Chapter 92: An Imperial Decree

The next day.

When Li Nuo got up, he saw his wife sitting at the table, still fiddling with the vase of flowers.

Li Nuo did not have the heart to tell her that this skill was much more difficult than reading and writing, and without several years of practice, it would be impossible to achieve such results.

He planned to ask for another bottle and give it to her when he passed by Yuyin Pavilion today.

Li Nuo walked to the table and picked up the sword she had placed on the table.

Song Jiaren tilted her head to take a look and continued to deal with the flowers.

Li Nuo looked at the long sword in his hand. His wife treasured this sword very much and always carried it with her.

This is a silver sword for women. The blade is narrow and three feet long. There are two small characters engraved below the hilt, and the name is "Qingshuang".

Li Nuo drew his sword from its scabbard and waved it a few times, but he could no longer make beautiful sword flowers like he did yesterday.

On the code, the portrait of the Chu assassin has also faded.

However, even if it is just a one-day trial card, it is already amazing.

After all, he only needs to spend one day of his life to obtain skills that others have practiced for years or even decades. If he asks for more, it would seem a bit greedy.

When Song Jiaren saw Li Nuo's actions, she knew what he wanted to do.

Her husband had always taught her things, and now she finally had the chance to teach him.

She stopped fiddling with the flower arrangements and said, "You want to learn how to make sword-shaped flowers? I'll teach you."

Li Nuo actually just wanted to verify whether the new ability had lost its effect, but since his wife said so, he nodded slightly.

More interactions on a daily basis will help enhance the relationship between the two.

What's more, the sword flower movement is really cool...

Song Jiaren took the sword from Li Nuo, demonstrated it a few times, and then handed the sword back to Li Nuo.

Li Nuo tried to follow suit, but because he had no martial arts skills, he couldn't do it well.

Song Jiaren let Li Nuo hold the sword, and she held Li Nuo's hand and taught him step by step.

Hard work pays off, and after a while, his movements became much more standard.

Feeling that he was almost ready, Li Nuo returned the sword to her and said, "I'll go to the county government first and come back to learn."

Song Jiaren nodded and said, "Okay."

He taught her mathematics and she taught him sword techniques, and she thought it was great.

Steward Wu held a dogtail grass in his mouth and waited for Li Nuo by the gate. When Li Nuo walked out of the Song Mansion gate and was about to get on the carriage, he gave Li Nuo a thumbs up and said with a smile: "Young Master is really good. The old master didn't have this ability back then. Young Master is really better than the old master..."

The sword-flower movement is so simple that you can learn it just by watching it for a few times.

He has lived for decades, how could he not see that the young master was deliberately creating opportunities to get along with the young mistress.

Only the young lady couldn't see it.

Li Nuo felt that it was not bad that his wife was stupid. At least, she really thought that he could not learn those simple movements.

He just didn't want to waste the opportunity to be guided by her.

The two of them went from not speaking to each other for three days at the beginning to being accustomed to this level of contact now, and it only took a month.

At this rate, there may be further development next month.

In terms of the six arts of a gentleman, Li Nuo certainly cannot compare to his father who was the top scorer in six subjects, but when it comes to pursuing girls, although he himself has no experience, he should be better than his father who has no idea about romance.

Li Nuo asked curiously, "How did my father and mother know each other?"

Butler Wu recalled the past and said with a smile, "The master and the mistress are childhood sweethearts. They knew each other when they were still crawling on the ground."

Childhood sweetheart Li Nuo is indeed incomparable. He was a fool when he was young, and probably no girl would be willing to play with him. There are not many girls as kind as Mu'er.

Arriving at the county government office, Li Nuo just jumped off the carriage and found that there was something unusual about the county government office today.

Two unfamiliar official sedan chairs were parked outside the county government office.

Li Nuo recognized the sedan chairs of the three chief officials of the Chang'an County Government, and it was not any of them.

He walked into the county government office and saw County Magistrate Pei, County Assistant Magistrate Zhang, and County Lieutenant Wang standing there obediently and properly in the courtyard.

There were two other men in official uniforms standing in front of them. One of them was holding a piece of yellow paper in his hand and seemed to be announcing something.

Li Nuo only heard him say that Pei Zhe, the magistrate of Chang'an County, neglected his duties and made trouble in court, so he was suspended for one month and fined for half a year. Zhang Yue, the county magistrate, and Wang Zhong, the county lieutenant, failed to correct the mistakes of their chief officer in time, and were also derelict in their duties. They were fined for three months as a punishment. If they commit the same offense again, they will be punished more severely...

