Wife, Protect Me! - Chapter 6

“This humble official’s admiration for you, young master, is like an endless flowing river, continuous and unceasing…”

“You flatter me…”

“If you were to become an official, young master, you would surely be a capable minister in the court.”

“Overpraise, overpraise. Your Excellency was also quite clever earlier.”

“Alas, I am far inferior to you, young master.”

…

In the courtroom, Steward Wu watched as the young master and the Magistrate of Chang’an exchanged pleasantries, his expression both bewildered and astonished.

If he hadn’t watched the young master grow up since childhood and was familiar with every part of his body, he would have thought the young master had been replaced.

Apart from their similar appearance, the current young master was nothing like the previous one.

After the skinny man with the goatee confessed, he quickly wrote his confession. Li Nuo turned to the Magistrate of Chang’an and asked, “How does Lord Pei intend to sentence this man’s crime?”

In modern times, theft would be punished based on the amount stolen—ranging from short-term detention or control for minor cases to fixed-term imprisonment or life imprisonment for severe ones.

Specifically, stealing over three thousand units would be considered a relatively large amount, punishable by up to three years of imprisonment.

For amounts between three hundred thousand and five hundred thousand units or more, the sentence could be ten years or more, even life imprisonment. Of course, in later times, life imprisonment typically meant serving at most about twenty years barring unforeseen circumstances.

The Magistrate of Chang’an pondered for a moment and said, “According to the Great Xia Law, for theft: if no property is obtained, fifty lashes; if property is obtained, convert the stolen goods into the equivalent number of silk bolts. For one chi, sixty strokes of the cane; for one pi, increase the punishment by one degree; for five pi, one year of penal servitude; for more than fifty pi, three years of penal servitude and exile to three thousand li… Currently, one pi of silk is worth two hundred coins. This thief stole an amount far exceeding fifty pi of silk, so he should be sentenced to three years of penal servitude and exile to three thousand li…”

As Li Nuo expected, the laws of the Great Xia in this world also imposed severe penalties for grand theft.

Theft might seem less harmful, but it actually poses a significant threat to social order. In this era, if a family’s livelihood was stolen, it could lead to deaths or push good citizens to desperation.

After watching the Magistrate of Chang’an write the verdict, Li Nuo couldn’t hide the joy on his face.

Another page had been added to the Law Codex. Following the female assassin, the portrait of the goateed thief appeared on the second page of the Codex.

And the numbers on the cover of the Codex had changed once again.
“Name: Li Nuo.”
“Lifespan: Eleven Days.”

Catching the female assassin had only added two days, but catching a thief had added six days. Three years of penal servitude added three days, and exile to three thousand li added another three days. Through his experiments, Li Nuo found that each thousand li of exile added one day. The Great Xia Law maximum exile was three thousand li; anything more severe would be the death penalty.

He wondered how many days the death penalty would add…It was now clear that some things were obvious. Li Nuo didn’t need to be personally involved in a case—as long as he participated in it, he could receive a lifespan reward from the Law Codex.

The question was, to what extent did he need to participate? For now, there was no way to know.

Li Nuo was already eager to continue testing this, because eleven days would pass in the blink of an eye. He had to handle more cases to preserve this hard-won second chance at life.

He turned to the Magistrate of Chang’an and asked, “Does Lord Pei have any other cases here?”

The Magistrate of Chang’an wore a helpless expression. This young master had become addicted to presiding over cases, and he hadn’t even eaten lunch yet. But he didn’t dare say anything. Since there were still a few unresolved cases in the yamen, he might as well let the young master indulge himself…

A quarter of an hour later, Li Nuo looked disappointed.

It was true that the Chang’an County Yamen had a few more cases, but they were all cases with conclusive evidence, only awaiting sentencing. Even if he personally wrote out the verdicts for such cases, the numbers in the Law Codex showed no change.

He had been too optimistic. It seemed that for cases that could increase his lifespan, even if he wasn’t directly involved, he still needed a sufficient degree of participation.

The Magistrate of Chang’an, holding the verdicts Li Nuo had personally transcribed, praised, “Young master, your Zanhua Script is truly exquisite. Few in Chang’an could match it…”

He realized he had underestimated Li Nuo.

Describing his Zanhua Script as “exquisite” was far from enough. In terms of Zanhua Script alone, perhaps no one in all of Chang’an could write it better than him. This required not only long hours of practice but, more importantly, innate talent.

He had always thought the son of the Minister of the Court of Revision was a fool, but today he discovered that not only was the young master clever, he also wrote with such skilled penmanship.

However, this elegant and graceful Zanhua Script was typically practiced more by women. For a man, it came across as somewhat effeminate. If a man were to write Zanhua Script well, he would likely be ridiculed.

It was as if Li Nuo had the soul of a woman skilled in calligraphy inside him.

Not only was the Magistrate of Chang’an astonished, even Li Nuo himself could hardly believe it.

