MWC – Chapter 192 Right and Wrong, Black and White

I AM DROPPING THIS NOVEL. IF ANYONE WANTS TO CONTINUE THEY CAN. IF POSSIBLE PLEASE SHARE THE LINK SO I CAN BINGE READ TOO.

The powerful Lord Chong Quanluo was actually quite young—just over thirty, having only recently inherited his position.

The lord’s official residence was a grand complex of stone buildings, standing in stark contrast to the thatched huts and earthen houses of Bate City.

Even though water was extremely scarce in Bate, the fountains in the garden still sprayed arcs of water nearly half a person high.

Next to a stone table, Chong Quanluo, along with Sherlock, Lu Ming, and several members of the trade delegation, were casually chatting while eating rare fruits.

The trade delegation had brought a few native interpreters, hired back in Gravel City. The one accompanying the two leaders to see the lord today was their best interpreter.

But even so, Chong Quanluo was quite interested in the East Sea. Their conversation meandered all over the place, touching on obscure topics and rare vocabulary. At times, the poor interpreter was clearly struggling.

Sherlock tried multiple times to steer the conversation back on track.

Only then did Chong Quanluo lazily open the document pouch and pull out the official letter. But as he read it, his eyes suddenly narrowed.

Just then, a guard rushed in, knelt on one knee before the lord, and murmured a few words.

Chong Quanluo turned to Lu Ming with a smile. “Mayor Lu, one of your servants is here, says it’s urgent. He insists on seeing you right away.”

Lu Ming smiled. “Alright.”

There were indeed a lot of matters to handle. After sitting here idly for almost two hours, he had arranged for someone to come around this time, giving himself a timely excuse to leave.

So many people, and yet they hadn’t discussed anything of real substance.

He glanced at Wen Liangyu, who gave a slight nod, and then stood up and walked out.

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Outside were several horse-drawn carriages, and Lu Ming boarded one of them.

Though the joint expedition brought along an open-top off-road jeep, which could easily handle the terrain here…

He could have requisitioned the jeep as easily as taking a helicopter and claimed it was a rental from Sherlock, paid for out of pocket.

But gasoline was precious. It had to be saved. The nearest place where fuel could be bought by the barrel was over 200 li away in another city-state.

For a steady supply, they’d have to go all the way to Gravel City, thousands of li away.

So, for now, horse-drawn carriages were still king.

However, upon entering the carriage, Lu Ming paused slightly.

Inside, aside from Luo Yi—the servant sent to deliver the message—there was also a woman dressed in traditional local attire: the strikingly beautiful Papaya.

She didn’t dare look at him. Her eyes seemed to still bear traces of tears. She spoke in a soft, timid voice.

Luo Yi translated, “Master, Madam Papaya says that Hawkeye Luo sent her a secret letter…” He paused, then added, “Captain Lao Nian had me read it first, but the letter clearly instructed that the message had to be delivered to you directly by Madam Papaya herself.”

Lu Ming nodded.

Luo Yi continued the translation. “The letter says that a man named Richard Hansen, a senior lawyer, arrived in Nigro City early this morning. It looked like someone from Fira Petroleum picked him up. Hawkeye Luo believes it may be related to you, sir.”

At the mention of Richard Hansen, Lu Ming’s eyelid twitched slightly.

This was the man who might become a Level Eight Senior Attorney this summer—a legal legend in the making. And now, he was to be Lu Ming’s opponent?

Back in the East Sea, in the Little Renault case, they had briefly clashed. With favorable timing, location, and support, Lu Ming had managed a technical victory.

But Hansen had ended that less-than-glorious chapter with a fiery speech criticizing the East Sea’s legal system.

Lu Ming had once hoped that one day, they could face each other again under truly fair conditions.

Surely, Hansen had thought the same?

For Fira Petroleum to bring him all the way from the imperial capital to this godforsaken place clearly meant they were pulling out all the stops.

Likewise, for him to agree to come here—to a place barely touched by the concept of law—meant this wasn’t just for money.

More importantly, it was because he knew who he’d be up against.

Neither of them had expected that day to come so soon, had they?

Still, not bad. In Bate City, neither of them had the home-field advantage. They’d have to rely on local laws to fight what would likely be an awkward legal battle. It could be interesting.

But “interesting” aside—what if he lost?

If the opponent was Richard Hansen, that was a very real possibility.

Lu Ming felt a slight heaviness settle in his heart. That would put Old Liu in danger.

Because both of them were fumbling in the dark, trying to understand a legal system spanning ancient and modern times in a short span, scouring for clauses that would favor their side or be used to suppress the other.

It was like opening a blind loot box—but Richard had decades of deep legal experience in this world and had even tried cases in the Western city-states before.

