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    Lady, escort the emperor! 32

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    Chapter 32: A New Talent

    At the entrance of the county magistrate’s office, although tables had been set up and the officers were shouting their lungs out, it was the first time such a thing had been seen. The crowd only watched from afar and no one came forward to complain.

    At this moment, two figures squeezed out from the crowd.

    They were two burly men, one of whom grabbed the other by the collar, angrily saying, “You owe me money and you dare to hit me? I’m taking you to see the official!”

    The man dragged the debtor to the long table at the entrance of the magistrate’s office. A clerk wrote a statement, and a young gentleman came out from the office. After reading the statement and asking both men a few questions, he looked at the debtor and said, “Paying back debts is only natural. You not only owe money but also beat your creditor. Today, I sentence you to immediately repay the debt and receive fifty lashes as a warning to others. If you still refuse to repay the money, your punishment will be tripled, and the office will help you sell your property to repay the debt. You will also inevitably suffer the pain of bastinado…”

    Flogging was only skin-deep suffering, but bastinado injured bones and sinews. The debtor was so frightened that his face turned pale. He quickly took out a piece of broken silver from his bosom and returned it to the man. Afterwards, two officers tied him to a stone lion at the entrance of the magistrate’s office and whipped his buttocks with bamboo strips dozens of times. The man cried and wailed, but the onlookers’ eyes grew brighter and brighter.

    No… they really did it?

    Seeing that the magistrate’s office really helped the victim recover the owed money, after the two in this case left, some people began to stir.

    Meanwhile, in the back hall of the magistrate’s office, a yamen runner (衙役) was grimacing while rubbing his buttocks, yet he still looked happy while looking at the silver ingot in his hand. The expressions of the others around him were full of envy.

    If they could get ten taels of silver for fifty lashes on the buttocks, they would be willing to be whipped every day.

    Even the other one who wasn’t whipped received two taels of silver as a reward.

    These two lads, what luck!

    It has to be said that following that noble young master was far more promising and lucrative than following Master Pei. If this young master were the county magistrate…

    All beginnings are difficult. Initially, the people at the entrance of the magistrate’s office were watching. Seeing that someone had actually received justice, the crowd became noticeably more agitated. At one point, a woman stepped out of the crowd and hesitantly approached the table.

    An observant yamen runner immediately brought over a chair for her to sit down.

    Li Nuo looked at the still timid woman and gently said, “Madam, don’t be afraid. Whatever grievance you have, we will uphold justice for you.”

    As if the handsome young master’s smile had infected her, the woman’s face regained some color. She carefully lifted her sleeve, revealing a patch of bruises, and said, “My… my husband always beats me. Can you handle this?”

    Li Nuo said, “Yes, yes, yes, of course we can. Come, bring a chair, let’s have Madam sit down…”

    While Da Xia didn’t have a domestic violence law, there was a law against assault. Between husband and wife, whether it was one-sided beating or mutual beating, it was based on assault, with added or reduced punishment.

    Li Nuo first sent two yamen runners to bring her husband in for questioning based on the woman’s address.

    While waiting, he also had someone bring the woman a cup of tea and asked her in detail about the details of the case, examining her wounds.

    Her injuries were mostly bruises and small wounds. In addition, a tooth had been knocked out.

    The woman’s house wasn’t far from the magistrate’s office. In half a cup of tea’s time, two yamen runners brought a thin man to the entrance of the magistrate’s office.

    Li Nuo pointed at the man and asked the woman, “Is he your husband?”

    The woman nodded.

    On the way, the man had already heard that his wife had reported him to the government. Although he was angry, he didn’t dare to act out, only repeatedly saying, “Sir, this is a matter between husband and wife. The yamen shouldn’t interfere, right…”

    Li Nuo glanced at him and said, “In your home, it’s your family matter, but in the yamen, it’s the yamen’s business. I only ask you, did you inflict those injuries on your wife?”

    For such a small case, the Da Xia Law emphasized the principle of “no accusation, no investigation.” Facing her husband’s frequent beatings, if the woman chose to swallow her anger, the government really couldn’t interfere.

