Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 145 Pigsty Staff
Su Changying felt a sense of relief.

He doesn't owe Gongzi Yu anything; it's Gongzi Yu who owes him.

Zhou Zhao was so intelligent that she had already guessed that he had met Gongzi Yu on the day he carried candy with him.

But they all knew that Gongzi Yu was not important; what mattered was the people hiding behind him, and one of these people was the murderer who killed Zhou Yan.

Zhou Zhaoming knew what he was doing, but instead of exposing him, he revealed the information to him.

She trusted him.

As Su Changying thought about it, the smile in her eyes was almost impossible to hide. Suddenly, a crisp click came from behind the door, and Su Changying instantly returned to her cold and aloof demeanor. "Tianquan, don't eat fruit at my door."

That day, Old Quan chuckled and took another bite of the green fruit in his hand.

"Chang'an is still the best! Tianying is such a godforsaken place, I don't even want to look at a single old thief there."

As he spoke, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a green fruit, and tossed it to Su Changying. "Try it, it's so sweet. I stole it from the palace. Being an emperor is really boring. You can get any precious treasures without lifting a finger. Nothing beats the taste of something stolen."

Su Changying held the fruit in her hand and looked speechlessly at the master thief Tianquan.

"Be careful not to get caught, or I'll have to go to the execution ground to pick up your head."

Tianquan nodded nonchalantly, "I've lived to such an old age, so I'll just die. If I really get my head chopped off, you can send my body to Little Zhou Zhao. Who knows, she might have the King of Chu turn me into a skeleton and sew me into a sack to play football with."

As Tianquan spoke, he suddenly leaned close to Su Changying's face, "I saw you smiling so sweetly just now. I never imagined you had such a strong backer than Mount Tai, and such a lucky life to marry such an extraordinary woman as Zhou Zhao."

The old man spoke with envy, but his face was full of sympathy.

Who is Zhou Zhao? A brilliant investigator at the Court of Judicial Review... Not only is she skilled at solving cases, she's also a martial arts expert...

Tianquan thought to himself, his sympathy growing stronger. "If you hide even a small amount of money, she'll find it all; not to mention keeping a mistress in a golden house, she'll know what you're up to before you even get a chance to do it."

Others would be afraid if they did it, but you could probably get a beating just by thinking about it. A beating isn't the worst part; that little devil knows exactly where to hit you, and she could beat you to death! If she wanted to kill you… who could solve the case, who could get evidence to prove you're the murderer?

Su Changying listened attentively, without the slightest anger. Instead, she straightened her back with a sense of pride.

Tianquan glanced at it, casually tossed the fruit pit away, and shook his head disdainfully at Su Changying.

"I knew no one is perfect. How could you be both scholarly and martial, rich and beautiful... So this is what you were waiting for. Looking at your silly face now, even Mount Tai has turned into a stone lion in front of the gate."

Su Changying's expression turned serious as she looked at Tianquan, "How is Xu Yuan?"

Tianquan shook his head.

"His injury is a bit better, but he feels too ashamed to face anyone. Last time, the masked man came out of the blind children's home and happened to be near him. He lost track of him and missed a good opportunity, not to mention he injured his buttock and couldn't even sit down."

As Tianquan spoke, his eyes were full of schadenfreude.

Looking at his unreliable behavior, Su Changying felt a vague sense of regret.

When leaving Tianying City, Tianquan and Xu Yuan also went to Chang'an. Although he and Yinyan called him their godfather, they had never seen his true face. In his memory, the man always stood in the shadows and wore a mask. Su Changying even suspected that even if the mask was torn off, there was still a fake face underneath.

On the day he hid the candy in his sleeve, he knew he was going to see his godfather and arranged for Tianquan and Xu Yuan to be nearby.

They don't need to do anything; they just need to follow him from a distance and see where he goes. This will help him find out who that person is.

However, that person was too perceptive, and Xu Yuan was almost discovered.

In a moment of desperation, he threw off his robe and crouched down in the bushes, using the open space as his outhouse. But as soon as he crouched down, he was bitten by a venomous snake hidden in the bushes, letting out a scream.

Perhaps he looked so foolish that he actually fooled the man and saved his life.

From that day on, Xu Yuan dared not appear in front of him again.

“We’ve been keeping an eye on him. Apart from the owner of that roasted mutton shop in Tianying City, no one else has been there. Your godfather hasn’t shown his face since. The little blind boy hasn’t left the house either. He’s very well-behaved. I’ve seen that the servants treat him very well, and I haven’t seen anyone bullying him.”

Upon hearing this, Su Changying gave a self-deprecating laugh.

It was all for naught that he had previously worried that his younger brother would be held hostage by his adoptive father. He was blind and might be easily bullied, so he had arranged for Tianquan to keep an eye on him.

Looking back now, it's really laughable.

He is Gongzi Yu, who would dare to bully him?
Su Changying thought for a moment and looked at Tianquan, "You don't need to keep an eye on that courtyard anymore. I will arrange for someone else to go there. You and Xu Yuan will split up and keep an eye on two of my men, one named Han Ze and the other named Zhu Li."

Tianquan nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

Back in Tianying City, he and Xu Yuan had already witnessed Su Changying's abilities and were determined to follow him.

Since we have submitted to him as our master, there are some things that should not be asked.

As Tianquan spoke, he walked to the other window and vanished in a flash. A former thief, he possessed exceptional lightness skills, making him undetectable to ordinary people. After Tianquan left, Su Changying stared intently in the direction of the Court of Judicial Review. Zhou Zhao should have already returned to the Court of Judicial Review by now!
Just then, he saw Han Ze rushing over in a panic. "General, there's a case. Sister Zhao and the Prince of Chu have already gone there and are waiting for you."

……

"Ah Zhao, I have a clean cloth here to cover your mouth and nose."

Zhou Zhao took the cloth from Liu Huang, tied it to the tip of his nose, and couldn't help but frown. They could smell a foul stench even before they reached the door.

A woman dressed in shorts nervously fiddled with the patches on her clothes and stammered, "Gentlemen of the Court of Judicial Review, I'm just a pig feeder. I usually cook pig feed and some swill for them. I don't know how this got here..."

As she spoke, she looked blankly at the government officials, while Min Zangzhi was vomiting so badly that he was completely disoriented and his face was as pale as paper.

Even some veterans of the Northern Army couldn't help but feel disgusted.

"Lord Zhou, while we were on patrol, we saw a child playing on the road with a white bone in her hand. Upon closer inspection, it looked somewhat like a human bone. We couldn't be sure, so we followed her home and found a human hand bone in her pigsty."

Zhou Zhao listened to the words of the Northern Army patrolling soldier and looked towards the pigsty.

From the pig feed under the snouts of those two fat pigs, a sinister human hand suddenly emerged.