Li Nuo's question made the woman blush, and twisting her body, she said, "My husband is quite vigorous in that regard; every night he needs at least a half an hour, sometimes even an hour..."
Including Pei Zhe, everyone present was shocked.
An hour!
He, who usually lasted less than fifteen minutes, even less than seven and a half minutes, couldn't imagine what an hour was like. They had just been despising this wife-beater, but now they had to respect him.
No choice but to acknowledge it.
Although Li Nuo was a virgin in both his past and present life, he knew what an hour meant.
It's true what they say, "Every profession produces its own top leaders."
Because of this, he even made a special trip to the prison to see that man and surprisingly found that beneath his frail body lay such incredible strength.
Of course, Li Nuo wasn't the only onlooker.
Even after he had left, Pei Zhe and a few government officials were still gathered at the man's cell door, quietly asking him about what he usually ate, whether he had any special techniques...
Li Nuo didn't stoop to their level.
Because he didn't need to.
Whatever the special skills the man possessed, as long as the portraits in the Law Code were bright, those skills were also Li Nuo's.
Although this particular skill wasn't useful to him now...
It would be of use in the future.
Anticipating putting the domestic abuser in prison and setting a good precedent for others, Li Nuo felt jubilant after having unexpectedly gained a useful skill.
As he passed a certain cell, Li Nuo's steps momentarily paused.
He turned his head to look at the figure sitting in the cell, slightly puzzled. The last time he had visited the prison, she had been gritting her teeth and cursing him as a "rascal dog"; why wasn't she cursing today?
The young girl glanced at him, her eyes filled with complex emotions, then quickly looked away.
Of course, Li Nuo wouldn't stoop as low as to ask her why she wasn't cursing him. After a surprised look at her, he walked out of the prison, and by this time, at the long table near the entrance of the County Magistrate's Office, villagers were already lining up...
Li Nuo's guess was correct – the cases at the County Magistrate's Office were few, not because life under the Emperor was peaceful and people lived contentedly without grievances.
Rather, it was more because the villagers held a certain fearful filter toward the government, usually handling minor disputes themselves or swallowing their complaints; even at the cost of a small loss, they preferred not to step into the government office.
Not to mention in a feudal dynasty, even in modern times, the vast majority of ordinary people lack the awareness or the courage to protect their rightful interests with the law.
Today, however, the situation was different.
Today they didn't need to enter the government office; Li Nuo had moved the office outside, right onto the wide street to handle cases, which narrowed the distance between them and eased the villagers' nervousness about the government, resulting in more and more villagers lining up.
Naturally, the cases they presented weren't serious crimes.
A considerable part was about lost items, hoping the government office could help find them. These minor theft cases were actually difficult to solve, but Li Nuo still had the scribes record each one, just in case the thief was caught later, they could inform the owners.
Only a small portion could be dealt with on the spot.
This small portion was mostly related to marriages, economics, land, and property – issues closely connected to the villagers' lives. There were no severe criminal cases.
Li Nuo wasn't greedy. He understood "slow and steady wins the race", and these minor cases accumulated, achieving no less than major crime cases. He dedicated himself to each case from morning till night, barely managing a quick lunch with a few buns.
As the sun was about to set, and villagers were still queueing up, although his stomach was growling, Li Nuo felt fulfilled.
The reason being, since he had left home in the morning with only twenty-five days left to live, he had already extended it to thirty days.
Though a month was still a short time, at least it was increasing daily, offering a hopeful outlook for the future.
After settling another debt case, an old woman with gray hair, tremblingly walked up and suddenly knelt in front of Li Nuo, crying out, "The Great Lord, please help my daughter!"
Li Nuo quickly helped the old lady to stand up, saying, "Please, madam, take a seat. Tell me your grievances slowly."
As the old woman appeared, the crowd also began to murmur.
"It's Aunt Chen!"
"Aunt Chen is here?"
"Her case is different; if it could have been handled, it would have been done long ago. Why wait until today..."
"Ah, Aunt Chen is really pitiable. Her daughter was promised to a good family, but then she was ravaged, and the engagement was called off. Such a good girl, driven mad just like that..."
"It's truly a sin…"
…
The old woman cried incessantly, which made her speech fragmented and hard to understand.
