My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare!

Since the Martial Arts Tournament ended, having breakfast had become a luxury for Li Nuo.

Fortunately, his body had drastically improved since he formally began his cultivation, progressing at a miraculous pace.

Considering the enhancement of his strength over the past few days, the martial talents he acquired from numerous grandmasters and Martial Path prodigies now allowed him to stand shoulder to shoulder with his wife and Yiren.

However, the talent in Martial Path had its limits.

With his wife and Yiren's talent, plus their intensive cultivation, it had taken them over ten years to reach the Fourth Realm.

Before the Fourth Realm in the Martial Path, there was absolutely no shortcut in cultivation.

The cultivation talent Li Nuo possessed had come to him unexpectedly; he had never thought about becoming a martial arts master.

He was merely satisfied with the bodily enhancements brought about by the Body Shaping Realm.

In a few days, his wife's body had also completely recovered.

The improved Yuqing Heart Technique, though no longer providing extra speed in cultivation, was still not inferior to the Shangqing and Taiching Heart Methods; it fully eliminated the negative effects of the Yuqing Heart Technique and did not hinder her progress in the Martial Path—this was the best outcome.

In the early morning, Li Nuo stepped out of his room.

In the small pavilion in the courtyard, Phoenix was teaching Jiaren and Anning embroidery.

Except for the inability to fight, Phoenix could be considered perfect.

She was proficient in all women's crafts, whether it was artistic or manual skills, she was unmatched.

In his wife and Anning's hearts, she was almost like a goddess.

Of course, she was in Li Nuo's heart as well.

With Phoenix around, he had much less to worry about.

Seeing this harmonious scene in front of him brought him an indescribable sense of comfort.

He'd been in this world for over a year, but only today did everything seem to finally be on the right track.

Yiren hadn't joined them; these past few days, Li Nuo hadn't seen her.

When she was around, Li Nuo found her noisy and boisterous, but now that she was gone, he felt something was missing.

After giving them a heads-up, Li Nuo left home.

His marital leave had ended, and he had to return to the government office for work.

In the past month, although Li Nuo had captured many people, they were all minor issues and hadn't handled any major cases, nor had his lifespan increased.

Previously, he had also expended a lot in deducing the cultivation techniques.

Every time his cultivation hit a bottleneck, he faced the situation where his lifespan only decreased and did not increase.

Given his current lifespan, although it could withstand short-term consumption, it definitely wouldn't last in the long term.

Previously, he had stayed at the Ministry of Rites to facilitate the preparations for the Martial Arts Tournament.

Now that the Martial Arts Tournament had ended, continuing to stay at the Ministry of Rites would only waste time.

"Lord Li."

"Greetings, Lord Li!"

After exchanging greetings with the officials from the Ministry of Rites he encountered on the road, Li Nuo returned to his office and began his busy work.

A moment later, he went to the door and called over a passing clerk.

The clerk immediately ran over and asked, "Lord Li, what do you need?"

Li Nuo said, "We're short on blank documents in my office; have someone bring over some new ones."

…

Secretariat.

Du Yu had just finished the last document and stretched lazily.

Although the job of Scheeren at the Secretariat was exhausting, he was in contact with national secrets, and a single decision could affect countless others—a sense of immense power that he could not experience in other departments.

The other Scheeren had also completed their tasks.

A figure walked into the office, saying, "Lord Du, do you have plans after work tonight? If not, shall we go to the Happy Building to listen to music?"

Du Yu stood up, rubbing his tired brow, and replied, "Sounds good."

After a busy day of approving documents to the point of dizziness, going out to relax in the evening seemed like a good idea.

The Happy Building was owned by King Han; any girl there, if placed in another brothel, would be a main attraction.

Of course, this was because their girls were all cherry-picked from other places.

He was thinking about which musician to request tonight when a clerk, carrying a thick stack of documents, walked in.

Du Yu, upon seeing this, said bewilderedly, "This is…"

The clerk replied, "Lord, these are the documents submitted from the Ministry of Rites."

Du Yu looked at the stack of thick documents, picked up the top one, and flipped through it. Seeing the name at the end, a profound sense of helplessness surged within him.

Here we go again!

Another Secretariat Scheeren saw this, shook his head regretfully, and said, "It seems Lord Du won't be able to make it tonight. Let's plan for another day."

His tone also carried a hint of schadenfreude.

Luckily, the documents from the Ministry of Rites were Lord Du's responsibility; otherwise, he might have been the unlucky one.

Du Yu noticed the schadenfreude on his colleague's face, shook his head, and said, "Don't be too happy too soon, Lord Zheng. You won't be going to the Happy Building tonight either…"

Lord Zheng was taken aback and asked, "Why?"

Seemingly realizing something, he looked at the stack of documents, shaking his head repeatedly, and said, "I've already made arrangements with a few colleagues to leave soon, I won't be helping you with the documents, you'll have to deal with your own…"

Du Yu pulled a wry smile and said, "If you're not afraid of being suspended tomorrow, then go ahead…"

Lord Zheng was stunned again and asked, "What do you mean?"

Du Yu handed him the document, saying, "The Ministry of Rites has reported that the Sky Sound Courtyard and Happy Building have violated the court's prohibition order by harboring court officials who consort with prostitutes. They demand a thorough investigation by the court. If you have the courage, go and handle it..."

