Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 288 How Did You Guess It Was Me?
Li Huaishan made a good point.

She only has one chance.

After she came down from the Cloud Pavilion, once the news of her death spread, her adoptive father would inevitably meet with Su Changying, firstly to find out the situation, and secondly to confirm whether he had been manipulated as he suspected.

She faked her death, and Su Changying pretended to be controlled and killed her. The punch that Ah Huang threw at his face was the "proof" they had deliberately left for their godfather.

Previously, they were always in the open, while the godfather was in the shadows.

This time, she saw through their identities and knew that her adoptive father was Li Huaishan, the Minister of Justice, and that Fan Fuma was another "military force" of his besides Su Changying.

She saw through them, but they didn't.

The reason this scheme succeeded was precisely this: Li Huaishan and Prince Consort Fan, unaware of their potential exposure, would certainly come to pay their respects. This was because Fan Lishen was her close friend, and Prince Consort Fan was also close to her father, Zhou Buhai.

Li Huaishan goes without saying. When the clerk of the Court of Justice got into trouble while on official business, how could he, as the Minister of Justice, not come?

As long as they both need to maintain their identities, they will inevitably come today.

This perfect combination of timing, location, and people can only be executed once when they are completely unprepared. If they escape, then the sky's the limit, and the sea is wide enough for birds to fly and fish to leap. With his ability to disguise himself, the godfather can change his appearance and make a comeback at any time.

This is your only chance.

It was both a scheme and a stroke of luck. If it were a fair and square confrontation, even she and Su Changying combined wouldn't be a match for her godfather.

Moreover, without the antidote, she would die in three days.

She didn't get a second chance.

Therefore, Li Huaishan must die here today to pay for his blood debt.

As Zhou Zhao thought this, he suddenly thrust the dagger in his hand toward Li Tingwei's chest.

Li Huaishan had already had one of his hands cut off by Su Changying, and the poison in the incense had already taken effect. He knew that the situation was hopeless. He spat and looked at Su Changying with a sinister look, "Do you think that if you kill me, the world will belong to the Liu family?"
"You were once under my control. Does that Liu fellow really trust you enough to let you lead troops? Su Changying, your life was completely over four years ago."

As he spoke, he felt a sharp pain in his front and back as four sharp blades pierced his body simultaneously.

Li Huaishan felt a sweet taste in his throat and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Immediately afterwards, four sharp blades were drawn at the same time. Li Huaishan used the long sword he was holding to stick it into the ground as a crutch, and he knelt down on one leg to barely support himself.

“Zhou Zhao, your victory was not honorable! I am very curious, how did you know that I am your godfather?”

Zhou Zhao didn't answer; she looked at Liu Huang, "Ah Huang!"

Ah Huang nodded his straw hat, took out an iron chain from the side, and thrust it forward with great force. The chain pierced through Li Huaishan's collarbone, causing him to stagger and nearly fall to the ground. However, he managed to stand up by holding onto his sword.

Without hesitation, Zhou Zhao caught the bloodstained chain, and together with Ah Huang, they spun around and, with a sudden burst of strength, bound Li Huaishan tightly.

Seeing that he was completely unable to move, like a dumpling, Zhou Zhao swayed slightly.

She took a step back, only to be caught by Su Changying behind her. Previously, she had been so focused on the battle that she felt she had inexhaustible strength, but now that she had been captured, Zhou Zhao felt unsteady on her feet, a metallic taste in her throat, and excruciating pain throughout her body.

"First of all, there's the smell. You're very careful. When you meet your subordinates, you always stand in the shadows, not showing your face, and you don't have any smell on you."

But you are only human, and as a human being, you will inevitably make mistakes.

On the day you were on leave at the Court of Justice, both Changying and Chen Jiyuan smelled a special ink scent on you.

Why was it on that particular day that you smelled so strongly of ink? It was because on that day, Jingyi and the people from the Imperial Household Department played Cuju (ancient Chinese football), and since you didn't have a personal attendant with you, you had to grind the ink yourself, which is why you picked up that scent.”

Li Huaishan was captured, and Fan Fuma, whose martial arts skills were not particularly outstanding, was captured in just a few moves.

This time they tied him up tightly.

Upon hearing Zhou Zhao's words, Jing Yi, who had been so ashamed of his mistake that he wanted to kill himself, instantly forgot his embarrassment. He muttered to himself in sudden realization, "No wonder Chang Ying asked me that day if I could smell anything, but my nose isn't very good, so I couldn't smell anything."

Zhou Zhao looked at Li Huaishan, "You are someone who enjoys writing and painting, and you also like to collect inks with special fragrances. When you were investigating a case at Manmoji, you spent a lot of money to buy the special orchid-scented ink that Min Cangzhi had mixed."

The reason you revealed your weakness that day was because the Dai family was involved in the Cuju case.

Your purse was seized. If Dai Changming hadn't died, it might have implicated you. That's why you were unusually agitated that day, not only did you meet with several subordinates, but you also arranged for Chen Jiyuan to kill me.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, his gaze toward Li Huaishan was cold.

"Dai Changming died in prison for no apparent reason. Although it was suicide, he must have been forced to die. At that time, I suspected that there must be a mole in the Court of Justice. I was blind to what was happening under my own nose and only thought about investigating people who had been in contact with Dai Changming."

I suspect Li Youdao, Li Tingshi, He Tingshi, Jing Yi, and Han Ze.

Later, Chen Jiyuan attempted to assassinate me; he was your subordinate. I investigated how he got into the Court of Justice. A mysterious old man arranged for him to enter the Court. The old man's identity is unknown, but since he was able to easily enter the Court and sit next to me…

I think that he wasn't the only one who was arranged to be there; I was too.

There must be someone in a high position in the Court of Justice, who is either the adoptive father or his right-hand man.

But even now, I still haven't thought of you. Until today at Yun Jian Temple, you wanted to wipe Su Changying and Jing Yi's memories and put them under your and Gongzi Yu's control before you could rebel.

Jingyi said he was ordered to come here to investigate Gongzi Yu.

How could he happen to be there, just in time to be controlled by you? By order? Whose orders was he on? He is your personal subordinate, and the most likely person to give him orders is you, Li Tingwei.

You just didn't expect that Jingyi had already formed an alliance with Su Changying.

In that instant, I suddenly thought of you, whom I had always overlooked.

Zhou Zhao looked at Li Huaishan and said, "This is exactly what they mean by 'the darkest place is under the lamp.' You have always been kind and approachable, yet you have always been distant from us, like an unreachable Minister of Justice. But once we think of you, all the trivial matters from the past have a reasonable explanation."

"Besides the ink fragrance and the traitor who caused Dai Changming's death, the most obvious instance was when I was competing with Jingyi for the position of court historian. Li Youdao happened to draw the burial place you prepared for me, the Lost City."