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

Li Nuo's hand, which was massaging Anning, paused slightly.

A murder in Chang'an City was already enough to attract attention.

The fact that the victim was an official appointed by the court made the Ministry of Justice take the matter even more seriously.

Li Nuo learnt from Anning that the deceased was a Zhanggu from the Ministry of Personnel. He had not gone to the government office this morning, and at noon, when his colleagues from the Ministry went to his home to look for him, they discovered that he and an old servant had been murdered in his house.

The home of the Ministry of Personnel's Zhanggu had been turned upside down, and all his property was gone. On the surface, it seemed like a case of burglary followed by murder.

Thanks to the efforts of the Anti-theft Bureau, thieves had all but vanished in Chang'an.

It was rare to even encounter a petty thief, let alone cases of burglary with added murder, which had not occurred for a long time.

Not to mention that the victim was an official appointed by the court. The gravity of the case was second only to the murder of nobles. The three provinces had issued an edict, ordering the Ministry of Justice to thoroughly investigate the case and bring the perpetrator to justice according to the Law Code.

If it were just an ordinary Zhanggu, it might not have been too serious, but this Zhanggu had died last night and had been promoted this morning, advancing directly from Ninth Grade to Secondary Seventh-rank.

The murder of a seventh-rank official was no small matter.

Li Nuo asked, "Have any clues been found?"

Li Anning shook her head and said, "On the surface, this looks like a case of burglary and murder, but I feel that things are not that simple. What are the odds of a burglary taking place in the house of a court official who was just about to be promoted the next day..."

The case did have some suspicious points. After thinking for a while, Li Nuo said, "I'll go with you to investigate tomorrow."

Actually, it would have been best to investigate today, but since the incident had likely occurred over a day ago, the Law Code's automatic locking onto the criminal was ineffective, so investigating tomorrow would be the same.

As the Honglu Si Prime Minister, he was supposed to be at the Honglu Si during office hours. Not being there and running around outside would be considered dereliction of duty.

When Li Nuo was at the Ministry of Rites, the officials he caught abandoning their duties would, at the very least, be fined half a month's salary.

But it was unlikely anyone would dare to accuse him.

Anning was naturally enthusiastic about investigating the case with Li Nuo; it was something she had fantasized about countless times before.

Early the next day, the two arrived at the scene of the crime.

The residence of the Ministry of Personnel's Zhanggu was not located in the bustling area of Chang'an. A Ninth Grade official in Daxia earned a salary of one hundred taels, which, although high compared to ordinary people, was still not enough to afford a house in the prosperous areas of Chang'an.

Being outside of the busy districts also meant security was harder to guarantee.

Li Nuo observed the scene but did not find any useful clues.

His home had been ransacked, all his property stolen, and even the books on the shelves had not been spared—they were scattered everywhere.

The surrounding neighbors did not know him very well.

They only knew that a master-servant pair lived here, with the master being a minor official of the court who seldom interacted with neighbors.

Having gained nothing, they prepared to visit the Ministry of Personnel to investigate further.

The main goal was to inquire about his social relationships, to see if he had any enemies or had had conflicts with anyone.

Many murder cases are made to look like burglary followed by murder.

"Enemies?"

Inside the Archives of the Ministry of Personnel, Zhanggu Fang shook his head and said, "Lord Zhao was quite reclusive and rarely interacted with others. He probably didn't have any enemies. Alas, how could Lord Zhao have encountered such an incident..."

Li Nuo questioned several officials at the Ministry of Personnel, but they were not very familiar with the deceased Zhanggu Zhao, having only a regular colleague relationship with him.

According to these officials, Zhao He was arrogant and aloof, hence not having many friends, but he had never had conflicts with anyone.

Li Nuo also inquired in detail about his promotion.

For a Ninth Grade Zhanggu to suddenly be promoted to Secondary Seventh-rank Merit Cao was not considered a normal advancement.

The officials from the Ministry of Personnel quickly explained the reason.

It turned out that Zhanggu Zhao had a connection with the Capital Governor as fellow townspeople.

On the court, it was not unusual for those from the same hometown to help each other.

But his death and promotion occurring simultaneously still seemed somewhat thought-provoking.

As they left the Ministry of Personnel, Li Nuo looked at Anning and asked, "Have you found out where he went in the days before his death? Has the Ministry of Justice discovered anything?"

Li Anning shook her head and said, "Zhao He was a loner and had no friends. No one knows his whereabouts after work, and the Ministry of Justice has no leads to pursue."

The Ministry of Justice had no leads to follow, so they could only turn to the Spiegel Bureau for assistance.

Half an hour later, Li Nuo had learned the answer he sought.

