Zhong Quan straightened his robes and adjusted his figure to make sure he was as presentable as he could be. It was rare to find a plumb cultivator, especially in the core formation stage. There are only a few cases why a cultivator of such a caliber would end up that way and they are; they have a bloodline that makes their body that way, a side effect of a cultivation mantra, a deliberate attempt by the cultivator to hide his/her true physique i.e most assassins use this ploy as most people are less wary of a round cultivator or the last option which is that the cultivator consumed a lot of alchemical pills or natural treasures beyond their bodies capacity to properly refine them leaving the unused energy stored in the body as fat.
Without seeing the person himself based on Zheng Hu's report he would have assumed the owner Zhong Quan was part of the last group who consumed alchemical pills and thus his body ended up that way however on seeing the person up close he had to revise that opinion. The moment Zhong Quan stepped into the courtroom he had already detected an anomaly in his body after scanning him with his monarch sense. Zhong Quan's qi seemed unstable just like Zheng Hu had reported however through Yang Qing's monarch sense he detected much more than that. The qi seemed to be clashing and destroying each other and rebuilding each other up again and the energy produced from that destruction gets stored in the body. There seemed to be a feral primal nature to the qi. If it was any other superior core court judge, Zhong Quan's true nature would have likely evaded their eyes but never in a million years would Zhong Quan have expected that a palace realm cultivator would be in a superior core courtroom instead of a palace courtroom.
"I wonder what bloodline he has. Too bad I can't probe deeper without alerting him," Yang Qing thought to himself as his eyes gleamed in deep interest.
Zhong Quan who was fixing himself up suddenly flinched as he quickly tried to hide it,
"Huh why does it feel like someone probed me," he thought as he stealthily gazed around the courtroom before his eyesight settled on Yang Qing who was throwing him an interested and crafty look.
"WAIT, Did he?...No he couldn't have. No one below the palace stage can discover my secret. He is just someone at the core formation stage maybe a quasi-palace stage expert but even they can't see through me. No, No, Zhong Quan it seems you're getting too sensitive and paranoid with age. Ever since the merger started and the Golden bamboo pavilion diverted its attention life has just gotten harder for me. Attacks from other rival merchant organizations and even some I suspect may have fingerprints from some of the subsidiaries of the Golden bamboo pavilion. If I knew it would bring this much trouble operating a restaurant I'd rather have opened up a bookstore café instead. It's likely to be less troublesome. What's done is done hopefully bringing this case to the Order will serve as a warning to the rest. I don't know if these three brothers were deliberately sent to cause trouble in my shop but even if they weren't it doesn't hurt to have another person take care of the problem," Zhong Quan couldn't help but sigh in his heart at his troubles.
The brief internal monologue took just a few seconds before Zhong Quan threw those thoughts away and renewed himself to focus on the matter at hand.
"Thank you judge Yang Qing for gracing us with your presence my humble name is Zhong Quan and I've been the owner of the Earthvine restaurant for the past 70 years. My restaurant is a small one but we pride ourselves on excellent service and customer satisfaction. This is why we don't discriminate and our doors are open to anyone whether it's a scion of some noble family or a commoner our service is equal to all just like how the Order is to the whole southern continent which I admire greatly. If I wasn't a coward and had low talent I would have definitely joined but alas it wasn't meant to be?" Zhong Quan made a dramatic pause and showed an expression of lifelong regret that no one would doubt as being faked.
"How great are his acting skills?" One of the three brothers thought as he scrutinized Zhong Quan's display to try and spot a bit of falsity in it. As for Yang Qing and Zhong Quan, their thoughts were elsewhere. Yang Qing had imperceptibly noticed Zhong Quan's subtle hint with the open doors phrase. Birds of a kind always had a way to sniff each other out from a crowd.
"Message received. Okay, I'll come you better not disappoint,"
"Don't worry young master we won't short you on the quality and quantity,"
"Price?"
"50% OFF,"
"Deal!!!"
"Deal!!!"
No words were exchanged but the brief look they exchanged they had already come to an agreement and even ironed out the details each pleased with themselves. One had gotten a place to eat with a large discount and the other had just gotten a new customer.
After the brief and unnoticed exchange Zhong Quan continued swiftly after,
"It was with that spirit of diligence and excellence that in all our years of service we have never had many complaints from our customers and the number of regulars kept rising. I guess it's from that reputation that maybe the three brothers decided to patronize my restaurant. They came in four days ago and had a meal there. From what I heard from one of the restaurant's servants who waited on them, they seemed to enjoy the meal but out of nowhere, they started arguing amongst themselves and before the servant could intervene it had already come to blows and they broke the earthvine wood table in the midst of their brawl and even caused spilled the meals of other customers. By the time I came to intervene the damage had already been done.
I gently asked the three to repay me for the destroyed earthvine table only and I'd forgive the debt they owed for their food and the food of the other customers that their fight ruined. However, they couldn't pay for it. They only had almost 40 middle-grade spirit stones to their name which could barely cover a drop of it. Understanding that they were rogue cultivators and that money would be tight I offered an alternative which was for them to work for me until their debt was cleared. But even that caused a disagreement between us as we couldn't come to an understanding on the going rate of their services. The amount that they suggested was their worth was enough to hire someone who was at the late stages of the core formation realm. So negotiations broke down.
They did suggest giving them time so they can scrape the amount together but I don't know them all too well. What's to stop them from moving to another place? They are rogue cultivators so they are not tied down to any sect, family, or kingdom. Finding them again would be next to impossible not without me spending an amount more than the damage they caused. So we eventually decided to use the unbiased judgment of the Order. I know it's rather inconsiderate of us to bring a case of this level here but it's the only place I trust to bring this issue to a welcomed resolution.
I ask for your guidance Judge Yang Qing," said Zhong Quan as he made a curt bow however with his belly he didn't seem to have bent much but the sentiment was well transmitted.
"Thank you very much for your trust in the Order and we will strive to ensure fairness is maintained despite what form it may take. Now then which of you three brothers would like to start or if you'd like one of you can speak for the rest? Whichever one you decide is okay," Yang Qing said as he gently motioned to the three brothers.
