He sat back down, but for a long while, he didn't say a word.
"Get on with the trial!" The Prime Minister was busy and a bit impatient.
"Oh! Yes, yes!" Magistrate Tony Tong replied twice, picked up the gavel, and gave it a sharp whack.
"Bang!" The sound was loud and clear.
"Andrew Zhao." Magistrate Tony Tong called out.
Your Honor...
As the heir to the Duke Zhao Mansion, you're supposed to be a role model for your peers! But you snuck around with your wife's junior and even abused your wife, driving her, in a moment of despair, to throw herself off a cliff. Do you admit your fault?
Andrew Zhao was stunned and asked, "Sir, that's not what you said earlier!"
"Earlier, I was talking about your wife's faults. Now I'm talking about yours. What's wrong with that?"
Like hell it's wrong!
Old fox!
"Well, speak up—do you admit your fault?"
"Yes! I admit my fault!" Andrew Zhao had no choice but to say.
"In my opinion, both of you are at fault for the breakdown of your marriage. Both are responsible." Magistrate Tony Tong said. "Therefore, I rule for your divorce!"
"What? Magistrate Tong! We can't get divorced!" Andrew Zhao panicked.
"Oh? Why not? Want to come up here and sit in my chair and do the judging yourself?" Magistrate Tony Tong asked.
Andrew Zhao's face turned from green to red. He glanced at Magistrate Tony Tong, then at Prime Minister Quentin Shaw, and finally squeezed out, "I wouldn't dare."
"As for the two children, Lady Joanna requests to take them away with her. Any objections?"
"No! Absolutely not!" Duke Zhao blurted out. "They're Zhao family children—why should she take them away?"
Magistrate Tony Tong stroked his beard and nodded. "Usually, in cases like this, we follow tradition to resolve the matter."
Everyone looked at him.
"First, my ruling principle is: what's best for the children. You all agree with that, right?"
No one objected to that.
"From the standpoint of what's best for the children, I must decide whether the father's side or the mother's side is more beneficial."
"Of course the Duke Zhao Mansion is better!" Duke Zhao blurted out. "The Zuo family has declined, and she grew up with her grandmother. What good could come from following her?"
"That's not true," said Xiaobao. "My cousin is a Spiritual Alchemist and a member of the Spirit Alliance. She gets double salaries from both the state and the Alliance—she can totally support two kids."
He paused, then added, "The Duke Zhao Mansion may be rich and powerful, but last time I visited, Andrew Zhao slapped his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter's face so hard it swelled up. If he remarries and has new children, what will happen to my niece and nephew?"
"You're talking nonsense! When did I ever hit her?"
"Children don't lie! Want me to bring Lillian here and ask her?"
Andrew Zhao's eyes flickered, but he said nothing.
"Sir, the Zuo family may not be what it once was, but there are still relatives and an ancestral home. No one can replace a real mother's love and care," Mrs. Yuan said. "Please let my niece take the children away!"
Hmm." Magistrate Tony Tong glanced at Prime Minister Quentin Shaw, nodded, and said, "Makes sense! The children will leave the Zhao Mansion—Lady Joanna gets to take them with her!