The three chief officials of the Chang'an County Yamen could only stand in the yard obediently and receive training honestly.

After handing the yellow paper to Pei Zhe, the two officials walked away arrogantly. Li Nuo stepped forward and Pei Zhe looked at him bitterly, saying helplessly, "Sir, this is not good..."

Li Nuo took the yellow paper from Pei Zhe.

This is an imperial edict, with the four words "Zhongshu Menxia" on it, indicating that this edict was issued directly from the three provinces.

The imperial edict pointed out the dereliction of duty of Pei Zhe and the other two in no uncertain terms. Although Li Nuo was not mentioned explicitly, every sentence was talking about Li Nuo.

Playing in court...isn't this just pointing at him?

Although he was the son of the Supreme Court Minister of the current dynasty, Li Nuo himself had no fame or title. In the final analysis, he was just an ordinary citizen and had no qualifications to replace the county magistrate to try cases in court.

Li Nuo has always known this.

There are also clear provisions on this in the laws of the imperial court.

The reason why he was able to successfully try and judge cases during the past month was that although this matter violated the law, it was not very harmful. What's more, it was done for the people, so the relevant departments turned a blind eye to it.

Of course, the more important reason is that he has a good father.

It's like Li Anning, a woman, took over the Ministry of Justice, and no one dared to say anything.

This matter is not of great importance, but once it is taken seriously, Magistrate Pei will at least be charged with dereliction of duty.

This year's performance appraisal will probably also be affected.

The key is that the court acts in accordance with the law, and no one can find any fault with it.

But even a fool could see that this was aimed at Li Nuo, and Pei Zhe and others were just implicated.

Li Nuo clasped his fists to them and said, "I'm sorry, I have caused you trouble. I will double the salary that the court has fined you."

County Magistrate Zhang was terrified and said immediately, "Sir, please don't say that. It is my honor to work for you. Even if I am punished by the court, I am willing to do it."

In official circles, the most stable relationship is not the one in which two people have made political achievements together, but the one in which two people have done bad things together.

The relationship between corrupt officials is often much more stable than that between honest officials.

When working for the young master, he will mostly remember his contributions.

But since he had been punished for the young master, he would still remember his hard work.

It's just three months' salary. If it can win the young master's sympathy, it's nothing.

This imperial edict completely disrupted Li Nuo's plan.

Although the imperial edict did not explicitly prohibit him from continuing to try the case, if Pei Zhe and the others continued to give him the green light, their position would be over.

In other words, he was banned.

Under normal circumstances, to practice Legalism, one must pass the imperial examination, gain fame, and obtain an official position.

Even if he is just a small county lieutenant, he can amend the law openly without fear of anyone finding fault with him.

If anyone in the three provinces dared to obstruct, Li Nuo would go to his father to complain.

But right now…

He really had no choice.

Both he and Li Anning were legalists who revised their laws outside the normal framework, and the title bestowed upon him by the imperial court was reasonable and legal.

However, he had been trying cases for more than a month and had sentenced many children of the rich and powerful without any accidents. But today...

A pig-like face suddenly appeared in Li Nuo's mind.

Li Yuan...could it be him?

Li Nuo couldn't make any more judgment on today's case.

As soon as he walked out of the Chang'an County Government Office, he saw a familiar face.

Li Yuan gently waved the folding fan in his hand and said with a smile: "The weather is really nice today, Brother Li Nuo, we meet again."

Just one day later, the wounds on his face disappeared without a trace, and he returned to his elegant and noble appearance. He must have used some healing treasure.

It's not surprising that a first-class marquisate has such things.

Li Nuo looked at him and said, "It's you."

Li Yuan put away his folding fan and said with a smile: "What's wrong with me? You like to talk about the law, so I will talk to you about the law. The law of Daxia stipulates that those without official positions have no right to hear cases. What? You are a law-maker. Do you think your law only applies to others and not yourself?"

What I said...

Li Nuo really had no way to refute it.

I am not afraid of hooligans acting like scoundrels, I am afraid of hooligans who are educated.

Li Yuan was obviously a cultured gangster. In just half a day, he had investigated his affairs thoroughly and even found out that he was amending the law.

Not only that, he was also able to get the three provinces to issue an edict against him in such a short period of time. This shows that the Yunyang Marquisate is indeed very powerful in the court.

Li Nuo glanced at Li Yuan, and immediately retreated behind the old men, asking provocatively: "What, do you want to fight? Come on..."

