After returning to Wolong Fort, Lu Ming picked up those thick books and started reading them again. They were all bought in Sandstone City. They were books on local laws and customs written in Zhongzhou language, including some ancient laws.
Outside the window, the originally bright weather seemed to suddenly turn gloomy, with rolling dark clouds coming from the north.
In this dry season, it is hard to see such a scene.
Looking out the window, Lu Ming sighed softly.
I originally thought it was just a small case and I could solve it with just a wave of my hand when I got here.
But he didn't expect that although Liu Laocai's so-called encounter with a honey trap was true, the fact that he was raped also objectively existed.
And it would be Richard who would do the litigation.
There was a gentle knock on the door, and Luo Er's voice said, "Master, Madam Sanjin and Madam Papaya want to see you."
Lu Ming agreed.
The door was gently pushed open and two slim figures walked in.
The three golden ladies were still wearing snow-white thin long skirts and red gauze wrapped around their bodies. The three floors of the earthen fort were all covered with thick carpets. According to the custom of noble women, the two women did not wear shoes. Their two pairs of snow-white jade feet stepped on the scarlet velvet carpets. They came gracefully and knelt together, "Respected Master, I greet you."
Sanjinpo spoke this fluently. Although Papaya's tone was a little strange, one could tell that he was speaking the Central Continental dialect. He must have studied it very hard before cramming for an exam.
Lu Ming waved his hand, and Luo Er went out and closed the door.
Lu Ming looked at San Jinpo. Compared with the helplessness he showed this morning, he was much calmer. Looking at this beautiful silver-haired woman, he no longer had those strange feelings. From a certain perspective, he admired her very much. For the sake of the family's honor, she could endure any grievance.
She had never married in her life, but now she was going to marry a kid from the East, and she was not afraid of that.
After pondering, Lu Ming said, "Mrs. Sanjin, you can also act as an interpreter for what I said. Tell Papa Ya that there is no one here now except the three of us, and no one else will know what we say. Therefore, we can put aside all honor and disgrace and face and speak freely."
Grandma Sanjin wanted to say something, but when she saw Lu Ming waving his hand and saw Lu Ming's eyes, she felt a chill in her heart for some reason.
"Tell it to Papaya." Lu Ming smiled.
Sanjinpo started talking to Papaya in gibberish.
Lu Ming waited for her to finish translating, and then said, "I was caught off guard by what happened yesterday, and I may have had some problems in dealing with it. In addition, my sister added fuel to the fire. She lives in a different environment, so she thinks that your life was in dire straits before. She is used to helping others and even funded..."
Speaking of this, Lu Ming sighed inwardly, wondering if the scar in Nicole's heart had disappeared.
In fact, the brutal murder of the child in the orphanage was a huge blow to her, but she never showed it.
Perhaps, the fact that they were determined to stick with me had a lot to do with the fact that I had almost wiped out that ** organization.
I may give her a great sense of security.
She should have been secretly following the progress of this case.
The various interactions between me and her are so numerous and complicated that it is difficult to describe them all.
But what she talked the least about was the case and the children she sponsored, as if nothing had ever happened.
Everyone may encounter unbearable burdens.
I just hope that my sister will have a smooth and happy life in the future.
After pondering for a moment, Lu Ming looked at the two beautiful women again and said, "However, my sister is young and has a different view from me. You know your own lives, and you know the ups and downs of everything, right?"
After San Jinpo finished talking to Papa Ya, Lu Ming looked at Papa Ya and said, "First, let me talk about you. Actually, I read some story books here to understand the local values. In the story books, what is punished and what is advocated are usually clear and understandable. They are also the window that best reflects the values of a civilization. They are all in the form of short stories, which are easy to understand. Well, I have gone off topic."
Lu Ming coughed and continued, "I also inquired about the local customs, so now I have confirmed one thing. Although your husband, Mr. Hawkeye Luo, kept you here for one night for no apparent reason, in fact, if my status is high enough, it would not matter if I sent you back like this. If I can bring great benefits to your husband in the future, no one will gossip about your husband, and no one will think you have done anything wrong. They will only respect you more."
"So, I won't explain anything to the outside world, like it was a misunderstanding, or that I didn't touch you while you were here, or anything like that. There's no need to explain to your husband, either. Just pretend that I slept with you. But I can assure you that as long as your husband follows me wholeheartedly and doesn't go astray, the Hawkeye Luo family will become more and more prosperous, and you will be the most respected woman in the Hawkeye Luo family now and in the future. Maybe you'll even have your own epitaph."
