Madam, protect me!

In front of the fortune-telling stall.

The old man's face was full of surprise.

That's not right!

The last time I told this man's fortune, he only had about three months left to live. How come more than half a month has passed and his life span has more than doubled...

How come he lives longer and longer?

Although fate is not immutable, most people in this world do not have the ability to change their fate.

Either he encountered a great opportunity in the past half month, which changed his fate.

Or there is a high-level Yin-Yang family who did not hesitate to spend his life to change his fate and extended his life for another half a year.

Either way, he was deeply curious about this young man.

The old man looked at the young man again and secretly remembered that handsome face in his heart.

...

After leaving the Ministry of Justice, Li Nuo returned to the Song family with regret.

After so much effort, he still failed to bring Li Yuan to justice.

Who would have thought that he could take out a gold medal of immunity from death after being sentenced to death.

After Song Yu knew about it, he also sighed and said, "I knew it would not be so easy to bring him down. If nothing unexpected happens, he will be the second-class marquis in the future. By then, even if he commits murder again, he can easily settle it with his title..."

Returning to the courtyard with his wife, Li Nuo sat on the stone bench, feeling very aggrieved.

But he really had no choice.

This is a feudal dynasty, and the existence of the privileged class is inevitable.

To deal with these privileged classes, you must become a higher privileged class.

The vast majority of Legalists fell in the process due to the backlash of the privileged class.

Although I have not entered the country yet, I have encountered the same problem as them.

Whether it is redemption of punishment, atonement with titles, or the existence of a gold medal for exemption from death, it is a great obstacle on the road of cultivation for Legalists.

For many years, countless Legalists and Confucian predecessors have made efforts to eliminate or reduce the scope of these privileges and promote various reforms, but each time with little effect.

The group of dignitaries and officials is too large.

The court officials are not only the makers of the law, but also the class with vested interests.

Occasionally there are individuals who betray the class, but there is no class that betrays the class.

Li Yuan's arrogant face occasionally appeared in his mind.

That night, although his wife was by his side, Li Nuo still couldn't sleep.

In Yunyang Marquis's Mansion, Li Yuan was also angry and couldn't sleep.

Today's matter seemed to be his win.

In fact, he lost miserably.

Not only did he get a solid beating, but the only gold medal of immunity from death in his family was also used.

I don't know how Li Nuo hooked up with Princess An Ning. If he falls into their hands next time, unless his father immediately passes the title to him, or lowers his title or gets pardon, he may really die.

It is almost impossible to get pardon. His Majesty is obsessed with immortality, and the court officials in the palace can't see him at all, and he rarely intervenes in the affairs of the court.

Then he can only lower his own title.

In order to reduce the number of nobles and save the treasury, the court encouraged the nobles to do so.

But the title was originally passed down from one generation to the next. If you take the initiative to reduce the title, you will lose your privileges faster and become a commoner.

Lying in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep, Li Yuan began to think about how he offended Li Nuo.

Prince Ji likes beauties, all kinds of beauties, the more unique, the more he likes them.

I heard that there is a Yuanyang girl in Yuyin Pavilion, who is not only proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but also knows the art of war. I thought that Prince Ji would definitely like her, so I wanted to offer her a beauty to please Prince Ji.

But the girl was unwilling, and someone else stood up for her, and he taught her a lesson. Unexpectedly, that person was Li Nuo's relative.

Everyone is the son of a powerful person, and I bowed my head, but Li Nuo didn't give him face and insisted on taking him to the county government to be punished.

He naturally would not go, and according to the law, he was exempted from punishment by paying silver, but the process was not very polite, which angered Li Nuo and he beat him up...

Later, he was so angry that he asked his father to join several dignitaries to write a letter to cut off his path to practicing Legalism.

Li Nuo was furious and wanted to use that old case to kill him.

In fact, thinking calmly, Li Yuan felt that both of them were wrong.

That Li Nuo should not be unreasonable, and he should not speak in a sarcastic way.

This was originally a trivial matter, but it ended up like this, resulting in a lose-lose outcome for both parties.

If you have to blame someone, blame the girl Yuanyang.

If she had not refused at the beginning, everything would be happy.