At that moment, the scribe responsible for recording softly said to Li Nuo, "Young master, I am familiar with this case. Six months ago, this old lady's daughter was raped. She was almost married but when the family that had promised to take her learned of this incident, they broke off the engagement. The girl couldn't handle the shock and went mad..."
Li Nuo furrowed his brows and asked, "Such a big case, and the County Magistrate's Office isn't handling it?"
The scribe shook his head and replied, "They can't handle it. Six months ago, she already came to the County Magistrate's Office, but there was no other witness or physical evidence to conclusively settle the case. Moreover, the man she accused has a prestigious identity, beyond the reach of the Lord County Magistrate..."
Li Nuo looked at Pei Zhe, who immediately shook his head, spread his hands, and said, "I don't know anything about it. It's not my responsibility. I've only been transferred here for a month. The previous County Magistrate was responsible for handling it..."
He certainly didn't plan to take the blame for his predecessor and made it a point to clear his own name immediately.
Li Nuo turned to the scribe and asked, "What is the identity of that man?"
The scribe replied, "He is the son of the Minister of the Examination Bureau of the Ministry of Personnel."
The governmental system of Daxia was similar to that of the Tang Dynasty, but with many differences. Li Nuo, who was just beginning to understand it, asked, "Is the position of Minister of the Examination Bureau a high position?"
Pei Zhe glanced at him, thinking to himself, whether the position of Minister of the Examination Bureau was high depended on who you compared him to…
Compared to most officials, he is a father figure.
Compared to your father, he's nothing but an ant.
The position of the Minister of the Examination Bureau wasn't considered very high, Standard Fifth Rank, on par with his role as Chang'an Prefect. But as part of the Six Departments, the Examination Bureau was in charge of assessing the performance of officials throughout the country and making recommendations for their promotion or punishment. The Minister of the Examination Bureau, as the head of the Examination Bureau, was a person they couldn't afford to offend.
Although he wasn't his direct superior, it would be easy during the performance evaluations to subtly make things difficult for him. If he failed the evaluation for three consecutive years, his official position would be downgraded, and with each successive year of failing, he would be further demoted. After six consecutive years of failing, his official cap would be removed forever, never to be employed again…
Therefore, few officials below the fourth rank in Daxia were willing to offend the Examination Bureau.
He cleared his throat and said to Li Nuo, "The Minister of the Examination Bureau, the head of the Examination Bureau of the Ministry of Personnel, holds a Standard Fifth Rank, overseeing the performance evaluations of officials below the fourth rank in Daxia. To some extent, he has the power to influence the promotions of these officials..."
A Standard Fifth Rank official, equal to the Chang'an County Magistrate in terms of rank, already a high position.
In more remote areas, a Standard Seventh Rank County Magistrate could dominate all around him, holding the power of life and death.
But could the son of a fifth-rank official in Chang'an, right under the emperor's nose, blatantly trample the Law Code?
Li Nuo looked at Pei Zhe and asked, "This case, your County Government dares not handle it?"
Pei Zhe, looking quite helpless, said, "The Minister of the Examination Bureau, including myself, is someone none in the Chang'an County Government can afford to offend. The difficulty with this case isn't about daring to handle it but that it happened six months ago and is hard to gather evidence for. Unless he confesses himself, it's very hard to convict him..."
Li Nuo, of course, understood this.
For him, it was also a dilemma.
Whether the son of the Minister of the Examination Bureau was guilty or not, once he was caught, the "Law Code" would tell him.
The issue was, others didn't know about the existence of the Law Code, and Li Nuo couldn't convict him out of thin air.
The man was, after all, the son of a court official. Even if his father, the Minister of Justice, wanted to arrest and try him, he would need evidence and couldn't act arbitrarily.
That's how it was supposed to be in principle.
The difficulty with this case was in gathering evidence. Li Nuo looked at Pei Zhe and asked, "Where is the previous Chang'an County Magistrate now? Can he be brought in to testify?"
Pei Zhe shook his head, "I'm afraid not."
Li Nuo asked, "Why, isn't he in Chang'an?"
Pei Zhe replied, "He's dead."
The previous Chang'an County Magistrate had been executed by the order of the Minister of Justice. By now, the grass on his grave was probably quite tall.
If he hadn't died, he himself wouldn't be here...