Varies From Person To Person

After sending his son to the Chang'an County Office, the middle-aged man took one last deep look at him before turning and walking away without looking back, as if the young man wasn't his son at all.

This also showed his attitude.

Whatever the County Office decided, he would accept it.

At this moment, the onlookers had already erupted in discussion.

"That person just now, was that the Official of the Ministry of Personnel?"

"He said his surname was Wang, and the Official of the Ministry of Personnel is indeed surnamed Wang!"

"He actually brought his son here!"

"Why?"

The common people were baffled. If the Official of the Ministry of Personnel was someone who would uphold justice even against his own kin, his son would have been punished by the government half a year ago. Why did he only bring him in today, after the new Magistrate of Chang'an started investigating?

Could it be that this new Magistrate had powerful backing?

Li Nuo vaguely sensed that the reason the Official of the Ministry of Personnel was so decisive was likely due to his father.

After all, he was only a fifth-rank official, while the Minister of Justice was a third-rank official.

A higher-ranking official could easily crush a lower-ranking one. There was a gap of four ranks between a third-rank and a fifth-rank official. Moreover, the Court of Judicial Review was in charge of criminal law.

In Great Xia, a third-rank position was practically the pinnacle of officialdom. Although there were second and first ranks above it, those two ranks were largely symbolic, with most positions being nominal. Third-rank officials, such as ministers of the Six Ministries and heads of the Nine Courts, were pillars of the imperial court who held significant power. No one, except the emperor, could appoint or dismiss them.

Li Nuo had been studying the Great Xia Codex for the past few days and sometimes no longer needed to consult the book when adjudicating cases.

The Great Xia Codex stipulated that for adultery, both the man and woman would be sentenced to one and a half years of imprisonment. If a married woman committed adultery, the imprisonment would be increased to two years. Rape would incur an additional penalty, resulting in three years of imprisonment.

Great Xia's penalties for rape were relatively light, with a maximum of three years of fixed-term imprisonment. In later generations, the same crime would start at three years and could even lead to the death penalty.

However, this case had a special circumstance: the woman defiled by the Official of the Ministry of Personnel's son had gone mad due to the trauma. According to the supplementary clauses of this law, a heavier punishment could be imposed for severe consequences.

After discussing with Pei Zhe, Li Nuo decided to sentence Wang Yue to one hundred beatings, three years of imprisonment, and an additional compensation of one hundred taels to the victim.

The three years of imprisonment was the base penalty, the one hundred beatings were an additional punishment within the scope allowed by law, and the one hundred taels of compensation was an extra ruling made by the official based on the actual circumstances of the case. Within the limits permitted by the Great Xia Codex, Li Nuo and the Magistrate of Chang'an had imposed the maximum possible sentence on Wang Yue.

The common people, however, were enraged, with many shouting for him to be beheaded.

But this was impossible. According to the principle of legality, they could only impose punishments within the scope defined by the law. Any sentence exceeding this scope would be invalid and would be overturned by the Ministry of Punishment and the Court of Judicial Review. Officials who made illegal rulings would also be punished.

Wang Yue had already received the maximum sentence. The Wang Family could even refuse the additional compensation of one hundred taels and escalate the case to the Ministry of Punishment.

However, it seemed they would not do so.

Imprisonment required review and approval by the Ministry of Punishment before it could be carried out, but beatings did not. After the sentence and punishment were publicly announced, two constables untied Wang Yue, forced him onto a long bench, and two other constables carried out the public punishment.

Wang Yue appeared frail, but his body was resilient. Despite several heavy blows, he did not utter a sound.

Not only Li Nuo was surprised, but Steward Wu also showed a hint of surprise in his eyes, saying, "He has good talent. At the age of twenty, he has cultivated Internal Breath, and he's not even using it to protect himself. He has some backbone..."

Li Nuo watched Wang Yue undergoing the punishment. Steward Wu mentioned that he was in the Second Realm of Martial Arts, also known as the Internal Breath Realm. In this realm, a rudimentary form of True Qi was generated within the body, capable of protecting it. If he had used his Internal Breath for protection, ordinary execution rods would have been ineffective.

Li Nuo couldn't help but lament the unfairness of fate; such a scumbag possessed good martial arts talent, while he had none.

The constables carrying out the punishment did not hold back. Without using Internal Breath for protection, even a martial artist would find it difficult to endure.

Yet, Wang Yue remained silent from beginning to end, even as his buttocks and back were bloody and torn.

The onlookers watched the scene with satisfaction. A woman in coarse clothing with disheveled hair stood in the crowd, staring blankly at the scene. The silly smile on her face gradually disappeared, replaced by grief and indignation. This grief and indignation slowly turned into satisfaction. She ran to the old woman and knelt down, crying out, "Mother..."

