Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 398 You're Using Me as a Knife
"You deliberately let Jiang Yan appear in front of me in order to use me."

It's not about preserving the Huo family's bloodline. You've been Grand Commandant for so many years, you know all too well what a capital offense treason is.

Moreover, you suffered a great calamity in your youth, so you must have been prepared long ago. The Huo family bloodline has been hidden clearly and plainly for a long time, hasn't it?"

As Zhou Zhao spoke, his gaze swept over Huo Du, Huo Yu, and Huo Ting.

“These three good-for-nothings are not your way out. Your talk of protecting yourself just now was completely insincere.”

You just want me to investigate this thoroughly.

Because you know that if you start a rebellion, the Third Prince will not lend you a hand at all; he will only sever ties with you and cut his losses to survive.

How can you accept that?

Zhou Zhao said with a mocking smirk, "You want me to grasp Jiang Yan as a knife and stab the Third Prince hard."

Zhou Zhao could understand Grand Commandant Huo's concerns; the emperor's mind was unfathomable.

The Third Prince did not actually plot a rebellion, and His Majesty did not want the Empress Dowager's clan to become too powerful, so he would not punish him at this time.

Over time, the favored concubine might whisper in his ear, and perhaps a chance for reconciliation might arise...

I executed his entire family for him, and he happily calls me "father" and declares himself emperor? Where in the world is there such a good thing?

"The child in her womb is the Third Prince's, isn't it?"

If someone has no connection to the princess, even if they find someone who looks like her to raise by their side, they can be fooled with a mere expression of admiration.

But it would be different if it were the Third Prince; it would be a devastating blow that would sever the last vestige of affection between him and His Majesty.

Princess Changyang was, after all, His Majesty's beloved younger sister.

Commander Huo suddenly burst into laughter. His face, swollen like a pig's head, looked particularly ferocious when he laughed.

And because his movements and expressions were so exaggerated, he would hiss and gasp for breath whenever he moved or jumped.

"The Chu family is also part of the Third Prince's faction. Jiang Yan was recruited by them and raised in their household."

Zhou Zhao said affirmatively.

They had already investigated before. Jiang Yan was originally a dancer raised by the Chu family. Later, she was favored by the young master of the Chu family and taken as a concubine.

"That's right, this is also Jiang Yan's own revenge."

She was originally the daughter of a good family in the south, and grew up to be a beautiful and charming woman. The Chu family was fond of collecting beauties and keeping various dancers and musicians for the enjoyment of the nobles. The steward who was searching for potential beauties discovered that she looked like Princess Changyang, so he brought her back to Chang'an.

Although Princess Changyang accepted the imperial edict, she did not agree with it.

She believed in the proper order of seniority and that changing the crown prince would cause turmoil in the court. After the princess's death, that crucial edict disappeared without a trace, and even after His Majesty was no longer in danger, he showed no intention of writing another edict.

The third prince felt he was just a hair's breadth away from becoming emperor, and harbored deep resentment towards the princess.

So they would often lock her in a cage and make her dance on thorns, each time leaving her covered in blood... then they would apply medicine, and so on.

Jiang Yan suffered greatly and had even considered suicide. It was I who gave her a new chance, allowing her to use her face to impersonate Fan Lishen and obtain the Treasure Pavilion. Then she would have an identity that allowed her to live in the sunlight.

It’s a pity…”

As Commander Huo spoke, he still remembered how, after he spoke to Jiang Yan, a vibrant life suddenly burst forth in her lifeless eyes.

"What's a pity? It's a pity she didn't kill Fan Lishen, or impersonate someone else."

It's not shameful to want to live; there's nothing to regret about living over the corpses of others. You don't need to try and confuse the issue, making it seem like you're the one who saved her from her misery, and we're the ones who harmed her. Ultimately, you people are blind to the plight of a vulnerable woman; all you want to do is exploit her.

A bad person doesn't become a good person just by saying a few nice words.

Zhou Zhao retorted seriously, with Fan Lishen standing right behind her.

She is young and soft-hearted. When she hears about Jiang Yan's tragic situation, she will most likely start to overthink and blame herself.

Jiang Yan is pitiful, but this is not Fan Lishen's responsibility, nor is it the responsibility of Fan Lishen, who uncovered the truth and disappointed Jiang Yan.

What they need to do is not regret, but catch the culprit who hurt her.

After a moment of silence, Commander Huo continued, "After this defeat, Jiang Yan was determined to die. She knew she had been exposed and would be killed sooner or later to silence her. So when I found her, she readily agreed to dance one last dance for you."

She aborted her child herself by taking medication.

Zhou Zhao took one last deep look at Grand Commandant Huo, then left the Tingwei Temple prison. This time, as she passed by, the Huo family members all looked at her with complicated expressions, but dared not utter a word.

"Ah Zhao, where are we going?" Fan Lishen asked, his voice nasal, his cat-like eyes red and looking somewhat dejected.

"Go to the Chu family. Grand Commandant Huo is plotting a rebellion, and the Third Prince wants to sever ties with him, so naturally he wouldn't leave the city to go to the Huo family's tomb in such a critical situation. The person who went to deal with Jiang Yan was his dog, Young Master Chu."

The wife of the Marquis of Huaiyang was from the Chu family, and Jiang Yan worked as a dancer in the Chu family.

The fact that no gossips have mentioned that the Chu family has a "Princess Changyang" for so long suggests that she was not an ordinary dancer, but rather someone who had been imprisoned.

It wasn't until Grand Commandant Huo needed her to replace Fan Lishen that she had a traceable identity.

Zhou Zhao thought for a moment, then stared into Fan Lishen's eyes.

“Fan Lishen, you did nothing wrong, and your mother did nothing wrong either. The ones who are wrong are those wicked people with filthy minds and no conscience. Do you understand?”

Fan Li nodded heavily.

Princess Changyang was extremely beautiful, and Zhang Ruoqing bore a slight resemblance to her, making her the most beautiful woman in Chang'an.

Moreover, she was well-read, had the world in her heart, and was a flower in the clouds.

Zhou Zhao didn't say much. Fan Lishen was now all alone and needed to grow up step by step, becoming a towering tree that didn't need any shelter.

Before this, as friends, they would all protect her.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he lightly touched the ground and was about to dash away, but he felt a tightness around his waist and was already being pulled into Su Changying's arms.

"Ah Huang said you can't use your light-foot technique right now, right, Ah Huang?"

Ah Huang nodded his straw hat, as if in response to Su Changying's words.

Zhou Zhao gave up resisting in silence and could only be carried by Su Changying using her lightness skill. She couldn't help but mutter to herself, "Just now I was clearly very domineering and in my prime, but now that you're carrying me like this, I look like a weak and sickly person."

Didn't you see Fan Lishen's sparkling eyes? That child was so moved he almost called him godfather and asked him to bow to him!

All my efforts were instantly ruined.

Su Changying chuckled softly, then said helplessly in a low voice.

"Good Zhaozhao, don't make me laugh, or I'll catch my breath and fall off the roof. If Grand Commandant Huo uses you as a weapon, we'll go straight to the Third Prince. His Majesty will be in for a headache."

Zhou Zhao shook his head indifferently, "Then let him have a headache. Whoever's son it is, he has a headache; whoever's throne it is, he has worries."

(End of this chapter)