Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 131 Ultimate Four-Choice Selection
"Pfft," Zhou Zhao chuckled, bending down and pointing towards Zhaoxingfang. "Lord Li, please go ahead! I am too frail to carry this heavy burden you've thrown my way."

Qin Lang went fishing, which was arranged by Li Mu. If they successfully caught the bandits, she wouldn't get any credit.

Now that something has gone wrong, she's the one who has to take the blame.

Is Zhou Zhao some kind of pushover, someone who can be easily manipulated and bullied?
Li Mu's face flushed red and then paled. His lips moved for a moment before he whispered, "That's not what I meant."

As he spoke, he felt as if his feet weighed a ton, as if they were nailed to the ground, and he couldn't move an inch.

Seeing that he had stopped nagging and had not engaged with Li Mu, Zhou Zhao focused intently on the gate of Zhaoxingfang.

Although she wanted to give Li Mu a piece of her mind, life and death were at stake, and it wasn't the time for a war of words.

As dusk deepened, the darkness of the night poured down like thick ink, plunging the entire world into darkness. Pedestrians gradually dispersed from the streets, and Chang'an City seemed shrouded in a silent mist.

The curfew has begun.

Zhou Zhao stared intently at the three carriages approaching Zhaoxingfang in the distance. The three coachmen were all different; the one in front was a burly middle-aged man with bulging arms and a full beard, looking fierce and menacing.

With a high nose bridge, slightly curled hair, and eyes that appeared lighter in color than those of ordinary people in Chang'an, Zhou Zhao sniffed and detected a sweet smell of wine.

He was holding the cart with one hand, and in the other hand he was holding two small clay figurines, one a cat and the other a dog.

Zhou Zhao shook his head at Su Changying, who understood and made a gesture towards the Northern Army not far away.

The first carriage drove straight past, and two dark figures quietly followed.

This shouldn't be it. The strong man and his cart smelled sweet of wine, and he looked like a foreigner. He must have been a wine deliveryman for taverns and brothels. His strong arms were from carrying wine jars all the time. He was carefully holding a clay figurine, indicating he had a young child at home.

The driver of the second carriage was a young man in his early twenties. He was dressed in a clean and brand-new short-sleeved shirt, with the same pattern embroidered on the lapels as the carriage curtains. His eyes were clear, and when he noticed the Northern Army patrolling by the roadside, he curiously widened his eyes and looked around.

This is a servant born into a wealthy family, acting erratically, and using overly ostentatious family crests as if afraid people wouldn't notice his special status. He's either a merchant or a nouveau riche. This doesn't match the murderer stealing the carriage from the inn.

Zhou Zhao thought about it and shook his head again.

The second carriage drove straight past, and two dark figures followed.

The third carriage was driven by a man wearing a straw hat with the brim pulled low. His fingers were neatly trimmed, and he wore a black robe. The carriage looked dusty and travel-worn, clearly having come from a long journey.

Before Zhou Zhao could move, Zhu Li and the others had already placed their hands on the hilts of their swords.

Su Changying looked at Zhou Zhao, but Zhou Zhao shook his head again.

Her gaze shifted, looking towards the distance. At the end of the road, a carriage was turning into another deep alley, and faintly, one could hear a soft thumping sound.

Boom boom, boom boom.

That's the sound of a rattle drum.

With a light touch of his foot, Zhou Zhao shot off towards the carriage like an arrow. Li Mu only felt a gust of wind before his eyes, and Zhou Zhao and Su Changying, who were standing in front of him, disappeared in an instant.

He rubbed his eyes. He had heard of Zhou Zhaotong and Su Changying's great names, but nothing was as shocking as seeing them with his own eyes.

How could anyone in this world run faster than his thoughts? He also saw the fourth carriage.

Before he could even think it through, Zhou Zhao had already begun to act.

Just as Zhou Zhao and Su Changying landed on the roof of the carriage, Zhu Li stopped the third carriage.

"Stop! What's in the cart? Take off your straw hat." "Whoa!" The driver of the third cart stopped the cart, raised his hand, and somewhat bewilderedly took off the straw hat on his head.

Zhu Li and the Northern Army looked closely and were all shocked. The man had yellow and white hemp cloth tied around his hair, and his eyes were red and swollen, obviously from crying so much that they could hardly open.

He sniffed, his voice trembling with tears, "Sir, is there anything wrong? I'm in a hurry to get home for my father's funeral. My sister and nephew are in the carriage. Please check and make sure everything is alright, then I'll grant you this favor."

As the boy spoke, he took out a small silver ingot from his sleeve pocket.

Then the carriage curtain was lifted, and inside sat a young woman dressed in mourning clothes and a child of about five or six years old.

Out of fear, the woman held the child tightly in her arms.

The Northern Army was in an uproar. "Does Lord Zhou have eyes that can see right through the carriage walls?!"

"Then when she looks at people, isn't she practically naked...?"

Suddenly, someone muttered something like that, and Han Ze in the Northern Army instantly jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, shouting, "What nonsense are you talking about? Don't you want to die! If Sister Zhao finds out, she'll definitely make sure you're truly naked! And hang it on the wall with a flagpole!"

A deathly silence fell over everyone.

The coachman who had been stopped sniffed. "Sir, how did you know? Have you seen him before?"

Now it was Han Ze's turn to fall silent.

He pointed in the direction of Zhou Zhaotong and Su Changying, "What are you all standing there for? Why aren't you going to help Lord Zhou and Captain Su? Don't you want the credit?"

As if struck by a thunderbolt, everyone ran toward the fourth carriage.

Zhou Zhao landed on the roof of the carriage. The coachman heard the noise and turned around in shock. When he saw someone on the roof, he tightened his grip. Just then, the horse let out a whoosh and galloped off like a madman.

The coachman was so frightened that he let go of the rope and was about to fall when Zhou Zhao reached out and grabbed his arm.

She lay on the roof of the carriage, gripping the edge of the carriage firmly with one hand and pulling the coachman with the other.

The carriage was out of control, swaying wildly. There was a corner not far ahead, and at this rate, the carriage would surely crash into the corner of the wall.

As Zhou Zhao was thinking, he suddenly felt a darkness descend upon him. Su Changying lightly leaped over the roof of the carriage and landed on the back of the mad horse. He grabbed the reins and pulled hard, and the horse raised its front hooves and let out a long neigh.

The carriage finally stopped.

Zhou Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and looked ahead. Her hand was only about the back of her hand away from the corner of the wall.

It was a close call!
Zhou Zhao loosened his grip, and the coachman fell to the ground. He coughed up a mouthful of bitter bile and tried to run away, but Su Changying, riding on horseback, didn't even look. With a flick of her wrist, she sent a small stone flying, which hit the coachman in the back of the knee.

With a thud, he knelt on one knee, struggling to get up, only to find that his legs were completely immobile.

"My leg, my leg, my leg is broken!"

Zhou Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, jumped off the roof of the carriage, and lifted the carriage curtain.

That glance met Qin Lang's anxious eyes.

The moment their eyes met, Zhou Zhao couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Qin Lang: Young Master Qin, I wish I were dead...