Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 355 Xu Yun, you firecracker!
When Zhou Zhao entered the left courtyard, Xu Yun was standing with his hands on his hips, jumping up and down, angrily cursing.

"If you enjoy being a servant so much, why are you even at the Court of Justice? Take off your official robes now and go sweep the streets. Isn't Chang'an city enough for you to sweep?"
Li Youdao, you old codger, you've done nothing but teach a bunch of crooked and degenerate children!
Xu Jin is your biological father, or even your biological grandfather. If he told you to eat shit, would you do it?

Are we, the people in the Left Courtyard, such a despicable bunch? Are we supposed to kneel on the ground and let those people in the Right Courtyard laugh at us? We've utterly lost face!

Those spineless people should get out of the Court of Judicial Review as soon as possible. What will you do if the murderer is a nobleman next time? Will you kneel down and beg for mercy? Do you even know what the Court of Judicial Review is for?

Do you expect those who have been wronged and suffered injustice to rely on you spineless cowards to uphold justice for them?

His voice was booming and his words flowed like a river. When he cursed, his saliva sprayed directly onto Xu Jin's face, wetting the hair on his forehead.

Zhou Zhao crossed his arms, amusedly watching Xu Jin's contorted face...

"What are you laughing at? You're also a court official in the Left Court, can't you just knock these disgraceful bastards unconscious and drag them back?"

Zhou Zhao's smile froze. Here it comes! Xu Baozhu is coming at her!
Xu Yun's eyes were bloodshot, his hair stood on end in anger, and the veins on the back of his hands bulged. Zhou Zhao suspected that if he got any angrier, he might snap his own waist.

Xu Yun snorted heavily, his breath ruffling Xu Jin's wet bangs. He suddenly reached out and jumped, his large hand descending from the sky, slapping Xu Jin on the forehead. "It would have been better to drag him back. There's no need to sweep. Wouldn't it have been better to just scrape the ground clean?"
"Xu Jin, you bastard, I don't care if you act like a bully with Li Youdao, but if you embarrass me and make me lose face outside, I'll show you what I'm made of!"

As he spoke, he shouted loudly into the left courtyard, "Li Youdao, are you dead? Take your stupid dog away and stop getting in my way."

Xu Yun grew angrier the more she thought about it.

The Court of Justice has its own people to clean the courtyard. Even if someone is not good enough to be an official here, they will bring their own attendants. So why should the officials of the Left Court have to fawn over him? Because of this, he was ridiculed by the people of the Right Court.

Oh, it all started from the beginning of Pangu creating the world, through Yin and Yang, until this morning.

This is absolutely intolerable.

The left courtyard was quiet, and everyone in the house lowered their heads. Li Youdao swaggered out, holding a teacup in his hand, and waved his hand dismissively.

"Calm down, calm down. Young people don't learn until they hit a brick wall, and they don't know shame until they're slapped in the face. How can you know how to be a human if you've never been a dog? You don't know what hardness is until you've had a soft bone. Why are you in such a hurry? If you're shameless, so be it. You look like an old fox, not someone with a thin skin and a big filling. What's the big deal?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Yun was about to jump up and down again.

Looking at this "battlefield," Su Changying couldn't help but take a step back. It's good to be a military general like them; they fight without hesitation, and whoever has the stronger fist gets to decide.

Look at the civil officials of the Court of Justice; not one of them is not sharp-tongued. They can argue for ages.

He thought to himself, then turned to look at Zhou Zhao beside him.

His little girl, who always seemed to thrive on chaos, watched with glee, practically ready to roll up her sleeves and shout, "Let's start arguing! Let's start arguing!"
Just then, Zhou Zhao's eyes changed, her excitement turning into anxiety. She rushed between Xu Yun and Li Youdao, separating the two who weren't even fighting. "Stop arguing! Stop fighting! Think about Chang Zuoping's face!"

As she spoke, she turned around and grabbed Xu Yun, the "firecracker," saying, "Xu Tingshi, calm down. I happen to have something I'd like to ask you. Let's talk over some tea."

