Sentence given (17)

"Please don't agree to his request, Judge Yang Qing! That man killed my son!" Chen Gutian vehemently said with desperation in his tone.

A look at the expression he had on was all it took for anyone with discernment to guess his thoughts. He looked like a person who believed Song Ba would be able to weasel his way out of all he had done and quite possibly even get a cushy pardon for all he had done.

The world operated like that after all. As long as one had something substantial to offer, they could get away with anything. It wasn't such an outlandish thought to Chen Gutian that the Order could quite possibly release Song Ba. 

Even if the Order was presumably a beacon of justice, he had experienced too much of the world to believe that they would remain impartial in the face of tangible benefits. Song Ba as a seasoned merchant and one who had ties to a grand organization like the Golden Bamboo Pavilion, surely would have something worthwhile to trade.