Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 214 Old Tales of the Lost City
His breathing was unusually heavy, and his stomach, which had just been full, was heaving violently, clearly indicating that he was only pretending to sleep.

Zhou Zhao found it amusing, sat down at his desk, picked up his pen and began to review the case files. His calm demeanor made it seem as if he hadn't heard about the promotion opportunity at all.

Li Youdao secretly opened one eye, and seeing that Zhou Zhao had no intention of speaking again, he snorted coldly and quickly closed his eyes again.

After waiting for a while, seeing that she still hadn't come forward to persuade him, he finally couldn't sleep anymore and jumped up angrily. When he got to Zhou Zhao's desk, he slammed it hard, knocking the desk over. Then he let out a heavy sneer and walked out the door with his pigeon-toed gait.

Zhou Zhao held up her pen; if she hadn't reacted quickly, the file would have been blackened by her ink.

She shook her head speechlessly, put down the wolf-hair brush in her hand, and stood up.

She looked up and met Zhou Chengan's worried gaze.

Zhou Zhao ignored him and walked towards the door. She didn't stop walking and walked to a secluded place not far from the left courtyard. There was a small lotus pond there. After late autumn, the lotus leaves had withered, leaving only some upright lotus stalks.

In the early morning, the withered grass by the river was covered with a layer of white frost, and you could feel the icy dampness as soon as you stepped on it.

"Why don't you pester me to write a recommendation letter? Why don't you ask them why they won't choose you? This isn't like you. After all, you're a stubborn mule who doesn't know his own limitations."

They have enough lives to kill, yet they dare to lead the King of Chu to challenge Tianying City?
How many hands were needed to slap them? And they slapped every single one of the people from the Court of Justice's face.
Zhou Zhao didn't ask, which really made him suffocate.

"Because I knew you would definitely write me a recommendation letter, and I knew why they didn't choose me."

Li Youdao stared blankly at Zhou Zhao's composed face for a while. He looked at the withered lotus in front of him, rolled his eyes at Zhou Zhao, and said sullenly, "You're shameless. Who's going to write you a letter of recommendation?"

Zhou Zhao smiled upon hearing this, "If they weren't going to write it for me, they certainly wouldn't have deliberately leaked the news to me."

Li Youdao looked at Zhou Zhao with a deep gaze. He had naturally witnessed Zhou Zhao's abilities over the past few days. She was even more dazzling than her brother Zhou Yan. Even the people of the Right Academy had to admit that her abilities far surpassed those of people in the same position as her.

But... Li Youdao thought of that person from before, a trace of sorrow flashed in his eyes, and in the end he shook his head heavily, "I won't write you a recommendation letter."

Before Zhou Zhao could speak, Li Youdao continued, "I've given you my badge. You're no different from a court official now, and you can investigate cases just like everyone else. From now on, you'll attend every meeting. I won't speak, you'll speak. As long as I'm in this position, you're a court official."

Zhou Zhao frowned thoughtfully, but Li Youdao did not stop.

“If you were Zhou Yan, or even Zhou Cheng’an, you would have succeeded this time.”

Zhou Zhao remained silent; she knew from the moment she decided to enter the Court of Justice that it would be fraught with difficulties.

Li Mu was promoted directly from local to court official based on three major cases, and Zhou Zhao handled far more than just three. Although she had only been in the Court of Justice for a short time, her achievements and abilities were evident to all. Moreover, she came from a family of court officials, and the Zhou family still held considerable influence within the Legalist school.

But all of this couldn't change the fact that she was a woman.

Zhou Zhao turned to look at Li Youdao, "Chang Zuoping arranged for me to work under you because he knew that you were the only one in the Court of Justice who had the courage to write a letter of recommendation for me."

Li Youdao was stunned at first, then his face turned as red as if he were drunk. "Do you think I'll write it for you just because you praise me?"

