The Code of Law's Clever Use

In the Court Hall, Pei Zhe, the Magistrate of Chang'an, felt his head was about to explode.

A murder case in his jurisdiction was no small matter to begin with.

Had it been an ordinary murder case, that would have been one thing. But this time, the dead man was a renowned Wealthy Merchant of Chang'an. Not only did he hold an exalted position in the business world, he also maintained close ties with certain high-ranking nobles at court.

Moreover, the previous night had happened to be his Fiftieth Birthday. Many guests had stayed overnight at his residence, and these guests were themselves people of no ordinary standing. Some were wealthy merchants and magnates; others, like him, were court officials. If they were allowed to leave, investigating them one by one afterward would take a hundred times the effort. Yet keeping them all here and interrogating them individually was clearly unrealistic as well.

The crowd chattered all at once, making his head ache. Pei Zhe picked up the Court Rapper and was about to make them quiet down when a hurried voice suddenly rang out from outside.

"Stop! Leave it to me!"

The voice sounded familiar. Pei Zhe looked up and, sure enough, saw a familiar figure.

His heart sank. Things were already chaotic enough here. With this Eldest Young Master coming to add to the mess, would that not be piling chaos upon chaos?

Though displeased inside, he maintained a smile and personally went forward to greet him. Apologetically, he said, "Young Master, as you can see, this subordinate truly cannot get away at the moment. Once I have solved this case, I will properly entertain you..."

Li Nuo let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this. It was good that the case had not been solved yet.

He smiled and said, "You investigate your case. I'll just watch from the side. I won't disturb you."

Pei Zhe gave a placating laugh, returned to his seat, and continued examining the testimonies.

He had originally intended to imitate Li Nuo, having these people write down everything that had happened the night before in exhaustive detail, once in chronological order and once in reverse, then use that to determine who was lying and narrow down the suspects. But it had been the deceased's Fiftieth Birthday the previous night, and nearly every guest had drunk. Quite a few had gotten thoroughly drunk and slept soundly through the night, unable to remember what had happened at all, much less recount it backward.

That method was ingenious, but it could not be used in this case.

Standing to one side, Li Nuo saw the Magistrate of Chang'an frowning deeply and asked, "Lord Pei, have you found anything?"

Pei Zhe shook his head and said, "I've investigated all morning and found nothing."

Li Nuo thought for a moment and asked, "How about letting me try?"

Pei Zhe turned to look at Li Nuo, his eyes full of disbelief. "You?"

It was not that he looked down on Li Nuo. This case involved far too many people and offered no clues whatsoever. He had interrogated them for an entire morning without getting so much as a strand of hair out of them.

Steward Zheng usually built bridges, paved roads, distributed porridge, gave alms, and treated others kindly. He had no enemies to speak of, not even a single person to suspect. How was this supposed to be investigated?

Unless Li Xuanjing himself took action, Pei Zhe felt there might be the slightest possibility.

Li Nuo smiled faintly and said, "Since nothing can be found for the moment anyway, why not let me give it a try?"

Pei Zhe asked, "How does Young Master intend to investigate?"

Li Nuo did not actually understand criminal investigations. That was the work of constables. As a judge, his duty was to render judgment, and he knew his own limits. When it came to brains, he was far inferior to the likes of Bao Zheng, Di Renjie, and Sherlock Holmes.

But he had the Code of Law.

He only needed to lock everyone up and write a verdict for murder for each of them. By observing whether their portrait appeared in the Code of Law and whether his Lifespan increased, he would know whether they were the real culprit. With so many people, it would merely cost him some ink.

If the murderer was among these people, he would eventually test them out.

The only problem was that it would be difficult to explain afterward. No one could see him writing the names. Li Nuo looked at the Magistrate of Chang'an and said, "It's too chaotic here. This isn't a place for interrogation. Lock them in the prison first."

Pei Zhe raised a brow, then said, "Young Master, that would not be appropriate, would it? Most of these people are of no ordinary status. Some are even court officials. Though their ranks are not high, they do hold genuine Official Positions..."

Li Nuo looked around, estimated their numbers, and said, "The Court Hall is too disorderly. The prison is quieter, better suited for investigation and questioning. I guarantee they will be released within two hours..."

The Magistrate of Chang'an considered this, then nodded slightly. He picked up the Court Rapper and struck it several times, and the hall gradually fell silent both inside and out.

He cleared his throat and said, "This Official understands everyone's feelings. But everyone present is Steward Zheng's friend. I trust none of you wishes to see the murderer who killed Steward Zheng roam free. Please temporarily proceed to the prison. This Official guarantees that questioning will conclude within two hours. Afterward, everyone may return home..."

As soon as the Magistrate of Chang'an said this, a small wave of commotion arose in the Court Hall again.

Though there were still muttered complaints, they reluctantly accepted what the Magistrate of Chang'an had said. It was a murder case, after all. They had already waited an entire morning, so waiting another two hours would not matter.

