Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 313 Zhou Yan's Room

As Zhou Zhao bid farewell to Chu You, he couldn't help but look back when he stood in front of the courtyard gate.

Even though it was winter, the little courtyard was full of life. The traces left by my brother had disappeared without a trace, replaced by the flamboyant and domineering peacock Min Cangzhi.

Zhou Zhao watched quietly for a while, then lowered her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

Before Chu You, who was inside the house, noticed her, she turned and strode away.

Fifteen waited outside the Chu family's gate, leaning against the carriage door, a colorful rope in his hand, intently playing a cat's cradle game.

Upon seeing Zhou Zhao arrive, Shiwu immediately stuffed the five-colored rope into her pocket and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Miss, these days all the young girls in Chang'an are into playing this. I was thinking of figuring it out myself and then teaching my little sister when I get back."

Zhou Zhao smiled at Fifteen, "Go back to the old house, to the side gate of my brother's courtyard."

Shiwu secretly glanced at Zhou Zhao. Seeing that she didn't laugh at him for playing with the rope, he felt relieved at first, but then couldn't help feeling sad. Every time Zhou Zhao came to the Chu family, he would think of Zhou Yan. Although he smiled on the outside, his heart was heavy.

He also didn't like coming to the Chu family.

He used to be a servant of Zhou Yan, and only after Zhou Yan passed away did he follow Zhou Zhao.

Zhou Zhao liked riding horses, but he didn't really have to order him around much.

Fifteen thought for a moment, then said nothing, and replied loudly with a smile, "Alright! Miss, sit tight."

Fifteen had run the road from the Chu family to the Zhou family countless times. Even with his eyes closed, the horse could easily run back by itself.

Zhou Zhao sat in the carriage. The snow was starting to melt, and the streets were wet and muddy. More and more pedestrians were appearing.

She looked out the window at the scenery, frowning as she thought about Chu You's earlier words, "The smartest person in Chang'an?"

Could it be that Zhou Yan was able to recognize the Six Paths Heavenly Book because Princess Changyang had asked him to try to decipher its secrets? After all, if this bamboo slip could be considered a wordless heavenly book, ordinary people wouldn't be able to decipher it at all.

There must be something special about this thing, she just doesn't know it yet.

Otherwise, if it were thrown into a pile of blank bamboo slips, not only would any unscrupulous person wanting to obtain it be unable to distinguish which one was special, but even Princess Changyang herself wouldn't be able to tell. Besides, after her death, didn't Su Changying discover its true use?

The secret that killed the princess must be related to the Six Paths Heavenly Book. Otherwise, why would Zhou Yan have chosen this mysterious bamboo slip?

Before Zhou Zhao could think for long, the carriage had already stopped.

She gestured to Fifteen, signaling him to leave first, then lightly leaped and silently floated into the courtyard.

The ground in the courtyard was covered with fallen leaves, now a yellowish-white expanse under the snow. Icicles dripped water from the eaves, like a light rain.

It looks like no one has come to clean it for a while.

Following the Shanming Changyang case, the Court of Justice concluded that Zhou Yan was an unfortunate witness who happened to witness Princess Changyang's murder and was therefore silenced by the killer. The investigation then focused on Princess Changyang.

They did not thoroughly investigate Zhou Yan's residence.

Over the years, the family has arranged for someone to come and clean regularly, trying their best to keep it looking the way it was when Zhou Yan was still alive.

However… Zhou Zhao’s eyes reddened slightly as he looked at it.

For the first time, she clearly felt that her brother was gradually being forgotten.

She didn't give herself much time to be sentimental. She calmed herself down and walked towards Zhou Yan's room. Like her, her brother didn't distinguish between a bedroom and a study, because they often had to look at files late at night, and it was more convenient to have them together.

Zhou Zhao thought for a moment, then stood in front of the door. She bent down and looked at the large lock hanging on the door.

She turned the lock around, then took a key from her sleeve pocket, ready to unlock it, but her hand paused when she saw the keyhole. "Who is it?"

Zhou Zhao suddenly turned around and looked at the wall.

“Zhaozhao, it’s me. I met Shiwu on the road, and he said you came here.”

Zhou Zhao looked at Su Changying's familiar face and breathed a slight sigh of relief. "There were marks on the lock, someone has been here in the past few days. The servants have been cleaning and wiping it all the time, and I didn't pay attention. To be precise, I never thought that someone would want to sneak into my brother's room."

Su Changying's expression turned serious. He walked to the door and glanced at the keyhole. Sure enough, there were some obvious scratches on it, but it still looked very new.

"It happened in the last two days."

Zhou Zhao nodded, becoming more cautious. She gently unlocked the door and pushed it open, but didn't rush inside.

Instead, they looked closely at the floor of the room. Because it hadn't been cleaned for some time, there was a thin layer of dust on the wooden floor, and upon closer inspection, there were several places where it had been clearly wiped clean.

“Indeed, someone came here, found dust on the ground, left footprints, and then wiped the traces away.”

As Zhou Zhao spoke, she looked into the room. Unlike her own messy place, Zhou Yan's room was very organized and looked very tidy.

Even the bamboo slips he liked were arranged neatly and meticulously.

On the wall of the room hangs a painting with six people in it.

At the table, Zhou Yan was intently reading a scroll of bamboo slips, the tea in his hand still steaming. Chu You lay beside him, pen in hand, focused on solving a problem. Behind them, the spirited young Marquis of Lu held up a peach, while Zhou Zhao, fuming, reached out and jumped up at it.

Su Changying looked at the little girl in front of her and gave her a gentle yet playful smile.

Meanwhile, Fan Lishen was spinning around, showing off his newly learned Hu Xuan dance. He wasn't very good at it and fell to the side.

Ah Huang, who was squatting in that corner, saw someone approaching and showed a terrified expression. He wasn't wearing a straw hat, and his eyes were wide open. His movements were like those of a frightened bird, ready to dodge in a flash.

"I never imagined I used to be like this!"

Looking at herself in the painting, Su Changying felt a strange sense of familiarity.

Zhou Zhao pursed her lips and looked away from the painting. "You used to be so annoying. You would bully me all the time because you were taller than me. We would fight every other day."

Su Changying shook her head. "That's a lie."

He couldn't bear to hit Zhou Zhao; it was most likely because Zhou Zhao bullied him every few days.

Zhou Zhao laughed out loud, her previous gloom lessening somewhat. She looked around the room and walked straight toward Zhou Yan's desk.

His desk was also very tidy, with his writing brush, inkstone and inkstone all in good order. On the right side of the desk were several bamboo scrolls, which contained his notes on investigating cases. On the right side was a small wooden house. Zhou Zhao looked at it and reached out to gently stroke the roof of the small house.

"Sister Chuyou likes these things, so my brother is learning to make them too. This is the first little house he made, and it's very rough. I asked him why he didn't give it to Sister Chuyou. He said it wasn't presentable, and that they would make a new one together after Sister Chuyou marries into the family."

Can you guess what this is for?

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he reached out and easily peeled off the roof of the small wooden house. Looking down at the thick stack of handkerchiefs neatly arranged inside, Zhou Zhao laughed.

“My brother used it to store his handkerchiefs. His handkerchiefs were all white, without any embroidery…”

As Zhou Zhao spoke, his gaze suddenly froze. He noticed a black spot on the handkerchief for some reason.

The second update will be made tomorrow. Goodnight, everyone.