When the court provided him with the final list of jurors, he was actually quite astonished. From what he knew, Qin Mu definitely wouldn’t make such a basic mistake. Eleven out of the twelve jurors were religious. The case was clearly not in their favor.

However, upon further reflection, he came to terms with it. In Ames City, the majority of the population had religious beliefs; those without were rare. Perhaps the opposition had also screened many times but hadn’t managed to filter out those non-religious citizens. After all, these juror lists were randomly selected by the court. Whether they were religious or not wasn’t for the opposing side to decide.

"That’s good. With them present, no matter how strong the opposition... we won’t necessarily lose," Xu Liming muttered, heaving a long sigh of relief.

According to the rules of the jury system, a judgment could only take effect with a unanimous verdict from all jurors. Even if an accident occurred and they couldn’t win the support of all twelve jurors, they wouldn’t necessarily lose the case. For them, losing was really too difficult, almost impossible. Even if they couldn’t win the case today, at worst, they could have a retrial. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

BANG—

Eleven o’clock sharp. The judge, along with the trial team, officially entered the courtroom and struck the gavel.

The presiding judge was still the same elder from the pretrial conference, with grizzled temples and a calm countenance.

"Today, in the First Civil Courtroom of the Ames City Court, we will formally begin the trial of Xu Liming versus Zhang Qingyuan and Feng Cuihua in the donation dispute case. This case will be adjudicated by myself, Anthony Martin, and the jury."

He scanned the people below, his aged voice echoing in the courtroom.

"Before the official trial begins, please have the parties involved in the lawsuit take the oath in turn." As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Xu Liming at the plaintiff’s bench.

Seeing this, Xu Liming promptly stood up. He took the Bible passed by the clerk and placed one hand upon it.

He solemnly declared, "I do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

After speaking, he handed the Bible over to George beside him.

George took the Bible, equally reverent. He placed his hand on it and declared aloud, "I swear by almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

After the two had completed this gesture, the clerk took the Bible and approached Zhang Qingyuan and Feng Cuihua at the defendants’ bench, handing the book to them.

Zhang Qingyuan, witnessing this, was completely puzzled. He and Feng Cuihua exchanged blank stares, dumbfounded.

"What... what what... what does this mean? This procedure doesn’t exist back home, does it?" For a moment, he was at a loss.

As a well-known figure in Jin City, he had participated in countless court hearings and prided himself on being worldly. But this... he had never encountered it before and had no idea why Xu Liming and the others were placing their hands on a book or what they were doing. He hadn’t understood a single word of the foreign gibberish they spoke.

In his helplessness, he could only look to his "personal translator," Chen Tiankuo.

At the lawyers’ bench, Chen Tiankuo coughed softly and explained the process to Zhang Qingyuan. This was the oath-taking stage for the litigants before the start of the court session. It involved placing a hand on the Bible and swearing to God that everything said in court would be truthful.

"I have to swear to their God too?" Upon hearing the explanation, Zhang Qingyuan felt even more displeased, his reluctance evident. He’d lived for most of his life without believing in God, and now he was expected to swear to God!

At his side, Qin Mu, observing Old Zhang’s reluctance, explained with a smile, "This has nothing to do with personal belief; it’s a fixed part of the judicial system in this legal tradition. The oath for believers and non-believers is different."

"You can also choose not to take the oath."

Just now, Xu Liming and George had each taken their oaths on the Bible, but their oaths were different. Xu Liming used the oath for non-believers, while George used the one for believers. Regardless of belief or lack thereof, one could still take the oath.

This stage exists to ensure that everything said by the litigants in court is true. However, in reality, this kind of oath-taking primarily constrained devout believers. Since the oath was made before their faith, such individuals were unlikely to violate it. But for those without any religious beliefs, there was no constraint; the oath was merely a formality.

In addition, parties could also request not to participate in the oath-taking, which the court would allow. However, in the court’s default view, statements from a party that had not taken the oath were given less weight. Therefore, most of the time, unless absolutely necessary, all parties involved in a lawsuit would swear on the Bible.

"Is that so? Then I won’t take the oath!" Upon hearing Qin Mu’s explanation, Zhang Qingyuan and Feng Cuihua promptly declared their position. They held no fondness for the so-called Bible and had no desire to swear on it.

In their traditional mindset, oaths were only made on very important occasions. ’Till death do us part’—such vows were spoken for serious commitments. If oaths were not fulfilled, they believed they might even be struck by lightning! They didn’t want to take oaths unless absolutely necessary.

Meanwhile, Chen Tiankuo, looking at Zhang Qingyuan and Feng Cuihua, was somewhat surprised. "You... neither of you will take the oath?"

Having been in this country for over a decade, he was well aware of this oath-taking stage. This stage...