My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare!-Chapter 384 - 255: It’s Discourteous Not to Reciprocate

The Fengyang County case had caused a huge uproar yesterday. By today, it had completely subsided.

A Death Exemption Token had silenced everyone.

No one was allowed to mention the matter anymore.

Early morning.

Li Mansion.

Li Nuo stepped out from Anning's room, stretching comfortably. He was about to move around in the courtyard when he suddenly heard a noise from the neighboring courtyard.

He jumped onto the wall and saw Yiren practicing in the courtyard.

The noise he had heard was from her practicing swordplay.

Li Nuo asked, "When did you come back?"

While practicing her sword techniques, Yiren replied, "Last night."

Li Nuo asked, "You're not leaving?"

Having spoken about returning to the Sanqing Sect during the day and then moving back shamefacedly last night, Yiren was embarrassed when Li Nuo asked her this. She retorted, "Do you really want me to leave? If so, I'll leave right now!"

Li Nuo did not respond but instead climbed down the wall, fetched a music box from his room, returned to the courtyard, and stated, "If you leave again, next time I'm giving it away to someone else."

Yiren snatched the music box from his hands and said, "Do you need anything else? If not, step aside, I need to practice…"

Li Nuo moved to one side and watched her practice swordplay for a while.

In terms of cultivation, she had become noticeably more diligent than before, at least Li Nuo had never seen her wake up this early to practice before.

Seeing that there were no issues with her sword skills, he watched for a while before leaving.

Although it was not yet the day for him to report to the Honglu Si, he had pressing matters to attend to.

There was a saying, "It is impolite not to reciprocate." Yiren had been wrongfully imprisoned, and he had lost a Death Exemption Token for nothing. He couldn't just let things go.

Li Nuo returned to his room and after having breakfast, it wasn't long before Housekeeper Wu came in with a pile of files, saying, "Young Master, I've found all the files you requested."

These were the files that Li Nuo had asked Housekeeper Wu to find last night.

He had been quick, settling the matter early in the morning.

Li Nuo opened the first file, which contained information about various officials and nobles.

Although they differed in identity and status, they had one thing in common: they were all partisans of King Han.

Among the current emperor's eight adult sons, King Han was the Eldest Prince.

Although Daxia had no rule that the throne must be passed to the eldest, being the Eldest Prince still afforded him a certain advantage in status. This led some nobles and officials to firmly support him.

This included the Capital Governor.

Through the Capital Governor, King Han indirectly controlled most of the middle- and lower-tier officials outside of Chang'an, in the Capital Region.

These files detailed various information about these officials, including their family members, personal preferences, habits, and even the timing of their marital affairs…

Such information could only belong to the Spiegel Bureau.

One of the duties of the Spiegel Bureau was to collect information on court officials, though such information was inaccessible even to the Prime Minister.

The entire Spiegel Bureau was directly responsible to His Majesty.

In His Majesty's absence, they reported to his father.

Getting these materials was just a matter of saying a word for him.

The files also contained evidence of these people's criminal activities.

However, the Spiegel Bureau had not taken any action against them.

Li Nuo was no newcomer to the officialdom. He knew many things there were not straightforward.

These people had committed crimes, yet they had not been dealt with—either the timing was not right or there were other deeper considerations.

Li Nuo's eyes lingered on a page in one of the files.

This page documented a case of death by violence, fundamentally different from the other cases.

Those officials were guilty of minor offenses like corruption and abuse of power, but only one had yet committed murder and was yet undisciplined.

Li Nuo looked at Housekeeper Wu and asked, "What's the deal with Wang Hang? Why wasn't he dealt with initially?"

The Spiegel Bureau's file only mentioned that this person was the brother-in-law of King Han's Princely Heir, Li Qian, and had escaped punishment for his crime through the manipulation of King Han Mansion.

Housekeeper Wu seemed to guess Li Nuo's thoughts. After pausing, he said, "Young Master, it's best if we don't touch Wang Hang."

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Li Nuo raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why?"

Housekeeper Wu explained, "Not only is he the brother-in-law of the Princely Heir of King Han, but he is also one of the legitimate sons of the Jinyang Wang family."

Mentioning the Jinyang Wang family made Li Nuo understand.

This was one of the super famous families of Daxia, existing far longer than Daxia itself. Dynasties had changed several times on this land, yet these famous families remained.

They not only had significant influence in the court, but in their own territories, their power even surpassed that of the court.

A famous family often indirectly controlled several regions, influencing everyone from local commoners and gentry to government officials through a network of complex relationships.

The closer one was to them, the greater the influence they had, and it was virtually impossible for any governmental orders to be successfully implemented locally without their consent.

During the Imperial Examination, Li Nuo had noticed that the new Advanced Scholars often included many from the prominent families such as Cui, Zheng, Wang, Du, Pei, and Lu.

These ancient families had ample resources to cultivate their descendants into the most outstanding individuals of their generation, allowing them to successfully pass the Imperial Examination and thus wield influence over the court.