San Jinpo's beautiful eyes were full of surprise. She could feel that the man in front of her was not the one she saw in the morning at all.
There was a gleam of light in her eyes, but she also quickly translated Lu Ming's words to Papaya.
Papaya was dazed, she lowered her head gently, tears falling from her beautiful eyes again. But what she was thinking and why she was crying this time, only she knew.
Lu Ming continued, "So, I'll take over the fish pond, but I'll send you back this afternoon. Of course, if you think that if you go back now, you won't know how to explain to Hawkeye Luo, and you'll be criticized by others, you can stay here first. It won't be too late to go back later when Hawkeye Luo benefits from me."
After talking to Papa Ya, Lu Ming looked at San Jin Po and said with a wry smile: "Well, you, you are really a difficult problem here."
"You seem to have fulfilled your great vows throughout your life, and you live in the embrace of the Dragon God. Moreover, your everlasting beauty and strange silver hair also add to your legendary and mysterious aura. The younger generations of the Popolo family all revere you as a deity."
"But in reality, you have been lonely and helpless all your life. I'm afraid only you know how miserable it is."
"When Popolo, your nephew, talks to you about me and hints at you, how do you feel?"
"Angry? Sad? Despair?"
"There's a line in my hometown poem: 'A silkworm may not stop spinning silk until it dies, a candle may not stop shedding tears until it turns into ashes.' That's what you are now. You're so old, and this last bit of dignity will be torn to pieces by your people."
"You felt very uncomfortable at that time, right?"
"But you, when you were determined, had no regrets. After coming to me, you seemed to be thinking about me in every way, but in fact, you hoped to gain my trust and reuse. In this way, you devoted yourself to the Popolo family until your death."
"To be honest, I admire you! I respect you!"
Grandma Sanjin slowly lowered her head.
Lu Ming sighed: "But, precisely because of this, you are different from Papa Ya. If I send you back, you, the immortal ancestor, will become lowly in the eyes of the tribe members."
"Your lifelong reputation has been ruined in an instant. The vows you made before coming to me, the ideological struggles you made, the struggles you endured, have all become worthless."
After a pause, Lu Ming looked at her and said, "So, this is what I think. I can choose not to send you back. I can even write a letter to the city lord to confirm the ownership of your property with mine, because I happen to be of some use."
"But you must remember that here, even Luo Yi, Luo Er, and my other close servants, any one of them will always have a higher status than you. You are just one of my servants who helps me do things, and you don't need to secretly help the Popolo family. Otherwise, I believe you will understand the consequences."
"But at the same time, I will definitely give what should be given to the Popolo family. The Hawkeye Luo family and the Popolo family will definitely not regret following me. In this way, your greatest wish should be fulfilled, and you will have no regrets in this life."
"Because I can also assure you that, in fact, your family will surely be more prosperous than you can imagine, more prosperous than you can imagine, and more prosperous than you can imagine, when there is a chance to hollow out my business here to help support your family in the future!"
Grandma Sanjin raised her head and wanted to say something, but when she saw Lu Ming's sharp eyes, she slowly lowered her head.
Lu Ming smiled, and his tone was no longer so harsh. "In fact, you can relax in the future and regard your future life as the blessing after practicing the great vows for forty-five years. Enjoy life and open your eyes to the world. Don't always calculate the petty profits at home. Live for yourself in the future. Isn't it good?"
San Jin Po was silent, and nodded gently, "Yes, Master, I will keep your words in my heart until death..."
Lu Ming thought for a moment and said, "According to the old custom, if I write a formal letter to the city lord to confirm that you have become my property, then the amount of my property now is amazing. As the ancestor of the Popolo family, your property is very significant. In this way, am I qualified to become the Monsoon Councillor of this city?"
The so-called monsoon councillors, as the name suggests, monsoon is not a common wind, but a wind that only occurs in a specific season. Monsoon councillors are those who are not among the three-color councillors, but are similar to foreign honorary councillors.
"And it seems that just like Councillor Monsoon and Councillor White Flag, they have the power to pardon their relatives and friends who have committed crimes and have been sentenced to death by the court?"
In the court of Bat City, the judge is the city lord, who is truly the ruler of the trinity.
The four white flag councillors served as jurors, but the final decision would be made by the city lord who served as the judge.
