Behind-the-Scenes Mastermind [Please Follow]

Chang'an County Office.

Li Nuo stared at the two lines of text on the Code of Law, his heart surging with excitement.

"Name: Li Nuo."

"Lifespan: Twenty-six days."

This morning, he had only had ten days left to live. Now, it had increased to nearly a month.

Six of those days came from Cui Ze's three-year Imprisonment Sentence and Exile for Three Thousand Li. Whether or not the hundred strokes of Flogging were included had no effect on lifespan. As for the Death Penalty for the woman who had killed her husband, it had added a full ten days to Li Nuo's lifespan—the greatest increase any judgment had given him so far.

Great Xia's punishments were divided into five grades: Caning, Flogging, Imprisonment Sentence, Penal Exile, and Death Penalty.

So far, based on Li Nuo's experiments, only sentences of imprisonment or above could increase his lifespan. Great Xia's longest Imprisonment Sentence was three years, and its farthest Penal Exile was three thousand li, so imprisonment and exile could each add at most three days of lifespan. A Death Penalty, meanwhile, added ten days.

By that calculation, a life sentence or exile for ten thousand li would actually be more cost-effective. But prisoners had to eat too, and keeping them alive for too long wasted grain. Thus, Great Xia's Imprisonment Sentence was capped at three years. If three years were not enough, exile could be added. And if exile still was not enough, they might as well just chop the offender's head off.

As for why Penal Exile extended only three thousand li at most, that was because anything farther would no longer be Great Xia territory.

Pei Zhe had been standing beside Li Nuo the whole time, watching him write judgment after judgment. Every ruling carried a different punishment. Though Pei Zhe had no idea why Li Nuo was doing this, it was far from the only thing about him that Pei Zhe could not understand.

He loved writing this much—no wonder his handwriting was so good.

The strange thing was that although he wrote beautifully, he did not recognize many characters. Some of a fool's actions truly were impossible for normal people to understand.

Writing with a brush really was exhausting. Li Nuo set down his brush and was about to rub his aching wrist when a melodious tune suddenly reached his ears.

The music was plaintive and lingering, as though it wept and spoke its grief. Li Nuo could not tell what instrument was being played. Just as it reached its climax, it came to an abrupt stop, leaving the listener hanging in midair. Li Nuo walked to the doorway and looked around. Pei Zhe asked, "What is Young Master looking for?"

Li Nuo asked in confusion, "Someone was playing music just now. Didn't you hear it?"

Pei Zhe smiled and said, "Of course I heard it. That person was playing Yunmen, one of the Six Harmonies Music. That passage just now came from Chapter Nine, Section Seven of Yunmen. Played with the Confucian school's Righteous Qi, its sound has extraordinary penetrating power. At times it seems close enough to be at one's ear, when in truth it is several li away. But the performance sounded somewhat unpracticed. I wonder which Confucian school student of the Initial Realm is studying the Six Harmonies Music in preparation for the imperial examination. Chang'an City does not permit music played with true qi. He must have been careless..."

Li Nuo was slightly surprised. "Lord Pei understands music as well?"

Pei Zhe stroked his beard, saying with no small amount of pride, "This Official is also a disciple of the Confucian school. I studied the Six Arts from childhood and know a little about music."

In truth, "know a little" was merely his modest way of putting it. The imperial examination tested the Six Arts. Confucian school disciples were not necessarily all proficient in music, but any Confucian school disciple who had passed the imperial examination and earned a place on the golden list would certainly know—and excel at—none of the Six Arts: rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics.

The imperial examinations back then had been even more fiercely competitive than they were now. There were often hundreds of thousands of candidates, yet only a few dozen could truly become Jinshi and obtain an Official Position. One was selected from ten thousand—truly one chosen from ten thousand. Any one of those people might not have cultivated every one of the Six Arts to the pinnacle, but they absolutely would not have any glaring weakness.

It was simply that after the imperial examination, these things were rarely used. Without practice, they gradually fell into neglect.

When Li Nuo thought of the Magistrate of Chang'an, the first impression that came to mind was someone rather cowardly and not especially reliable.

Yet despite seeming unreliable, he knew the Great Xia Codex inside and out. With a casual flip, he could find the exact statutes. After hearing only a short passage of music, he knew the chapter of the piece, deduced the player's identity and realm, and even inferred what they were about to do. Li Nuo could not help but see him in a new light.

Li Nuo recalled what Steward Wu had once said: the Confucian Way was to cultivate oneself, regulate one's family, govern the state, and bring peace to the world. It could nurture Vast Righteous Qi, fearless before all laws. Yet he had not seen it for himself, so he asked the Magistrate of Chang'an, "May I ask which realm Lord Pei's Righteous Qi has reached?"

