《The Golden Hairpin》


 CH 1

    Chapter 1: A Notoriety (Part 1)


    In the dark night, a rainstorm suddenly poured down. The mountains and forests far and near, the long and short rivers and canyons all lost their outline in the sudden rainstorm and gradually disappeared into invisibility.


    The road ahead got more and more blurred. Outside the city of Chang¡¯an, the lilacs planted along the mountain roads were also scattered by the torrential rain. Clusters of beautiful flowers were damaged in the torrential rain and degenerated into mud roads. Nobody could see them at night.


    Huang Zixia trudged forward through the darkness of the mountain road. The sky blue oil paper umbrella in her hand broke into fragments in the storm. The raindrops cold as a knife pierced through the broken surface of the umbrella and hit her cheek directly.


    She just looked up, and without hesitation she tossed her umbrella on the road and walked on in the heavy rain. The cold rain fell on her body. The sky was dim in the dark night. Only the glimmer of raindrops occasionally reflected the dim scenery in front of her. The whole world was blurred.


    At the corner of the mountain road stood a small pavilion. The current dynasty, they built big pavilions every ten Li [Chinese miles: Li=500m] and small pavilions every five Li, which was a resting place for passers-by. In such a dark night of wind and rain, there were three or four people either leaning or sitting in the pavilion, and talking to each other. Chang¡¯an City had a curfew. The city gate would only open from three to five o¡¯clock every morning. It was still early then. It must be the people waiting for the gate to open there.


    Huang Zixia stepped in the muddy water. She was wearing an extremely common variety of men¡¯s blue short shirts. Several people inside turned their heads and saw that it was a delicate young man. One of the old men said to her, ¡°Young man, you also want to enter the city early? You¡¯re all wet, rather pitiful. Hey, come here and sit by the fire.¡±


    Huang Zixia looked at his warm smile in the light of the fire, held onto the collar of her wet robe tightly, said thanks and sat down by the fire, two feet away from him. She quietly helped him to add firewood.


    Seeing that she only poked on the fire and did not speak, several people turned back and chatted with each other. They talked about all kinds of strange things in mainland China, and the people were even babbling exuberantly as if they had witnessed it with their own eyes on the spot.


    ¡°Speaking of these strange events, have you heard of the recent strange case in the capital recently?¡±


    ¡°Old Zhang is talking about the one called the ¡®Four Directions¡¯ case?¡± Someone immediately said, ¡°Three people died within three months, and they were the people who lived in the northern, southern and western suburbs of the capital city respectively, and leaving behind the three bloody characters ¡°J¨¬ng [¾» =Pure]¡±, ¡°L¨¨ [ÀÖ=happy]¡± and ¡°Wo [ÎÒ=I]¡±. It¡¯s strange and unpredictable, and the terror is extraordinary!¡±


    ¡°Yes, now it seems that the next murder case will be in the eastern suburbs of the city. So people in the east of the city are in a state of panic. It is said that all the people who can walk have already left. The eastern suburbs of the city are nearly empty.¡±


    Huang Zixia with her pair of fair and clear hands held the firewood branch, causing the fire to crackle in a small explosion of sparks as she watched the flame without any flicker of emotion on her calm mien.


    ¡°Now the world is in a state of turmoil. Not only in the capital city, but also in Shuzhong recently there has been a murder case. Have you heard of it?¡± One of them, a middle-aged man, was obviously a traveling storyteller. He habitually held a wooden gavel in his hand, and had a good conversation. ¡°Have you heard much about the murder cases? But this case is the massacre of the civil governor of Shuzhong County, Huang Min¡¯s family!¡±


    Huang Min.


    This name as it suddenly entered the ears of Huang Zixia who had been quiet all the while trembled unconsciously; the fire in her hands splashed a bit of spark on the back of her hand sending a pang of stark pain.


    Fortunately, everyone was surprised. No one paid attention to her at all. Since that topic was brought up, the noise of babbling continued: ¡°Isn¡¯t Huang Min the senior official who used to be a Deputy Minister of the Justice Department in the capital who had solved several strange cases in the past few years?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about it! It is said that this is not all Huang Min¡¯s power. He has a son and a daughter, there¡¯s no need to talk about his son, Huang Yan, but that daughter is a rare genius. It is said that when Huang Min was a Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice, she solved many mysterious cases for her father. At that time, she was only 14 or 15 years old. The current Emperor once praised her personally, saying that if she was a man, she must have the talent of a prime minister.¡±


    ¡°Haha, a talented person?¡± The storyteller sneered. ¡°Have you heard the rumors that Huang Min¡¯s daughter was born with blood in the room, and everyone who saw it said that the white tiger star came to this world and wanted to eat the whole family. Now it is true that the murder of the Huang family was committed by the daughter of the Huang family!¡±


    Huang Zixia forgot the sharp pain on the back of her hand. She was staring at the fire in front of her. The tongue of fire stuttered and licked the darkness, but no matter how red the fire was, it could not hide her pale face.


    People around looked at each other, and the old man couldn¡¯t believe it: ¡°You said it was the daughter of the Huang family who destroyed the whole family?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    This word, uttered without hesitation, was resolute.


    ¡°It¡¯s ridiculous. How can a daughter kill all her relatives?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true. The imperial court has already issued an arrest warrant. Huang¡¯s daughter is now absconding from authority. If she is caught, she will be cut into thousands of pieces, and die without a burial place!¡±


    ¡°If it is true, it will be a total loss of humanity with a non-existing sense of guilty conscience!¡±


    It was the old man who asked, ¡°What is the reason for such a tragedy in the world?¡±


    ¡°What else could it be? Women have shallow vision and of course, it¡¯s for the word ¡®emotion¡¯.¡± That storyteller uttered in an enthusiastic tone. ¡°It is said that she was betrothed since she was a child, but when she grew up, she had someone else she liked. So when grandmother and uncle came to discuss her marriage, she personally served a sheep¡¯s hoof soup. Huang Min, his wife Madame Yang, his son Huang Yan, and even her grandmother and uncle all died of poisoning. She was the only one who escaped and disappeared. They found the arsenic seal in her room, and found out that she bought arsenic in the drugstore a few days ago, which was recorded in black and white. Her parents forced her to marry someone else, so she killed the whole family in anger and invited her lover to elope together!¡±


    All the people in the pavilion were shocked by the tragedy of human relations. Another person asked, ¡°How did this vicious woman escape again?¡±


    ¡°She poisoned her parents and family members, so she asked her lover to elope overnight. However, the other party hated such a heartless woman, so he submitted her love letter to the government and took officials to their meeting place to arrest the vicious woman. As a result, the evil girl somehow noticed that there was something amiss and ran away! Now she is under arrest warrant by the government, and all the provincial yamen* have posted wanted notices. The net is so vast that it can not miss. I¡¯d like to see when this vicious woman will be caught and suffer the penalty of a thousand cut!¡±


    [yamen ¨C headquarters of Chinese government officials]


    The people who narrated said it with relish and those who listened were filled with indignation. For a time, there was an atmosphere of common hatred and common ground in the whole pavilion.


    Huang Zixia, who embraced her knees as she listened to the public¡¯s repugnance, suddenly felt sleepy and extremely tired. She put her face on her knees, her eyes staring blankly at the dim, flickering fire. Her clothes were half dry and half wet. On such a spring night, the cold air pierced the skin like an invisible needle, half awake and half asleep.


    It was still early, and the gate of the city was not open. The topic of people around turned to the recent anecdotes in the capital. For example, the emperor built a new Imperial Li Palace [À빬- L¨ª G¨­ng], Imperial Concubine Zhao personally stitched curtains for the Sanqing Palace, and how many young girls in the capital wanted to marry Prince Kui, and so on.


    [À빬- L¨ª G¨­ng, it means leaving the palace. When a prince is an adult, he may build a new palace, get married and live separately from the monarch.]


    ¡°By the way, is Prince Kui coming to the capital in these few days?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The emperor has had the pleasure of holding imperial banquets in the palace recently. The newly built Imperial Li Palace certainly needs a lot of excitement. How can the gathering in the palace be regarded as a celebration occasion without the presence of Prince Kui?¡±


    ¡°This Prince Kui is really an outstanding person in the royal family, and the late Emperor also dotes on him. No wonder Princess Qi Le desperately wants to marry Prince Kui, and she has become a laughingstock in the capital city several times.¡±


    ¡°Duke of Yi left such a daughter. If he knew about it in the afterlife realm, he would be angry with her and get resurrected from death¡­¡±


    When it comes to royal affairs, people naturally like to talk about it. Only Huang Zixia didn¡¯t pay attention to it. She just kept her eyes closed and listened to the outside world.


