Upon hearing of the prisoner's suicide, Pei Zhe hurried to the jail where two prison guards, with faces of mourning, looked at a body lying on a straw mat and said, "We apologize, my lord, it was our negligence. We didn't keep a close watch and she took her life by running into the wall."
Pei Zhe examined the body and after questioning a few prison guards and prisoners in the adjacent cells, confirmed that the woman indeed committed suicide. He waved his hand and said, "It seems she understood that, compared with beheading, suicide could leave her body intact. This isn't your fault. Keep the body in the morgue for now, and I will report the truth of this matter…"
"If only we had known back then, why did it even start…"
Sighing at the body on the ground, Pei Zhe, with hands behind his back, left. As he was about to exit the cell, a voice suddenly said, "This was not a simple case of suicide. She was very calm before. After the music of 'Cloud Gate' came from outside, she suddenly grew restless. As soon as the music stopped, she took her own life. That music was a signal. There must be others behind this case…"
Pei Zhe's steps paused, and he glanced at the body being carried away, then turned to look at the young girl imprisoned alone in a cell. He began, "I became an Advanced Scholar in the fourteenth year of Zhisheng, and of the fifty who earned the title with me, fewer than twenty are alive today. Yet I have stayed safe for many years, with a small promotion every three years and a big one every five. Do you know why?"
The girl, puzzled, asked, "Why?"
Pei Zhe said, "Because I never ask why."
"…"
As the girl looked on in confusion, he continued slowly, "Child, remember, in this Chang'an, you can have anything but curiosity, because you never know what kind of vortex lies behind the door of curiosity… What you saw just now, never mention it to anyone, do you understand? Otherwise, I will have saved you in vain."
Gu Yanran thought it over, then looked up at Pei Zhe and asked, "If you are so cautious, my lord, why take the risk to save me?"
The Chang'an County Magistrate did not say a word but just gently patted his chest.
The girl was silent for a long while and finally nodded slowly, saying, "Regardless, I must thank you, my lord, for saving my life."
She was well aware that, as a servant who attempted to murder her master, she faced certain death under Daxia Law.
If it were not for the mercy of the Chang'an County Magistrate, she would have already been beheaded.
Pei Zhe waved his hand and said, "The one you should be thanking is not me, but Li Nuo. You should realize that if it were someone else, you would never have had the chance to come to the Chang'an County Government. You would have died in a dungeon of a grand residence in Chang'an, before your death, enduring humiliation and torture, and your death would have remained forever unknown…"
Gu Yanran bit her lip; of course, she understood all this.
She had prepared herself for such an outcome before taking action.
That Li Nuo did not kill her or mistreat her, and instead sent her to the government office, was indeed beyond her expectations, but how could she thank the son of the man who killed her father?
Pei Zhe knew the struggle within her heart and sighed, saying, "He must have realized just now that I showed leniency and spared your life, but he did not expose it. Thus, you shouldn't call him 'scoundrel,' for he is your true savior…"
The girl's lower lip was already bleeding as she murmured, "Why?"
Pei Zhe shrugged and said, "For that question, you'll have to ask him…"
Although he had known Li Nuo for only a short day, his intuition from many years in officialdom told him that the son of the Minister of Justice didn't seem to be a bad person.
Leaving the woman alone with her thoughts, Pei Zhe, hands behind his back, walked out of the jail.
Back in the Chang'an County Government courtyard and habitually touching his waist, Pei Zhe's expression changed dramatically as he suddenly looked down, exclaiming in shock, "Where's my jade token?"
At the same time, on a carriage on Chang'an Street, Li Nuo held a jade token in his hand and rubbed his temples with some annoyance. The Law Code might be good, but its side effects were unpredictable. He could deal with inadvertently perfect calligraphy, but what was with this compulsive tendency to steal…
This unfamiliar token was likely swiped unintentionally from the Chang'an County Magistrate.
Although Li Nuo had been careful, he still couldn't avoid it completely.
Housekeeper Wu glanced at the jade token in his hand and advised earnestly, "Young Master, it's not appropriate to carry around the token from Fengqi Building. If the young mistress sees it, you know what the consequences will be…"
Fengqi Building, Li Nuo had heard about it during a trial—it seemed to be a famous brothel in Chang'an.
He made a quick decision, "Quick, turn around, back to the government office!"
