Douluo: The blue phoenix cries loudly, and the wind whistles through the air

For a moment, a slight disturbance arose in the crowd.

"Your Majesty and Sect Leader Ning are right. If grain-producing areas don't sell their grain, wouldn't that lead to mass unemployment and grain rotting in the fields? We can't blame the Spirit Hall just because they purchased grain from them, can we?"

Furthermore, the public's targeting of the Star Luo Empire is simply a way to divert attention from other issues. To assume that the Spirit Hall is interfering or manipulating public opinion based on this is far too naive.

Yu Xiaogang was embarrassed; he hadn't expected Xue Qinghe and Ning Fengzhi to support Wu Qi.

Wu Qi said with a smile, "It seems that Mr. Yu Xiaogang's first piece of evidence is somewhat untenable. Since everyone feels that this matter has nothing to do with my Spirit Hall, then this so-called evidence falls apart on its own."

While there was indeed an element of Bibi Dong's deliberate intent in this matter, she has not made any statement, and those who incited public opinion have not been caught. Yu Xiaogang's use of this as evidence is pointless and only serves to embarrass himself.

Yu Xiaogang's lips twitched slightly.

These pieces of evidence were provided by Bibi Dong in her letter. He couldn't verify much of the content, but one piece of evidence was confirmed by him to be true.

"Your Holiness, regarding the fourth point, the Spirit Hall's Demon Bear Douluo once appeared on the border between the two great empires. That night, a nearby dam suddenly collapsed, causing several villages in the Star Luo Empire to be flooded. It was also the harvest season, resulting in a complete crop failure, and thousands of people were forced to endure hunger."

Demon Bear Douluo did indeed receive orders from Bibi Dong to destroy the dam. Moreover, many people witnessed him doing so, making it unrealistic to deny it with words alone.

The Demon Bear Douluo, who was still at the scene, suddenly became the target of everyone's criticism. Countless people asked him if the matter was true or false, and some people even despised him because of it.

Wu Qi feigned doubt and cast an inquiring glance at him.

Wu Qi had given prior instructions on this matter, so Demon Bear Douluo naturally knew what to say: "Your Holiness, this was indeed done by your subordinate."

For a moment, the whole place was in an uproar.

"Was it really the Spirit Hall's doing? Could they really be secretly instigating a war?"

"That shouldn't be the case. The Spirit Hall has always stood on the side of peace on the continent. Why would they do this?"

Seeing that public opinion was in his favor, Yu Xiaogang straightened his chest and a wicked smile appeared on his lips.

Before Wu Qi could pursue the matter, Demon Bear Douluo hurriedly tried to cover it up, saying, "Your Holiness, it is true that this was done by your subordinate, but it was not because of the former Pope, nor was it an order from the Spirit Hall."

As he spoke, he said with a look of shame, "It was an official from the Heavenly Dou Empire. He sent someone to present me with a soul bone, asking me to do something for him. I knew that my contribution was insignificant and that I would hardly receive a soul bone as a reward in the palace, so I secretly accepted this soul bone."

"Later, the official ordered his men to breach the dam, causing the water to flood nearby villages and escalate the war between the two empires."

"Why did he do this!" Wu Qi demanded sharply.

Demon Bear Douluo shook his head, indicating that he did not quite understand. He then took out the contract that both parties had signed at the time to prove his innocence.

The so-called official had already been executed by Xue Qinghe. Now that the other party's name is being used, who can tell if it is genuine or not?

Seeing that the evidence was irrefutable, Wu Qi looked at Xue Qinghe and asked, "Your Majesty Xue Qinghe, do you have anything to say?"

Xue Qinghe remained silent, his expression darkening.

Ning Fengzhi sighed and stepped forward. "Your Holiness, may I, Ning, offer an explanation?"

Having received an affirmative answer, Ning Fengzhi addressed everyone present and explained, "Because His Majesty has changed the political landscape of the empire since ascending the throne, this Marquis Zhang Dong's situation in the court is very delicate, so he wanted to take this opportunity to gain His Majesty's favor." "At that time, the Star Luo royal family was protecting the murderer of the late emperor. In order to force the Star Luo royal family to hand over the murderer, Marquis Zhang Dong secretly contacted the experts of the Spirit Hall to destroy the dam, so as to make the war stalemate."

"In this case, considering the cost of war, the Star Luo royal family will most likely compromise and hand over the murderer."

"Later, the marquis was investigated by His Majesty for treason and confessed to the matter during interrogation. However, at that time, the two great empires were in a long-awaited truce, and His Majesty did not publicize the matter."

"The testimony given by Marquis Zhang Dong is currently stored in the royal archives. His Majesty will make it public to the entire continent upon his return."

He was just a marquis who had already been executed. If you added something to his testimony, how could outsiders know if it was true or false?

Furthermore, Wu Qi had already informed Ning Fengzhi of the plan, and the latter had already dealt with the matter. Even if someone were to search through the archives now, they wouldn't find any clues.

Yu Xiaogang was completely dumbfounded.

He placed great hopes on this evidence, after all, the Demon Bear Douluo was witnessed by many people during his actions, and there were a large number of eyewitnesses.

However, the other party did not act in the name of the Spirit Hall, but was invited by a marquis of the Heaven Dou Empire to instigate a war.

Even if the matter were investigated, the Spirit Hall would at most be held responsible for negligence, and Xue Qinghe had already executed that marquis, so there was no way to hold the Heaven Dou royal family accountable.

For a moment, Yu Xiaogang looked constipated, as if he had punched a cotton ball and had no way to use his strength.

Seeing the change in the attitude of the audience, Yu Xiaogang knew that the situation was hopeless.

He couldn't even verify the remaining evidence himself, and with Wu Qi's silver tongue, he could easily shirk responsibility!
……

Seeing that the time was ripe, Wu Qi finally spoke up: "Since this matter is indeed related to the experts of my Spirit Hall, my Spirit Hall naturally needs to give an explanation to the suffering village."

As he spoke, he looked at Demon Bear Douluo, "Given the circumstances of this matter, I hereby deduct your salary for three years, and order you to repair the dam within one year, provide appropriate compensation to the affected village, and help the villagers rebuild their homes. Do you accept this?"

Helping disaster victims rebuild is essentially a public relations project, funded internally by the Spirit Hall. As for the so-called salary deduction, it's an internal matter for the Spirit Hall, and whether Demon Bear Douluo received his salary is nobody else's business.

"Your subordinate is apprehensive. Given the opportunity to make amends, I am willing to follow His Holiness the Pope's arrangements."

Wu Qi and the Heavenly Dou royal family have both made corresponding statements on this matter, so it is naturally impossible to pursue it further.

However, Wu Qi did not stop there. He pointed to the evidence that Yu Xiaogang had listed and explained it one by one.

Most of the evidence was actually false information provided by Wu Qi. Given that the emperors of the two great empires were present, they could naturally refute these fabrications.

Suddenly, Yu Xiaogang became the target of public criticism.

"I thought the evidence was real, but I didn't expect someone to be making a fuss and using it to cause trouble for the Spirit Hall."

"Hey, do you know what Yu Xiaogang did in the past?"

"Back in the Soul Master Competition, Yu Xiaogang caused the organizing committee a lot of trouble, and even flaunted his fake elder's token in front of the Spirit Hall." (End of Chapter)