    The rain stopped as the morning light gradually illuminated the sky, there was a faint sound of horse¡¯s hooves coming.


    Huang Zixia immediately opened her eyes, left the gossiping lot, and quickly walked out of the pavilion.


    In the light of the morning, the rays of the rising sun were floating out of the sky. On the winding mountain road came a group of well-ordered guards. It was clear that they were still carrying raindrops, but they all cleaned up with vigilance, clearly they were well-trained.


    In the middle of the procession were two impeccable black horses, dragging a carriage slowly. The carriage carried the imperial dragon and phoenix symbol. It is painted in gold lacquer, decorated with blue-green turquoise stone in the shape of calms. Two small golden bells were hanging under the eaves of the carriage. As the carriage moved, it shook gently and made a trilling sound.


    The chariots and horses moved on past the pavilion. Huang Zixia followed from afar. At the end of the line, there was a soldier about her age, restless in the center of the March, glancing left and right. When he saw Huang Zixia at the back of the forest, he turned to the man beside him and said, ¡°Brother Lu, I don¡¯t know if I had something bad last night. I¡¯m going to relieve myself.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you? You¡¯re going into town. Can you catch up?¡± The man next to him lowered his voice and glared at him, ¡°The prince is very strict. If you are found out, you know what the consequences are!¡±


    ¡°Yes. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll catch up in a minute.¡± He covered his stomach and hurriedly turned the horse¡¯s head and plunged into the dense forest.


    Huang Zixia pulled herself out from behind the grass and ran to the soldier who was waiting for her. The other party had already taken off the uniform of the imperial palace guard in a hurry and took off the helmet to her: ¡°Miss Huang, can you¡­. ride a horse?¡±


    Huang Zixia took over his helmet and said in a low voice, ¡°Second brother Zhang, I am really grateful that you have risked so much to help me!¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? If I didn¡¯t rely on you, my parents would have died. If I didn¡¯t help you this time, my parents would kill me.¡± He patted his chest boldly, ¡°What¡¯s more, today I¡¯m just an escort of the procession, not on a military affair. Even if I¡¯m caught, it is still fine. Last time, Liu Wu also secretly asked someone to do errands for him, and he got away with just a few dozen flogging. Just have to stick to it and say that you are my cousin sister¡­ no, cousin brother. My cousin brother passed by and saw that I had diarrhea and couldn¡¯t stand up, so he took my place and served as a formality. Today, I¡¯m going to the city as a guard of honor. It¡¯s no big deal.¡± (Please read original translations from Cloud Manor and stop supporting theft.)


    Huang Zixia nodded, quickly took off her coat to him, and then put on his clothes. Although his clothes were a little bigger, she was slender and could still be seen.


    Huang Zixia hurriedly thanked Zhang Xingying, flew up and rushed out of the dense forest.

 CH 2

    Chapter 2: A Notoriety (Part 2)


    The sky had already turned a fiery red with the morning glow; a clear bright red glow traced the horizon. Huang Zixia urged the horse eagerly, and finally caught up with the imperial bodyguards and retinue of the palace when the gate of the city emerged in sight.


    At Mingde gate of Chang¡¯an City, of the five high gateways the three in the middle were originally closed; only the two small doors were opened. Seeing the arrival of the Royal Guard of Honor, they immediately opened the second gate on the left side, let alone check the honor guards.


    Huang Zixia was at the end of the line and followed the team into the city. At the moment of entering the city gate, she looked up at the arrest warrant attached to the door.


    On the shadow was a portrait of a 16-17-year-old woman with bright eyes like morning stars and a beautiful face like peach blossom petals. Her eyes facing forward and had a smile. The raised lip corners are pursed in a particularly playful and lovely arc, with an air of lightness and clearness of eyebrows. She was an extremely beautiful girl.


    Next to the portrait, there were a few lines¡ª¡ª


    Huang Zixia, a woman of Shu*(short name for Sichuan ËÄ´¨ province), was responsible for many homicide cases and committed a heinous crime. The governments of each province will arrest the person at sight, dead or alive.


    Huang Zixia¡¯s eyelashes drooped and slightly flickered, but she quickly raised her head again and composed her demeanor; her manner self-contained.


    Most of her face was sheathed, and Elder Brother Lu couldn¡¯t see her face clearly. He drove his horse along Zhuque Street and said, ¡°Fortunately, no one has noticed.¡±


    Huang Zi nodded.


    Most of the princes¡¯ residences were in Yongjia district. After passing through the Eastern suburbs of the city, Prince Kui¡¯s palace could be seen in the distance.


    As per her plan with Second Brother Zhang in advance, once she entered the palace, she¡¯d tie up the horses, and immediately slip away in a low-key way. At that time, everyone would be having breakfast in the front yard of the horse warden, and no one would pay too much attention to her.


    She tied up the horses, turned around and sped out of the courtyard. Someone called her, ¡°Zhang Xingying, don¡¯t you want to eat?¡±


    As if Huang Zixia didn¡¯t hear him, she slipped out by the door.


    Later, the Elder Brother Lu explained for her, ¡°Is your stomach upset again? This is the second time in the morning.¡±


    People ridiculed her with a few words, then no longer paid any attention to her, and went to eat breakfast prepared earlier.


    Huang Zixia slipped to the door, pulled down her helmet and walked out.


    When Huang Zixia set her feet down on the last of the steps, someone suddenly called after her: ¡°Hello, where are you going?¡±


    Huang Zixia was not sure if he was calling her. Her steps stopped for a moment in the air mid-step. Then she heard the voice of the man clearly say, ¡°Yes, you from the honor guard. The news just came that there is still a shortage of manpower in the newly built Imperial Li Palace. You are going to follow the prince to the palace this time.¡±


    Huang Zixia¡¯s heart cluttered for a moment. She didn¡¯t expect her luck to be so bad.


    The person said with a laugh: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll get three more silver tael* per day, is it not something to be happy about? Go back to eat and set out later.¡±


    [*tael ¨C a former Chinese monetary unit]


    Huang Zixia had no choice but to turn slowly, bow to the leader who stopped her, and then stick to the wall and return to the front yard of the horse stable. Breakfast was definitely not to be eaten, in case of exposing her face ¨C everything would be over. However, she could not stay in the palace and risk being seen; she¡¯d be doomed. Besides, she had to go out and look for someone who could help her¡ª¡ª


    Standing at the corner of the wall, her eyes fell on the carriage which was leaning against the corner after being unloaded. Blinking and looking around, there was a lot of noise in the front yard, everyone was eating, and the people in the backyard were busy feeding grass for the horses. There was no one at the corner of the door except for her and the carriage.


    She stepped on the shaft of the carriage and carefully opened the door. There was no one in the carriage. There was only a wide seat and a coffee table nailed down on the floor of the wagon. The seat is covered with a blue Kui dragon pattern brocade mat, which contrasts with the crimson peonies on the dark purple Persian tapestry. They were luxurious and elegant. They were newly laid out and no one should come to replace it.


    Huang Zixia quickly took off her uniform and helmet behind the carriage, stuffed them into the corner behind the stone lantern, and climbed onto the carriage.


    There was not much space in the carriage, but there must be a space under the seat. In order to make use of the space, it was usually made into a cabinet to put things. She climbed into the carriage and lifted the curtain hanging from the seat. It turned out that there was indeed a cabinet underneath.


    The cabinet door was carved with countless auspicious clouds and auspicious animals. The cabinet door was to be pushed and pulled from left to right. She opened the door of the cupboard and was surprised. There were only a few pieces of spices in it, and the rest was empty.


    She tried to curl up in the cupboard, gently pulled the door of the cupboard, sweating because she was nervous. Fortunately, the cupboard door was hollowed out, and the cloth in front of her concealed the void. She could only see the shadow outside.


