Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 165 Caught and brought to justice
Wujin Lane remains unchanged; the old locust tree, which had been cut in half, still hasn't sprouted any new buds.

The bloodstains from when Zhang Ruoqing was killed had turned black.

Zhou Zhao stood in the courtyard and looked at Su Changying, who was walking out from inside.

“There are indeed signs that someone lived inside. They must have noticed our movements and left quietly. I ordered the Northern Army brothers to seal off the area and search.”

Su Changying came out of the house carrying a long sword.

Zhou Zhao keenly sensed a faint smell of blood on him, which must have come from interrogating the newly captured group of Gongzi Yu's subordinates not long ago.

The Northern Army's interrogations typically involved severe torture, a stark contrast to the practices of the scholars in the Court of Justice.

Zhou Zhao's eyes flickered, and she gave Su Changying a look. With a light touch of her feet, she leaped over the wall and entered the Shanming Villa.

The moment the two landed, Zhou Zhao looked at Su Changying and asked, "Does this look familiar?"

These days, she and Su Changying have visited many places they had been before, but unfortunately, he couldn't recall anything.

I had originally planned to visit Shanming Villa, but a pile of cases, both big and small, delayed me.

Su Changying shook her head, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I don't know why, but I always feel that there should be a very noisy bird here."

“There is indeed one, raised by Fan Lishen. Otherwise, do you think I would have commanded the bird to peck at Han Ze back then…” Zhou Zhao’s eyes lit up, and she smiled at Su Changying. She looked towards the library not far away, “There is no place more suitable for hiding people than there.”

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he lightly stepped forward and led Su Changying straight to the library.

The library's doors are always open. Standing in front of the doors, you can still see the large hole left by the coffin nails that Princess Changyang was nailed to the wall.

The room was filled with tall bookshelves on all four sides, almost reaching the ceiling.

In the southeast corner, there was a three-fold screen with portraits of three people embroidered on it. In the very center was Princess Changyang, who looked exceptionally noble with her head full of pearls and jade. She wore a red shawl and a hairpin with three butterflies playing with flowers.

To her left stood Consort Fan, clad in armor. Consort Fan possessed thick eyebrows, large eyes, and an air of righteousness.

On the screen to the right of Princess Changyang, there was an embroidered image of a boy who looked about twelve or thirteen years old. He looked remarkably like Consort Fan, with big, bright eyes. He stood in a field of rapeseed flowers, holding a toad in his hand, his mouth stretched to his ears, revealing neat white teeth.

That was Fan Lishen, a man who would chat enthusiastically with even a dog on the street.

Zhou Zhao glanced at the screen and pointed to the footprints on the ground.

This is a separate courtyard. The old steward only opens the door to clean and pay respects with Zhou Zhao on the anniversary of Zhou Zhao's death each year.

Several months had passed, and the ground was covered in dust. On the ground, there were two fresh sets of footprints, stretching forward in a hurried manner. One of them disappeared in front of the screen, and the other disappeared behind a bookshelf.

Zhou Zhao and Su Changying moved at the same time.

She flicked the coffin nail in her hand, sending it flying towards the screen. Just as the nail was about to graz the screen, a person rolled out from behind it. The person looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, holding a sharp knife in her hand; she was actually a girl who looked only eighteen or nineteen.

At this moment, her eyebrows furrowed, her eyes filled with ferocity, and the sharp knife in her hand aimed precisely at Zhou Zhao's neck.

In that instant, Zhou Zhao had arrived. She reached out and grabbed the coffin nail just as it was about to tear through the screen, and thrust it towards the little girl's neck.

The girl felt a blur before her eyes, and the sharp knife in her hand missed its mark. When she tried to move again, she found that Zhou Zhao, who had been in front of her, had somehow appeared behind her like a ghost. The black coffin nail had now pierced her neck, and blood was flowing down.

“You have never learned martial arts, so you are no match for me. Qian Fang and Su Youde have already been imprisoned in the Court of Justice. You have already avenged Xie Linniang.”

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he lightly kicked the girl's knife, sending it flying and embedding it directly in front of Han Ze, who had just arrived.

"Sister Zhao! I almost lost my ability to have children!"

Han Ze was shocked and fell to the ground. He reached out to cover his private parts and cried out in pain.
who is he?

He is Han, the dashing and dissolute young master of Chang'an! He can serve Zhou Zhao like a slave and eat chaff and wild vegetables in the Northern Army, but he cannot become a eunuch!

Zhou Zhao coughed lightly. Could she say that she didn't do it on purpose?
Her birth chart is strong, which makes her somewhat of a nemesis to Han Ze.

Zhou Zhao glanced awkwardly at the still-shaken Han Ze, "How about I give you a breastplate?"

Han Ze blushed instantly. No! How was he supposed to wear it? Hang it on his waist and make it jingle?
"Thank you so much, Sister Zhao! It's very useful!" Han Ze said through gritted teeth! He was worried that if he didn't accept the Heart-Protecting Mirror, Zhou Zhao would give him a copper basin instead! It wasn't like she hadn't done something like that before! Thinking back to those days... when Zhou Buhai asked her to come and apologize, she said she would give him a gong so he could hang it on his backside from now on.

When a bird comes to peck at him, it makes a loud noise, scaring the bird away!
At the time, he only felt that he should leave before the bird had left.

Zhou Zhao felt instantly at ease when he saw that Han Ze had accepted it.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Su Changying had come out at some point. He stood calmly to the side, with a man in shorts standing on his feet. He must be the so-called Qian Liu'er.

“You even think and adjust when you kill, your progress is rapid, you are obviously not a stupid person. I don’t believe you don’t understand that Qian Liutong and Qian Fang are using you… When Xie Linniang was dying, she only hoped that you would be happy and healthy. It’s a pity that you acted this way.”

Upon hearing the name Xie Linniang, the girl's eyes reddened, and two lines of tears fell.

"I avenged her, and only then were my younger siblings able to live happily and peacefully."

I know they are using me to kill, but aren't I also using them? If you don't catch me, I will kill them one by one. These beasts don't deserve to live in this world.

I, Chen Yan, have received a great favor from Xie Linniang. If I do not avenge her, how can I have the face to live in this world?
"I only regret that I don't know kung fu, which allowed those two devils, Qian Liutong and Qian Fang, to be so smug for so long. I couldn't kill all my enemies in one day and feed them to the pigs and sheep!"

As Chen Yan spoke, she clenched her fists, stood there straight, and tears streamed down her face.

"Grandma Xie was truly a good person. You don't understand. We were all picked up by her, raised on her blood and sweat. How ironic that they killed her just because she was a good person..."