Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 272 Confiscation of the Marquis of Lu's Residence

What did he hear!
The old general with the yellow beard felt as if every piece of flesh on his face was flying away, completely out of his control.

He didn't know whether he should be sad and cry for the Marquis of Lu, since his son and daughter weren't even his.

We should still laugh. He was right! How could their valiant commander have such a coward as his son! His son should be like Su Changying; only Su Changying deserves the title of Little Marquis of Lu.

"You're talking nonsense! How could my brother and I not be Father's children!"

Su Ling had lost three teeth, making her speech slurred and her heart-wrenching roar somewhat indistinct.

She was forced to kneel on the ground by the Northern Army. The icy rain soaked her clothes instantly, and the cold seemed to penetrate Su Ling's lungs, making her feel as if there was a wind tunnel in her chest, chilling her to the bone.

Zhou Zhao made a grand entrance, but her beloved mother did not come out.

Her father, who always called her "good girl Ling," didn't come out either. Even if she was stupid, she would have realized that something was wrong.

Panic instantly gripped Su Ling, who muttered to himself in a daze, "Impossible, impossible. Why did Su Changying come back? Why didn't he die? It's because of his return that everything has changed."

She should be the only daughter of the Marquis of Lu's family, and she could choose any prince or nobleman in Chang'an.

Her father doted on her and prepared a dowry for her early on, which filled the entire storeroom.

She hated Su Changying since she was a child, hated that he was the eldest son born of the legitimate wife, and that the entire Lu Marquis's mansion would belong to him in the future. She hated that he was so dazzling, like a ball of fire, yet also like a gust of wind.

He is the strongest and most unrestrained young man in Chang'an!

With Su Changying around, she and her brother Su Changyu had absolutely no chance to stand out. It was as if the sun in the sky would overshadow the light of a firefly; no one could see them. Even when they were mentioned, it was only because they were born out of wedlock that they were considered far inferior.

She harbored resentment at the time, and even secretly celebrated Su Changying's disappearance.

They are all children of the Marquis of Lu, so why should he be superior to them?

Now she heard something: she wasn't the daughter of the Marquis of Lu's family at all; they were traitors.

She knew about the traitor; the Marquis of Lu was specifically tasked with killing traitors.

She used to hear the story of her father beheading eighteen traitorous generals and hanging their heads on the city wall. At that time, she clapped her hands and cheered, shouting that they had killed them well!

Now, she has become a traitor.

As Su Ling pondered this, she struggled to grab Su Changying's robe.

Neither Su Changying nor Zhou Zhao gave her another glance, but instead strode towards the main courtyard.

Along the long corridor, she could only see the backs of Su Changying and Zhou Zhao; their robes swayed like merciless knives.

Zhou Zhao stood in front of the main courtyard gate and looked at the courtyard. She remembered that before Su Changying's accident, this place was still preserved in the way Su Changying's mother had left it.

There was a crabapple tree planted in the courtyard, and a pile of wine was buried under the tree, supposedly for her to drink with Changying.

There are a few canna lilies growing in that corner.

Su's mother had a cheerful and outgoing personality, which suited her best to the vibrant red color; her colors were everywhere in the courtyard.

Now, the crabapple blossoms have turned into jasmine. The curtains in the room have also turned a pale, moon-white, making it look like a funeral parlor.

"Zhao Zhao, is this where my mother used to live?" Zhou Zhao was not surprised that Su Changying saw through her unease. From childhood to adulthood, he had always been very perceptive and could sense her feelings and thoughts.

She asked curiously why?
Back then, Su Changying was still a rather immature young boy. He raised his chin high and said, "I guess I ate too much of the leftover rice porridge from when you were little! After all, the rice porridge your older sister cooked was really awful! You couldn't eat it, and you were afraid of being scolded, so I had to eat it for you!"

At that moment, she leaped up like a monkey, jumped onto his back, and started punching him.

"How could that be! My older sister makes the best porridge ever."

Su Changying kept shouting "Don't hit me! Don't hit me!" but she couldn't free her hands at all. She just held her up carefully to prevent her from falling off her back.

Their childhood sweethearts were inseparable in their past lives.

Zhou Zhao snapped out of her reverie and softly hummed in agreement. "Her favorite home is in your heart."

She wanted to say that it was no wonder that the Marquis of Lu had raised an illegitimate child for someone else, becoming the laughingstock of the entire capital.

She really wanted to laugh, to laugh heartily for Su Changying's mother.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he coldly swept his gaze across the maids and servants serving in the main courtyard.

The Lu Marquis's mansion had been peaceful for so many years, and they had never seen such a scene as a raid on their home. With just one glance from Zhou Zhao, they all knelt down.

Without saying a word, Zhou Zhao went directly into Aunt Liu's bedroom with Su Changying.

The room was sparsely furnished and very simple. The only striking color was a red persimmon in a white vase by the window.

An open book lay on the table. Zhou Zhao leaned closer to look and his expression immediately turned strange. "It's your father's poetry collection. Your mother had it prepared on time. No wonder Yin Fang was so frustrated before..."

The thought of her having to memorize the text and rack her brains to come up with something new made Zhou Zhao want to laugh.

She cleared her throat and looked at the dressing box. On the table was a dressing box about half a person's height, filled with layers of jewelry.

“This box was used by your mother. My mother also had this armlet inlaid with rubies.”

As they were talking, Han Ze and Ah Huang had turned the house upside down, but they found nothing suspicious.

Han Ze went out and dragged the head maid over, throwing her directly to the ground. "My lord... my lady doesn't have any special treasures hidden in her home, and there are no secret mechanisms in this house... even if there were, this old servant wouldn't know anything about them. Please don't make things difficult for this old servant."

Zhou Zhao opened the drawer of the dressing case while listening to the sounds coming from the other side.

Suddenly, a large hand reached out from the side, and Su Changying gently stroked the dressing case, his fingers lightly tracing the patterns on it.

At first, Zhou Zhao thought he was just missing his mother, but gradually she felt something was wrong.

Su Changying's movements were very smooth, as if he had done it a thousand times before. Suddenly, his hand paused and pressed down hard.

With a click, another layer of the multi-tiered treasure box popped out from the side.

"You remembered?" Zhou Zhao looked at Su Changying with some surprise.

Su Changying shook her head. "No."

But he knew it. He looked into the box and saw three things inside: a pair of dragon and phoenix jade pendants that had been there for many years, which looked like old objects from the previous dynasty's palace.

There was also a neatly folded piece of white silk.