novelraw #140 - Section 140
#140 - Section 140
"Are we happy and perfect?
Are these people innocent and outstanding nobles?
How could that be? Are they even worthy?
But Roger was still clapping, the crisp sound like a slap in the face to these commoners.
Because of their silence, these heinous, hell-bound fellows would be praised, eulogized, and then become even more rampant, glorified, and unscrupulously rule over them?
Even rule over their children and grandchildren?
If this is a nightmare, please let this nightmare have an end, and don't let our descendants be exploited by these dregs again!
"My lord, I have something to say!"
Suddenly, a ragged old man squeezed out from the crowd, kneeling at Roger's feet, tearfully recounting, "Anyway, I'm just a childless old man, I don't have many years left to live, I want to accuse Grand Duke Fergus of raping my wife thirty years ago, causing her to commit suicide by hitting a pillar!"
He took out a pendant with his incomplete hand, opened it, and it was a suicide note written in blood: "We are not ordinary farmers, but adventurers, but Grand Duke Fergus has cut off my fingers, and I can no longer hold a sword. This is a letter written by my wife with mental power, condensing part of her memory, please have a mage verify the truth of what I said!"
Grand Duke Fergus looked at the old man in confusion. It had been too long, and he had done too many similar things to remember who was who.
Roger took the blood letter and handed it to a spellcaster.
Soon, the conclusion was reached: "Everything is true. The person in that lady's memory is indeed Grand Duke Fergus thirty years ago."
"Grand Duke Fergus molested a woman, the circumstances are egregious, confiscate the instrument of the crime," Roger declared indifferently.
A Night Watch mage stepped forward, flames burning in his hand, scorching Grand Duke Fergus's two eggs and sausage.
Grand Duke Fergus fainted directly from the pain, then was awakened again, and then fainted again, his miserable howls echoing throughout the venue.
The other nobles also subconsciously covered and clamped their legs.
Damn, Roger is really doing it, and it's a public execution?
The commoners suddenly became restless, whispering and talking.
As long as these nobles' crimes are announced, can they really be dealt with by law?
Roger asked in a deep voice, "May I ask, who else has been wronged?"
"Lord Charles, please help me!"
From all directions, countless people excitedly stepped forward, answering his order in unison.
Today, Roger Qingtian not only tried cases, but also directly carried out public executions.
This most direct and bloody revenge finally ignited the flame that had been dormant in the hearts of the numb commoners for too long.
The cold wind and rain gradually stopped, and the sun pierced through the clouds and shone on Fergus City, which had been washed by the rain.
Only on that high platform, the blood from the trial accumulated layer upon layer.
That red was so dazzling, but it made the commoners feel a trace of warmth in their hearts...
So someone cares about the joys and sorrows of them, these ants.
Perhaps this empire, with its unique empress and kind nobles like Roger, will truly give them, these ordinary and common commoners, a future completely different from the past.
Chapter 122: It Doesn't Matter If They Are All Killed
These subjects don't not hate the nobles, they don't choose to forgive, but they have been disappointed too many times and dare not have any more hope.
With the old man setting a precedent with his blood letter, and Roger immediately sentencing and adjudicating, everyone seemed to see the dawn of the victory of the common people in that instant.
The nobles' wailing, the bloody stimulation, the memories of the past.
And that young man standing in the rain with his upper body naked like them, he has a completely different temperament from other big figures.
He is very noble, so noble that these commoners feel ashamed.
But not because of power, authority, or gorgeous clothes, but because his soul shines with a light that transcends this era.
Lord Charles is a noble, but he is not one of those scum nobles who regard commoners as ants and only try to squeeze out the last bit of their value.
"The Charles family are all good people... The Right Chancellor is like this, and so is Young Master Roger."
"I can't bear it anymore, I want to expose the dirty things the lord has done, I believe in the Night Watch!"
"Has the empress really come to save us? Is the hard life coming to an end?"
"Long live the empress, long live the empire, long live Lord Charles!"
The commoners confirmed that reporting these nobles would not only not be liquidated, but would actually be given equal trials based on their crimes, and they were boiling.
Countless people scrambled to squeeze forward, telling Roger about the suffering and injustice they had suffered.
