Chapter 80: Draw a Line to Make a Prison
Li Nuo hadn't even finished his cup of tea when a figure walked in from outside.
Li Anning took a teacup, poured himself a cup of tea, sat next to Li Nuo, and said, "The county government is the county government, much smaller than the Ministry of Justice..."
Li Nuo thought that she would go back to her Ministry of Justice soon after her tour, so why was she sitting down to drink tea?
County Magistrate Wang and his men were about to return, so he just made this pot of tea for no reason.
But since she was not in a hurry to leave, Li Nuo could not waste this opportunity.
After all, this was the first Legalist he had met, and a Legalist at a high level.
Li Nuo had often read in books that a powerful person in the fourth realm of the Legalist school could draw a circle on the ground to create a prison with just a thought, but he had never seen it with his own eyes.
He stood up slowly and said with some expectation: "Miss Li, can you show me how to draw a prison on the ground? Don't get me wrong, I don't doubt your ability, I just want to see it..."
"sure."
Li Anning did not hesitate, nodded generously, and said, "Take a step forward and see."
Li Nuo took a step forward, and the next moment, he felt a pain on his forehead, as if he had hit an extremely thick wall.
But there was nothing in front of him.
He changed directions and tried several more times, but the result was the same. It seemed as if there was an invisible wall that trapped him in a small space.
Is this what it means to draw a circle on the ground and confine yourself?
It’s really amazing.
The unique ability of the fourth realm of the Legalists corresponds to the hard labor among the five punishments. It can borrow the power of the laws of heaven and earth to create a domain.
The prisoners in the area cannot come out, and outsiders cannot enter, trapping people to death on the spot.
Although the warriors are also very powerful, not to mention the fourth level, even the fifth level martial arts masters do not have this ability.
This is the uniqueness of the Hundred Schools of Thought.
After hitting a wall countless times, Li Nuo had enough experience and said to Li An Ning: "Miss Li, I have seen it all. Please let me out."
Li An Ning tilted his head and smiled, saying, "Unless you tell me what you found, you'd better stay in there obediently."
“…”
Li Nuo realized that compared with the fourth level of the Legalists, he was still too young.
At home, he was played around by the six-year-old Song Ning'er, and when he went out, he was played around by other women.
That's because my wife is not here, otherwise, how could she have the turn to act so unruly here?
Hey, this woman seems to be in the fourth realm as well. I don’t know if I can beat her. Even if I can, I can’t beat her. After all, she’s a princess…
Since coming to this world, this was the first time that Li Nuo experienced the feeling of being completely crushed in terms of both strength and background.
After a moment, he sat back in his chair, took a sip of tea, and said, "It's nothing, actually. I just noticed something unusual in Han Zhuo's eyes."
Li Anning asked: "What is it?"
Li Nuo said slowly: "When he learned that his mother committed suicide in order not to hinder his studies, there should be sadness, pain, guilt and other emotions in his eyes, but definitely not joy. So, I asked my men to investigate him at Qingfeng Academy, and there should be results soon..."
No one believed the existence of the "Code", so Li Nuo had to come up with his classic reasons.
Li Anning was very surprised after hearing this, and asked in disbelief: "You can see this?"
She only saw Han Zhuo's sadness and sorrow, and thought he was a filial son. Can a person see so many emotions in his eyes?
Is this guy just making things up to fool himself?
A figure walked into the room, bowed to Li Nuo, and said, "Sir, I have found out what you asked me to investigate."
Li Nuo was a little surprised: "So fast?"
After realizing that there might be something wrong with the old woman's son, he immediately arranged for people to investigate him. However, he did not expect that while County Lieutenant Wang and his men were still on the way, the results of the investigation had already been found.
The guard said, "There are Mingjing Division bases around Qingfeng Academy. Han Zhuo is well-known in Qingfeng Academy, so it won't be difficult to find out about him."
This was not the first time that Li Nuo had heard of "Mingjingsi". It seemed to be a secret agency of Daxia, controlled by his father. So, his guards were also from Mingjingsi.
Li Nuo looked at him and said, "What did you find out?"
The guard said slowly, "Han Zhuo is a student in Class A of Qingfeng Academy. He is proficient in all six arts, especially mathematics and painting. He was admitted to Qingfeng Academy as an exception a few years ago. He is one of the seed students that Qingfeng Academy values the most. He has a great chance of passing the next imperial examination..."
Li Nuo nodded. This person did have special skills. His portrait on the code was lit up just now, but he didn't know whether it was mathematics or painting.
