Chapter 78: Eating Alone [asking for monthly ticket]
"mother!"
After a shrill voice, the scholar in green clothes quickly ran into the house.
Halfway through the run, his body suddenly stopped, and he moved forward step by step with difficulty, as if he wanted to confirm something but found it difficult to accept the result of the confirmation.
When the people in the courtyard saw this true expression of love, they all sighed with sorrow.
He walked to the door and saw the straw mat covered with white cloth. His body went limp and he almost collapsed to the ground. Seeing this, two neighbors hurriedly supported him.
Finally, the scholar in green forced himself to walk in slowly. Soon, a heart-wrenching sound came from the house.
"Mom, why are you so stupid!"
"Why don't you wait for me!"
"There must be a way. When I earn enough money, I will ask the miracle doctor to cure your illness!"
"mother!"
…
The shrill screams made those who heard them sad and those who saw them shed tears.
This was truly a human tragedy. The crowd was sobbing continuously. Even Butler Wu and the four guards beside Li Nuo sighed deeply.
The woman in black wiped her tears and glanced inadvertently at the good-looking young official in Chang'an County Government. She found that not only was he not moved, but his expression was also very cold, which formed a sharp contrast with the people around him.
What? As a court official, he doesn’t even have an ounce of sympathy. Can such a person be a good official?
She actually liked him quite a lot.
After all, it was rare to find law-abiding officials in the court today. It was so hard to find a fellow practitioner, but I didn't expect him to be so hard-hearted...
This instantly destroyed the good impression she had of him when they first met.
As time passed, the people watching in the courtyard gradually dispersed.
After an unknown amount of time, the scholar in blue came out of the room and walked into the courtyard. He wiped his tears with his sleeves, bowed to the people in the Chang'an County Office and the Ministry of Justice, and said in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry to trouble you all..."
County Magistrate Wang sighed, patted him on the shoulder and said, "The dead are gone, and the living should live well."
He took out a silver ingot from his bosom and placed it in the hands of the scholar in blue shirt. He said with hope in his eyes: "This is a little gift from me. Take good care of your mother's funeral, then go back to the academy to study, and strive to pass the imperial examination next year. Don't bring shame to our Qingfeng Academy."
The scholar in blue shirt tightly grasped the silver ingot and choked up, "Thank you, sir!"
Seeing this, the woman in black also took out a silver ingot and said to the scholar in green: "Your mother sacrificed her life for you. If you prepare a grand funeral for her, she will be happy if she knows about it..."
She picked up a bamboo basket that was drying in the yard, put the silver ingot in it, and then held the bamboo basket and walked past the constables from the Ministry of Justice and the Chang'an County Government. Everyone also took out some copper coins and silver and put them in the bamboo basket.
When he reached Li Nuo, he stopped.
She looked at Li Nuo.
Li Nuo looked at her.
Seeing that Li Nuo didn't say anything, she nodded at the bamboo basket.
Li Nuo understood what she meant, shook his head and said, "I don't have any money."
The woman in black frowned and said, "Even the constables in your county government donated money, but you didn't. As an official of the imperial court, how can you be so unsympathetic?"
Li Nuo really has no money.
He has never touched money in all the time he has been in this world.
Whenever you need to buy something when you are out, Butler Wu or my wife will pay for it.
He looked at the woman in black and said, "I am not a court official."
"You are not a court official?" The woman in black was stunned, and then said: "You are not a court official, what are you doing here? No, you are not an official, how can you practice Legalism? Don't lie to me..."
Li Nuo muttered in his heart, she couldn't possibly be a court official, how could she practice Legalism, not only did she practice, but her practice was much higher than his...
At this time, a constable from the Ministry of Justice came forward and whispered something in her ear.
The black-clothed woman's eyes widened, obviously shocked by the news. She stared at Li Nuo in disbelief, "He is Li Xuanjing's son? Li Xuanjing's son is a cultivator, are you kidding me..."
Li Nuo retracted his thought that this woman looked very similar to his wife.
My wife doesn't talk as much as she does.
He looked at the people from the Ministry of Justice and asked, "Hasn't your Ministry of Justice already closed the case? Why aren't you leaving yet?"