In a case involving Fila Petroleum, if it is clear that you are losing in court, you cannot expect the city lord to rule in your favor.
Well, according to old customs, there is a special right of amnesty that can be used.
For example, the four white flag councillors can exercise the right of pardon if their relatives or friends are sentenced to death after the city lord's decision, but the other three councillors need to vote to make the final decision on whether the right of pardon is established.
Councillor Monsoon seems to be able to propose amnesty as well, but there are no clear provisions.
Moreover, because of the relatives and friends item, they must be relatives or close friends who are truly known to everyone. Otherwise, not only will the power of amnesty be abused, it will also cause too many problems, and in the end the power of amnesty may become worthless.
Therefore, he could not expect Hawkeye Luo or Popolo to propose a pardon for Liu Laocai.
I can only do it myself as a last resort to save Liu Laocai's life.
Of course, if this is really used, it means that one has lost the lawsuit miserably.
Over there, San Jinpo sighed softly. "Master, in just three days, I have submitted to you. You know more than me."
Obviously, she doesn't care much about these things, so she doesn't know.
Lu Ming nodded: "Your Central Continental dialect is better than this morning, and your sentences are getting longer and longer." He thought, "If you have no objection, I will write a letter to the powerful Luo to confirm that you become my property?"
He then said, "Please teach me how to write this kind of document."
I shook my head in my heart. The confirmation of marriage here is actually a property notarization. The status of women is essentially outrageous.
Suddenly, an idea flashed through Lu Ming's mind, "Mrs. Sanjin, look, my property exceeds a certain amount, and I need the city lord to confirm it, right? Those serfs are confirmed by the head of the family to set up a family, and the poor civilians are registered at the four city security offices."
"If there are two civilians who have never registered but have lived together for more than ten years, and they strictly follow local laws, are they guilty?"
San Jinpo shook her head blankly again. The life of the poor was again her blind spot in knowledge.
Lu Ming nodded. He felt that although Tugou and Hasang had not registered their marriage, they had lived together for more than ten years without being affected and no one had reported them. It seemed that in this area, like in Donghai, de facto marriages were also recognized.
“Okay, teach me how to write this official letter that will make you my property…” Lu Ming said, shaking his head in his heart. This was too absurd, not to mention in his previous life, even in the East China Sea.
Looking at Papa Ya again, Lu Ming asked, "What about you? Are you leaving now or in a few days?"
Papa Ya was in a daze the whole time. After San Jin Po finished translating, she saw that she didn't respond, so she turned to Lu Ming and said, "Master, she needs time. The mental blow is too great..."
Lu Ming nodded. At this time, there was a knock on the door. Luo Er's voice said, "Master, this is an official letter from the Council of State."
San Jinpo hurried to open the door and smiled apologetically to Luo Er. Luo Er walked in quickly and handed the official letter to Lu Ming.
Lu Ming opened it and frowned slightly. It turned out that the trial of Hasan suing Liu Shoufu for murder would be held the day after tomorrow afternoon.
Richard had just arrived in Nicolo, a thousand kilometers away, in the morning, but he had already asked the people here to file a lawsuit.
Obviously, he didn't want to stay in this remote place for even a day. He just wanted to start a lawsuit as soon as he arrived and leave after the lawsuit was over.
This case can be solved in a day or two.
Indeed, unlike the court in Donghai, the court in Batcheng will open tomorrow afternoon, and then continue to hear cases. It will be completed in two or three days at most. After all, there will not be too complicated cases here, and when hearing big cases like those involving Donghai citizens, other small cases will naturally have to stand aside. Moreover, there may not be one case that needs to be heard by the city lord's court in a month, and most disputes are resolved by the patriarchs of each family themselves.
Richard seemed quite confident. After all, his team had fought several lawsuits in the Western Regions, not to mention the support brought by the law firm.
I think any lawyer in his law firm who has handled lawsuits in the Western Regions would offer suggestions and even form a legal team to accompany him.
In this regard, single lawyers or small and medium-sized law firms can never compare.
When will my own law firm reach this scale
Lu Ming sighed with some envy in his heart.
However, I have just been inspired by this case and have gradually formed a preliminary idea, but I still need to look at the information again.
Since you must fight, then fight.
It depends on whether I, a small lawyer in my small law firm, can knock down with one punch the giant and his team of lawyers.
Lu Ming looked out the window, his eyes gradually becoming firm.