Prince Ji got the beauty, Li Nuo continued to practice his Legalism, and his own gold medal of immunity from death was still there, so how could it end up like this.

It's all because of that bitch who didn't know how to appreciate it!

Li Yuan was so angry that he couldn't sleep. He sat up from the bed and shouted, "Zhao Ji."

A figure ran in from outside and said respectfully, "Master, what can I do for you?"

...

It was late at night.

Yuyin Pavilion.

The incident that happened in Yuyin Pavilion yesterday involved two top powerful children in Chang'an. In just one day, it spread throughout the upper class circles of Chang'an.

Before today, Yuyin Pavilion was just an unknown music house in Chang'an.

It's called a music house, but it's actually a more sophisticated brothel.

It's just that the girls in this kind of place are younger, prettier, and more talented than those in ordinary brothels.

Guests here can only listen to music and drink tea, and cannot have further relationships with the girls.

But this is just an appearance. In fact, as long as you are willing to spend money, there is no girl you can't take away.

On the surface, it is an elegant place to listen to music and drink tea, but secretly it is still a place of thieves and prostitutes.

But this Yuyin Pavilion is a little different from other places.

The eldest son of the Yunyang Marquis family offered a high price of three thousand taels, but he failed to successfully take the girl he liked away, which naturally aroused the curiosity of countless people.

This is the first time I have seen such a bottom-line music house.

This directly led to the fact that the number of guests coming to Yuyin Pavilion today was several times that of usual days.

It was late at night, just after midnight, and everything was silent.

The lights of the music house, which was very lively during the day, had also been turned off.

At this moment, a figure lightly crossed the wall of the backyard of Yuyin Pavilion and landed on the ground silently.

This is the backyard of Yuyin Pavilion. In one corner of the yard is a flower garden. The whole yard is filled with a faint fragrance of flowers.

Zhao Ji took a few deep breaths of the fragrance and walked slowly in the yard without making any noise.

Soon, he came to a small building, jumped lightly, and the whole person soared into the air and climbed onto the window sill of a window on the second floor.

Then, he took out a bamboo tube from his arms, pierced the window paper, and slowly blew a puff of smoke into the room.

After waiting for a while, Zhao Ji put his hand under the window frame, easily opened the window from the outside, and easily climbed into the window and landed silently.

This set of movements is familiar and smooth because he has done it countless times.

The name of the set of exercises he practiced is "Stealing Fragrance and Jade".

The true qi cultivated by this set of exercises is not known for its fierceness. He can't beat anyone at the same level.

But when it comes to stealing women, he thinks that even the masters of the fourth realm cannot compare to him. He can conceal all his true energy, knock out the young lady of a wealthy family, steal her out of the house, and send her back quietly after the young master has enjoyed her.

If the young master is not in good condition one day, he still has time to enjoy himself.

He has also enjoyed many of those so-called prostitutes who sell their art but not their bodies with the young master.

Women who are no longer virgins will wake up the next day without noticing.

Even those virgins will only doubt whether they accidentally broke their virginity after being broken.

With this skill, he has stolen countless women over the years and never failed.

On the bed in this room, there is a woman lying, who has been knocked unconscious.

Zhao Ji walked slowly to the bedside, without making any sound under his feet. Just as he was about to pick up the woman on the bed, he suddenly felt dizzy, as if the whole world began to spin, and his body shook.

"Are you dizzy? It's normal to feel dizzy. Relax, it will be fine in a while..."

A voice came from my ear, and the woman on the bed sat up at some point.

Before Zhao Ji completely lost consciousness and fell heavily to the ground, he seemed to see her smiling at him in the dark.

...

Song Mansion.

Li Nuo got up very late today.

Because he fell asleep very late yesterday.

He was not a broad-minded person. Those old men hit his wife's confidence in learning. After more than ten years, he had to vent his anger for her.

This time he suffered a loss, and the key was that he had no way to fight back, which made him even more uncomfortable. He had a rare insomnia until the second half of the night.

Song Muer walked in from outside and saw Li Nuo eating breakfast. She was surprised and said, "Brother Li Nuo, are you not going out today?"

Li Nuo waved his hand and said, "No, I won't go out every day in the future."

