Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 299 A Fake Death
Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao tapped his fingers lightly in the air, seemingly lost in thought.

"It seems the person who kidnapped you was someone you knew. What questions did he ask? Were all the injuries on your body inflicted by him?"

Chu You looked terrified, but she still spoke coherently.

"They were all asking about my preferences and such. My injuries weren't from being beaten..." Chu You said, her eyes welling up with tears. "Min Zangzhi answered almost all of them correctly; he only got one question wrong. Originally, that person was going to punish me, but Min Zangzhi insisted on letting him..."

The man then punched him. Until the last question… the last question…”

Chu You sniffed and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve. "He chose to die, leaving the way to life to me. Then they blindfolded me, stuffed me into a sack, and brought me back in a carriage. When I woke up, I was dumped in a deep alley."

At that moment, I had only one thought: to immediately return to the Court of Justice to report to the authorities and find someone to rescue Min Zangzhi.

I was penniless and could only run frantically, when I was hit by a carriage. All my injuries were from the collision. I begged the carriage owner to take me to the Court of Judicial Review…”

As Zhou Zhao listened, his brows relaxed.

"Sister Chuyou, don't worry at all. I've done the math, and Min Cangzhi is very resilient. He'll come back safely on his own."

Everyone in the room was completely bewildered. Chu You stared blankly at Zhou Zhao, not understanding why he had suddenly changed.

Just then, there was a noise at the door.

Zhou Zhao turned his head toward the door, curled his lip in mockery, and said, "Oh, isn't this the number one romantic talent in Chang'an? How many times have you played the hero saving the beauty? You've mastered it to perfection!"
But you're not ruthless enough with yourself. Don't you even know how to use a self-inflicted injury trick? How about I teach you? First, poke eighteen holes in yourself with a sword..."

Chu You suddenly came to her senses. She looked towards the door and saw Min Zangzhi standing there alive. She rushed over and hugged him tightly.

"Zangzhi! Thank goodness! You're still alive! I thought you and Ayan..."

Min Zangzhi froze, his face instantly draining of color.

Chu You was no ordinary girl; she was exceptionally intelligent, especially in arithmetic and mechanical tasks—one could easily call her a genius. But this time, she was utterly panicked, because she was afraid—afraid that Min Cangzhi would die before her eyes, like Zhou Yan, before their wedding…

This is a scar in her heart that has not healed even after four years.

If he hadn't insisted, she would never have had any intention of getting married.

Even now, the person she loves most is Zhou Yan. He originally thought that he would take things slowly after they got married. As long as he treated Chu You well, one day, Chu You would no longer mention Zhou Yan, and her heart and eyes would be filled with him...

Seeing this, Zhou Zhao sneered, "Trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead."

Seeing that Min Cangzhi was alive and well, Chu You felt a huge weight lifted from her heart.

Her reason returned, she released her grip on Min Zangzhi, took three steps back, and stared stiffly at him, clenching her fists. She looked behind Min Zangzhi, where three people stood, one of whom was the fierce-looking, burly man she had seen in the secret room.

Chu You's mind went blank. She looked at Min Cangzhi in disbelief, her voice hoarse, "Is it fun to play games with me, Min Cangzhi?"

Min Cangzhi's eyes reddened, and he grabbed Chu You's sleeve. "Ayou, I didn't! I didn't know before! How did you get hurt? Chen Yin!"

A young man named Chen Yin stepped forward and bowed deeply to Chu You. His face and body were covered in bruises. "Sister-in-law, it's all my fault. It has nothing to do with Brother Cangzhi. He didn't know anything before! Brother Cangzhi already beat me up badly. Please don't blame him."

He likes you so much that he's been searching all over Chang'an for the best things to give you as a betrothal gift. He doesn't even drink and listen to music with us anymore.

He couldn't stop talking about you, and even said he'd mend his ways and never go out again. Everyone laughed at him, saying he'd fallen from grace and become a mortal. They laughed at him…”

As Chen Yin spoke, he bit the tip of his tongue. He glanced at Zhou Zhao furtively, then hesitated to continue.

He didn't say it, but everyone present was smart enough to guess it.

It's nothing more than the once arrogant Min Zangzhi, now shameless and utterly lacking in integrity in order to please Chu You. But what's the result? He still can't compete with the deceased Zhou Yan. It's simply unbearable to watch...

For every person who once imitated him in Chang'an, just as many now secretly laugh at him.

Zhou Zhao stared coldly at Chen Yin, whose legs went weak and he almost knelt down.

He said that Zhou Zhao's eyes were exactly like his father's, and specifically, the way his father looked when he was about to beat him to death.

He quickly tugged at the back of his head and grabbed Huo Ting's belt. Huo Ting was playing with the tassels on his jade pendant, looking nonchalant, and then reached out and pulled Chen Yin along.

He looked up at Chu You and said, “Miss Chu, Chen Ying is right. Min Tianxian was indeed unaware of the situation. He did not lie to you.”

Although Huo Ting was speaking to Chu You, his eyes were fixed on Zhou Zhao.

"Lord Zhou, we meet again. Last time it was when Zhang Ruoqing was killed, and Han Ze and I were summoned to the Court of Justice for questioning."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao met Huo Ting's intrigued gaze.

In the case of Zhang Ruoqing eating ghost songs, Han Ze had an alibi because he met Huo Tingtong and Chen Yin when he went to a brothel.

Huo Ting was the nephew of Grand Commandant Huo, and Chen Yin was also a playboy from a noble family. In addition, Han Ze and Min Zangzhi were all well-known playboys in Chang'an, skilled in eating, drinking and having fun.

With Huo Ting's support, Chen Yin recovered and nodded hurriedly, not daring to look at Zhou Zhao or Min Cangzhi, only staring at Chu You and saying:
"Sister-in-law, it's all my fault. I'm close to Brother Zangzhi, and I couldn't bear to see him suffer like this, so I wanted to help him. We drank too much and got together to come up with a plan. Song Ran suggested that we tie you and Brother Zangzhi up and then put on a good show."

This will let you know just how well Brother Zangzhi knows your preferences; he'd even risk his life for you...

After what happened, which girl wouldn't be tempted? After we let you go, we went out to see Brother Zangzhi, who immediately went berserk and beat me up. I was wrong, it was all my fault, please don't blame him.

He knows nothing and wouldn't lie to you. Everyone in Chang'an knows that he fell in love with you at first sight and likes you madly.

He didn't know, so he chose you to live and he to die. That's not a lie. Sister-in-law, it's all my fault, I apologize to you...

I...I...I...

As Chen Yin spoke, he raised his hand and slapped himself across the face.

He stared longingly at Chu You, but when she didn't respond, he looked at Min Cangzhi again, "Brother...I..."

Min Cangzhi disregarded his panic, clenched his slightly weak fists, and looked at Zhou Zhao, "When I hit Chen Yin, I accidentally bumped him into the wooden frame in the secret room. There were two people tied up on it. Chen Yin had always thought that those two people were people arranged by Song Ran to pretend to be dead."

But it was only after the collision that we realized the man and woman were truly dead.

"Chen Yin's kidnapping of me and Ayou was a lie, but a murder did indeed occur in the locked room; there were two bodies."

Chen Yin snapped out of his daze, and his legs went weak. He collapsed to his knees, crying, "Sister Zhao, I didn't kill him! I absolutely didn't! Sister Zhao, you have to save me!"