The next day, early in the morning, when Li Nuo woke up, he found that the bedding on the floor by his bed had been tidied away, and Song Jiaren was nowhere to be seen.
After a quick wash, Li Nuo sat in front of the mirror and expertly arranged his hair, taking note of the steps. Men's hairstyles were much simpler than women's, and he was confident that even by tomorrow, when his ability expired, he wouldn't need to trouble the maidservants again.
Another day passed, and only twenty-four days were left on the Law Code's countdown of his life.
Li Nuo's complexion looked poor, the dark circles under his eyes pronounced. It must be said, appearances are deceiving; Assistant Minister Zheng's seemingly fragile husband was anything but weak last night.
In his heart, Li Nuo referred to him as Brother Strong.
When he stepped out of his room, he happened to see two silhouettes exiting from the next door as well.
Assistant Minister Zheng glanced at Li Nuo with a complicated look and, without speaking, walked away.
Li Nuo gave Brother Strong a look of admiration. Although Assistant Minister Zheng's husband was utterly puzzled, not knowing where Li Nuo's admiration stemmed from, he politely nodded back and then followed Assistant Minister Zheng.
Li Nuo stood in the courtyard, stretching his body and was about to leave the Song Residence for the Chang'an County Government when a figure rushed in from outside.
Song Mu'er grabbed Li Nuo's hand and said, "Brother Li Nuo, my hair is a mess, can you fix it for me again?"
The Fairy Bun that Li Nuo had fixed for her last night was now completely disheveled. It was just a matter of braiding, which wouldn't take too long. As Song Mu'er just sat down on the stone bench in the courtyard, another silhouette ran in.
Seeing Li Nuo fixing Song Mu'er's hair, Song Ning'er immediately said, "Me too!"
"I was first!"
"No way, you were first yesterday, it has to be my turn today!"
"I was first!"
"I was first!"
...
The two identical little girls wouldn't stop arguing over who would go first, giving Li Nuo a bit of a headache, so he had them play rock-paper-scissors. In the end, Song Mu'er won. Although young, Song Ning'er was willing to accept the loss, she just sat aside grumpily and said, "Next time I will definitely beat you!"
Two maids from the Song Residence stood behind Li Nuo, attentively learning his hairstyling techniques.
Once they had learned, they would be able to fix the hair for the young misses; they couldn't always have their son-in-law come over.
The two maids occasionally chatted among themselves, and through their conversation, Li Nuo learned that last night the Song Residence had been investigating the theft of the birthday gifts, but it seemed that they had not found the culprit.
Li Nuo actually had a method, almost a hundred percent guarantee to uncover the mastermind, but since this was not a murder case, it was impossible to arrest everyone who was present last night and throw them into the county jail over two pieces of Jade Ruyi.
After arranging the hair of both sisters in turn, one of them, without saying a word, ran off excitedly, while the other stayed, sweetly saying to Li Nuo, "Thank you, Brother Li Nuo."
Unsurprisingly, the one who stayed was Song Mu'er.
Although Li Nuo couldn't tell them apart by appearance, he could distinguish them easily by personality.
Same age, identical looks, even dressed alike, but their temperaments were quite different.
Song Mu'er was well-behaved, adorable, and polite, while Song Ning'er was somewhat willful and capricious—these were the initial impressions Li Nuo had from his brief interactions with the sisters.
Song Mu'er took out a piece of sweet, sticky pastry from her little bag and fed it to Li Nuo as an expression of gratitude, then she fished out a small box from her bag and began dabbing its contents on her face.
Curious, Li Nuo asked, "What are you doing?"
Song Mu'er put a finger to her lips, whispering, "Shh, keep it down, I managed to steal this rouge from mother..."
The love of beauty is inherent in women, regardless of their age.
However, makeup also requires skill, and she soon turned herself into a little cat with smudges.
Watching the little girl dab at her face, Li Nuo once again felt a strange sensation.
This feeling had arisen during their shuttlecock game, and again when he did her hair.
To test his hypothesis, Li Nuo picked up the box of rouge and said, "Let me help you."