But this was not what Li Nuo was concerned about. He looked at the guard and said, "Anything else?"
The guard continued, "Although the imperial examination is still half a year away, Han Zhuo has already been favored by some high-ranking families in Chang'an. It is said that the youngest daughter of the Marquis of Huaiyang is impressed by Han Zhuo's talent and appearance and wants to marry him..."
Li Anning took a sip of tea. He was not surprised by such things.
The officials of Daxia could only be selected from the imperial examination. Those students in the academy with excellent academic performance were likely to be the future upstarts in officialdom and the targets of recruitment by the various princes and nobles and major power groups in Chang'an.
If we wait until after the imperial examination to make sure they have passed the imperial examination and then recruit them, the competition will be too fierce and the cost will be even greater.
Therefore, some bigwigs in Chang'an would choose to recruit them early when they are still students.
Recruiting a son-in-law is their most common method.
Li Nuo looked at the guard and said, "Continue."
The guard continued, "Han Zhuo has agreed to marry the daughter of the Marquis of Huaiyang, but the daughter seems to have some opinions about Han Zhuo's mother. She once said in public that she didn't want to live with Han Zhuo's mother after marriage. The two had a quarrel over this matter..."
Li Anning frowned when he heard this.
She had no doubt about the intelligence from the Mirror Bureau.
The Marquis of Huaiyang was a nobleman with a title. His rank was not among the court officials, and he was the real powerful person in Chang'an.
It is normal that the daughter of a marquis has been pampered and spoiled since childhood and is unwilling to serve others.
But Han Zhuo's current success is due to his mother's hard work for more than ten years. If, after becoming successful, he abandons his mother who gave birth to him, raised him, and worked hard to support his studies in order to curry favor with a wealthy family, what is the difference between him and an animal?
If he really did this, once the court found out, even if he was already an official, he would be stripped of his official hat, severely punished with a hundred sticks, and never be employed again in his life.
Between the noble daughter and his mother, he could only choose his mother, he had no other choice.
Li An Ning finally realized something and frowned, "Could it be that Han Zhuo's mother didn't hang herself because she was seriously ill and didn't want to burden her son, but because she wanted to make Han Zhuo and the daughter of the Huaiyang Marquis's mansion a success?"
If his mother were still alive, Han Zhuo would certainly not abandon her in order to curry favor with the powerful due to moral pressure.
But if his mother died, Han Zhuo would not have to make any more choices.
Once he passed the imperial examination, he could take office immediately after observing a one-year mourning period, and his marriage and childbearing would not be affected.
Li Nuo shook his head. If she had committed suicide without telling her son, Han Zhuo's portrait would not have appeared in the Code.
He pondered for a moment and said, "I suspect that Han Zhuo instigated his mother to commit suicide."
Li Anning looked at Li Nuo with shock in his eyes and asked, "Where is the evidence?"
Although both are suicide, the meanings of Han's mother committing suicide without telling her son and committing suicide after being instigated by her son are completely different.
If Han Zhuo had no prior knowledge of his mother's death, then this case would be a human tragedy led by a great mother for the sake of her son's future, and Han Zhuo would not be punished.
But if her death was instigated by her son, it would be a great act of treason and against human ethics.
According to Daxia law, such beasts who indirectly murder their mothers should be hanged!
Even if the neighbor instigated Han's mother to hang herself, as long as the neighbor did not do it directly, he would be sentenced to three years in prison at most.
But Han Zhuo was her son, and Daxia valued filial piety the most. A son killing his mother was one of the ten evils. Even if it was just an idea and not carried out personally, it was still unacceptable by the laws of nature and the law.
Li Nuo's evidence is the code.
But he could only shake his head and say, "There is no evidence."
Li Anning did not refute Li Nuo this time. Although she had no evidence, she had judged countless cases. From the information she had investigated from Han Zhuo, his suspicion was not impossible.
She pondered for a moment and asked, "What are you going to do next? He is a student of the academy. Without solid evidence, we cannot torture him. Those students of the academy are not easy to mess with..."
Although these young students do not hold official positions, many of them are future officials.
The imperial court has always attached great importance to them.
As long as they gather together and sit in front of the yamen, even if they say nothing and do nothing, but just sit there quietly, the chief official of this yamen will definitely fail the comprehensive assessment this year.
Pei Zhe didn't know how long he had been standing outside the door, but he knew he couldn't stand there any longer.
This matter was messed up and he lost his official hat.
He walked in quickly and said hurriedly: "Sir, speaking of this case, I have a plan, maybe you can try it..."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
