"Hmph!" A young Tribunal knight with sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes snorted coldly and said, "You still want to ride in a carriage? You killed Deacon Hollett. You'll be spending the rest of your life in prison!"
Dudian slightly raised his eyebrows and looked at him with interest, saying, "Since when did the Tribunal knights take up the position of divine officials? The case hasn't even been interrogated yet, and you've already regarded the suspect as a criminal. Is this how your Tribunal solves cases? If I remember correctly, the third rule in the code of Tribunal knights is to investigate carefully and be upright and unyielding! May I ask, is it in line with'seriousness' and 'uprightness' to slander others casually without evidence?"
The young Tribunal knight was slightly stunned and was about to say something more, but was stopped by the young Tribunal knight at the head.
"Mr. Du, please cooperate and come with us. Otherwise, I'll have to arrest you by force," the young Tribunal knight said in a deep voice.
Dudian smiled slightly and said, "I'm very cooperative. But before there is conclusive evidence, I have the status of an ordinary civilian and also the status of a trainee divine official of the Tribunal. However, now someone is wantonly slandering me, and I need an explanation."
"You!" The young Tribunal knight was immediately angered.
The young Tribunal knight quickly stopped him and shout in a low voice, "Don't forget the Tribunal armor on you!"
The young Tribunal knight's face changed, and he lowered his head.
"Mr. Du, he's on his first mission and is a bit inexperienced. Please don't take it to heart," the young Tribunal knight raised his hand and pointed to a carriage not far away, saying, "Please cooperate with us."
Dudian smiled faintly, stepped aside, and patted the armor on the young Tribunal knight's chest, saying, "Hating evil like an enemy is a good thing, but you'd better keep your eyes open and not bite people blindly. Your duty is to eliminate evil and protect the common people, not to oppress the common people relying on your status. Understand?"
The young Tribunal knight clenched his fists and looked at him angrily, but didn't speak again.
Dudian ignored his gaze, turned back to Barton and the other two, and said, "You guys wait for me here. If you encounter trouble, go to the Lane Castle and find the old clan leader Fulin. Just say that you're my friends, and he will protect you."
"Dian, you..." Barton hesitated to speak.
Dudian smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry about me. I'll be back after having a cup of tea." After saying that, he said to the young Tribunal knight, "Let's go."
The young Tribunal knight gave him a deep look and waved to the people behind, saying, "Let's go!"
A group of people surrounded Dudian and left. The pedestrians on the street all stopped and stared. Wherever there were Tribunal knights, there must be vicious criminals. However, to the surprise of these people, the person arrested this time was such a young teenager.
Amid the pointing and whispering of the passers-by, Dudian got into a prison carriage converted from a carriage. Under the escort of the Tribunal knights, he was taken to the Tribunal in Tuer Street.
...
...
Tuer Street was much livelier than usual.
Divine officials from neighboring Tribunals were also sent to supervise the trial. The streets were crowded with people. Many knights wearing Tribunal armor escorted the divine officials into the Tribunal. Besides these Tribunal personnel, many common people and wealthy merchants living nearby also gathered to watch this grand event.
A carriage slowly drove over. Escorted by a team of Tribunal knights, it squeezed through the crowd and stopped in front of the Tribunal. The young Tribunal knight at the head dismounted from his horse, stepped forward, and unlocked the iron chains outside the carriage. He said to the inside, "Mr. Du, please come out."
Dudian adjusted his clothes and slowly got out of the carriage.
Looking around, there were carriages with the flags of the Tribunal everywhere.
Dudian smiled slightly. Led by the young Tribunal knight, he walked up the steps and entered the Tribunal.
"This way, please!" The young Tribunal knight led the way in front.
Dudian followed him, passed through the solemn front hall, and entered a dimly lit hall in the side hall at the back.
There were four people sitting in this hall, dressed differently and all wearing handcuffs on their hands. They were sitting on one side of the long table. Some had a gloomy expression, as if they were thinking about something, and some were anxious and restless, gently stomping their feet.
"Please cooperate," the young Tribunal knight took out the handcuffs and said to Dudian.
Dudian smiled and held out his hands.
After putting on the handcuffs, the young Tribunal knight said, "Sit over there. They, like you, are all suspects in this homicide case."
Among these four people, there were three men and one woman. A young man dressed extravagantly with his clothes disheveled saw Dudian and laughed, saying, "The Tribunal is really something. They can even arrest a kid like this who hasn't even grown up properly as a suspect. Could it be that they can't find the murderer and just randomly arrest a few innocent people to take the blame?"
The young Tribunal knight's face darkened, and he said, "Shut up!"
The young man laughed and said, "Shut up, right? I'll keep my mouth shut later."
"You!" The young Tribunal knight glared at him.
"Hehe..." A soft laugh came from outside. Three divine officials wearing white robes with gold trim came in. The one at the head was a kind-looking old man. He smiled and patted the young Tribunal knight on the shoulder, saying, "You can go out now."
When the young Tribunal knight saw him, his anger immediately subsided. He replied, "Yes," and turned to leave.
The old man pulled out a chair and sat opposite Dudian, the young man, and the other three. He smiled and said, "I'm sure you all know the purpose of bringing you here. Deacon Hollett of our Tribunal was assassinated, and the five of you are the most likely suspects based on the information we've gathered so far."
The young man's smile faded slightly, and he said, "I've never even seen this Hollett you mentioned. I read the newspaper. When he died, I was having a party with my friends. I didn't have the time to assassinate him. The people who were there at that time can all testify for me!"
The old man smiled slightly and said, "Don't be in a hurry. Although you have an alibi, according to our investigation, three months ago, Deacon Hollett lost a lot of money gambling and borrowed money from you, and he still hasn't repaid it. The amount of that money is quite large, enough to enrage someone and make them pay for a hitman to kill him."
The young man's face changed, and he slapped the table, saying, "Don't talk nonsense. Although the amount of that money is quite large, I'm not going to kill a deacon of the Tribunal just for some money. Only a madman would do such a thing!"
The old man smiled indifferently and said, "Didn't you say before that you've never even seen him?"
The young man was slightly stunned, feeling a burning sensation on his face as if he had been slapped.
"Not cooperating with the Tribunal's investigation and lying. Just these two points are enough to sentence you to prison, even if your family is noble. Of course, you can ask your family to bail you out, but the cost won't be low," the old man smiled slightly and said to Dudian and the other three beside him, "You'd better cooperate. The Tribunal knows much more than you think. It's better to confess on your own, and you may receive a lighter sentence."