Song Jiaren

Steward Wu had thought that once Young Master recovered his memories, or learned of the family's situation, he would stop clamoring about cultivating the Legalist school. But seeing him refuse to let it go, he could only say, "Fine. If you want to cultivate the Legalist school, you must first enter officialdom through the imperial examination. Only then can you possess the authority to enforce the law..."

Under his persistence, Li Nuo finally pressed him into revealing the method of Legalist cultivation.

The Legalist school—if one wished to cultivate its path, one first had to possess the power to enforce the law.

Neither commoners nor nobles possessed law-enforcement authority. The only way to obtain it was to become an official.

Li Nuo had wanted to ask his Third-rank official father to secure him some minor post, but Steward Wu told him that in Great Xia, the imperial examination was the only path to office. Without passing it, whether his father was the Minister of Justice or the sitting prime minister, he could not conjure an official position out of thin air.

Fine. The shortcut had temporarily crumbled, but Li Nuo was not discouraged.

In his previous life, he had passed both the Bar Exam and the Civil Service Exam. He did not know how difficult Great Xia's imperial examination was, but if he brought out the same drive he had once used for the civil service exam and worked hard, he could still give it a shot.

Passing the imperial examination would qualify him to become an official.

All he lacked was a stepping stone. With a father of Principal Third Rank, as long as he passed the imperial examination, his future official career might not soar straight to the clouds or rise like a roc riding the wind, but it should at least be smooth all the way.

Thinking this way did run somewhat counter to core values, but his life was nearly gone. How could he spare the mind to consider such things?

The Legalist school followed the path of upholding the law and safeguarding justice through law-enforcement authority. At the lower end, one could serve as a county commandant or magistrate; further up, one could hold office in the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, or the Court of Judicial Review.

Li Nuo did not hold an Official Position, but thanks to his status, before he was qualified to become an official, he could probably go to the county yamen and hear a few minor cases without the Magistrate of Chang'an uttering a single word of refusal.

Steward Wu watched his Young Master's gaze grow ever more resolute and his expression ever more impassioned, and could not help asking, "Young Master, do you truly intend to walk the Legalist path?"

Li Nuo asked, "Why, can't I?"

He had noticed that Steward Wu seemed to be deliberately, or perhaps unconsciously, preventing him from cultivating the Legalist school.

Steward Wu sighed and said, "Though the abilities of the Legalist school stand above even martial arts, entry is difficult, and cultivation is exceedingly hard. You may go decades without advancing an inch. Young Master, you must think this through."

Li Nuo asked in confusion, "Why?"

Steward Wu explained, "When one first begins cultivating the Legalist school, one need only adjudicate ordinary cases. In as little as one or two years, or as long as three to five, one can catch a first glimpse of the threshold. But to cultivate to greater depths, one must judge what others cannot judge and behead what others cannot behead. Does this Old Servant make himself understood, Young Master?"

Li Nuo had studied law himself, so naturally he understood the Legalist school's limitations.

In the other world, Legalism had been the political voice of commoners. Everything was governed according to the law, with the principle that "kinship and distance were not distinguished, rank and lowliness were not set apart; all were decided by law"; that "ruler and subject, high and low, noble and base, all followed the law"; that "punishment did not avoid high ministers, and rewards for good did not overlook common men"...

Under the law, there were no privileges. That clearly struck at the interests of the privileged class.

Li Nuo asked, "You mean cultivating the Legalist school will bring obstruction from great personages?"

Steward Wu felt gratified inside. Young Master truly had become smarter—he had grasped the key point so quickly.

He nodded and said, "Exactly. The Legalist school is unlike the Medical school, which merely requires deep study of medicine to heal the sick and save lives; nor is it like the Mohist school, which only requires research into crafts and ingenuity; still less is it like the Agricultural school, spending a lifetime tilling fields and breeding seeds. Legalist cultivation requires one to devote oneself wholly to the law: first beheading commoners, then beheading dukes and ministers. Only thus can one continue to advance. It is like a sharp sword hanging above the heads of every duke and minister in court. Therefore, Legalist Disciples have always been intolerable to the powerful and noble. Since the end of the Warring States, they have gradually declined, and few cultivate it..."

