Chapter 15 The Chosen Worker
Upon hearing that the prisoner had committed suicide, Pei Zhe hurried to the prison. Two jailers looked at a body lying on a straw mat and said with a sad face, "I'm sorry, sir. It was my fault. I didn't keep an eye on her and she hit her head against the wall and committed suicide."
Pei Zhe checked the body, asked several jailers and the prisoners in the adjacent cell, and confirmed that the woman had indeed committed suicide. He waved his hand and said, "It seems that she also understands that compared to beheading, suicide can leave a whole body. This is not your fault. The body will be temporarily stored in the morgue, and I will report it truthfully..."
"If I had known this, why would I have done it in the first place..."
Pei Zhe sighed at the corpse on the ground and left with his hands behind his back. When he was about to leave the cell, a voice suddenly said, "This is not a simple suicide. She was very calm at first, but after hearing the music of "Cloud Gate" outside, she suddenly became anxious. As soon as the music stopped, she committed suicide. The music was a kind of message. There must be someone else behind this case..."
Pei Zhe paused, glanced at the corpse being carried away, turned his head to look at the girl who was imprisoned in a cell, and said, "I am a Jinshi in the 14th year of the Zhisheng reign. There were 50 people who passed the Jinshi with me that year, but now there are less than 20 of them alive. Yet, I have been able to live in peace for so many years, with a small promotion every three years and a big promotion every five years. Do you know why?"
The girl asked in confusion, "Why?"
Pei Zhe said: "Because I never ask why."
“…”
As the girl looked at him in bewilderment, he slowly said, "Child, remember, in Chang'an, you can have anything except curiosity, because you never know what kind of vortex is behind this door of curiosity... Never tell anyone about what you just saw, understand? Otherwise, my efforts to save you will be in vain."
Gu Yanran thought for a moment, looked up at Pei Zhe, and asked, "Since you are so cautious, why did you take the risk to save me?"
The Chang'an County Magistrate did not say anything, but just patted his chest lightly.
The girl was silent for a long time, and finally nodded slowly and said, "No matter what, I have to thank you for saving my life."
She knew very well that assassinating her master as a slave was a capital crime in Daxia.
If the Chang'an County Magistrate had not shown mercy, she would have been beheaded long ago.
Pei Zhe waved his hand and said, "The person you should thank the most is not me, but Li Nuo. You should know that if it were someone else, you would not have the opportunity to come to the Chang'an County Government. You would die in the dungeon of a high-ranking family in Chang'an. Before you die, you will suffer humiliation and torture, and no one will ever know about your death..."
Gu Yanran bit her lip. Of course she knew all this.
Before taking action, she had already prepared herself mentally for this.
Li Nuo didn't kill her, nor did he do anything to her. He just sent her to the county government office. This was indeed beyond her expectations, but how could she thank the son of the enemy who killed her father?
Pei Zhe knew her inner struggle, sighed, and said: "He should have known just now that I spared your life out of personal favoritism, but he did not point it out, so you should not call him a "bastard", he is your lifesaver..."
The girl had bitten her lower lip until it bled, and she murmured, "Why?"
Pei Zhe shrugged and said, "You have to ask him about this question..."
Although he had only known Li Nuo for a short day, his intuition based on years of experience in officialdom told him that the son of the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple did not seem to be a bad person.
Leaving the woman alone to think quietly, Pei Zhe walked out of the cell with his hands behind his back.
Returning to the county government yard, Pei Zhe habitually touched his waist with his right hand. His expression changed, and he suddenly lowered his head and asked in surprise: "Where is my badge?"
At the same time, on a carriage on Chang'an Street, Li Nuo looked at a jade token in his hand and rubbed his brows with a headache. Although the "Code" was good, the side effects made him unable to guard against them. The beautiful calligraphy was fine, but this habit of stealing was nothing...
This unfamiliar sign was most likely something he had just accidentally taken from the Chang'an County Magistrate.
Although Li Nuo has been very careful, there is still no way to avoid it completely.
Butler Wu glanced at the jade token in his hand and advised earnestly, "Young Master, you are not allowed to carry the Fengqi Tower token with you. If the young mistress sees it, you know the consequences..."
Li Nuo had heard of Fengqi Tower when he was trying a case. It seemed to be a famous brothel in Chang'an.
He made a prompt decision: "Quick, turn around and go back to the county government office!"
