Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 290 The Hidden Murderer

What Zhou Zhao didn't say was...

She was truly certain that Fan Fuma was Li Huaishan's backup plan because of his passing.

Duobaoge's collusion with the magistrate of Micheng County, using beads that ward off Gu worms to amass wealth, is already suspicious.

Furthermore, the tampered pill called "Soul Return" was delivered to Su Changying through the Treasure Pavilion. Since the pill was poisonous, two groups might have been involved. The first was the alchemist, to whom Su Changying had saved her life; why would he poison her?
Then the only option is the middleman, Duobaoge.

Duobaoge added half of the poison to the medicine. How did her adoptive father know this? And why did he add the other half of the poison to her in the cave in the clouds?

There is only one reason: Duobaoge and his adoptive father are birds of a feather, and Duobaoge is his accomplice.

And Fan Fuma was the owner of Duobaoge.

Not to mention, Su Changying smeared medicinal powder on the token and used the red Gu worm to track her adoptive father, eventually catching up with him at Shanming Villa, where she bumped into Prince Consort Fan standing at the door. This further proves that Prince Consort Fan and Li Huaishan are definitely connected.

As these suspicions piled up, Zhou Zhao almost instantly realized that Fan Fuma was the other backup plan her adoptive father had mentioned to Su Changying.

He has been away from Chang'an for years, independently commanding an army that roams around and can recruit soldiers at any time. Because of Princess Changyang, no one would suspect that he is colluding with his adoptive father.

He was the perfect helper.

Just why?

"You are the Court of Justice. So, in these four years, the case of Shan Ming and Chang Yang has made no progress at all. It's not that the people in the Court of Justice are incompetent, but rather that they let the murderer investigate who the murderer is, which is simply ridiculous. So, in just four years, the case was shelved, and even the belongings were returned to the relatives."

You disguised yourself as Li Tingwei, so you dared not get too close to Madam Li, fearing she would notice something amiss. Therefore, you lived in separate residences from her.

She heard about this from the big-mouthed man across the street from the Court of Justice who was missing a front tooth.

Then I remembered him saying that Su Changyu didn't seem like the son of the Marquis of Lu... It turns out the truth was hidden in these rumors.

Those big mouths and big ears who love to pry into secrets have sharp eyes.

“You are the Minister of Justice, so you are not worried about me throwing Su Changyu and Su Ling into prison, because you can rescue them at any time.”

You are the Minister of Justice, which is why the Zhaixinglou case was closed so easily back then.

Who would have thought that the highest-ranking official in the Court of Judicial Review was the greatest traitor!

Zhou Zhao thought for a moment, then looked at Li Huaishan, clenching her fists. "Why did you kill Princess Changyang and my brother Zhou Yan? Why?"

Li Huaishan looked at Zhou Zhao, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes, "Zhou Zhao, aren't you very smart? Most of your predictions just now were correct."

I was wrong. I only found some brainless thugs under my command. I should have controlled a strategist like you.

However, since you're so clever, why don't you guess what you said wrong?

"Considering that Su Changying has called me godfather for so many years, I'll tell you, there's only one mistake. Guess what it is?"

Zhou Zhao looked at Li Huaishan's smiling face. Even at this point, this disgusting scum was still planting seeds of trouble for Su Changying!
Not only did he show no remorse, but he was also scheming against people's hearts. Zhou Zhao thought to himself, and suddenly raised his hand and slapped someone across the face. The loud slap made everyone present feel a sting involuntarily.

Li Huaishan's head was knocked to the side, and he opened his mouth, spitting out several bloody teeth.

He slowly turned his head and stared into Zhou Zhao's eyes, his gaze so fierce it seemed he wanted to devour her whole.

His face was no longer relaxed; it looked sinister, like a demon that had just crawled out of hell.

"It's been many years since anyone dared to hit me."

"I've given you a taste of what it's like to be a stray dog, no need to thank me. A piece of scum like you who manipulates and destroys other people's lives at will deserves to be executed by slow slicing. Don't give me that 'loyalty to the emperor and patriotism' excuse, you just want to be emperor yourself."

Prince Yu is blind; he is not fit to be emperor.

You know that nobody will follow you in doing this perverse thing. Nobody will truly be loyal to a leopard or wolf like you. When tyranny is overthrown, everyone will celebrate. Who would want to associate with a vermin like you?
You're so pathetic; you don't even have a single person around you who is truly loyal to you and respects you.

Besides resorting to your low-level methods to control puppets, what other skills do you have? Even the puppets you control can break free from your grasp under those circumstances—Chen Jiyuan, Bai Shisan Niang, Jing Yi, and Chang Ying are all examples of this.

Why is that? Of course, it's because no matter what, humans cannot associate with animals.

Even if you succeed in your rebellion, so what? Do you think you can control everyone in the world and make them all loyal to you?
Everything you've been plotting has been a pipe dream from the very beginning—completely impossible. Don't even mention trying to awaken your master through the "Six Paths Heavenly Book" and return to being his loyal servant; that's utterly laughable.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he looked at the bloodstained teeth on the ground and said, "Oh, you've laughed yourself so hard you lost your teeth."

Having his deepest thoughts exposed, Li Huaishan was furious. He glared fiercely at Zhou Zhao.

"I should have killed you sooner, at all costs."

Do you think that by arresting me now, the case of Shanming Changyang can be closed? Have you already avenged your brother Zhou Yan?

You are far too arrogant. Do you even know where you went wrong? I am not the murderer of Zhou Yan at all.

Zhou Zhao's mind went blank for a moment. She stared into Li Huaishan's eyes, trying to find evidence of his lying in his gaze.

But she couldn't find it.

Li Huaishan's tone was exceptionally firm, his eyes showed no sign of flinching, and he was not lying.

No, that's not right.

Li Huaishan, that old scoundrel, is most skilled at manipulating minds. He may not be telling the truth; he may be deliberately deceiving her to throw her into a panic.

If Li Huaishan wasn't lying, and he wasn't the murderer of Zhou Yan, then who was the murderer?

Back then, it was Zhang Ran who invited Princess Changyang to Shanming Villa. If Li Huaishan hadn't killed Zhou Yan but instead kidnapped Su Changying, what would that mean?
This suggests that there was another murderer at the scene, a murderer hiding in the shadows whom she never even considered.

Was what Li Huaishan said true or false?
The scene erupted in uproar. Li Huaishan listened to the murmurs of the crowd, his eyes filled with a vengeful pleasure as he looked at Zhou Zhao. "Zhou Zhao, you've been poisoned and will die soon. It seems you'll die with your eyes wide open, asking in the underworld who killed Zhou Yan."

I lost, and you didn't win either.