Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 339 Retrieving Treasure at Sunset
The heavy snow didn't last long; by noon, the sky had cleared.

The world, which had been a pure white expanse, was instantly transformed by the red sun, becoming wet and refreshed.

Princess Changyang's residence is located in the east of the city, occupying an entire long alley. It was once a royal residence of the previous dynasty, extremely luxurious. After the establishment of the Great Qi Dynasty, it was bestowed by His Majesty upon Princess Changyang, whom he valued most.

The once magnificent mansion, now silent like a lonely grave, has lost its owners one after another.

“Young master, come down. You haven’t slept a wink all night and haven’t eaten a single grain of rice. Even the best person couldn’t endure that. This old servant will go and fetch Zhou Zhao…”

Uncle Fu wiped his eyes. He had cried so much when Princess Changyang passed away that his eyes were already cloudy and he could hardly see anything.

"Don't go looking for her. I have no face to go to them. We killed Zhou Yan, caused Su Changying so much suffering, and now we almost killed Zhou Zhao. Being friends with me is their greatest misfortune. If I could start over, I would rather have stayed far away from them from the very beginning."

My uncle didn't kill me, but now, living is more painful than dying.

Uncle Fu, I've lost my mother, and soon I'll lose my father too. My father committed treason, and it's understandable that you want to kill him, but as his son, how can I feel at ease being close to the person who killed my father? You wouldn't believe me anyway.

"Uncle Fu, the world is vast, but there's nowhere left for Li Shen to settle down."

Uncle Fu didn't speak. He reached out and pulled the quilt up a little.

Since Fan Lishen left the palace, he dismissed the servants of the princess's residence and closed his doors to visitors.

He lay on the floor like a walking corpse, his eyes open, staring at the roof beams. The flowers carved on those beams were ones he had drawn when he was young. He had only been learning to paint for a short time then, and these flowers were arguably the first painting he could still consider decent.

The teacher reluctantly praised him a few times, but the princess and her husband were overjoyed and had the craftsman paint the not-so-beautiful picture and carve it onto the roof beam.

There are many more things like this in this room.

Uncle Fu looked at Fan Lishen's face. He had lost a lot of weight in the past few days, and his once beautiful cat-like eyes now looked frighteningly large. His eyes, which used to be full of liveliness and pride, were now filled with only dejection and timidity.

Princess Changyang and her husband, Prince Consort Fan, only had him as their child.

His Majesty was his maternal uncle, and treated him better than even the unfavored princes. His Highness the Crown Prince was kind and benevolent, and treated him like a younger brother. There was no one in the entire city of Chang'an that Fan Lishen dared not offend. Wherever he went, he was surrounded by a large entourage and was fawned over by thousands.

He has a good temperament and can get along with everyone.

The sweeter the past, the more bitter the present.

Uncle Fu thought for a moment, then sighed, "Then this old servant will go and invite them..."

As Uncle Fu was speaking, he suddenly heard footsteps at the door. He turned his head and saw a boy wearing a straw hat standing at the door.

He carried his ever-present wooden box on his shoulder, his boots were wet, and he held two mutton flatbreads in his left hand. The flatbreads had the three characters "Tingwei Temple" on them, clearly indicating that they were taken directly from the canteen.

"Your Highness, the King of Chu..."

Ah Huang glanced at Uncle Fu, who tactfully bowed and left.

The room was quiet. Fan Lishen lay on the floor, his hand over his eyes, looking like a sunken corpse.

Ah Huang walked over, placed his trunk on the ground, squatted down next to Fan Lishen, and unceremoniously grabbed his chin. His strength was immense, and Fan Lishen felt a sharp pain; his chin felt like it was about to dislocate.

He struggled to push him away, but he had no strength left, let alone having eaten.

Even if he had just eaten a whole cow, it wouldn't be a match for Ah Huang's brute strength. He could take on more than just one cow; he could fight ten cows.

Seeing that the mouth was open, Ah Huang unceremoniously stuffed the meat pie he had taken from the small canteen of the Tingwei Temple into Fan Lishen's mouth.

"The corpses of those who starved to death are meaningless; I don't want to examine them."

Fan Lishen almost vomited because the meat pie was stuck in his throat. He struggled to turn over, propped himself up with his weak hands, and began to dry heave. The meat pie should have tasted pretty good originally.

But this guy had brought it all the way here with his bare hands, so the bread was long cold. The cooled mutton was greasy and had a strong, unpleasant smell, making it really hard to swallow.

Ah Huang ignored him, stood up, and carried his medicine box on his back.

“There’s nothing wrong with being alive. The Court of Justice has many corpses every day. They all want to live. They don’t want to become a lump of rotting flesh, they don’t want to be covered in maggots, and they don’t want to live in the dark underground.”

Eat the meat pie, and live well.

It's not just you; it's tough. Think of A-Zhao, think of Changying…

As Ah Huang spoke, he walked towards the door.

Hearing the footsteps fading away, Fan Lishen sat up and began eating the meat pie while crying.

He thought of Zhou Zhao, who four years ago had lost Zhou Yan and Chang Ying. When she died, the Zhou family matriarch wouldn't even let her coffin into the house.

Then there's Su Changying. He lost his mother long ago, and his father doted on his concubine, even giving up his title. His memory was erased, and he suffered endless torment as an undercover agent.

Even Ah Huang, whose mother died early, was raised by the Empress, but because of his eccentric nature, he was not favored by the Emperor and was often ridiculed and bullied... No one had the patience to coax a "fool".

They had no one to protect them and had to fight their way out on their own.

Zhou Zhao, a woman, became a court historian; Su Changying emerged from a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood and now commands the Northern Army; and A Huang also became a coroner at the Court of Justice. Recently, he even helped Zhou Zhao detoxify. Everyone praises him as a reclusive genius.

Even Chu You, the only one among the Six Heroes of Chang'an who had no martial arts skills and was physically weak, once built the First Building in Chang'an.

He was the only one who had always lived under his parents' wings, living in a daze for so many years, not knowing what he wanted to do or what he was supposed to do. After leaving his parents, he didn't even know how he should survive.

As Fan Lishen pondered this, tears streamed down her face even more profusely.

Uncle Fu stood quietly at the door, watching for a long time before Fan Lishen finally said, "Uncle Fu, I'm hungry. I want to drink some porridge."

Uncle Fu wiped his eyes. "Alright, alright, the porridge is still warming up in the kitchen. It's just the right time for dinner. Young master, drink your porridge and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, it will be a new beginning."

Fan Lishen gripped the brocade quilt covering his legs tightly with his hands.

A new beginning.

……

Zhou Zhao stood by the lake at the princess's residence and saw Ah Huang walking towards her with a box on his back. He then threw away the foxtail grass in his hand.

Did he eat the meat pie?

Ah Huang nodded emphatically. "Yes."

Zhou Zhao couldn't imagine what Ah Huang would do when feeding someone a pancake. After hesitating for a moment, he ultimately decided not to press the matter further.

Of the three of them, it would be more appropriate for Ah Huang to go see Fan Lishen, since Ah Huang is his direct cousin and blood relative.

"It's almost time, let's board the ship."

Upon hearing Su Changying's words, Zhou Zhao and A Huang jumped onto the small boat on the lake at the same time.

As dusk falls, the western sky turns a vibrant orange-red, and the lake ripples with shimmering light. The evening drum sounds, signaling the time to retrieve the treasure.