Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 137 Childhood Fun
Zhou Zhao reached out and pinched Zhou Wan's puffed-up cheeks, which were puffed up with anger.

“Be a good substitute princess. My sister wants a dignified divorce and to part ways with Shen Jianshen amicably. I believe she has her own plans.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Wan instantly flew into a rage. "Are you just going to let her go like that? Do you really think we, the Zhou family, are easy to bully?"

"Let's wait until we get the divorce papers and take back my sister's dowry to avoid any unexpected trouble. Don't you pride yourself on being shrewd and calculating?"

Back when Zhou Xuan got married, the Zhou family had not yet fallen into decline, and she also entered the Shen family with a magnificent bridal procession.

Zhou Wan covered her face and sobbed. This time, she was truly crying, her sobs exceptionally heartbreaking. "Such a good older sister, how could she have to suffer like this? If I were the one being bullied, I could swallow my pride and bear it all. I'd have 'enduring hardship and biding my time' carved on my left arm, and 'a gentleman's revenge is never too late' carved on my right..."

But I can't stand it when my older sister is bullied. I want to rush to the Shen family's house and give that old hag a good beating, to make her taste the bitterness of life.

As she spoke, she hugged Zhou Zhao tightly.

Zhou Zhao stiffened, then reached out and gently patted Zhou Wan's back.

Zhou Wan sobbed as she spoke haltingly, "Do you remember that Shen Jianshen has an aunt named Xiangling? She grew up in the Shen family and had a deep bond with the old man. Now that she's widowed, she's looking for someone to rely on..."

I've already sent someone to talk to her, and she'll be moving back to the Shen residence soon. Don't the Shen family like brothers and sisters? Then let's give them a taste of their own medicine.

As Zhou Wan spoke, she pushed Zhou Zhao away and gave her a disdainful look, "I knew you were useless."

Zhou Zhao looked at Zhou Wan in disbelief. Hadn't the two of them only learned about Zhou Xuan's affair that morning? By nightfall, Zhou Wan's words had already reached the ears of that young lady. She was still thinking that once Zhou Xuan got a divorce, she would go and loosen the bones of the entire Shen family.

In comparison, her methods were so simple and crude that they were hardly presentable.

Seeing Zhou Zhao's shocked expression, Zhou Wan reached out and pinched her face back. "I know you too well. You must be planning to put a sack over someone's head and beat them up under the cover of darkness. This is a series of schemes... If the people from the Shen family are injured, then the young lady of the Shen family will have many opportunities to use her skills."

You'd better get this straight! You and Su Changying used to do this all the time, so you must be quite adept at it and know exactly how to handle things. I won't remind you again.

Zhou Zhao opened her mouth, as if to say that she was now the young Lady Zhou and had reformed.

But she herself didn't believe it.

Zhou Wan didn't dwell on the matter and turned to walk into the house. A steaming bowl of mutton soup and some freshly made snacks were already on the table. Zhou Zhao noticed a large pot of braised pork ribs and guessed that Zhou Wan must have anticipated her arrival and prepared accordingly.

She sat down, picked up a bowl and poured the soup, placing the first bowl in front of Zhou Zhao. "Father took Zhou Cheng'an to pay a visit to Xu Yun of the Court of Justice."

Zhou Zhao's fingertips twitched slightly, not at all surprised.

“I have received many gifts in the past two days. The distance to Daidi is far, and I can’t take them with me. If you don’t have a gift for becoming an apprentice, I will give them to you.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao's lips curled up.

Zhou Xuan walked in, panting. "Second sister and I are on the same page. I've found out that your master, Li Youdao, loves to drink, especially Cangwu sake. I've got two big jars for you; they'll be delivered tomorrow. Tell me quickly about Bao Chun'an's case..."

The case is now solved, and there's nothing to hide.

Zhou Zhao then told his two older sisters the whole story of the case, and both of them sighed with emotion after listening. After the three of them finished their mutton soup, they lay on the same big bed and chatted for half the night, reminiscing about their childhood.

“I remember when my second sister was little, she had rashes all over her body…” As soon as Zhou Zhao uttered the word “rashes,” Zhou Wan glared at her. She stuck out her tongue. “Wrong, it was hives. Her whole body was incredibly itchy…”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan burst out laughing. "I tied her up with a rope to prevent her from scratching herself. I also didn't want her to be exposed to the wind, so I sealed up all the cracks in the windows. When she came out, her whole body was covered in white marks, like a freshly washed pig."

As Zhou Wan listened, she pressed her nose, made a pig-like face, and made a few pig-like noises.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Xuan burst into laughter, "It really does look exactly like it."

Zhou Wan laughed along, glancing at Zhou Zhao as she laughed, "Sister, do you remember that time I fell into a pit full of burrs, which covered my head? That idiot Su Changying carried me back, and I was too embarrassed to be seen, so I buried my head in the back of his neck..."

"How could I not remember? When the two of them came back, A-Zhao's head was covered in burrs, and the back half of Chang-Ying's head was green. The two of them squatted in the yard, and we surrounded them, plucking the burrs one by one. Haha, the two of them were howling like ghosts!"

Zhou Zhao thought about the past and couldn't help but laugh along.

Although she and Zhou Wan were constantly undermining each other, looking back on those embarrassing moments now, they only seem funny.

"There was a snake in that pit. When Changying went down to pull me out, she almost got bitten by the snake! After killing the snake, she even carried it to scare the Marquis of Dingxi. That old man always disliked us and chased us all over Chang'an to beat us up."

The Marquis of Dingxi was happily embracing his jade lion in the courtyard when he was startled by the dead snake and then saw my burr-headed head. He immediately let go of it, and the jade lion's head was smashed off..."

Zhou Xuan laughed even harder, "I remember, later Father and Marquis Lu grabbed your ears and forced you to go to Marquis Dingxi to apologize with thorns on your backs. When you came back, you plucked a whole plum tree from Marquis Dingxi's tree!"

A new dynasty replaced the old, and the Marquis of Dingxi had already passed away.

When Zhou Zhao heard about the plums, his expression turned strange. "That old man forced the plums on me. I thought he was a kind person who was nasty to the face but actually kind to the eye. But the plums were sweet at first but sour afterwards. I ate them for three days and my teeth hurt so much that I couldn't eat anything..."

Zhou Xuan laughed until tears streamed down her face. "Changying has always spoiled you. Seeing that you love to eat, he didn't eat any of it and gave it all to you. Who would have thought that you would turn around and say that you can't share hardships? That guy insisted on eating plums all day long, and then the two of you had to eat thin porridge together!"

The three sisters burst into laughter.

When Zhou Zhao was young, he was mischievous and caused trouble almost every day. It felt like there was no end to the story.

"Are you two sleepy? I know you're just trying to make me happy. But don't worry, I'm someone who can let go easily. It's just a divorce. Even if I get beheaded, it'll just be a small scar."

Zhou Zhao and Zhou Wan exchanged a glance, and for the first time, they looked at Zhou Xuan with sparkling eyes in perfect unison.

The two women lay on either side of Zhou Xuan, and they both peeked out as they spoke.

"Sister, tell us, who did you have feelings for before? How come we don't know!"

There are things about Zhou Xuan that they don't know, which is simply unacceptable!

Zhou Xuan was taken aback, then speechlessly reached out and flicked his two younger sisters' noses. "Now I know what it means to lift a rock only to drop it on your own foot. You two are waiting for me here! What's there to say? It all happened so long ago, I almost don't remember it."