#first-class lawyer

[notnun]

First-Class Lawyer (一级律师) | Mu Su Li (木苏里)

Links: Novelupdates | maunnieh (Ch 1-6 pt1), luckykoi (Ch 6 pt2, Chrysanthemum Garden)

Tags: Interstellar, Mature, Mystery, Romance, Sci-fi, Shounen ai

Chapters: 215

Read on: 08/23/2025 to 08/29/2025

Time to reread First-Class Lawyer! I've reviewed one of Mu Su Li's novels before on this blog, and I've read a good few of their other novels as well and I'm always excited for the experience. This particular novel basically led up to the creation of this blog (because I was trying to find good suggestions for Joelle to read). I really like how meticulously everything is set up in this novel and how everything pays off. A must read!

Yan Suizhi, Dean of Maze University and recently appointed First-Class Lawyer, died as collateral damage in a hotel explosion. It didn't even leave a single trace of remains behind.

Six months later, he woke up with a new face, new identity, and.... no money.

Yan Suizhi: Hide? To hell with that.

Yan Suizhi takes his new identity and squeezes his way into Southcross law firm- as Ruan Ye, an "intern", he can take a look at the details of the explosion he was involved in and make plans for the future.

There's only one major hiccup- Gu Yan, his former student that he remembers was often angry with him, is assigned as his mentor. Well, as long as he keeps up his intern facade... he should be fine?

Who was behind the explosion that almost took Yan Suizhi's life? What is lurking in the dark, behind a friendly facade? A conspiracy of over 30 years in the making surfaces with intentions to drag everyone to hell.

I absolutely loove this novel and love coming back to reread it. Every time I go through it again, I pick out more and more little details that are either foreshadowing or are referenced later. A silly anecdote about Yan Suizhi's frequency of travel because of his profession is mentioned later as a point of reference for something else. Casual mentions of wildlife and open windows mean something to those who are in the know. Its just really good and as I become more familiar with the events of the novel I find more things to point at and go "Oh!".

The plot is excellent. Every case slowly leads up to the overarcing plot in some way and it is done incredibly well. The final trial and the reveal gives me the chills every time! But it also shows the scope of these type of cases: Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan are responsible for their client and this round of evidence only, but that doesn't stop them from hinting at the true culprits in their defense.

The trials themselves are probably one of my favourite elements of the novel (besides Yan Suizhi's caustic and sarcastic remarks). The mind games and subtle psychological manipulations to get the judge and jury to actually see their defendants and that the evidence is flawed is suspenseful and has you on the edge of your seat for the entire thing.

I love the main characters. Yan Suizhi is a mediocre actor who is not trying to hard to hide his identity at All and Gu Yan is a taciturn iceblock who's trying to live after the person he loves (see: Yan Suizhi) died in mysterious and tragic circumstances. I think the dynamic between them in the first arc of the novel while they're still trying to sound each other out is incredibly funny with perfect comedic timing. And the reveal in the next arc that Gu Yan knows is even funnier- but also opens them up to actually talking and discussing what really is going on and why people are after Yan Suizhi's life. They bicker constantly but also trust the other completely and I really like that in a character dynamic 👍

The side characters of this novel are great! My favourite has to be Fitz, but Ke Jin is a close second especially with how important to the plot he is.... But Fitz is so much fun. Gu Yan's friendgroup of Joe, Laura, and the others are also enjoyable- their reactions when they finally find out who Yan Suizhi actually is are perfect. The doctor team including Mervin White are also really good!! I really enjoyed the genetic modification plotline through the whole novel. I also really love Yan Suizhi's parents....

Overall, this is a novel with incredible pacing and knows when to be serious and when to soften things up. I highly recommend reading it.

How was the translation? Good. The first translator has a few odd terms but only translated 6 chapters. The rest of the novel seems to be pretty heavily localized, but I believe luckykoi does a good job of it. "Jack" is written as "Jacques" once, and there were a few typos.

Would I recommend this novel? Yes!! Go read and laugh at the victims of Yan Suizhi's sharp tongue and Gu Yan's indulgence of him!

Would I reread this novel? Yes. Forever.

Trigger Warnings: Human experimentation/modification, Diving accident, Drug abuse, Elderly abuse, Domestic violence, Medical malpractice, Animal testing, Animal abuse, Animal death, Suicide joke

*So technically Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan were once teacher and student, but humans live to be 200+ in this setting, they're only 10 years in age apart, and they were teacher-student over 10 years ago. They make fun of the former relationship but are both working adults who have been established in society for a long time by the start of this novel.

Detailed triggers and arc names under the cut:

1) Ant Nest

Human experimentation/modification (mention)

2) Wine Bath

Diving accident, Drug abuse (mention)

3) Bird Cage

Human experimentation/modification, Elderly abuse (mention), Drugs, Domestic violence (mention), Medical malpractice (mention), Suicide joke (mild)

Laura makes a small joke about hanging herself when she finds out who Yan Suizhi is.

4) Bird Cage (Cont.)

Human experimentation/modification, Elderly abuse (mention), Medical malpractice (mention), Animal testing (mention), Animal abuse (mention), Animal death (mention)

5) Extras

Thank you for reading my review 💜💜💜

[bellaroles]

Enjoying First-class Lawyer very much. I'm about 50 chapters in, Yan Suizhi's snark and Gu Yan's response made me laugh a lot.

[otomeza35]

I want y’all to read First-class Lawyer right now

First-Class Lawyer

Yan Suizhi, the young and accomplished dean of the interstellar Maze University’s law school, wakes up in a body that has been gene-modified

[angieloveshua]

I started reading First-Class Lawyer by the goddess Mu Su Li. It seems like an exceptional story! It's a sci-fi filled with mystery. The CP dynamic is rivals to lovers and they're teacher-student. They also look hot!

