The entire arena fell silent for a few moments. Mark not only defended himself but also indirectly insulted the nobles and even the Emperor wasn't spared.
The second prince felt like Mark shouldn't have said that. If he knew his father well, it is going to enrage him. He couldn't help but be worried that this new future partner is going to be punished.
The third prince narrowed his eyes. He finally understood what Mark was trying to do. Now the Emperor can't even punish Mark for speaking the truth or else, it will only prove that Mark is right. "Damn, he knew how to use the situation to his advantage."
Song Yue started to get worried when she heard his statement. Lin Xue just thought that he was spouting some nonsense to cover up his crimes.
However, Mark didn't care who is thinking about what and continued to lecture, "Despite the incident had scarred the dignity of the Imperial throne, his majesty didn't care. The nobles didn't care and resumed as if it was a normal issue. Why? It's because they only saw that the person who humiliated the Emperor is a Legendary Realm expert who can squash the entire army like a bug.
Isn't that the case?
Instead of that, if the Imperial family would have focused on the core issue, then, this day wouldn't have arrived in the first place.
And this man…" Mark pointed his hand at the Sui Clan's elder, "he represents the Sui Clan, where they held hundreds of slaves in their mines, forcing them to work nonstop in poor conditions. If some people die, then, they can be replaced by abducting a few more. Who cares about the life of poor commoners? I want to ask your majesty in front of everyone. What gives the right of the Imperial palace and the nobles to treat the commoners as their slaves?
The founder of the Shang Dynasty, Shang Yating overthrew the Xi dynasty for what reason? Isn't it because the Xia Dynasty's last Emperor treated his subjects as slaves?
When he sat on the throne, he quoted one thing. It is well known to the public too. The Emperor is the ruler of the land but is the first servant of his people and is the first guardian of his people. He was also the one who abolished the slavery system.
1700 years later, I wonder what the descendants of such a great Emperor are doing to improve the lives of the commoners."
If it was any other Emperor, Mark probably wouldn't have gone to such lengths but the hatred towards his father, made him take advantage of this situation and insult him in the public.
After a brief silence, Mark once again continued by pointing at Song Yue, "Your Majesty, let me address the second issue. I can affirm that I have no role in breaking her relation with her former fiancée but there's no use because of another societal issue.
Just like the commoners, the women were facing the same basic human rights and have several restrictions on them as if they were some things that men possessed.
A father thinks that he had complete rights over his unmarried daughter, and when the daughter gets married, her husband thinks he can dictate her life. How is this any different from slavery? And why wouldn't they? The people's inspiration is the Emperor himself.
If the wives of the Emperor themselves cannot possess the right to enter the courtroom if the wives of the Emperor themselves cannot possess the right to step out of the palace without the permission of the Emperor, just imagine what a normal woman born in a commoner family goes through. It was as if the women existed for the sake of bearing the children of their respective husbands.
But, if one argues that it is the norms of the society, then, why are women adventurers are free to do what they want? Why is there a kingdom where women rule? Why is there an all-female Sect? It's because they are Spirit Warriors and are strong enough to challenge the decisions of their family or society.
So, doesn't both the situation dictates that the right to voice out their opinion only lies with the Spirit Warriors of high realms?
If the weak cannot voice out their opinion because they are afraid of the strong, isn't the Emperor, who was considered the guardian of his people, supposed to stand on their side? Why is his majesty standing on the opposite side?
If the Imperial family focused on solving the core issues of the society rather than building some new roads, bridges, or turning blind to the atrocities of the major noble clans, perhaps, commoners like me wouldn't have taken the law into their hands.
We come to the city in order to improve our lives but what we face is the atrocities of nobles and high-level officials every day."
Upon finishing his lengthy monologue, Mark waited for the counter-argument.
This is where his 9 points of charm started affecting the opinions of the listeners. For some reason, even the Emperor couldn't help but go into a trance, feeling a bit guilty towards his wives. It was as if he was convinced by Mark's words.
The crowd's murmurs increased. They didn't debate about the issue of women's rights but agreed with how these arrogant nobles treated them worse than livestock.
Song Yue stared at his back in a daze. She was impressed by his talk. Meanwhile, Lin Xue concluded that Mark might not be as bad as she thought.
The only one who saw through Mark's scheme is the fake third price. He was confident that Mark purposely escalated a personal problem to a societal issue. He mumbled to himself, "I underestimated this fellow."
Now, the focus of the matter isn't what Mark did but what forced him to do it. The Crown Prince was hurriedly thinking of something to counter.
The Emperor asked the Crown Prince, "Do you wish to say anything? You remember the condition, right? If you fail to prove Lu Zhen is a criminal, then, you will have to apologize to him and will also receive a punishment."
Before the Crown Prince opened his mouth, the Zhang Clan's Grand Elder and the only Exalt realm expert within Zhang Clan intervened, "Your Majesty, Lu Zhen might have a point but it doesn't address the accusation the third prince put on our Zhang Clan. My grandson here will speak for himself."
As he nudged Zhang Kong from the back, Song Yue looked at him. Her feelings were extremely complex at the moment.
Standing beside Mark, he glanced at him for a second before straightening his back and saying loud and clear, "No matter how kind a woman is, can she back the man that sent her father into the state of deep sleep? No matter how handsome is a man, can a woman praise the looks of a stranger openly when she was engaged to someone? Even if Song Yue's innocent, her inappropriate behavior was enough to crack our relationship."
Song Yue was stunned on the spot as she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Tears started to flow down her cheeks, feeling betrayed to the core. A deep frown appeared on the third prince and the second prince.
*Clap*Clap* *Clap*
It was then, Mark suddenly clapped his arms, "Your Majesty, this is what I'm telling earlier. Taking granted of woman and trying to control her actions. And as for the breakage of the relationship, if his trust in his fiancée of two years, of whom he is going to spend the rest of his life can be broken just because she compliments a man's appearance or just because she returned the favor, then, isn't he the one who is the source of the problem?"
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