Moments later, Chang'an County Government.
Li Nuo returned the Phoenix Perch Lounges VVVIP Jade Token to the Chang'an County Magistrate and said, "I found this in the government office just now, please help me find the owner, Lord Pei."
Pei Zhe sighed in relief, took the Jade Token, and smiled, "Rest assured, I will definitely find the owner and pass it on."
After returning the item to its rightful owner, Li Nuo left the government office again, taking with him the thick volume of "Daxia Law." Since he intended to follow the path of Legalism, he would have to deal with cases often, so of course, he needed to be familiar with the laws of Daxia.
Although this volume of "Daxia Law" was thick, it was nothing compared to a legal examination.
The offices in Daxia closed early, usually around four in the afternoon. Li Nuo went to bed at ten, so he couldn't waste the long hours in between. Of course, he had to make use of this time to catch up on the knowledge he lacked.
...
Ministry of Justice Si Minister's residence.
The wife in name was out of sight all day, and the father he had never met was too busy with public duties to come home often. Li Nuo ate dinner alone again, but for him, being alone was quite comfortable. After eating, he shut himself in his room.
On the desk before him lay a stack of thick books.
Besides the "Daxia Law" he had borrowed from the Chang'an County Magistrate, Li Nuo had Housekeeper Wu find some books on history, geography, and various schools of thought.
These were the basics needed to understand this world. The characters of Daxia were similar to traditional Chinese, and Li Nuo found them somewhat difficult to read, but he could understand most of them. Where there were too many unfamiliar characters, he would look them up in a book called "Shuo Wen."
This book, authored by an ancient Confucian sage, contained nearly all the common characters, with detailed explanations of the form and meaning of each, and was often used as a dictionary.
This world was not solely comprised of Daxia, but Li Nuo had not looked into other countries in great detail, merely glancing through and then focusing his attention on the Hundred Schools.
These topics interested him more.
Not every school among the Hundred Schools had the ability to cultivate. Most of them were just names.
For example, the Foodie was just a group of people interested in studying food.
And there were the Fishing Family, who were merely fishermen calling themselves such.
Only a little over ten schools became mainstream, with systems that allowed cultivation and possessed great power. Each of these schools had their moment of glory hundreds of years ago, but with time and their own limitations, they gradually declined.
Among the schools today, the number of Confucian disciples was undoubtedly the most, but the present-day Confucian school was not the same as it had been hundreds of years ago.
Although there were many disciples, most of them were of the Low Realm, with those in the Fourth Realm being rare and Great Scholars of the Fifth Realm being extremely rare. As for Semi-Saints of the Sixth Realm and Confucian Saints of the Seventh Realm, there were none at all.
Modern-day Confucian disciples practiced Confucianism only to enter officialdom, which was the major reason for its popularity.
As for Legalism, due to suppression from the nobles and those in power, very few people practiced it. Even in places like the Ministry of Justice, Imperial Censorate, and Ministry of Justice, most officials practiced Confucianism.
Military, Agricultural School, Mohist, and Medical School, each with their special uses, had never ceased their lineages and their disciples were still active in the Ministry of War, Sinong Si, Ministry of Industry, Imperial Hospital, and other court departments. However, they too were far removed from the center of power.
Schools like the Syncretic School, Ming School, Yin Yang School, School of Cross and Vertical, and School of Calligraphy were rarely mentioned. Especially the School of Cross and Vertical, during the Warring States period, they moved between countries, with just a few words deciding the fate of a nation, stirring the world affairs at will, and once had an era where they overshadowed other schools. But with the end of the Warring States and the unification under a few powerful states, coupled with centuries without major warfare, the School of Cross and Vertical gradually fell from the historical stage. Now, they could only reside under noble houses, positioning themselves as guests and strategists, no longer as glorious as in the past.
If he didn't need to solve cases to extend his life, Li Nuo might have chosen Confucianism.
Even more likely, he would have chosen to 'lie flat,' after all, with a deputy national-level father, he was already well-off and had no worries about food and clothing. Why would he need to strive?
All he had to do was to be an obedient second-generation official, not misbehave, and not oppress the good. That in itself would be a contribution to the nation.
Of course, that was only if.
Li Nuo glanced at the countdown on the cover of the "Law Code." With only a short twenty-six days left, for him, lying flat meant waiting for death...
What a fate for a chosen working man!