The Confucian school cultivated the Six Arts, and its abilities were also related to the Six Arts.

The first three realms were still in the stage of nurturing qi. They had little offensive power, but their defenses were not weak. With Righteous Qi protecting the body, they could negate the powers of other schools.

Upon reaching the Fourth Realm, a qualitative transformation occurred. One could condense a Cloud of Righteousness and fly through the air, corresponding to the "charioteering" of the Six Arts.

At the Fifth Realm, one could comprehend the Sound of Righteousness. Played through ordinary instruments, it could inflict widespread group damage, corresponding to the "music" of the Six Arts.

The Sixth Realm was already that of a half-sage of the Confucian school. One could condense an Arrow of Righteousness from the void, corresponding to the "archery" of the Six Arts. Even Martial Artists of the Sixth Realm had to retreat at the sight of it.

Li Nuo had heard that the Confucian school's Cloud of Righteousness allowed prolonged flight through the sky, covering a thousand li in a single day. Not even Martial Artists of the Object Control Realm could do that. They could fly through the air for only a quarter of an hour at most before exhausting their true qi.

Hearing Li Nuo's question, Pei Zhe froze, then silently lowered his head.

Li Nuo looked at him and said, "Lord Pei, don't be stingy. I just want to see it. You've cultivated for so long—surely you've reached the Confucian school's Fourth Realm, right? Condense a Cloud of Righteousness and let me broaden my horizons..."

A moment later, outside Chang'an County Office.

Before getting into the carriage, Steward Wu gave a light cough and reminded Li Nuo, "Young Master, when you meet people from the Confucian school in the future, it would be best not to ask what realm their Righteous Qi has reached. It is very impolite..."

Li Nuo did not understand. "Why?"

Steward Wu explained helplessly, "The Confucian Way—cultivate oneself, regulate one's family, govern the state, and bring peace to the world—those words are easy to say, but difficult to do. Young people are like newborn calves unafraid of tigers. They uphold justice in their hearts, and thus can naturally nurture Vast Righteous Qi. But once they enter court and become officials, as time passes, few can hold fast to their original hearts. Once the original heart is gone, their Righteous Qi can scarcely advance another inch. It may even retreat instead of advancing. Some who have served as officials for too long cannot condense even the slightest trace of Vast Righteous Qi..."

"..."

So in this world, cultivating the Confucian school and cultivating the Legalist school both came with certain invisible shackles.

The Legalist school faced objective barriers to cultivation. Those who cultivated it offended many powerful nobles and encountered Obstacles from outside.

The Confucian school was one people could not cultivate due to subjective reasons. It was easy to preserve one's original heart for a while, but difficult to preserve it for an entire lifetime. Especially after entering officialdom and facing all manner of temptations—how many people could keep their original hearts pure?

Cultivating oneself, regulating one's family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world were the loftiest ideals of Confucian school disciples. Ideals were plump, but reality was bony. Those who recited these lines every day found it difficult to return to who they once were once they entered officialdom and became vested interests.

In terms of cultivation, this manifested as stagnation, or even drastic regression.

Other schools grew stronger the more they cultivated. The Confucian school, on the other hand, grew weaker the more it cultivated.

Yet even so, as the stepping stone into officialdom, the Confucian school still drew countless people like ducks to water, even if its cultivators only grew weaker.

Steward Wu sighed. "The Martial Dao's Fifth Realm is nothing unusual. But someone who cultivates Righteous Qi to the Fifth Realm can become a Great Confucian and earn the reverence of tens of thousands. Unfortunately, there are only a few such people in all of Great Xia. Even those at the Fourth Realm are exceedingly rare..."

Li Nuo thought to himself, The Confucian school and the Legalist school may be among the strongest of all schools, but their cultivation requirements are so harsh. Compared to the Martial Dao, they have little competitive strength. How could they not decline?

No wonder the Magistrate of Chang'an had not answered his question, and had seemed downcast afterward.

Remembering something, he suddenly asked, "Didn't my father cultivate the Confucian school too? What realm has he reached?"

Steward Wu smiled but did not answer directly. He merely said, "This Old Servant does not know the answer either. Young Master should ask Master himself in the future..."

Li Nuo shook his head. To be honest, he was still not very familiar with that father of his. Even if they met, he would not be able to ask such questions.

Just as Li Nuo's carriage slowly made its way toward Li Manor.

Chang'an County Office.

Having just seen Li Nuo off, Pei Zhe had not yet had time to breathe a sigh of relief when the jailer hurried over, panic written across his face. He lowered his voice beside Pei Zhe's ear and said, "My lord, this is bad—Zhang Xiaoyun has committed suicide in her cell!"