My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare! Chapter 11 - 11 The Skillful Use of the Law Code

Above the court hall, the Chang'an County Magistrate Pei Zhe felt like his head was about to explode.

A murder had taken place within his jurisdiction, and that was no small matter in itself.

If it had been an ordinary murder, it might have been one thing, but this ti, the deceased was a wealthy and well-known rchant of Chang'an. He held an extrely high position in the business world, and he had close ties with so nobles in the court.

It just so happened that last night was his fiftieth birthday, and there were many guests staying at his ho. These guests were prominent figures themselves, so being wealthy rchants and, like him, court officials. If he let them go and later tried to investigate them one by one, it would take at least a hundred tis more effort. Yet keeping them all here for individual interrogations was clearly unrealistic.

Their incessant chatter was giving him a headache, and just as Pei Zhe was about to pick up the gavel to restore so order, a hurried voice suddenly ca from outside.

"Stop, let do it!"

Pei Zhe lifted his head upon hearing this familiar voice and indeed saw a familiar figure.

His heart sank. The place was chaotic enough already, and now this distinguished young master was here to add to the confusion.

Although he was displeased, his face still maintained a smile. Walking over to greet him, he said apologetically, "Young master, as you can see, I am quite preoccupied at the mont. Once I have cleared up the case, I will attend to you properly..."

Upon hearing this, Li Nuo let out a sigh of relief. It was good that the case was not yet solved.

He smiled back and said, "You handle your case, I'll just watch from the side, I won't disturb you."

Pei Zhe forced a smile and returned to his position, continuing to examine the testimonies of these people.

He had wanted to emulate Li Nuo's thod of having these people describe last night's events in great and minute detail, both forwards and backwards, to determine who was lying and identify suspects. However, almost all the guests had drunk alcohol at the birthday celebration, and many had been deeply asleep all night; they could hardly rember what had happened, let alone recount it in reverse.

That clever thod was useless for this case.

Staying nearby, Li Nuo saw the Chang'an County Magistrate deeply furrow his brows and asked, "Has Lord Pei discovered anything?"

Pei Zhe shook his head and replied, "I've been looking all morning and have found nothing."

Li Nuo thought for a mont, then asked, "What if I give it a try?"

Pei Zhe turned to look at Li Nuo, his eyes full of disbelief, "You?"

It wasn't that he looked down on Li Nuo, but simply that this case involved too many people and had no clues. He had interrogated people all morning and hadn't co up with anything. Assistant Minister Zheng had built bridges and paved roads, distributed porridge, and was charitable towards others, he didn't have any known enemies. There wasn't even a suspect to consider, so how could this be investigated?

Unless his father, Li Xuanjing, took action, Pei Zhe thought there might be a slight possibility.

Li Nuo simply smiled and suggested, "Since there doesn't seem to be anything we can find at the mont, why not let try?"

Pei Zhe asked, "How does the young master plan to investigate?"

Li Nuo didn't really know how to conduct an investigation; that was detective work. As a judge, his duty was to preside over trials. He was also self-aware that, compared to intellects like Bao Zheng, Di Renjie, or Sherlock Hols, he fell considerably short.

But he had the "Law Code."

All he needed to do was to lock everyone up, write out a judgnt for the cri of murder in accordance with the law, and then observe whether the portrait of the accused appeared on the law code and whether their lifespan had increased to determine if they were the real culprit. With so many people, it would be nothing more than using up a bit more ink.

If the murderer was among these people, they would eventually be caught through his thod.

It could be sowhat difficult to explain afterward. He couldn't let others see him writing nas. Li Nuo looked at the Chang'an County Magistrate and said, "This place is chaotic, not fit for interrogation. Let's put them in the jail first."

Pei Zhe raised an eyebrow, then stated, "Young master, that might not be appropriate. Most of these individuals are of high standing, and so are even court officials. Although they don't hold high ranks, they are genuine officials..."

Li Nuo glanced around, estimated the number of people, and then said, "The courtroom is too chaotic; the jail is quieter and more suitable for investigations. I assure you, within two hours, they will be released..."

The Chang'an County Magistrate thought for a mont, then nodded slightly. He picked up the gavel and knocked a few tis, which gradually quieted down both the inside and outside of the hall.

Clearing his throat, he announced, "I understand everyone's emotions, but all present here are friends of Assistant Minister Zheng. I believe you do not wish to see the murderer who killed Assistant Minister Zheng go unpunished. Please temporarily move to the jail. I promise that within two hours, the interrogation will be over, and afterward, everyone will be able to leave..."

Chang'an County Magistrate's words caused a small commotion in the court hall.

Although there were still so murmurs and complaints, the crowd reluctantly accepted the County Magistrate's statent, recognizing that it was a murder case, and having already waited all morning, waiting an additional two "shichen" wasn't a problem.