Butler Wu stepped forward and said to Li Nuo, "Master, this guy brought six fourth-level cultivators with him today. He came prepared. It's best not to fight with them here."

Li Nuo was not prepared to take action, nor did he have any reason to do so.

Today's Li Yuan is not as arrogant as yesterday. He knows how to use the weapon of law to protect himself. If Li Nuo takes action, wouldn't that be exactly what he wants?

On the way back to the Song Mansion, Li Nuo felt very upset.

These days, because of his father's identity, he has been able to use dimensionality reduction attacks on other playboys, and he has never encountered any obstacles on the road to amending the law.

But this Li Yuan did cause him a lot of trouble.

The other party's father was a third-rank noble, and his own father was a third-rank civil servant. They belonged to different fields, and neither could do anything to the other.

Li Yuan's identity is even more advantageous than Li Nuo's.

If Li Nuo's father had died, he would have become an ordinary citizen, but if Yunyang Marquis died, Li Yuan would be the new Yunyang Marquis.

Although his title would be downgraded, he would still be an upper-class noble in Daxia.

In their first battle yesterday, Li Nuo won slightly.

In today's confrontation, Li Yuan won a great victory.

Not only was he suppressed verbally, but he was also completely banned by the court. He could no longer judge cases, let alone break through the border. Even his life was in danger...

…

Song Mansion.

Li Nuo came back very early today, but after returning to the courtyard, he sat alone in the pavilion, not knowing what he was thinking about.

Seeing that he seemed to be thinking about something, Song Muer did not go over to disturb him.

Song Jiaren also noticed something was wrong. Although she seemed to be practicing sword in the yard, she had actually secretly looked in his direction countless times.

Soon, Butler Wu came over from outside and came to Li Nuo's side and said, "Young Master, I have checked it out. This morning, some dignitaries headed by Yunyang Hou jointly submitted a petition to the Central Secretariat, impeaching the Chang'an County Magistrate for dereliction of duty and allowing people without official positions to occupy the court. They urged the three ministries to deal with it immediately, which is why there was that imperial edict..."

On the way back to the Song Mansion just now, Li Nuo learned about the ecology of the powerful and wealthy in Daxia from the butler Wu.

There are nine levels of noble titles, including Prince, Duke of a County, Marquis of the third class, Earl of the second class, Viscount of the first class.

In order to prevent the number of nobles from increasing, the titles of these nobles would be reduced by one level with each generation. Even a prince would become a commoner after nine generations.

Daxia had been established for hundreds of years, and the descendants of those nobles of different surnames at the time of the founding of the country had long since become commoners.

Today's Daxia nobles, without exception, are of the royal bloodline of the Li family.

Although they do not hold power directly, they still have the right to participate in politics and are an extremely powerful force in the court.

The powerful and wealthy enjoyed certain privileges, and the memorials they submitted had to be processed by the three provinces, which was the origin of that imperial edict.

The memorial from Marquis Yunyang was submitted this morning. After the Secretariat checked and found no errors, it was immediately submitted to the Ministry of Personnel. After the Ministry of Personnel reviewed and approved it, it was immediately handed over to the Ministry of State Affairs for execution.

Li Nuo was delayed for a while this morning as he was learning sword skills with his wife, which resulted in the imperial edict arriving at the county government office earlier than he did.

Li Yuan did this obviously to disgust Li Nuo.

Perhaps Li Yuan himself didn't know that his casual action had hit Li Nuo's weak spot.

It is the true gate of life.

Although judging cases is not the only source of his increased lifespan, personally solving difficult cases also counts, but this doesn't happen every day.

Relying solely on solving cases, the speed at which your lifespan increases is far less than its consumption.

Butler Wu sighed and said helplessly: "Young Master, this time the imperial edict was issued directly by the three provinces. All procedures are reasonable and legal. Even the master can't help you..."

Li Nuo waved his hand and said, "It's okay."

After this incident, he figured out one thing.

Being affiliated with the Chang'an County Government in this way is not a long-term solution. After all, most of the matters handled by the Chang'an County Government are trivial, and the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple are the ones that can really do big things.

Since the court has banned his account, he will create another one.

Since he couldn't judge a case without an official position, he took an examination to become one.

Isn’t it just the imperial examination? My father ranked first in all six subjects that year. As his son, I cannot embarrass him.

Seeing that Li Nuo didn't speak for a long time, Butler Wu stretched out his hand and waved it in front of him, saying: "Master, Master..."

He sighed and said, "In fact, if you don't want to practice Legalism, practicing Medicine is also good. The true Qi of a doctor can strengthen the body, prolong life, save the world and the people, and do things for the people..."