[yuexuan]

[review] 一级律师

Title: 一级律师 First-class lawyer

Author: 木苏里

Length: 215 chapters

Tag: Mystery, sci-fi/interstellar, romance

Summary [taken from novel updates]:

Yan Suizhi, the young and accomplished dean of the interstellar Maze University’s law school, wakes up in a body that has been gene-modified to resemble that of a twenty-something-year-old. He had supposedly ‘died’ in a premeditated explosion a few months ago but someone had managed to save him. In his search for his saviour as well as his murderer, Yan Suizhi encounters his former student, Gu Yan, who is now a successful lawyer at Southcross Law Firm.

Novel | Novel [translated]

Comments:

Different cases are presented throughout the novel and are strung together by the mystery of who saved and who attempted to murder Yan Suizhi. Contrary to my initial concern, the way the court cases are presented is not boring at all. 

I rather like the unique approach to solving mysteries from a lawyer’s perspective, which presents new challenges that I’ve never thought about before. For example, the main couple couldn’t investigate a case directly like a police/detective, they have to go through multiple loops to obtain their evidence for identifying the perpetrator. That said, the middle section of the story dragged on quite a bit because they have to find ways to obtain information.

Personally, I also like the second pairing a lot and was rooting for them throughout the whole novel.

[angieloveshua]

Half an hour later, Yan Suizhi found himself sitting behind the intern’s desk that Fizz had found someone to set up. He was face-to-face with Gu Yan, who was seated behind his own larger lawyer’s desk.

Yan Suizhi took a silent sip of his coffee. “......”

Gu Yan took a sip of his coffee as well. “......”

The atmosphere was truly somber and for a moment, it was hard to tell who was visiting whose grave, and whose cup of coffee seemed like it was filled with cat shit.

This is going to be so funny!

[touchmycoat]

First-Class Lawyer, ch.108 excerpt

Yan Suizhi’s body gradually relaxed, and after a period of silence pillowed on his arm, he suddenly spoke up in a light voice: “Gu Yan.”

“Hm?”

“Are you a little afraid of me?”

Gu Yan halted in his motions.

Then, Yan Suizhi felt a touch to his forehead.

“...”

With a huff he caught that hand and pulled it from his forehead.

“Trying to call me delirious?”

“Where in the world are you getting that I’m afraid of you?” Gu Yan’s low timbre was far too suited to the night. The torrential storm poured on outside with the occasional flash of lightning and thunder but he remained ever calm and steady.

“I don’t mean that sort of afraid,” Yan Suizhi said. “More like...you’re a bit cautious.”

With that he flipped decisively over to watch Gu Yan’s eyes.

“You’re clever. You know what I mean.”

Gu Yan was silent for a moment before, “mh.”

Somehow, such a simple single note felt oddly stifling.

His brow pinched, and his gaze fell to a lamp on the side before unfocusing. A few moments later, he opened his mouth to speak: “After the explosion...I had a bout of insomnia, for a few months.”

This was likely the first he’d ever talked of that time. He fell silent after every sentence.

“It wasn’t that I actually couldn’t sleep. I just didn’t want to fall asleep,” he said. “Because at the time...the same dreams kept recurring. I would dream of an alumni gathering where Lola tells me there’s been a mistake, the explosion didn’t happen at the hotel you were staying at. You’ve gone back to your job, you’ve taken on a new case, you might clear up a week to go give a lecture back at school.”

This man was always like this—whenever he spoke of his once frank and immense emotions, his tone was always calm.

But that was what made it so upsetting to hear.

“Those dreams were always very realistic... Sometimes it was hard to tell what was the truth upon waking. That’s why I gave myself a lot to do. I’ll read over case files at night, including all the most tedious files on other explosion cases from those few years.

“Those cases actually weren’t relevant at all. It was just that they all covered explosions.”

...

But he had still felt dissatisfied. He’d kept thinking that maybe he had just missed a keyword, or maybe that the connection was hidden away in some covert corner. He’d kept thinking, there must be some undiscovered, convoluted reasoning to all of this because otherwise...how could a perfectly fine person be gone, just like that?

Gu Yan went silent again, then said: “These days...I still dream of some things. I dreamt of Fitz rushing over to tell me there’s been a mistake, that there’s never been an intern, that it’s all been an absurd fantasy. The last I’ve heard of you is still the explosion. The last time we talked was still ten years ago.”

Yan Suizhi watched him for a very long while, feeling for the first time in his life an indescribable sort of heartache.

“There hasn’t been a mistake.” He reached out and caressed Gu Yan’s cheek and neck. Then he leaned forward and hugged him. “I am alive and well. There aren’t even old scars left on me. Thanks to you, I’ve returned to my job and taken new cases, and once all this mess has been sorted out, maybe I’ll clear up a week to go give a lecture back at school. Of course, I’m also of the opinion that the first lecture won’t be all that effective. People might even faint from the fright.”

Gu Yan’s chin was tucked into his neck, his voice in his ear: “I know.”

He was very rational, and very awake.

He knew those were only dreams.

Maybe because reality had turned out so unexpectedly well that in the night, these dreams had to come and remind him not to get too cocky.

Gu Yan, in a low voice, “I’m adjusting.”

“Then you best do it quickly,” Yan Suizhi said, “or I’ll appear to have adjusted too quickly, like a scoundrel taking advantage of his student.”

As soon as he said this, he felt the cool bridge of Gu Yan’s nose rub against his collar. And then Gu Yan bit, murmuring, “I think you’ve misunderstood something...”

“Speak, don’t bite...” Yan Suizhi leaned away, but the motion was so small it didn’t dodge anything, obviously lacking all resolve.

一級律師 ch. 108