Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 411 The Imperial Court Wedding Procession

On the ninth day, light snow began to fall in Chang'an early in the morning.

On the night of the eighth day of the lunar new year, Zhou Zhao returned to the Zhou family and got married in her original courtyard.

The entire house was tidied up by Chu Yi, and even the "corpses" were given new clothes. Their pale, livid faces seemed to have blushed with a shy blush, making them look brand new.

Zhou Zhao, dressed in court robes, sat at the table, quietly looking at the Six Paths Heavenly Book in his hand.

Last night she had a dream in which she died in all five of her lives. In each of her lives, Su Changying made the same choice without hesitation. He sat in front of her tombstone and wrote his final letter to his deceased wife in the Six Paths Heavenly Book again and again before dying beside her.

When she finally awoke from her dream, the Six Paths Heavenly Book that she had placed beside her pillow was already soaked with sweat.

As she thought about it, she reached out and stroked the celestial book. The bamboo slips were icy cold in the winter, with no warmth at all.

Zhou Zhao thought she wouldn't let it light up a sixth time.

She gently rolled up the bamboo slip and stuffed it into the festive embroidered pouch she had prepared early on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

For some unknown reason, Chu Yi had a sudden obsession with dressing up even the family's raccoon dog, giving it a new outfit. As Zhou Zhao thought about this, she looked up at the courtyard and saw that even the trees in the courtyard were decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations.

"Zhou Zhao, Zhou Zhao! I've come to add to your dowry and send you off on your wedding! Why don't you come to the Shaofu to play with me? I don't play Cuju anymore, I've switched to cockfighting!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao snapped out of her reverie and looked closely. She saw a group of colleagues from the Court of Justice standing in her small courtyard!

The one running the fastest and shouting before even entering the courtyard was none other than Ji Yun, whom we haven't seen in a long time.
He was still dressed in glittering gold today, looking like a magical gold ingot. Behind him were two burly men carrying a huge box.

Behind him stood Min Cangzhi and Wu Qingshan. Everyone stared in shock at Zhou Zhao's cramped and cramped house.

"Zhou Zhao, do you usually sleep at this crime scene? When you get up in the middle of the night, don't you ever step on a human head?"

Zhou Zhao came out of the house, looking somewhat surprised. "Why are you all here?"

"Of course, she's here to be our Left Supervisor's family!" Min Cangzhi shook the flowers in her hair. Zhou Zhao genuinely felt that Su Changying, who was coming to fetch the bride, might mistake him for the bride herself. She was dressed much more festively than she was.

"The reputation of the Court of Justice cannot be lost to the Northern Army!" Chang Zuoping's voice was unusually firm, as if he would be fined at any time if they lost.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao was speechless. So, does the Court of Justice always compare the number of hairs on a dog with the dog they see?

Seeing that Zhou Zhao ignored him, Ji Yun jumped around a few times and hurriedly opened the trunk he had brought, "Zhou Zhao, Zhou Zhao, look at the dowry I brought for you!"

His voice was exceptionally loud, and everyone from the Court of Justice looked curiously toward the box. Upon seeing it, gasps filled the courtyard!

Inside the box were a pair of golden geese, so dazzling they were almost blinding.

"It's not like you're the one proposing marriage, why are you sending wild geese?" Min Cangzhi said bitterly. How could he be so stupid as to not think of preparing this in the betrothal gifts for Chu You!

Ji Yun scratched his head. "Can't we use geese? How about elephants? My father just killed a pair of golden elephants, I'll have someone exchange them!"

Zhou Zhao walked over and reluctantly closed the trunk, saying, "No need, this is too valuable..."

Ji Yun interrupted Zhou Zhao, "This isn't valuable at all! I searched through the warehouse for ages, and this is the least valuable one. My warehouse is already overflowing!"

Zhou Zhao looked at Ji Yun with a complicated expression. Don't force me to be jealous of you on this joyous occasion!
Following Ji Yun's lead, the people of the Court of Justice also presented their congratulatory gifts.

"Zhou Zhao, I'm giving you some notes and insights I've accumulated over the years. It's nothing much, just a small gift. And these two bracelets are a gift from my wife, which she asked me to give you. We wore them on our wedding day."

My wife and I have been married for sixty years, and we are still a harmonious couple. We can consider ourselves fortunate to have accumulated some good karma.

Looking at the white-haired He Tingshi in front of him, Zhou Zhao suddenly felt a lump in his throat.

The case notes were extremely important. She was only now allowed to see the ones her grandfather had written, but He Tingshi had given her this one.

And those bracelets...

“He Tingshi…”

He Tingshi smiled. "If only Zhou Zhao had the surname He! Zhou Buhai is truly blind."

He Tingshi thought for a moment and stepped aside, saying, "Don't refuse, it's just a small token of my appreciation."

Zhou Zhao nodded. Li Youdao cleared his throat and awkwardly handed Zhou Zhao a box. "Don't open it now. Open it when you get home tonight!"

The scene was completely silent, and Chang Zuoping's eyes were filled with murderous intent as he looked at Li Youdao.

Li Youdao was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses and noticed the strange expressions on everyone's faces. He immediately became like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "What are you all thinking? This is something good, I just didn't want to show it to you!"

Seeing that no one believed him, Li Youdao stomped his foot and opened the box. Inside, there lay a gleaming dagger.

Although giving a dagger as a wedding gift seems a bit out of place, is Li Youdao any kind of decent person?

Zhou Zhao looked at the dagger and was immediately overjoyed.

She can wield two blades, but there is nothing comparable to the bluefish dagger bestowed upon her by His Majesty. Now this one makes up for that.

"Thank you, Master."

Upon hearing the word "master," Li Youdao waved his hand somewhat ashamedly, "What kind of master am I to you! Besides, let's not get into these formalities. Just take it if I give it to you."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao immediately smiled and said, "Okay!"

As they were talking, Chang Zuoping handed over a box and said to Zhou Zhao, "It's not convenient for me to look at mine here, but you have to see it; it concerns the reputation of the Court of Justice."

Zhou Zhao took it suspiciously, but obediently did not open it.

Chang Zuoping watched and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He gave his wife a secret technique, the specifics of which he had never seen. However, he knew that since he married his wife, despite his imposing presence in public, he was completely submissive to her at home.

He was not usually one to meddle in his colleagues' family affairs, but if Zhou Zhao learned this...

Wouldn't the Court of Justice then completely overwhelm the Northern Army? It was a top-notch strategy, comparable to the alliance of states.

For a moment, everyone in the courtyard was overjoyed.

Zhou Zhao smiled and looked towards the courtyard gate, where she vaguely saw a glimpse of a garment peeking out from the side of the gate. She knew that Zhou Buhai was standing there.

"The Northern Army has come to escort the bride!"

Suddenly, shouts came from outside the gate. The people from the Court of Justice immediately turned around, straightened their backs, and marched out of the courtyard gate with great pride and swagger, like a group of roosters in battle mode.

Zhou Zhao watched them come and go in a flurry and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

As soon as they left, Zhou Xuan led Chu You and Fan Lishen in.

Ah Huang then lightly leaped from the rooftop into the courtyard.

"Ah Zhao, come inside quickly, Changying has come to fetch the bride!"