Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 413 Extra: Zhou Zhao, the Court of Justice

On June 15th of the following year, lightning flashed and thunder roared in Chang'an City. The old locust tree in Wujin Lane was struck by purple lightning again and collapsed with a crash.

His Majesty's old injury has recurred and is beyond medical help; therefore, the Crown Prince has ascended the throne.

Using the Lost City case as a pretext, the Censorate reopened the old story of the Third Prince's faction. The Third Prince died suddenly in the palace, and the legendary beautiful concubine was even mutilated and turned into a human pig.

In July, weeds grew wildly in the cracks of the bluestone slabs in the streets and alleys of Chang'an. Some old people in the neighborhood were muttering that every blade of grass was watered with blood.

The victors are kings, the losers are villains; right and wrong, merit and demerit, are left for posterity to judge.

Zhou Zhao stood sideways in front of the West Palace Gate, watching the wedding procession emerge from the palace. Princess Anping, who had arrogantly blocked the road earlier and said she wanted to marry Su Changying, sat in the middle of the procession wearing a heavy wedding dress. Her face was covered with thick lead powder, making her look like a puppet that had lost its soul.

Princess Anping did not want a marriage alliance, so she asked someone to send a message to the Zhao family, expressing her desire to marry Zhao Yizhou. Zhao Yizhou was so frightened that he turned around and married a woman from the Chen family instead.

Hearing Su Changying's words, Zhou Zhao felt a pang of sadness.

"General Su seems to know Princess Anping very well."

Zhou Zhao raised an eyebrow and replied softly. Upon hearing this, Su Changying immediately said, "Commander Zhou, I think it's going to snow in July. Is there anyone in the world more wronged than me? Living next to the Court of Justice, how could I not know something!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao couldn't help but find it amusing.

There's probably something wrong with the feng shui of Tingwei Temple. Not to mention people, even the aloof black cat she keeps at home often jumps to the steps in front of Tingwei Temple to listen to Wu Qingshan and Quemenya's chatter, its ears standing straight up.

Once back home, it would meow incessantly whenever it saw a person.

They're practically ready to speak human language!
Zhou Zhao often felt sorry for it, thinking, "Poor thing, it can't share its joy with others, it must be about to die of boredom!"
Upon hearing Zhou Tingwei's words, Zhou Zhao couldn't help but dust off his new official robe, making sure there wasn't a single wrinkle on it.

Today is her first day as the Minister of Justice.

As the procession carrying the bride departed, the palace gates became empty again. Zhou Zhao glanced at Su Changying, and the two stood side by side, walking along the palace path toward the West Palace where the new emperor held court.

"Zhou Tingwei!"

Upon hearing these three words, Zhou Zhao straightened her back and raised her chin. When she looked closely, she saw Han Xincheng standing on the palace path, dressed in armor. She raised her chin even higher and called out somewhat displeasedly, "Brother-in-law."

Han Xincheng's eyes were crinkled with a smile. He was carrying a food box and looked down-to-earth. He didn't seem annoyed at Zhou Zhao's awkwardness.

“Your elder sister suddenly wanted to eat the sour cakes made by the imperial chefs in the palace, so I specially asked someone to prepare some. She told me to call you home if I saw you.”

Upon hearing about Zhou Xuan's situation, Zhou Zhao's expression softened immediately, and her stiff neck, which had been held up as if she had a stiff neck, lowered. "Is Sister still vomiting? Or is she unable to eat? Sister likes the roast duck that Chu Yi makes, so I asked her to make it and send it over."

Tell your sister not to sew any new clothes for the baby. Changying has just acquired a fine piece of satin, exceptionally soft; send it along with it too, and use that to make clothes for the child.

At the beginning of this year, Han Xincheng held a grand banquet to marry Zhou Xuan. The late emperor valued him highly and even bestowed a ruyi (a type of scepter) upon him at the wedding. The wedding banquet is still talked about in Chang'an.

Zhou Xuan became pregnant not long after entering the family, and she is currently experiencing severe vomiting.

Upon hearing Zhou Zhao's words, Han Xincheng's smile deepened. "I understand. Go on your way, the weather is nice today."

Zhou Zhao immediately understood that Han Xincheng was giving her a hint: serving a ruler is like serving a tiger, and since the tiger was in a good mood today, it was appropriate to give him a little nudge.

"What is Zhao Zhao thinking about?" Su Changying asked.

Zhou Zhao stared blankly at Han Xincheng's departing figure, lost in thought. When he heard Su Changying's question, he smiled and replied, "I was thinking about the three iron men of Chang'an City."

As the saying goes, "The high-ranking officials come and go, but the two Hans and one Chen remain constant."

The two Hans were Han Xincheng and Han Shaofu, and the one Chen was Prime Minister Chen.

