Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 194 Chu You's Blind Date
Zhou Zhao's ears turned red, and she dared not look at Su Changying.

"Was your mouth just called a crab claw? Otherwise, why would you start talking nonsense?"

Looking at Zhou Zhao's flushed face, Su Changying felt as sweet as if she had drunk honey. Who said he liked drunken crab? He clearly liked crab preserved in honey.

"The bamboo scroll you bought earlier, is it a poem by the Marquis of Lu? Isn't he a military general?"

The blush on Zhou Zhao's face faded a bit, and her eyes sparkled as she looked at Su Changying with a hint of schadenfreude. "I told you not to ask! Although your father is a military general and knows nothing about poetry, he's still incredibly talented and loves to write!"

Su Changying had a bad feeling.

"He not only writes them, but he also makes you memorize them! You're lucky to have me. You're always wandering around Chang'an and never home. Look at Su Changyu and Su Ling, reciting those nonsensical poems every day. They've been poisoned into such idiots!"

"Then how could my father's poems be bought through that door? According to your nonsensical nonsense, how could they possibly be sold?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao looked up at the sky. The rain was still falling, but it was much lighter than before, now just a light drizzle.

She quite likes being in the rain; it makes her mind clear.

“That was arranged by your mother, over the years. She said she loved your father’s poems the most, and had a great calligrapher engrave them into a book. Every now and then, you would take a copy and place it in front of her mourning hall. That way, your father would always remember that you were the only bloodline left by his first wife, who loved him deeply.”

No matter how deep their love was before, after her death, the Lu Marquis's mansion will have a new mistress, and she will gradually be forgotten, and then she will no longer be able to protect Changying.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, she winked mischievously at Su Changying, "Actually, she doesn't like it at all. When she comes to my house, she secretly complains to my mother."

"So, you don't only have me, you also have your mother! No one in this world loves you more than your mother."

Unfortunately, she's already gone.

"Although your mother had already given that person money before she passed away, I still give it to him again every time because... haha, carving your father's poems is really a nightmare!"

Hearing Zhou Zhao's laughter, Su Changying's previously heavy heart, burdened by her mother, suddenly lifted again.

"I should have read it."

Zhou Zhao shook his head. "Believe me, you absolutely shouldn't."

The two exchanged a glance, and Zhou Zhao quickly turned her head away. She cleared her throat and said, "Your father will soon petition His Majesty to pass the title to you. My actions just now were not because I was a coward, but simply because I hadn't gone so far as to smash the table and break the bowls."

The Marquis of Lu was just like her father.

It's not that I don't like them, it's just that I like someone else more.

Four years is enough to change people's hearts.

Su Changying shook his head. He had already witnessed how tough Zhou Zhao was back in Tianying City.

She may seem flamboyant, but she knows her limits better than anyone else. He saw through her combination of soft and hard tactics just now.

"Well, if I were just one step away from becoming the Minister of Justice, my father would do everything in his power to help me rise to the top. Then I would be his favorite daughter."

Zhou Zhao spoke with an exceptionally calm expression.

Seeing this, Su Changying reached out and gently took Zhou Zhao's wrist, silently comforting her.

Zhou Zhao, however, flipped her hand and took Su Changying's hand directly. She turned her face to look at Su Changying and said, "There's no need to comfort me. If there's someone who likes me the most, there will naturally be someone who likes someone else the most. I don't really care about that, because I have many things I want to do." Every day she was in the Court of Justice felt like she was living in a honey pot.

Of course, she didn't know whether her colleagues were living in a honey pot or in a boiling oil pot.

"I don't care."

In fact, he only cared about Zhou Zhao.

Zhou Zhao grinned, pulled Su Changying along a winding path, and then entered a small building with the words "Drunken Chrysanthemum Pavilion" written on its plaque.

The wine merchant waiting for guests at the door saw Zhou Zhao and immediately smiled, "Young Master Zhou, it's been a long time since you've come. It's quite a coincidence, Miss Chu You is here today too, she's sitting over there."

Zhou Zhao looked in the direction the wine expert was looking and immediately spotted Chu You sitting by the window, her head down, holding a teacup and seemingly lost in thought.

Opposite her sat a strange man dressed as a Confucian scholar.

Zhou Zhao could only see his back; the man looked exceptionally thin and unlike anyone she recognized.

Zhou Zhao's eyes flickered, and he pointed to a spot in the corner. The wine connoisseur understood immediately and secretly glanced at Su Changying. "Still having drunken crab today?"

Zhou Zhao nodded. "Bring a pot of chrysanthemum wine, and pick a few of your favorite side dishes."

She was a regular customer, and the wine connoisseur very considerately led the two of them to sit down before quietly leaving.

The place was neither too far nor too close, just enough to hear what was happening over there, and there was also a small cabinet against the wall that provided some cover. On the cabinet were two pots of golden chrysanthemums.

Zhou Zhao pricked up her ears to listen for any sounds, but out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a familiar feather fan. Her lips twitched, and she gave Su Changying a wink.

Perhaps their gazes were too intense, for a chrysanthemum peeked out from behind the feather fan—no, a head with a chrysanthemum stuck in it. Who else could it be but that troublemaker, Min Zangzhi? Zhou Zhao had said that something seemed to be missing during today's football match; it turned out that Min Zangzhi was missing!

When Min Cangzhi saw Zhou Zhao, he winked and made a shushing gesture at her.

Seeing that Zhou Zhao remained unmoved, he bowed to Zhou Zhao with a mournful face.

Zhou Zhao chuckled, pulled her neck back, and took a sip of the chrysanthemum tea that Su Changying had just poured for her.

“Miss Chu You, you know all about my situation, right? I learned to read at the age of three, composed poems at five, and could write essays at eight. I wouldn’t dare say I’m a genius, but I have read a few of the classics. My family has some modest assets, and my father works in the Imperial Household Department. We’re not rich or powerful, but at least we’re well-off.”

I have five older sisters, all of whom are married. Three of them are married in the capital, and they are all very filial, often returning to visit our parents. I am the only son in the family, so after you marry into the family, you can take charge of the household affairs and be in charge. My grandmother, mother, and sisters are all very kind and easy to get along with.

I have not yet entered officialdom, but my teacher is already looking for opportunities for me. I occasionally drink a little wine, but it's always with friends.

Perhaps seeing that Chu You didn't speak, the man paused for a moment and said somewhat embarrassedly, "I've been the one doing all the talking, why don't you say something too, young lady?"

As Zhou Zhao listened, he rolled over and crouched behind the chrysanthemum pot, peeking at Chu You.

Su Changying glanced at the furtive Zhou Zhao, then at the suspicious Min Cangzhi, and for a moment forgot to put down her empty teacup.

No, he felt that the officials of the Court of Judicial Review were all more like thieves than thieves themselves!
Zhou Zhao had no idea that her actions were just as lewd as Min Zangzhi's. She rolled her eyes at Min Zangzhi, but saw everything clearly from behind the chrysanthemum pot.

Chu You's eyes were full of seriousness. "After I get married, if someone asks me to build a house, can I go? I have a younger sister who said she wants to ask me to build a house in the future, and I promised her."

(End of this chapter)