Verdict

The tension in her body had risen once again as Xianzhu prepared to deliver his verdict. So he planned to base his judgment on the narratives of his subordinates and Kiyu.

'It was good to have told everything.' Kiyu had come to that conclusion when she had gone through the worst-case scenario that could have occurred had she lied.

"Let's start with the girl named Laki. She has done nothing wrong, aside from supporting you," he explained with complete neutrality. "Given the circumstances you found yourselves in, I rate her actions as understandable and absolve her of her guilt."

'Thank the spirits!' A stone fell from Kiyu's heart when she heard the acquittal. With that, the most important person to her was off the hook. No matter what her verdict would be, she could accept it better now. One of the worse things she had prepared for in her meditation the previous day was that Laki would receive a critical punishment and she had to stop it somehow.

She had even gone through fight and escape scenarios in case they sentenced Laki to death.

Xianzhu had noticed her relief and paused for a moment. After Kiyu had regained his composure, he cleared his throat and continued. "Your case is a bit more difficult," he said, staring at her with a sharp gaze. "You destroyed city property, injured countless men and women in the guard ranks, and likewise Spiritformer Siwang Mao."

Now that Xianzhu had summed up all her deeds in concise words, she had only realized all that she had accomplished in the past few days. From the jurisdiction's point of view, she had committed crimes by hurting other people.

'But for me, this is a success!' Despite her training and the strength she had gained, she had exercised restraint and had injured no one to critical states, apart from Siwang in a duel to the death. The worst was a few broken bones. Even after Toras got struck down down before her eyes, she had made no one pay, even if it was because Zhèngyi had beaten her to it.

"You will pay for the destruction of the marketplace. Should you not have enough gold, you will work off the damage in the city's service."

She could live with that! While it meant she couldn't leave Jarifa soon, she would take the consequences of her actions. What she was more burningly interested in, however, was the sentence for her other crimes.

"On all other counts, I acquit you," Xianzhu summarized. "Tānlán has gone crimes and the reports of the guards coincide with the version you told me."

"You were trying to undo the wrong that was done to you."

For a moment, Kiyu doubted her hearing. Could she believe her ears just now? 'Acquitted? That was the last thing she had expected. What was some work she had to do because of the destroyed marketplace? A just punishment could have been less in view of what had happened.

"And what about Zhèngyi?" she asked, having to hold back her glee at the previous judgments to keep from making leaps in the air.

But Xianzhu shook his head and lowered his gaze.

"The boy didn't have it easy, I understand that. But he committed murder, and that's a serious crime," lord Xianzhu replied, looking her in the eye again. "I will execute him."

"But only because Tānlán killed his friend and mentor!" escaped Kiyu, whose joy turned from one stroke to despair and incomprehension. "You want to execute him for that?"

It was only thanks to her concern not to let her emotions determine her actions that she had not raised her voice. Even now she had raised her voice, but still everything remained within reason.

"I understand that," Xianzhu assured her, "but it would have been up to the city justice system to charge Tānlán as a criminal and execute him for his actions."

'Execute?' she gasped in shock. 'Even Tānlán's sentence had been on his mind, despite his death?'

"But if he should have died anyway, why punish Zhèngyi with death now?" She could not follow the lord's reasoning. Why not a lighter sentence?

"To uphold justice. The boy took the sentence and execution into his own hands.", Xianzhu sighed and didn't seem happy about having to decide to like that either. "If he had only hurt him, it could have been different.... But like this. I have no choice but to execute the boy in public tomorrow." Xianzhu summed up and headed back to his desk.

'Tomorrow already?' No matter how much Kiyu tried to argue against it, not a single sound escaped her open mouth. This news had thrown her, and she didn't quite know how to react.

"I have announced the sentence for the three of you. If you wish, I will leave it to you to tell the others the result. I also informed my guards about my decision." From one moment to the next, he seemed so distant and cool again. For him, the matter seemed to be closed since he announced the verdict.

Not another thought would he waste on Zhèngyi, or on how Kiyu and Laki would feel knowing that they would execute a friend of them. Direct and pragmatic...

The day before, Kiyu had believed that the two were similar, but she had since changed her mind.

"Is there anything else you want to say?" he asked, flipping through his documents.

A thousand things flashed through her mind, but none of them would have been useful to her cause.

"No," she replied, bowed, and left the room in silence. When the guards had closed the large double door behind her, she stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. Whatever she would decide, it had to be done fast.

'Can I ask you something?' In her desperate situation, there was only one person she could turn to now for advice. Her problem was not whether she could save Zhèngyi, whether she could overcome his death. For her, only one thought mattered at the moment.

< You want to know whether it would be right or wrong to free Zhèngyi, don't you? > Cheryu replied, hitting the mark.

'Yes' she replied, and with slow steps had made her way to the dungeons. 'I can understand on the one hand he committed a crime with murdering Tānlán.... but another death? For what purpose? Zhèngyi is not a nefarious murderer who roams the streets killing people!'

< What do you want to hear? My opinion of what justice is? Who determines justice? > he inquired. < You won't like the answer either way >

'I still want to hear it,' she hesitated, preparing herself for whatever answers might come.

< No one acts wrongly on purpose. We base all actions on our beliefs and judgments. That these are not always virtuous you have seen in Zhèngyi and in yourself many times > he continued with his explanation.

< Is it virtuous to take someone's life? No. Tānlán is dead, nothing can change that. Zhèngyi, however, can still find his way back to a virtuous life. >

'That sounds like the part I'd rather hear,' she replied.'And the other part?'

< That you are a human being in the company of human beings. If you want to live among them, share their common views of a society. >

What that meant to her, Kiyu understood fast. She realized to what the outcome of Cheryu's wisdom was. 'So in the end, it's up to me. On how I evaluate it and decide.'

< Either way, every action has consequences>, he added in conclusion.

'If that's the case, I will live as I see fit! If Zhèngyi is to be punished, let him learn from his mistake!'

She made her mind up.

Determined, she descended the steps of the dungeon and went to the cell where Zhèngyi and Laki were. They positioned only two guards in the dungeons. Most of the other guards were in the mansion.

"Kiki!" shouted Laki, running to the gate. "How did it go?"

Zhèngyi had approached as well, and they both looked at Kiyu as she memorized the position of their fine out of the corner of her eye.

"They have absolved Laki of all blame," she began. "I must pay for the damage done to the marketplace, but they won't convict me of any other crime."

"And me?" asked Zhèngyi, who must have been very hopeful about the good verdicts.

"How do I put this… they have sentenced you to death by Xianzhu and plan to execute you tomorrow," she replied, watching all color drain from Zhèngyi's face.

"What.... What did you say?" he asked, trembling. "Executed?"

Kiyu saw the despair rising in her comrade. With each passing moment, it became clearer to her what she had to do. Furious, she clenched her fists hidden from her body and strengthened her entire body.

"Kiki?" whispered Laki as she realized what Kiyu was doing in front of her.