Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 94 First Visit to the Court of Justice

Zhou Zhao carefully tied her hair into a bun with black and white ribbons and then put on her hair crown properly.

She stood in the corner and glanced at the sword Qingming hanging on the wall. In the end, she did not take it down, but instead rearranged the coffin nails in her sleeve pocket.

At dawn, the gates of the Court of Justice opened, and smoke rose from the small canteen. Standing in front of the gate, one could smell the rich aroma of steamed buns. Just by smelling it, Zhou Zhao knew that there was a slow-cooked soup inside, with a thin layer of oil floating on top and sprinkled with bright green scallions.

"Chang Zuoping knew you would be coming today, so he asked me to come to the door to greet you."

When Zhou Zhao arrived, Min Cangzhi was already standing in front of the door. He had a flower in his hair, and his official robe sleeves were embroidered with a circle of flowers. He had also changed to a new feather fan in his hand. The fan surface was green and studded with pearls. It looked exceptionally beautiful and also carried a floral fragrance.

Upon seeing Zhou Zhao, he waved the fan in his hand and walked straight inside without any ceremony.

“You’re not the only newcomer to the Court of Justice today; you’re the last one to arrive.”

Zhou Zhao followed beside Min Zangzhi and looked towards the gate of the Court of Justice upon hearing this. Sure enough, there were already three other people waiting there.

Upon hearing Min Cangzhi's voice, the three of them turned their heads to look over. Zhou Zhao took a closer look and paused slightly.

"Chen Yuzhao, Zhou Chengan, Li Mu, and this is Zhou Zhao. I'm too lazy to go into details. The Court of Justice is so small, you can get to know each other yourself."

Two of the three people were acquaintances.

Chen Yuzhao had met him before at the Court of Justice's Grand Examination. He came from a family with a strong academic background and was already quite famous for his investigations. He was an old friend of Zhou Yan.

Zhou Cheng'an nodded somewhat awkwardly when he saw Zhou Zhao.

Zhou Zhao raised an eyebrow and nodded slightly. She lowered her eyes, her heart filled with complex emotions.

Li Mu was a thin man in his thirties or forties. He had dark skin and calloused hands, and looked somewhat honest and simple. When he heard Min Cangzhi's words, Li Mu said, "I used to be an official in Lujiang. Now that I have just arrived in the capital, I hope you young friends will give me your guidance."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao understood that Li Mu was probably a court official transferred from a local area, and was different from the three newcomers.

Seeing the three men bowing respectfully, Min Zangzhi impatiently shook his fan and ordered them to continue walking forward. When they arrived at the gate of a large courtyard, Min Zangzhi pointed and said, "Chen Yuzhao, you follow Tao Shangshan; Zhou Chengan, you follow Xu Yun; Zhou Zhao... Zhou Zhao, you follow Li Youdao."

As he spoke, he glanced at Zhou Zhao with sympathy, then turned to Li Mu and said, "Li Tingshi, please come with me. Thanks to someone, we've even managed to dig up a case that's been exposed for a long time and re-examine it."

"Chang Zuoping has been waiting for you to come. Did you bring a change of clothes? For the next month, don't even think about leaving the Tingwei Temple."

Li Mu smiled憨厚ly and nodded, "It's alright, I don't need to change my clothes."

Min Zangzhi's feather fan froze in his hand. He looked at Li Mu in disbelief and shook his head heavily. "No, you can't. If you don't change your clothes, who can tell you apart from a rotting corpse?"

Zhou Zhao listened and looked speechlessly at Min Zangzhi's mouth, which was even more poisonous than Tianji's!
Li Mu's eyes lit up, and he looked at Min Cangzhi with great respect, "That makes perfect sense. The Court of Justice is indeed full of hidden talents."

Min Cangzhi sized him up and down, seeing that he was not pretending at all, and with the fan in his hand leaving afterimages, he strode away.

After he left, the three of them looked at each other, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Chen Yuzhao looked at Zhou Zhao somewhat embarrassed, "Li Tingwei said my performance in the competition was acceptable, so... Once the news of your incident in Tianying City spreads, it will definitely cause a sensation throughout Chang'an! In comparison, I am truly ashamed to have entered the Court of Justice." As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Cheng'an lowered his head even further.

Zhou Zhao shook his head. "We're all newcomers. We should hurry in and find our respective masters before we're too late."

Chen Yuzhao snapped out of his daze, nodded hurriedly, and rushed towards the main hall. The main hall was exceptionally large; standing in front of the door, one could see piles of files everywhere, with a few tables peeking out from behind them.

Zhou Zhao and the other two stood in front of the door, looking like children who had just come from the mountains and entered Chang'an City, their faces blank with confusion.

Min Zangzhi is such an unreliable fellow; he just left them here and doesn't care anymore.

Everyone inside the room was engrossed in their work, seemingly oblivious to the three people at the door. No one bothered to look for them. Chen Yuzhao and Zhou Chengan exchanged glances, neither daring to take that step forward. Everyone understood that this was clearly a show of force to intimidate them.

Zhou Zhao rolled his eyes speechlessly, stepped inside, and announced loudly, "I wonder if Lord Li Youdao is here? I am Zhou Zhao, and today is my first day at the Court of Justice."

Her voice was not low, and it was a clear and cold female voice. Several heads immediately popped out from the file.

One of the men, who was about forty years old, stood up. He had a gourd-shaped face with layers of flesh on his chin, and no matter how you looked at him, you couldn't find a jawline. The moment he walked out, the files next to him shook a few times, and dust fell out.

"Lord Li is not here. He told me that a newcomer named Zhou Zhao will be coming today. You've come at the right time. We've been busy lately, reviewing old cases. Please sit at that table and go to the small canteen to fetch some breakfast for us in a bit."

"These old case files were just moved out and they're covered in dust. If you have some free time later, could you clean them and tidy them up a bit?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao couldn't help but smile.

Seeing the smile on her face, the man with the gourd-shaped face smiled back. "My name is Xu Jin. I'm a veteran who has served Lord Li for a long time. Every newcomer here goes through this process. Come earlier in the future, prepare tea, and clean the tables of the seniors."

"In my opinion, the Court of Justice should have sent some young girls long ago. After all, you are meticulous and good at these things."

Zhou Zhao glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that while Xu Jin was rambling on, Chen Yuzhao and Zhou Chengan were both led away.

Chen Yuzhao's teacher, Tao Shangshan, was a round-faced old man who looked kind and had a smile in his eyes.

Zhou Cheng'an's teacher, Xu Yun, was a middle-aged man who looked extremely irritable. His sleeves were rolled up high, and he looked like he was about to rush up and slap the prisoner twice! Zhou Cheng'an followed behind him like a chick caught by an eagle.

She figured it out: there were three senior officials leading a group of low-ranking officials in this big house.

Chang Zuoping, impartial and unbiased, assigned a new person to each of the three elders.

"Senior Xu, you are mistaken. In my opinion, it is truly a good thing that the Court of Justice has you. After all, you are strong and can carry the whole pot of dumplings from the small canteen this morning."

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he raised his sleeve and made a wiping motion with his mouth.

"I forgot to mention, you have a piece of scallion stuck to the corner of your mouth."

After Zhou Zhao finished speaking, he suddenly realized, "Ah! Senior, are you teaching me that even the most skilled murderer can make a mistake? I admire you!"

(End of this chapter)