Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 2 Letter to My Deceased Wife
If the Northern Army caught a suspect during their patrols, they would escort him to the Court of Justice for trial.

Zhou Zhao dusted off the wrinkles on his clothes and found a relatively clean corner in the cell to sit down.

She glanced around discreetly. To the right of her cell sat a burly man, as big as a small mountain, his face contorted with bulging flesh, his hands pounding against the wall with a series of loud thuds.

To her left sat a handsome young man in his early twenties, huddled in a corner, looking listless.

In the cell opposite hers lay a motionless, bloodied figure.

The man's body was almost entirely covered in wounds; if it weren't for the slight undulations in his body, Zhou Zhao would have thought he was dead.

This was not Zhou Zhao's first time in the Court of Justice prison.

Her grandfather was the iron-fisted Minister of Justice of the previous dynasty, and her father, Zhou Buhai, was known as "Upright Official" by the people of the Great Qi Dynasty until four years ago. Because of their family's scholarly tradition, they were known as "Minister of Justice Zhou".

When she was young, she often squatted outside the cage, looking at everyone locked up inside.

This time, however, she was the newcomer in the cage, and was glared at fiercely by every one of the old guards.

Zhou Zhao closed his eyes with a sigh, pondering the case that had occurred that day.

She didn't believe in ghosts or spirits, but tonight she saw with her own eyes a ghostly figure with a gaping, blood-red mouth on the windowsill, and there were clear teeth marks on the female corpse's face. How did the murderer manage to do that?

"Young lady, I advise you not to sit there..."

An old voice rang out. Before Zhou Zhao could react, she felt a tightness in her throat as a pair of large hands attacked from behind, grabbing her throat tightly and pulling her violently against the railing on the right.

A sharp pain shot through Zhou Zhao's back, and he could clearly sense that many people in the prison were getting excited.

She was attacked by the burly man in the cell on the right!

"Anu, go easy on her this time. You recognized her, didn't you? This girl is Zhou Buhai's daughter. Even though her father once captured you, tsk tsk..."

Zhou Zhao felt as if her chest was about to explode, and she couldn't breathe. With a flick of her wrist, a black coffin nail fell out of her sleeve and pierced the back of the burly man's hand.

The coffin nail pierced through the back of his hand instantly, and the protruding part even broke through her own skin, causing blood to flow.

Zhou Zhao pulled sharply, and the burly man let out a muffled cry of pain, released his grip, and couldn't help but take a few steps back, putting distance between himself and Zhou Zhao.

Zhou Zhao coughed a few times, then flipped his wrist and put the coffin nail back into his sleeve.

She didn't even lift her eyelids, seemingly having no intention of getting up to change seats. She raised her hand and gently gestured diagonally forward, startling the talkative prisoner who had called out "Anu" earlier, who raised his hand to cover his face.

As expected, the coffin nails did not shoot towards him, but instead hit the blood-soaked man lying motionless.

Only then did everyone notice that a fat, big-eared rat was lying stiffly on his back, with a piece of dry grass, which was common in the prison, piercing through the rat's body.

The prison fell silent instantly.

Anyone who had served time in the Court of Justice had heard of the great name of the Court of Justice, Zhou.

The Zhou family values ​​reasoning the people the most, so when did their martial arts skills become so brutal?
"Young lady of the Zhou family, I have a question for you. A man has been sentenced to death for his disorderly conduct and is seeking a way out. Is there any solution?"

Zhou Zhao had just finished intimidating these demons and monsters and was about to close her eyes to think about the case when she heard a familiar voice again. It was the old man who had reminded her to change seats earlier.

She looked in the direction of the sound and, past the sickly young man on the left, saw an elderly man, about fifty or sixty years old, sitting in the cell over there.

When the old man asked this question, the young man suddenly opened his eyes.

"There are three possible explanations. The best explanation involves the praise of a powerful figure and a personal pardon from His Majesty; however, this explanation is unlikely to succeed."

