Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 213 Want a Promotion?
Zhou Cheng'an's ears turned red, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"Yes, I can also make frogs. In the summer, the paddy fields in my hometown are filled with the fragrance of rice and the croaking of frogs. I am of average talent, so sometimes I would build a thatched hut and live in the fields to quietly study. Over time, I naturally mastered it."

What Zhou Cheng'an didn't say was that he learned to make this for his younger brother. His younger brother was only three years old and at that age where he was very fond of eating.

However, that child is no longer his biological brother, but his cousin.

Zhou Zhao looked into Zhou Cheng'an's eyes, trying to glean more information from them. After a moment's thought, she said, "If you regret it..."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Cheng'an quickly shook his head. "That's not true. To be honest, I used to be the top student in the clan school. It was only after entering the Court of Justice that I realized I was just a frog in a well. I may not be able to become the Minister of Justice, but I want to become an upright and good official step by step, just like my father."

"Good."

Zhou Zhao looked at Zhou Cheng'an in front of him and whispered two words.

The Zhou family lived very close to the Court of Justice. Before they knew it, the carriage stopped. Zhou Zhao thought for a moment, then jumped off the carriage with the food box containing the rabbit-shaped candy cakes and happily rushed towards the dining hall. Standing in front of the Court of Justice, she could already smell the strong aroma of mutton soup.

The small canteen was empty except for Li Youdao, who sat there with an air of nonchalance, slurping down a bowl of mutton soup.

To his right was a gourd of wine, from which he would take a sip of soup and a sip of wine.

"Zhou Zhao is here! Old ladle, give my little apprentice a generous amount of meat. Those guys are pretending they can't eat! They're too scared to come over because of the aroma! They're afraid of getting drunk on him! But tell me, isn't this a happy occasion? Hehe, I woke up to find one person missing from the right courtyard!"

Zhou Zhao paused, glanced at the food box in her hand, and immediately understood why Zhou Cheng'an had suddenly given her food.

It turns out that the Court of Justice has lost face. All of them have been instructed by their families to remain as quiet as corpses that cannot rise from the dead.

"Lord Zhou, come quick! Even if the sky falls over the Court of Justice, it has nothing to do with my cook. This lamb was slaughtered today and is still very fresh!"

Zhou Zhao looked in the direction of the sound and saw Old Shao, the cook in the small canteen, smiling at him and indeed piling a generous bowl of mutton for him.

Zhou Zhao's eyes lit up, and he immediately beamed, "Here he comes! Uncle Spoon, you've got the air of a general!"

As she spoke, she picked up the bowl of mutton soup and sat down directly opposite Li Youdao. With a smile in her eyes, she picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of mutton from her bowl and gave it to Li Youdao, then pushed the sugar cake over to him.

Li Youdao, He Tingshi, Jing Yi, and Han Ze are all potential spies who will kill her next.

Li Youdao sneered, "Don't think that just because the clerk has a vacancy, you have any hope. Even if you give me meat, I won't write a recommendation letter for you."

Zhou Zhao was startled, and his heart began to pound.

Despite his words, Li Youdao unceremoniously opened the food box lid and bit off the sugar rabbit's head without any pity. "Sticky! Too sweet! Not tasty!"

"If it doesn't taste good, why would you eat one in two bites? What kind of book recommendation is this?"

Li Youdao snorted, then buried his head in his meat, ignoring Zhou Zhao.

"Master, Master, Lord Li, Li Tingshi?"

Zhou Zhao wanted to confirm his guess, so he shouted at Li Youdao. Li Youdao tore off a large piece of meat and rolled his eyes at Zhou Zhao. "Lord Li, don't make things difficult for the child. It's not a secret. Young Lord Zhou will find out sooner or later. There's a vacancy in the Court of Imperial Censors, so naturally someone has to be found to fill it. Where will this person come from? Either His Majesty appoints them, or they come from the local area, or they are promoted within the Court of Imperial Censors."

But you still need your master to write a recommendation letter. Heh heh, but you're in trouble. Your Lord Li Youdao, all these years, let alone writing a recommendation letter, even his performance evaluations have always been just a low-ranking official, with the added label of "utterly terrible."

Zhou Zhao felt a chill in her heart, and suddenly remembered what Chen Jiyuan had told her when she first entered the Court of Justice.

Under Li Youdao, there wasn't a single person with a promising future. No one was promoted, and none were even sent to other places to find a good job.

So, it seems that prisoners have to commit murder and arson to get into prison? They go through all that trouble to get under Li Youdao's command, only to spend their entire lives in prison, never to be let out again? I ask you, which place would dare to accept such an utterly wicked person?
Li Youdao scoffed, finished the last sip of mutton soup, and let out a satisfied burp.

"Otherwise, should we have Chen Jiyuan sew shoe soles at the crime scene? Or should we have Xu Jin order the murderer around during the day and the victim around at night?"

Zhou Zhaotong and Uncle Big Spoon both fell silent.

That's incredibly immoral; even Zhou Zhao was embarrassed to say it.

Zhou Zhao thought for a moment, picked up her mutton soup pancake, and ate it quickly. After she finished the bowl of hot soup pancake, she didn't see anyone else in the small canteen.

Uncle Spoon stood on tiptoe and watched for a while, then pursed his lips and said to Li Youdao, "Lord Li, I'll pack some mutton for you to take home and have with your drinks."

As he spoke, he tore off a lotus leaf, wrapped the thinly sliced ​​mutton in it, and put it down in front of Li Youdao. "You should write a recommendation letter for Lord Zhou. In my opinion, this kid should have been given a high-ranking official position when he broke through Tianying City."

He shook his head as he spoke.

Li Youdao picked up the bag of mutton, tucked the wine gourd into his waistband, stood up, and looked at Zhou Zhao. "Let's go. We've eaten and drunk our fill, it's time to go to sleep."

As he spoke, he walked towards the entrance of the small canteen. Seeing Zhou Zhao follow him, he lazily took another sip of his drink. "I won't write you a recommendation letter. You're not stupid; you should know that yourself."

Zhou Zhao raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything more.

The initial excitement has now subsided; a petty official who doesn't want a promotion isn't a good petty official.

The reason why Li Mu suddenly fabricated three false cases and went to the capital was because it was not easy to fill a vacancy in the court clerk's office.

Even though He Tingshi's beard is now whiter than snow, he still investigates cases with great energy every day.
Moreover, she realized that Li Huaishan, the Minister of Justice, was very particular about checks and balances. Even in a small court like the Court of Justice, there was a struggle between the left and right wings, between aristocratic families and those from humble backgrounds, and between officials from the capital and those selected from local areas.

These lowly pawns missed this opportunity; who knows how many more years they'll have to wait.

Seeing that Zhou Zhao remained silent, Li Youdao became displeased again, "Aren't you going to try and argue?"

Zhou Zhao found his awkwardness amusing.

"Would you like to write me a recommendation letter? I don't want the lowest rank, I want the highest, how about adding the four words 'a prodigy'?"

Li Youdao spat at the person beside him, "Zhou Zhao! You're drunk before you've even had a drink! How can you boast like that? Don't write it. Even if I write it for you, no one else will choose you. Just give up on that idea!"

As he spoke, he stepped into the left courtyard, pushed aside the pile of files that had once again accumulated, found a comfortable spot to lie down, crossed his legs, and began to snore.