NOVPUBHorse Riding Zhou Yu worked hard for him every day, so there was no need to worry for now.
But as for Shooting, Li Nuo still needed to find a candidate.
His wife’s archery seemed not bad.
Li Nuo looked towards his wife, who was teaching Mumu swordsmanship in the courtyard, and a thought just began to surface in his mind when he immediately suppressed it the next moment.
His wife’s tolerance was as small as her chest.
Yesterday, playing the guqin had made her cry, and she ran off to sleep with Mumu.
If he threw her into jail, he’d at least have to endure an empty bed for a month.
Not worth it, not worth it.
Phoenix said yesterday that there’s a girl named Nightingale at Jade Sound Pavilion who seemed to be skilled in archery, but her words should be taken with a grain of salt.
Nobody understood self-promotion better than they did. She also claimed to be good at Music, and it was just so-so.
Besides being pretty, having a nice figure, and being able to arrange flowers, what else was there?
As Li Nuo pondered these matters, Mumu, who had finished practicing, ran over quickly with her skirt lifted and said, "Brother Li Nuo, I want you to play the guqin for me, but not like last night..."
Of course, Li Nuo didn’t refuse Mumu’s request.
He could only indulge her for this half-day; after today, he would have to wait until the spring exam or the Imperial Examination to afford such a luxury.
He moved Song Yu’s guqin outside and played it effortlessly, a soothing melody started flowing from his fingertips.
At the end of the piece, Song Mu’er propped her chin with both hands, a look of enjoyment on her little face, and murmured, "Brother Li Nuo plays so well, much better than Brother Yu. Why have I never seen you play before?"
Li Nuo said, "I don’t really like playing the guqin, it hurts my hands if I play too long."
Song Mu’er sweetly replied, "Then let’s play for a little while and stop."
Li Nuo patted her head and said, "Today, I’ll let you hear enough, and after that, I won’t play anymore."
Song Jiaren, holding a sword, leaned against the pillar at the doorway.
The melodious music drifted over, and she closed her eyes, feeling an unparalleled sense of tranquility.
At this moment, she finally understood why Song Yu and the others liked to go outside to listen to music.
Because it was truly beautiful.
The sound of music could bring an immense sense of peace and relaxation.
Mathematics, poetry, painting, music... there seemed to be nothing he didn’t know how to do.
And these...
She didn’t know how to do any of them.
When she was young, she often played truant to listen to stories. In those stories, couples wandering Jianghu would always have one person wielding a sword while the other played the guqin.
At that time, she didn’t understand why there had to be music accompanying sword dance, but now, hearing the pleasant notes, she felt the urge to dance with her sword Green Frost in hand...
A short while later.
Li Anning and Li Yun stood at the entrance to the courtyard.
Li Anning, watching Li Nuo play the guqin, expressed with surprise, "He can actually play the guqin, and so well?"
She felt that even the palace musicians couldn’t play as pleasantly as him.
Li Yun, watching Song Jiaren wield the sword, enviously said, "If only the dancing girl mechanisms I create could perform movements as fluid as these..."
Although their insights at this moment weren’t the same, there was one thing they agreed on.
These two people were truly a match made in heaven.
A scholar and a warrior, one playing the guqin, the other wielding the sword, their coordination was so tacit that watching them was a visual pleasure.
After Li Nuo finished playing, Song Jiaren sheathed her sword and silently stood beside him.
Li Anning and Li Yun walked over.
Before Li Nuo could say anything, Li Yun gave him a big bear hug, joyfully saying, "Brother, I really owe you a big thank you!"
Li Nuo was puzzled; what had he done?
Li Yun explained with a smile, "Thanks to your hints, I was able to make a Breakthrough so quickly."
Li Nuo was still clueless.
He didn’t remember giving Li Yun any advice; Li Yun was cultivating Mohist techniques, and he was a Law Practitioner; they seemed entirely unrelated.
It wasn’t until he heard Li Yun’s explanation that Li Nuo found it a bit hard to believe.
Was it true that just by telling him about the mutual primality principle between two meshing gears, he had helped him Breakthrough from Mohist Third Realm to the Fourth Realm?
Was advancing in Mohist cultivation that simple?
Li Yun smiled and said, "Brother, there are things you do not know..."
