Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 365 Sea King Song Yu
“I was on duty in the Southern Army and had met His Highness the King of Chu before.”

Zhou Zhao nodded, said no more to Tu Li, and hurriedly went to the backyard.

Tu Ying's courtyard was filled with flowers and plants. In one corner of the courtyard stood a plum tree, under which five or six cats stood, their ears perked up and curiously peering out when they heard someone coming. In another corner of the courtyard, there was a group of plum blossom stakes.

"Tu Ying knows martial arts?" Zhou Zhao asked.

Tu Li followed Zhou Zhao's gaze to the plum blossom stakes and shook his head. "She knows some rudimentary kung fu. She's my mother's youngest daughter, almost old enough to be my own. When she was practicing martial arts, she would act spoiled all the time, and we couldn't bear to see her get hurt, so she didn't learn much from her."

If only I had known... if she had martial arts skills... it would have been my fault.

Zhou Zhao declined to comment.

Upon arriving at the door, the stench of blood still lingered. Zhou Zhao glanced at the ground, which was spotless, without a trace of blood.

Tu Ying's body also lay on the bed, her eyes covered with a white cloth, her eye sockets full of blood. "The same murderer who killed Xie Yunniang must have been afraid that the deceased would see his face, so he blinded them."

As Zhou Zhao spoke, his gaze followed the bruises on the body and fell on the victim's abdomen.

There was also a bloody hole in its abdomen, with something stuffed in the opening, but this time the stuff was different from the pigskin face from before.

“It’s a dead black snake,” Su Changying said, gesturing for everyone to step back.

He extended his longsword and with a sudden flick, he dissected the tangled mass of black snake corpse. A small bulge appeared on the corpse's abdomen, and after a while, a blood-soaked sparrow flew out from the hole in the abdomen.

This time, Su Changying didn't use a sword. Instead, he reached out and grabbed the bird. The bird frantically flapped its wings, but it seemed to be caught in an invisible net and couldn't move at all.

“A gold ring was also tied around his foot.”

Zhou Zhao looked questioningly at A Huang, who was performing the autopsy, "Was Tu Ying's death before or after Xie Yunniang's?"

Ah Huang said without turning his head, "After that, the time of death was less than an hour ago. There was a drug in the deceased's mouth and nose, no defensive wounds on the body, indicating that he had been assaulted, and the cause of death was severe organ damage and blood loss."

Zhou Zhao looked up at the bed curtains, but there were no human faces pasted on them.

"An hour ago, Tu Ying must have fallen asleep. She was probably drugged and murdered in her sleep, which is why there's no pigskin face on the bed curtains..."

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he went straight to Tu Ying's desk and began to look through the bamboo slips.

Suddenly her hand paused as she saw the bamboo slip with Song Yu's name written on it. She glanced at the stories inside and thought, "Sure enough, the strange tales here by Tu Ying are about snake demons."

As she spoke, she placed the bamboo slip into Min Zangzhi's hand and went out to ask Tu Li.

Do you know the name Song Yu?

Tu Li nodded. "I heard from my wife that my younger sister and a scholar named Song Yu are in love. The original plan was to tell my sister after things calmed down, and have Song Yu come to propose marriage..."

As he spoke, his expression suddenly changed, and his hand was already on the hilt of the sword at his waist. "The murderer is Song Yu?"

Zhou Zhao shook his head. "I don't know yet. Changying, let's go find Song Yu. If I'm not mistaken, he lives nearby. The murderer killed these girls based on the bamboo slips Song Yu gave them. Even if it wasn't Song Yu, it must be closely related to him."

If he can be mutually attracted to two girls at the same time, then there's bound to be a third... a fourth..."

……

"right here!"

Tu Ying's coachman pointed to a two-story building, "Song Yu lives here."

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt several people suddenly rise up around him, accompanied by a gust of cool wind. The coachman touched the goosebumps on the back of his neck, turned around, and saw that the officials from the Court of Judicial Review who had been standing behind him waiting for him to give directions had all vanished without a trace, as if they had seen a ghost.

He quickly turned around and looked up at the sky.

Min Wenshu, who had flowers in her hair, was carried up to the small building like a chick caught by an eagle.

"Su Changying, can you stop pulling me like that? I'm a person, not an object, and besides, you're grabbing my collar, what if..."

He was a refined scholar, always dressed in wide-sleeved robes of the finest silk. He couldn't even imagine what an embarrassing sight it would be if he slipped out of his clothes or if his clothes tore and he fell down.

It's three times uglier than being carried around like that now.

"Then next time I'll carry it upside down?"

The image in Min Zangzhi's mind changed; carrying it upside down was five times uglier.

“I have legs, I can walk upstairs by myself.” Min Cangzhi angrily straightened his wrinkled clothes.

Su Changying raised her hand and said, "I don't want Zhaozhao to wait. By the time you walk around and come in through the main entrance, and then go upstairs, Zhaozhao may have already solved the case. Wouldn't we have to tell the whole story again? The Court of Justice didn't give her double the salary."

Min Cangzhi was furious at the look of disdain in Su Changying's eyes.

Unbeknownst to him, this fellow was clearly retaliating for what happened when he was "three years old".

He's practically the most petty person in Chang'an.

As he spoke, he walked to the door. Just then, the door suddenly opened, and Min Zangzhi looked closely and was horrified.

Suddenly, a man dressed in a middle garment but wrapped in a thick white fox fur hat rushed out, holding a "weapon" in his hand—a roasted lamb leg, golden brown and sprinkled with spices, smelling incredibly appetizing.

Unfortunately, after being left out for so long in winter, the grease on top had solidified...

As Min Zangzhi was thinking this, the lamb leg came straight at his head and face.

He took several steps back in terror. If that thing had hit him on the head, his hair would have been pickled!

"Su Changying!" Min Zangzhi shouted.

Su Changying raised an eyebrow and grabbed the hand holding the roasted lamb leg.

The man in the fox fur struggled a few times but couldn't move his hand. He immediately turned pale and said angrily, "Who are you people? How dare you trespass on a private residence! I'm going to report you to the Court of Justice. Do you know who my uncle is? My uncle is the Minister of Justice."

Zhou Zhao looked at the owner of the lamb leg, "Zhou Zhao of the Court of Justice, you can file a complaint now. Also, the new Court of Justice's surname is Zhao, while yours is Song. He is your uncle? Fine, will you change your surname to Zhao, or will you go and make our Court of Justice change his surname to Song?"

Song Yu, the man in the fox fur coat, was taken aback at first, then realized something and immediately took a step back, intending to close the door.

He exerted a sudden force, but the door didn't budge. He peeked out and saw that Zhou Zhao had one leg braced against the door.

Song Yu exerted all his strength, but the door remained unmoved.

He released his grip, turned and walked into the house, saying with an unfriendly expression, "What does the Court of Justice want with me? Is it a crime to stay up all night writing stories?"

"Song Yu, how many young girls have you been in love with? Do you know Xie Yunniang and Tu Ying? They both died tonight."

Song Yu's knees buckled, and he collapsed to his knees. He used a roasted lamb leg to support himself and turned around in disbelief. "It wasn't me! It wasn't me! I didn't kill anyone... I... I... I... six, six in total."