A moment later, Chang'an County Government Office.
Li Nuo returned the Fengqilou VVVIP jade token to the Chang'an County Magistrate and said, "I just found it in the government office. Sir Pei, please help me find the owner."
Pei Zhe breathed a sigh of relief. After taking the jade token, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely find the owner and hand it over to him."
After returning the property to its original owner, Li Nuo left the county government office again and borrowed the thick volume of "Daxia Law" from the Chang'an County Magistrate. Since he wanted to follow the path of the Legalists, he had to judge cases frequently and of course had to be familiar with the laws of Daxia.
Although this book "Daxia Law" is thick, it is still far from enough compared with the bar exam.
The Daxia government office closed early, around 4 p.m., and Li Nuo went to bed at 10 p.m. He couldn't waste such a long time, so of course he had to make use of it to catch up on the knowledge he had missed.
…
Dali Temple.
His so-called wife was nowhere to be seen the whole day. His father, whom he had never met, was busy with official business and seldom came home. Li Nuo had dinner alone again, but for him, being alone was comfortable. After dinner, Li Nuo locked himself in the room.
On the table in front of him was a pile of thick books.
In addition to the "Daxia Law" borrowed from the Chang'an County Magistrate, Li Nuo also asked the housekeeper Wu to find some books on history, geography, and various schools of thought.
These are the basis for understanding this world. The characters of Daxia are similar to traditional Chinese characters. Li Nuo finds it a little difficult to read, but he can understand most of it. For some places with many new characters, if he really doesn't understand, he will look up the characters in a book first.
This book, called "Shuowen", was written by a Confucian sage. It includes almost all commonly used characters and provides detailed explanations of the shape and meaning of each character. It is often used as a dictionary.
There is more than one country called Daxia in this world, but Li Nuo did not have a detailed understanding of other countries. He just took a quick glance and then focused his attention on the various schools of thought.
He was more interested in these things.
Among the various schools of thought, not all have the ability to practice, and most of them are just a name.
For example, foodies are just a group of ordinary people who like to delve into food.
There is also the term "fisherman", which is just a self-proclaimed term for fishermen.
There are only a little over ten families that have truly mainstream systems, can practice and possess powerful strength. These ten or so families once had extreme glory hundreds of years ago, but with the changes of the times, most of them gradually declined due to their own limitations and the limitations of the times.
Among all schools of thought today, Confucianism undoubtedly has the largest number of followers, but today's Confucianism is no longer the Confucianism of hundreds of years ago.
Although there are many disciples, most of them remain in the low realm. Those in the fourth realm are rare, and those in the fifth realm are even rarer. As for the semi-saints in the sixth realm and the Confucian saints in the seventh realm, there is not a single one.
Today's Confucian disciples practice Confucianism only to enter officialdom, which is also the reason why Confucianism is the most popular.
As for Legalism, few people practice it now because of the suppression by the powerful and the superiors. Even in places like the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, and the Dali Temple, most officials practice Confucianism.
The military strategists, agriculturalists, Mohists, and medical scholars, because they all have special uses, have never lost their traditions. Their disciples are still active in the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Works, the Imperial Hospital and other court departments, but they are all far away from the center of power.
As for schools of thought like eclecticists, famous scholars, Yin-Yang scholars, strategists, and calligraphers, few people mention them anymore, especially the strategists. During the Warring States Period, they traveled between countries and could decide the life and death of a country with just a few words. They could easily stir up the world situation. They were at their peak and overwhelmed all other schools of thought. But with the end of the Warring States Period, several powerful countries completed the unification one after another, leaving only some small countries around them as buffers. After hundreds of years without major wars, the strategists gradually withdrew from the stage of history. Now they can only live under the influence of powerful families and regard themselves as retainers and counselors. They are no longer as glorious as before.
If he didn't need to solve a case to save his life, Li Nuo might have chosen Confucianism.
More likely, he would just lie down and do nothing. After all, having a father who is at the vice-ministerial level means he is already wealthy and well-off, with no worries about food and clothing. Why would he need to work hard on his own?
As long as he is an honest second-generation official and does not do anything wrong or oppress the good people, he will be making a contribution to the country.
Of course, that's just if.
Li Nuo glanced at the eye-catching countdown on the cover of the Code. There were only twenty-six days left. For him, lying down would mean waiting to die...
What kind of fate is this for a chosen worker?
(End of this chapter)
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