Scheeren Zhang looked at Du Yu and asked, "Is it him again?"

Du Yu nodded his head and sighed, saying, "My good days are probably coming to an end..."

...

Night.

When many officials and nobles of Chang'an were preparing to indulge in pleasure at the Sky Sound Courtyard and Happy Building, they found that these places had put up signs indicating that they were temporarily closed.

It was rare for the Sky Sound Courtyard and Happy Building to close.

A place that eliminates gold, closing even for one night, could lose a significant amount of money.

Left with no other choice, they had to seek alternatives and turned to other brothels.

But soon they discovered that tonight, all the major brothels in Chang'an were no longer in business.

One or two brothels closing could be understandable, but such a widespread shutdown was decidedly abnormal.

Tonight, many who went out in high spirits returned in disappointment.

Soon, those with informed sources received exact news.

Not long ago, The Secretariat had issued a decree.

It demanded that the Chang'an County Government and the Capital Prefecture thoroughly investigate the matter of brothels harboring officials who consort with prostitutes.

To avoid being made an example of, the major brothels of Chang'an chose to close for the night.

As court officials, there were many things they were forbidden to do.

For instance, corruption, abuse of power, and murder were absolute prohibitions; touching upon these matters could land one in the Ministry of Justice.

Acts like not adhering to office hours or consorting with prostitutes were relatively forbidden.

No one would interfere, and if it happened, it happened, but such matters could not be openly discussed.

Unless the court repealed the law and completely freed the officials to pursue pleasure, others by nature would have no say, but that was impossible.

The officials in the court all came from a Confucian background, which valued personal morality in governing the country.

To truly liberalize such matters would mean truly losing all decency.

This time, the decree from The Secretariat was triggered by a report from the Ministry of Rites.

Speaking of the Ministry of Rites, everyone knew what was happening.

After all, it wasn't his first time causing trouble.

Previously, he had caused uproar in the court, and The Secretariat had assigned him a troublesome task to keep him quiet for a few months.

The Martial Arts Tournament had just ended; they certainly couldn't let him organize another one, could they?

Many officials were full of complaints about the higher-ups.

They wondered what the high-ranking officials were thinking by assigning him to the Ministry of Rites. Now they couldn't visit brothels, had to tread carefully around their wives, and appease their parents. One misstep could result in suspension or a fine...

Secretariat.

Several Scheeren from The Secretariat were quite troubled.

Entertainment venues in Chang'an had been closed for three days now.

King Han, King You, and some interested nobles had already put enough pressure on The Secretariat.

These were people they couldn't afford to provoke.

If the issue of officials consorting with prostitutes was to be investigated seriously, wouldn't it turn the court upside down?

But if it wasn't investigated thoroughly, they wouldn't be able to explain to the Ministry of Rites, and soon Li Xuanjing would be investigating them.

Labeling them as neglectful in their duties could be trouble enough for them.

Caught between the two sides, The Secretariat was stuck in the middle.

Before appointing Li Nuo as the Assistant Minister of Rites, they had not anticipated that he could stir up so much trouble in such a minor position.

The best solution was to transfer him from the Ministry of Rites to a government office where he couldn't cause any ripples.

That's what they had thought before.

But who could have predicted that right after the Martial Arts Tournament, he would start causing trouble again?

The reassignment of officials followed specific rules; Daxia officials couldn't be moved within half a year of their appointment unless there was a significant misconduct.

He had been in the position for only two months, so even if they wanted to transfer him, it wasn't possible.

Thinking about how they would have to endure his disruptions for another four months made Du Yu despair.

At that moment, a voice said, "I have a way."

Du Yu immediately looked over and asked, "Lord Zhang, what do you propose?"

Last time, it had been Scheeren Zhang who suggested distracting Li Nuo by organizing the Martial Arts Tournament.

His method had kept The Secretariat stable for a few months.

Now that he spoke again, Du Yu pinned all his hopes on him.

Scheeren Zhang stroked his chin beard while saying, "Though we cannot transfer him laterally within half a year, we can promote him. Promote him up half a rank, and let him be transferred away..."

Du Yu turned his gaze away, thinking that he had come up with some brilliant solution. Indeed, if an official had outstanding administrative achievements or had accomplished great deeds during their term, they could bypass the half-year limit for promotion.

But had he achieved anything remarkable?

Moreover, being a top scholar in the Imperial Examination, he had started off at Standard Sixth Rank, and just two months into his role, they were considering promoting him...

Promotions were easy to come by, but demotions were not, and if he didn't commit any serious mistakes, he could only be laterally moved or continue to be promoted, wouldn't that give him even greater authority?

Du Yu shook his head and said, "He has only been appointed for two months and hasn't achieved any significant deeds. How could we promote him?"

Scheeren Zhang responded, "Not so, not so. The Martial Arts has always been an unstable factor. He has been in office for two months and has strengthened the relationship between the court and the Martial Arts, achieving the first agreement between the Martial Arts and the court to maintain local security together. Isn't that a significant achievement?"

He looked around at everyone and continued, "As for his merits, isn't it up to the Ministry of Personnel to decide? Find any reason to promote him half a rank, transfer him to an inconsequential government office on the fringes where he can't make waves, and let him stay there for ten or eight years. Wouldn't the court be much quieter then..."