After discovering that this woman was also a practitioner of law, Li Nuo became wary of her.
Legalism is not martial arts. Everyone practices his own way and does not affect each other. The number of criminals is limited. If someone catches one more, someone else will catch one less.
So the disciples of the Legalist School are actually in competition with each other, and Li Nuo doesn't want his case to be snatched away by her.
The woman in black had originally planned to leave, but hearing these words instead aroused her rebellious psychology.
She wanted to cross her arms, but she couldn't, so she had to put them behind her back and said, "Who said the Ministry of Justice has closed the case? I found some suspicious points in this case, isn't that okay?"
Li Nuo crossed his arms and asked, "What's the doubt?"
The black-clothed woman rolled her eyes and said, "I..."
After thinking about it for a long time, I couldn't come up with a reason, so I just puffed out my chest and said, "Why should I tell you?"
Li Nuo was forced to take a step back by her and decided not to argue with her on this issue.
He had no intention of arguing with her. Since this person's portrait appeared in the law code, it meant that this person had a direct relationship with his mother's death. This case was by no means as simple as it appeared on the surface.
He looked at the scholar in green and asked, "Your name is Han Zhuo, a student of Qingfeng Academy?"
The scholar in blue shirt looked sad: "Yes."
Li Nuo glanced at County Lieutenant Wang and said, "Come with us to the county government office."
Everyone was slightly stunned.
The other person's mother had just died and there was no time to prepare for her funeral, so why did he take her to the county government?
Li Nuo explained: "After all, this is a murder case. He is the son of the deceased. When Lord Pei closes the case, he will need to provide some confessions. He will also be required to be present when the deceased's household registration is cancelled. As for the neighbors, please ask them to go to the county government office..."
Although Li Nuo already knew that the old woman's death was closely related to his son Han Zhuo, he did not point it out directly.
One reason was that he needed to do some research first.
Another reason is that there is only one case, but there are two lawmakers.
It's not that Li Nuo is stingy and doesn't want to share the credit with her. It's really a matter of life and property. What is being shared is not the credit, but his life.
Besides, the other party didn't find anything and directly ruled it as suicide, so he didn't think he was being selfish.
Li Nuo's explanation was well-founded. When someone in the county dies, the deceased's relatives must go to the county government to cancel their household registration. When a newborn is born, they must also report to the county government. The county government uses this to calculate the annual population increase and decrease in the jurisdiction.
The woman in black frowned and said, "There is no rush to cancel the household registration. Death is the most important thing. It is better to bury the deceased as soon as possible. After he has arranged the funeral for his mother, it will not be too late to go to the county government to cancel the household registration."
Li Nuo said, "If we go and come back quickly, half an hour will be enough. After we are done, I will have someone send him back on a fast horse. It won't delay anything."
After that, he said to the housekeeper Wu: "Send someone to buy a good coffin now and send it here. Then buy some funeral supplies and invite some monks and Taoists to pray for the old man. All the expenses of the old man's funeral will be borne by our Li Mansion..."
After hearing these words, everyone in the Ministry of Justice couldn't help but feel ashamed of their previous thoughts.
I thought this gentleman was a miser who would never spend a penny, but I didn't expect him to be more thoughtful.
This student from the academy just lost a relative, so how could he have the energy to prepare such a complicated matter? It would be useless to give him more money...
The scholar in blue also looked grateful and bowed to Li Nuo: "Thank you, sir!"
Li Nuo patted his shoulder gently and said, "I am so sorry for the loss. If you encounter any difficulties, you can come to the county government to find us."
The scholar in green shirt expressed his gratitude again.
County Captain Wang took him and selected a few neighbors to the county government office to provide testimony. Li Nuo breathed a sigh of relief and walked out of the courtyard with Steward Wu. When they were about to get on the carriage, they turned back and almost bumped into two perky and plump breasts.
Fortunately, he braked in time. Li Nuo looked at the woman in black and asked, "Why are you following us if you are not going back to the Ministry of Justice?"
The black-clad woman stared at Li Nuo with her bright eyes and said, "I suspect you want to eat alone."
(End of this chapter)
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