My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare! Chapter 79 - 77 Like-minded People
Upon leaving the Song Residence, Li Nuo boarded Housekeeper Wu's carriage with the Chang'an County Captain, headed straight for the cri scene.
The Chang'an County Captain rembered Li Nuo's instructions, and upon hearing about the homicide, he imdiately sought him out, even dispatching a group of constables to seal off the scene before consulting on the specific details of the case, rushing to inform Li Nuo.
"Hurry, even faster!"
Concerned about missing the right mont, Li Nuo constantly urged Housekeeper Wu along the way.
Monts later, within Chang'an City, in a certain alley,
A carriage stopped at the entrance, and Li Nuo hurriedly jumped off.
From a distance, he could see a dense crowd gathering ahead.
This area was not the core of Chang'an; the residential houses within the alley were low and dilapidated.
The local residents, including the constables from the Chang'an County Governnt, were all barred from entering a particular residence.
A few other figures in uniform, ard with swords, stood guard at the entrance.
Their uniforms resembled those of the Chang'an County Governnt, yet they were not quite the sa.
The uniforms of the constables and governnt officials from the Chang'an County Governnt had the characters "捕" (arrest) or "衙" (governnt) on the front; however, on these few n's uniforms, there was a "刑" (punish).
Upon seeing this, the Chang'an County Captain hesitated, "Why are the Ministry of Justice people here?"
Li Nuo's heart sank, thinking it was not good; had they been preempted by soone else?
He imdiately pushed through the crowd, only to be stopped by two Ministry of Justice officers as he tried to enter the yard.
Their swords crossed, blockading Li Nuo, they stated coldly, "The Ministry of Justice is investigating. All unrelated persons, step back!"
An elderly arrest officer approached Li Nuo and the Chang'an County Captain, saying, "Young Master, Sir, by the ti we arrived, the Ministry of Justice personnel were already here, and they wouldn't allow us in..."
The Chang'an County Captain approached the two n from the Ministry of Justice and smiled, "Gentlen, I am the Chang'an County Captain, here to investigate a murder case. Please allow us to proceed."
Seeing the Chang'an County Captain, the two softened their approach slightly but their tone remained uncompromising, "This case has been taken over by the Ministry of Justice, and it does not involve your Chang'an County Governnt. Please, Sir, you must leave."
The Chang'an County Captain looked helplessly towards Li Nuo.
Although this was Chang'an County, Chang'an also belonged to the Capital Prefecture of Daxia, where the Capital Prefecture Governnt, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Justice were his superiors.
The Ministry of Justice couldn't manage others, but if they directly intervened in a case happening locally, indeed, there was nothing they could do.
Li Nuo looked at the two Ministry of Justice officers and said, "This case involves a life, and even if the Ministry of Justice intervenes directly, the Chang'an County Governnt still has a right to know. Please, show so leniency..."
They glanced at him, unmoved.
It seed reasoning with them wouldn't work,
So Li Nuo looked at them again and spoke.
"My father is Li Xuanjing."
"Please, Young Master."
…
The two Ministry of Justice officers stepped aside, letting Li Nuo enter the yard with Housekeeper Wu and the Chang'an County Captain.
Within the yard, a few more Ministry of Justice officers were present. Seeing the uninvolved people enter, the leader frowned and stepped forward, about to speak, when a figure rushed in from the doorway and whispered a few words in his ear. The man shuddered and quickly moved aside.
Li Nuo's gaze was drawn to a pogranate tree within the courtyard, under which hung a figure.
It was an elderly woman, her face purplish, eyes rolled back, her tongue slightly protruding—quite a disturbing sight at first.
While he had seen more horrifying corpses, Li Nuo's composure was relatively better this ti, his face sowhat pale, but he didn't vomit against the wall as he had the previous ti.
A woman in black Ministry of Justice uniform stood alone under the tree, examined the hanging body, picked up a stool that had been kicked over and said indifferently, "The feet naturally dangle, the stool is at the right height, besides the mark on the neck, there are no other injuries on the body, no traces of a second person at the scene, and the neighbors did not hear any cries or signs of struggle, the deceased undoubtedly hanged herself, death occurred within the last six hours…"
She brushed the dust off her hands, regretting, "A wasted trip…"
"Six hours, good, good…"
Li Nuo sighed in relief and looked at the woman.
She appeared to be eighteen or nineteen, almost the height of his own wife, and just as stunning in beauty, even her deanor bore so resemblance to his wife.
Her vibrant black hair, not intricately styled, was casually tied at the back of her head, exuding a sprightly and heroic air.
However, though many aspects of her resembled his wife, their figures starkly differed.
It wasn't that this woman was extrely different, but rather his wife was.
The standard uniform of the Ministry of Justice was suggestively worn by her, her bust prominently raised, her slender waist was like a grip-full, and as his gaze moved further down, he saw another generous curve…
Li Nuo took one look and then refrained from looking further, no matter how beautiful and finely figured she was, his wife was unique, irreplaceable in his heart.