It is like a raging river after a rainstorm. Once the breach is broken, nothing in the world can stop its overwhelming impact.
The common people are as invisible as water, and they can find a way to survive under all kinds of oppression, but if they break out one day, it will also be a tide that the nobles cannot stop.
Perhaps there is still extraordinary power in this world that can forcibly extend life, but now the imperial power holds even stronger extraordinary power than the traditional noble forces. The roar of the common people that no one has listened to for the past ten thousand years, all reasonable demands will finally be answered today.
Even gods cannot be so fair.
After all, in order to harvest the strong beliefs of the vast majority of people in despair, it is always more efficient to stand on the side of the nobles.
Fergus City's square was crowded with people, from morning to dusk, then fighting under the lights, and then to the early hours of the morning.
There were still countless commoners lining up to state the crimes of these nobles.
Even if these crimes were added up, the nobles present could have their heads chopped off tens of thousands of times.
But the grievances and sufferings that had been held in their hearts finally had a chance to be expressed, and these people were willing to wait as long as it took, hoping that the Night Watch would record the nobles' absurdities.
Extortion, murder, land annexation, condoning evil slaves, human experimentation, treating commoners as prey, forcing ordinary people to fight magic beasts...
Roger was an eye-opener.
If he hadn't heard it with his own ears, or even seen the harm these nobles had brought to the commoners with his own eyes, he really couldn't imagine that a group of nobles who had no worries about food and drink and had a lot of time could actually come up with so many tricks.
What about being rich and having a good conscience?
In contrast, trying to increase taxes, squeezing the last bit of labor results from the common people, and causing famine and starvation in the territory are just very common operations.
Those present were just commoners who still retained some land and remained free.
In the nobles' territories, there are also serfs, slaves, and servants. What kind of miserable lives do these bottom-level people who have lost their freedom live, and how much malice do they face every day?
Roger had already changed back into his uniform, holding the ginger sugar water that Little Joey had people boil, and couldn't help but sigh quietly.
The empire completed its sweep from north to south. When it arrived in the south, it had a fierce reputation, and too many trash directly surrendered.
They had long been corrupted by the long years, were accustomed to being high above, and never thought about the harm their behavior would bring to their subjects.
Only endless exorbitant taxes to satisfy their constantly expanding desires.
The number of nobles and their children and family members who were executed on the spot was unknown, and blood covered the high platform, and the executioner's knives were dull.
The Night Watch is still active within the Freedom Principality Alliance, arresting those small nobles who tried to escape and escorting them to Fergus City.
At the same time, more subjects heard the news and entered Fergus City overnight to report and state the suffering they had suffered.
After one batch of nobles was killed, new ones were sent in.
The statements of sins went from being creepy at first to Roger and the Night Watch becoming numb to hearing them, deeply feeling that life was not worth it.
Too much ugliness was hidden under the glory and greatness of the Qing Teng Empire.
No wonder the Eternal Night Empress's determination to remove these nobles was even more resolute than Roger, a modern person.
Before, he just didn't know enough about these people. Now that he knows them, Roger also wants to kill them all.
According to this world's alignment division, lawful evil is the absolute mainstream among these nobles, and those who are more open-minded are chaotic evil.
There are very few who can find neutral alignments.
Not to say that they are all evil people, but if these nobles are pulled out now, chopping off one head out of every two would definitely not be a wrong case.
The common people's enthusiasm for reporting was unprecedentedly high, but the Night Watch was not made of iron and could only take turns recording their grievances.
Of course, to this extent, this kind of record is just a formality. The demons who should be convicted have long been sent to hell, and the only ones left are a few nobles who diligently manage their territories.
Roger couldn't hold on anymore, so he returned to the temporary camp to rest for a while, at least to find something to eat.
But before he could arrange for someone to do it, a fragrance attracted him.
A small foot wrapped in white silk lightly kicked his calf. Roger turned around and saw the source, surprisingly asking, "Your Majesty?"
It was the Eternal Night Empress who had set up a table of fried food, barbecue skewers, and a bucket of beer, sitting lazily in a corner of the camp, smiling at him.
She seemed to have been waiting here for a long time, playfully admiring Roger's confused and unclear state, and kicked over a round stool: "Sit."