The disheveled woman was the victim in this case. Seeing Wang Yue being punished, she seemed to have been stimulated again and had regained her sanity, which was also a comforting development.

The old woman held her daughter and stared blankly at the scene before them.

For the past six months, she had visited countless government offices and worn out countless shoes, yet she had been unable to seek justice for her daughter.

She had almost given up. Seeing the public trial at the County Office today, she had held onto a sliver of hope. She never expected that that beast would actually be punished!

She pulled her daughter and suddenly knelt before the young master, tears streaming down her face. As she kowtowed, she said, "Thank you, upright official, thank you, upright official!"

"Upright official!"

"Upright official!"

The surrounding common people also began to shout excitedly.

Although Li Nuo's expression remained calm, he couldn't suppress the slight smile at the corner of his mouth.

For a judge, what could be more fulfilling than receiving the gratitude of the people?

Other professions could not understand what the words "upright official" meant to legal professionals.

It represented the recognition of the people.

It was also the original intention behind their pursuit of law.

Even as their power and status grew, many had long lost that original intention. However, upon hearing these words, they couldn't help but feel a stirring of their initial aspirations.

Pei Zhe stood behind Li Nuo, a look of emotion on his face as if recalling something.

Steward Wu looked up at the sky, hiding his awkward expression.

Behind the crowd, Song Jiaren stood quietly, her gaze passing through the throng to rest on a certain figure for a long time.

The cheers of the common folk were earth-shattering; even the prisoners locked in the Chang'an County Office's jail could hear them clearly.

The young girl, dressed in prison attire, looked up and glanced outside through the narrow window. She asked the jailer outside, "Brother Zhang, what's happening out there?"

The jailer chuckled and replied, "The Young Master is holding court outside. I heard it's the son of some official from the Ministry of Personnel who raped a woman. No one dared to handle it for over half a year. Once the Young Master found out, he had the man arrested on the spot and brought to the office. He was just given a hundred strokes of the cane. They should be bringing him over soon..."

As he finished speaking, two jailers dragged in a limp figure, as soft as mud, whose back was stained red with blood. They threw him into a cell.

The young girl looked at the figure in the opposite cell who had fainted. The face of a handsome young man flashed through her mind. A hint of regret finally appeared on her face. She couldn't help but clench her fists, her nails digging deeply into her flesh...

Outside the Chang'an County Office.

The sun had already set, and the sky had completely darkened.

Even though Li Nuo was still engrossed in the case, the Magistrate of Chang'an and the runners had been busy all day and had to work tomorrow. Li Nuo had no choice but to stop the queuing commoners and tell them it was too late today and they should return tomorrow.

The old woman and her daughter were temporarily arranged to stay at the County Office for the night by the Magistrate of Chang'an.

The Wang Family still owed one hundred taels of silver in compensation, which the County Office would help them collect until the case was fully resolved.

In the back hall of the County Office, Madam Pei, who had just returned, heard about the matter. While feeling pleased, she looked at Pei Zhe and asked worriedly, "Lord Wang is a Director in the Ministry of Personnel. If Master offends him, will he make things difficult for Master in the future?"

Pei Zhe pulled at the corner of his mouth and said, "Don't worry, he won't have the chance to make things difficult for this official anymore..."

The Minister of Justice, Li Xuanjing, was notoriously unforgiving, even when he was in the right.

No, he was unforgiving even when he wasn't.

All the officials in Chang'an who weren't involved in any wrongdoing feared him greatly.

Having committed such a major offense and then having it discovered by him, they could only pray for divine intervention.

If Wang Duo was smart, he would resign and retire overnight.

Otherwise, in a while, it wouldn't be his official hat that would be lost, but his head.

There weren't no precedents for this before.

However, thinking of the enthusiasm of the common people today and the liveliness outside the County Office, Pei Zhe sighed softly and said, "Tomorrow will likely be quite busy..."

At this moment, in the carriage returning to the Li Manor after a day's work, Li Nuo casually glanced at the Codex. The next moment, his face was filled with shock.

The Codex, visible only to him, floated quietly before him.

On the cover were still two familiar lines of seal script.

"Name: Li Nuo."

"Lifespan: Forty-two days."

Li Nuo rubbed his eyes carefully, confirming he wasn't mistaken. The number on the Codex was indeed "forty-two."

But he remembered clearly that before judging Wang Yue, his remaining lifespan was thirty-one days.

Based on past experience, Wang Yue being sentenced to three years of imprisonment should have increased his lifespan by three days. However, from thirty-one to forty-two, it had increased by a full eleven days, more than three times the normal amount, with two extra days.

Li Nuo glanced at the portrait of Wang Yue on the Codex.

It was dark.

This indicated he had no extraordinary talents.

Yet, he had increased his lifespan more than others.

Did the lifespan added by the Codex vary from person to person?