The Magistrate: Chapter 28 (Patreon)

Chapter 28

Life in the Palace

Life in the palace was monotonous. Each day was exactly like the last, in a never-ending stream of repetition. Nothing changed. Nothing shifted. One day flowed into the next exactly like the day before. The only way to tell time had truly passed was to track the seasons or stop and enjoy festivals.

Summer turned into Autumn. Autumn turned into Winter. Winter became Spring. Spring became Summer. Tobias received goods from Cloud Sect that needed authentication and new assignments that had to be assigned to trusted disciples, but there were few surprises. Each year, his auction grew, and so did the scope of his housing project, as hundreds and then thousands of disciples from both sects exited to take up residence in Cloud City.

Between these commitments, Tobias studied under the best tutors the palace could provide, gaining new insights into the history of The Three Kingdoms and how it operated on every level. He could not pass the royal magistrate exam with his paltry magistrate knowledge. He needed to first be able to pass the lower, middle, and upper magistrate exams as well. A royal magistrate was required to understand every aspect of the law, how the bureaucracy functioned at every level, and the history of the Imperial Family to proceed.

That would have taken him decades without his cultivation.

There were traditions and protocols that had to be followed when interacting with the Imperial Family, ways of presenting himself and acting that could not be ignored, which is how Tobias began studying the art of the folding fan. It was a delicate method of communication that added layers of interpretation, and the only way to practice it was to incorporate it into his daily life.

Tobias sat in his study and gently lifted his folding fan to his face, covering two-thirds of his mouth and right cheek, signalling that he was unsure of his answer. "The 1st Emperor was said to have come from the continent to the East in his youth, having escaped from a demonic sect and the chaos that they created. His time as their captive is said to have shaped his philosophies as he rose to power. He could not abide those who walked the dark path of cultivation on this continent, using them to hone his techniques and cultivation, cutting them down without mercy. Upon ascending to the sage realm here and creating his hidden realm here in the Capitol, the 1st Emperor reached out to the eleven righteous clans and eight righteous sects, inviting them to serve him, so they could remove the dark cultivators who ruled the land that is now known as The Three Kingdoms. Five of these clans and three of these sects still survive today as the Great Clans and four sects of The Three Kingdoms. With the help of these clans and sects, the 1st Emperor cut down the demonic sects across the continent and established The Three Kingdoms."

Mentor Xiao Dan snapped open his fan, holding it low as he fanned his face, signalling that he was unimpressed. "Your recounting of the 1st Emperor's actions, while factually correct, lacks any hint of the inspiration his actions deserve. You sound as if you are speaking about the annual rice harvest, rather than the birth of an empire which had existed for ten thousand years, an empire whose actions and philosophies allowed this continent to survive the Great Plague when all others perished."

Tobias turned to Instructor Han, waiting for her critique of his fan artistry. She was an elderly cultivator in the foundation realm and a distant relative of the 2nd Emperor. Her features were still soft and young, but her hair was entirely white. She had made more than one indecent proposal to Tobias since she had begun teaching him, trying to use her position over him to start an affair. His looks had quickly become a curse in this place.

Instructor Han raised her elegant fan. It was a circular, feminine fan with no ability to fold. She covered her mouth as she began her rebuke, signalling that her words were not a personal attack.

Tobias's new otherwise.

"Your fan positioning was without elegance. You gripped too tightly, and your fan trembled in place. Your actions could only be interpreted as suppressed anger. You appear to be criticising the 1st Emperor."

Tobias kept his emotions from his face because she was far too close to the truth. The more he had learned about the 1st Emperor, the more he respected him. The man had lived a life with one purpose in mind: to create a world without cruelty. Yes, he had failed in some instances and had a highly condescending view of mortals, which basically amounted to them being too ignorant to know what was good for them. However, despite these faults, he had made a very free and just society.

By comparison, the 2nd Emperor was a petty, cruel, tyrant who wanted the world to worship the ground he walked on because they were not worthy of worshipping him. Most of the struggles of Tobias's youth could be laid at the man's feet. He has systematically dismantled the legal system of The Three Kingdoms to fuel his family's growth, without regard for the suffering he had left in his wake.

As part of his training, Tobias had been allowed to read all the 2nd Emperor's decrees and all of the rebukes from the Great Clans and sects. Information about the tyrannical nature of the 2nd Emperor was clearly being suppressed, and the history of The Three Kingdoms had been corrupted. It was obvious that the two sides were at each other's throats.

The Three Kingdoms' stability was built on a razor's edge, not the strong foundation that was seen from the outside.

The 2nd Emperor could not secure the borders against the khans without the Great Clans and sects, and the Great Clans and sects could not defend the borders without the emperor. The Three Kingdoms might have been the greatest power on the continent, but it was not the only power, and it required everyone to remain in its position.

Tobias could read between the lines and could see that the 2nd Emperor would have become a true tyrant if the Great Clans and sects had not pushed back. They had said this far and no further. They were willing to go to war and destroy The Three Kingdoms if he tried to corrupt the nation any further.

The struggles of Tobias's youth would have been much greater without their actions. He wouldn't have been born a serf, but a slave, with no ability to raise his position. For this and many other reasons, his opinion of the Great Clans and sects had risen, and his distrust for the Imperial Family and the 2nd Emperor had grown.   

