Court of Judicial Review

Biodata

Authority and Jurisdiction

• Institutional standing: Described as Great Qi’s most powerful law-enforcement agency, with political standing exceeding that of the Embroidered Uniform Guard at its peak 2.
• Case selection: Generally handles troublesome matters that ordinary government offices cannot resolve. The murder of a prominent, charitable merchant is also referred to the Court despite appearing straightforward 2 7.
• Summary enforcement: Imperial authorization allows its officers to impose punishments without the usual passage through three judicial offices or the customary delay until autumn executions 7.
• Protection of personnel: Assassinating a Court officer without cause can expose the perpetrator’s family to collective punishment, depending on the offense’s severity 23.
• Political limits: Its authority does not eliminate the need for evidence or override every powerful connection. Prince Zhao’s intervention constrains the Green Garment Gang investigation, and officers are warned against provoking imperial relatives without the emperor’s orders 25 26.
• Royal security: Court personnel customarily attend imperial-family outings. Their combat abilities and experience with supernatural cases make them suitable for security within the protected area, while other guards secure the outside 42.

Organization

Divisions and Offices

The Tai’an organization uses the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches to name its departments 2.

• A fully staffed division has 140 personnel, limiting how much ordinary policing it can undertake 2.
• Divisions coordinate when another division lacks available personnel or needs different expertise 7.
• Within the Dingyou Office, ordinary officers share the same formal rank; seniority does not create separate grades of officer 2.

Uniform Rank Insignia

Notable Personnel

Recruitment and Training

Entry and Appointment

• Restricted recruitment: Auxiliary staffing has a fixed limit. Vacancies may be filled, but the workforce cannot simply be expanded 2.
• Difficult assessment: Most openings go to inherited appointments or applicants with connections; only a small number of ordinary citizens gain entry through the examination each year 2.
• Cultivation requirement: Auxiliary personnel must reach the Qi-Blood Realm before becoming full members 2.
• Appointment benefit: Every newly formalized officer may claim one martial technique 21.
• Talent monitoring: Exceptional progress attracts official scrutiny. Gongsun Yan verifies Yu Qian’s background and places him on the Court’s special-attention list 40 41.

Cultivation Resources

• The Sun and Moon Scrolls are considered safe, reliable introductory manuals; unsuccessful practice does not cause irreversible bodily harm 41.
• Available techniques include Fierce Fist, Thirty Blades, and the Five-Element Escape Art, which costs Yu Qian 400 merit points 21 22 41.
• Combat specialization affects deployment: after choosing Fierce Fist and Thirty Blades, Yu Qian is told that aggressive martial cultivators are expected to lead the charge 22.

Headquarters and Facilities

The Tai’an compound occupies dozens of courtyards. Its southern entrance has blue-gray brick buildings, green tiles, and a plaque bearing the institution’s name. Interior courtyards range from austere buildings to elaborate pavilions and waterways; the grounds remain cool despite midsummer heat 2.

• Mortuary construction: Southern spiritual black wood blocks various forms of supernatural “prying” 13.
• Medical staff uniform: Healing Hall apothecaries wear white robes with cloud-patterned chests and white jade belts, unlike the Court’s usual black attire 32.
• Protective accommodation: Officers can apply to live within the Court; Sun Shoucheng suggests this option after the attack on Yu Qian 11.

Equipment and Communication

• Flying Eagle Uniforms — Field attire bears an embroidered flying eagle. Yu Qian initially wears blue-gray cloud brocade with a broad saber and black gauze hat; formal appointment brings a black Flying Eagle Uniform 1 21.
• Identification tokens — Custom-made by the Weapon Hall and embedded with specially refined magical implements; described as impossible to counterfeit. They also signal when a colleague is in danger 13 19.
• Talisman Paper Cranes — The Court’s most common communication method. Demon and ghost cases must be reported immediately; cranes can also guide officers toward a colleague’s location 1 19.
• Sword oil — Astronomical Bureau products that enhance weapons against demons and ghosts. The Court stocks every variety despite their high outside price 5.
• Unicorn Steeds — Government-bred mounts capable of traveling a thousand li per day, available for official transport 5.
• Emergency signal flare — Yu Qian launches a lotus-shaped flare during the royal-hunt ambush 46.
• Field supplies — Uniform pockets hold practical necessities for varied situations, including salt 44.

