Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 266 Everything is ready
"By the way, Brother Changying, why are you here? Did you remember something? Or are you here on business?"

Su Changying felt a buzzing in her ears, as if a thousand sparrows were chirping and talking.

The young man in front of me, named Fan Lishen, was clearly a chatterbox, rambling on and on.

Su Changying glanced at the Prince Consort Fan before her without making a sound, and pulled the long sword from his chest.

Fan Fuma grunted, glancing down at his pierced breastplate. He couldn't help but sigh, "Truly, the younger generation is formidable. This breastplate has been with me for many years, saving my life more than once. I never expected it to be pierced this time."

As he spoke, he reached out and affectionately patted Fan Lishen's fluffy head.

“Li Shen, you mustn’t be rude. The young Marquis of Lu has forgotten the past and doesn’t recognize you now. How is he supposed to answer all these questions you’ve asked so many right off the bat?”

As he spoke, Prince Consort Fan cupped his hands in a respectful gesture toward Su Changying and sighed softly.

“After my son and I entered the palace, His Majesty told us everything about you. Li Shen is impulsive and speaks without thinking. If he has offended you in any way, please forgive him. This child has always held a grudge about what happened back then. We should indeed apologize to you, after all, you were both implicated back then.”

Su Changying didn't reply, but just listened quietly.

There was no displeasure on Fan Fuma's face. He turned around and looked in the direction of the academy's library.

"As long as the case from back then remains unresolved, this child will never be able to leave. We are returning to Chang'an, firstly to apologize to you, and secondly, hoping that if there are any new clues or if there is anything we can do to help, please feel free to speak up."

If Marquis Lu is preoccupied with official duties, my son and I will not disturb you. Once we are settled, we will have Li Shen host a dinner for you all.”

Su Changying looked directly into the eyes of the Imperial Son-in-Law Fan. His eyes were filled with melancholy, as if he had experienced the vicissitudes of life.

However, when Su Changying looked at him, he did not flinch at all, and looked straight back at her.

"No need to apologize. Was it the Prince Consort who ordered the tribute items stolen from the Lost City to be transported back to Chang'an?"

Prince Consort Fan was taken aback, then nodded.

"We haven't thanked Marquis Lu for this yet. It was indeed the tribute we were escorting, but it was robbed in the Lost City. If it weren't for Marquis Lu's intervention, my son and I would have been in serious trouble."

Listening to their back-and-forth, Fan Lishen couldn't hold back any longer. He peeked out from behind Prince Consort Fan and blurted out, "Why not apologize? I was wrong, and that's that! I'll take responsibility for my own actions!"

Su Changying frowned as she looked at Fan Lishen. "It's not your fault, it's the murderer's fault."

The Zhou family blames Zhou Zhao for killing Zhou Yan. If he blames Fan Lishen, how is he any different from the Zhou family?
He will make that person pay for their crimes in blood.

Thinking it over, Su Changying cupped her hands in greeting to Consort Fan, turned around and left Shanming Villa, walking step by step toward the alley entrance.

One step, two steps...

Neither coffin nails nor longswords came from behind.

Su Changying remained remarkably calm. He chased after his adoptive father into the alley, but lost track of him. Instead, he encountered Fan Fuma, who had suddenly returned to Chang'an, at the Shanming Villa.

Is there any coincidence between these two?
Are they the same person, or did Prince Consort Fan help that person hide in Shanming Villa?
Although he wanted to take action, he was self-aware enough to know that he would lose to his adoptive father in a one-on-one fight, and he had no chance of winning against two opponents.

He had just sniffed it; there was no scent of ink on Fan Fuma. Instead, there was a faint earthy smell and an almost imperceptible stench of corpses, clearly due to his years of tomb raiding.

Was Prince Consort Fan his godfather?
……

The heavy rain hadn't stopped by nightfall. Su Changying, his face expressionless, held the "baby" in his arms, his limbs unusually stiff. He lowered his head and made a few "oh oh oh" sounds as Zhou Zhao had instructed, then shook his arms a few times, "Oh oh oh, go to sleep!"

Sleep like a ghost!

The baby lying in his arms was actually a scarecrow, but Zhou Zhao insisted on drawing a face on it with a white cloth.

This face is so detailed that it looks like a real baby's face, with even the individual eyelashes clearly visible.

Normally, he would definitely praise Master Zhou's painting skills!

But now, he just finds it an eyesore.

The sight of a smiling fake child in someone's arms is truly terrifying.

He thought for a moment, then lowered his voice and said to Zhou Zhao, "The child is already asleep."

Zhou Zhao, sitting with his back to the window, had a calm expression, but his eyes betrayed a mischievous glint in them. "Well, put the child on the bed. You still have to go on night patrol! I won't go out tonight; I'll stay home and take care of the child."

Su Changying placed the scarecrow child on the bed, then gently covered it with a blanket before walking towards Zhou Zhao.

Just as he was about to speak, he saw Zhou Zhao reach out and wrap his arm around his waist.

Zhou Zhao was sitting, and from this angle, her head was right next to his waist. Her face was close, and the warmth of her breath hit Su Changying's waist directly. He felt a buzzing in his head, and even the scarecrow-like fake child who had given him a strange smile seemed cute now.

Su Changying thought for a moment, then reached out and gently patted Zhou Zhao's head. "Zhao Zhao, I'm going on night patrol. It's getting late, you should get some rest."

Zhou Zhao nodded and stood up. "I'll see you out."

As the two were talking, they walked towards the door. Just as the door opened, they saw an old lady carrying a load on a shoulder pole. A wooden board with osmanthus flowers painted on it was nailed to the pole.

"Grandma, do you sell osmanthus paste? Changying, I love osmanthus paste the most. I used to buy it all the time."

As Zhou Zhao spoke, his eyes lit up, and he rushed forward to stop the old woman carrying the load.

The old woman stopped and looked over with some difficulty. "There's only a little left. It's not easy to sell to someone important."

Zhou Zhao waved his hand, "It's alright, it's alright!"

Seeing that she really wanted it, the old woman didn't make things difficult. She took out a bamboo tube, scooped out a bucketful, and handed it to Zhou Zhao. Zhou Zhao picked it up, took a big gulp, and then let out a sigh of enjoyment, "This is the taste!"

As she spoke, she waved to Changying.

Su Changying glanced at her helplessly, "Get some rest! I'm leaving. Even if there's a case tonight, I won't call anyone to disturb your sleep."

As he spoke, he took out some money and paid the old woman. He waited for Zhou Zhao to take the bamboo tube into the house and close the door before leaving and heading towards the Northern Army camp.

As soon as the door closed, Zhou Zhao poured the osmanthus paste from the bamboo tube into the vase used for flower arranging in the room. Then, he took out a pill from his sleeve, put it in his mouth, and placed the bamboo tube on the table.

She rubbed her eyes, yawned, got into bed, lay down beside the baby, raised a copper coin, and blew out the lamp.

I don't know how much time passed, but suddenly a cool breeze came in, and the door opened a crack...