Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 298 Questions of Life and Death
Zhou Zhao was taken aback. "Disappeared? When did this happen?"

She suddenly remembered that neither Min Zangzhi nor Chu You had appeared at her funeral yesterday.

Not to mention that she and Min Zangzhi were colleagues in the Court of Justice, and she usually handled the investigations while Min Zangzhi wrote the documents, they were quite close people.

Speaking of Sister Chu You, they had been friends for many years, and even though Zhou Yan had passed away, it did not affect their sisterly bond.

Logically, they should have come to offer their condolences yesterday.

“Yesterday morning, Zangzhi came to pick up Ayou. The two of them have been busy with their marriage these days. Zangzhi often takes Ayou out, so we didn’t pay much attention to it. But they didn’t come back until curfew.”

We initially thought they had left the city and were blocked by a blizzard, but we didn't see them again until noon.

I went to the Court of Justice to inquire, but Zangzhi has not shown up since yesterday, nor has he asked Chang Zuoping for leave. I then went to his home, and his servants took me to the places he usually frequents, but we couldn't find him anywhere.

Thinking I might have missed it, and that they had gone back home, I rushed back inside. There I found it—on the head of the stone lion in front of my house.

As Chu Hang spoke, he took out a handkerchief from his pocket. When he opened it, he saw a pair of broken jade bracelets inside.

This jade bracelet is purple, which is very rare, and it is now broken into several pieces.

"These jade bracelets were given to Ayou by Min Cangzhi when they got engaged. Ayou always wore them and never took them off."

Zhou Zhao looked at it, and picked up one of the pieces with the handkerchief to examine it. She saw that there were traces of scarlet on the broken jade. She thought to herself that this must be bloodstains.

"Lord Zhou, as you saw, there's blood on that jade bracelet. So I suspect that Min Wenshu and Ayou have run into trouble. I was about to go to the Court of Justice to report this when I saw Fifteen's carriage parked in front of this gate, so I came looking for it."

I know I shouldn't disturb Lord Zhou at this time, but lives are at stake... I..."

As Chu Hang spoke, he bowed deeply to Zhou Zhao, his head almost touching the ground.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhao quickly helped him up. "It's alright, Uncle. Just call me Zhou Zhao as before. I am an official of the Court of Justice, and this is my responsibility."

Chu Hang breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhou Zhao turned her head and looked at Su Changying with some embarrassment.

Su Changying was worried about her and wouldn't even let her eat meat pies. Now that she hadn't recovered, it was unreasonable for her to go investigate the case again.

As she was thinking, she saw Su Changying walk into the house with a sullen face and without saying a word. A short while later, she came out again carrying a bundle of things.

He shoved the hand warmer into Zhou Zhao's arms, then carried a delicate little food box and followed beside Zhou Zhao. "Let's go to the Court of Justice, Lord Zhou. You can't ride a horse, you have to take a carriage. You have to come back on time to take your medicine and have a meal."

Zhou Zhao nodded hurriedly, "I understand! I'll do whatever you say."

Her small courtyard was practically separated from the Court of Justice by only one wall. Perhaps because Li Huaishan had been arrested, the atmosphere at the Court of Justice was unusually different today.

Everyone I saw along the way looked dejected.

The meat pies in the small canteen were as delicious as ever. As soon as Zhou Zhao entered the left courtyard, Li Youdao rushed over, "Zhou Zhao, what are you doing here! It's so good that you're still alive! How could you be so wicked as to pretend to be dead? Heaven knows He Tingshi cried like a dog and almost followed you there. You really made a fool of yourself."

Li Tingwei was actually a remnant of the previous dynasty. Chang Zuoping had been nagging about it all day. The Court of Justice had truly lost all face!
You look like a sickly ghost, why aren't you resting at home? What are you doing here?
If the young Marquis of Lu won't take care of you, why did you marry him? Just…

As Li Youdao spoke, he felt a chill on his neck. If Su Changying's eyes were knives, she would have already made him bleed on the spot.

Upon hearing this, Xu Yun scoffed, "What do you mean He Tingshi? Who in the Court of Justice can wail as loudly as you? My head is still spinning."

Looking at the worried expressions on everyone's faces in the room, Zhou Zhao felt a warmth in his heart.

However, she hadn't forgotten her business and was about to speak when she heard a weak voice behind her, "Ah Zhao..."

Zhou Zhao turned around abruptly and saw a thin, blood-soaked girl standing at the door. Her clothes were stained with blood, and her face and body were covered in bruises. She was barefoot and swaying precariously. Who else could it be but Chu You who was speaking?

Chu You saw Zhou Zhao and called out softly, "Ah Zhao!"

Then her body swayed and she fell forward.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhao rushed forward and hugged her tightly, exclaiming, "Sister Chu You!"

Chu You let out a muffled groan, helping Zhou Zhao to her feet. She looked at everyone in the room, tears welling up in her eyes, "Save...save Min Cangzhi..."

The expressions of everyone in the left courtyard changed.

Zhou Zhao quickly helped Chu You inside, then put her hand warmer into Chu You's arms. She wanted to take off her cloak, but Su Changying stopped her. Su Changying glanced at the stunned Chu Hang.

Chu Hang then came to his senses and quickly took off his cloak to wrap Chu You in it.

"Ayou, tell me slowly, what exactly happened? You need to calm down. Whether or not Min Zangzhi can be saved depends entirely on you."

Chu You felt warm, and a trace of color finally returned to her face. Her tears streamed down her face.

“Yesterday, I went to the south of the city with Min Zangzhi. He said he had found an old man surnamed Zhuang who had a rare book on arithmetic. Knowing that I was interested in this, he took me there. It was still early, and we originally planned to buy it if it was suitable so as not to delay his return to the Court of Justice.”

As a result, after we went inside, we had only drunk one cup of tea when we were drugged and passed out.

When I woke up, I was locked in a secret room. We were tied back to back to a wooden frame. Besides us, there were two other corpses in the room, a man and a woman, both already dead.

Zhou Zhao's expression hardened, and he exchanged a glance with Su Changying, secretly thinking that something was wrong.

However, she did not interrupt Chu You, but continued to listen to her.

"The two corpses were tied to a wooden frame. At first, no one came. We shouted for help, but no one heard us. Then a strong man came in, untied Min Zangzhi, gagged him, and started asking us questions at the same time."

Min Zangzhi couldn't speak, she could only answer in writing. "If our answers differ, one of us will be punished..."

As Chu You spoke, she burst into tears. "The last question is whether one person can go back alive and the other can die there."