Chapter 313 - Pardon or Exile

The people in the room immediately quieted down.

Old Xiong slowly walked to his seat. It was a bit more elevated than the others and was situated at the most prominent position. He was like a king approaching his throne.

All of the people stood to give him a bow as greeting, except for the old man in the wheelchair. Old Xiong returned their greeting with a casual wave of his hand.

His sharp eyes scanned the crowd with majesty. "All of you may sit down. I appreciate that everyone especially set aside some time for participating in this retrial. I know how busy you are." He stomped the cane he was holding lightly. "But this retrial was important, as one butler from our trusted Zhou family needed to be judged for his one chance of pardon."

He sat down on his seat. After everyone followed his actions, he gestured at Butler Zhou Min.

Butler Zhou Min bowed respectfully and took over. He took out a doc.u.ment and recounted the incident more than a month ago. 

The people present here already knew of the whole matter. But as part of the trial process, they listened to Butler Zhou carefully as he recounted the results of voting and decision at that time. Butler Zhou explained slowly the causes, the effects, and the deliberations.

Afterwards, in case some people were not familiar of the trial of one chance of pardon, he also explained in detail the article related to it in the agreement between the Zhou and the Xiong families. He explained the reasons which gave birth to such a clause, and then went on to explain the rules.

He talked for a long time, sometimes pausing to sip warm tea to moisten his throat and to answer the inquiries from the people inside the hall who wanted some clarifications, which mainly came from the second masters of the Xiong family and their children. The Zhou butler was already very familiar with this rule, as it was one of the clauses they must memorize during childhood.

Finally, he put down the doc.u.ment, sipped on his cup of tea again, and said to the crowd, "Now, this matter is delivered to all of you that is present here. We kindly ask for the second in line masters of the Zhou family and the Xiong family to enact their votes, with fairness and wisdom."

Butler Zhou Min retreated behind Old Xiong. According to the rules, the crowd was given time to digest the information and deliberate upon their decision.

The process of voting was different from the first trial. If the first one was just a verbal voting with the elders and first in line masters, the voting this time was to flip a wooden crest. 

Each one of them was given a small hollowed tray with an exquisite lid.

Inside, a single wooden crest stood, fitted into a small indent at the bottom of the hollowed tray. 

The wooden crest has two sides. One has the character of 'Pardon' while the other has the character 'Exile'.

Very simple and straightforward. The person only needed to pick up the crest and flip up the chosen side. The hollowed nature of the bowl and lid would prevent others from seeing one's choice.

The butlers would then collect the trays, take off the lids, and line them up on the long table right ahead. Butler Zhou Min would then count the number of votes. In this way, no one would be able to tell which one voted for 'Pardon' or 'Exile'. 

The Zhou butlers were the Xiong's most trusted aide. If the Xiong family did not trust their aides with such an important matter, then the whole three hundred years of their relationship would be pointless.

This shows how the Xiong family trusted the Zhou family. Likewise, it also showed the loyalty of the Zhou family to the Xiong family.

Compared to the tedious part of explanations and presenting the case, the whole voting process was not very long, it would only take one hour at most. Since all of the participants have their own businesses to do, this trial was done in such a straightforward manner.

Xiong Zhi stared at the wooden crest in her trembling hand. After staring at it for a long time, she glanced up to see Linfeng calmly looking at her.

His dark eyes were calm and his back was straight.

He gave her a reassuring smile. 

Perhaps, Linfeng felt the worries she harbored in her heart.

…The odds were too unfair.

Xiong Zhi closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and finally put down the crest. The word 'Pardon' was facing up. She carefully put the exquisite lid on top.

After a while, the butlers prepared by the Xiong Mansion for the trial swooped in collectively and gathered the trays.

A butler took her tray, put it on the long table, and took off the lid without looking at the content. After they collected all of the crests from the Xiong and Zhou families, they simultaneously retreated to the side.

Not even one of them looked at the contents.

Now, all crests were displayed on the long table. It was time to count the votes.

Butler Zhou Min went to the front of the long table. He took a deep breath. 

To say he was calm, he was far from it.

It was deciding factor of the fate of his son.

Butler Zhou Min had created many plans for different outcomes today. For the worst outcome, Butler Zhou already made arrangements for Linfeng, ready to send him to another part of the world.

There, he would have his freedom. He could still make a small business and let it prosper into a local company. His son could live his life there peacefully, without any burden from both families which were tying him down right now.

His reddened eyes misted. He immediately held back his tears.

In fact, deep inside Butler Zhou Min's heart, he hoped his son would succeed on what he was about to do. Yes, he had an idea of what his son was preparing to do. It brought him much guilt and fear, but he could not help but also hope for it. 

For the sake of his Zhou family's future.

Butler Zhou Min walked alongside the table and began to count the votes. After counting, he paused for a while and turned to face the people waiting for the results.

Seeing his face, Xiong Zhi felt a chill rise in her heart. As she had fearfully thought, their side was too few. Her attempt to increase their odds was fruitless.

The butler's face was wan as he opened his mouth.

"The majority's decision is to send Zhou Linfeng to exile." 

His numb words echoed inside the large hall, like a ruthless hammer slamming down.