Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 129 The Master Class of Delicate Willow in the Breeze

"The persimmons are not yet ripe, so Lord Zhou will have to wait a while if he wants to eat them. Everything has been arranged."

Upon hearing Su Changying's cold voice, Zhou Zhao lowered her eyes and blinked. When she looked up again, her eyes were red and filled with tears, and her face was filled with sorrow.

Su Changying felt a pang of sadness and quickly stepped forward, her expression filled with anxiety. "Has something happened?"

Zhou Zhao raised his hand and punched his nose, making the tip of his nose red. "Does this make me look delicate and frail?"

Su Changying froze in place. Was this Zhou Zhao's disguise technique?
Give yourself a good punch!
“Young Master Zhou has such an imposing aura that he’s easy to spot on the street. One look and you know… um…” Su Changying said carefully, “that he might draw his sword at any moment.”

Just by looking at the arrogant "Heavenly justice prevails and all taboos are off" headband she was wearing, you could tell that this girl was definitely a troublemaker!

A troublemaker is usually not a pushover!

As Su Changying pondered, his expression suddenly changed. The young general who had previously appeared to have killed countless people suddenly became sickly. His face was pale, his brows were slightly furrowed, and even the tips of his eyelashes were filled with sorrow.

The person is still the same, but it feels like they're not the same person anymore.

His straight back suddenly softened, and his whole demeanor became gentle, even his walking posture became a bit sluggish.

Su Changying blinked, then looked up at Zhou Zhao. His deep eyes suddenly cleared in that instant, like the deep sea transforming into a mountain spring. At that moment, the corners of Su Changying's eyes reddened slightly, and tears welled up. He softly called out, "Zhao Zhao~"

His voice was exceptionally soft, like a feather landing on Zhou Zhao's heart...

"King You is my kinsman, and I, Zhao, also want to play the beacon fire game with the feudal lords to amuse you," Zhou Zhao shouted, circling around Su Changying.

Su Changying reluctantly dropped his sickly young master demeanor. "Didn't Lord Zhou want to be a virtuous minister?"

Zhou Zhao clutched his chest, still somewhat shaken, and nodded. "My heart is as firm as Mount Tai, unmovable. But..."

The tender "Zhao Zhao" echoed in Zhou Zhao's mind, her ears turned slightly red, and she stretched out her hand to make a small gap, "After leaving the Court of Justice, moving it a little bit wouldn't be impossible."

Upon hearing this, Su Changying's ears turned red, as if she had thought of something.

He cleared his throat. "I've left. I had Han Ze find Meng Qing. He should be almost at the Court of Justice by now."

Zhou Zhao gave Su Changying a thumbs up, and when the two arrived at the Court of Justice, they indeed saw Meng Qing.

She looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, with a very endearing round face. She wasn't very tall and seemed somewhat timid when looking at people. Beside her was a young gentleman, the two of them sitting side by side, clearly Meng Qing's husband.

Upon seeing Zhou Zhao enter, Meng Qing and his wife were visibly stunned for a moment. It wasn't until Zhou Zhao sat down opposite them that Meng Qing's husband came to his senses and exclaimed in surprise, "So the Court of Justice really does have a female official!"

As he spoke, he scratched his head excitedly, "Are you the Lord Zhou Zhao who single-handedly slaughtered everyone in Tianying City? It's true! When I get home, I'm going to have a good talk with my brothers. They said how could a woman possibly massacre an entire city!"

Zhou Zhao was speechless. What kind of monster had she been rumored to be?

"Your name is Meng Qing. Do you know Bao Chun'an?"

Meng Qing tugged at her husband's sleeve and nodded timidly. Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. "Yes, I know her. We're from the same hometown. Because our fathers were colleagues, we're quite close. After I came to Chang'an, she even came to visit me at home."

Zhou Zhao pursed his lips and continued to ask, "On the third day of the sixth lunar month, can Bao Chun'an stay overnight at your house?"

Meng Qing looked surprised, then realized something was wrong. "No, my husband's family has four generations living together, with many uncles and brothers. It's inconvenient to keep guests, let alone unmarried guests."

Meng Qing hesitated for a moment before adding, "Moreover, I am pregnant. In June, my mother-in-law took me to a village in the suburbs to escape the summer heat. I was not even in Chang'an myself, so how could I have let Chun'an stay at home?"

Zhou Zhao remained silent for a moment. Meng Qing shouldn't be lying, because it was easy to verify.

So Bao Chun'an was lying. After she had an argument with Zhou Xuan by the East River on the third day of the sixth lunar month, where did she spend the night?

She lied to her own aunt, Madam Shen, saying she went to Meng Qing's place, which means that the place she was going to was not suitable for her elders to know, and was out of line.

"Lord Zhou, has something happened to Chun'an?"

Zhou Zhao thought for a moment and nodded. "Bao Chun'an is dead. Do you know who else she knew in Chang'an? Especially men."

Meng Qing gasped in shock, covering her mouth in fear. She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "Chun'an is dead? How could such a healthy person be dead?"

As Meng Qing spoke, she began to sob, "If I had known that day would be the last time we saw each other, I shouldn't have said those things to her. She told me that her aunt intended for her to become her cousin's concubine. I was unhappy about it and even scolded her. They were a perfectly good couple, why did you have to be the one standing in the middle?"

"Chun'an is young and beautiful. As a proper woman, she doesn't need to be subservient to others; that's the right path." She was overjoyed at the time, but when she heard me say that, she was very displeased, and we parted on bad terms. She's completely immersed in her new life; how could she possibly care about the good or bad things outside?

As Meng Qing spoke, she burst into tears again.

Zhou Zhao didn't say much, walked out of the house, and went to the left courtyard to find Chen Jiyuan.

“Sister Zhao, you saved me! If you hadn’t come, that bastard Xu Jin would have made me trim the hooves of his donkeys! His mother has eighteen donkeys, and…and…” Chen Jiyuan counted on his fingers, “…and…”

Seeing that he was sweating profusely with anxiety, Zhou Zhao said, "Seventy-two."

Chen Jiyuan turned around and said, "Yes, yes, yes! Seventy-two. Xu Jin's family runs a mill, and every day eighteen donkeys go around pulling the millstone."

As he spoke, he lowered his head dejectedly. "Master doesn't manage affairs. Most of the people assigned to him are useless like me. Let alone not having cases, even if there are cases, we can't investigate them or handle them. Last time, Sister Zhao got me involved in a case, and they were all so envious."

Zhou Zhao looked at him; she had already figured it out these past few days.

Li Youdao had no one to rise to prominence, so those who came here were either powerless people from humble backgrounds or idle vagrants looking for a quiet official post to show up for work every day.

Zhou Zhao didn't give him time to wallow in self-pity. He leaned close to Chen Jiyuan's ear and whispered a few words.

Chen Jiyuan's eyes lit up, he nodded, and jogged back to the left courtyard.

As darkness fell, lights began to twinkle in every home, the moon rose above the willow branches, and a cool breeze began to blow through the night.

Zhou Zhao looked at the dim, golden sunset on the horizon; the hunt had begun.