Even more so, he had the powerful backing of a large law firm—one whose elite attorneys possessed extensive experience with lawsuits in the Western Territories. All of that expertise could be leveraged to support him.

Compared to Lu Ming, he held a natural advantage.

And on top of that, he was the plaintiff.

Unlike their encounter in the East Sea, their roles had now reversed.

Back then, Lu Ming had been the prosecutor, and Hansen was on the defense.

This time, Hansen was essentially acting as the prosecution, while Lu Ming stood in as the defense counsel.

More importantly, the case itself was deeply unfavorable to Lu Ming’s side.

According to Old Liu, he had indeed had relations with that woman, Hashan—and yes, there had been a semi-coercive element to it.

This confession had come only after Lu Ming forced it out of him. Old Liu knew that if he couldn’t be honest with Lu Ming, he was as good as dead.

Old Liu said that Hashan wasn’t a beauty—she was a woman in her thirties, from the lowest rungs of society, her skin roughened by hardship.

But she was gentle, kind, hardworking, and honest. Old Liu said that in his entire life, he had never met such a good woman.

Hashan was regularly beaten by her husband, but didn’t even know how to resist.

To Old Liu, a visiting guest, she obeyed her husband’s every word and served with the utmost care each day.

Seeing her like that filled Old Liu with heartache.

He once secretly gave her a gift, but Hashan never accepted anything—except once, when Old Liu had picked a bunch of wildflowers. She had gone and found a half-broken clay bowl, filled it with soil and water, and placed the flowers in her room.

But the next day, her husband, “Earth Dog,” beat her and smashed the “flowerpot” in the courtyard—shattering it completely.

Apparently, Earth Dog had gotten soil from the bowl into his eyes and was furious.

Hashan cried quietly for an entire day afterward. According to Old Liu, the way she looked at him after that—it was as if she was asking for his forgiveness, for failing to protect the gift he had given her.

The incident happened the day after the “flowerpot” was destroyed. That morning, Earth Dog took Old Liu to the home of a striking and flirtatious woman for drinks, someone who had been arranged in advance.

The woman tried to seduce Old Liu, but he only felt disgust. Even so, he drank more than a few cups.

When he returned home, Hashan, as always, gently helped him take off his shoes, covered him with a blanket, and wiped away the filth from his mouth.

Old Liu had had too much to drink, and after being aroused by the seductive woman earlier, he suddenly lost control. He grabbed Hashan and pinned her beneath him.

At this point in the story, Old Liu was filled with regret. He admitted that Hashan had resisted—and resisted fiercely.

Earth Dog, who was dead drunk in his own room, didn’t discover the two of them until the act was done.

Lu Ming let out a soft sigh and recalled the way Old Liu had looked when recounting this part. Eyes closed, murmuring with deep remorse, Old Liu had said: “Thinking of the way she looked at me in that moment… I really deserve whatever punishment I get. Maybe even getting my head chopped off wouldn’t be too much.”

How could anyone defend a man like Old Liu in a case like this?

Lu Ming could sense that Hashan might not hate Old Liu entirely. Compared to her abusive husband Earth Dog, she perhaps harbored a faint affection for Old Liu.

If Old Liu hadn’t misread things, there was a hint of unspoken ambiguity between them.

But that still wasn’t justification for coercing her.

Even if Hashan truly liked him, even if he had brought a ray of light to her dark life…

Even if her resistance was just the result of confusion or a deeply ingrained reaction from tradition…

Still, by the standards of his former life’s legal system, Old Liu had clearly violated a woman’s will.

And if this were deemed adultery, then the crime was even graver—both would be sentenced to death.

Maybe… Lu Ming really would have to prepare to break him out of jail.

If he truly couldn’t win this case, and Old Liu were convicted, then the only option might be to forcibly rescue him.

And if Hashan was willing, he’d bring her too—because if she stayed behind, her future might be even more tragic.

But if it came to that, this entire group of theirs might end up being wanted fugitives in the Western Alliance.

The high-ups in the East Sea would be furious. A brutal political struggle would break out—between those who wanted to protect him and those who wanted him gone.

And the odds of him being “gone” were very high.

Even if he avoided prison, his political career would be over. He’d definitely be impeached and lose his seats as both councilman and municipal commissioner.

He might even lose his law license.

After that… would he be forced to go into business?

As for the benefits he originally hoped to gain in the Western Territories—Old Liu’s oilfield and so on—he could kiss those dreams goodbye.

What’s more, it was clear that Earth Dog knew exactly what had happened between Old Liu and Hashan.

The original plan had probably been for that flirtatious woman to seduce Old Liu, then falsely accuse him of rape.

But Old Liu hadn’t been interested in her—instead, he developed feelings for Hashan. So Earth Dog offered up his own wife as a trap.

This case was an absolute nightmare—right and wrong, black and white—impossible to clearly define.