My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare!-Chapter 417 - 279: Rivers of Blood

If the Ministry of Justice hadn't formally pronounced a judgment, his portrait indeed wouldn't appear in the Law Code.

With this curiosity, Li Nuo once again made his way to the Ministry of Justice.

His father was still reviewing cases, so Li Nuo didn't interrupt. Led by a Director, he went to his office.

There were several concluded case files on the desk in the government office.

One was about King Han and King You, one was about Ruyang County Lord, and another concerned the Capital Governor.

Although the man was dead, the required procedures could not be omitted.

First, his official position was stripped completely, followed by the execution of his entire family.

In Daxia's criminal law, "entire family" referred to the father, son, and grandson.

The definition of family was originally broader, but the practitioners of Legalism did not advocate killing the innocent. Through the efforts of earlier practitioners of Legalism, the scope had been reduced significantly. Even for unforgivable and heinous crimes, typically only the direct blood relatives would be killed.

Executing the entire family was already an extremely severe punishment.

If the Emperor were to command it, it could extend to the nine familial associations, and all relatives related to him would have difficulty escaping death.

Now here was the problem.

The Capital Governor had already been judged, and he was dead, yet his portrait had not appeared in the Law Code.

Having possessed the Law Code for so long, this was the first time Li Nuo had come across such an odd occurrence.

There must be some reason for this that he didn't know about.

Li Nuo wanted to look for the family of the Capital Governor, but was informed that, just recently, the wife and son of the Capital Governor had also taken poison and committed suicide in the cells of the Ministry of Justice.

Not long after, a figure walked in from outside. Li Xuanjing looked at them and asked, "Why have you come here?"

The matter of the Law Code was too strange, and even when facing Yiren and his father, Li Nuo didn't know how to start the conversation. He didn't bring up the Capital Governor's case and explained his purpose to his father.

Li Xuanjing retrieved a case file from a drawer, saying, "This is the testimony of King Han's Princely Heir, Li Qian. The Fengyang county son was indeed framed and killed by him. Take this testimony to the Secretariat and have them issue a decree to exonerate Yiren."

Li Nuo took the case file, his father always considered everything very thoroughly.

Song Yiren said obediently, "Thank you, Uncle Li."

Li Xuanjing handed him a token and said, "The Ministry of Justice is very busy with many matters, and the other officials are preoccupied. You'll have to go on your own, take this token, it's your entry pass to the Imperial Palace."

These days, the entire Ministry of Justice would be very busy. Li Nuo and Yiren did not want to add to the chaos any further and left the Ministry of Justice, heading straight for the Secretariat.

The Secretariat, the subordinate government offices, and the Chief of Staff were all located within the Imperial Palace, which ordinary people could not enter.

With the token for palace entry, Li Nuo and Yiren entered the Imperial Palace with ease.

Only, her sword had to be left at the palace entrance; it could not be brought into the palace.

This was not to protect the Emperor, but to protect the officials of the three provinces.

Throughout Daxia, no one was able to assassinate the Emperor.

Of course, this was just a formality, for a master like her, having a sword or not only made a difference when facing opponents of the same calibre. Against ordinary people, weapons were unnecessary.

Walking within the Imperial Palace, Yiren surveyed her surroundings and suddenly asked Li Nuo, "Can you still practice Legalism?"

Li Nuo replied, "Yes, I've always believed you were innocent."

Song Yiren did not speak again, walking with her head down, feeling mixed emotions arise in her heart.

Recently, she had been training desperately, aiming to advance to the level of Grandmaster as soon as possible. That way, even if he was unable to cultivate, she could protect him.

But now, there were already more powerful people protecting him.

He himself also had the ability to protect himself.

This caused her to suddenly feel directionless and to harbor some confusion about the future.

The Secretariat was not far from the palace gate, and soon, the two of them arrived at the entrance of the Secretariat.

Two Assistant Ministers of the Secretariat were discussing matters with the Left and Right Prime Ministers. Upon hearing the news, Scheeren Du Yu immediately greeted them. After Li Nuo explained their mission, without any hesitation, he said, "This was a mistake made by the court, which should definitely be corrected. Does Prime Minister Li have any other requests?"

