Chapter 268 - 150: Mystifying......
Ministry of Justice.
Li Anning leaned against the chair, her expression one of distress.
Li Nuo sat opposite her, idly spinning a paperweight on the table.
Punishing a few hooligans was not his purpose.
It served no deterrent effect,
nor did it increase his cultivation or lifespan by much.
He thought for a moment, looked at Li Anning, and asked, "Chang'an should have more than just these few scoundrels, so why has the Ministry of Justice not dealt with them before?"
Li Anning glanced at him and said indifferently, "Do you think they're simply common thugs and bullies?"
To intimidate the petty criminals, the Ministry of Justice executed a number of men and women bullies every year.
But these people were endless.
Especially a portion of them, who were actually nurtured by the nobles to do their unsavory bidding.
Li Anning, in the past, also thought to eliminate them all.
But the result was that the nobles maneuvered within the court, nearly making her unable to stay in her position at the Ministry of Justice.
Her status as a Princess was noble indeed,
but she had little real say within the court.
Li Nuo had not expected there to be such matters.
Li Nuo gave Li Anning a look and said, "Come with me."
Li Anning asked with confusion, "Where to?"
Li Nuo said, "I will take you on a path of cultivation..."
In the past, Li Anning had been bullied because she hadn't met him.
This time, he would do whatever it took to get her vindication.
A moment later, Li Anning stood in front of the Ministry of Justice and asked Li Nuo, "Why have you brought me here?"
Li Nuo replied, "You'll know once you follow me."
The two walked into the Ministry of Justice and saw King Chun sitting on the steps in front of a government office, looking somewhat bored.
"Uncle King Chun."
"Elder Brother."
The two approached, and King Chun looked up and said in surprise, "Li Nuo, Anning, what brings you here?"
Li Nuo said, "We have some business with Father, why is Uncle sitting here?"
King Chun, hugging a delicate soup bowl wrapped tightly in his robe, stood up and said, "I came to bring your father some soup; he always skips meals, and we can't have him ruining his health…"
Li Anning inquired, "Then why not go in?"
King Chun replied, "He is busy with official business, this King will wait for him a while."
A moment later, two officials from the Ministry of Justice walked out of the office.
Only then did Li Nuo and the others enter.
King Chun took out the bowl of soup and said, "This soup has been simmering for hours, best drink it while it's hot."
Li Xuanjing put down the document in his hand, pushed the bowl towards Li Nuo, and said, "I'm not thirsty, you and the Princess have it."
In the end, the entire bowl of soup found its way into the stomachs of Li Nuo and Li Anning.
King Chun's lips moved, but ultimately, he didn't say anything.
Li Xuanjing got straight to the point and asked, "What brings you to the Ministry of Justice this time?"
Li Nuo said, "A friend of mine has opened a shop in Chang'an and has recently been harassed by some riff-raff…"
Li Xuanjing questioned, "A friend?"
Li Nuo added, "A good friend."
Li Anning rolled her eyes.
Li Xuanjing asked, "Then what?"
Li Nuo said, "Princess Anning and I think that it's time to properly handle these unruly thugs, to give the people peace and tranquility, but the power of the Ministry of Justice alone may not be sufficient..."
Li Xuanjing nodded, picked up a brush, and wrote a few lines on a piece of paper.
Not long afterward, Li Nuo and Li Anning left the Ministry of Justice.
In Li Anning's hand was a handwritten letter.
It was a notification about dealing with the thugs in Chang'an, issued by the supreme court of Daxia, the Ministry of Justice, bearing the seal of the Minister of Justice; all personnel from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Justice, and the Chang'an County Magistrate's Office were authorized to mobilize.
Li Anning felt emotional.
Having a father as the Minister of Justice, being a Law Practitioner was truly convenient.
This time, she had once again benefited from Li Nuo's influence.
Inside the Ministry of Justice, within the office.
King Chun stroked his chin, musing, "Li Nuo and Anning, they seem to be quite close…"
Li Xuanjing picked up his tea cup, said nothing, while King Chun looked at the now-empty soup bowl and said, "It's a pity about this soup; the King Mansion's chef took great effort to make it. I will bring you another bowl tomorrow..."
…
The affair of the Jade Sound Pavilion took several unexpected turns.
People thought that after the Ministry of Justice arrested a few troublemakers at the Jade Sound Pavilion and punished them right outside its doors, the matter would be concluded.
It wasn't until the following day, when the officials from Chang'an County Government, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Justice apprehended individuals throughout the city, that they realized that things were just beginning.
Little factions primarily composed of street thugs were all thrown into jail.
The idle ruffians were not spared either.
This time, it was a special operation directly ordered by the Ministry of Justice, targeting these dark forces.