A Ninth Grade Zhanggu wasn't an important figure; the Spiegel Bureau wouldn't assign someone to monitor every move he made around the clock.

Unless he was connected to some significant figure.

After discovering his relationship with the Capital Governor, the Spiegel Bureau indeed found that someone had visited the Capital Governor at the government office on the day Zhao He died.

The Ministry of Justice had investigated for an entire day yesterday and had not uncovered this.

It was unlikely anyone would suspect that a lowly Ninth Grade Zhanggu could have any connection with a court giant like the Capital Governor.

The two arrived at the government office of the Capital Prefecture and quickly gained an audience with the Capital Governor.

The Capital Governor, named Lin Fuzhi, was a middle-aged man who appeared to possess a scholarly elegance.

Li Nuo was actually familiar with this name; Lin Fuzhi and his father were both Advanced Scholars from the fourteenth year of the Zhisheng era. In that year's Imperial Examination, he had ranked second.

They were also the highest-ranking officials from their cohort at court.

Inside the government office, the Capital Governor greeted Li Anning and Li Nuo with a bow and asked, "I've met the Princess and the Prince Consort, may I know the purpose of your visit to the Capital Prefecture?"

Li Anning spoke, "A Zhanggu from the Ministry of Personnel by the name of Zhao He; Lord Lin is familiar with him, right?"

The Capital Governor nodded and replied, "I am familiar with him; he's my fellow countryman. It was I who arranged for him to join the Ministry of Personnel."

Li Nuo had looked into Zhao He's examination ranking, and with his bottom-ranking Advanced Scholar status, it was indeed impossible for him to join the Ministry of Personnel without some backing.

The Capital Governor was indeed very good to his fellow countryman.

Li Anning continued, "Two nights ago, Zhanggu Zhao was murdered at home, is Lord Lin aware of this?"

The Capital Governor seemed somewhat sorrowful as he answered, "I've heard of it. In the court, only the two of us originally hail from Shahe County. I had hoped to promote him to my side and cultivate him well. I did not expect such a tragedy to occur. The court must catch the murderer to appease his spirit in heaven…"

"That is only natural," Li Anning looked at him and said, "However, a few hours before Zhao He died, he came to see Lord Lin at the Capital Prefecture; was this the case?"

The Capital Governor did not deny it, nodding as he said, "Yes, Zhao He had sought me out many times, hoping that I would promote him on account of our hometown connection. I felt his character was not quite ready, so I kept him in the Ministry of Personnel to gain more experience. Now I felt the timing was right and was about to assign him as Merit Cao, but I had not expected..."

He sighed then added, "I had not expected such an event to occur."

After speaking, he turned to Li Anning, "Once this case is concluded, may the Ministry of Justice transfer Zhao He's body to me? I would like to send him back to Shahe County to return to his roots, as is the tradition in Liang State..."

Li Anning responded, "For this matter, Lord Lin can apply to the Ministry of Justice, and I believe they will agree."

From the Capital Governor, the two had not discovered any useful information.

The Capital Governor had no reason to kill him, and judging by his past actions and today's demeanor, it was unlikely he was the murderer.

Besides, killing him the night before and promoting him the next morning made no sense.

Li Anning pondered, "Could it be an official from the Capital Prefecture, because Zhao He took their position, decided not to stop halfway and instead kill to silence him?"

This suspicion was not without reason.

Blocking one's path to wealth is like killing one's parents.

Blocking one's path to office is even more serious than blocking one's path to wealth.

The position of Merit Cao at the Capital Prefecture was enough to make many people take risks.

But investigating this would broaden the range of suspects; however, it wasn't without a solution.

They just needed a list of names; the rest would be simple.

Li Nuo planned to use the life-span checking method at the Ministry of Justice to try and narrow down suspects; if longevity increased, it would indicate the correct person had been found. Although troublesome, this method was the most practical.

Under the pretext of investigating the case, they quickly obtained a list from the Capital Governor.

These individuals were all strong contenders for the position of Merit Cao.

Leaving the Capital Prefecture, Housekeeper Wu had just finished speaking with someone and approached Li Nuo and Anning, saying, "Young Master, Princess, the Spiegel Bureau has investigated the intelligence of that day. After the Ministry of Personnel's Zhanggu met with the Capital Governor, he went to see King You at night. After leaving King You's Mansion, he was murdered..."

"King You?"

Li Nuo was slightly surprised; a lowly Ninth Grade Zhanggu having ties with the Capital Governor was already astounding, let alone getting involved with King You...

What was going on with these cases these past few days?

Why did every case feel like it grew more serious the more they investigated?