Chivalrous

Chapter Thirty-Two - The Court Hearing

He was manhandled as they pushed him onto the court. A public court no less. As soon as he was brought up, all the civilians watching the court hearing booed, hissed, and yelled insults. Murderer, they called him. Killing innocent lives and a knight too, they whispered to each other. Xiao didn't know whether to scream or just to stay silent. How wronged he was! If he did wrong, it was letting Bradley go alone. But they will find out he was innocent, he thought. That was what the court was for and even the most corrupt government had to listen to the criminals, right?

To protect his final bit of dignity in shabby, oversized grey cotton robes, he walked with his back straight and head up.

"Kneel!" The officers pushed him when they were in front of the mayor.

He was expecting it as he had watched Ning Qing do it multiple times and he calmly kneeled. 

"What's your name?" the mayor asked.

As decreed by etiquettes, any low ranking individuals should not look their superiors in the face, thus Xiao kept his head low. "Xiao Sa."

"Do you plead guilty?"

Xiao's eyebrows furrowed. That wasn't how things worked! "No, I don't," he said. "Mayor, sir, I did not kill anyone innocent last night."

"My officers saw you engaged in fighting last night!" the mayor said excitedly, slamming his hand onto his desk.

"Sir, they murdered my brother, Knight Bradley Howell!" Xiao said, equally excited. 

"Your brother! Knight Howell was an honorable citizen protecting those innocent lives you've killed. He saved five maidens last night, don't you know?"

"Did you catch the three people I was fighting with? Why don't you ask them?" Xiao asked, losing his politeness. He wanted to cry again. How many lives had Bradley saved in his whole life? Heaven must be waiting for him with open doors.

"They were scared, innocent citizens," the mayor said. "Why would I warrant a search for them? But look at how you dress and look! No one would believe you're not a criminal!"

"You shouldn't judge me by my appearance, sir!" Xiao cried. "They drugged me! What innocent citizens would carry around sedatives like that?"

"A bunch of lies!" the mayor shouted. "My officers knocked you out. You have a bruise on the back of your head."

"I was drugged!" Xiao shouted and got out from his kowtow position. He sat back on his heels. "You can ask your jailor. I was sick all through the night and the morning. I was in no condition to murder a knight. My brother, no less!"

"Drag him down and beat him fifty canes!" the mayor ordered. "That might get some sense into him."

Two officers dragged him down. Canes were brought out and two officers stood on either side of him. They flung him onto the ground and one officer held him down and thus started the punishment. The good thing was that being an accomplished knight, Xiao could control his body in a way that made his muscles bulge out so the canes didn't hurt him, but he was too weak for it to be of too much use. Gradually, a dull pain mounted in his lower back.

"Sir! I'm innocent!" Xiao shouted up. "You should be investigating into the trafficking of maidens and the men who killed my brother and drugged me. I was patrolling the city last night, trying to protect everyone from the traffickers! Me and my brother and our friends have been doing that for the past month! Ask Simon Williams! Leon Toble! Samuel Jerkins! They know me!"

The civilians were cheering for his beating and none cared to listen to what he was saying.

A flicker of robes in the court caught Xiao's eyes and he looked up from his position on the ground. Childe Laffut was standing beside the mayor, with a sword that looked awfully like his. He whispered something into the mayor's ears.