A few hooligans caused a disturbance at the Jade Sound Pavilion.
The next day, the Ministry of Justice ordered a cleanup of the ruffians in Chang'an.
Even a fool could see the reason behind it.
After that, if anyone dares to say that Phoenix and Li Nuo are innocent, no one will believe a single word.
The court had always turned a blind eye to these hooligans.
Because behind them, there were many complex interests involved.
This time, because of a few people's mistakes, the entire hooligan industry suffered a huge blow.
Even the nobles behind them were implicated.
Ministry of Justice.
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Li Nuo entered the government office, sighed, and said, "Redemption, it's always about redemption..."
He had traced some noble offspring starting from those ruffians.
But he couldn't sentence them to actual imprisonment.
These kinds of issues at most count as disturbing public order; under Daxia's laws, the maximum sentence would only be imprisonment coupled with exile, with death not warranted.
And for those nobles, as long as death was not warranted, everything could be settled with silver.
Li Anning had long been accustomed to this; she had encountered too many such incidents over the years of her cultivation.
Li Nuo felt some regret, but in fact, this operation had not been without its gains.
The lifespan he had used up over the past month had been fully replenished.
Not only that, but he also had a significant surplus.
However, now that the Thief Sect was caught and the ruffians were cleared, it would not be so easy to gain such a large increase in lifespan again.
When he returned to the Jade Sound Pavilion, there were quite a few people gathered around the entrance.
Two women knelt on the ground, pleading bitterly.
"Nightingale, we were wrong. Please, let us see Phoenix!" they begged.
"We were blindsided, please forgive us!"
...
Nightingale looked at them coldly and said, "The Jade Sound Pavilion treated you so well, yet in a critical moment, you betrayed us. Leave, go to your Happy Building and Sky Sound Courtyard. The Jade Sound Pavilion is too small to house two Oirans like you..."
The women of the Jade Sound Pavilion looked at these two with faces full of anger.
The Pavilion had spent a lot of money to raise them to Oiran, only for them to switch to competitors without hesitation when the Jade Sound Pavilion faced trouble.
Now knowing that the Jade Sound Pavilion wasn't to be trifled with, they wanted to come back—was there such an easy deal?
The two women left with faces full of shame, their heads hanging low.
Not long after.
Sky Sound Courtyard.
A plump woman looked at the newly snatched Oiran from the Jade Sound Pavilion, waved her hand and said, "Enough, if they don't want you, from now on, you belong to Sky Sound Courtyard. It's not like we didn't pay for you when we bought you..."
As one of the largest music workshops in Chang'an, Sky Sound Courtyard was as renowned as Happy Building, with a very powerful backing; they didn't really care about a small Jade Sound Pavilion.
But if it wasn't necessary, they still didn't want to provoke Li Xuanjing.
However, they believed Li Xuanjing wouldn't trouble the Sky Sound Courtyard over such a small matter.
"Yes."
The woman responded respectfully and returned to her own building. As she closed the door behind her, a barely detectable smile curled at the corners of her mouth.
Happy Building.
The middle-aged woman thought the same.
She waved off the Oiran from the Jade Sound Pavilion, saying, "Alright, go back to your room. Why bother about them when you have more prospects here than at the small Jade Sound Pavilion?"
Willingly returning the poached Oiran back to them, not even demanding the return of the silver, and bearing this loss was her bottom line.
She was also bowing her head to that person.
Even the people behind her didn't want to offend the son of Li Xuanjing.
But what puzzled her was, if the higher-ups were so wary of Li Xuanjing's son, why did they ask her to poach the Oiran from the Jade Sound Pavilion and personally press the Pavilion Master to forcibly buy the Jade Sound Pavilion at a low price...
However, the thoughts of those higher-ups were not something she could question.
With a heart full of doubts, she returned to her room.
After closing the door and turning around, her expression subtly changed upon seeing a figure seated before the table. She asked, "Who are you?"
The masked person looked at her and smiled, "The one to send you on your way."
The middle-aged woman's face turned pale.
She tried to escape but found that she couldn't even budge the door bolt.
The entire door was firmly locked by a force.
Fourth Realm, the assailant must be a cultivator from the Fourth Realm!
Her face ashen, she began to speak shakily.
"Wait!"
"Have we ever had a grudge?"
"Who sent you, Jade Sound Pavilion or Sky Sound Courtyard?"
"How much silver did they offer you? I can give you double!"
"Please, I can give you any amount of silver you want!"
...
But no matter how she begged, the masked person did not respond again.
Only when the rope tightened around her neck, and darkness gradually enveloped her vision, did the middle-aged woman realize something, and with the last breath squeezed from her throat she whispered, "After so many years... it turns out... you never planned... to let me go!"
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