Zhou Zhao shook her head. "You won't write it for me, not because I'm a woman, but because you're afraid. You're afraid that I'll end up like the last person who wrote a recommendation letter for you, and not have a good ending."

She had always wondered why Li Youdao, who was clearly quite capable, neglected everything and indulged in drinking. But just now, she suddenly understood.

"You investigated me?" Li Youdao's pupils contracted sharply, and his gaze towards Zhou Zhao carried a hint of anger.

“No,” Zhou Zhao looked at Li Youdao seriously. “We wanted to investigate, but this isn’t a case-by-case process; there’s no time to catch our breath.”

Li Youdao was speechless.

He looked at Zhou Zhao's forehead with a complicated expression. "Your forehead isn't dark, so how come you encounter cases every day while on duty? I remember before you came, there wasn't so much bloodshed in Chang'an."

Zhou Zhao blinked. "How could it be black? This clearly shows my official career is thriving, and my achievements are directly hitting my face. I should be beaming with joy."

Li Youdao rolled his eyes, but his expression softened considerably.

"Because of the Shanming Changyang case, the Court of Justice was almost completely purged. At that time, all six positions of Court Clerk were vacant. I used to work under the Prince of Changsha, and it was through this opportunity that I entered the Court of Justice. Have I ever told you that I am of the same clan as Court Clerk Li, and according to seniority, he should call me uncle?"

Zhou Zhao's eyes widened instantly; the Court of Justice was truly a place where hidden talents resided.

Min Zangzhi had an iron certificate to protect him, while Li Youdao was actually a "royal relative".

"When I came to Chang'an, I brought my prized student Li Youzhi with me to the Court of Justice. I have never married and therefore have no children. Li Youzhi is an orphan from my clan whom I adopted. I have been taking him under my wing and teaching him by hand since he was three years old. He calls me Father."

As Li Youdao spoke, he seemed somewhat dazed.

"Although our Li family is not as famous as your Zhou family, we are still a prominent Legalist family in the south. In the past, we were only in charge of the laws in one region of Chu. You Zhi is quite intelligent, and I am very proud of him. Back then, just like this time, the position of the court historian suddenly became vacant, and there was no one outstanding enough to be transferred from the local area."

Therefore, Li Huaishan, the Court Censor, proposed that each court clerk write a letter of recommendation, and then each person write down their name on a piece of paper during the discussion, but not the name of the person they recommended. Whoever was selected the most times would be recommended by Li Huaishan before the Emperor to become a court clerk.

In the Great Qi Dynasty, the main role of an official was to be recommended for a position similar to that of an emperor.

Therefore, in the same position, there may be an elderly person with white hair or a young person who is not yet twenty years old. It all depends on whether you have enough ability, reputation, family background, and imperial favor.

Under such circumstances, the chances of advancement for unorthodox individuals like Li Mu are extremely slim. Unless their battle record is exceptionally outstanding, they would need a powerful figure to recommend them.

"Lord Li, you recommended Li Youzhi without any favoritism, and then what?"

Li Youdao nodded. He was an eccentric and unconventional person who didn't seem to come from a prestigious family at all. He acted without regard for decorum and only knew how to act crazy. He was clearly not the kind of person who was thin-skinned and cared about what others thought.

“That’s right. I’m shameless, but Li Huaishan is. He cast the crucial vote for Xu Yun, resulting in a tie.”

Zhou Zhao was somewhat surprised. Xu Yun was Zhou Cheng'an's current master. He had an extremely fiery temper and was a fellow disciple of Zhou Zhao's father, Zhou Buhai.

Now that Xu Yun has become a court historian, and there is no one named Li Youzhi in the Court of Justice, then as she thought, something must have happened to Li Youzhi.

"Under these circumstances, the two were given an additional test. Li Huaishan had them each choose a cold case, and whoever solved the truth first would become the court historian. Youzhi chose a missing person case, which took place in Nanyang, not far from Chang'an, in a place called the Lost City."