Lu Ming woke up very early in the morning and sat by the phone reading the newspaper that Qing'e had brought him.
Qing'e is twenty years old and will be responsible for the safety of this family from now on.
Han Anni and Xue Zihan were both tired from the long journey and got up a little late.
Lu Ming was naturally waiting for Wu An's call. Today was the day when Zhu Zhenglong would decide the punishment for Ma Quanyou's group of military officers.
Because Lu Ming was sitting in the middle of the sofa, Han Annie and Xue Zihan sat on his left and right. They also read books or newspapers, but they would glance at the phone nervously from time to time.
"Ring, ring, ring" the phone suddenly rang.
Han Anni was close by and quickly handed the phone to Lu Ming. Lu Ming smiled and said, "It's too early, it shouldn't be."
He picked up the microphone and heard a slightly older man's voice, "My dear son-in-law, it's me, Han Renwang!"
"Oh, father-in-law!" Lu Ming greeted with a smile.
With today's telephone, Han Annie naturally heard Han Renwang talking and curled her lips.
"My dear son-in-law, the case of Ma Quanyou may not be sentenced today. Zhu Zhenglong is in the hospital." Han Renwang smiled bitterly, "I tried my best, but I can't help you."
Lu Ming smiled and said, "I'm very grateful that my father-in-law is concerned about this matter!" He had never asked Han Renwang to participate in this. This case was too sensitive and involved the foundation of Qi Huaide Group. Therefore, although Zhu Zhenglong was a judge under Han Renwang's jurisdiction, if he were in his place, he would have a headache about how to judge.
Then we can only delay and see how the situation in northern Xinjiang changes.
In fact, I could have given him a way out. For example, after the verdict, he could seek asylum from the Principality of Montenegro. Of course, this would have involved promising him many benefits.
But such a verdict is meaningless, and it also humiliates the purpose of filing this lawsuit, so I decided to wait and see.
After hanging up the phone, Lu Ming glanced at Han Annie and said, "The verdict cannot be made today, and it will probably be delayed for a long time."
Han Annie's pretty face darkened slightly, and she lowered her head: "Oh."
Lu Ming said softly, "In fact, we have already won, but we are just short of the sentencing procedure. Instead of letting them off lightly now, I think it may not be a bad thing to delay the sentencing. Ma Quanyou Group has been convicted of crimes against humanity in the court of Northern Xinjiang, and many of its evil deeds can also be reported by the Northern Xinjiang media. Let's see what Qi Huaide does!"
Lu Ming took Han Anni's hand and said, "Whether there is sentencing or not, we won the case and we should celebrate. What do you want? Tell me."
Han Annie still shook her head, her face full of gloom, which was heartbreaking.
Lu Ming couldn't help but gently hold her in his arms.
Han Annie did not struggle. She had no strength left in her body and needed the support of a warm embrace.
"Oh, maybe I shouldn't have asked you to go with this eucalyptus..." Lu Ming gently hugged her soft body and said softly.
The horrific collective atrocities in the war were probably insignificant compared to the acts of any perverted murderer. Han Annie was just a girl in her early twenties, but she had to face those cruel hellish scenes, understand them thoroughly, and tell them to the jury. It can be said that she was very strong.
"Look forward and prepare to take on new work, okay?"
Han Annie nodded slightly, but hugged Lu Ming even tighter.
Lu Ming turned around, only to find that Xue Zihan had disappeared without him noticing.
…
January 1, 955.
A grand ceremony was held in front of the General's Building in the Montenegro Special Administrative Region (formerly the Montenegro Special City).
Lu Ming took over the scepter from the Archbishop of the Montenegro Diocese and the golden map of the Montenegro area, which also represented that the boundaries of the Prince of Montenegro's territory - the Principality of Montenegro - were officially demarcated.
In fact, under the suppression of the imperial royal family, the archbishops of this world are more like royal ceremonial officers, used as mascots to represent the divine right of kings.
For example, the Archbishop of Black Mountain Castle Diocese was appointed by Lu Ming, and he was originally a priest in Princess Alice’s Privy Council.
The archbishop also does not have a church, but is more like a priest accompanying the powerful.
After the establishment of the principality, the original Montenegrin Headquarters ceased to exist and a principality cabinet was formed.
At the same time, the Prince's Privy Council was formally established, and the main members of the cabinet, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Principality, the Speaker of the Parliament, etc. were appointed as Privy Councilors.
The various ceremonies throughout the day were grand and solemn.
Representatives from all member states of the Eastern Alliance, the four provinces of the Northern Territory, and even the Kingdom of Japan came to watch the ceremony.
