Chapters
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Li Nuo’s explanation was… unexpectedly convincing. Song Jiaren didn’t know how to respond. He really was like a child—simple and straightforward. As she looked at him, something dawned on her, and she asked, “You remember things from before?” Li Nuo paused for a moment, then replied, “Just that one.” Song Jiaren said nothing more. Sometimes he was overly clever, and other times he acted like a child. No wonder Muer liked him so much—two kids playing together made perfect…
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The imperial palace. As the morning court session ended, countless officials streamed out of the great hall in succession. Although His Majesty hadn’t personally attended court in over a decade, the meetings on the first and fifteenth of every month still followed tradition. A prince would preside over them, and all officials of fifth rank and above in Chang’an were required to attend for the discussion and resolution of major state affairs. Today’s morning court had been routine as usual,…
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After the banquet ended, Song Jiaren led Li Nuo to a room in the Song estate. In the Great Xia Dynasty, there was a nightly curfew, though it started a bit later—around ten in the evening. After that time, without a legitimate reason, no one was allowed to loiter on the streets. Violating the curfew could result in a beating if caught by patrolling guards—or worse, imprisonment. Though it wasn’t quite curfew yet, some guests lived far away, and others were too drunk to leave. As a result,…
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Li Nuo’s gaze sharpened. The gift his wife had prepared was supposed to be a pair of jade ruyi scepters. Now, it had been replaced with two slabs of stone. Someone had swapped their birthday gift! His first reaction was to glance at the maid who had stepped back. Her expression seemed completely normal—it probably wasn’t her. As a servant of the Song family, she wouldn’t have dared to pull something like this. But the real issue right now wasn’t who did it. At this very moment,…
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Song Estate. Rear Courtyard. Inside a quiet room, Li Nuo stood before a mirror, doing the hair of a delicate, porcelain-like little girl. Her rosy cheeks were still stained with tears, and she sniffled softly from time to time. Beside him stood another girl who looked exactly the same, arms crossed and lips pouting in displeasure. By now, Li Nuo had learned that the two girls beside him were Song Ning’er and Song Mu’er, twin sisters and daughters of Song Jiaren’s fourth uncle. It all…
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After letting out a sigh, Li Nuo finally accepted reality. So what if he was just a working man? Being exhausted was still better than being dead. He picked up a copy of the Code of Law, intending to study it thoroughly. The path of Legalist cultivation wasn’t all that complicated. The first step was to earnestly study the writings of the Legalist sages, understand their principles, and grasp their philosophy. Of course, much like the Confucians, simply memorizing texts wasn’t…
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When he heard that a prisoner had committed suicide, Pei Zhe hurried to the prison. Two jailers stood over the body lying on a straw mat, both looking miserable. “Forgive us, my lord. It was our negligence. We lost sight of her for a moment, and she dashed her head against the wall…” Pei Zhe examined the corpse, questioned several jailers, and asked nearby prisoners. Once he confirmed that the woman had indeed taken her own life, he waved his hand and said, “It seems she understood that…
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At the Chang’an County Office. Li Nuo stared at the two lines written in the Codex, his heart pounding with excitement. Name: Li Nuo.Remaining Lifespan: 26 days. That morning, he had only ten days left to live—now it had nearly tripled. Six of those days had come from Cui Ze’s sentence of three years of penal labor and exile three thousand li away. The one hundred strokes with the cane hadn’t affected his lifespan at all. But the adulterous woman’s death sentence had given him a full…
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Chang’an County Office, Rear Hall A constable strode quickly into the room, beaming with excitement. “Sir! Cui Ze has confessed! He and Zhang Xiaoyun killed Lord Zheng together. They’d been having an affair for quite some time. According to his confession, the whole thing was orchestrated by Zhang Xiaoyun. He claimed he only went along because he was seduced… After Cui Ze confessed, Zhang Xiaoyun also admitted everything.” None of this came as a surprise to Magistrate Pei Zhe. He…
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Li Nuo finally understood where his beautiful handwriting had come from. He stared at the floating Codex before him. It seemed he could somehow inherit one skill from the criminals listed in the Codex—like the female assassin's calligraphy, the goat-bearded thief’s pickpocketing technique—and even use them unconsciously. Calligraphy was one thing, but that seamless pickpocketing move that even two top martial experts like Housekeeper Wu and his wife failed to notice… What the hell was that?…
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