Rebel: The Inheritance System

Chapter 52 - Charred Corpses

The crowd of people gets more and more violent as they push and shove each other to get a glance of the corpses, I quickly get a rope and start whipping the ground with a bit of qi.

*Swick* * Swick* * Swick*

The sound of the role hitting the floor several times loudly echoes throughout the area, scaring the people as they subconsciously move backwards.

"We are conducting official business here! If any of you steps on the wrong thing and destroy evidence, we'll drag you back to the yamen and give you a few whips! If there is foul play, we will even charge you as accomplishes!" I shout out loudly.

"Oi, little boy, the magistrate has always let us look at the crime scene and dead bodies. Who are you to stop us!" one of the bigger sized men shouts out.

*Phisk*

One of the men next to him smacks his shoulder and says "You moron, look at the uniform that little boy is wearing. He is one of the judges. If you want to die, go die by yourself! Don't get us in trouble!"

When the crowd starts hearing what the man said, the crowd starts gossiping about my young age. Some of them started spinning tales about how much money my parents paid to get me the job and others started saying that I'm royalty or a noble. I couldn't be bothered with them and started using the rope to cordon off the area.

Judge Cui eventually couldn't stand all the tall tales that they were spinning around me and let out an oppressive burst of qi as he shouts out "Enough! if you say anymore nonsense, I will give all of you a few slaps for disparaging the court!"

"Ah! He is the judge who slapped the young masters of the Ku family!" one of the people in the crowd recognises Judge Cui and shouts out.

*Boom!*

Judge Cui lets out another burst of qi in anger which creates a strong gust of wind and scares all the people. The gust of wind was so strong that several pieces of debris even flew away.

"Ahhhhh!" the man who said Judge Cui slapped someone ran away in fear after he realises that Judge Cui is staring at him fiercely. The sight of him running away also caused the rest of the crowd to retreat in fear and some of the women quickly ran off, creating a messy scene.

As I was cordoning off the area, which is not a common practice since the people don't care for evidence as nobody will actually touch the corpse and they will just look at it, Judge Tang who left to look for the magistrate's steward returned with him and the coroner.

The coroner looked at the corpses which the constables had dragged out with the help of the guards who lifted up the debris and said "I cannot make an accurate report right now as the body is burnt beyond recognition. I can however recognise that these are the bodies of a man and a woman. I will give the yamen a complete report on my findings by tomorrow." The coroner then points at two random constables and shouts "Bring the corpses to my workshop!"

The rest of the day was spent helping the constables clean up the debris of the burnt building. Everything was burnt and nothing was recoverable. We found a few more bodies of the guard dogs and they were sent to the coroner's workshop as well.

...

The next day in the capital, inside of the royal palace, there is a grand and extravagant building a few kilometres in front of the palace gates. This building is the palace court and this is where the emperor holds his morning court, where all the ministers will brief him on everything that is happening in the world. It is also where the emperor gives his orders and commands to all his subjects.

Today, all the ministers are seated in their usual positions, but there are two outsiders. General Ling is seated at the right side of the room at the front of everyone, while Shang Jian Rui is seated at the back of the left side of the room. The right side is generally the seating positions for all the ministers who are in departments related to the military, while the left side are the ministers who are in charge of the governing and administration of the empire.

As a general who is often in the front lines, General Ling looks down on these ministers who can only talk and stays aloof alone as he stands in the front of the ministers. Shang Jian Rui however, is happily chatting with the rest of the ministers. Attending the emperor's morning court session is something he has never experienced before and he is excited about his attendance today. He is also chatting with his cousins and brothers from the Shang family who are serving as ministers right now.

Soon he spots Ying Shi Xi, father of Ying Yue at the other side of the room and excuses himself from his friends to head over to chat with Ying Shi Xi.

"Hello, Shi Xi!" Shang Jian Rui greets Ying Shi Xi in a friendly manner.

Ying Shi Xi gets a tiny shock as he did not expect to see Jian Rui in the morning court. "Ah! Jian Rui you are attending the morning court today?! The attendance of the morning court does not usually change much so I did not bother to look around and did not spot you."

"It's okay, I was summoned by his Majesty to attend today's morning court. I guess that his majesty probably has an order for me. It is my first time attending the morning court sessions! Ah yes, my son, Shi er has joined the riding circuit of the judges this time and he will be back in a few years. We can bring him to your house to meet your daughter then!" Jian Rui says happily.

Ying Shi Xi looks down as he is a little embarrassed and says "Ah, about that...my daughter was recruited by a sect and she joined the Qing Yu Sect...but don't worry! We told her master that she has a fiance and she is okay with their marriage! But...it seems like they will be unable to meet for the time being...Even if we want to meet Yue er, we have to travel to the Qing Yu Sect to meet her right now...Her master said that once Yue er consolidates her core, she will be able to return home anytime she wants so we will inform you when she returns!"

"Oh...That is a pity...We will wait for your news then since it will be a while before Shi er returns from the riding circuit as well." Jian Rui says but before he could continue the conversation, the eunuch enters and makes a few coughs to get everyone's attention.

"His majesty, the emperor of the Empire, will be arriving soon!" the eunuch yells loudly and everyone scurries back into their arranged positions and takes a bowing gesture, following court etiquette.

Soon, the eunuch announces the arrival of the emperor.

"His Majesty, the Great Emperor of the Sword Empire, Ruler of the Sword Continent has arrived!"

As the emperor walks in, dressed in a long and grand yellow robe, everyone greets him as he takes a seat on his pure gold throne. The throne depicts dragons and phoenixes dancing in the skies, and has exquisite carvings of men and women praising the heavens.

"Long Live his majesty!" the greetings of the ministers echoes throughout the hall.