Xu Yun's eyes widened, his anger almost shifting. "Drink tea? Do you think I'm in the mood for tea?"

As he spoke, he thought of Li Youdao holding a cup of tea and rolled his eyes, "You old bastard who can't even tell the difference between wine and tea!"

Li Youdao clicked his tongue twice as he listened. Xu Yun became even angrier. He took a step forward and felt a tremendous force strike his arm, as if it were about to dislocate his shoulder. Before he could react, he found himself getting further and further away from Li Youdao.

He turned his head and saw that Zhou Zhao's slender right hand was pulling his arm, dragging him away.

Xu Yun was startled and quickly jogged to catch up with Zhou Zhao.

joke!

If he didn't follow, Zhou Zhao would use her inexhaustible strength to drag him out, and wouldn't all those curses she just said would become boomerangs slapping him in the face?

Once they were out of sight, Xu Yun unhappily shook off Zhou Zhao's hand, saying, "Zhou Tingshi, put your mind at ease. I wouldn't go so far as to fight with Li Youdao."

Zhou Zhao winked at Xu Yun, amused. "I know you can't beat him."

Xu Yun paused, realizing that Zhou Zhao was retaliating for his earlier roar, and snorted coldly without replying.

He wanted to accept the challenge, but he really couldn't beat them.

Seeing that he had calmed down, Zhou Zhao also put away his desire to watch the show. "I brought my uncle out because I have a case I want to inquire about, about the Ladder to Heaven case."

Xu Yun blushed and couldn't help but mutter, "Don't think that just because you call me 'Uncle-Master,' I won't scold you. How could I possibly be worthy of being Lord Zhou's Uncle-Master?"

He and Zhou Buhai were from the same school, and their previous teachers were all Zhou Zhao's grandfather. However, Zhou Zhao's grandfather had many disciples, so he was not considered a direct disciple. Therefore, he never considered himself a senior disciple.

After Zhou Buhai stepped down, it was obvious he had lost the emperor's favor and had no direct successor. Many opportunists who used to boast about being Zhou's disciples had long since stopped mentioning it. Only he remained a distant figure, neither close nor distant before.

"The case of ascending the ladder to heaven is an old case from the previous dynasty. The murderer has already been brought to justice. Why are you asking about this?"

Zhou Zhao looked at Xu Yun seriously, "Uncle-Master, do you still have the courage you had back then when you overthrew the Prince of Dongping?"

Xu Yun felt a burning sensation from Zhou Zhao's gaze, and he immediately became displeased. "Xu Yun is unworthy, but possesses a fierce spirit and is ready to die at any time."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao was also startled and couldn't help but feel a deep respect.

"In the case of the 'Stairway to Heaven', are there any unsolved mysteries surrounding the thirteenth victim?"

Xu Yun's expression changed slightly. He glanced at Zhou Zhao with a deep look, then glanced around. Seeing that the place was secluded and deserted, he spoke, "It seems you came prepared. I know that something big happened in Chang'an last night, and it seems to be related to this thirteenth victim."

Zhou Zhao was not surprised that he could guess that there were no real fools in the Court of Justice.

"Yes. After the incident of ascending the Heavenly Ladder, the Prince of Dongping concealed it. I unexpectedly received a secret letter and learned that a bloody incident had occurred there. With the support of your grandfather, who is also my teacher, I went to Tianmang Mountain to investigate the matter."

Back then, the Court of Justice was not like it is now, relying on the Northern Army for assistance in capturing murderers; we had our own people.

I led a small team of five men there, but when we arrived, the Prince of Dongping not only refused to cooperate but also imprisoned us. It wasn't until the thirteenth day after the incident that we finally found a chance to escape. When I arrived at the Heavenly Ladder, the thirteenth victim had already been rescued.

He lay unconscious on the ground, the copper rod still lodged in his body. To this day, I still don't know who the person who saved him was.