Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 261 The Forgotten Person
The man with the missing front tooth suddenly became very interested. “There was a carriage that didn’t stop in front of the Court of Justice, but stopped on our side.”

As he spoke, he leaned out, pointed to a spot, and then excitedly said, "Young Master Zhou, why are you asking this? Could it be that the person in that carriage is Li Tingwei's mistress? I've heard that Li Tingwei and his wife have a strained relationship."

After Lady Li gave birth to a son, she moved out and lived separately from him. Li Tingwei (the Minister of Justice) resided in the back courtyard of the Court of Justice, while Lady Li lived in the main residence, keeping a handsome male concubine named Zong Xun, who was also her cousin.

Zhou Zhao listened, then looked around to see where her stool was!
She suppressed the urge to sit down and listen, silently repeating to herself three times, "Exaggerated, exaggerated, exaggerated!"
"And then? A young woman got out of the carriage?"

The man with the missing front tooth shook his head. "I haven't seen her. And Xiao Qing'er might not even be a girl. Lord Li clearly doesn't like girls. He and Lord Jing of Jingyi are inseparable, only separating on their days off when Lord Jing goes to play Cuju (an ancient Chinese football game). Who knows... hehe!"

Zhou Zhao felt that the eyes with missing front teeth were brighter than sunlight.

He was trying to find any clues that could be fabricated from her and Su Changying's expressions.

She believed that as long as she revealed even the slightest hint, the whole of Chang'an would be filled with news of Jingyi's pregnancy with Li Tingwei's child by tomorrow.

She cleared her throat. "Please don't tell anyone else about why I'm here."

As Zhou Zhao was speaking, she suddenly felt a handkerchief on her shoulder, and she looked at Su Changying in surprise.

Su Changying wiped her shoulder expressionlessly. "The child we brought back from Baihualou today spat on your clothes. Didn't you already guess who his father is? Give him back!"

Zhou Zhao immediately grabbed Su Changying's hand, glanced stiffly at the missing front tooth, and said, "That child's matter involves the case, so please don't tell anyone else."

The missing front tooth made his eyes light up; Zhou Zhao felt as if he had entered a blissful, ethereal state.

He patted his chest excitedly and made a shushing gesture, "Don't worry, Lord Zhou, I'm very tight-lipped! I absolutely won't tell anyone."

Zhou Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, nodded, and then reminded him again, "Make sure you don't tell anyone."

The boy with the missing front tooth nodded vigorously, "I definitely won't tell."

He was still inside the door, but his mouth had already flown out.

Zhou Zhao thought to himself, "There's no such thing as a completely sealed mouth in this world. It's not that you'll never tell anyone. It's that you'll definitely tell someone, and when you do, you'll start by saying, 'I'm telling you a secret, but don't tell anyone else...'"

Zhou Zhao and Su Changying did not linger there. They went to Baihualou, put the snake corpse into the wine jar containing the child, arranged for the Northern Army to find a good place to bury it, and returned it to the seven people of Baihualou, leaving seven graves.

The two then went to the neighboring houses to ask questions, but they did not get any useful clues.

Even the Northern Army didn't find anyone violating the curfew last night.

Just as Min Zangzhi had said, the case seemed to have reached a stalemate, with no leads whatsoever.

Zhou Zhao thought for a moment and walked around Baihualou again. When they arrived, the house was covered in footprints and was a mess. There were no special clues at all, because Bai Shisan Niang had been strangled to death, and there were no obvious bloodstains on the walls and the floor.

Zhou Zhao stood in front of the corridor, looking up at the beam with the seven corpses hanging on it. She lightly leaped up and flew up.

The roof beams were also empty, except for a little bit of saliva left by the giant python.

Bai Shisan Niang knew the murderer, but why didn't she leave any clues about the murderer's name? Zhou Zhao thought to herself as she gently floated down. She frowned and looked at Su Changying, who was leaning against the courtyard gate. He was exceptionally aloof, and although he was already cold, he was still wearing thin clothes.

Zhou Zhao felt a little ashamed. She didn't care much about her clothes, and Chu Yi usually arranged and took care of what she wore. Zhou Wan arranged everything, from buying clothes for all four seasons to having embroiderers make them.

She never even considered buying clothes for Su Changying.

Which of the concubines in the Lu family who were promoted to the rank of stepmother, or the stepfather who forgot his son after having a stepmother, would care about him?
As Zhou Zhao was thinking, she suddenly stopped, a flash of inspiration crossing her mind. She quickly walked towards Su Changying, "I forgot someone, that embroiderer."

The first eyewitness was the embroiderer named Cao Qin.

Because Cao Qin did not enter the courtyard, and she was attacked by a snake, and many other troubles followed, she neglected this person.

Zhou Zhao thought for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Perhaps because she hadn't fully recovered from her serious injuries, she felt as if she had become much slower.

As she was thinking this, she saw Su Changying, who was standing at the door, pat her head and then look towards the courtyard gate. "Come in!"

Zhou Zhao peeked out and saw two Northern Army soldiers, the same ones who had gone to the Court of Justice to summon the body after discovering the death scene, standing at the door with the embroiderer named Cao Qin.

Cao Qin lowered her head, looking extremely frightened. Her eyes were fixed on her toes. She bowed deeply to Zhou Zhao, her head almost falling to the ground.

"Young Master Zhou, I...I was so scared that I ran away before I could even be questioned."

The giant python and the seven hanging corpses—no matter which one it was, it kept her awake for a month. When she saw that Zhou Zhao and the others hadn't come out in the morning, she was so frightened that she ran away. She went home and drank some calming medicine, but she still didn't dare to fall asleep for even a moment.

As soon as she closed her eyes, the seven corpses seemed to hang above her bed, and she could almost see Bai Shisan Niang's embroidered shoes swaying right above her eyelids.

She tried to struggle to get up, but felt a heavy weight pressing down on her, making it hard to breathe. Suddenly, she opened her eyes and saw a huge python pressing down on her chest, its jaws wide open.

Just when she thought she was doomed, the Northern Army came knocking again.

Just thinking about it gave Cao Qin a feeling of surviving a catastrophe; it was like a dream within a dream.

She didn't want to come back here, but the imperial court summoned her, so she had no choice but to come.

She thought for a moment, then lifted her foot with some difficulty to go into the courtyard, only to see the lady named Zhou Zhao come out of the courtyard. She even reached out and closed the courtyard gate, saying, "Let's talk here, no need to go in."

Cao Qin breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling that the voice was like heavenly music.

"Has Bai Shisan Niang chosen the fabric? Before you came to have your measurements taken today?"

Cao Qin was taken aback, then nodded. "She's chosen. She usually gets her clothes made here, so she doesn't need to be measured. But she said she's lost some weight these past few days and we've arranged a time for me to come over and measure her again."

"What kind of cloth is it? Is there anything special about it?"

"It's a piece of plain brocade. Thirteen Sister requested that a hundred flowers be embroidered on it with silver thread. There's nothing particularly special about it, but Thirteen Sister is very beautiful and rarely wears plain-colored dresses. This is the first time she's ever made one like this."