    She didn¡¯t dare breathe loudly; Huang Zixia lay there quietly, listening to her pounding heart. Numerous thoughts flashed through her mind. What if she was taken into the palace, whether the horse stable in the palace was closely guarded, and whether she could take the opportunity to escape.


    Before she could figure it out, there was a sound coming from outside to set up horses, dress up and line up. Then, suddenly, there was no more sound. While she was still thinking, the carriage moved slightly, the door rang softly, and someone got on.


    From the crevice of the cupboard, she could only see the man¡¯s feet. The black leather boots with Kui pattern of gold thread soundlessly stepped on the thick, soft blanket laid on the car.


    When the man sat steadily, the carriage body shook slightly, and the carriage had already started.


    Trapped in the cabinet for a long time, coupled with her shaking body, she felt like a chicken being stuffed back into the eggshell. Huang Zixia forced herself to slow down her breathing to avoid being detected.


    Fortunately, the rattling of the carriage and horses covered the sound of her heart and breath.


    It was a long journey, but it finally left the gate and headed towards the western suburbs. The horse and carriage bumped along the way, and when they reached a small bridge, the Prince Kui on the carriage finally said, ¡°Stop.¡±


    The carriage stopped slowly by the bridge. From the perspective of Huang Zixia in the cabinet, she could not see the face of Prince Kui. She only saw that he reached for a wide mouth glass bottle on the small table and handed it outside through the window: ¡°Add some water.¡±


    In the glass bottle, there was a bright red fish swimming, dragging its tulle-like tail as it swam slowly. In the light blue glass bottle, the bright red fish radiated a wonderful lavender colour, exuding a lovely charm.


    Huang Zixia¡¯s heart was full of doubts. She didn¡¯t know why the powerful Prince Kui took a glass bottle with him and raised a little red fish.


    Hearing the sound of gurgling water and the bodyguard¡¯s footsteps hurried, he soon filled the glass bottle with water and handed it up. Prince Kui took over the glass bottle and placed it lightly on the small table. The small fish in it had more space to move and swam more happily.


    As Huang Zixia pondered, the car and horse started again, which caught her off guard, and her forehead suddenly hit the cabinet door with a ¡°dong¡± sound.


    She bit her lip really hard so that she wouldn¡¯t cry out loud. She was sure that her voice was very low. The sound of the wheels should cover it up, but she still looked out nervously through the crevice.


    Unable to see the face of the person sitting outside, from her point of view, through the drooping corner of cloth tassel and the hollow hole of the brocade mat, she saw him slowly reach out for the dark porcelain saucer on the table, lift the teapot and pour a cup of water.


    Huang Zixia watched him through the carving of the cupboard. In the back light, she could see his palms. The joints were symmetrical and slightly convex, and the curves were graceful. They were a pair of pampered but powerful hands. He held the saucer with three fingers; the blue saucer was like spring water and pear blossoms in his fair hands.


    After that, with a swift kick with the tip of his foot, he pushed open the door of the cabinet below, and poured a dish of water into it.


    Huang Zixia, who was peeping at him secretly, was immediately taken aback by the water and cried out in a low voice.


    He threw away the saucer, grabbed Huang Zixia¡¯s shoulder and dragged her out. His right hand pressed her throat and his left foot stepped on her chest.


    For a moment, Huang Zixia laid at his feet like a dead fish. What was remarkable was that the other party hadn¡¯t got up at all.


    Caught off guard, Huang Zixia laid on the ground looking up at him, her expression slightly at a loss unable to comprehend what just happened.


    She saw the face of the person who restrained her. Dark and deep eyes, a tall and straight nose, and tightly pressed thin lips, which unconsciously showed a kind of indifference and alienation to the world. He had on blue and rainy brocade, embroidered with blue clouds and dark patterns, with mild color and pattern, but it seemed light on him. In that kind of casual appeal, it gave people the feeling that only such indifference and detachment could bring out such a refined elegance.


    The Prince of Kui, family name Li whose name was Shubai, was the most outstanding figure in the royal family of that dynasty. Even the current emperor praised that ¡°There is Shubai in the world, hence I am not lonely.¡±. It was said that the people who were extremely noble and prosperous were so indifferent.


    Li Shubai lowered his eyelashes and raised his feet slightly. He seemed to sense that she did not know martial arts. His left hand skimmed slightly on her neck to make sure that the neck of the other party was soft and tender, and there was no laryngeal knot*.


    (make sure that the person¡¯s neck was soft and delicate, without Adam¡¯s apple)


    Huang Zixia quickly raised her hand, opened the palm pressing on her neck, and drew back vigilantly. Her eyes, bright as spring dew, were staring at him as if a cub had seen a hunter.


    Li Shubai¡¯s eyes slowly fell on her face and looked at her for a long time. Then he took back his feet, opened the drawers of the small table, took a snow-white brocade handkerchief, wiped his hands and threw them at the person in front of him. He said with disgust: ¡°As a woman, at least clean yourself up.¡±


    The brocade kerchief fell on her body, like a slow and silent cloud. She slowly closed her ten fingers, realizing that her disguise had been seen through, before shame and indignation surged into her heart. She looked up at the man in front of her, opened her lips, but could not say anything.


    All the way from Shuzhong County to Chang¡¯an, she had been hiding very well. No one had ever noticed that she was pretending to be a man, but now she was seen through by him, and she was also looked at with such disgust.


    She ran away at night, running around for days, and she could be described as looking haggard. The clothes were dry and wet, crumpled and stuck to her body. They could not see the original appearance. The face was withered and wan, and the hair was scattered and disordered; she was extremely embarrassed.


    The sound inside had already been noticed, and someone outside tapped on the wall of the car: ¡°Your Highness?¡±


    He responded with hmm sound, he said: ¡°It¡¯s ok.¡±


    There was no sound outside. The carriage was still moving steadily, and he asked blandly, ¡°When did you board? What are you doing in my carriage?¡±


    Her eyelashes blinked slightly, and various pretexts flashed in her head. In a moment, she chose the shortest and most persuasive statement in front of her. She then lowered her eyelashes and gently bit her lower lip. A thin blush appeared on her cheek, and she whispered, ¡°I am Zhang Xingying¡¯s cousin. Today, he was in the suburbs of the city with a sharp stomach ache. He was afraid that he would delay his business trip and would have taken the military caning. My family happens to live there. When he saw me passing by, he asked me to dress up as him and come over to respond.¡±


    ¡°And then how did you show up in my carriage?¡±


    ¡°Because¡­because I was going to slip away when I arrived at the palace, but I was stopped and told that I was to go to the palace. But as soon as I saw someone else, I was in a hurry to find an escape, I had to do something. So, I hid in your car, hoping to take the opportunity to leave. Who would have known¡­ that I¡¯d be caught¡­¡±


    Her mien looked embarrassed and shy, as if she was really tough enough to say this, with a kind of perplexed and alarmed look.


    ¡°That sounds reasonable.¡± He leaned on the brocade mat with a cold look, ¡°So, what¡¯s your family name?¡± (Please read original translations from Cloud Manor)


    Her heart sank slightly, but on the surface she did not hesitate: ¡°My surname is Yang.¡±


    ¡°Yang?¡± He sneered at her and didn¡¯t even look at her: ¡°Zhang Xingying, second in the family, is six feet and an inch long, and is left-handed. He was born in Puningfang*, Chang¡¯an city, in the year 848, Tang dynasty. His father, Zhang Weiyi, was born in Luoyang, he moved to Chang¡¯an two years ago and remained there until today. His mother, maiden name Feng, was the only daughter of the Feng family in Xinchangfang, Chang¡¯an city. His elder brother married Cheng¡¯s daughter in Fengyifang, capital city a year ago. He has no children. Where did you come from, cousin Yang?¡±


    ·» f¨¡ng = lane (usually as part of a street name)

 CH 3

    Chapter 3: A Notoriety (Part 3)


    She didn¡¯t expect that this man could tell all the information about a little bodyguard. She was stunned for a moment, and then she could only say, ¡°In fact, Zhang Xingying and I are sworn brother and sister. We¡­¡± She looked like she had a fish stuck in her throat*, but he pretended not to notice, and waited for her to continue to make up the following words.