Roger sat down somewhat confused, he had been busy all day and hadn't had time to eat, so he really couldn't refuse the aroma of the food.
Even if the imperial chefs of Maple Spirit Moon Shadow Palace were disliked by him, they were still better than those in Fergus City.
What's more, he was really hungry.
The Eternal Night Empress was wearing a long dress today that was not so properly red, but more pinkish, which greatly eliminated the domineering and oppressive nature of her prosperous appearance.
And because of the setting of this barbecue roadside stall, it added a bit of casualness, and had a bit of the feeling of an intellectual older sister.
"Why is Your Majesty here again?" Roger still asked uneasily, afraid of some new mission.
The Empress's eyes flashed with playfulness, and she said softly and weakly: "I, I suddenly wanted to eat a late-night snack, so I randomly flipped someone to eat and chat with. What, Commander, you're not willing?"
Roger knew she was acting, but he didn't dare to just accept the act.
Your Majesty, you can go wherever you want, do you need my approval?
If I don't approve, can I stop you?
He simply pretended to be extremely hungry: "Since Your Majesty said to eat together, then I won't be polite!"
He grabbed a handful of meat skewers, poured himself a glass of beer, and devoured them.
The richly styled fried food and barbecue, whether it was freshly cooked and directly teleported over, or the Eternal Night Empress used magic to keep it fresh, was always at the best temperature and taste.
Paired with the wine that was many times better than the inferior malt wine in the dock area bars, smelling the bloody smell wafting outside, it was actually an unexpectedly pleasant enjoyment.
The Eternal Night Empress's eating manners today were much more elegant than his, slowly biting on some vegetables, and seeing him eating so deliciously, the corners of her mouth unconsciously showed a knowing smile that she didn't quite understand herself.
Is this probably the preparation I made, and my silly son is quite satisfied with his old mother's smile?
Actually, it's not.
It's just that when you see someone you like happy, you will unconsciously be happy yourself.
She slowly and methodically picked out the food she was interested in tasting, while Roger was sweeping through it like a whirlwind, quickly finishing a glass of wine.
The Empress took the initiative to pour him another glass, seemingly unintentionally saying: "In the first few years, I also liked to drink when I killed too many people."
Roger's hand froze, and he suddenly had a feeling of social death like he had broken into a shopping mall without wearing clothes.
Indeed, he was drinking much faster tonight than usual, to escape those scenes of heads rolling.
Death and blood, for someone like him who was born in a peaceful era, are ultimately strong stimuli that are difficult to get used to.
And those nobles were still beheaded on his orders.
There will be psychological pressure if you cut off the tails of too many white mice, let alone your own kind.
Even though those nobles deserved it, he also subconsciously raised his glass, thinking about reaching that slightly drunk state, perhaps those bloody fragments would not flash back in front of him.
As a result, this little thought that he was not even willing to admit in his heart was suddenly accurately revealed by the Eternal Night Empress, and he inevitably became shy and wanted to deny it to the death.
As a result, suddenly a hand was placed on the top of his head, and he only heard the Eternal Night Empress say somewhat guiltily: "It was I who piled all the pressure on you. If you really don't like these finishing touches, you can hand them over to the deputy to do."
That hand that could control the fire of heaven and lightning was unexpectedly soft and warm, and she didn't mind stroking his dusty hair, and even rubbed it a few times.
But this action did not comfort him, but instead made the machismo in Roger's body suddenly swell.
In his opinion, the Eternal Night Empress was just telling a child that you have done a great job, don't force yourself.
Combined with the previous few "Little Roger", it can form a children's playground package...
This made him quite unconvinced, and he subconsciously retorted: "Your Majesty was even younger than me when you fought the Patriotic War."
The implication is that I am not a child. You were able to overcome this difficulty back then, and I can naturally do it too, and I will never escape.
The Eternal Night Empress was stunned when she heard this, and then smiled: "It's precisely because I was young at that time that I have a deep impression, so I don't want that kind of forced growth to appear on more people."
Roger said firmly: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, since I am in charge of the Night Watch, I will faithfully fulfill my duties. Killing a few people is nothing!"
The Eternal Night Empress looked at Roger's stubborn and serious appearance and sighed softly: "You have grown up a lot."