My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare!

After sending his son to the Chang'an County Government, the middle-aged man took one last deep look at him, turned around, and walked away without looking back, as if that young man wasn't his son at all.

This also indicated his attitude.

No matter how the County Magistrate's Office sentenced, he accepted it.

At this time, the onlookers had already exploded into a frenzy.

"Was that person just now the Minister of the Examination Bureau?"

"He just said his surname was Wang, and the Minister of the Examination Bureau is indeed surnamed Wang!"

"He actually really turned his son in!"

"Why would he do that?"

...

The people were baffled. If the Minister of the Examination Bureau was a person who upheld justice over family ties, his son would have been punished by the government half a year ago and wouldn't have waited until today. So why did his son submit to the law so obediently once the new Chang'an County Magistrate started an investigation?

Could it be that this new Lord County Magistrate had a very powerful backing?

Li Nuo could vaguely feel that the reason the Minister of the Examination Bureau acted so decisively likely had something to do with his own father.

After all, he was only a fifth-rank official, while the Minister of Justice was a third-rank official.

With just one rank difference, the difference in power was immense, and between the third and fifth rank, there was a whole four ranks of difference, especially since the Ministry of Justice was in charge of the law.

In Daxia, being a third-rank official practically meant occupying an extremely high position. Although ranks one and two stood above third rank, their significance was more symbolic than practical. Most of them were honorary positions, while high officials of the third rank, such as the Chief of Staff of the Six Departments and Ministers of the Nine Si, were pillars of the court holding real power. Aside from the Emperor, nobody could appoint or deal with them.

These past few days, Li Nuo had immersed himself in studying the "Daxia Law", and when judging cases, he sometimes didn't even need to refer to the book.

The "Daxia Law" stipulated that adulterers, both men and women, should be sentenced to one and a half years of imprisonment. If the adulterer was a married woman, the sentence increased to two years, and rapists received an additional punishment, amounting to three years of imprisonment.

Daxia's punishments for rape were relatively light, with a maximum of three years of fixed-term imprisonment, whereas in later generations, the same crime had a minimum of three years with a maximum of the death penalty.

However, this case had a special circumstance. The girl violated by the son of the Minister of the Examination Bureau went mad from the shock, which was considered a serious consequence. Under the supplementary clause of this law, a more severe punishment could be imposed.

After consultation with Pei Zhe, Li Nuo decided to sentence Wang Yue to one hundred strokes of the punishment rod and three years of imprisonment, in addition to compensating the victim one hundred taels of silver.

The three years of imprisonment was the basic punishment, one hundred strokes of the rod was within the allowed range of additional punishment according to the law, and the hundred taels of compensation were an extra ruling by the officials based on the actual circumstances of the case. Within the boundaries allowed by the Daxia Law, Li Nuo and the Chang'an County Magistrate had sentenced Wang Yue's crimes to the extreme.

The populace, however, was enraged, with many loudly calling for his beheading.

But that was impossible. The law defined the punishments, and they could only sentence within the law's boundaries. Anything beyond would be invalid and overturned by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Justice, and the officials who made such rulings would also be punished.

Wang Yue had already been sentenced to the maximum. The added compensation of one hundred taels was something the Wang family could even refuse and take up with the Ministry of Justice.

But it seemed they would not do so.

Imprisonment sentences needed to be reviewed by the Ministry of Justice before they could be executed, but the punishment rod did not. After publicly announcing Wang Yue's crimes and sentencing, two constables released the ropes that bound him and held him down on a long bench for another two constables to administer the punishment in public.

Wang Yue, who seemed fragile, surprisingly had a strong physique; after several severe strikes, he didn't even whimper.

Not only Li Nuo, but Housekeeper Wu also revealed a hint of surprise, saying, "He has good talent. To have cultivated Inner Breath at such a young age and not even use it for protection shows some backbone…"

Li Nuo looked at the executing Wang Yue. Housekeeper Wu said he was at the Second Realm of the Martial Path, which was also called the Inner Breath Realm, where one could generate a rudimentary form of True Qi to protect the body. If he had used Inner Breath to shield himself, ordinary punishment rods would have been ineffective.

Li Nuo couldn't help lamenting the unfairness of the world; such scum possessed decent martial arts talent, while he had none.

The executioners did not hold back, and even a martial artist would have difficulty enduring without using Inner Breath to protect themselves.

But from start to finish, Wang Yue didn't utter a sound, even though his buttocks and back were already bloody and mangled.

The onlookers watched the scene with grim satisfaction. A woman dressed in coarse clothes, with disheveled hair, stood among the crowd, staring dumbly at the scene. The silly smile on her face gradually faded, replaced by grief and anger, which then turned to satisfaction. She ran to her mother, knelt in front of the old woman, and cried out tearfully, "Mother…"

The disheveled woman was the victim of the case. Seeing Wang Yue being punished, she seemed to be stimulated again and miraculously recovered her sanity, a development that was gratifying to witness.