The current Song Mu'er had absolute trust in Brother Li Nuo. She sat beside him, her face lifted towards him, and said, "You have to make me prettier than Song Ning'er..."
Li Nuo's hands moved across her face, dabbing here and there, and he borrowed some lip rouge and flower hairpins from a maid. In no time, a brand-new Song Mu'er appeared before him.
No wonder women use so many cosmetics; made up and not made up are indeed not the same.
With just a simple use of some rouge, lip rouge, and attaching a flower hairpin to her forehead, she had transformed from a pretty young girl into a beautiful young princess.
Of course, from the gaping mouths of the two maids beside her, Li Nuo could easily see that his seemingly simple dabbing was not something just anyone could do.
This made him very curious about Assistant Minister Zheng's concubine.
What all could this woman do?
She wasn't only proficient in many areas, but she possessed master-level skills in each; even the Song Residence's maids, certainly no ordinary people, still revealed expressions of divine astonishment.
No, when he went to the County Magistrate's Office today, he must ask in detail what other special skills that woman had that he didn't know about.
It wasn't just her; in the future, when he encountered any criminals who could illuminate portraits in the Law Code, he would have to ask them on the spot as well.
"Young Master."
Housekeeper Wu's figure walked in from outside.
It was getting late, and Li Nuo should head to the County Magistrate's Office to earn his livelihood.
With only a little over twenty days of life left, he couldn't always stay here and play with the young girl.
Song Jiaren had disappeared somewhere, so Li Nuo instructed the Song Residence maid to pass on a message to her that he had left early due to some business.
After waving goodbye to Song Mu'er, Li Nuo and Housekeeper Wu left the Song Family.
No sooner had he gone than Song Mu'er ran to a yard where Song Ning'er, playing on a swing there, stared at her dumbfounded. Although they looked alike, wore the same clothes, had the same jewelry, and the same hair, she just felt that Song Mu'er was countless times more beautiful than herself...
Song Mu'er looked at her with a beaming smile and said, "Pretty, isn't it? Brother Li Nuo painted it for me..."
...
At the entrance of the Song Residence, the Li Mansion carriage was parked there, with Housekeeper Wu sitting on it, surrounded by four elders.
As Li Nuo stepped out of the Song Residence, he glanced back.
He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but he thought he had heard someone crying; yet when he listened closely again, he heard nothing.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Li Nuo joined Housekeeper Wu in the carriage and instructed, "To the County Magistrate's Office!"
Housekeeper Wu, who had intended to return to the Li Mansion, was taken aback, "Ah, to the County Magistrate's Office again?"
The young master had been quite strange in the last few days, not staying at home but running to the County Government every day. Could he possibly be interested in becoming a Law Practitioner?
Despite his reluctance, Housekeeper Wu changed direction, preparing to head towards the Chang'an County Government.
As the carriage turned around, Li Nuo felt a sudden urge and lifted the curtain to look back.
In his gaze was the bustling crowd on Chang'an Street.
Seeing him in a trance, Housekeeper Wu asked, "Young Master, what's wrong?"
Li Nuo shook his head and replied, "It's nothing, let's go."
The continuous assassination attempts had made Li Nuo sensitive, always feeling as if a pair of eyes were watching him from behind.
But, given that even a skilled person like Housekeeper Wu hadn't noticed anything unusual, it was more likely that he was just being paranoid.
Since the previous assassination attempts, his guard detail had been reinforced; though only Housekeeper Wu and four other old men were visible, who knew how many more were concealed nearby? Any passerby walking beside the carriage could be an incognito guard.
With a flick of the reins by Housekeeper Wu, the carriage slowly moved towards the distance.
Meanwhile, not far from the Song Family, at a street corner, a figure wiped the cold sweat off his forehead with trepidation, muttering, "That was close, I almost got caught. Damn it, how can this kid be so perceptive, almost on par with a butterfly. Tracking a butterfly is nothing harder..."
By his side, a voice asked, "What do we do then, we still following him?"
The man waved his hand dismissively, "Forget it, this kid is freaky. If he catches us, ending up in Li Xuanjing's hands would mean neither life nor death would be options for us. It was probably just an accident; too bad for the butterfly's bad luck. Let's go back..."