Li Nuo thought for a moment and said, "The case was widely discussed, and everyone in Chang'an knew about it. It would be best if the Secretariat could issue an imperial decree to inform the entire city and let more people know the truth."

Decrees from the Secretariat were not issued lightly. For cases judged incorrectly, the respective departments could just revise the records on their own; it wasn't customary for the Secretariat to issue a decree.

Du Yu hesitated for a moment, but only for a moment.

Then, he nodded repeatedly and said, "Of course, of course…"

Li Nuo added, "There's one more thing."

Du Yu asked, "Please speak, Lord Li."

Li Nuo said, "Since Yiren is innocent, can the court return the Death Exemption Token to me?"

"..."

Du Yu had been at the court for so many years, he had only seen the court collect Death Exemption Tokens, never had he heard of someone demanding one back from the court.

Not only had he never seen it, but he had also never even heard of it.

Yet, unspeakable as it was, his request made sense.

Since it was a mistaken verdict, it seemed only fair that the court should return the token to its owner.

But something felt amiss to him.

Quickly, Du Yu realized that although he was down by one token, His Majesty had bestowed upon him another one. If the court returned that token to him, wasn't he supposed to give the other one back?

This was not for him to consider. Seeing two Prime Ministers and an Assistant Minister coming out of a government office, he immediately approached and quietly said a few words to the two elders.

Li Nuo soon felt two gazes firmly locked onto him.

They were from two elders, both with white hair and beards, one with a gaunt appearance and a kind demeanor, the other with a sharp gaze, commanding respect without anger, clearly not someone with a temper to be trifled with.

In the entire court, to appear at the Secretariat, and be so respected by Scheeren and the Assistant Minister, their identities were naturally not hard to guess.

The Left and Right Prime Ministers, the true scholarly peak of Daxia.

What was most precious was that they not only held high positions but were also both Confucianists of the Fifth Realm, deeply respected by both courtiers and commoners.

An invisible pressure bore down.

Inside Li Nuo, a force surfaced on its own, automatically resisting this pressure.

When the power of Legalism met the Vast Righteous Qi, that oppressive feeling suddenly became amicable.

Li Nuo silently sighed; his cultivation of the Fourth Realm was still not at the level of complete control.

When he reached the Fifth Realm, he wouldn't reveal his cultivation so involuntarily anymore.

The two elders exchanged glances and saw surprise in each other's eyes.

A detailed analysis of Legalism the Fourth Realm, in one so young, was indeed rare.

The rumors that he could no longer practice Legalism seemed to be just that—rumors.

The elder with the sharp gaze sized up Li Nuo and said, "He resembles him, truly resembles him, so much like Li Xuanjing when he was young..."

The other kind elder also continued staring at Li Nuo, his eyes deep, as if lost in some memory.

The Right Prime Minister approached Li Nuo and asked, "You want the Death Exemption Token back?"

Li Nuo did not know which Prime Minister this was, but he stood his ground fearlessly and replied, "If the person has been wronged, then the token was unnecessarily used. Why can't it be returned?"

The Right Prime Minister looked him over a few times, then shook his head, "Once a Death Exemption Token is reclaimed, it is immediately melted down. It's impossible to return it to you, nor is there any way to do so."

Not long after, Li Nuo and Yiren left the Imperial Palace.

He sighed to himself; why must the court be so unreasonable?

Although he still had two tokens in his hand, the one he lost would never come back...

Inside the Secretariat.

The Right Prime Minister looked towards the direction of the palace gate and said, "This young man, he resembles Li Xuanjing in appearance but not in personality at all. That taciturn man, how could he have such a son..."

Just then, an official entered and said, "My lord, the Minister of Zongzheng, Xingyang County Lord, Dongping County Lord, Le'an Duke, Jinyang Duke, Marquis Shouyang, Marquis Lantian, Duke Liyang, Yingchuan Marquis, Scheeren Wang, Scheeren Fei, they have all been sentenced to death by the Minister of Justice..."

Du Yu and the two Assistant Ministers gasped in shock.

Li Xuanjing has gone mad!

One Ruyang County Lord was not enough; was he planning to kill everyone who impeached him?

The Right Prime Minister, hearing these names, stirred and asked, "On what grounds?"

The official said, "Treason."

He struggled to speak as if the words were...