A quarter of an hour later.

Inside the prison of the Chang'an County Office.

It was Li Nuo's first time here. He had assumed that prisons in Ancient Times would inevitably be filthy, disordered, and squalid, but this prison changed his impression. Though the various torture instruments hanging on the walls were rather intimidating, the prison as a whole was fairly clean. Apart from being a little cold and damp, it had no unpleasant smell.

Steward Zheng had invited many guests to his birthday banquet the previous night. Some had stayed at the Zheng Family residence after getting drunk. Including the servants of the Zheng Residence, this case involved more than two hundred people.

To detain them temporarily, the Magistrate of Chang'an had assigned five cells.

More than twenty officials occupied one cell, the female relatives occupied another, and the remaining people were scattered among the other three cells.

"Dog Thief!"

As Li Nuo passed one cell, a familiar voice suddenly rang in his ears.

He turned and saw the Female Assassin glaring viciously at him from inside a cell.

Li Nuo had no time to pay attention to her. His gaze was fixed directly on the Code of Law floating before him.

At that moment, the portraits in the Code of Law had increased from two pages to four.

Just moments ago, when all these people had been locked in the cells, two new pages had suddenly appeared in the Code of Law. One showed a handsome Man, while the other showed a young Woman. The woman's portrait was bright and colored, just like those on the first two pages, while the man's portrait was dim and black-and-white.

With one sweep of his eyes, he quickly found the two people in the portraits in two separate cells.

He had still underestimated this mysterious Code of Law. It turned out that there was no need to render judgment at all. As long as the murderers were locked in prison, their portraits would appear in the Code of Law.

That saved even the ink and brush.

However, the Lifespan on its cover still had not increased. Presumably, the number would change only after the verdict had been rendered.

Though he had already identified the murderers, he could not convict them out of thin air. The proper procedures still had to be followed. Li Nuo sat down at a table in the prison and said to the Magistrate of Chang'an seated beside him, "Lord Pei, you may bring them over now."

Among those being detained, the most important were naturally the court officials. Under the law, officials of the seventh rank and above could be detained by a county office for no more than two hours. Once those two hours passed, they either had to be released or transferred to the Ministry of Justice or the Court of Judicial Review. Thus, Pei Zhe had someone bring out the middle-aged Man with the highest Official Position first.

The Luxuriously dressed, pot-bellied Man walked to the table and sat down grandly, giving Pei Zhe no face at all. "Lord Pei, ask whatever you need to ask quickly. This Official still has official business to attend to upon returning."

Pei Zhe shook his head and said, "This Official will not be questioning you. This Young Master will."

Only then did the official notice that the person seated in the seat of honor was actually a young man. His brow furrowed, but he did not flare up at once. Instead, he first asked, "Who is this person? What Official Position does he hold? What noble title does he possess?"

Though he was a Principal Sixth Rank official, two ranks above even a local county magistrate, this was Chang'an, where dukes and ministers were everywhere and powerful nobles gathered like clouds. A minor sixth-rank official had far too many people he could not afford to offend.

The Magistrate of Chang'an shook his head and said, "He holds no office, no position, and no noble title."

Upon hearing this, the Assistant Minister of the Court of Judicial Review knew he could be angry. He immediately snapped, "No office and no position? What right does someone with no office or position have to interrogate This Official? What is wrong with your Chang'an County Office? Can just anyone interrogate a court official now..."

As the Assistant Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and a Principal Sixth Rank court official, he could tolerate being interrogated by the Magistrate of Chang'an. Though he looked down on the officials of the Chang'an County Office, the one surnamed Pei was still two ranks above him, so it was not overly humiliating.

This young man before him, aside from being handsome, possessed none of the bearing of someone in power. He surely did not come from a powerful or noble family. With no office, no position, and no noble title, was he worthy of interrogating him?

Facing the furious Assistant Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, the Magistrate of Chang'an remained unhurried and said leisurely, "He is Lord Li's son."

"What does it matter if he is Lord Li's son? Does being Lord Li's son mean he can break the court's rules..."

Even if he were the son of the current prime minister, without an office or position, he had no right to interrogate a court official. He stood straight and sat upright, with nothing to fear. The Assistant Minister of the Court of Judicial Review's anger had not yet subsided when he seemed to think of something. His expression suddenly froze, and he cautiously asked, "Which... Lord Li?"

The Magistrate of Chang'an smiled faintly and said, "Lord Li Xuanjing. Lord Zhang should know him better than I do, shouldn't he?"

The moment Pei Zhe's words fell, the Assistant Minister of the Court of Judicial Review's firmly planted backside sprang up in an instant. His chubby face heaped itself into a smile as he hurried to Li Nuo's side, bent humbly at the waist, and slapped his own mouth while grinning apologetically. "This subordinate's dog eyes were blind, failing to recognize Young Master. Please calm your anger, Young Master. Ask whatever you wish. This subordinate will know everything and speak it all, withholding nothing..."