    (too embarrassed or shy to talk/ difficult to express)


    She knew that this man had already understood everything, but now she was on the verge of an attack. She could only immediately replace the central idea of her lies and quickly replace the relationship between cousin and sister with an ambiguous relationship. With a hesitant look on her face, she said, ¡°I have a good relationship with Zhang Xingying. Since I was a child, I have liked playing polo and dressing up as a man. I was afraid that he would be punished by military law, so I wanted to replace him and come here because his stomach is upset. So, I robbed his horse, but he could not catch up with me. That¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°Then, when you left for the palace, why didn¡¯t you choose to speak these words to the team leader, and made a choice that would put both you and Zhang Xingying in a more serious situation ¡ª hide in my carriage?¡± He used the slender fingers to tap on the table, and the slow rise and fall of the fingertips seemed to hit her in the heart, and she began to have an ominous premonition.


    Sure enough, he sneered and mercilessly exposed her words: ¡°Therefore, you must cover up one thing, which is more serious than you pretending to be one of my guards, or even more serious than being executed on the spot as an assassin.¡±


    She was silent, and the situation was better than others. She had been taking risks, but now she was caught. She had no choice but to wait for his judgment.


    ¡°A woman in the suburbs in the early morning, wearing men¡¯s clothes which still have traces of your journey on the road in the rain. I think no one would believe that you and Zhang Xingying had not planned and colluded this in advance.¡±


    He looked at her; her head lowered and speechless, only her thick black eyelashes were trembling slightly, resisting her stubborn appearance. He couldn¡¯t help but sneer, and said, ¡°Hold out your left hand.¡±


    She bit her lower lip, held the palm of her left hand up, and slowly stretched it out.


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s hands record everything they have done in their life so far. Other things can be hidden, but your hands can¡¯t be hidden.¡± He lowered his eyes and looked at her palm, and on the corners of his lips finally appeared a faint smile, ¡°Your hand tells me that you have a good background and have been smart since childhood. There was a change in your life at the age of thirteen. You left Chang¡¯an and went to Sichuan. Am I right?¡±


    She looked up at him, trying to calm her voice: ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°There you met the person you like. As can be seen from your palm prints, you are cold-hearted and resolute. Therefore, you could completely slaughter the family members for love. As for the technique¡­¡±


    He curled his lips at her and said coldly: ¡°Kill by poison.¡±


    As if a needle pierced them, her eyelashes jumped suddenly, and her hidden identity was suddenly revealed. She subconsciously folded her fingers, as if to hide a nightmare. She put her hand on her chest, staring at the person in front of her.


    The person in front of her gazed at her, on his countenance was a kind of happy expression of seeing the prey throw itself into the net: ¡°So, your name is Huang Zixia.¡±


    She looked down at her palm print, and her initial shock gradually subsided. She put down her palm, retracted her sleeve, and whispered, ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Which one is wrong?¡± He asked faintly, ¡°Life experience, murder, or your identity?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Huang Zixia, but I didn¡¯t kill people.¡± She took a deep breath and whispered, ¡°It¡¯s even more impossible that I would kill my family.¡±


    He leaned on the brocade mat behind him, and even his mouth was filled with a cold smile: ¡°Do you mean that you have been wronged?¡±


    She knelt in the carriage and looked up at him. The peony flowers woven on the soft blanket were bright and clear. She was a tiny insect on the peony petals. She was tiny and thin. The person opposite could crush her with a finger at any time.


    However, she did not care about the situation of being looked down upon from above. Even if she knelt down there, she still kept her back straight. When she looked up at him, her expression was calm, but she was even more stubborn: ¡°Prince Kui, who does not have parents? How can I do that as a child? I came all the way to the capital for this unjust case. Suffering injustice is second, but my parents¡¯ and relatives¡¯ grudges must be reported, so I fled to Chang¡¯an to find opportunities to redress for my parents and relatives. Zhang Xingying pitied me, so he would help me even if he was punished. Please forgive him for his kindness and don¡¯t involve him.¡±


    ¡°A good heart? Who knows if his kindness has helped the wicked?¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m a murderer, I can find a place to hide my name, but I can¡¯t hide for a lifetime, otherwise my parents and relatives will not die in peace!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to explain to me. You can talk to the Court of Judicial Review* or the Ministry of Justice.¡± He cast his eyes indifferently on the pattern of the brocade curtain beside him and said, ¡°You can go now. I hate staying with people who are dishevelled. Especially in such a small place.¡±


    [´óÀíË da li si = civil force of a state/police]


    In such a case, ignoring her was already a leniency to her.


    Huang Zixia slightly pursed her lower lip and saluted him. When she looked up, her eyes fell on the glass bottle. The little red fish in the bottle was still swaying in the water, and its long tail was like tulle.


    She lowered her voice and whispered, ¡°The name of this fish is ¡®Agashine¡¯. It comes from the country of Tianzhu. It is said that it is the result of the wandering thought of the Dragon girl who serves the Sutra in front of the Buddha¡¯s throne, and often appears next to people who have died.¡±


    Prince Kui¡¯s eyes brushed over the glass bottle, and his voice was calm: ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I have heard of it. However, in my opinion, this may be a hypothetical rhetoric conjured up by people with ulterior motives. There are two reasons for this. One is that some people who can¡¯t solve the case fabricate the theory of gods and ghosts to evade responsibility; the second is that the murderer deliberately spreads rumours in order to confuse the public. ¡°


    The corners of Prince Kui¡¯s lips finally raised slightly and asked, ¡°What else?¡±


    ¡°What appears at the scene of the murder should be ominous, but the Your Highness always takes it with you. Obviously, the relationship between the dead and Your Highness is extraordinary. Moreover, the murder case may still be unresolved.¡±


    ¡°And then?¡±


    She pondered for a moment, then finally said slowly, ¡°If Your Highness is willing to help me, I can help you find out the result of the murder. No matter how long ago, no matter whether the trace still exists or not, I will be able to give you a clear explanation.¡±


    Prince Kui raised his hand to the glass bottle and looked thoughtfully at the scarlet light on the fish.


    The fish swam slowly in the glass bottle, and was not startled by the ripple.


    Prince Kui raised his hand to touch the head of the little fish. He watched it dive into the water after being frightened. Then he slowly took back his fingers. He slowly raised his eyes and looked at the person kneeling in front of him. He said, ¡°Huang Zixia, how daring you are?¡±


    Huang Zixia knelt down in front of him, and looked at him with her own eyes as clear as dew.


    ¡°Do you know that even the current emperor says that he can¡¯t interfere with this matter, but you dare to take charge of it and say that you can handle this case?¡± He looked down at her coldly, and she found that he had a pair of extremely deep eyes, which were even more daunting on that indifferent face. ¡°This is a taboo of the imperial court, but it still leaked out. Where did you hear about this old case, and you¡¯re going to trade it with me?¡±


    Huang Zixia hadn¡¯t expected that there were so many ferocious waves hidden behind this little fish. She bowed her head to him, but her face was still calm: ¡°Forgive me, I haven¡¯t heard about it. I just saw the little fish and thought of that absurd statement. The rest, I guessed; I really didn¡¯t know in advance.¡±


    He coldly put the glass bottle on the table and looked at her expression: ¡°I thought so you wouldn¡¯t dare.¡±


    ¡°But the revelation of the truth in the world lies not in daring, but in being able to.¡± Huang Zixia said in a low voice, ¡°Listening to what Your Highness just said, this case must be thrilling and implicated, perhaps more bizarre than the death of my parents. But I think that as long as someone really dares to check, the truth will come out.¡±


    Prince Kui did not answer, but asked, ¡°Since you have come to the capital to redress the injustice, there should be solid evidence to know who your family¡¯s enemy is?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± She was silent and frowned slightly. ¡°After the incident, I was regarded as a vicious suspect and could only abscond. But as long as Your Highness helps me and gives me some time, I believe I can find it!¡±


    He raised his eyebrows slightly: ¡°I remember that when you were in Chang¡¯an, you had solved several dubious cases in the capital city. I heard that when you were in Shuzhong County, you helped your father solve many problems, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­ Yes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s absolutely you during your younger days, however people change as they grow. When you were 14 years old, you helped your father solve a pending case. How come you can¡¯t even find your own enemy now?¡± His lips rose and said with a little mock, ¡°Even her own injustice can not be washed away, but also dares to speak up to this prince without being ashamed, trying to make a deal with me?¡±


    Huang Zixia was silent. Li Shubai saw her biting her lower lip, but she just didn¡¯t make a sound, so stubborn. The 17-year-old girl was haggard and dishevelled, but it was difficult to cover up the clear and bright complexion, compared with the something that appeared in his mind, vaguely reconnecting piece by piece.


