It wasn't as hard as he'd expected to walk into the High Court's building. It was barely a few rooms on the first floor, walled off to make offices. The floors above were all living spaces.
The High Court lived mostly separate from the soldiers of the estate. Something that Mignzhe didn't necessarily agree with, but was common throughout Sorrow. Members of the court held themselves above and away from the people they were meant to serve, instead of living among them. It left them in an awkward existence, connected but not. The soldiers and commonfolk didn't really know what to do with them. The nobles were wary.
It must have been a lonely existence, Mingzhe thought as he walked in. A young clerk sat at a desk only a few feet inside the door, a guard dog in scholarly robes.
He blinked at Mingzhe, and Mingzhe could see him trying to figure out what was happening.
"Lord Zhao…" he started and trailed off. "What are you doing here?"
Mingzhe raised an eyebrow. The High Court's position often left them convinced they were above most social niceties. This one was young enough to flush when he caught Mingzhe's look. "I need to speak with the High Court."
Despite his confusion, the young clerk nodded and stood. "Of course. Follow me. Counsel Margrave is in her office."
He made sure to stay a few steps in front of Mingzhe in the short walk to the office. Knocked, but didn't wait to enter.
Counsel Margrave was an older woman, probably around Lady Yang's age, with hair that was graying at the temples and crow's feet around her eyes. She looked just as surprised as the clerk at Mingzhe's presence. "Lord Zhao."
"Counsel Margrave. I came to speak with you." Mingzhe stepped around the clerk and took the seat across from her desk. Unconcerned about his manners at this point.
Counsel Margrave gathered herself surprisingly quickly. "Well, I'm happy to speak with you, Lord Zhao, but we will have to be careful. The law makes this situation a tad complicated. And given what has happened recently, we are being extremely careful.
Mingzhe nodded, though he wasn't sure what she was talking about. "I'm not here to put you in an uncomfortable situation."
"Then what would you like to discuss?" She waved the clerk out.
"I would like you to take my confession." Mingzhe heard the clerk stop just shy of the door. Even a first-year clerk knew that there needed to be someone in the room for a confession aside from the Counsel and the Confessor.
Counsel Margrave froze. "Oh." She glanced at the clerk. "Gather Counsel Green and Clerk Trew." She turned back to Mingzhe. "My apologies, Lord Zhao, if you would be willing to wait a moment."
Mingzhe nodded. "It's hardly going to change anything." Then, "What about the other Counsels?"
Counsel Margrave's face twisted into a frown. "They have been removed."
Surprised, Mingzhe fell silent. High Court Counselors were generally only removed because they'd died of old age or they'd been caught committing a crime. Had Lady Yang gone as far as to buy the loyalty of the Counsels?
Clearly, someone had caught them, but did they know it was Lady Yang? Or had she found a way to pin it on someone else?
Something else Mingzhe was being blamed for?
The other Counsel and Clerk hurried, looking a bit harried, and both their eyes widened in surprise when they saw Mingzhe.
"Counsel Margrave," Counsel Green started, his pinched, thin features smoothing into a mask of professionalism. "Should we lock the front door?"
"No." She shook her head as they took the other two chairs available. "We offer counsel at all times, no matter how difficult it may be for us. One of us can step out if needed."
"I have no intention of trying to run. Or interfere in the service you provide to the people of the Camelia." Mingzhe sighed, the events of the day finally catching up with him and leaving him exhausted and defeated.
Counsel Margrave gave him a calculated look. After a moment, her face lightened, and she nodded, having come to her own conclusions. "Thank you." She gathered a blank scroll and a quill. "Please, what would you like to confess?"
Mingzhe took a moment to breathe. To steal himself. "I want to confess to all charges against me."
Counsel Margrave clearly had significant experience because her expression gave away nothing. "Would you like me to read the charges against you?"
"No, I don't think I will ever forget them." Or the feeling that had washed over him as they'd been read out in the Camelia's main hall on the first day of the trial.
"Let us start at the beginning, then." Counsel Margrave made a note. "The ambush."
Mingzhe was one of the best strategists in the Crimson Army, barring apparently Lady Yang. But at least in this, he knew what he needed to say to make sure it was as damaging as possible for the Yangs. "It actually started long before that."
Counsel Margrave's eyes narrowed, her quill poised above the paper.
"When I became friends with her oldest son, Hikari."
"That was when you both entered training for the Crimson Army." Counsel Green clarified. "You were fourteen?"
Mingzhe nodded, the story coming together in his head. "Yes. As I began to get to know the family, they… asked me to join them. They had some great plan to take control of the Camelia."
Counsel Margrave and Green froze and shared a fleeting look.
"It involved putting those loyal to them in every important branch of the Army, including the High Court." It was a risk, but the flinch from the two Counsel confirmed that he'd guessed right. The reason the other Counsels were gone was that someone had found a connection between them and the Yang family. "The Wens helped them gather books on magic," those had caused an uproar when they'd been revealed during the trial, "And I was supposed to trigger the trial with the ambush."
Counsel Margrave wrote a note in shorthand. "Are you saying the ambush was planned?"
Mingzhe nodded. "By Lady Yang, herself."
~ tbc