The old woman held her daughter, staring blankly at the scene before her.

In the past half-year, she had run to numerous government offices and worn out countless shoes, all without obtaining justice for her daughter.

She had almost given up. Seeing the public trial at the door of the county office, she had come with the last sliver of hope. What she didn't expect was that the beast would indeed be punished!

She grabbed her daughter and knelt fervently before the young gentleman, her tears streaming down as she kowtowed and said, "Thank you, the Great Lord, thank you, the Great Lord!"

"The Great Lord!"

"The Great Lord!"

...

The surrounding crowd also began to shout excitedly.

Li Nuo's expression remained calm, but the slight smile at the corner of his mouth just couldn't be suppressed.

For a judge, what could be more fulfilling than receiving the gratitude of the people?

Other professions simply cannot understand what the term "The Great Lord" means to legal practitioners.

It signifies the recognition of the people.

It is also the original intention behind their study of law.

Even as power grows and status rises, many have long lost this initial purpose, but upon hearing these words, they can't help but feel some primal stir.

Standing behind Li Nuo, Pei Zhe seemed to recall something, a look of sentiment crossing his face.

Housekeeper Wu looked up at the sky, masking the awkwardness of his expression.

Behind the crowd, Song Jiaren stood silently, her gaze lingering for a long time upon that figure through the throng.

The cheers of the people were earth-shattering, even those locked in the County Magistrate's Office's jail heard it clearly.

A girl in prisoner's garb lifted her head, glanced outside through the narrow window, and asked the prison guard, "Brother Zhang, what's happening out there?"

The guard replied with a smile, "The young master is judging a case. It seems to involve the son of a doctor from the Ministry of Personnel, who defiled a woman. For over half a year, no one dared to intervene. After the young master found out, he had the man captured and brought to the government office. He was just given one hundred lashes, and should be brought here soon..."

As soon as he finished speaking, two prison guards dragged a figure, whose back was stained red with fresh blood and limp as mud, and threw him into a cell.

The girl watched the unconscious figure in the opposite cell, the visage of a handsome young man flashed through her mind, and finally, a trace of regret appeared on her face. She couldn't help clenching her fists so tightly her nails dug into her flesh...

...

At the entrance of the Chang'an County Government.

The sun had set, plunging the sky into total darkness.

Though Li Nuo was not yet ready to stop judging cases, the Chang'an County Magistrate and several Government Officials had been busy all day and had work the next day. Li Nuo had no choice but to stop the queue of citizens, telling them it was too late today and to come back tomorrow.

The elderly woman and her daughter were temporarily arranged by the Chang'an County Magistrate to stay in the government office for the night.

The Wang family still owed one hundred taels of silver in compensation, which the County Government would help them claim until the case was completely settled.

At the rear hall of the County Government, Mrs. Pei, who had just returned, heard about the proceedings. While contented in her heart, she looked at Pei Zhe with concern and asked, "Lord Wang is a minister of the Examination Bureau. Will he seek retribution against the master for this offense?"

Pei Zhe pulled at the corner of his mouth slightly, "Don't worry, he won't have the chance to retaliate against me..."

Minister of Justice Li Xuanjing was famously unyielding even when in the wrong.

No, he was unyielding whether he was right or wrong.

All the officials in Chang'an who hadn't done anything wrong were deathly afraid of him.

Having committed such a serious offense and being found out by him, all one could do was pray for divine protection.

If Wang Duo were smart, he would resign and retire by nightfall.

Otherwise, in due time, it wouldn't be his official hat that he lost, but his head.

There were precedents for this in the past.

However, thinking of the people's enthusiasm today and the bustle outside the government office, Pei Zhe sighed softly and said, "Tomorrow is going to be busy..."

At this moment, after a busy day, on the carriage back to the Li Mansion, Li Nuo casually glanced at the Law Code, and shock filled his face the next moment.

The Law Code, visible only to him, floated peacefully in front of him.

On the cover were two familiar lines of seal script.

"Name: Li Nuo."

"Lifespan: Forty-two days."

Li Nuo rubbed his eyes carefully, making sure he was not mistaken. The number on the Law Code indeed read "forty-two."

But he remembered clearly that before judging Wang Yue, his remaining lifespan was thirty-one days.

Based on past experience, after Wang Yue was sentenced to three years of imprisonment, it should have increased his lifespan by three days; however, increasing from thirty-one to forty-two meant an addition of eleven days, which was more than triple the norm plus two extra days.

Li Nuo looked at the portrait of Wang Yue on the Law Code.

It was dark.

This meant he had no exceptional qualities.

Yet, his lifespan had been extended more than others.

Could it be that the lifespan added by the Law Code varied from person to person?