He had never studied brush calligraphy before, let alone known anything about Zanhua Script. Yet, the characters he produced by imitating the magistrate’s verdicts were delicate and beautiful—he had even tried to write them a bit uglier on purpose…

Li Nuo laughed and said, “I just practiced a bit in my spare time…”

It was indeed unusual for a fool to write such beautiful characters. But since he was a soul transmigrator, there were no loose ends to tie up. Even that old man couldn’t keep an eye on him all the time.

Besides, if Li Nuo claimed he wasn’t their young master, no one would believe him…

This Zanhua Script wasn’t important. What mattered was that he couldn’t cut corners. In these eleven days, he had to personally and deeply involve himself in more cases to survive in this world.

A short while later, at the entrance of the Chang’an County Yamen, Li Nuo waved to the Magistrate of Chang’an and said, “Lord Pei, if there are any cases in the next few days, be sure to send someone to notify me…”

The Magistrate of Chang’an smiled and replied, “Certainly, certainly…”

…

After seeing off that formidable figure, the Magistrate of Chang’an sat back in his chair and rubbed his face. The long hours of forced smiling had left his face stiff.

He had no idea what had gotten into this young master, but he seemed to have developed an addiction to trying cases.

A beautiful woman emerged from behind the screen and stood behind him, gently massaging his shoulders as she asked curiously, “My lord, who was that person earlier? You were being so cautious with him…”

The Magistrate of Chang’an waved his hand and said, “Ah, let’s not mention it. It was better when I served as a county governor elsewhere—everyone had to follow my lead. Now that I’ve been transferred to Chang’an and promoted several ranks, it seems I have to act subservient to everyone. When will this ever end…”

The woman remained silent, but the magistrate changed the subject, adding, “However, that Li Nuo truly impressed me. His interrogation method was something even I hadn’t thought of—no wonder he’s that man’s son. His Zanhua Script, in particular, shows signs of a master’s touch.”

The woman asked, “What interrogation method?”

A moment later, she exclaimed in surprise, “If it’s a fabricated lie, it’s hard to recount it backwards? Is such a thing possible?”

“It’s natural for you women not to grasp these matters. Let your husband explain,” the Magistrate of Chang’an said proudly. “If someone has truly done something, they can recall it roughly even in reverse. But if it’s a lie made up on the spot, it’s nearly impossible to narrate it backwards completely…”

The beautiful woman thought for a moment and asked, “A few days ago, you said you went out to investigate a case and returned very late. What did you do that day? Tell me about it in reverse.”

The magistrate’s expression froze, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

He then laughed and said, “Oh, that was days ago! I’ve long forgotten…”

The woman’s tone turned dangerous. “Your memory isn’t that poor, my lord. Let me remind you—you returned, read for a while in the study, drank two cups of tea, and went to sleep. No matter what I did, you didn’t respond…”

“I was too tired that day…”

“Nonsense! If you can’t recall a single thing, you must have gone to the brothel again, lying to me about investigating a case!”

“I did not!”

“Then tell me! In reverse!”

“I…”

“Fine, Pei Zhe! You definitely went to the brothel! What, isn’t home enough for you? Always sneaking out to fool around!”
…

Stepping out of the Chang’an County Government office and standing on the street, Li Nuo sighed softly.

Barring any surprises, he should be safe for the next eleven days.

But after that, it was uncertain.

He had already spoken to the Magistrate of Chang’an, hoping for more cases in the coming days.

Perhaps even a few assassins—getting injured wasn’t a big deal, but survival was what mattered.

No sooner had this thought crossed his mind than Steward Wu’s loud shout echoed in his ears.

“Young master, watch out!”

Li Nuo looked up and saw a glint of light in the distance, closing in instantaneously.

Steward Wu stood farther away, his True Qi erupting violently. He completely abandoned his own defense, channeling all his True Qi toward Li Nuo, but it only slowed the arrow’s speed by a fraction.

A black-feathered arrow shot straight for Li Nuo’s brow.

Li Nuo could see the dark, metallic arrowhead clearly and distinctly smelled the scent of death.

There was no need to wait eleven days.

In the next moment, this arrow would pierce through his skull.

He closed his eyes, wondering if, when he opened them again, he would be back in that small office.

A moment later.

There was no expected pain. His thoughts continued to function normally.Li Nuo opened his eyes.

The sharp arrowhead was less than an inch away from his brow.

But this distance of less than an inch was an insurmountable chasm.

A fair and slender arm appeared in Li Nuo’s sight.

Because it was so close, Li Nuo could even see the fine hairs on her arm.

The figure that had always stood silently behind Li Nuo without ever speaking had appeared by his side at some unknown moment.

That feathered arrow was tightly gripped in her hand.

Li Nuo breathed a sigh of relief, with only one thought in his heart.

I love you, Niangzi…