    So he lowered his voice a little bit and said, ¡°Huang Zixia, everyone in the world says you are a murderer. If I speak for you, will the world suspect that I have any private affair with you? What¡¯s more, if the Court of Judicial Review or the Ministry of Justice really gives you extra legal grace because I help you out, wouldn¡¯t it be that I use my power to distort the legal principle of the country?¡±


    Kneeling down, Huang Zixia listened but did not not utter a word, only bit down on her own lips.


    Li Shubai didn¡¯t look at her, but said, ¡°You go out. I¡¯m not interested in asking about your business, and I¡¯m not interested in disclosing your whereabouts to the yamen. You are on your own.¡±


    She paused, just silently bowed her head, ready to get out of the carriage. She knew that the man on the opposite side, though holding heavy power in his hand, was not related to her. It was impossible for him to help her. He had not sent someone to tie her up and deliver to the Court of Judicial Review on the spot, and it was already a mercy.


    So, she had to bow down to him. Just as she was about to get up, the carriage stopped slowly. The imperial guard outside said, ¡°Your Highness, you have arrived at the Palace of Jianbi.¡±


    The Palace of Jianbi is just the newly completed Imperial Li Palace* [À빬- L¨ª G¨­ng] . It¡¯s just around the outskirts of Chang¡¯an, it was only ten miles away from the Palace of Great Brilliance (´óÃ÷¹¬D¨¤m¨ªng g¨­ng) and the journey took just enough time for them to finish speaking.


    [À빬- L¨ª G¨­ng, it means leaving the palace. When a prince is an adult, he may build a new palace, get married and live separately from the monarch.]


    Li Shubai lifted up the window and looked outside. Seeing that all the princes had arrived, there was a lot of noise outside. He could not help but frown, and said, ¡°It seems that I will inevitably be found in the same carriage with the female murderer.¡±


    Huang Zixia obstinately said in a low voice, ¡°I didn¡¯t kill anyone!¡±


    He also ignored, lifted the curtain, and said: ¡°Get down.¡±


    She hesitated and followed him out of the carriage. A low stool had already been placed under the carriage. She stepped down on the stool, but her feet were not yet stable. She felt that she was gently kicked; her knees bent back, and her body fell forward involuntarily. There was a pond in front of her. The freshly planted lotus leaves were drooping listlessly, and the water was very muddy. She fell into the water and coughed violently by the sewage. She was so embarrassed that she could not get up. (Please read original translations from cloudmanor)


    Li Shubai turned to meet the palace maids who were coming towards him, he said: ¡°This person is clumsy! You get her to wash up, and let her walk back on her own.¡±


    He was too lazy to explain as to whether she was a man or a woman, and let Huang Zixia deal with it by herself.


    [He/Him(Ëû) and She/Her(Ëý) Chinese pronunciation are homonyms]

 CH 4

    Chapter 4: The Four Directions of Bodhi (Part 1)


    The people behind pulled Huang Zixia out of the pool, and Li Shubai had already entered the Palace of Jianbi.


    Huang Zixia got up from the mud and looked at Li Shubai¡¯s back. She secretly clenched her teeth and couldn¡¯t help but kick her feet in the mud. A few streaks of mud splashed on her cheek. However, her whole body was covered in mud, so she didn¡¯t care.


    The people behind quickly reached out to pull her up, and the palace maids took her to take a bath. Looking at her clothes as if they were men¡¯s clothes, an older maiden chuckled and said, ¡°Sir eunuch, please wait a moment, we¡¯ll help you bathe and change clothes later.¡±


    ¡°No need.¡± She would not take off her clothes and show it to others. If she was found to be a woman, it would be easy to connect her with the wanted fugitive, Huang Zixia.


    So, she brushed off the hands of the palace maids, went straight to the well, picked up a bucket of water and poured it directly on her body.


    Although it was spring, the weather was still cold. She poured a bucket of water on her head. It was biting cold. The silt on her body was still not removed, and she seemed to be numb. She took another bucketful of water to wash herself mindlessly.


    The palace maids beside her were all stunned and stood motionless.


    After she washed herself down with two buckets of water, Huang Zixia felt that her mind became clear. She threw away the bucket and stood wet by the well, and took heavy, shuddering breaths.


    Because of the cold, her ears were buzzing, and the scenery in front of her was not very clear, only the phantom of Li Shubai¡¯s face and his cold gaze remained.


    He had said, ¡°I¡¯m not interested in asking about you, nor am I interested in disclosing your whereabouts to the yamen. You are on your own.¡±


    Not interested in¡­


    The death of her parents, the murder of her relatives, and her being subject to unjust treatment were all things that had nothing to do with him. Of course, he had no interest in asking.


    She was just a speck of dust in front of him.


    However, she threw the bucket in her hand by the well and clenched her fist secretly. Her nails were deeply digging into her palms, but she did not feel any pain and just clung to them.


    ¡®However, Huang Zixia, he is your greatest hope.¡¯ She said to herself clearly while gritting her teeth.


    The man who disliked her at the first sight for not cleaning herself up, the man who kicked her into the mire mercilessly, and the man who clearly showed no interest in her, Li Shubai, the Prince of Kui, was her greatest hope.


    Prince of Kui, Li Shubai, was more reliable than the power she had originally wanted to use¡ªthe old friends of her father, the relatives of small officials who were 3,000 miles away, and that method had risks of the case being reported. Therefore, no matter how contemptuous he was and how much she was despised, she had already made a decision in her heart the moment when the cold water washed over her.


    In the early spring, under the sun, the cold wind was sharp. She shivered, turned back from the well, and slowly walked down the steps. At this moment, she heard the voice in her heart. She heard that voice saying to her in a low voice, ¡®Huang Zixia, have you ever thought about a man who is so deep and terrifying, that your best reaction now would be to turn around and flee? Never look back, never get one step closer to him?¡¯


    Ignoring her dripping hair and damp clothes, she just walked down the stairs, step by step.


    She gave a stiff smile to the palace maids standing there, and forced herself to restrain her shivering cold body: ¡°Please help me get a set of eunuch¡¯s clothes, and I will go to serve Prince Kui.¡±


    She wrapped her chest roughly, put on a single plain yarn, tied a thin silk ribbon, and made a simple double knot.


    Huang Zixia stood in front of the bronze mirror and took a look at the person in the mirror ¨C a eunuch with wet hair cascading down her shoulders and chest. She looked like a delicate and slender teenager. Her eyebrows were clear and her face was slightly haggard, but her eyes were as placid as a deep pool; it was not the appearance of a girl (her identity and appearance no longer resembled that of a girl¡¯s).


    Taking a deep breath, she casually tucked her half wet hair into the eunuch¡¯s veil, turned to pull the latch, and strode out of the room.


    Following the direction of the palace maids, she entered the main road of Jianbi Palace. That day, Jianbi Palace was newly completed. The weather was naturally different. In front of the vast lake, the water was sparkling, and there were countless Tang wooden boats shuttling on the lake. The sing-song girls who were on the podium in the middle of the lake were dancing to their songs. There was a long row of pink gauze palace lanterns hanging on the willow trees beside the lake. The spring breeze was blowing, and the day was warm. It was a blend of scenery.


    At the front was the main hall, and a huge screen-wall stood in front of the hall. On it were written four characters ¡°Jian bi mi zhang.*¡±


    [*½¡åöÃÖÕ jian bi mi zhang, is a verse that carved on a wooden plaque that hung particularly at the entrance/main hall of the house as a praised or appreciation by someone to the owner of the mansion.]


    Standing in front of the screen-wall, she looked up at the four big characters, and felt that the strokes of the four characters were relaxed and had a sense of dignity. After hearing someone say: ¡°This is the emperor¡¯s handwriting, as a small eunuch like you can also tell this is something good?¡±


    When she looked back, she saw a man in purple, about twenty years old. His skin was bright and fair, showing a purity that did not commensurate with his age. There was a cinnabar mole in the middle of his forehead, which, against his snow-white skin and dark hair, had an extremely ethereal breath.


