Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 121 Heavenly Horse and Dragon Steed
As Zhou Zhao spoke, he took Su Changying's hand.

Seeing this, Liu Huang followed Zhou Zhao's example and grabbed Su Changying's other hand.

After a long silence, Su Changying spoke softly, "Ah Huang, my hand may not be severed in the cage, but it might be severed in your hands."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao looked closely and saw that Liu Huang's hand was clenched tightly, the veins on the back of his hand were bulging, and Su Changying's fingers were being squeezed until they turned purple.

Liu Huang snapped out of his daze and quickly shook off Su Changying's hand, saying, "I forgot I was strong."

Zhou Zhao chuckled. Liu Huang raised his bamboo hat, his face and eyes were red, but seeing that the atmosphere was not so tense, he quickly put the hat down and smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

He looked toward the bloodstained cage. "It's a pity they escaped this time."

Zhou Zhao shook her head; she wasn't that pessimistic.

"At least I know that person must be in Chang'an, and he is very familiar with our movements. He has been secretly observing us. That person has spent so much effort to build up his power, he can't be without desires. He will definitely make some moves in the future."

"The fox's tail will be revealed sooner or later."

The man knew Chu You would invite her to the Star-Picking Tower, which is why he had the cook poison the desserts. He wanted her dead, but he didn't want Su Changying to die.

Four years ago, I witnessed the murderer killing Princess Changyang at the same Shanming Villa. He killed Zhou Yan, but not Su Changying.

What makes Su Changying so special?
Why did she and Zhou Yan have to die? Could it be that they were born with the words "short-lived ghosts" in their names?
As Zhou Zhao continued searching the dungeon, he found no new clues except for traces left by Su Changying in the seventh cell.

After the three left the dungeon, they carefully examined the courtyard again, and just as Zhu Li and Han Ze had said, they found nothing.

After this search, the Northern Army men had all returned. Zhu Li cupped his hands to Su Changying and said, "Captain, we found some dried bloodstains on the weeds in the mountains and some rags on the thorns. Judging from the direction, the people here should have left the city from the other side of the mountain."

“We arrived too late and didn’t find anyone suspicious. We met a woodcutter on the mountainside who said there were rumors of ghosts and mazes in this area, and that they never came this way.”

Su Changying nodded, not finding it surprising.

Even if those people's legs were as short as ants', they should have escaped by now, after a whole night's escape.

Just as everyone was preparing to descend the mountain, a sharp scream suddenly rang out from the crowd.

"Damn it! A bird pooped on my head!"

Hearing Han Ze's shrill scream, Zhou Zhao looked in the direction of the sound and saw him jumping up and down frantically with his eyes covered by black cloth again.

The veterans standing nearby burst out laughing, pinning him down like a pig. One of them picked a large leaf and wiped the bird droppings off his forehead, cursing, "You've joined the army, what are you afraid of bird droppings for? When you're on the battlefield, the enemy will laugh their heads off!"

"Exactly! Imagine someone releasing a flock of crows and pigeons at you, Little Han, you'd be utterly defeated and flee in terror!"

The people around laughed even louder.

crow?

Zhou Zhao raised his head and looked up at Han Ze. He was standing under a tall poplar tree, where there was a bird's nest in the treetop. A crow was circling around the nest, occasionally letting out a rough cry.

A sudden inspiration struck Zhou Zhao. She lightly leaped onto the tree trunk and walked directly up. The Northern Army soldiers below gasped in surprise, "This is a civil official from the Court of Judicial Review! What use are we then?"

As everyone pondered this, they couldn't help but look at the expressionless Su Changying. The entire capital knew that Lord Zhou of the Court of Justice was Su Changying's betrothed, and the Northern Army had also heard about Zhou Zhao's great victory over Tianying City.

However, because Su Changying was in Tianying City, they immediately concluded that the Court of Justice was just using Su Changying's influence to curry favor with Zhou Zhao!
Zhou Zhao is not only good at solving cases, but his martial arts skills are also much better than they expected!
Zhou Zhao didn't care what the Northern Army thought. She soared into the sky, and the gust of wind she created frightened the crow, which squawked and cursed as it flew away, leaving only two black feathers that had fallen from its wings in the air.

Zhou Zhao looked closely and saw that there were many shiny things in the crow's nest.

She was right; crows like to seek out shiny objects to bring to their nests in order to attract mates. This crow lived in the mountain village, and perhaps what it was carrying was "stolen" from the people there.

Zhou Zhao thought for a moment, then reached out and pulled out everything from the nest, before lightly leaping down to the ground.

She walked up to Su Changying and opened her palm, revealing five items in it.

Among them was a copper coin, two small stones, one red and one green, two other items were a small strand from a red ribbon, which looked very eye-catching, and the last item was a small bronze horse.

"This bronze horse is small, with flowing clouds and wings carved on it, symbolizing a heavenly horse and dragon steed. The carving is very exquisite, and you can even clearly see the horse's expression. After being exposed to the sun and rain, the bronze horse has turned green, which shows that it was not recently stolen by crows."

As Zhou Zhao was speaking, Han Ze, who was looking sickly, peeked over. He spoke weakly, his voice barely a whisper.

"Sister Zhao, could you take a look at this for me? My father is the Minister of the Imperial Household Department, so I'm familiar with these things."

Zhou Zhao nodded and gave Han Ze an approving look.

Han Ze's hand trembled, and he almost failed to catch the small bronze horse.

He pulled off the black gauze covering his eyes, carefully picked up the small bronze horse, and examined it against the light. "If I'm not mistaken, this is a toy for children. It could be a celestial horse or a dragon steed, or even an elephant, an ox, or a qilin."

"They correspond to the auspicious symbols of peace and prosperity, the heavenly horse and dragon, the newborn calf, and the unicorn. Some also include tigers or other animals, hidden inside bronze vessels or openwork tripods. I know some great masters who can make these and even inlay them with pearls and jade."

As Han Ze spoke, he returned the bronze horse to Zhou Zhao.

Zhou Zhao put all five items into his sleeve pocket and exchanged a glance with Su Changying.

This thing is obviously something only wealthy people can afford. So why would a child from a wealthy family be here, carrying toys with him?
One question remains unanswered, and another arises.

However, having a clue is better than having no clue at all.

"Ah Huang and I are going back to the Court of Justice. Where is General Xiao Su?"

Su Changying glanced at the Northern Army soldiers. They all looked serious, but their necks were craned and their eyes were darting around, clearly looking like they were watching a good show. Even Han Ze, who was still in shock, had an interesting smile in his eyes.

"Then I won't see you off any further, Lord Zhou. We still need to continue searching for suspicious persons in the city. Some people also need some proper training."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao glanced at Han Ze out of the corner of his eye and indeed saw that Han Ze's smile froze on his face, and he instantly looked like a wilted eggplant, dejected.

She chuckled and nodded at Su Changying, then clasped her hands in a fist salute to the Northern Army, and like a gust of wind, led Liu Huang away at breakneck speed.