A quarter of an hour later.

Inside the prison cells of Chang'an County Governnt.

This was Li Nuo's first visit to such a place, and he had assud that ancient prison cells would inevitably be dirty, disorganized, and awful, but these cells changed his impression. Although the various torture instrunts hanging on the walls were sowhat intimidating, the cells were relatively clean overall, and aside from being a bit damp and chilly, there wasn't any foul sll.

Assistant Minister Zheng had celebrated his birthday the previous night and invited many guests, so of whom stayed overnight at Zheng Mansion due to drunkenness. Including Zheng Family's servants, the case involved more than two hundred people.

To temporarily detain these individuals, the Chang'an County Magistrate had divided them into five cells.

More than twenty officials occupied one cell, and the won occupied another, while the remaining people were distributed among the other three cells.

"Scoundrel!"

As Li Nuo passed by one of the cells, a familiar voice suddenly reached his ears.

He turned his head and saw the female assassin inside one of the cells, glaring at him fiercely.

Li Nuo had no ti to bother with her, his gaze fixed intently on the mysterious "Law Code" floating in front of him.

At this mont, the images in the Law Code had increased from two pages to four.

Just now, when everyone had been locked up in the cells, two more pages had suddenly appeared in the Law Code: one of a handso man and the other of a young woman. The woman's image was colorful and bright, just like the previous two pages, while the man's image was a dim black and white.

His gaze swept across the rooms and quickly found the two people from the images in two different cells.

He had underestimated this mysterious Law Code. Apparently, there was no need for a trial; as soon as the culprits were locked in the cells, their images would appear on the pages of the book. This saved quite a bit of ti and effort.

However, the lifespan number on the cover hadn't increased yet. It seed that it would only change after the judgnt was made.

Although he had already identified the murderers, he couldn't just convict them without evidence. The due process still had to be followed. Li Nuo sat down at a table in the prison and said to the officer sitting next to him, "Lord Pei, you can bring them over now."

Of all the detained individuals, the most important were naturally the imperial officials. According to the law, officials ranked seventh-rank or above could only be held in the County Governnt for two "shichen". After the ti was up, they had to be released or transferred to the Ministry of Justice or Ministry of Justice. Therefore, Pei Zhe instructed his staff to bring out the highest-ranking middle-aged man first.

The man, who was richly dressed and corpulent, sat down boldly at the table without showing any respect to Pei Zhe, and said, "Lord Pei, ask your questions quickly. I have official duties to return to."

Pei Zhe shook his head and replied, "The one who wishes to inquire is not myself, but this gentleman."

Only then did the official notice the young man seated at the head of the table. He frowned but did not get angry, instead asking, "Who is this person? What is his official position? What is his noble rank?"

Although he was a Standard Sixth Rank official and two ranks higher than a local County Magistrate, he was still in Chang'an where nobles and powerful officials abounded. A lowly sixth-rank official could easily offend soone out of his league.

The Chang'an County Magistrate shook his head and said, "He holds no official position and has no noble rank."

Upon hearing this, the Pri Minister of Justice knew he had a right to be angry and exclaid, "No official position? What qualification does soone without an official position have to interrogate an official appointed by the court? What is going on with the Chang'an County Governnt... allowing just anyone to question a court-appointed official?"

As Pri Minister of Justice and Standard Sixth Rank official, the County Magistrate investigating him was one thing—he might not respect the officials of Chang'an County Governnt, but since the surna Pei's position was two levels higher than his own, it wasn't a loss of face.

The young man before him, apart from being handso, had none of the air of a superior and certainly did not appear to co from a family of power and nobility. Without any official position or noble rank, he had the audacity to judge him?

Confronting the irate Pri Minister of Justice, the Chang'an County Magistrate replied calmly and unhurriedly, "He is Lord Li's son."

"What of Lord Li's son? Can the son of Lord Li break the court's rules...?"

Even if he was the son of the current Pri Minister, having no official position, he would not have the right to interrogate a court-appointed official. The Pri Minister of Justice, convinced of his own rectitude, began to speak, but seed to rember sothing mid-sentence. His expression abruptly froze, and he cautiously asked, "Which... Lord Li?"

The Chang'an County Magistrate smiled slightly and said, "Lord Li Xuanjing, Lord Zhang should be more familiar with him than I am, right?"

As soon as Pei Zhe finished speaking, the Pri Minister of Justice's backside, which had been firmly seated, suddenly shot up. His plump face was plastered with smiles as he scurried over to Li Nuo, bent over in a humble bow, slapping his own mouth and apologizing with a smile, "I was blind and failed to recognize the gentleman. Please, calm your anger, sir. Ask whatever you wish, I will tell everything without reservation..."