However, Tobias did not want others to know this.

Tobias gently closed his fan and tapped his right thigh, signalling for Instructor Han to continue with her rebuke, so he could better hide his thoughts and feelings.

Instructor Han covered her mouth again. "You were clearly not confident in your answer to Mentor Xiao Dan. However, instead of conveying your wish to learn more, your fan announced your insecurities about your knowledge. A slight movement throughout your answer where you covered more or less of your mouth while answering would indicate which areas you were confident with and which you were not."

Tobias was confident that he understood the subject matter, but he did not want his mentors to know that. Being a difficult student before he sat the exam was the only way he could improve his chances of being allowed to leave the Imperial Palace if he was successful. Tobias wasn't sure it would help. No one had ever passed the royal magistrate exam at his age. Most who passed had seen more than a century, but Tobias had no intention of failing. The 1st Prince was a nascent soul realm and could easily tell if he was lying. Not doing his best would give the 1st Prince grounds to execute him. 

Unlike his history lessons, Tobias actually struggled to learn fan artistry. It was more of an artistic communication than a logical one, and he had never been very good when it came to art. Then there was the fact that the subtleties of the movements were designed for those in the foundation realm, not the initiate realm. His cultivation wouldn't truly allow him to express himself accurately unless it continued to grow, and he had no intention of doing so.

Mentor Xiao Dan waited for Instructor Han to finish her rebuke and then continued with the lesson. "And what would be the reasons so few of the clans and sects survive today?"

Tobias changed his grip on his fan and flicked it open. "Four of the Great Clans rebelled over the taxes the 1st Emperor implemented. These rebellions were all quashed, and the clans were executed to the third generation. Two of the Great Clans nearly perished during the Great Plague."

"Which clans and why?"

"The Lee and Chan clans lost their ancestral realms due to the formation of the Shattered Desert, becoming second-tier clans. The desert's formation also led to the demise of three of the sects. However, the Green Lilly Sect was executed by the 1st Emperor when it was discovered that their elders were practising dark cultivation methods."

Over the years, Tobias had gained a deeper understanding of cultivation. It was necessary for what he was learning. Dark cultivation methods were any practices that required the suffering of others to fuel one's growth. Cultivators could be trained in specific ways that would allow them to be turned into pills. Mortals could be used as filters to prevent chi contamination or as vessels to experience the pain that a cultivator would typically experience from using a reckless cultivation method.

Even with only a shallow understanding, Tobias could see why the 1st Emperor was against it. It was disgusting to see the depths to which many would sink in their pursuit of immortality. 

Mentor Xiao Dan nodded. "And what was said to be the 1st Emperor's reaction to these rebellions?"

"He was said to have considered the rebelling clans to be shortsighted."

Tobias agreed with this to some degree, but the 1st Emperor had also been shortsighted and unyielding. He hadn't nurtured an economy, encouraging it to grow. He had tried to drain it dry for his civil works projects.

He had the right intentions, but the execution was flawed.

The Three Kingdoms economy before the Great Plague had been as mismanaged as a third-world country. The economy since was almost non-existent unless you were a cultivator. The Great Clans and sects were all like small, independent nations, with everyone in between merely existing rather than growing.

Tobias had always known it was bad, but he had never expected it to be this terrible.

Mentor Xiao Dan nodded, and a manuscript appeared in his hand. "We will end your lesson here for the day. These are the 1st emperor's thoughts from when he established The Three Kingdoms. Study it tonight, and we will discuss it in the morning."

Tobias took the manuscript, cupped his hands, and bowed as his mentor left, before turning to Instructor Han to continue his fan artistry lessons.

Instructor Han took him through dozens of poses and placements, explaining each one in detail, many of which were used to convey romantic interest. Tobias remained impassive through the lesson, learning each motion, but without her artistic flair. Before the sun began to set, Instructor Han left, and Tobias saw her to the gate.

She outranked him, so he couldn't leave his servants to do it, no matter how much he might have wanted.

As he walked back through the palace, Eunuch Ho approached him. The man had still not warmed up to Tobias, but Tobias now understood why. Life in the palace was difficult for eunuchs. Their status and position entirely relied on their value to the Imperial Family. His position as head servant of a quest palace was one that kept him away from the hardest tasks and allowed him more freedom.

He was a servant in another man's kingdom, and he must play the part in order to survive. Many of those around him were not loyal but were looking for any opportunity to cut away at his authority. Being too familiar with a guest of the 1st Prince could ruin him.

"Is something the matter, Eunuch Ho?"

Eunuch Ho bowed. "Instructor Han lost her earring while she was teaching you, Magistrate."

The woman constantly lost things, giving her an excuse to return after dark. Tobias now required the eunuchs to go over everywhere she had been with a fine-toothed comb.

"I will compose a letter, so one of your people can deliver it to her residence."

Like most of the Han family, the woman was a predator, and Tobias wanted nothing to do with her. She would quickly get bored with him, and then her husband would challenge him to a duel and kill him for sleeping with his wife. All Tobias could do was politely fend off her advances without offering a personal insult.

The only good to come out of his situation was the constant practice he received for navigating social and political entanglements. He was learning how to walk among vipers and how etiquette and rules of cultivation society allowed you to do so.

It was a difficult but valuable experience.