Li Nuo thought for a moment, then asked, "Which school does my father cultivate?"

Steward Wu said, "The Confucian school."

Li Nuo was somewhat surprised. The Minister of Justice, a man standing at the summit of Great Xia's legal world, actually cultivated the Confucian school. It seemed the Legalist school truly had declined.

Li Nuo understood everything Steward Wu had said. He also knew that challenging an entire class as an individual would, under normal circumstances, end in a miserable death.

But if he did not cultivate the Legalist school, he would die very soon.

It looked as though he had a choice, but in truth, he had none.

Li Nuo waved a hand and said, "I understand. We'll talk about it later..."

He knew full well that Steward Wu was stopping him from cultivating the Legalist school for his own good. The Loli Island incident was known to all; even a modern nation could not bring every evil person to justice, and dukes and ministers still existed throughout the court—let alone in a feudal dynasty.

Halfway through cultivation, he would have to kill the powerful and noble. If he cultivated further, would he not have to kill the emperor?

No emperor, whoever he was, could tolerate the Legalist school.

The Legalist school of today was more a tool for managing the lower levels. It could not touch the powerful and noble at all, so naturally no one cultivated it to profound heights.

Steward Wu secretly glanced at Li Nuo and thought, Young Master surely won't turn heaven and earth upside down now, will he?

After lightly clearing his throat, he rose and said, "It is getting late. Young Master, rest early. This Old Servant shall take his leave as well."

Li Nuo waved his hand and said, "Go on."

After Steward Wu left, Li Nuo sat before the table, propping his chin up with one hand as his gaze gradually went vacant.

Too many things had happened to him in just half a day.

A lowly court clerk from the twenty-first century had merely taken a nap, only to arrive in another world. He opened his eyes to an assassination attempt, thought he was dreaming, knocked himself unconscious by ramming his head into a pillar, opened his eyes again to see a death countdown, caught a Female Assassin, got kicked unconscious by his Wife, went outside, and nearly had an arrow pierce through his head...

His more than twenty years of experience had not been anywhere near as rich or thrilling as this half day.

He needed to take a moment to recover.

Night.

Li Manor.

Inside a quiet room, a young woman sat at a table, her gaze slightly unfocused as she watched the candle flame flicker slowly.

When she saw that woman's miserable state in the wood shed that morning, she had indeed failed to contain her anger for a moment.

Her husband might be a fool, but he would never commit crimes.

Of course, she soon learned that it had been a misunderstanding.

Yet compared to him committing crimes, the fact that a fool who had done nothing but grin stupidly and drool all day had suddenly become normal—even intelligent—seemed even more astonishing.

Strangely enough, when he had been a fool, she had not felt much of anything.

Now that he was no longer a fool, she instead had no idea how she ought to get along with him.

Even her heart, usually as still as water, had been stirred into a slight turmoil.

Her fingers habitually stroked the longsword in her hand.

Yet she did not feel that familiar sensation.

She lowered her head in puzzlement, then cried out in shock and confusion, "Where is my sword?!"

In another room, separated by only one wall.

Li Nuo sat at the table, his eyes shifting as he finally woke from his daze.

He did not know how long he had sat there blankly. When he turned to look, it was already dark outside.

Having gathered his thoughts, he let out a long breath of stale air.

At this moment, he had already accepted the fact that he had transmigrated.

His parents had died early in his previous life. Half a year ago, he had also buried the grandmother who had raised him. In that other world, he did not actually have many deep attachments. The only thing that rankled was that after putting in who knew how much effort to pass the Bar Exam and Civil Service Exam, the Iron Rice Bowl he had finally secured was simply gone...

If he had known, he would not have worked so hard.

Still, when he thought of the bowl he had taken up in this life, which ought to count as a golden rice bowl, his mood improved somewhat.

