Rebel: The Inheritance System

Chapter 56 - Popcorn

On Earth, while there are over a hundred different kind of corns, only the "Zae Mays Everta" variety of corn will actually pop. In this world however, I found out accidentally that all kinds of corn will pop. Corn is generally only used as animal feed in this world and nobody ever eats it, so when I was cooking the corn for fun back at home, my mother whacked me every time she caught me because she believed I was playing with the animal's food.

When I eventually got the corn to pop, the servants and my parents were shocked and thought the food had spoiled, and would not let me taste it until I was older and told them that it's edible, did they stop scolding me for playing with the animal's food. Of course, they still stopped me from trying to eat it so I never really cooked it until today.

When Uncle Tang saw me cooking the corn, he was curious and when it eventually popped, he jumped back in shock but he instantly fell in love with the popcorn when he tasted it. It seems like nobody has realised that there are different varieties of corn and they all taste differently, so this bowl of popcorn is similar to a mystery box right now.

A few minutes after all the popcorn had popped, steward Dong came to inform us that the trial is resuming soon, and if we want to watch it, we should hurry and be seated in the court so that we do not create a disturbance.

When Uncle Tang told me that there might be torture, I had already changed my mind about bringing the popcorn into the court, but it was Uncle Tang who wants to bring it into the courtroom now as he can't seem to stop eating it. Uncle Tang quickly poured all the popcorn onto a bowl, leaving none for me and took the entire bowl with him as he said "Decide if you want to watch or not. While there is no need to watch the trial, it is also good to learn what the powers of a judge are and the process of how interrogations are handled."

There is no reason for me to avoid watching the trial and I've seen the magistrates in period dramas use torture to extract confessions on the television, so I did not think much of Uncle Tang's warning and went to the courtroom.

...

In the courtroom, Ku De Hua and Ku De Ren are in chains, kneeling in the middle of the courtroom and the coroner has brought the corpses here and left them at the side of the room.

Soon the parents of the Ling Yi Sha and Zhang Yang arrived together and quickly ran towards the corpses that are covered in white cloth.

They frantically uncovered the corpses and did their best to examine the corpses. Zhang Yang mother started crying and wailing as she yelled "Yang er!! Husband, look! There are cracks on the arm bones of this body! It is Yang er!"

Her husband however makes frown and says "It's not him. Yang er wouldn't have died so easily. He was always running around when he was smaller and now he's big and strong!"

Soon, Zhang Yang's mother crying influenced Ling Yi Sha's mother and she too, starts crying but both she and her parents are unable to determine if the body belongs to their daughter. In fact, they seem to be denying it as they hope that they are still alive but I hear a system beep as laughter sounds out throughout the courtroom.

[Beep!]

"HAHA HAHAHA HAHA" Ku De Hua laughs out loudly.

[Congratulations host! The wishes of Ku De Hua and Ku De Ren has been fulfilled and you have obtained nothing!]

"God has eyes! God has heard our prayers! Hahahahahaha!" Ku De Ren laughs happily as well.

At this point, steward Dong enters the court room and announces the magistrate's arrival, and everyone bows to greet the magistrate or continue kneeling on the ground, as Magistrate Dong gets seated.

Before Magistrate Dong could say anything, the four fuming parents who were triggered by Ku De Hua and Ku De Ren laughter started yelling at the magistrate.

"Magistrate, please give us justice! Ku De Hua and Ku De Ren are the ones who killed our children!" the four parents shout out in unison. They obviously just want Ku De Hua and Ku De Ren to suffer right now.

The Ku brothers are shocked at the allegations against them and they started shouting and spitting at the four parents.

"Pui! You trashy parents! How does it feel to know that your murdering daughter was burned to death!" Ku De Hua started scolding the parents with all the vulgarities he knew while his brother started to tell the magistrate that they were innocent.

"Your honour, we are innocent! These people taught their children to kill our brother and now want us to take the rap!" Ku De Ren yelled out in protest against the allegations made.

*Bang* Magistrate Dong slams his gravel and says "Give Ku De Hua five slaps for being unruly in my courtroom! Ku De Hua, this is not the market! Mind your language!"

*Pak* *Pak**Pak**Pak**Pak*

Ku De Hua was slapped five times and then the parents started addressing the magistrate.

"Your honour, please give us justice! Our children have died and nobody has such a deep hatred against our families except them!" the parents said loudly as bowed lower to beg the magistrate.

"Are you certain that those are the bodies of your children?" Magistrate Dong asks sternly.

"...Uh...Yes! Yes! Our children have been missing for days and it must be them!" the parents unconsciously do not want to admit that their children had died but somehow the facts are forcing them to believe that the burnt corpses are their children.

The system had also mentioned that the Ku brother's wish had been fulfilled, so Ling Yi Sha must be dead and she is probably one of the those charred bodies.

(System, is Ling Yi Sha dead, and why did I get no rewards?) I ask the system curiously.

[Beep!]

[She is dead. The system will not recognise a wish as being fulfilled if the wish is not fulfilled, even if the mind if wisher somehow believes that the wish has been fulfilled. Also you did not receive any rewards because you did nothing that contributed to the fulfilment of the wish.]

*Sigh*

The magistrates let out a soft sigh because he cannot confirm or deny the identity of the corpses and instead interrogates the Ku brothers.

"Ku De Hua and Ku De Ren, where were you on the night when the Ministry of Rites was burning?" Magistrate Dong asks.

The Ku brothers looked at each other and answered together, "We were at home!"

Director Ling stood out at this moment and said "They were not at home! I spotted them watching the Ministry of Rites being burned down several streets away!"

Magistrate Dong looks at the Ku brothers with a fierce glare and gives an order "Flog them ten times for lying in court!"

The constables quickly move and push the Ku brothers down as they flog them.

I can hear Judge Tang and Judge Cui munching on popcorn while they watch the Ku brothers screaming as they are flogged.