On the other hand, their families themselves also possessed many powerful individuals.

A famous family that had thrived for a millennium surely possessed excellent Martial Path bloodlines. Through marital alliances between families, they could effectively pass down these bloodlines, with almost each generation producing at least one Sixth Realm individual.

With the added support of retainers they attracted, even the court had to show them respect.

In other words, this Wang Hang's background was even more significant than that of Crown Prince Li Qian.

Considering that dealing with him could bring displeasure from the Wang family of Jinyang, when King Han Mansion had helped him, various factions within the court had turned a blind eye.

Li Nuo was not convinced.

Why, when his niece technically broke the law, did those people relentlessly pursue it?

Yet, when the younger brother-in-law of the Crown Prince genuinely committed murder, everyone pretended not to see.

Housekeeper Wu looked at Li Nuo and ventured, "Young Master, where has Wang Hang offended you?"

He followed the Young Master every day and had not seen the Young Master interact with Wang Hang.

Li Nuo replied, "Wang Hang hasn't offended me, but Crown Prince Li Qian has. He was the one manipulating everything behind the scenes regarding Yiren."

Housekeeper Wu, upon hearing this, was stunned, then burst out angrily, "What!"

He fiercely slammed his hand on the table, "Although Wang Hang is the legitimate son of the Wang family, he isn't the eldest legitimate son. There are many legitimate sons in the Wang family, and other than the eldest, they are no different from the sons born out of wedlock. I will go and ask the master to see if we can move against Wang Hang..."

Having served beside the master for many years, although he hadn't yet become arrogant enough to disregard King Han entirely, what was the Crown Prince, unless King Han succeeded to the throne and he became the Crown Prince? On what basis could he scheme against the Li family and the Young Master?

Li Nuo continued perusing the documents in his hand.

Two quarters of an hour later, Housekeeper Wu re-entered.

He looked at Li Nuo and said, "The master said, 'Since he's just a legitimate son of the Wang family, the Young Master should boldly do as he pleases. The majesty of the law cannot be challenged. As long as we act according to the law, if anything happens, the court will support us...'"

Only yesterday, Li Nuo had forcibly taken someone from the Zongzheng Si, and the phrase about the majesty of the law not being open to challenge made him blush.

But putting aside the facts, this was indeed the principle.

Chang'an.

Drunken Moon Building.

At the window of the second floor, Crown Prince Li Qian personally offered a drink to a slender, middle-aged scholar, stating, "It is indeed a delightful occasion to meet Mr. Su. Let us drink this together..."

During their mingling, the Crown Prince and this rare member of the School of Cross and Vertical grew closer.

After another drink, unable to restrain his curiosity, he said, "Mr. Su, I am truly curious to witness the skills of the School of Cross and Vertical. Could you perhaps satisfy my wish?"

The middle-aged scholar smiled and said, "Since the Crown Prince wishes to see, I shall humbly demonstrate."

They moved to the window, and the middle-aged scholar looked down and pointed, saying to the Crown Prince, "Please observe that man in the gray clothes and tall hat."

The Crown Prince followed his pointing finger and indeed saw a man dressed in gray clothes and wearing a tall hat walking down the street.

The scholar continued, "In a moment, when he passes here, he will enter the Drunken Moon Building."

The Crown Prince was both believing and skeptical.

He believed because Lin Ting had introduced this person, but he was skeptical because from the man's attire, his financial condition was clearly not affluent, perhaps unable to afford even a single dish at the Drunken Moon Building; how could he possibly come here?

Could he have foreknowledge?

But this was indeed within the capabilities of the Yin Yang School!

The scholar continued, "After he enters the Drunken Moon Building, he will collapse while clutching his chest. If Your Highness does not believe it, you may go down and see for yourself."

The Crown Prince smiled and said, "I trust you, sir."

He watched as the gray-clothed man quickened his pace on the street and, rather abruptly, turned and came into the Drunken Moon Building.

Before the Crown Prince could even react in surprise, he saw the middle-aged scholar stretch out his right hand and clench it forcefully.

Suddenly, a cry of pain echoed from below, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the ground and the exclamations of the crowd.

The Crown Prince hurriedly ran downstairs and indeed saw the man in gray clothes lying on the ground, painfully clutching his chest and groaning continuously.

So that was how Li Shou died...

The School of Cross and Vertical was indeed formidable!

He returned to the second floor, bowed to the middle-aged scholar, and said, "Sir, your abilities are truly eye-opening for me."

The scholar modestly replied, "The Crown Prince flatters me. I am not proficient in cultivation and can only manipulate ordinary people. It would not have been easy to kill him like this if he had not been physically weak..."

Just as the Crown Prince was about to offer more praise, someone hurriedly ran up and said, "Crown Prince, something terrible has happened. Young Master Wang Wang Hang has been arrested by the Ministry of Justice!"