“Zhongjie…May I ask if that man holds a noble title? Does he have a fortune?” Zhou Zhao asked, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes. The old man sighed and shook his head, “Without ancestral protection, he has only a few taels of silver.”

Zhou Zhao was not surprised. "According to the laws of our Great Qi Dynasty, one can redeem oneself with a title or gold and silver. If neither is available, there is another option. May I ask if that person has any offspring?"

The old man was taken aback, then shook his head. "Nine generations of only sons, and still no offspring."

Zhou Zhao raised an eyebrow, her gaze falling on the face of the half-lying young man. She took out a handkerchief from her sleeve and tied it around the wound on his neck. "Beheading or childlessness, choose one... The next option is castration, to prolong your life."

The young man was terrified. He squeezed his legs together and curled up into a ball, so that his face was no longer visible.

The prison was once again deathly silent.

Many people subtly shrank back.

The burly man whose hand had been pierced gleamed with a shrewd look. He stepped forward and said to Zhou Zhao, "I choose to be childless!"

Zhou Zhao glanced at him and shook his head. "You're not good enough. Murderers must pay with their lives."

This burly man named Anu tried to strangle her at the slightest provocation; he is clearly a violent person and most likely imprisoned for indiscriminate killing.

As expected, upon hearing Zhou Zhao's reply, the burly man sat back down and began pounding his bloodied fists against the wall.

The old man who had asked the question earlier sighed for a long time and said with some nostalgia, "The last time I met your Zhou family was when your elder brother Zhou Yan was debating with other families at Taiping Tower."

Upon hearing Zhou Yan's name, Zhou Zhao lowered his eyes and remained silent.

She felt a burning sensation on her back. She suddenly remembered the bundle she was carrying and wondered if the burly man had damaged anything inside when he pulled her earlier.

Zhou Zhao thought for a moment, then took the bundle down, spread it on the ground, and opened it.

Inside was a bloodstained bamboo scroll. Over time, the bloodstains had seeped into the bamboo, making it look as if they had always been there.

There was also a sealing cloth attached to the bamboo slip, on which were written the words "Min Zangzhi, June 15th, the seventh year of Tianyi".

Zhou Zhao's eyes darkened, and she reached out to touch the bamboo slip. The temperature was so hot that it made her heart tighten. It wasn't the burning pain from her injured back, but the bamboo slip that was burning hot.
Without further hesitation, she quickly tore off the sealing cloth and opened the bamboo slip, but her pupils suddenly contracted, and she almost cried out in surprise!

On the previously blank bamboo slip, several lines of text appeared out of thin air: "Letter to My Deceased Wife: Bright as the sun and moon, hanging on the long ribbon. Written on New Year's Day on the straight road, bidding farewell to Tianying on this ghostly night..."

The calligraphy was written with a flamboyant, unrestrained style. Even from those individual strokes, she could almost see the familiar, dashing young man on horseback! She could almost hear his carefree, unrestrained laughter!

Even if the words turned to ashes, she would still recognize them.

This is the handwriting of her fiancé, Su Changying, who had been missing for four years.

On the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the third year of Tianyi, which is four years ago today, a tragedy occurred at Shanming Academy in Wujin Lane, Puningfang. Her elder brother, Zhou Yan, died there, and her fiancé, Marquis Xiao Lu, Su Changying, disappeared without a trace.

How could words suddenly appear on bamboo slips?
What is the meaning of "Letter to My Deceased Wife"? Is it a premonition of death sent to her by a missing person?
It's absolutely unbelievable.

But there are no ghosts in this world.

Zhou Zhao was shocked. She was usually calm even when Mount Tai collapsed, but at this moment her lips trembled uncontrollably.

What is the meaning of Ghost Night's farewell to Tianying? Ghost Night is the fifteenth of the seventh lunar month, which means that Zhou Zhao will die in Tianying City on the night of the fifteenth of the seventh lunar month?
Just as she was about to continue looking down, she heard a sound coming from above.

"Zhou Zhao, what's written on the bamboo slips?"

(End of this chapter)