A book only visible to himself was floating before his eyes, claiming he had only three days left to live, which was undoubtedly an absurd thing to hear.
But having merely slept and become another person, surely that was even more preposterous?
Others who transmigrated either received golden fingers or system assists, yet Li Nuo opened his eyes to a death countdown.
The death countdown was bad enough, but couldn't it at least provide some strategy or reminder? Was he supposed to just wait quietly for death over these three days?
Li Nuo tried to use his mind to flip through the Law Code, to see if there was any mention of ways to extend one's life, but it was no use. Whether it was with his mind or his hands, he couldn't open the book.
While Li Nuo was flailing at thin air, the old man by the bed sighed and tentatively reminded him, "You are in Daxia's Chang'an, your surname is Li and your name is Nuo, your father is the current Minister of Justice. Does any of this ring a bell, Young Master..."
Daxia's Chang'an?
Li Nuo was, of course, familiar with the name Chang'an; he was born and raised there. However, when he tried to jump from the building just now, the old man merely pointed a finger, and he was suspended in mid-air. This was certainly not the Xia Dynasty he knew, nor the Chang'an he was familiar with.
Speaking of which, the female assassin who wanted to kill him last night must have been immobilized the same way.
Thinking of the girl, Li Nuo felt a twinge of pain in his shoulder again. With no memory of his predecessor, he had no idea what the fellow had done to make the girl hate him so much...
"My head hurts. I can't remember anything..."
Li Nuo shook his head and then asked, "What happened last night, why did that girl want to kill me?"
Even if he were to die in three days, he wanted to be a well-informed ghost.
The old man shook his head and said, "Young Master was injured and unconscious last night. The house was in total chaos. I temporarily locked her in the firewood shed and haven't had the chance to interrogate her yet."
On his way here, Li Nuo had heard the old man mention that the identity he had transmigrated into was the son of the Minister of Justice. Li Nuo had studied law, was well-versed in the history of jurisprudence, and he knew very well that the ancient Minister of Justice's position was equivalent to that of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in later times.
The old man referred to himself as "Old Servant," suggesting that this was possibly a place resembling a feudal society.
In a feudal society, the power of the Minister of Justice was much greater than that of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in modern times.
It's a position from which one could control the life and death of common people and even high-ranking officials.
Could this person, who shared his name, be some kind of bully who used his power to do something worthy of at least three years in prison, or even the death penalty to that girl?
Otherwise, why would she hate him so much?
But what did that have to do with him, a newcomer?
The book before his eyes had disappeared at some point, but whenever Li Nuo thought about it, it would slowly reappear.
With his head in chaos and his heart in turmoil, Li Nuo endured the pain in his shoulder, sat up on the bed, and said, "Let's go see her."
The old man looked at Li Nuo, scratching his head, feeling that something was off about the Young Master. But he couldn't pin down what exactly was wrong, so he just supported Li Nuo to where the assassin girl was being held.
Li Mansion, firewood shed.
The girl was tightly bound to a pillar, a white cloth stuffed in her mouth, her hair disheveled, her complexion pale. Her clear, bright eyes had already dulled and lost their luster, making her look utterly miserable.
"Screech..."
The door to the firewood shed was pushed open from the outside.
The girl slowly raised her head and, seeing the figure that came in, resentment surged in her eyes. She struggled violently but could only make muffled "mmph mmph" noises with her mouth gagged by the white cloth.
Li Nuo had already asked on the way here: this young girl was a maid in the household, just brought in last month, had been working diligently the whole time, and inexplicably sneaked into Li Nuo's room to assassinate him last night.
In his mind, he had already pieced together a scenario where the girl was violated by a second-generation official, enduring disgrace to infiltrate the enemy's home. She seemed attentive on the surface but plotted revenge in secret...
And in this scenario, Li Nuo was the biggest villain.
Li Nuo approached the girl and carefully removed the white cloth from her mouth. Before he could ask anything, the girl glared at him fiercely and spat through clenched teeth, "You scoundrel, I won't let you off even as a ghost!"
Her voice was full of resentment, and Li Nuo couldn't believe it wasn't because she was wronged by that privileged scoundrel.
It was infuriating. He, a law-abiding good citizen, a clean and upright people's judge, innocent in both lives, ruined in an instant...
Li Nuo massaged his temples and asked, "Girl, do I have a grudge against you?"
The girl bit her teeth and said, "No."
Li Nuo was startled, then widened his eyes, "If not, why try to kill me?"
The girl's eyes filled with hatred, "Because your father caused the death of my father!"
"My father caused the death of your father?"
"My father was an incorruptible official; how could he possibly do such a thing? It's all your father's false accusation!"
Li Nuo was both angry and speechless.
He had been riddling himself with guilt for so long, and it turned out he was just implicated.
This girl was a family member of a criminal seeking revenge against law enforcement.
Even if what she said were true, there was a debtor for every claim. If she wanted revenge, she should seek out his father, the Minister of Justice. Why target him?
