The Executioner

8. The Assistant Magistrate

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The Next Morning...

At the Shadow Palace, Choi Do Hyun was harrying all his men.

"Ya. Have you compiled the reports? Good. You. Bring me the statements of the last people to see the victims..."

The whole Shadow Palace was in absolute chaos by mid-Afternoon.

From low level officials running through the Capital to get reports from the victims' families and witnesses, to mid level officials gathering reports they had been trying to bury all this while.

"WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS?!!!" Lee Gwan Sul demanded, as he and his personal guards stormed into the Magistrate Office in the Shadow Palace.

"Greetings, Lord Lee." Choi Do Hyun bowed to him politely. "I was re-investigating the recent murders."

"Ya! You bad fellow! Shouldn't you have asked my approval?! I'm the Magistrate, so why am I hearing about this from the Head of Military?!"

"Aaah, Head of Military has heard? We're making progress..."

"Do you think you're doing the right thing right now?!"

"My Apologies, Lord Lee..." Choi Do Hyun bowed slightly. "Right or not, if people in the Capital know what is happening, they can at least protect themselves.

"Because we keep hiding information, people that didn't need to die, died! If they had been more careful, they wou-!"

"Exactly! Why should we pay the price for their carelessness?!" Lee Gwan Sul was absolutely irate. "You think you're being righteous?! Righteousness in our society is pleasing the King!

"I said it last year that you were too young to be Assistant Magistrate! You can't even read the tides of court! Jeonha is dealing with assassination attempts almost everyday, and you want to add this to his problems??!!"

"I will apologize again!" Choi Do Hyun lowered his head in a quick bow. "But I believe that Jeonha should know what is happening in the Capital! Even if he doesn't know, the people should know! We should post the information in the streets and marketplaces, so they'l-!"

"Silence!!!" Lee Gwan Sul stormed over to the table and upturned it, sending all the papers, brushes and ink to the floor. "Are you cocky because you're Minister of Tax's son?"

Lee Gwan Sul smiled nastily.

"If you don't know, let me tell you! The only reason someone as young as you is Assistant Magistrate is because the position is redundant unless I deem it otherwise! What makes you think you have authority here??!!

"Ya. Your father needed to teach you a lesson after you refused to work in the taxation office, so he paved a way for you here... He did this knowing you won't grow anywhere, unless I permit it, so get your act together, huh?!"

Lee Gwan Sul swivelled and stormed to the door, then turned.

"Clean this mess up and stay away from these murder cases! If I hear that Shadow Palace guards are going round and asking questions, I will assign you and your men to guard duty at once!!" Lee Gwan Sul stormed away, his guards following him.

Choi Do Hyun collapsed on to the chair after the Magistrate had left, his face white, more from anger than shock.

"Young Master!" His own aide and his men ran to him. "Are you okay?" They were asking.

"Forget it." Choi Do Hyun raised a hand. "I started all this knowing how he'd react... I wanted to see how bad it was.

They were all looking at him with a mix of worry, discomfort, and pity, so he swallowed his anger and forced a grin.