Love You, Wife!

"Your servant's admiration for you, Young Master, truly surged like the rolling Yangtze, unceasing and endless..."

"Not at all, not at all..."

"If Young Master entered officialdom, you would surely become a capable minister of the court."

"You flatter me. My lord was quite ingenious just now as well."

"Ah, compared to Young Master, I fall far short."

In the Court Hall, Steward Wu watched the Young Master and the Magistrate of Chang'an trade compliments back and forth, his expression both bewildered and stunned.

If he had not watched the Young Master grow up and known every part of him so well, he would have thought the Young Master had been replaced by someone else.

Other than looking alike, the Young Master of today was nothing like the Young Master of the past.

After the skinny, goateed man confessed, he quickly wrote out his testimony. Li Nuo looked at the Magistrate of Chang'an and asked, "How does Lord Pei intend to sentence him for this crime?"

In modern times, the sentence for theft depended on the amount involved. For smaller sums, there might be criminal detention or supervision; for larger sums, there could be fixed-term imprisonment or life imprisonment.

Among them, theft exceeding three thousand yuan counted as a relatively large amount, carrying a maximum sentence of less than three years of fixed-term imprisonment.

Amounts above three hundred thousand to five hundred thousand yuan could mean ten years or even life imprisonment. Of course, barring unforeseen circumstances, life imprisonment in later generations usually meant serving only around twenty years at most.

The Magistrate of Chang'an pondered for a moment and said, "According to the Great Xia Codex: for all theft and robbery, if no property is obtained, fifty strokes of the cane; if property is obtained, convert the value of the stolen goods into bolts of silk. One chi brings sixty strokes of the rod, with one grade added for every bolt; five bolts mean one year of imprisonment, and more than fifty bolts mean Three Years of Imprisonment and Exile for Three Thousand Li... At present, one bolt of silk is worth two hundred coins. The amount this thief stole far exceeds fifty bolts of silk, so he shall receive Three Years of Imprisonment and Exile for Three Thousand Li..."

Just as Li Nuo expected, Great Xia's laws did not treat large-scale theft lightly either.

Theft might seem less harmful, but it actually posed an enormous threat to public order. In this era, if a family had the possessions they relied upon for survival stolen away, people could die. More often than not, it could drive decent citizens to a dead end.

When he saw the Magistrate of Chang'an finish writing the verdict, irrepressible delight appeared between Li Nuo's brows.

Another page had appeared in the Code of Law. Following the Female Assassin, the portrait of that goateed thief appeared on the second page.

The number on the cover of the Code of Law changed once more.

"Name: Li Nuo."

"Lifespan: Eleven days."

Catching a Female Assassin had only added two days, yet catching a thief had added six. Three Years of Imprisonment added three days, and Exile for Three Thousand Li added another three. Through Li Nuo's experiment, he had learned that every thousand li of exile added one day. Great Xia's laws permitted exile up to three thousand li at most; anything more severe meant the death penalty.

He wondered how many days the death penalty would add...

By now, certain things had become obvious. Li Nuo himself did not need to be connected to a case. So long as he participated in it, he could receive the Code of Law's lifespan reward.

Only, he did not yet know how deeply he had to participate for it to count.

Li Nuo could hardly wait to keep testing it. After all, eleven days would pass in the blink of an eye. He had to handle more cases if he wanted to preserve this hard-won second life.

He looked at the Magistrate of Chang'an and asked, "Does Lord Pei have any other cases here?"

The Magistrate of Chang'an looked helpless. This Eldest Young Master was becoming addicted to judging cases, and he had not even eaten lunch yet. But he did not dare say anything. There happened to be several cases in the office that had yet to be sentenced, so he would let him have his fill...

A quarter of an hour later, Li Nuo wore a disappointed expression.

Chang'an County Office did have several more cases, but the evidence in all of them was conclusive, and only sentencing remained. Even when he personally wrote out the judgments, the number in the Code of Law did not change at all.

He had been too optimistic. It seemed that even if he did not need to be personally involved, cases that could increase his lifespan still required him to participate deeply enough.

Holding the judgment Li Nuo had copied out by hand, the Magistrate of Chang'an praised, "Young Master's Zanhua Small Regular Script is truly beautiful. I fear few in Chang'an can compare..."

He realized that he had still underestimated Li Nuo.

"Beautiful" was far from enough to describe his Zanhua Small Regular Script. In terms of Zanhua Small Regular Script alone, perhaps no one in all of Chang'an wrote better than he did. It required not only long years of practice, but more importantly, talent.

He had always thought the Minister of Justice's son was a fool, but today he discovered that not only was he clever, he also possessed such fine handwriting.

Only, this elegant and flowing Zanhua Small Regular Script was generally studied more by women. For a man, it seemed somewhat feminine. If a man wrote such a hand, he would likely be ridiculed.

It was as though Li Nuo had the soul of a woman skilled in calligraphy inside his body.

Forget the Magistrate of Chang'an; even Li Nuo himself could hardly believe it.

