Chapters
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A luxurious carriage rolled slowly down the main street of Chang’an. Inside, Li Nuo sat quietly. Since they hadn’t yet reached the county office, he lifted the curtain to observe the world outside. It was indeed a place resembling ancient China. As the carriage moved along, Li Nuo could see, through the window, that the clothing of the people and the architectural style of the buildings were full of antiquity—completely devoid of modern technology. After a while, he let the curtain fall and…
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Li Nuo hadn’t even finished a cup of tea when a figure strode into the room. Li Anning picked up a teacup, poured herself some tea without asking, and sat down next to Li Nuo. “The county office is just a county office after all. It’s way smaller than the Ministry of Justice…” If you’re done looking around, then hurry up and go back to your Ministry, Li Nuo thought. Why are you sitting down for tea now? Constable Wang and the others were nearly back. Brewing this pot of tea had…
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“Mother!” With a heart-wrenching cry, the young scholar in blue rushed toward the house. Halfway there, he suddenly froze. Step by step, he trudged forward with unbearable heaviness, as though he both wanted to confirm something and yet couldn’t bring himself to accept the truth. Everyone present was moved by this raw display of emotion. Sighs filled the air. When he finally reached the doorway and saw the grass mat covered by a white cloth, his legs gave out, and he nearly collapsed. Two…
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Chang’an. The Pei Residence. Pei Jun lay face-down on the bed, bare-bottomed, groaning one low moan after another. Just earlier, at the Chang’an County Office, he had learned a harsh new lesson: Fistfighting: 40 strokes. Fighting with weapons: 60 strokes. Three people or more? Sentence increased by one grade. Five or more? Two grades. Ten or more? Three grades. For gathering a crowd and fighting, he had just taken ninety strokes. His backside was almost flayed open. The moment his…
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Yunmeng Academy. In one of the classrooms, a military strategy lecture was in progress. The lecturer, a retired general, was passionately describing a classic battle in which the Great Xia army had triumphed despite being outnumbered. His voice was loud and animated, full of energy and flair—but the students below were hardly paying attention. After all, this was Class B, not the academy’s elite group. Most of these students had no real hope of ranking in the imperial exams. Their path had…
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When Li Nuo woke the next morning, his wife was, as usual, no longer beside him. Only a faint, lingering fragrance remained in her place. After washing up and finishing breakfast, he moved around a bit in the courtyard to stretch, then brought out a book and sat down to read. Not long after, Song Jia Ren walked into the courtyard. Spotting him there, she looked surprised and asked,“You’re not going to the county office today?” She’d grown used to him heading out rain or shine—so seeing…
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Li Nuo sat there with a puzzled look on his face.Could it be that while he lacked talent in martial arts, he had maxed-out potential in Legalist cultivation? No, that couldn’t be. Legalism wasn’t martial arts—it didn’t rely on talent at all. The Legalist path, like all the major schools of thought, was built on practical effort. Everyone started from the same line. The more you did, the more you gained. Do less, and you got less. There was no such thing as faster progress due to better…
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Although Song Mu’er ended up sharing half her peach with Song Ning’er, the latter still wore a rather unhappy expression. Li Nuo felt a little awkward. At this moment, he was exactly like a parent with two children who couldn’t treat them equally. No—he wasn’t just like one. Between the two sisters, he did favor Mu’er more. Whatever was delicious or fun, she was always the first to come to mind. Because Mu’er was well-behaved. She had played with a fool like him from the…
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Zhao He stood in front of the screen, listening to the commotion behind it. After a moment of hesitation, he cautiously asked, “My Lord, are you all right?” There was the sound of rustling for a while, then silence finally returned behind the screen. That voice spoke again, calm but deep, “I’m fine. You may leave. Just remember what I told you—if anyone else checks the dossiers of Gu Wenhan or Zheng Tianxing, report to me immediately.” “Yes, understood.” Zhao He replied…
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Li Nuo never expected that the unfortunate Master Zheng, who had died so miserably in his own home, turned out to be a jinshi from the 18th year of Zhisheng. Though his rank was low, he still would have received a proper Ninth-Rank official post. So how had he ended up as a mere merchant? That instantly piqued Li Nuo’s curiosity. In Great Xia, merchants held a low social status, while officials—even a humble Ninth-Rank—were still men of privilege and rank. It was hard to imagine anyone…
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