| Kou Josei: At 15, the youngest examinee
to pass the imperial exams, and at 18 the magistrate of Ningzhou City. He
is brillant and beautiful, unwavering in the pursuit of truth. Recognized as
a genius as a young boy, he has never learned to make allowances for human frailty.
Shou: Kou Josei's childhood playmate, and the opposite of everything Kou Josei is. Gluttonous, lazy, and not very clever except when it comes to escaping his studies, he nevertheless manages to become the center of Josei's universe. Shukujin: Kou Josei's lascivious boss. A self-styled aesthete, he won the people's undying loyalty when he threw out a corrupt and powerful local magistrate. But only Josei knows that the magistrate was deposed because of his unfortunate looks and not because of his corruption. On the other hand, Josei's boss allows him complete freedom and extraordinary powers because of his good looks, and Josei himself is not above abusing his superior's weakness for a pretty face.
Story synopses Moonlight:
A great general, returned from a successful campaign against the Mongols, sends Josei a summons. Someone is stalking him, threatening death and worse for the wrongs he committed during the campaign. The general is not even safe in his own home. The assassin is able break a cup with an arrow shot from the outside. The general claims that it's a deserter who was punished by him. But Josei thinks that something else is going on. The beautiful girl who opened the door to him, clearly a captive brought back from the campaign, is neither Chinese nor Mongolian. And why would someone who had such skill with the bow desert the army? Then the general drops the final stone: The man who deserted was Josei's dearest friend, a Manchurian commander, Hibaku Eika. The general is dead the next day. And as though to confirm Josei's fears, Eika appears and freely admits that he was stalking the general. But he claims that he did not murder him. How will Josei weight friendship against justice? Iris: Threatened with cram school Shou runs away. Josei is determined to get him back from the family he is staying with. But during his short stay, the family is turned upside down by the return of their estranged son and his wife. The family had adopted the boy, guided him through school, given him everything a son could wish for. And it was completely understood that he was to marry their daughter when they were both grown up. But on one occasion, a distant poor relation brought her daughter to visit, and she and the son fell in love with each other. The foster mother was furious, but strangely, her daughter did not seem to mind. Now the son and his new wife, who has fallen ill, have returned to the family house, at the daughter's suggestion. She only wants his happiness, she says. But Josei hears the words behind
her words. What if the son is no longer happy with his wife?
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