    Appearing in such a place, at this age, with a cinnabar mole on his forehead, Huang Zixia immediately thought of his identity. She hurriedly bowed to the smiling young man and saluted: ¡° Paying respects to Prince Hubei.¡±


    It was Li Run, the Prince of Hubei. He had the best temper among all the royal princes, and he was an amiable and gentle boy.


    He smiled and nodded to her, his gaze stayed on her face for a moment, and he asked, ¡°You are from this palace? Which eunuch brought you, how did they send you here?¡±


    As the eunuchs in the palace all know, for those eunuchs who got designated a post in the Imperial Li Palace would have a bleak future, they couldn¡¯t see the emperor or empress all year round. Like the palace maids, they were mostly almost in their old age. Therefore, those sent here were usually the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled.


    She looked calm and said, ¡°I came with Prince Kui. I fell into the water when I just got off the carriage. The palace maids took me to change my clothes.¡±


    Li Run said with a smile, ¡°Is that so? I¡¯ll take you in.¡±


    She followed Li Run around the screen wall. The palace maids led the way in front of her. She saw a group of people sitting in the hall listening to a woman playing the pipa* (lute). The sound of pipa was like pearly jade, jumping and flowing. With the bright sun at this time, the ambience was indescribable and comfortable.


    Pipa (lute)


    ¡°What a pity to interrupt such a good pipa recital.¡± Li Run said, standing outside the hall to listen. Huang Zixia could only stand quietly behind him and wait for the end of the song before entering together.


    Li Shubai, the Prince of Kui, Li Rui, the ninth-Prince of Zhao, and Li Wen, the youngest-Prince of Kang, were seated in the hall. A pretty woman dressed in yellow, with a blooming begonia flower on her side, holding a pipa sat opposite them.


    The Prince of Zhao was a rich and idle man. He was 18-19-years old,  but he still liked to play like a teenager. He didn¡¯t look like a prince. When he saw Prince Hubei coming, he waved to him happily: ¡°Seventh brother, come on, come on.¡± I found a wonderful person in the Jiaofang guesthouse. Her pipa skill is unparalleled in the world.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve just heard half of the song from outside, and it¡¯s true that this song should only exist in the sky.¡± Li Run said, sitting near Li Shubai, asked, ¡°Fourth brother, where is the emperor?¡±


    ¡°The emperor had a head ailment this morning, and is consulting with the imperial doctor. He will come back later.¡± Li Shubai said, his gaze lifted slightly and gave Huang Zixia¡¯s figure a glance, but did not say anything.


    Huang Zixia bit her teeth in secret and walked quickly behind him. She stood with her head bowed; she looked like a loyal eunuch.


    Prince of Kang, Li Wen, was curiously looking at her until the Prince of Zhao¡¯s chuckles entered his ears: ¡°Speaking of it, the emperor is still worrying about the fourth brother?¡± Li Wen immediately turned his attention and asked, ¡°What about?¡±


    Li Shubai had already heard the wind, but he only smiled faintly and said nothing.


    ¡°Look at this man feigning ignorance!¡± Li Rui looked around the crowd, pointed to Li Shubai and laughed, ¡°What else do you think? It¡¯s natural for you to get married. The prince who is still single after 20 years of age is really rare in this dynasty. Fourth brother, the fact you continue to behave decently and decorously, it¡¯s appalling to the public!¡±


    Li Run also said, ¡°Exactly, it was said that they had chosen a princess consort for fourth brother four years ago, but when Grand Imperial Concubine Wu died, since you had made up your mind to keep filial piety for your mother and mourn for three years, nothing could be done about it. It happened that after the expiration of filial piety, Pang Xun, the traitor, made trouble again. You went to the south to pacify the rebellion and delayed it again. However, fourth elder brother, you are not too young anymore. If you don¡¯t take a princess consort, I¡¯m afraid Imperial Uncle and Grand Imperial Consort Wu will not let you go.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The emperor and the empress have taken great pains. You can¡¯t escape the marriage this time.¡± Even Li Wen, the Prince of Kang, also coaxed and offered him wine.


    Li Rui¡¯s eyes fell on the pipa girl peeping at Li Shubai¡¯s figure and asked, ¡°Jin Nu, what have you been looking at Prince Kui for a long time for?¡±


    During the banquet, all the princes laughed, and Li Shubai only raised his eyebrows slightly. The Tang dynasty, the Jiaofang guesthouse was a place with open-mindedness in the relationship of a man and woman. The courtesans at Jiaofang guesthouse often played with the bodyguards, and even their romantic affairs were proudly talked about openly. Because the pipa girl Jin Nu was not shy, she just half covered her face with the pipa, and said with a smile:


    ¡°May Jin Nu boldly say, I¡¯ve been listening to rumors in the capital city that Prince Kui¡¯s demeanor is beautiful and graceful, like a man from heaven. When I saw him today, he really is worthy of his reputation. No wonder this humble servant has seen in the Jiaofang guesthouse that the hearts of all the sisters are with Prince Kui.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that your sisters will be sad.¡± Li Rui held Jin Nu¡¯s shoulder with one hand and said with a smile, ¡°You go back and tell all the sisters that my fourth brother¡¯s iron heart will disappoint them. It¡¯s better to place your trust in me and have some hope.¡±


    As the laughter of Jin Nu resonated in the hall, servings of wine and food were replenished. The maids of the palace shuttled back and forth, and the sound of music was in full swing.


    In this bustling scene, Huang Zixia felt that she was an outsider. She just stood there motionless and her eyes fell on Li Shubai¡¯s back. She seemed to be looking at him, but actually she didn¡¯t look at anything, just thinking about her own affairs.


    A group of people chatted when someone suddenly asked Li Shubai, ¡°Fourth brother, I¡¯ve heard that the Emperor intended Lord Zhou Xiang1 to take over the post of Governor of Shuzhong County. What do you think?¡±


    Li Shubai said casually, ¡°I only heard that Lord Zhou has a good name, besides work, I didn¡¯t have any other dealings with him. However, I find his son Zhou Ziqin worthy of admiration.¡± Li Shubai said with a smile.


    Li Rui laughed amusedly, ¡°Exactly, exactly, Lord Zhou has a good temper, but if he gets angry, every time, it must be caused by Zhou Ziqin. And I also think that he is really worthy of admiration!¡±


    Li Run said: ¡°I have seen Zhou Ziqin before, he didn¡¯t seem disobedient and unfilial to me!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not rebellious but brought shame to his family. Lord Zhou has been teaching all his sons very well. The first three or four elder brothers of Zhou Ziqin are capable and Lord Zhou didn¡¯t expect much from his youngest son, even if he turned out to be a rich playboy, it is still passable. But this son, who doesn¡¯t like books, doesn¡¯t have any great skills, even though he doesn¡¯t gamble or cheat.. Every day, he only likes to run to the mortuary, which has become a big joke in the capital city.¡±  (Please read original translations from cloud manor.)


    ¡°Mortuary?¡± Li Wen, Prince of Kang, paused from laughing.


    Li Rui said with a smile: ¡°Indeed, his first wish in life was to be a post-mortem examiner2. With that, he was beaten several times by Lord Zhou, so he had to change his ambition and wanted to become a constable. Everyday he constantly pestering on the head of the constables in the capital city to give him a position Ò» isn¡¯t this an insignificant job? The head of the constables did not dare to offend neither Lord Zhou, the Deputy Minister of Justice department nor Zhou Ziqin. When they saw him, they got so scared that they vanished quickly like a ghost!¡±


    Li Wen guffawed and said to Li Shubai, ¡°Fourth brother, it¡¯d be very useful for you to speak up for him in front of the Emperor. When Lord Zhou Xiang takes over the Governor position, the Emperor must personally appoint his son to be a constable, which will make Zhou Ziqin¡¯s obsession a success!¡±

 CH 5

    Chapter 5: The Four Directions of Bodhi (part 2)


    ¡°Exactly, exactly!¡± Li Rui replied with a laugh, ¡°His Majesty is brilliant, when the time comes, if Zhou Ziqin was appointed as a constable, let¡¯s see what else Lord Zhou can do!¡±


    The constant babbling between the princes caused Li Run to call something to mind, he said: ¡°However, I was curious how the case of the former Governor of Shuzhong county, Huang Min has been going so far?¡±


    Li Rui was the most informed, and immediately said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that Huang Zixia escaped in disguise. It¡¯s not easy to catch a person living in a remote country for a whole life.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that such a prudent man as Lord Huang would end up this way. It¡¯s really a pity.¡±


    Huang Zixia stood beside them, listening to them talking about her own and her family¡¯s murder cases. Her expression was almost cold, and her chest was filled with a kind of suffocating pain. She felt like there was a string strangling her heart slowly and painfully.


