Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 291 A One-Sentence Deduction

Zhou Zhao stared intently at Li Huaishan, then suddenly laughed.

"Even a dog wags its tail when it sees someone it knows. You're really forgetful. Don't you remember how difficult it was to kill me, Zhou Zhao?"
You've been lying low in the court for so many years, how come you're so impatient? No wonder you've accomplished nothing so far.

I wouldn't have died otherwise, but now, because of you, it's become much easier for me to survive. Thank you so much for your foolishness.

Looking at Zhou Zhao's confident expression, Li Huaishan suddenly felt a sense of unease. He began to recall every word he had just said, trying to figure out where he had gone wrong and made Zhou Zhao notice something amiss.

He thought to himself, but refused to admit defeat, saying:
"Zhou Zhao, don't bluff. Don't let your Zhou family's ancestral graves abandon you, or the Su family's ancestral graves abandon you too."

As Li Huaishan spoke, he glanced at Zhou Buhai, his eyes filled with malicious provocation.

"You faked your death this time, didn't you see through it? In the Zhou family, you're not even worth a blade of grass."

Zhou Zhao pursed her lips and walked up to Li Huaishan. "What, do you want me to knock out a few more of your dog teeth? Why are you wasting so much time racking your brains trying to figure out where you said something wrong?"

As she spoke, she chuckled and reached out to gently pat Li Huaishan's face.

Her movements were very light, but the sound of her slapping her face was still exceptionally clear in the silent mourning hall. Coupled with Zhou Zhao's laughter, it was an utter insult.

Everyone who had been worried about Zhou Zhao being poisoned in the mourning hall breathed a sigh of relief.

Judging from Zhou Zhao's appearance, she already had a way to deal with poison.

Zhou Zhao watched as Li Huaishan's face turned a deep purplish-red. Her smile vanished abruptly, and she whirled around, whipping Li Huaishan's face with her long hair and headband. Without stopping, she walked straight to Consort Fan.

Fan Fuma appeared somewhat dazed, his head bowed as if lost in thought, until he saw Zhou Zhao's shoes and slowly raised his head.

“Li Huaishan just said that of all the speculations I made about him, only one was wrong. I said he killed Princess Changyang and my brother Zhou Yan. He said he didn’t kill Zhou Yan. Prince Consort, do you know what this means?”

Fan Fuma looked at Zhou Zhao in a daze. At this moment, he seemed to be stuck in a quagmire of memories, with no will to live and no desire to wake up.

Zhou Zhao squatted down, met Fan Fuma's eyes, and slowly spoke, word by word.

"Saying that Zhou Yan was wrong, then he killed Princess Changyang. Are you awake now?"

Zhou Zhao looked at Prince Consort Fan with a complicated expression; she was actually gambling.

However, this gamble is not without basis.

From her observation, Fan Lishen was clearly unaware of his father's actions. The Prince Consort Fan held military power and also ran a lucrative business called Duobaoge.

If he harbored rebellious intentions and wanted to become emperor, he could have raised an army on his own and there would have been no need for him to join forces with Li Huaishan.

He was a tomb raider in the previous dynasty. If he had been even slightly loyal to the previous dynasty, he wouldn't have stood on the side of the new emperor back then.

So, what were his reasons for joining forces with Li Huaishan?
It can only be deception.

Although the Shanming Changyang case must be hiding a bigger conspiracy, such as what was the murderer's motive for killing Princess Changyang?
However, there is a strong possibility that Li Huaishan deceived Prince Consort Fan and pinned the blame for killing Princess Changyang on the murderer of Zhou Yan.

Even if Prince Consort Fan's feelings for Princess Changyang weren't as genuine as the legends suggest, the fact that he protected Fan Lishen so well shows that he undoubtedly cared about being a good father and wouldn't associate with the murderer who killed his child's mother.

Not for Princess Changyang, but for Fan Lishen.

Therefore, she deduced that it was a scam. The Prince Consort Fan dazedly came to his senses. Like an elderly man, he pondered Zhou Zhao's words carefully for a long time before finally understanding their meaning.

He suddenly roared, broke free from the crowd, and charged straight at Li Huaishan like a mad bull, crashing headfirst into Li Huaishan's stomach.

He was knocked to the ground.

"Li Huaishan, you say you didn't kill Changyang? Speak up! You despicable scoundrel! You lied to me! You actually lied to me! You shameless bastard! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to avenge Changyang!"

Prince Consort Fan wanted to kill someone, but his hands were tightly bound and he couldn't move at all.

He spat and, like a mad beast, lunged at Li Huaishan, tearing off one of his ears in one swift motion.

He spat out the bloody ear onto the ground and burst into tears.

"Li Shen, Li Shen, it was Father's fault! Chang Yang, Chang Yang, it was my fault! It was my fault!"

Li Shen, beneath your mother's memorial tablet, there is a token. Take that token and plead with His Majesty to allow you to leave Chang'an. Go to the place your father took you to.

As he spoke, Prince Consort Fan suddenly charged towards the sword of one of the imperial guards.

He stretched his neck and closed his eyes.

If that fragile neck were to strike the blade, it would surely splatter blood on the spot.

All of this happened very suddenly, and by the time the imperial guard came to his senses, it was too late to dodge.

His pupils contracted sharply, and he tried to back away.

Prince Consort Fan, however, was determined to die and charged straight at the sword. Just as his neck was about to be struck by the blade, a large hand suddenly reached out and grabbed Prince Consort Fan's neck.

“You can’t die yet. You still need to help Zhao Zhao detoxify. This is what you owe me and Zhou Zhao.”

Su Changying gripped Fan Fuma's hand firmly. The imperial guard took a step back, glanced at him warily, and sheathed his longsword.

Su Changying loosened her grip, and Fan Fuma collapsed to the ground.

“I’ve been with Zhou Zhao the whole time. I wasn’t poisoned, but she was. It’s the Soul Return, isn’t it? There’s something wrong with the Soul Return; it was Duobaoge who tampered with it. You’re the one who poisoned her; you have to save Zhou Zhao. This is what you owe us.”

If something happens to Zhaozhao..."

Su Changying didn't speak, but looked at Fan Lishen.

Fan Lishen wept uncontrollably, crying, "Father, Father, please save Azhao."

That's A-Zhao! What are you thinking? Father, that's A-Zhao! Father! You can't make another mistake!

"So that's how it is! So that's why you said it was easier for you to detoxify because of my words!" Li Huaishan collapsed to the ground, missing an ear and his face covered in blood, looking utterly wretched.

"Zhou Zhao, you really are..."

Li Huaishan looked at Zhou Zhao, but swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

Zhou Zhao looked at him quietly. "You don't need to tell me. I know I'm really amazing. I will survive and find the murderer who killed my brother. And you, you should go to hell."