My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare!-Chapter 37 - Aftermath

More than triple the increased lifespan left Li Nuo utterly puzzled.

Yet, on further thought, it seemed not so strange. The criminals he had caught before were commoners without any background or basic Martial Path cultivation. Wang Yue was not only a son of a high-ranking court official but also a Martial Artist of the Second Realm. If those previous criminals were minor monsters, Wang Yue could count as a mini-boss.

The difficulty of judging him was much greater than the previous criminals, so it made sense that the experience gained was a bit more.

This was somewhat akin to the practices of Legalism cultivation.

In Legalism, the higher the status and identity of the convicted, the faster their cultivation grew. Strong practitioners of Legalism, when judging ordinary people at the peak of their power, could no longer gain strength from them and would instead target the full complement of court nobles.

Li Nuo had a small suspicion.

Ordinary people sentenced to three years of imprisonment could only extend their lifespan by three days, and flogging added nothing; multiple persons were needed for accumulation.

Wang Yue, being a Martial Artist of the Second Realm and receiving three years of imprisonment plus a hundred lashes, had his lifespan increased by eleven days, more than triple that of just the imprisonment. Could it be that the lifespan increase stipulated by the law code was calculated based on the criminal's strength and status? Ordinary people gained no bonus, the First Realm doubled, the Second Realm tripled, the Third Realm quadrupled, and so forth...

By this calculation, the Seventh Realm could increase eightfold.

Sentencing an ordinary person to death increased lifespan by only ten days.

If the life-extending rules really worked this way, sentencing a strong practitioner of the Seventh Realm to death could extend one's life by eighty days, nearly three months. It seemed like a lot, but the effort and reward were not at all proportional.

The Seventh Realm was a domain of saints, who could capture a saint to sentence?

Not to mention the Seventh Realm, even the Sixth Realm was impossible.

Such beings alone could match a small army.

Even those in the Fifth Realm, who dominated their territories, had a powerful force behind them, often easily transcending secular laws. However, all of these were just guesses by Li Nuo; how lifespan truly increased would only be known once such strong practitioners were actually captured.

Even so, this was still good news for Li Nuo.

Who wouldn't want Score Cards that provided two, three, or even four or five times the points? If he could catch and judge a few murderers from the Fourth Realm, add a few months to his lifespan, he could breathe a little easier, not having to strive so hard every day.

After a busy day, he hadn't even had time to eat anything. He hadn't felt it during the judging, but now that he relaxed, he felt both tired and hungry. Fortunately, when he returned home, the meal was already prepared, and Li Nuo simply focused on eating, finding even the plain rice more flavorful than usual.

He had dinner with Song Jiaren, but the two of them didn't talk much.

Li Nuo wasn't in the mood to talk either; he was so tired he could hardly keep his eyes open. He mechanically shoveled rice into his mouth, his eyelids getting heavier and his movements slowing more and more...

After a while, Song Jiaren, seeing Li Nuo slumped over the dining table, a few grains of rice sticking to his face but with even breathing already coming from his nose, slightly shook her head. She stood up, went over to him, picked the grains off his face, and then carried him out of the dining hall, walking slowly into a small courtyard...

In Li Nuo's room, Song Jiaren laid him on the bed. With a gentle raise of her hand, his shoes and socks came off automatically and were neatly arranged on the floor. The neatly folded brocade quilt also unfolded itself and lightly covered Li Nuo.

Song Jiaren stood by the bed, quietly watching him for a while, then turned and left.

As the door closed with a "creak," the room returned to tranquility.

Yet at this time, in certain noble households in Chang'an, things were not so peaceful.

In the evening, the disturbance caused by the public in front of the Chang'an County Government office was significant, drawing the attention of some nearby officials and nobles. After having their servants inquire, they quickly learned the ins and outs of the matter.

The son of the Minister of the Examination Bureau had violated the law and was captured by the Chang'an County Government. In front of numerous citizens of Chang'an, he was flogged a hundred times and sentenced to three years of imprisonment.

A Standard Fifth Rank official position was not too high, but still respectable. According to Daxia Law, not only could an official of this rank offset his crimes with silver or his official position, but his direct relatives, committing crimes lower than "exile," could also use Redemption Silver.

It was just a matter of three years of imprisonment, merely three hundred taels of silver, which was nothing for the Wang family.

However, Wang Duo did not choose to use silver to offset his son's crime but instead disowned him righteously, personally delivering his only son to the Chang'an County Government to be dealt with by the authorities, puzzling many.

