The Moral High Ground
Karl's face was ashen; his cold gaze swept over the pale-faced John, then he gestured to Tommy, "Help her up, and make a note of it."
Tommy, his eyes blazing with fury, suppressed his anger and carefully helped the nearly exhausted woman to her feet, leading her to rest. He then solemnly wrote down his first tearful accusation on the notebook he carried with him.
Karl's gaze returned to the crowd, his voice more steady and powerful than before, carrying a sense of reassurance and encouragement. "Did everyone hear that? This isn't an isolated incident. John's crimes here are countless and unforgivable!"
"This woman had the courage to stand up and speak out about the injustice that has been buried for so many years! Is there anyone else? Are there any other victims? Don't be afraid! Today, I am here, the King's Imperial Edict is here, justice is here! No one should try to cover up the truth anymore! Speak out your suffering, your hatred!"
The appearance of the "first person" was like the first crack appearing on a dam; the torrent, long suppressed by fear and silence, finally found an outlet!
Once the first one appeared, there was a second, a third... Soon, the crowd began to stir. One figure after another, carrying similar sorrow, anger, and finally mustered courage, stepped out from the crowd, knelt before Karl, or pointed directly at John, Edward, Hugo, and others, tearfully accusing them.
An elderly man with white hair walked out shakily, tears streaming down his face. "Prince Consort Highness! My son, just because he picked up a few ears of wheat that had fallen on the edge of John's field, was seen by his wicked servant, who beat him so badly that his leg was broken. We had no money for treatment, so he's now crippled, and his wife has run off with someone else... Now I have to beg to survive..."
A middle-aged man, his eyes red, roared, "Edward! You despicable man! My family's three acres of irrigated land, passed down through generations, are right by the river! You colluded with Hugo, forged loan documents, and insisted that my family owed you money, forcibly seizing the land deed! My father went to reason with you, but your servants pushed him down, and he died spitting blood! How dare you deny it?!"
A young woman covered her face and wept. "Hugo... you beast... last autumn harvest, you brought people to my house to collect taxes. Even though I had already paid in full, you said I had miscalculated and forced me... forced me... afterwards you even threatened to kill my whole family if I dared to tell anyone..." She couldn't continue, she just cried bitterly.
Accusations poured in like a tidal wave, from men, women, young and old, detailing a wide variety of shocking crimes: seizing land and property, forced buying and selling, usury driving families to ruin, forced labor resulting in death or disability, defiling innocent women, unleashing vicious dogs to attack people, monopolizing markets, colluding with local officials to embezzle taxes...
John was the mastermind, Edward was an accomplice, and Hugo and his bound henchmen were the executioners who carried out the murders.
Almost every accusation corresponds to the tragic fate of one or more families, and is soaked in blood, tears, and despair.
Cries, curses, and accusations mingled together in the square, forming a powerful symphony of protest against the dark rule of the past.
Tommy and the other two literate soldiers busily took notes, their pens flying across the paper, which quickly filled page after page.
Karl remained seated on his horse, his expression somber, listening intently to every accusation, occasionally pressing for details.
His presence was like a stabilizing force, giving the complainants boundless courage and making the accused feel like they were sitting on pins and needles. John and others were ashen-faced and trembling like leaves. They tried several times to argue or beg for mercy, but under the overwhelming public opinion and Karl's cold gaze, they opened their mouths but could not utter any meaningful words.
After an unknown amount of time, the accusations gradually subsided. It wasn't that the grievances had disappeared, but rather that many people were too emotional and needed to be calmed down. The records had already piled up quite thick.
A sense of release and exhaustion, as well as an unprecedented and strange excitement, filled the square. The villagers looked at each other and saw similar pain in each other's eyes, as well as the excitement of having participated in a major event together.
Karl gestured for Tommy to stop recording. He gently spurred his horse, and it spurred forward a few steps, stopping in front of John, whose face was ashen and whose back was soaked with cold sweat. The horse looked down at John with eyes as sharp as ice blades.
"John," Karl's voice wasn't loud, but it carried immense weight, "Did you hear everything the villagers said just now? Do you plead guilty?"
John was jolted by that gaze, a lingering trace of cunning and the arrogance of years in office making him want to make one last struggle.
He raised his head, his voice trembling, yet he still tried to emphasize his "status" and "rules": "Lord Karl... I... I am the village chief of Jialan Village... appointed by the kingdom... to manage this area... You... you can't just listen to these lowly... these villagers' one-sided story... They... they're making false accusations! It's insubordination! To try the village chief, this... this is against the law! There's no precedent for this!"
"Village chief?" Karl sneered, leaning slightly forward. His voice, clear as an ice bead falling to the ground, reached everyone's ears. "What a village chief! What a 'kingdom appointment'!"
He straightened up abruptly, his voice rising sharply like a thunderclap, carrying an undeniable authority and awe-inspiring righteousness:
"John! Listen carefully! I, Karl von Schmidt, am the Prince Consort appointed by His Your Majesty! I am the ' Guardian of the Northern Border ' personally bestowed by His Majesty!"
"His Majesty has granted you local officials power so that you may govern on behalf of Heaven, protect the people, encourage agriculture, and ensure their well-being! He has appointed you as a bridge between the court and the people, not as local tyrants who oppress the local populace!"
"Furthermore, it is not for you to abuse your power, act lawlessly, disregard human life, bully men and women, and cause widespread suffering and resentment!"
He pointed to the still agitated villagers around him, then to the thick stack of accusations. "Look at them! Look at these 'lowly people' you call themselves! They are the foundation of the kingdom!"
"It is the foundation for paying taxes and supporting the country! You have treated the people under His Majesty's rule as slaves and private property to be bullied and killed at will! You have distorted the duties entrusted to you by His Majesty into tools to satisfy your personal desires and harm the people!"
"How dare you call yourself 'village chief'? You are clearly a parasite that is eroding the foundation of the kingdom! A tyrant who is harming the region! A prisoner who deserves to die!"
His words were righteous and forceful, elevating personal vigilante justice to the level of upholding the kingdom's legal system, safeguarding His Majesty's benevolent rule, and saving the people from suffering.
This not only secured the moral and legal high ground, but also completely blocked John's path of defense against his "official position" and "custom."