Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 318 Solid Backing

"His Majesty's entrusting such an important matter affecting the position of Crown Prince to the princess demonstrates his trust in her."

Under these circumstances, if my father cannot find the murderer, he will surely be punished. Li Huaishan's opportunity to advance further has arrived.

Killing the princess would grant him control of the Court of Justice; kidnapping Changying would allow him to wield military power; obtaining the treasures of the previous dynasty would provide him with the funds to maintain his private army.

Without knowing the secrets of the succession struggle, Li Huaishan achieved all three of his objectives.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, his thoughts were exceptionally clear.

"How did he end up running into Prince Consort Fan and then trick him? I guess when Li Huaishan went to investigate the treasure, he found that Prince Consort Fan was already digging for the treasure. And since he was one of the murderers, no one knew better than him that someone else killed Zhou Yan after he left."

With his intelligence, he must have guessed that there must be a bigger secret behind my brother's murder.

So he pinned the blame for the princess's murder on another murderer, deceiving Prince Consort Fan with a dubious secret.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, a cup of tea appeared in front of her; she was indeed thirsty after talking so much.

So he picked up the teacup and took a small sip to moisten his throat.

Seeing this, Su Changying poured another cup for Ah Huang, saying, "You said more today than usual."

Upon hearing this, Ah Huang's face puffed up. He picked up his teacup and gulped it down in one go. "Then who killed Brother Yan?"

Zhou Zhao held up two fingers, his expression somewhat grim. "Anyone could be involved."

"If that secret is as I suspect, it could be something like an edict to depose the crown prince. His Majesty, to prevent any unforeseen events, issued an edict to depose the crown prince and install the third prince in his place, or something of the like."

If it is such a thing, then the Third Prince's people will definitely want to have it in their hands and reveal it to the public at a crucial moment.

In this way, the three princes' struggle for the throne became legitimate.

If the Empress and the Crown Prince knew of such a thing, they would surely take it away, destroy it, and kill whoever knew the secret. As long as it's not made public, it's as if it doesn't exist.

Only this kind of secret is an unspeakable secret.

Because His Majesty has not yet made up his mind, once he speaks, there will be no turning back, and the Great Qi Dynasty will suffer the same fate as the Qi Kingdom because of the struggle for the throne.

After Li Huaishan was arrested, the reason he acted mysteriously, refusing to provide a detailed confession or reveal the so-called secret was precisely because he himself didn't know.

After Zhou Zhao finished speaking, he took a deep breath.

Seeing that Su Changying and Ahuang both looked solemn, she couldn't help but laugh.

"Why do you all look so worried? Our case has made great progress. We've not only cracked the mechanism of the bamboo slips, but we've also learned that the secret is related to the struggle for the throne, and the evidence is in our hands. We can retrieve it at any time."

You must trust Lord Zhou of the Court of Judicial Review; there is no case he cannot solve.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he picked up the treasure map from the table and carefully used a silver needle to push it back into the gap.

Then, using the same method, he also put back the riddle poem left by Princess Changyang.

After she finished doing all that, she shrugged. "Alright, a new problem has arisen: how do we restore this mechanism? We can't just leave it with a gap, can we?"

"Why don't you try turning those points upside down?"

Seeing that Zhou Zhao didn't seem troubled at all, but instead was full of fighting spirit, Su Changying felt much less heavy-hearted.

Even those who haven't read history books know that matters concerning the position of crown prince are always fraught with bloodshed and turmoil.

The person who knows that His Majesty entrusted the secret to the princess, and who also knows that Zhou Yan helped the princess decipher the bamboo slips, must be someone close to His Majesty.

He was worried that even if Zhou Zhao found the murderer, there would be no way to bring him to justice.

What he could think of, Zhou Zhao could naturally think of as well. But she was not discouraged at all. Su Changying thought to herself, and couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth up. This was the young Lord Zhou of the Court of Judicial Review.

Heaven's justice is clear, and there are no taboos.

She will not be defeated.

He needs to grow up quickly and become her strongest support.

Zhou Zhao had no idea that Su Changying had thought of so many things in an instant. Following the lingering memories in her mind, she once again began to fly her fingers across the blank bamboo slip.

After a dizzying moment, all twelve points were pressed.

The three of them held their breath, and then they heard that familiar clicking sound again.

The two dark slits closed up again in an instant, and Zhou Zhao couldn't help but marvel at it.

"The world is truly full of wonders. You can't even feel a trace with your fingers. My brother is a genius. How did he discover this solution that no one could figure out no matter how hard they tried?"

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he picked up the bamboo slip and examined it carefully again. After confirming that there were no mistakes, he put it down.

She thought for a moment, then threw the silk scroll in which she had drawn twelve dots in sequence into the charcoal brazier next to her.

The smooth silk bursts into flames the moment it comes into contact with fire, turning to ashes almost instantly.

She rolled up the bamboo slips, put them back by her bedside, then went back to the table, picked up the tea, and drank it all in one gulp.

She glanced at the twelve handkerchiefs Zhou Yan had left behind, pursed her lips, and threw them into the brazier, burning them to ashes.

"Ah Zhao, why did you burn the things that Brother Yan left behind?"

Zhou Zhao pointed to his head, "It's all memorized, so no one can steal it from me."

She has an excellent memory; those twelve points are etched in her mind and she won't forget them.

Ah Huang shook his head. "I'm a little reluctant to part with Brother Yan's handkerchief."

Seeing Ah Huang's pitiful look, Zhou Zhao felt a surge of tenderness in her heart. After thinking for a moment, she handed Ah Huang the key to Zhou Yan's room, saying, "There are many books in my brother's room. You can go there anytime if you want to read them. I still have the key."

As she spoke, she handed Zhou Yan's notes, which she had brought back to confuse the situation, to Ah Huang, saying, "Take a look at my brother's notes first."

"Ok!"

Hearing Ah Huang's voice, Zhou Zhao smiled and packed everything into the box. "I'm going back to the Court of Justice. What happened today is known only to the three of us, heaven, earth, and ourselves. We'll retrieve it when the time is right and give it to the right person."

“I’ll take you there!” Su Changying said.

Zhou Zhao smiled and shook his head. "It's just a wall away. Ah Huang is going there too. You should go back and rest. The Northern Army is on patrol at night."

Su Changying did not refute. Although he wanted to stay with Zhou Zhao for twelve hours straight, he knew that Zhou Zhao had many things to do.

He wanted to be her support, not an obstacle.

Zhou Zhao parted ways with Su Changying at the gate, and after entering the Court of Justice, he watched Ah Huang go to the small mortuary where the body was kept before turning a corner and going to the right courtyard.

“He Tingshi…”

Zhou Zhao stood in front of the door and called out softly.

An old man in the crowd suddenly turned around, revealing his eyes, which were so swollen they were barely open. He was holding two hard-boiled eggs, which he was rolling on his eyelids. When he saw Zhou Zhao, He Tingshi rushed out like a tiger descending a mountain.

"Oh, who do we have here? Isn't this Zhou Zhao, the little hero of the Court of Justice who has been brought back from the dead?"