He was originally an illegal judge. After being banned by the court, he could no longer go to the county government.

The same is true for the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple. Although Li Nuo believes that his father should allow him to continue to practice the legal system in secret, sneaking around is not a long-term solution.

Fortunately, he has enough life left, about 230 days.

During this period, if he can solve some more cases, he thinks that it should not be a big problem to hold on for a year.

The imperial examination will be held in half a year. If he can pass the imperial examination, he can try cases openly.

Housekeeper Wu went to help him prepare the materials for the imperial examination. Li Nuo and Mu'er made an appointment to go fly a kite with her later.

Halfway through breakfast, I saw Wang Xianwei hurriedly running into the yard.

Before Li Nuo asked, he panted and said, "Sir, the government received a report today that a tragedy occurred in the city. A family of six was killed overnight..."

Li Nuo didn't even bother to eat breakfast. He stood up and said immediately, "Let's go!"

Although he couldn't try the case anymore, it didn't affect the investigation.

As long as he solved the case himself, no matter who judged it, his life span would increase.

Song Mansion and Li Mansion were both in the northeast of Chang'an City, where the powerful gathered. The crime scene this time was in the southwest corner of Chang'an. The carriage drove for a long time before stopping.

Li Nuo couldn't wait to jump off the carriage. In front of him was a dilapidated residential building.

Li Nuo thought that Han Zhuo and Zhou Hao's family was poor enough.

But it was obviously poorer here. There was not even a decent road, and there were crisscrossing alleys everywhere.

The densely packed houses were dilapidated, and the stinking ditches on the roadside exuded an unpleasant smell.

Several ragged children with dirty faces hid far behind the low and dilapidated courtyard wall, looking at them with curiosity and fear.

The carriage could not go in after reaching the entrance of the alley.

The county constable arrived here first.

The crime scene was located in the deepest part of this neighborhood.

Li Nuo almost got dizzy in the alley. If it were not for the victim's neighbor leading the way, they might not be able to find the place.

After a while, the group stopped in front of a courtyard gate.

The courtyard gate was wide open, and everyone just stood at the door and smelled an extremely strong smell of blood.

An old constable stood outside the door with a pale face and said to Li Nuo: "Sir, there is some blood in the courtyard... Think about whether you want to go in."

When Li Nuo stepped into the courtyard, the first thing he saw was a piece of red-stained ground.

Six figures, facing the courtyard gate, knelt neatly on the ground.

They all had no heads.

The heads of two old people, a middle-aged couple, and a pair of children were scattered on the ground at random.

Their faces still retained the expressions of fear before death.

With bloody eyes, he stared at everyone.

Li Nuo's body trembled. This time, the impact was greater than the last time when the two charred bodies were burned.

He turned his head subconsciously and didn't look at it again.

Wang Xianwei's face was also a little pale, but he still walked forward slowly. After carefully checking the scene, he took a deep breath, and said to Li Nuo with a look of surprise: "This family of six was beheaded at the same time. The murderer only attacked once and chopped off the heads of six people with one sword...

The incision on the neck was too smooth. This is not something that an ordinary weapon can do. The murderer is a high-level warrior above the fourth realm. This is a wound caused by sword energy!"

His face was full of shock, and he murmured: "This family is just ordinary people. Which martial arts master would attack such poor people?"

Li Nuo was also surprised. He didn't expect that this was another case involving a high-level warrior.

He and Wang Xianwei had some of the same doubts.

Why would a warrior of the fourth realm use such cruel means on ordinary people?

He was planning to ask the neighbors of this family about the situation and see if they had offended any big shots.

At this time, Wang Xianwei seemed to remember something. He looked at the bodies of several people and suddenly said: "Cut off the heads in an instant. This method seems familiar. I seem to have seen it somewhere..."

After Wang Xianwei reminded him, Li Nuo also felt that this killing method was very familiar, and he quickly remembered where this familiarity came from.

Wang Ma's lover, the charred headless male corpse, was beheaded with a sharp weapon before his death.

Li Nuo once thought that the case was committed by his father.

Later, he gradually realized that it should be the person behind Wang Ma who killed her.

If the murderer behind this bizarre case of extermination is the same person who killed Wang Ma...

Then.

