Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 293 Gouging Out Your Heart
Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

Su Changying walked to Zhou Zhao's side. He wanted to reach out and hug her, but instead he reached out and touched Zhou Zhao's head. "Zhao Zhao, wait for me to come back."

Prince Consort Fan stayed under the pretext of "persuading surrender," and now the Northern Army is fighting his army, while Prince Yu and other remnants of the previous dynasty have not yet been captured. As the commander of the Northern Army, Su Changying still has countless "sequels" to clean up.

Zhou Zhao smiled at Su Changying and gave him a reassuring look.

"Go quickly and make sure to wipe out all the remnants of the previous dynasty. If you don't cut the weeds at the root, they will grow back in the spring."

Although his adoptive father is dead, as long as Gongzi Yu, a former royal prince, is around, there will inevitably be those who plot against him and use his status as a pretext.

Su Changying stared intently at Zhou Zhao, as if trying to see Zhou Zhao's entire being and etch it into his heart.

Zhou Zhao felt a burning sensation in his heart as he felt that intense gaze.

Her expression remained unchanged, still smiling.

Su Changying did not delay and escorted Prince Consort Fan out the door.

The snow outside was falling heavier and heavier, like goose feathers, one by one, and the ground was soon covered in a fresh white blanket.

The blood that had flowed from the Taoist priest who had been killed earlier was now completely covered up, as if the previous battle had never happened.

Zhou Zhao stood in front of the mourning hall, watching Su Changying leave until his and Fan Fuma's figures disappeared from sight.

She swayed slightly, and a mouthful of blood gushed out of her throat uncontrollably.

Then, her body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground. Zhou Buhai, who was standing nearby, suddenly opened his eyes wide. He quickly stepped forward and hugged Zhou Zhao, crying, "Ah Zhao! Ah Zhao!"

Zhou Buhai looked at Zhou Zhao in his arms. She was so thin, and her whole body was as light as a feather.

The sense of reliability she had previously felt as a pillar of the Great Qi Dynasty vanished instantly. Zhou Buhai felt as if she were floating on air, as if a gust of wind would carry her away and merge with the snowflakes outside, never to be found again.

A glaring crimson liquid oozed from the corner of Zhou Zhao's mouth...

Ah Huang gripped the half of the poison prescription tightly in his hand. His voice was dry and hoarse, yet exceptionally firm. "Ah Zhao, I'll go get the medicine. You can definitely hold on, and I can definitely save you."

Ah Huang's words seemed to be encouraging her, and also encouraging himself.

As he spoke, he plunged into the snowy night and vanished in an instant.

The cold wind carried snowflakes onto the mourning hall, and the black and white banners were blown about by the wind.

Zhou Buhai looked at Zhou Zhao in his arms. His hands trembled as he kept wiping the blood from the corner of Zhou Zhao's mouth, but the shocking crimson seemed impossible to wipe clean.

"Ah Zhao Ah Zhao."

Zhou Zhao's eyes were filled with exhaustion. She was on the verge of death, and this life-or-death struggle with Li Huaishan had taken a heavy toll on her mental and physical strength.

It's truly remarkable that she's managed to persevere this long.

"Ah Zhao, Ah Zhao, Father, it's all my fault..."

Zhou Buhai gently wiped his face, his hands trembling more and more violently. His eyes were blurred with tears, and even at such close range, he could hardly see Zhou Zhao's face.

"That day I was framed and killed Zhang Ran. When Father found out, why didn't he come to the Court of Justice to pick me up? Mother said that Father dared not see his old friends, for fear of being reminded of the past. But then he went to find his old friends for Zhou Cheng'an and made Xu Yun his teacher."

I schemed and risked my life in Tianying City to finally get into the Court of Justice, only to be scolded by my father upon my return. He could have easily secured a job for someone else.

"Qin Tianying's martial arts are truly formidable. He severely injured me and nailed me to a wooden frame in the blood pool, a place where people eat each other." Zhou Zhao said, looking into Zhou Buhai's eyes, her gaze somewhat unfocused.

Before the Shanming Changyang case, she felt that she was the beloved little girl of the Zhou family.

Although her father scolded her irritably every day, she saw love in his eyes.

Who could have imagined that in just one day, everything would change, from heaven to earth?

The year the Shanming Changyang case occurred, she was just a child who had not yet reached marriageable age.

On that day, she lost Zhou Yan, Su Changying, and her parents.

"Ah Zhao, Ah Zhao! Don't say anymore, it's all Father's fault, Father is cowardly and incompetent. I couldn't find the murderer, so you can't blame His Majesty..."

Zhou Zhao smiled and said, "If you can't blame His Majesty, and you can't blame yourself, then you can only blame me."

I was vying with Jingyi for the position of Imperial Historian when Chen Jiyuan stabbed me in the Lost City. The knife was poisoned. Su Changying carried me on her back, and Ahuang protected me. I was once again on the verge of death. It was then that Su Changying gave me the Soul Returning Elixir to save me. Now, the Soul Returning Elixir is going to kill me.

Father, Xu Yun is your junior brother who listens to you without question. If he had chosen me, I wouldn't have needed to go to the Lost City.

Zhou Cheng'an was able to participate in the Court of Judicial Review's case hearings, but I had already gone long ago... I am so much more capable than Zhou Cheng'an; no one in the Court of Judicial Review can compare to me. I am as dazzling as my brother was back then...

Father, my wounds haven't scabbed over yet. I was standing at the door watching you, Mother, and Grandmother laughing around Zhou Cheng'an. But as soon as I entered, you all stopped laughing.

"After I became a court official, even Chen Jiyuan, who was supposed to kill me, sent me a congratulatory gift—a sachet embroidered with the words 'May you rise higher and higher in rank.'"

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he spat out another mouthful of blood.

She knew that as she lay dying, saying such things was tantamount to tearing Zhou Buhai's heart apart with every word.

But so what?
She did it on purpose. Why should they turn a blind eye and trample on her and her sisters' sincere feelings for their family happiness?
“Father, do you think I shouldn’t blame you? But for the past four years, haven’t you and Mother been blaming me? Blaming me for causing my brother’s death… If I die, wouldn’t that be like paying for your lives?”

Father, that day your family was so happy, not only me, but Zhou Xuan and Zhou Wan were also standing at the door watching.

As Zhou Zhao finished speaking, his nose tingled and his eyes welled up with tears.

She said it on purpose, but while it hurt Zhou Buhai, it also hurt herself.

As Zhou Zhao pondered this, everything went black before his eyes, and he finally fell into a deep sleep.

In the instant she closed her eyes, she heard Zhou Buhai repeatedly calling "Ah Zhao, Ah Zhao"...

……

When Zhou Zhao woke up the next day, Chang'an was already covered in snow.

Zhou Zhao lay on the bed, her whole body covered in sweat. Although her body felt like it was being burned by fire, her hands and feet felt ice-cold, as if she were soaking in an ice cave in the dead of winter.

Su Changying sat on the edge of the bed, holding her hand tightly.

His eyes were closed, and his eyelashes, like thick fans, cast shadows on his face.

He was wearing armor, his body was covered in blood, and even his cheek had a scarlet mark.

His longsword lay beside him, and even though it was hidden in its scabbard, the strong smell of blood still lingered.

"Zhao Zhao, you're awake!" Su Changying suddenly opened his eyes, jumped up, and called out towards the corridor outside the door, "Ah Huang, Zhao Zhao is awake!"