He had never learned brush calligraphy before, nor did he know what Zanhua Small Regular Script was. Yet the characters he copied from the Magistrate of Chang'an's verdict were this delicate and beautiful. He had even deliberately made them a little uglier...

Li Nuo smiled. "Just something I practiced idly when I had nothing to do..."

It really was not normal for a fool to write such beautiful characters. But his soul had crossed over, and there was no flaw for anyone to seize upon. Even that old man could not keep his eyes on him every moment.

Besides, even if Li Nuo said he was not their Young Master, they would not believe him...

This Zanhua Small Regular Script was not important. What mattered was that he could not take shortcuts. Over these eleven days, he had to personally and deeply participate in more cases if he wanted to stay alive in this world.

A moment later, outside Chang'an County Office, Li Nuo waved to the Magistrate of Chang'an and said, "Lord Pei, if there are any cases these next few days, be sure to have someone notify me..."

The Magistrate of Chang'an smiled. "Certainly, certainly..."

After seeing off that great Buddha, the Magistrate of Chang'an returned to his chair and rubbed his face. After forcing smiles for so long, his face had gone stiff.

Who knew what was wrong with that Eldest Young Master? He had gotten addicted to hearing cases.

A beautiful woman emerged from behind the screen, stood behind him, and gently kneaded his shoulders. She asked curiously, "Master, who was that man just now? You were so cautious around him..."

The Magistrate of Chang'an waved a hand. "Ah, don't mention it. Things were better when I was a county magistrate elsewhere. Everyone had to act according to this official's expression. Now that I've been transferred to Chang'an, my rank has risen several levels, yet I have to play the grandson before everyone I meet. When will these days ever end..."

The woman said nothing, but the Magistrate of Chang'an changed the subject and continued, "Still, that Li Nuo truly made this official see him in a new light. Even this official never thought of that interrogation method. As expected of that man's son. And his Zanhua Small Regular Script even faintly carries the air of a master..."

The woman asked, "What interrogation method?"

A moment later, the woman said in surprise, "If it is a fabricated lie, then it is difficult to recount it backward? There is such a thing?"

"It is normal that women like you cannot grasp such matters. Let your husband explain." The Magistrate of Chang'an spoke proudly. "If it truly happened to you, then even recalling it backward, you generally will not make mistakes. But if it is a lie invented on the spur of the moment, it is hard to recount the entire thing in reverse order..."

The beautiful woman thought for a moment, then asked, "A few days ago, you said you went out to investigate a case and came back very late. What did you do that day? Tell your concubine about it backward."

The Magistrate of Chang'an's expression froze, and cold sweat began to seep from his forehead.

Then he smiled. "Ah, that was days ago. Your husband has already forgotten..."

The woman's tone turned dangerous. "Master's memory is not that poor. Let this concubine remind Master: when you returned, you read in the study for a while, drank two cups of tea, then went to sleep. No matter what this concubine did, Master had no reaction..."

"That day, that day I was too tired..."

"Nonsense! You cannot remember a single thing. Did you go to a brothel again, then lie to me and say you were investigating a case?"

"I didn't!"

"Then say it! Say it backward!"

"I..."

"Pei Zhe, you scoundrel! You definitely went to a brothel! What, is there not enough food at home to fill you up? You go sneaking bites outside every day!"

After walking out of Chang'an County Office and standing on the street, Li Nuo let out a long sigh.

Barring any surprises, he should be safe within these eleven days.

But after eleven days, that might no longer be the case.

He had already told the Magistrate of Chang'an, hoping that he could send more cases his way over the next few days.

It would be best if a few more assassins came. Getting hurt was nothing; staying alive was what mattered.

The moment that thought surfaced in his mind, Steward Wu's loud shout suddenly rang out beside him.

"Young Master, watch out!"

Li Nuo raised his head and saw a Flash of light flicker in the distance, arriving in an instant.

Steward Wu stood a little farther away. The true energy within him erupted with a roar. He completely abandoned defense, sending all his true energy sweeping toward Li Nuo, but it only slowed the arrow by half a fraction.

A black-feathered arrow shot straight at Li Nuo's brow.

Li Nuo could already see the pitch-black arrowhead gleaming with a metallic sheen, and he could clearly smell death.

There was no need to wait eleven days.

The next moment, this arrow would pierce his skull.

He closed his eyes, wondering whether he would return to that tiny office when he opened them again.

An instant passed.

There was none of the pain he had imagined. His thoughts could still function normally.

Li Nuo opened his eyes.

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

Yet that distance of less than an inch was an impassable heavenly chasm.

A fair, slender arm entered Li Nuo's sight.

From so close, Li Nuo could even see the faint down on her arm.

The figure who had always stood silently behind Li Nuo and never spoken had somehow appeared at his side.

She gripped that feathered arrow tightly in her hand.

Li Nuo let out a breath. Only one thought remained in his heart.

Love you, Wife...

Thank you to "Lemon Lemon 213" for the Alliance Leader reward, thank you to "A'er Sky" and "Lord Changshi" for the ten-thousand rewards, and thank you to every reader who gave a reward.