Li Nuo learned from Li Yun that advancing in cultivation for a Mohist was not simple; although it was unlike the Confucian requirement of achieving significant political accomplishments, or the Legalist need to execute several nobles as a demonstration, it still required contributions to the development of the Mohist school.
In the past, some Mechanical Families could design sturdier and longer-lasting mechanisms based on ancestral experience.
These experiences were their closely guarded secrets.
Because of this, the mechanisms designed by these Mechanical Families could often be sold at higher prices.
A single reminder from Li Nuo enlightened Li Yun.
These past few days, he had been conducting experiments.
The experiments proved that mechanisms designed using that method did indeed operate longer.
From now on, this knowledge would no longer be the secret experience of the Mechanical Families but common knowledge to all Mohist Mechanical Masters.
Not only that, but he took what was experiential knowledge and laid it down on paper, turning it into precise numbers.
Although this was not a groundbreaking contribution, it still pushed the development of Mechanical Techniques a small step forward.
And this small step was enough for him to advance from the Third Realm to the Fourth Realm.
If Li Nuo had known about this earlier, he would have studied mechanics instead of law; advancing in the Mohist school wouldn’t have been so difficult.
He looked at his wife, then at Li Anning, and back at Li Yun...
Martial Path, Legalism, Mohism, the three schools working together could probably hold their own even against a Grandmaster.
The four of them were indeed formidable.
Li Yun didn’t come empty-handed; he brought many gifts.
Li Anning had not arrived with him; they had met at the entrance of the Song Residence.
Standing next to this young girl who was even younger than himself, Li Yun felt uncomfortable all over, and quickly left after delivering the gifts.
After Li Yun’s departure, Li Anning looked at Li Nuo and said, "Come with me to the Ministry of Justice; there are two homicide case files, and the Ministry cannot make a decision. Help me take a look."
Normally, the Ministry of Justice would directly submit files without obvious flaws to the Ministry of Justice.
But ever since the last incident, they felt there were problems with every file they reviewed.
Being reckless with human lives is a great taboo in Legalism.
Any mistake could not only ruin someone else’s life but also affect one’s own cultivation.
So she had no choice but to ask Li Nuo for help at the Song Family.
After all, his intuition was remarkably accurate.
If he said there was no problem, they could submit the files with confidence.
Moments later, when Li Nuo walked out of the Ministry of Justice, he had added two more days to his lifespan.
He had decided that after the Imperial Examination, he must apply to work at the Ministry of Justice.
This place was like his dream government office.
In the whole of Daxia, all cases of imprisonment, exile, and death penalty had to pass through the Ministry of Justice. The number of cases converging here was even more than at the Ministry of Justice.
By then, he could legitimately review cases.
Leaving the Ministry of Justice, intending to go home, he saw the fortune-telling stall opposite the Ministry.
He wondered what the fortune-teller was thinking, setting up his stall here.
This wasn’t the main street. Were they hoping to make money from government officers or prisoners?
This time, Housekeeper Wu sat obediently in the carriage, not chatting with the fortune-teller. Li Nuo, however, felt some curiosity and approached, saying, "Old man, read my fortune."
He wanted to see if the old man could divine his fate.
The elder looked up at Li Nuo, shook his head, and said, "I won’t read it."
Li Nuo was slightly taken aback, then said, "Tell me how much silver it will take."
The elder’s gaze was firm as he continued to shake his head: "I have closed for the day; no amount of silver would make me read it."
Li Nuo said, "I can offer more money."
The elder tugged at the corner of his mouth. "In fortune-telling, I do not seek silver; I look for predestined affinity. There is no fate between us; you should leave."
Since the man had said so, Li Nuo could only shake his head in resignation and walk away.
These Jianghu charlatans always liked to wrap everything in mystery to appear inscrutable.
Li Nuo got into the carriage, and the elder snorted, "Trying to corrupt my moral integrity? Not a chance!"
The little girl beside him asked with confusion, "Grandfather, why didn’t you read his fortune?"
The elder watched the carriage grow distant, then looked up at the sky above, his eyes growing deeper as he murmured, "This man is beyond fate, the bane of our Yin Yang School. If you encounter such a person in the future, stay as far away as possible..."
