Yang Qing and Mao Yunru were each in their respective positions as Yang Qing went over the case details in the white jade talisman Mao Yunru had passed over to him earlier in the day.
"Three brothers Shen Shi, Shen Ding, and Shen Tian destroyed one of the tables made from earthvine wood belonging to the Earthvine restaurant. The three brothers were unable to pay 15,000 middle-grade spirit stones the sum required to cover the damage done to the earthvine table.
Mmmh it seems they are rogue cultivators which explains why their purses are tight. Three brothers all at the fourth stage of the core formation realm and are less than 200 years old. With that talent, they could afford to be retainers or guest elders in any rank 3 and rank 4 sects or family but they insist on being rogue cultivators.
Let's see about the other party in this, the owner of the Earthvine restaurant. The restaurant is known for its iconic earthvine wood that is known to have gentle restorative properties and also gently soothes someone's spirit. This effect is highly beneficial for someone affected by mental demons. The characteristics of the earthvine wood and their quality dishes made this restaurant garner a lot of regulars and is one of the organizations to stand out in the rank 3 kingdom the Emerald lily kingdom. The proprietor of the place is someone at the seventh stage of the core formation.
Mmmh what is this? They are a subsidiary of the Golden bamboo pavilion!! Mao Mao, you read this report, right? Yang Qing suddenly asked
"Mmmh," Mao Yunru nodded in reply
"Well, why is the owner bringing this case here instead of dealing with it in-house? The report says his restaurant is a subsidiary of the Golden bamboo pavilion which is a mercantile organization made of 4 leaders each with a domain rank cultivation. With that level of power, they can handle a few puny core formation cultivators easily. Why bring the case here then not unless there is something I'm missing?" Yang Qing asked with a puzzled expression.
"From what I heard from Zheng Hu who is the one in charge of this case, in the background he did for the restaurant he discovered that the Golden bamboo pavilion is caught up in something major. From the information he dug out it seems to be a merger with another mercantile organization and that merger has the pavilion too occupied to spare its attention or resources on other matters. All the subsidiaries were asked to handle all matters independently for the next few months to a year, be they minor or major the pavilion would not be able to step in even if they were facing a calamitous disaster.
From what Zheng Hu could glean from interacting with the owner of the earthvine restaurant he said the owner has a cautious personality and he could detect some instability in his cultivation. He suspects the owner's realm was built off of the consumption of alchemy pills. He may be in the seventh stage of the core formation realm but someone with such a shaky foundation would be hard-pressed to suppress three core formation experts who have been living all their lives on the edge as rogue cultivators. It was why he decided to involve the Order," Mao Yunru patiently explained.
"Mmmh okay well everything seems simple enough, I doubt we will see any twists like the previous case," Yang Qing said as he stared at the courtroom doors that had opened with Yi Jie in the lead followed by three stockily built men who looked to be in their forties. The three men were carbon copies of each other down to even how they walked. The only thing that seemed to differentiate them was the color of the robes they wore. One had on a blue robe and it was clean and straightened out which looked in contrast to his stocky build and menacing appearance of blade scars on his forehead and chest and part of his hands. The second man had a yellow robe while the third had on a brown robe that looked unrefined like it was made of a patchwork of different unprocessed spirit beast hides. All three men had their bodies riddled with scars that showed they lived through the edge of the blade every single day.
However, there were some subtle differences among them that someone with a trained eye like Yang Qing could easily spot. For example, the one with the blue robes had a valiant general aura to him every step he took was measured every breath he took was at a timed interval. The one with the yellow robe had a shifty and calculative look to him. His eyes kept secretly darting around the room like he was taking stock of everything and deciding how much he could make from them. His eyes resembled that of a merchant. As for the last one with the brown patched hide-looking robe he was picking his ear and giving off a lackluster and unrestrained vibe however Yang Qing could tell he was the furthest thing from carefree. His body was high-strung to react explosively within a moment's notice. He also had the fewest injury of the three.
Behind the three triplets was a rotund middle-aged man with orange robes that had the emblem of the earthvine tree embroidered on it. He had short curly light brown hair, a medium goatee, and a rosy pink complexion. He heard a friendly and gentle aura that made him easily approachable and amiable to most people. And lastly closing the group was a youth who looked to be 18 years old. He had on a charming smile that went up several notches when he spotted Mao Yunru. Appearance wise he looked like a looker with some hints of craftiness and playfulness to it. He had red hair tied in a bun with a green stick and had on robes that were half red and half blue with a rhombus image on the back that had the numeral IV imprinted on it. This showed that he was an inquisitor of the Order.
He guided the triplets to the left and the rotund middle-aged man was guided to the right.
"Inquisitor Zheng Hu hereby presents Zhong Quan the owner and proprietor of the Earthvine restaurant who has filed a complaint against the three brothers namely; Shen Shi, Shen Ding, and Shen Tian. The three brothers have been accused of destroying an earthvine wood table with the damage costing an equivalent value of 15,000 middle-grade stones as per the owner's valuation. The three brothers were unable to pay the sum and a middle ground was unable to be reached between the two parties. Both parties have thus agreed to submit their case to the Order and fully adhere to its ruling," Zheng Hu solemnly said as he performed a curt bow to Yang Qing. His earlier playful look had disappeared and was replaced by a professional look suited to an inquisitor.
"Thank you little ahem cough cough I mean thank you very much INQUISITOR ZHENG HU for your report," Yang Qing said as he tried to hide his embarrassment by offering an apologetic smile to Zheng Hu who was as still as a rock as if the earlier statement had nothing to do with him. But his secretly grinding teeth spoke a different story.
"My name is Yang Qing a judge at the superior core courts and I'll be in charge of your case for the day. Both sides will take turns presenting their sides of the story and after satisfactorily hearing the case from both sides, I will pass my verdict. I trust Zheng Hu has informed you of the penalties you would incur should you act against the verdict. You being here means you have both submitted yourself wholly to the ruling of this court.
I'll ask again for your sakes do you all agree to submit to the ruling decided by this court and the penalties that come with it should you disobey?" Yang Qing asked with a serious look.
"We do," they all answered solemnly.
"Good, then we will start off with hearing from your side of things owner Zhong Quan then after it will be the three brothers' turn. Let's begin then," said Yang Qing.
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