Only after coming out of his daze did Li Nuo realize that he was ravenously hungry. The food Steward Wu had brought that afternoon had long since gone cold, but Li Nuo did not care. Just as he was about to pick up his chopsticks, a knock suddenly sounded outside.

He rose, walked to the Room Door, and opened it. Seeing the figure before him, he paused slightly in surprise before asking, "Wife, it's so late. Is something the matter?"

He knew that although the two of them were already married, they had always slept separately.

The cold woman asked, "Have you seen my sword?"

Li Nuo shook his head. "No..."

The woman's gaze lowered slightly. "Then what are you holding in your hand?"

Li Nuo looked down and discovered that he was holding a sword.

He did not remember in the slightest when his Wife's sword had ended up in his hand.

Li Nuo hurriedly returned the sword to her and said, "Sorry, I don't know why your sword was in my hand either..."

The woman in white did not say anything further. She turned and left directly. After taking two steps, her footsteps paused slightly, but she did not look back as she said, "About what happened today, I'm sorry. I misunderstood you."

Li Nuo rubbed his chest, which still ached faintly, and magnanimously said, "It's fine."

She had saved his life. What was one kick?

His Wife might be a little violent, but she was still reasonable.

Watching the figure that was about to vanish into the courtyard, Li Nuo inexplicably asked, "By the way, Wife, what... is your name?"

He suddenly remembered that he still did not know her name.

The figure had already disappeared, and a faint voice drifted from the darkness.

"Song Jiaren."

"Song Jiaren..."

What a lovely name. Li Nuo repeated it several times in his heart, then turned and returned to his room. As he prepared to close the door, his whole body stiffened slightly as he stared blankly at a pink pouch in his hand.

What was this?

Why did he keep ending up with strange things in his hands today?

Li Nuo opened the pouch and looked inside. There were only a few pieces of broken silver. He then raised it to his nose and smelled it. The pouch carried a faint, pleasant fragrance. He was familiar with that scent; after all, he had spent the whole day around his Wife, and Li Nuo could recognize her fragrance.

But why was his Wife's pouch also in his hand?

And... why had he said "also"?

Li Nuo thought about it. Earlier that day, Steward Wu's money pouch had also inexplicably appeared in his hand. Not only that, his Wife's sword had also inexplicably appeared in his hand...

Thinking more carefully, it seemed that when he had just returned his Wife's sword, his right hand had habitually made a motion and swiped her pouch away.

No way—could his former self have been a master thief?

Had he unconsciously retained some of that man's bodily habits?

Impossible. A fool should not understand such things. Then, all at once, a flash of light passed through Li Nuo's mind.

He immediately summoned that Code of Law, his gaze locking onto the portrait of the goateed man on the second page.

Then Li Nuo thought of something else and shifted his gaze to the Female Assassin on the first page.

A moment later, in a side room somewhere in Li Manor, Steward Wu asked curiously, "Young Master, what are you doing in that assassin's room?"

The Female Assassin who had tried to kill Li Nuo had once been a Maid of the Li Family. This was precisely her room. It had already been searched, and now looked somewhat messy. After searching through the room, Li Nuo found a slip of paper in a drawer by the bed.

"Hour of the Rabbit: get up, wash up and dress. Before the third quarter of the Hour of the Rabbit, clean Young Master's courtyard."

The contents of the slip were simple. It listed what work she had to do and when each day, such as cleaning, making the bed, and so on. In a grand household like this, servants had fixed daily duties, and what they had to do changed as their posts changed.

A moment later, Li Nuo had Steward Wu prepare brush and ink. He returned to his room, walked to the table, picked up a brush, and wrote the same contents on another slip of paper.

"Hour of the Rabbit: get up, wash up and dress. Before the third quarter of the Hour of the Rabbit, clean Young Master's courtyard."

He picked up both slips and compared the handwriting. Both were graceful Zanhua Small Regular Script. They were not merely identical—they showed not the slightest difference.