A new emperor brings a new court, and now the court is filled with new faces replacing the old. Even Zhou Zhao is a newcomer who hasn't even warmed his seat yet. But these three remain steadfast and unmoved. They were confidants of the late emperor and are now confidants of the new emperor and empress dowager. They are like pillars of stability.

Especially Han Xincheng, who was in charge of the palace guards. Surprisingly, even after the new emperor ascended the throne, he was not transferred and remained the commander of the Southern Army, deeply favored by the emperor. Zhou Zhao asked her about this vixen brother-in-law, and Han Xincheng said meaningfully, "This is a price I won't sell for."

The two said no more and went straight into the West Palace, into the main hall where His Majesty usually held meetings.

Standing outside the door, looking at the "high-ranking officials" inside, Zhou Zhao suddenly felt as if he had truly become the Minister of Justice.

The ministers who were talking inside the room looked over when they heard footsteps. When they saw Zhou Zhao, their expressions became somewhat complicated. Although Zhou Zhao had become famous in the past six months and solved countless strange cases, he was now the most beloved "celebrity" in teahouses and taverns, and the most powerful "upright official" in the eyes of the people...

But they still looked down on her.

To this day, Zhou Zhao has appeared in the inner court council.

What does this mean? It means she has become someone who is on equal footing with them!
Zhou Zhao was just a boy under twenty years old, and even more so, she was a woman.

On the day the new emperor was about to promote Zhou Zhao to the position of Minister of Justice, they rolled up their sleeves, ready to make a big show of it, determined to find out that Zhou Zhao was unworthy, incapable, and unacceptable! But in the end, not a single word came out from the entire court.

Zhou Zhao looked at everyone in the room, calmly lifted his foot and stepped over the threshold, walking towards the seat belonging to the Minister of Justice.

Su Changying deliberately slowed down a few steps and landed behind Zhou Zhao. He looked at the black and white ribbon fluttering on the little girl's head in front of him, thinking that the laws of nature were clear and there were no taboos.

His little girl walks fast and steadily, and he will always be by her side, becoming her strongest support.

……

It was already past noon when I returned to the Court of Justice from the palace.

"Young Zhou Tingwei, hurry home and check! Your ancestral hall is on fire!"

As soon as Zhou Zhao arrived at the door, she heard this news. She was stunned for a moment, and together with Su Changying, they quickly returned to the Zhou family's old house. As soon as they arrived at the door, they bumped into an old man with a face covered in soot. When the old man saw Zhou Zhao, he grinned and revealed his big white teeth.

"Ah Zhao! You've become the Minister of Justice!"

Only then did Zhou Zhao recognize the voice as that of her father, Zhou Buhai.

"Father, what happened? The ancestral hall is on fire! I'm going to put out the fire!" Su Changying, who was standing nearby, stepped forward to enter the room.

Zhou Buhai coughed a few times, reached out and grabbed Su Changying. He waved his hand and smiled somewhat awkwardly, "Ah Zhao became the Minister of Justice, making our Zhou family the Minister of Justice for three generations! This is truly a stroke of good luck!"

“Father, that’s an ancestral hall, not an ancestral grave. There’s no smoke rising from it. You were so excited about A-Zhao becoming the Minister of Justice that you accidentally set the ancestral hall on fire while offering incense! How can you lie to me like that!”

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Zhao felt a warmth in her arms as Zhou Xuan rushed over and hugged her.

"Our Ah Zhao is the most amazing Ah Zhao in the whole world."

Zhou Zhao's face was flushed. "Second most powerful in the world, but not as powerful as my older sister."

Zhou Xuan burst out laughing, her laughter exceptionally arrogant. Seeing Zhou Buhai still grinning beside her, she immediately said, "Father, you're blind! Who is the third Minister of Justice of the Zhou family? It's A-Zhao!"

As she spoke, she turned around and looked at Old Madam Zhou behind the pillar. "What did Grandmother say back then at this gate? She said that A-Zhao wasn't a member of the Zhou family and couldn't enter the Zhou family ancestral graves. Father, look, where's the 'Three Generations of Court Minister'? This Court Minister Zhou is Zhou Zhao's Zhou, not our family's Zhou!"
This isn't some auspicious smoke rising from ancestral graves; it's clearly the ancestors breathing fire in anger!

The old lady blushed deeply with embarrassment, while Zhou Buhai, taking advantage of his face being covered in soot, shamelessly said, "Father was indeed blind before!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan winked at Zhou Zhao.

Zhou Zhao couldn't help but laugh as he watched.

That's great, from this day forward, she will be the Minister of Justice.

　After resting for a few days, I'll start updating the extra chapters today.

　　I'm already thinking about a new book.
　　(End of this chapter)