    But she had already reported it to the government. This was no longer a family matter.

    The man glared fiercely at his wife, but his expression softened when he looked at Li Nuo. He said, “Sir, I dare not do it again!”

    Li Nuo waved his hand and said, “Knowing this, why did you do it in the first place? According to the Da Xia Law, hitting someone with hands or feet results in forty lashes; injuring someone with other objects results in sixty lashes; knocking out teeth or damaging ears and nose results in one year of hard labor. You beat your wife several times, causing multiple bruises and the loss of a tooth. According to the law, I sentence you to sixty lashes and one year of hard labor. Do you accept the verdict?”

    The man stood there dumbfounded, before he could react, the woman became anxious and quickly said, “Sir, sir, my husband can’t go to jail…”

    Li Nuo looked at her speechlessly and asked, “Then what do you want?”

    The woman nervously said, “I just want him to stop beating me…”

    She only wanted the government to reprimand her husband. She never expected the magistrate to give such a heavy sentence. If her husband were to go to jail for a year, how would she survive that year?

    Thinking of this consequence, she trembled and immediately said, “Sir, please let my husband go. I’m not pressing charges, I’m not pressing charges…”

    Li Nuo could see that even though she was beaten like this, the woman still sided with her husband.

    For a moment, he actually felt a little envious.

    This kind of guy could actually marry such a wife. It’s really unjust!

    His own wife, let alone siding with him, wouldn’t even beat him less often!

    This made Li Nuo even more displeased with this man. He waved his hand and said, “Saying you’ll press charges and then saying you won’t—do you think the yamen is a place to be trifled with? These officers take time off from their rest days to uphold justice for the people, to be played around with like this?”

    The woman knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, “This humble woman doesn’t understand the law, please forgive me…”

    Li Nuo had someone help her up and said, “You are the victim. Since you say you won’t press charges, I’ll exempt him from hard labor. However, the hard labor can be waived, but he still has to receive fifty lashes and three days’ imprisonment as a warning. If he repeats the offense in the future, the punishment will be increased…”

    As a legal professional, even though he felt the woman was too unassertive, he still had to consider it from her perspective.

    Becoming a law enforcement officer was not about enjoying the power to stand above the common people, but about sincerely solving problems for the vulnerable.

    The woman said gratefully, “Thank you, sir, thank you, sir…”

    The man also breathed a sigh of relief and immediately said, “Thank you, sir, for your leniency. I swear, I will never beat my wife again…”

    Li Nuo waved his hand, instructing two yamen runners to take him away, and watched the clerk write the judgment. He had already figured out the rules of the Treasured Tome. Whether he wrote the judgment or not didn’t affect the tome’s judgment, and Li Nuo’s handwriting was too ugly to be shown.

    A moment later, Li Nuo glanced at the Treasured Tome, his expression suddenly stunned.

    The portrait of the domestic violence man was actually glowing.

    This was unexpected.

    In the past few days, Li Nuo had judged many cases, and the portraits in the Treasured Tome had added several pages. But like Cui Ze in the previous Zheng Yuanwai case, their portraits were dim and would disappear completely after a day. This meant that they did not have talents recognized by the Treasured Tome.

    This domestic abuser was the only glowing portrait in the last few days.

    The Treasured Tome was very picky, which meant he had exceptional abilities in some area.

    At least, one in a thousand, or even one in ten thousand.

    If this wasn’t clarified, it might cause trouble for him.

    Li Nuo quickly reached out and stopped the woman who was about to leave and asked, “Madam, does your husband have any special talents?”

    The woman looked puzzled.

    Li Nuo added, “That is to say, something he’s clearly better at than others…”

    The woman thought for a moment, and her face suddenly flushed. She lowered her head and whispered, “He… his special talent…”

    Li Nuo thought he had misheard, and pressed, “Which one?”

    The woman blushed, her eyes gazing towards a certain part of Li Nuo’s body, and said, “That…”

    Li Nuo looked down, his expression stunned.
    (End of Chapter)

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