Investigative Methods and Operational Rules

Examination and Evidence

• Supernatural detection: Spirit Inspectors use the Spirit-Communing Art to identify ghost traces and search for signs of supernatural beings 1 15.
• Autopsy work: Guo Yi studies wounds, calluses, organs, and stomach contents to reconstruct suspects’ training and recent movements 11 14.
• Identity checks: Suspect portraits are circulated to local authorities; the Longyou county office locates the assassins’ former residence after receiving their sketches 14.
• Cause-of-death verification: Guo Yi examines Kong Xing for poison, external injury, and supernatural interference before confirming his self-inflicted death 22 23.
• Evidentiary caution: Ji Cheng and Guo Yi initially refuse to treat Yu Qian’s suspicion of the Green Garment Gang as proof 11.

Deployment and Mutual Responsibility

• Discretion: Officers enter the Ghost Market in plain clothes and an ordinary carriage to avoid attracting trouble through visible Court affiliation 14.
• Compartmentalization: Dingyou personnel are warned not to pry into Jia and Yi Division investigations; supporting officers do not automatically participate in follow-up work 20 32.
• Communication control: Crane talismans are surrendered before the coordinated White Lotus Cult raids, cutting off outside communication 29.
• Rescue duty: Officers abandon leisure activities when their tokens signal a colleague’s distress 19.
• Shared liability: Shi Da states that losing Yu Qian would cost the surviving colleagues a year’s pay 20.
• Command discipline: The twenty-four teams assembled for the cult operation form without murmuring or questioning orders 29.

Institutional Culture and Reputation

The Court is feared by commoners, officials, gangs, and other factions. Its officers are associated with “black robes,” officials regard it as the “Black Reaper,” and hostile factions compare its fiercely protective personnel to a pack of mad dogs 7 10. Joining it immediately changes Yu Qian’s social standing: dockworkers address him respectfully, and neighbors greet him nervously 4.

The Dingyou Office combines close personal loyalty with conspicuous idleness. Staff snack, gossip, and leave case files poorly organized, while Ji Cheng lounges with a book over his face. Yu Qian also notices vague or unconvincing accounts in older records 2. Its members arrange brothel-related entertainment through public funding requisitions and tacitly accept income from “gray areas”; an ordinary officer’s stated pay is fifty taels 7 24.

That relaxed routine does not prevent forceful collective action. Ji Cheng treats excessive caution as a loss of institutional face and escalates Yu Qian’s case even after Yu Qian tries to settle it 24. Conversely, Guo Yi’s painstaking examinations and respectful handling of remains demonstrate genuine professional care within the same office 14.

Relationships with Other Institutions and Factions

• Imperial Guard — Cooperates in enforcement and royal security. Commandant Li supplies troops to surround the Green Garment Gang’s hall 24 42.
• Local government offices and constables — Refer cases, manage aftermath, and assist with inquiries; Longyou officials cooperate with the assassination investigation 1 14 15.
• Demon-Capturing Hall — Handles overlapping supernatural threats. A fox-demon case in the Court’s files is transferred to the Hall 2.
• Astronomical Bureau — Produces the sword oils used by Court martial cultivators 5.
• Hundred Affairs Tower — Provides assassination intelligence, with Court membership securing special cooperation. Its answer concerning Kong Xing is nevertheless part of a managed cover story 17.
• Green Garment Gang — Comes under investigation for attacks on Yu Qian; its political connections prevent the Court from freely pursuing the entire organization 10 25.
• Prince Zhao’s Residence — Protects the Green Garment Gang politically and intervenes before the case is closed 25 26.
• White Lotus Cult — Subject of major investigations and coordinated raids; its royal-hunt attackers are specifically ordered to kill Court personnel 20 29 30 46.
• The faction behind the woman sharing Li Nianxiang’s body — Tracks Yu Qian from his recruitment and coerces him into becoming a contact inside the Court. Its identity and the extent of any other infiltration remain undisclosed 49 50.

Major Cases and Operations