Furthermore, some well-informed officials learned through unofficial channels that upon returning from the Chang'an County Government, Wang Duo immediately sold off the Wang family's shops, farmlands, and houses in Chang'an at low prices. He also submitted a petition to the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel overnight, resigning from his post and returning to his hometown. Before leaving, he donated all his family's wealth to the National Treasury...

This made him even more incomprehensible.

The position of the Minister of the Examination Bureau, although not very high, held substantial power. Wang Duo, in his prime and physically fit, had not easily climbed to this position and might have advanced further. Resigning without any apparent reason made no sense, and even if he had to resign, there was no need to sell off his properties and donate the proceeds...

Many were baffled by his actions.

"Minister Wang was fine, what is this all about?"

"This little matter, is it really necessary?"

"There must be a reason behind this!"

"Investigate, investigate further!"

Not long after, someone finally uncovered more inside information.

Yet this information proved even more shocking.

"What? It was Li Xuanjing's men who made the move?"

The most uptodat𝓮 n𝒐vels are published on freёnovelkiss.com.

"I see now. Wang Duo is from King Rui's faction, and King Rui's faction just suffered a great loss at the hands of Li Xuanjing, with many officials deposed. It seems it's Wang Duo's turn now, this case is just a pretext…"

"King Chun is trying to completely crush King Rui's faction!"

"This time it's not the Ministry of Justice, but the Chang'an County Government acting. Could it be that the new Chang'an County Magistrate has aligned himself with Li Xuanjing, with King Chun?"

"Do we even need to say it? Otherwise, how could a mere Chang'an County Magistrate afford to offend Minister Wang and King Rui?"

"No wonder Wang Duo resigned and donated silver. He was doing it to save his life..."

"This new Chang'an Prefect is not to be underestimated!"

"Huh, another dog under Li Xuanjing's command…"

The resignation of the Minister of the Examination Bureau sparked a minor storm among the upper echelons in Chang'an.

On the surface, it appeared to be a minor case, but behind the scenes, it was a clash between two princes.

With Li Xuanjing as his strong arm, King Chun had a natural advantage in certain aspects. For those cleaner officials in other princes' factions, it remained fine, but once they slipped up and were caught by Li Xuanjing, their fate wasn't going to be favorable.

The Minister of the Examination Bureau, hampered by his son, also served as a wakeup call for other officials.

No one knows how many officials woke their sons in the middle of the night, repeatedly admonishing them to learn from Wang Duo's incident.

Other officials with skeletons in their closets thought about how to calm the waters at the earliest, whether through warnings or compensation, but at all costs, they had to keep it quiet.

Meanwhile, at Li Mansion.

Deep into the night, the candles flickered in a study.

Housekeeper Wu stood at the table and said, "…Later, Wang Duo personally tied up his son and sent him here. In front of the public at the Chang'an County Government office, the young master gave him a hundred strokes and sentenced him to three years of imprisonment…"

After speaking, he asked tentatively, "Later, I remembered that Wang Duo is from King Rui's faction. Could this possibly offend King Rui even further and cause trouble for the master?"

The cultured middle-aged man sipped his tea and replied, "No harm, King Rui loathes this official to the bone. One more or one less Wang Duo makes no difference."

Housekeeper Wu thought for a moment, then added, "King Rui had suffered a great loss under the master's hand recently, surely harboring resentment. The last time the young master was attacked, could it have been King Rui instructing it behind the scenes? I asked that female assassin, but she knew nothing, perhaps hiding something. Should we use some means…"

Li Xuanjing waved his hand dismissively, "If it were truly King Rui, he wouldn't leave any traces. There's no need to go to such lengths."

Then, he asked, "What did the young master do today?"

Speaking of the young master, Housekeeper Wu said helplessly, "The young master went to the government office early in the morning and didn't come back until it was dark. He is devoted to handling cases, completely consumed by it. In my opinion, he's set on pursuing Legalism..."

The young master'€™s resolve to follow Legalism was greater than he had imagined.

If this continues, the ultimate outcome will not be the young master severing familial ties for justice, but the master having to purge his own house...

What a sin!

Li Xuanjing merely smiled, "No harm, let him pursue it if he wishes."

It wasn€™t until Housekeeper Wu left the room that he stood up slowly, walked to the window, and gazed at the bright moon in the sky. Sighing softly, his tone full of regret, "Wang Duo…"