young man said word by word.

Everyone was surprised by his answer, which was clearly a blatant blasphemy against the Mother Goddess, but no one could refute him.

"You had planned all this a long time ago. You knew that when you signed, you would salute the noble who had regained his innocence, so you asked for the brooch just for the revenge of that moment."

The senior priest's tone now sounded like that of an inquisitor who was investigating the case, but he was the priest responsible for pronouncing the sentence and should not have asked these questions.

"Yes." The young man nodded.

"I have another question. What if Madam doesn't wear a brooch tonight? Wouldn't all your plans be in vain?"

The senior priest's question was both abrupt and strange, leaving everyone confused. However, what surprised them even more was the boy's answer.

He did not speak, but took out an extremely small, almost hard-to-find pointed bamboo stick from his tattered cuff.

The bamboo stick was obviously sharpened by human hands on a stone, and it happened to be about the length of a thumb.

He really thought about everything. If there was no brooch, this bamboo stick would be his execution tool. But when he saw the sharper brooch, he temporarily changed his mind and asked for the tool instead. .

The brooch is a jewelry carefully crafted from the palace. The machine-ground needle is much sharper than a bamboo stick, and he usually uses bamboo sticks for thousands of trainings. If he ends up using a bamboo stick, his accuracy will be very high. will be more accurate.

No matter what the situation is, this Zimisis will definitely die.

"That's enough! Our duty should not be to interrogate and escort this damn prisoner!" Father Judge couldn't listen anymore and said loudly to the senior priest.

But the senior priest did not obey the orders of his superiors. Instead, he opened the file in his hand and took a look at the young man's signature.

"But Father, our sentencing is not over yet."

He remembered the boy's name, then threw the file in his hand to the ground, grabbed the hood with both hands and opened his face.

"The Old One is above, so next, are you going to exercise the immunity granted to you by the great Son of the Old One?"

The young man heard an unusually excited voice. He looked up and saw that the priest in front of him was taking off his hood and robe, revealing his pale hair and bright red eyes. Blue flames were burning on his arms. , transformed into a beast of judgment.

　I wrote it at the beginning, and I couldn’t bear to break it for you, so I wrote it down to over 5k! !

　　

　

(End of this chapter)