Public Trial

In court, the young Lawyer defending the victim listened with a smile as the judge twisted the truth, but remained completely silent. 💀☜ 🐨💚

Soon, amidst the wailing of the murdered siblings' parents, Weijinie raised his gavel and declared, "This court hereby declares that Lunache is not guilty of rape and murder, and is acquitted."

Just as his gavel was about to fall, the young Lawyer suddenly stood up and shouted, "This is an illegal verdict! You are trampling on the law!"

Weijinie shook his head; he'd seen plenty of these boisterous young men. He gave a dismissive smile and waved to the bailiffs, "Get this guy out of here! By the way, what's his name? He'll later be charged with insulting a court."

The Lawyer retorted without flinching, "My name is Danton! Georges- Jacques Danton, sue me all you want!"

He then held several more sheets of paper high above his head. "But Your Honor, you must first explain what these letters are all about!"

"A letter? What letter?" Weijinie looked at the few pages, feeling they seemed somewhat familiar. Suddenly, his expression changed. It looked like the letter he had written to Vareilles! How did it end up in this Lawyer's hands?!

The letter, naturally, was given to the Lawyer by the Police Intelligence Division.

Not long ago, Joseph overheard Fouche mention that the Lawyer for the victim in the "Lunache case" was named Danton, and immediately had someone check the Registration Lawyer of the High Court, only to find that there was only one named "Jacques Danton".

In other words, this young Lawyer was the later Jacobin leader.

Historically, Danton was known for his strong sense of justice and his exceptional oratory skills, which allowed him to easily incite thousands to riot.

Joseph immediately decided to entrust Weijinie. Given the extremely serious nature of the case, Danton was sure to make a big splash.

At the trial, Danton leaped onto a chair in the gallery and loudly read aloud the portion of Weijinie's letter that could be used as evidence, "My dear old friend, I have seen your valet. But I must confirm, do you really want me involved in Lunache's case?"

"As for that money, it's all used for bribing officials at all levels. You know, just the evidence room alone costs them ten Livre, since destroying evidence is a very serious crime..."

"I don't know what they're going to do with that witness, but I swear to you, as long as that damned carpenter doesn't speak, I can acquit your nephew..."

"Poor Lunache must have had enough of that moldy, cold prison. Oh, he was supposed to stay there until he died, or even be hanged. But don't worry, I'll let him out after the next court session..."

"Bailiffs! Stop him!" Weijinie pointed at Danton, shouting like a madman, "He's lying!"

Before the bailiffs in the courtroom could react, Weijinie had already impatiently stepped onto a chair, jumped out from behind the judge's table, and pounced on Danton with red eyes.

The latter, however, skillfully moved and dodged among the courtroom tables and chairs, while continuing to read the letter.

By the time he finished reading the key points, he had already run to the courthouse entrance, shoved aside the bailiffs guarding the place, and stormed out.

Outside the High Court, thousands of citizens had already gathered, far more than usual for protests. They had all been summoned by Marat, Desmoulins, and others to cooperate with the trial.

Danton rushed to the iron fence of the courthouse and shouted, "That shameless and despicable bastard just now humiliated the law in front of everyone! He actually acquitted that murderer!"

An angry roar immediately erupted from the crowd, "Hang the murderer!"

"Hang that corrupt judge too!"

"Hanging! He must be hanged!"

Danton gestured for everyone to be quiet, then held up the letter in his hand. "I have obtained evidence of that judge's corruption, and I will make sure he receives the punishment he deserves!"

Several bailiffs tried to stop Danton, but under the intimidation of the thousands of people, they dared not step forward.

In fact, just a dozen steps away, there were more than thirty Police on standby. If the bailiffs dared to make a move, they would immediately rush in to rescue Danton.

Danton continued shouting, "To prevent those people from destroying the evidence, I suggest that the trial be held publicly right here!"

The crowd erupted in another shout:

"Public trial!"

"Right here, let's watch the trial!"

"The judge who let the murderer go, come out here!"

And so, the angry crowd roared all day long, and the number of people kept growing.

It wasn't until dusk, when Chief Minister Brienne appeared and publicly promised that the Royal Plenipotentiary Court would be in charge of the public trial of Weijinie's bribery case in the square in front of the High Court, that the crowd gradually dispersed.

At 11 p. m., after his men repeatedly confirmed that there were no more protesters outside the courthouse, Weijinie dressed as a coachman and sneaked out through the back door.

However, what he didn't know was that the Police Intelligence Division had been watching him from the shadows.

Weijinie's Carriage had barely crossed two blocks when someone shouted, "The judge who conspired with the murderer is right here!"

"Everyone come quick, Weijinie is here!"

Torches quickly lit up the surroundings, Marat led over a hundred men to rush up, dragging Weijinie out of the carriage and beating him severely without saying a word.

In the corner, dozens of Police, sensing the situation was about right, quickly appeared, blowing whistles, and separated the crowd—after all, they couldn't actually kill the criminal, otherwise there would be no one to try.

Weijinie on the ground had already been beaten beyond recognition, lying in a pool of blood, convulsing.

Two days later, a judge appointed by the Royal Plenipotentiary Court held a public hearing for the Weijinie case at the entrance of the High Court.

The Royal Plenipotentiary Court, which was under the control of the King, was very authoritative before Louis XIV. Later, its power was gradually transferred to the High Court, and it has now become a ceremonial institution.

The judges never dreamed they would have a day when they could actually preside over a case.

However, under the watchful eyes of thousands of angry citizens, no one dared to question their qualifications to hear the case.

Weijinie, whose leg had been broken, lay to one side, his body wrapped in bandages, occasionally letting out painful groans.

Danton handed the letters to the judge, while claiming that there were more in Weijinie's house.

The judge immediately ordered a search of Weijinie's house, and soon found a letter from "Vareilles" in his Study.

The correspondence between the two sides corroborated each other, further confirming the fact that Weijinie had accepted bribes to exonerate Lunache.

Lying on the wooden plank, Weijinie couldn't understand why these letters, which he had clearly burned, had ended up in his house.

In fact, Vareilles wrote two copies of the letter; one was burned by Weijinie, and the other was secretly placed in his Study by her maid.

Subsequently, the Monterey family was also summoned to testify, and under the weight of the evidence and the angry stares of countless people, the couple quickly admitted to bribing the judge.

The Royal Plenipotentiary Court publicly declared Weijinie guilty of bribery, harboring a criminal, and destroying evidence, sentencing him to fifty years in prison. Furthermore, due to Weijinie's moral failings, the court ordered all previously heard cases against him to be remanded for retrial.

The thousands of onlookers erupted in thunderous cheers. Only Danton, Marat, and others remained in low spirits; they only wanted one verdict: hanging.

I've started a poll in the book club about Robespierre's fate, and I'd like to ask all of you readers to cast your vote.

(End of this chapter)