Li Nuo looked at Butler Wu and said, "I've made up my mind."

Butler Wu was stunned and asked, "Young Master, are you going to become a doctor?"

Li Nuo said: "I want to take the imperial examination."

Butler Wu's body trembled. After a long silence, he held Li Nuo's hand tightly and said excitedly: "Master, I have been waiting for you to say this for eighteen years!"

Nineteen years ago, in the imperial examination, Li Xuanjing won the top spot in six subjects, shocking the world.

A year later, his child was born, but he was a born fool.

For the past eighteen years, he has already considered himself a member of the Li family and has been waiting for a miracle to happen.

He had finally waited for this moment.

He looked at Li Nuo and said excitedly: "There are still more than four years until the imperial examination. As long as you prepare well, you will definitely pass the exam!"

In fact, the next imperial examination will be held in half a year.

But the young master has been stupid for eighteen years and has just started to improve. He has not yet started to learn the Six Arts. He will definitely not be able to catch up with the next imperial examination. However, it is still very likely that he will be able to catch up with the one after that four years later.

After all, he is the master's son. Even if he can't be the top scorer in six subjects like the master, it should be no problem for him to pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi, right?

Li Nuo did not tell Butler Wu that he would take part in the imperial examination in half a year.

Four years is too long. If he can’t judge the case, he won’t live that long.

It's only six months, and he hasn't even started learning the Six Arts. It seems that he can't compare with those academy students who have studied hard for ten or twenty years, but he is not without a chance.

Li Nuo's eyes swept across the code and paused on the portraits of Gu Yanran and Han Zhuo.

One of them is proficient in calligraphy and the other is well versed in painting.

Both of these questions are tested in the imperial examination.

If there were a few more portraits like this on the law code, even if I couldn't be the top scorer in six subjects like my father, I should have no problem passing the imperial examination and becoming a Jinshi, right?

My father-in-law is a Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel, an official position for newly graduated Jinshi, appointed by the Ministry of Personnel.

As long as he could pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi, even if he was only the last one, he could be arranged to work in the Ministry of Justice or the Dali Temple through the relationship of his father-in-law.

The Ministry of Justice has a warm-hearted senior named Li Anning.

Dali Temple has a father.

By then, who could stop him from trying the case?

Within such a short period of time, Li Nuo has already arranged his future path.

Now there is only one problem left.

How is the imperial examination conducted?

Because his previous cultivation path had been smooth, Li Nuo did not have a deep understanding of the Great Xia imperial examination.

He only knew that the imperial examination mainly tested the Six Arts, namely "ritual, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics", but the Six Arts covered a lot of content, and he had no idea what exactly was tested, how it was tested, and in what form it was tested.

So Li Nuo planned to ask Song Yu.

He did not have any books introducing the imperial examination. Song Yu was a current candidate and must be familiar with the process of the imperial examination.

When Li Nuo came to Song Yu's yard, he found that there were other people there.

Song Qian put her hands on her hips and angrily asked, "Who beat you up like this?"

Song Yu trembled and refused to speak until Song Qian twisted his ears. Then he said hurriedly: "I'll tell you, it's Li Yuan, the son of Yunyang Marquis. Sister, please let me go. It hurts..."

Song Qian let go of her hand, frowned, and said, "What's wrong with being the son of Yunyang Marquis? Can the son of a rich and powerful person bully others? Dad is really a fool. He just watched you being bullied like this?"

Song Yu quickly said, "It's okay, my brother-in-law has helped me get revenge. Li Yuan was beaten worse by him than I was. Don't be angry."

Li Nuo came over, and Song Yu quickly stood up and said, "Brother-in-law, you're here!"

Although Song Qian was jealous of Song Jiaren, she still expressed her gratitude to Li Nuo in person for helping her brother.

Song Qian's husband, who was standing behind her, also nodded slightly to Li Nuo as a greeting.

Song Qian was obviously very angry about her brother being beaten, and said angrily: "These powerful people in Chang'an are really too lawless. Is there no one who can control them?"

Song Yu was helpless about this and said with emotion: "Who let him be surnamed Li? The laws of Daxia are the laws of the Li family. Not to mention hurting people, Li Yuan has also killed people, and the court didn't do anything about it..."

Song Qian and his wife were here. Li Nuo had planned to come over later. He had just taken a step when he heard Song Yu's words. He turned around and asked, "Kill someone? Who did you kill? Please tell me clearly..."

(End of this chapter)