    Li Shubai did not turn to see what Huang Zixia¡¯s reaction looked like standing behind him. He only said faintly: ¡°Maybe Huang Zixia is very bold, and she went the opposite way. One doesn¡¯t know for certain if she has come to the capital.¡±


    ¡°¡­That is to say, if one throws themself into the snare, they will definitely die.¡± Li Rui said.


    Li Run sighed in a low voice: ¡°I remember Huang Zixia was praised as a goddess child in the capital city in those years. I really didn¡¯t expect that it would become like this now. It¡¯s really pathetic, lamentable and hateful.¡±


    Among the people present, Li Wen, Prince of Kang was still young and did not know the story at that time. He asked curiously, ¡°What¡¯s so strange about Huang Min¡¯s daughter? Why does everyone seem to know her?¡±


    Li Rui said with a smile: ¡°She used to help Huang Min, her father, who was an official in the Ministry of Justice, to solve several cases, which is quite interesting. Until now, this case is still talked about by storytellers.¡±


    Li Wen curiously said: ¡°I have never heard of it, Ninth elder brother, you tell it to me, I want to listen to it. I¡¯ll see if you can regale it better than a street side story-teller.¡±


    In the laughter of the crowd, Li Rui also sat upright, coughed and said, ¡°OK, I¡¯ll start from the beginning. I remember that five or six years ago, one evening, the Ministry of Justice suddenly received news that a woman had hanged herself in Xingde district. When they arrived at the place, she turned out to be a new bride who had just married less than a month ago. It was said that because she had a disagreement with her husband the previous day, she went out alone and sulked for a long time. When she came back in the evening, she found a short-sighted way.


    Jin Nu covered her mouth; her eyes widened, and sighed: ¡°Women in this world are so narrow-minded, it¡¯s really exasperating!¡±


    ¡°Yes, at that time, when an autopsy was performed, it was found out that she was indeed hanged to death. So, the Ministry of Justice prepared to close the case. Huang Min, then a servant of the Ministry of Justice, went to examine and close the case. At that time, Huang Zixia, who was 12 years old, was also outside the house where the incident happened, waiting for Huang Min, to go home with her older brother. Chang¡¯an¡¯s people love to be lively and the streets bustle with people. When they saw a homicide case there, people from other places were all coming and going, watching with much enthusiasm. A cloth merchant said that the lady didn¡¯t buy her wedding dress from his shop when she got married. The color of the wedding dress she wore was not correct, which induced the tragedy. A jewelry dealer said that she had ordered a pair of silver hairpins in his shop in the afternoon of the day the event happened, and asked the master if he still wanted it. A fortune teller said that he had figured out that his family should have catastrophe events this year, but he didn¡¯t come to find him early. All in all, there was a lot of noise. Just when Huang Min was about to make a final decision, Huang Zixia suddenly called him through the door, ¡®Father!¡¯.¡±


    When Li Rui said this, he coughed slightly and looked at everyone in front of him like a storyteller in the market: ¡°Everyone, at this point, does anyone know what Miss Huang Zixia said to her father?¡±


    Li Run smiled and said, ¡°You just said the beginning and didn¡¯t give a hint. How do we know what Huang Zixia said to her father?¡±


    Li Rui replied: ¡°You are absolutely correct, it¡¯s really just the beginning, but at that time Huang Zixia had already figured out the cause of death and the real murderer of the new bride, and I have just indicated it.¡±


    Everyone looked at each other, and Li Wen said first: ¡°In my opinion, the fortune teller is very suspicious. Is it to let himself get the name of a living immortal, so he would not hesitate to harm others?¡±


    Li Rui laughed loudly and asked Li Run, ¡°What do you think, Seventh brother?¡±


    Li Run pondered and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Is it that the cloth merchant and the bride had a dispute over the wedding dress, so they held a grudge? Or maybe it was the jewelry dealer who had some discord when the woman went to buy jewelry? And incite him to kill?¡±


    Li Rui smiled without making any comment, and turned to Li Shubai: ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°It was done by the husband.¡± Li Shubai said casually.


    Li Rui was shocked and showed the expression ¡®brother, please accept my worship¡¯: ¡°Fourth brother, how did you guess it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen the files in the Ministry of Justice before, so I have a rough idea of the truth.¡± He said blandly.


    Li Rui breathed a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Exactly. At that time, Huang Min was about to sign-off the dossier, but he heard Huang Zixia yelling ¡®Father!¡¯.¡±


    ¡°¡­He looked up and asked, ¡®You are a little girl, what are you doing here at the site of murder? Go back quickly!¡¯ Huang Zixia pointed at the jeweller standing next to him and said, ¡®Father, did you hear what he said? So, the lady definitely did not commit suicide, but it was disguised as a suicide. She actually was killed by someone!¡¯.¡±


    Li Wen looked skeptical and said, ¡°Ninth brother, you said she was twelve years old at the time, and she was younger than me! Who would believe the words of a little girl like her?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. At that time, Huang Min also felt that it was unreasonable for a little girl to say such a thing. He reprimanded her lightly and said in a hushed tone, ¡®You go outside and play.¡¯, he didn¡¯t intend to pay attention to her words. However, she put her hand on her father¡¯s file and said, ¡°Father, when you talked with your colleagues at home, you talked about the behavioral and mindset of dead people before suicidal, as if they were living in the absence of hope. So, have you seen anyone who would go to the jewelry store to order customised silver hairpins before committing suicide? What¡¯s more, she just chose the style and hadn¡¯t got it!¡¯.¡±


    Li Rui¡¯s words wreaked silence in the hall. Even Jin Nu, who had been holding the pipa all the while, was in a trance for a moment. Her hand unconsciously drew a stroke on the lute and made a slight sound. However, no one paid attention to her. Everyone just realized it suddenly and then appraised her.


    Li Shubai raised his hand and gently touched the table top, alerting Huang Zixia behind him. She knelt down slowly, picked up the jug on the table and filled his glass.


    He turned his eyes slightly, and saw her side, long eyelashes thick and curled, lowly loomed over her eyes which were as deep as a pool; the sunlight dashed through the window lattice, gliding on her eyelashes.


    Li Rui continued: ¡°Huang Min was shocked to see that his daughter was right, so he immediately called for a second examination of the body. After careful examination, he finally found that the trace left by rope showed a slight shift (or displacement). It was a mark that would be superimposed only after one strangulation, and then the body was hanged on the beam to be disguised as a suicide. Naturally, the person who did this was the first to find her body and report to the official that his wife committed suicide. Her husband.¡±


    Li Wen widened his eyes and asked, ¡°Did her husband confess?¡±


    Li Xi nodded and said, ¡°Her husband, seeing that she had been examined for the flaw on her corpse, had already turned pale with fright, so he knelt down to beg for mercy and confessed his crime. It turned out that he suspected that his wife had an affair with someone on the street before marriage. After their quarrel, when she went to the street, he thought that she was an adulterer. So he was overcome with anger that he lost his mind. When his wife turned to close the door after returning home, he grabbed the rope beside him and strangled her. When he realized his mistake, at once he quickly hung her on the beam to disguise his wife¡¯s suicide in an attempt to get through.¡±


    Li Run praised: ¡°He had almost deceived everyone, but he was caught by a 12-year-old girl. Perhaps, it was God¡¯s will to not let him go.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Huang Zixia was twelve years old and solved a murder case by just utter a sentence. Since then, everyone in the capital praised Huang Zixia as a gifted girl. Sometimes when there was a particularly difficult case in the Ministry of Justice, Huang Zixia always managed to help Huang Min figure out what to do. Therefore, Huang Min had once told others that his daughter was better than ten sons in other families. However, he had not expected that, in the end, this daughter would kill the whole family and create a world-shaking murder case.¡±


    Li Shubai saw the pair of eyelashes on Huang Zixia¡¯s countenance sheathed in sunshine quiver slightly. But, it was only a slight tremor. She lowered her eyelids and stood up in silence, as light as the arc of a flower branch quivering in the wind.