Li Nuo's face suddenly changed.

It's bad, it's coming for me!

This case of extermination is just a bait!

He was fished!

Before Li Nuo could give a warning, Wu Guanjia and the four gray-clothed old men changed their expressions at the same time.

They immediately protected Li Nuo in the middle, and the true energy in their bodies surged out, protecting Li Nuo and Wang Xianwei, who was closest to him.

Several sharp sword energies came from different directions.

All the sword energies were blocked by a layer of true energy shield, and Li Nuo and Wang Xianwei were unharmed.

But the old constable who was standing a little further away and not in the shield was not so lucky.

He was affected by a sword energy, and one of his arms was broken at the root, and he fell to the ground groaning in pain.

Wu Guanjia and others had no time to take care of him, and their eyes were fixed on the seven black-clothed men who suddenly appeared in the yard.

All seven of them were, without exception, fourth-level warriors.

How could there be so many martial arts masters here?

This place is located in the slums, far away from the prosperous area of ​​Chang'an, and even the guards would not patrol here. This is a carefully planned attack against them!

There were seven people on the other side, and they only had five people, so they were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers.

Although the five of them joined forces to fight against these seven people, they were not without the power to fight, but the most important thing was the safety of the young master.

If the young master was in trouble, they would be guilty even if they killed all seven people.

Butler Wu made a prompt decision, grabbed Li Nuo's shoulders, and quickly retreated outside the courtyard.

The four gray-clothed old men tacitly blocked the courtyard gate to prevent several people from chasing.

But there were only four of them, and even if they tried their best, they only stopped five people.

The other two easily crossed the courtyard wall and chased in the direction where Li Nuo and Butler Wu disappeared.

In the narrow alley, Butler Wu carried Li Nuo on his back and could feel two breaths approaching quickly behind him.

He was carrying the young master on his back, and it was inconvenient for him to move. Sooner or later, he would be caught up by them.

He could barely hold on for a while against two people, but he definitely couldn't take care of the young master.

He decisively put Li Nuo down, pointed in a direction, and said in a deep voice: "Young Master, run quickly. After this corner, there is a carriage in front. Get on the carriage and keep running east. You will be safe when you meet the imperial guards!"

Without time to say more, he turned around and met the two men.

Li Nuo also knew that he was just a hindrance, so he ran in the direction pointed by Butler Wu.

After running around a corner, he saw the carriage parked at the entrance of the alley.

He ran faster, but when he ran halfway, his footsteps slowly stopped.

At the entrance of the alley, a figure in black seemed to be waiting for something there.

There is another one!

Li Nuo's eyelids twitched wildly, but he had no time to think. He changed direction in an instant and ran to an alley beside him.

He ran a few steps and stopped again.

He looked at a wall at the end of the alley, and a helpless look appeared on his face.

Damn, dead end.

The wall was not high, even Mu'er could easily jump over it.

But he was not Mu'er.

His wife was not around.

When he turned around, the man in black had already appeared at the entrance of the alley.

The man in black drew out the long knife in his hand.

As a martial arts master of the fourth realm, killing an ordinary person does not require weapons at all.

He drew out the knife just to make it easier to cut off his head later.

Although the employer did not ask for this, this is the basic quality of a killer.

Watching the man in black slowly walk into the alley.

Li Nuo sighed deeply.

Not long after, two muffled sounds came from the deep alley.

Deep in the alley, the man in black leaned against the wall, opened his eyes wide, and looked up at the sky above his head.

Even though he was dead, his eyes were still open.

His eyes before death were full of confusion and shock.

On his chest, two concave palm prints were clearly visible.

One palm print was covered with frost, and the other palm print was charred black.

Li Nuo leaned against the wall with some exhaustion, looked at the killer, and said with resentment: "I just want to investigate a case, why are you forcing me?"

[ps: Some readers are asking why it is one chapter a day now. Here is a whispered explanation. The total number of words in one chapter and two chapters a day is about the same, but sometimes they are published separately, and sometimes they are published together. The number of words updated every day will definitely be more than 5,000, sometimes 6,000 or 7,000, and occasionally 10,000 words. The number of words in each chapter depends mainly on the plot nodes, and there will be no deliberate fixed number...]