Wife, Protect Me! - Chapter 3

Li Nuo woke up groggily, finding himself lying on that familiar large bed once again.

This time, aside from the sharp pain in his head and shoulders, a dull ache also emanated from his chest.

Li Nuo unbuttoned his clothes to look and saw a dark bruise on his chest. Every breath he took was accompanied by a faint throbbing pain.

Seeing Li Nuo sit up, the old man guarding the bedside jolted with excitement and said, “Young master, you’re awake! What’s three thousand six hundred seventy-four plus five thousand eight hundred sixty-three…”

“Nine thousand five hundred thirty-seven.”

Li Nuo answered without hesitation, first rubbing his chest, then looking around and asking, “Where is she?”

Seeing that the young master hadn’t reverted to being a fool, the Old Man finally relaxed and said, “She’s already been sent to the Chang’an County Magistrate’s office. Don’t worry, young master—those who dare to assassinate you won’t come to a good end!”

Li Nuo asked, “What about the other one?”

The old man looked puzzled. “Which one?”

Li Nuo said angrily, “That woman who kicked me.”

The old man gave an awkward laugh and said, “It’s all a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding…”

With two people in a row showing such strong hostility toward him, could it be that his former self wasn’t exactly a good person? After pondering for a moment, Li Nuo asked the old man, “What kind of person was I before?”

The old man didn’t quite understand his meaning and muttered, “What… kind of person?”

Li Nuo said, “Indulging in food, drink, prostitution, and gambling? Committing crimes? Idling about? Being lazy and uneducated?”

The old man waved his hand and said, “None of those, young master, you’re joking. You never touched alcohol before, never visited brothels or pleasure houses, never committed any crimes, never idled about…”

How could a fool idle about or be lazy and uneducated?

The young master spent most of his time at home and rarely went out, so it was naturally impossible for him to commit crimes.

As for indulging in food, drink, prostitution, and gambling—that was even more impossible. If he had dared to do such things, given the young mistress’s temper, wouldn’t she have broken his legs?

Li Nuo breathed a soft sigh of relief.

So he neither indulged in vices nor committed crimes—meaning he wasn’t just a fool before, but an honest fool.

Yet those two women—one tried to kill him on sight, and the other kicked him the moment she saw him.

What, were they just picking on the fool?

Having been slashed and kicked for no reason, Li Nuo grew angrier the more he thought about it, so angry that he temporarily forgot about the death threat from that book.
Just then, the old man explained, “Don’t be angry, young master—it’s all a misunderstanding. The young mistress didn’t know what happened last night. She thought you had bullied that girl…”

“Doesn’t know, but does not knowing give you the right to hit people randomly?” Li Nuo was still furious, angrily saying, “I’m the one who was bullied! Find the young mistress for me… Wait, what mistress? Whose mistress?”

A cold-faced woman entered from outside, walked to the bedside, crossed her arms while holding her sword, and looked down at Li Nuo with an indifferent expression. “What do you want with me?”

Li Nuo glanced at her stunning yet expressionless face, then at the sword in her hand, swallowing hard before saying, “Nothing, nothing at all…”

…
Li Nuo never would have imagined that this violent woman was actually his wife.
His lawful wife.

According to Steward Wu, they had been betrothed since childhood and officially married a month ago, making them legally husband and wife now.

Hearing this news, Li Nuo was stunned for quite a while.

He never expected that after over twenty years of being single without ever holding a girl’s hand, he would end up with such a beautiful wife.

Of course, it was only in name.

Who would be willing to marry a fool? Steward Wu also mentioned that his Niangzi (wife) spent more time living at her parents’ home than at the Li residence. Even when she did return, she stayed in the small courtyard next to Li Nuo’s.

Having such a beautiful wife brought Li Nuo no joy; instead, he felt somewhat anxious.
Their first meeting had begun with a flying kick as her greeting gift. Li Nuo didn’t dare imagine what married life would be like.

This woman clearly had violent tendencies—would he be beaten regularly from now on?
He wondered if this world had anything like a husbands’ union or if the authorities dealt with domestic violence…

Soon Li Nuo realized he was overthinking things.

If what was written in that Law Codex was true, he only had three days left to live. As for what would happen after three days—whether he’d return to where he came from or vanish into nothingness—he’d probably only find out when the time came.

As Li Nuo thought of the Law Codex, the phantom image of the book appeared before his eyes once more.

Li Nuo glanced at it—the two lines of text below the book cover were still there.
“Name: Li Nuo.”
“Lifespan: Five Days.”

Li Nuo froze slightly.
Why two more days?

He remembered clearly—just moments ago, it had said three days, but now it showed five. There was no way he could have mistaken the characters for “three” and “five.”

The changes to the Codex weren’t limited to the time on the cover. Whereas he hadn’t been able to open it before, now with just a thought, a page turned lightly—but only one page.

That page contained no text, only a portrait.

It was less like a traditional portrait and more like a photograph, as clear and detailed as if taken with a high-definition camera from another era—completely uncensored and in color. It depicted the female assassin who had tried to kill Li Nuo the previous night.

Mysteries flooded Li Nuo’s mind.
Why did the assassin’s portrait appear in the Law Codex?
And why had his lifespan suddenly increased by two days?

Though he didn’t yet understand the reasons, the changes to the Codex must be connected to that female assassin.

This matter was closely tied to his survival. With only five days left to live, Li Nuo had to figure out why his lifespan had increased and how he could live longer…

There was no time to waste. He immediately got out of bed and said, “To Chang’an County Office!”

Steward Wu was taken aback. “Ah, Young Master, why are you going to the county office?”

Li Nuo said while getting dressed, “Don’t ask so many questions, just come with me…”

Steward Wu tried to stop him, saying, “Young master, if there’s anything you need, just give the order. We can send someone, or this old servant can go personally…”

Li Nuo said in an unquestionable tone, “No, I must go personally.”

Hearing the firmness in the young master’s tone, Steward Wu had no choice but to say, “Very well, this old servant will make preparations.”

A moment later, Li Nuo stared blankly at the dozens of burly figures standing before him and said to Steward Wu with exasperation, “We’re just going to the county office. There’s no need for such a grand display, is there?”

Each of these men was large and sturdy, exuding a fierce aura. Among the crowd, there was even one carrying a medicine chest—likely a physician…

With this kind of display, those who knew would think they were escorting an assassin; those who didn’t would assume some spoiled young master was leading a group of lackeys to abduct a common girl.

Faced with Li Nuo’s skepticism, Steward Wu was unusually resolute this time, saying, “No, they must be responsible for your safety!”

Just as Li Nuo was about to say more, a figure walked in from outside the courtyard and said calmly, “I’ll go with you.”

Upon hearing this, Steward Wu immediately broke into a smile and said, “If the young mistress is going along, then we won’t need them…”

Li Nuo fell silent for a moment, then turned to Steward Wu and said, “I think it’s better to have more people. More people mean more liveliness, don’t you agree…”

At that moment, the woman’s gaze also turned toward Steward Wu.

Steward Wu looked at the woman, then at Li Nuo, and said seriously, “This old servant believes it’s best to listen to the young mistress…”

Although this old man had always been extremely respectful toward him, allowing Li Nuo to deeply experience the hierarchical order of feudal society, it was only now that Li Nuo truly understood—in this household, he was still just the little brother…