The eldest prince also sent a special envoy to sign a territorial contract with the Prince of Black Mountain Castle on his behalf, representing the eldest prince, who is also the King of the Kingdom of Griffinni.
The Prince of Black Mountain Castle was given a duchy of his own territory and was exempted from any taxes from the kingdom for fifty years.
Of course, the territory of the Prince of Heishanbao granted by the eldest prince only includes the Jiangnan area of Zhenjiang Autonomous Province and Heishanbao Special Administrative Region.
Part of the Heishan Autonomous Region in Jiangbei (formerly Wanzhou Road and Nanping Road) and the Northern Heishan Autonomous Region are territories developed by the principality itself and have nothing to do with the kingdom.
These lands originally belonged to the four provinces in the Northern Territory.
In fact, the contract was originally only symbolic. Even the emperor of the empire did not have the right to grant any territory to the nobles.
But it was originally the place ruled by the Prince of Black Mountain Castle, and the people voted in a referendum to agree to form the Principality of Black Mountain Castle. The subsequent series of ancient procedures were just icing on the cake.
…
In the General's Building, sitting opposite Lu Ming was a stern-faced old Western man, Senior Attorney Feldman, Vice Chairman of the Imperial Bar Association.
Today, most of the "Imperial" affairs agencies are actually in a state of stagnation.
However, the operation of the Bar Association was not affected much.
Because the Bar Association has always been an independent organization, although its headquarters is in the imperial capital, the Crown Prince has no influence on these senior lawyers at all.
Although the Kingdom of Sonia, with the Second Prince as its king, became independent from the Kingdom of Griffinni, the barristers of the Kingdom of Sonia still accepted the Imperial Bar Association as the body that adjudicated their code of conduct.
However, let alone the four provinces in the northern region, even the five provinces in the south of the Yangtze River have never been regarded as places ruled by law by the Bar Association. A lawyer's license obtained in the five provinces in the south of the Yangtze River will not be recognized by the Bar Association. If one wants to sue in the core area of the empire, one must obtain a local lawyer's license.
It was naturally the first time for Senior Attorney Feldman to come to the Northern Territory.
"Before I came here, I met Wenhua in Donghai and he said that His Royal Highness should have been a milestone figure in our judicial history. His Royal Highness's future brilliance will definitely be incomparable to us old guys!" Old man Feldman's face was full of heartache.
"Wenhua" naturally refers to Li Guan.
Feldman has been saying similar things over and over again for a while. He is too old, and maybe no matter how outstanding he was in the past, there will come a day when his brain becomes dull.
Lu Ming coughed and said, "Uncle Federman, I think that my promotion of the rule of law in the Northern Territory is much more meaningful than my work as a lawyer in the East China Sea. Don't you think so?"
Feldman was stunned for a moment, then he sighed deeply: "Richard, that kid, shouldn't have taken the case of defending the barbarians!"
Lu Ming nodded: "Uncle Federman, others may not know, but after reading the files, don't you understand? At that time, our Montenegro lawyers were about to blow the horn of counterattack. We had a high probability of winning the case, so why did we have to assassinate him?"
Feldman sighed, "Wenhua also said a lot of things, not believing that you can do such a thing, but what about your subordinates? Have you ever thought about it? They don't know that you are going to have the upper hand?"
Lu Ming waved his hand and said, "No, if it was my people who assassinated Lawyer Richard, why did they choose the time when the head of my legal team died of poison after drinking tea with him? Isn't this deliberately giving people something to talk about? Uncle Feldman, please rest assured that I will get to the bottom of this matter."
Feldman nodded. "Then you must hurry up. Many people in the Bar Association are asking for a statement to condemn you. At the same time, they want to revoke your lawyer's license."
"I don't care about the ignorance of the world. Time will tell us the truth!" Lu Ming sighed, "But what I regret most is that I didn't send someone to protect Lawyer Richard. This was my negligence."
Federman asked puzzledly: "Didn't the warlord there send soldiers to protect them?"
Lu Ming knew that the old man didn't know what he really meant by "protection", so he nodded gently: "I will send a particularly trusted and capable subordinate to the Northern Territory again soon, hoping to urge and assist them to find out the truth about Lawyer Richard's death as soon as possible."
Feldman nodded: "I hope the truth will come out! There, alas..." Obviously, he did not have any confidence in finding out the truth, but he did believe that Lu Ming was not the culprit.
Glancing at Lu Ming, Feldman shook his head helplessly: "If I persuade you to go to the capital with me now, people will think I'm crazy! Alas, I have noticed you for a long time, it's just a pity!"
Lu Ming could only smile and say nothing.