Yet strangely, although this was the first ti he had seen this woman, Li Nuo felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
At that mont, the woman seed to sense sothing and turned her head to look at Li Nuo.
The two exchanged glances, and with a hint of surprise in her eyes, the woman slowly approached and said, "It's rare to et a Law Practitioner, and she was about to enter the realm. Unfortunately, she hanged herself, so your trip here was in vain..."
Li Nuo realized where his sense of familiarity with this woman ca from.
She was also a Law Practitioner.
Able to see through his abilities at a glance, she must be at least at the Second Realm of Legalism.
This was the first fellow practitioner he had encountered.
And she was a woman at that.
Like Confucianism, Legalism required one to enter officialdom, and in Daxia, won were not allowed to hold office. Hence, females were extrely rare in Legalism, and even if there were any, most could not cultivate to a high realm...
Li Nuo did not know how she had cultivated. Not to ntion a female Law Practitioner, he had never even t a female constable before.
As the woman started the conversation, Li Nuo nodded slightly in response, as a gesture of politeness, and then asked, "Who reported the case?"
The woman replied, "It was the deceased's neighbor. She hadn't seen the deceased co out all day yesterday and, worried, she climbed over the courtyard wall to check, only to find her hanged in the courtyard."
The first to discover the deceased was a peasant woman who was her neighbor. Li Nuo summoned her and asked a few questions. The simple woman was obviously shocked, and it was clear that she had no motive.
This peasant woman was definitely not the murderer.
Since the case had happened less than a day ago, no new portraits had appeared in the "Law Code" when she ca within a yard of Li Nuo.
At this point, the woman looked at Li Nuo and said, "Don't waste your effort; I've investigated countless cases, and I can distinguish between suicide and homicide."
County Captain Wang also ca over and whispered to Li Nuo, "Young master, based on my many years of investigation experience, this old woman indeed died by hanging herself."
If this old woman indeed committed suicide, then Li Nuo's trip was indeed in vain—there was no criminal, therefore no one to interrogate or judge.
But since he was here, Li Nuo at least needed to clarify the cause of her suicide, whether it was a life compulsion seeking escape, or she was forced by others into a desperate situation…
If it was the latter, even if the other party did not act directly, they would still bear so legal responsibility.
Li Nuo first had people take down the old woman's body and move it inside the house, covering it with a white cloth.
Then, he had County Captain Wang gather the old woman's neighbors from both sides, and he inquired about so aspects of the old woman's life.
From the neighbors, it was learned that she had moved to Chang'an from another place many years ago, and that her family was in dire straits; she did laundry and wove fabric for others in exchange for so silver coins.
Because she was kind-hearted, her neighbors would occasionally help her out.
She had a son; for over a decade, it had just been the two of them.
The old woman's son studied at an academy in Chang'an and did not often co ho.
According to these neighbors of the old woman, her son was doing quite well in his studies, and the old lady often boasted to her neighbors; soone had already gone to the academy to call him ho after the incident.
Hearing this, the people sighed repeatedly.
"Ah, Aunt Zhang was such a good person, how could she not think it through?"
"Yes, Han Zhuo is studying at Qingfeng Academy and his grades are very good. They say he might even pass the Imperial Examination."
"Even if he doesn't pass the Imperial Examination, he could still be a private school teacher, which is quite lucrative..."
"It's a pity, she could have endured a little longer, better days were nearly upon her..."
"Perhaps she didn't want to burden her son. I rember Aunt Zhang ntioned a few days ago that she seed to have contracted a serious illness; she probably didn't want her son to worry, especially with the Imperial Examination coming up next year..."
"Poor all the parents under the heavens..."
…
County Captain Wang found so prepared dicine in the main hall, which corroborated the neighbor's statent.
At this point, the case seed quite clear; the old woman suffered from a serious illness and did not want to beco a burden to her son, who was studying at the academy. Thus, she chose to end her own life, freeing her son from worry and allowing him to focus on his exams.
Her death embodied a mother's intense and profound love for her son.
Everyone present, whether the onlooking civilians or the officials from the County Governnt and Ministry of Justice, showed moved expressions.
The woman turned her head and dabbed her reddening eyes.
The courtyard was silent when suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps ca from the entrance.
A green-robed scholar, holding up the hem of his robes, ran quickly into the yard. His face was anxious, sweat-soaked, and as soon as he entered, he imdiately looked towards a woman and asked in a trembling voice, "Aunt Zhang, how is my mother?"
Everyone had complex expressions, not knowing how to start explaining.
But at that mont, Li Nuo's gaze slightly sharpened.
He lifted his head, looking towards the invisible "Law Code" floating in the air.
After a slight fluctuation, a fifth portrait appeared.
A bright, colorful portrait.
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