Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 96 Sister-in-law Chu You
As Zhou Zhao pondered, he glanced down at the token in his palm. He saw the character "查" (cha) engraved on the front and "廷尉史李有刀" (Tingwei Shi Li Youdao) on the back. He was immediately delighted, and even the drunken madman in front of him seemed handsome.

"Teacher!" Zhou Zhao called out respectfully.

This isn't just a teacher, this is clearly a celestial master!

Li Youdao let out another burp and snorted coldly, "Drinking at night and sleeping during the day, I'm very busy. If you have a case, go handle it yourself, don't bother me."

As he spoke, he pointed to the unread files blocking his path and glanced at Zhou Zhao.

Zhou Zhao understood instantly, "I'll do it."

Li Youdao yawned, turned his head and saw Xu Jin's somewhat ferocious face. He lazily hiccuped, "Even if you're treated like a beast of burden, people will still try to steal you away?"

He shook his head, pointed at Zhou Zhao with a slurred speech, and said, "Then you two switch places."

Xu Jin jolted awake and instantly sobered up. He smiled shamelessly and said, "Zhou Zhao is new here and not familiar with the Court of Justice. These files are heavy, and I have to go and fetch them for everyone before dawn every day. It's too much for a young girl like her. I'll do this hard and tiring work."

Li Youdao doesn't handle affairs; he's the one who disciplines the younger generation, making them do whatever they're told.

Has he endured so many years to achieve such prestige?

How can we give it to Zhou Zhao?
What's the point of changing it? Endless case files to review, and being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night by the Northern Army to investigate cases? He must be furious to make that change!

Zhou Zhao raised an eyebrow, his gaze towards Li Youdao now filled with even more admiration.

Her teacher was so beautiful, she was like a fairy. The smell that came out of her mouth wasn't from alcohol, but from a murderous aura!

Li Youdao noticed Zhou Zhao's gaze and sneered, "Are you just standing here like a wooden stake? Blocking my way."

Upon seeing this, Zhou Zhao immediately bent down and lifted the bamboo slips blocking Li Youdao's path in one go.

Although she was quite tall, comparable to a man, she was rather slender. Holding so many bamboo scrolls, she was completely hidden from view, leaving onlookers speechless with astonishment. She wasn't exactly a superhuman, but she was certainly not someone like them, weak and helpless, dared to provoke!
Zhou Zhao tossed the bamboo slips aside, and the rising dust covered Xu Jin's face.

"Ah! Ptooey! Achoo! Achoo..."

Xu Jin was choked and started sneezing incessantly. His stomach was shaking violently, and he felt that if he exerted any more force, his whole body would fall off.

Zhou Zhao acted as if he hadn't seen anything, and Li Youdao, completely oblivious, went straight to his desk, lay down on it, and fell fast asleep.

Zhou Zhao glanced at it, put the token into his sleeve, returned to his desk, picked up the bamboo slips, and began to carefully write his reply.

Xu Jin sneezed several times, his nose and eyes almost running. He glanced at the gazes of the people around him, silently stomped his foot, and returned to his seat.

For a moment, the hall returned to peace, with only Li Youdao's deafening snoring.

When the bell rang in the small canteen, Chen Jiyuan looked up from a pile of bamboo slips. He turned to the side and saw that Zhou Zhao, who had been sitting next to him, had left sometime earlier. Her own files, as well as Li Youdao's, were all completed and neatly stacked in the corner.

Her dark desk was empty, with only writing brush, ink, and inkstone; there wasn't even a single volume of legal texts.

Not only was Chen Jiyuan feeling complicated, but the newly arrived Chen Yuzhao and Zhou Chengan also couldn't help but look towards where Zhou Zhao was.

They were no match for Zhou Zhao in investigating cases, but they even lost in memorizing texts... Zhou Zhao didn't care what others thought. At this moment, she was already carrying Li Youdao's token and rushing towards the gate of the Court of Justice. As expected, when she arrived at the gate, she saw Liu Huang squatting against the corner of the wall, with Su Changying standing next to him.

Liu Huang was still wearing a bamboo hat, with his coroner's box slung over his shoulder.

Su Changying had already changed into the armor of the Northern Army. Zhou Zhao looked him up and down. This familiar young general looked more like the Su Changying in his memory.

"Has Ah Huang been harassed in the palace? General Su's rank is not only higher than mine, but also higher than Zhu Li's."

Upon hearing Zhu Li's name, Su Changying's expression became somewhat unnatural. "Zhu Li is now my subordinate."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao couldn't help but laugh. She reached out to Liu Huang, pulled him up, bent down to look at his face under his bamboo hat, and only felt relieved when she saw that he had no obvious injuries.

"No, my mother covered for me."

Liu Huang, carrying the coroner's kit, followed beside Zhou Zhao. "My father thinks I'm somewhat useful."

Zhou Zhao felt a pang of sadness. "Ah Huang is the most skilled coroner in the world. If it weren't for you, Su Changying and I would have been poisoned to death long ago. You are our savior! Just now at the Court of Justice, there was a big rascal who tried to bully me. I was just thinking of telling him your name to scare him to death!"

Someone is bullying you!

Someone is bullying you!

Two voices sounded at the same time.

Zhou Zhao cleared his throat. "Right! Someone actually had the nerve to bully me! Let's go find Chu You during lunchtime. She's completely absorbed in math and doesn't know that Chang Ying is back yet."

"Changying, do you still remember Chuyou?"

Su Changying shook her head.

Zhou Zhao was not disappointed. "It's okay. Ah Huang and I will take you to the places we used to frequent and to see the people we used to hang out with. Maybe you'll start to remember them."

"Chu You is my elder brother Zhou Yan's betrothed. They were originally scheduled to get married in August."

However, on June 15th, the Shanming Changyang case occurred, and Zhou Yan passed away, so the marriage was called off. If Zhou Yan were still alive, their child might have been born long ago.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he led the two of them into an alley.

The Chu family produced a prime minister in the previous dynasty and was once a prominent and wealthy family. However, with each new emperor comes a new set of officials, and the Chu family gradually declined after the new dynasty was established.

Zhou Zhao looked at the mottled gate and the precarious tiles on the eaves, sighed softly, and stepped through the door.

The gatekeeper was quite old. He squinted for a long time before excitedly calling out, "Young Marquis Lu! Young Marquis Lu..."

Zhou Zhao smiled at him, "Uncle Qi, please don't get excited. Is Sister Chu You at home? This is Su Changying. He's back, but he doesn't remember anything."

The doorman's eyes reddened, and he said repeatedly, "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back!"

He wiped his eyes and shook his head at Zhou Zhao. "The Third Miss is not at home. The Madam wants her to choose a husband and get married. She is unhappy, so she went with her uncle to build a restaurant for everyone. It's located by the water in the east of the city. They say they want to build the tallest building in Chang'an."