"Magistrate Sheng Li, you have been invited to attend the funeral of the passed-away advisor Lu Yin"
Funerals are brilliant.
They always provide with expensive wines and good food, you can literally eat to your heart's content in the 'memory' of a deceased corpse.
The funeral I am at right now is in memory of my past advisor Lu Yin, an old hag of a man who's very existence brought unnecessary stress onto my shoulders. A toast for that indeed.
I raise my wine glass, and the men around me silently join in as we in unison drink up the whole cup in one go.
"To the memory of a good-willed and honourable man" I announce, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. It reminds me more of a dinner gathering than a funeral. Everyone is seated around a round table with food served up to the very corners of the table and many wine bottles to go around for the guests.
A brown-haired lawyer by the name of Mo Yan speaks up.
"Mr. Magistrate has had such a long working connection with advisor Lu Yin, I can hardly imagine the sorrow and grief you must be going through right now. Cheers"
The other men around the table nod and offer up their condolences, and I feign sorrow while lowering my gaze to the wine cup in my hand.
"Lu Yin was a man of virtue, a great asset for bringing justice to every court case. I can hardly imagine working on without him, but as the roses grow, wilt and die they will also be reborn. Sooner or later the head magistrate will request me to take in a new advisor, and I will more or less have to mentor a new youth into the court" I take a sip of the wine, as the lawyers assume conversation regarding the law.
The truth is, my magistrate system is subtly different from what other county magistrates have been doing up until now. While some magistrates openly seek to refill the spot for advisors with someone experienced and renown, my office takes in fresh advisors who are worthy enough to serve beside me.
But I absolutely hate advisors. I'd rather not have a person try to tell me exactly how to think in a situation, but that's exactly what everyone has been doing up until now and if it wasn't for Lu Yin's sudden death I would've fired him.
You might think I'm cruel, and I'd say you're absolutely correct.
I serve the law simply because I hate anyone who thinks they can run away from their problems instead of correcting them.
Most of my cases are about family troubles where one party is guilty and refuses to own up to their mistakes, and the other party is either greedy or too blinded by hate to actually give them the chance to work it through.
Punishment is not light in the court, and most of the cases are solved using it. It's just that effective.
I've spent five years of my life being the Rose River city's magistrate, and during that time I've become renowned as the most just magistrate in the country.
"Sheng Li, you're already 23 years old right? Have you given the idea of getting married any thought?" The man next to me, Feng Yao asked me with curiosity. I laugh somberly.
"Asking such matters of joy at an event like this?" I smile at his embarrassed expression and pat him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry about it, and to answer your question no, the court gives me enough work as it is, having a marriage to uphold would only cause me more stress than I can handle" Feng Yao chuckles at this, taking a sip of his wine.
Marriage, what a joke.
"What about you Mr. Feng?" I prop my elbow onto the table, turning my full attention towards the younger man.
"No, I don't have any plans to marry in the near future either. My parents don't exactly like it, but I would much rather busy myself with a case than play around with the many women they try to set me up with" he makes a troubled expression, and I ruffle his hair playfully.
Matchmakers, huh? If my parents were still around they would have probably done the same. Maybe I wouldn't have become such a bitter man if they hadn't walked out on me all those years ago, leaving me in my uncle's care. Selfish bastards.
Feng Yao's eyes meet mine and for a second I could've sworn that he almost looked infatuated with me, rosy cheeks and all that. I shrugged it off, and returned to drinking my wine.
YOU ARE READING
Chen Luo's many roses
DragosteA new man is appointed to magistrate Sheng Li and as his personality is uncovered, so are also the many skeletons that he has stuffed into his closet. -Some things in the story may wary from the actual historical periods of Chinese history. This is...