This was vindictiveness, murder.
After all this time, she was the villain.
The elderly man by Li Nuo's side seemed unsurprised, glancing at the girl and saying, "As expected, she's here to seek revenge on the master. She has no foundation in the Martial Path, yet she managed to conceal her identity and infiltrate the mansion. It's all due to this old servant's negligence. Young Master, how do you wish to deal with her?"
Li Nuo waved his hand and said, "Hand her over to the government."
In future generations, the phenomenon of criminals and their family members taking revenge on judges also occurred from time to time.
He still hadn't figured out the death threat from that book and now just wanted to be alone in peace.
Although he was a victim, he had no law enforcement authority. Holding the girl overnight constituted taking restrictive measures such as detention or arrest toward someone with factual crimes and major suspicion. To continue holding her would be illegal detention, let alone having the power to dispose of a criminal.
He was a legal worker with basic professional integrity.
Having finished speaking, the elderly man beside Li Nuo made no movements but simply stared at him with unwavering eyes.
Li Nuo asked, "What are you standing around for, let's go. Why are you staring at me?"
The old man's gaze shifted, and he suddenly held up four fingers, asking, "Young Master, how many is this?"
Li Nuo, unsure if there were differences between the two worlds in numbers, ventured, "Four?"
"Correct!" the old man said happily, then pressed on with another question, "What is two plus three?"
"Five."
"Fifteen plus sixteen?"
"Thirty-one."
"Seventy-three plus sixty-nine."
"One hundred forty-two."
The old man's eyes were full of disbelief. After snapping back to reality, he spoke again.
"Eight hundred forty-three plus six hundred fifty-two?"
"One thousand four hundred ninety-five."
While he was still mentally calculating, Li Nuo had already provided the answer.
Li Nuo didn't know what he was trying to do, but it was basically certain that addition was the same in any world. He glanced at the old man and saw his gaze filled with shock, his expression excited, as if he'd discovered some rare genius.
It was just three-digit addition, what was so surprising about that? Li Nuo, annoyed, asked, "Why are you astonished by such a simple question, do you think I'm an idiot?"
The old man muttered, "But, Young Master, you are an idiot..."
...
That the son of the Minister of Justice was an idiot was almost common knowledge in Chang'an.
As the housekeeper of Li Mansion and having watched him grow up from a child, Housekeeper Wu was well aware of his young master's level in Mathematics.
Normally, even for single-digit addition, he would have to count with his fingers for quite some time, but now, he could effortlessly provide accurate answers for tens and even hundreds addition. Was this still their foolish young master?
Could it be that the bump last night had actually knocked some sense into him?
"Well done, well done..."
Seeing the foolish young master he'd watched grow up suddenly become smart, Housekeeper Wu couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart and kept rubbing his hands, saying, "This old servant will immediately share the good news with the master..."
After a moment of astonishment, Li Nuo shook his head. The original owner of this body was an idiot who couldn't even do simple addition and subtraction within one hundred.
No wonder the old man was so agitated.
He even found a reason for himself, so Li Nuo didn't have to bother covering up the transmigration.
"God, have you gone blind!"
Not only did the assassination fail, but the idiot son of the enemy who killed her father had become smart. The girl was so angry that she trembled all over, crying out in despair and fury, "You scoundrels, may your entire family rot in hell!"
So brazenly declaring intent to kill, her mouth needed to be silenced again to prevent her from shouting "scoundrels, scoundrels" on the way and tarnishing his reputation. If people didn't know better, they might really think he had seriously harmed her.
This way, even if he really died in three days, people wouldn't say he committed suicide out of guilt.
Just as Li Nuo was preparing to stuff the white cloth back into her mouth, a figure walked in from outside the door.
It was a young woman, clad in a white dress with delicate patterns embroidered on the hem, a long sword in her hand, exquisite features, and a cool demeanor. She had a slender waist, with her jet-black hair tied casually into a ponytail. Upon seeing her, Li Nuo first felt overwhelmed by her heroic aura and her coldness that seemed to keep others at a thousand paces.
Then he noticed her appearance.
Having lived two lifetimes, this was the first time Li Nuo had seen such a beautiful girl in reality. The female assassin at his side was indeed a beauty, but she paled in comparison to this woman.
The only shortcoming was that even in a tight dress, there wasn't much of a curve to be seen on her chest.
The woman had just stepped into the place when she saw the girl tied to the post. The girl's face was pale, her hair disheveled, and her expression one of despair and grief, looking like she had just been mistreated...
And Li Nuo was about to stuff a white cloth into her mouth.
Seemingly realizing something, her face turned cold in an instant.
Just as Li Nuo was about to inquire the old man about the identity of this beautiful lady, he could hear the whooshing sound by his ear, followed by a belated pain in his chest. His body heavily crashed into the woodpile. His already injured and weak body couldn't withstand such treatment, and his vision darkened as he fainted once again.
At that moment, the anxious voice of the old man finally reached him.
"Madam, it's a misunderstanding!"