    Li Shubai thought in his heart, who would have thought that such a slender and delicate girl could stand amidst a crowd talking about her, and listen to other people¡¯s stories about her past and her sin with no change of expression.


    After Li Rui finished talking about the case, people sighed. For a moment, Li Run suddenly remembered something and said, ¡°If Huang Zixia is in the capital, I wonder if she can solve this strange case in the capital.¡±


    ¡°Are you talking about the ¡®four directions¡¯ case, now that people in the capital are in danger?¡± Li Run asked.


    Li Run nodded. Li Wen immediately asked: ¡°What is the four directions case? Why don¡¯t I know about it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a new case in the capital- bloody, weird and cruel. People consider your age to be too young, so they don¡¯t mention it in front of you.¡± Li Rui answered with a smile, ¡°If you want to listen, you¡¯d better go to listen to the lectures of the scholars in the Imperial Academy.¡±


    ¡°No, no, Ninth brother, what you say is much better than what the scholars of Hanlin say. I must know what the four directions case is!¡± Li Wen stood up, ran to Li Rui and sat next to him. He looked at him as if the young bird would look at the mother bird asking for food.


    Li Run said with a smile: ¡°Ninth younger brother, you tell it. Although I have heard about it, I only know roughly something about it. I know that you frequent restaurants and tea-houses every day. What are the people¡¯s thoughts on it?¡±


    Li Rui looked at Li Shubai: ¡°Fourth brother, you are familiar with the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice. Do you have any new clues?¡±


    Li Shubai slowly shook his head: ¡°No, both parties are trying to investigate, but there is no progress.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll tell you what I¡¯ve heard.¡± Li Rui motioned to Jin Nu to come over and pour wine for him. Then, with a mysterious look on his face, he asked Li Wen, ¡°Do you know that people in the eastern of Chang¡¯an City are in a state of panic. The eastern suburbs are almost empty, most of them have gone to other places in the central city or moved to relatives¡¯ and friends¡¯ houses. They dare not live in the eastern of Chang¡¯an City anymore!¡±


    ¡°Really? It¡¯s no wonder that the business in the eastern region seems to be unprosperous recently. When I went shopping last time, many businesses had their doors closed and were on hiatus.¡± Li Wen was more curious, ¡°What¡¯s going on? What happened to the city in eastern region?¡±


    ¡°It started three months ago. In the early morning of the 17th day of the first month, the guards of Taiji Palace in the north of the city got up early and made routine patrols. They found that an old watchman in his sixties was killed under the wall, and the character ¡°Jing*¡±[¾»=pure] was written in blood on the wall.¡± Li Rui¡¯s emotional expression was so vivid that if you hadn¡¯t listened to what he just said, you¡¯d think that he was telling an enrapturing story about talented people and beautiful women, and not about a murder case.


    ¡°A month later, on February 21st, a 30-year-old blacksmith was killed outside the medicine hall in Anyi Square, south of the city. The character ¡°Le*¡± [ÀÖ= happy] was written on the wall. On March 19, a four-year-old child was killed in the murder case of the Shantang Hall in Chang¡¯an Fang, southwest of the city, and left behind a character ¡°Wo¡± [ÎÒ= I]. The Ministry of Justice confirmed the handwriting and homicide methods, and determined that the three cases should be committed by the same person, so it was tentatively designated as the ¡°four directions¡± case. Because it is said in the¡¶Great Nirvana Sutra¡·that the four sides of the bodhi tree ¡°Chang, Le, Wo, Jing¡±; the East is ¡°Chang*¡± [³£=always], the South is ¡°Le¡± [ÀÖ= happy], the West* is ¡°Wo¡± [ÎÒ= I], and the North is ¡°Jing¡± [¾»=pure]. At that time, people in the capital were in a state of panic, and there was a rumor that these people were killed by evil spirits. On the first day in January this year. The Buddhist elder monk, Master Zhuang Zhen had misread the scriptures in the Buddhist rituals, which caused the evil spirits to stay in the mortal world and cause trouble. Four people in four directions must be killed in the capital for the spirits to leave.¡±


    ¡°Master Zhuang Zhen, I remember! He seems to be an eminent monk in Jianfu Temple, doesn¡¯t he? When Princess Suining was born, because Chen Zhaorong had a difficult labor, the palace had invited him to perform the blessing rituals.¡± Li Wen asked curiously, ¡°I only heard that he died a few days ago. Is it related to this matter?¡±


    Li Rui nodded: ¡°Master Zhuang Zhen heard rumors in the capital that all the deaths were caused by him. However, he remembered that he had misread that scriptures in the¡¶Great Nirvana Sutra¡·that day, and that the character ¡°ÀÖ¡± should be pronounced as ¡°Le¡±[ÀÖ=happy] but read as ¡°Yue¡±[ÀÖ=music] in his chanting, but he had not noticed that it was a big mistake. So he spent a few days in anguish. But after his death, rumors spread all over the capital, saying that the Jianfu Temple was at the center of the capital, and that Master Zhuang Zhen¡¯s death should have been in accordance with the bodhi tree facing all directions. Now there has been a murder case in the north, south and west, and the only direction left is ¡°Chang¡± in the east of the city. The people in the eastern city listened to the rumors, and for a while they were in a state of panic. Many families fled to their relatives¡¯ homes to seek refuge. The east of the city was almost empty.¡±


    (See the difference between ¡°Le¡± [ÀÖ=happy] and ¡°Yue¡±[ÀÖ=music] with same character but two different pronunciation and meaning.)


    Li Run sighed slightly and asked Li Shubai: ¡°Fourth brother, this matter is so big that three people have died. The Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice really have done nothing about it?¡±


    Li Shubai said: ¡°This murderer is ruthless and accurate, and is good at hiding. Chang¡¯an City has a population of nearly one million, so it¡¯s almost impossible to investigate such a person. Although the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice have mobilized all forces, they still have found nothing. Now in April, according to the murderer¡¯s practice of killing one person each month, it is estimated that he will start his attack soon. Therefore, the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review can only send more people about in the capital city. There is no other way out for the time being.¡±


    Li Run sighed: ¡°Chang, Le, Wo, Jing; but the Buddhist verse is taken as a message of the murder case. This case is really weird and ferocious, and it is hard to guess. I¡¯m afraid even if Huang Zixia was in Chang¡¯an, it¡¯d be hard for her to solve this case.¡±


    Li Rui said with a smile: ¡°But Zhou Ziqin has always said in front of me that Huang Zixia is so brilliant that there is no such thing as a difficult case in her world. For me, she is just a woman. Occasionally she solved several cases with her intelligence. It is just that women tend to be narrow-minded and think in ways that ordinary people can¡¯t comprehend. At this moment, she could¡¯ve been helpless about this case and may not be able to solve it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that Huang Zixia, the daughter of Lord Huang, is now a murderer and a fugitive on the run, everyone wanted to kill her.¡± Li Shubai sneered.


    Standing behind him, Huang Zixia was still silent and motionless.


    In the sighs of the group, only Li Run said: ¡°I think there must be something ¡®inside¡¯ the murder of the Huang family, at least, it¡¯s not as simple as it looks. ¡°


    ¡°But the evidence in this case is conclusive, and there is both human evidence and material evidence. Huang Zixia¡¯s crime is a matter of iron and steel(solid or irrefutable). It is impossible to overturn the case.¡± Li Rui shook his head and asked, ¡°Seventh elder brother to say so, do you know the inside story of the case?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s just that Wang Yun is my good friend and I can¡¯t believe it.¡±


    Li Wen asked curiously, ¡°Which Wang Yun?¡±


    Li Run said: ¡°Naturally, he is the younger brother of the Empress, Wang Yun, the only son of the Longya Wang family.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Wang Yun is Huang Zixia¡¯s fiance.¡± Li Rui¡¯s face was mysterious. ¡°It¡¯s said that Huang Zixia didn¡¯t want to marry Wang Yun, and she had fallen in love with someone else; so she poisoned the whole family and wanted to elope with her lover.¡±


    Behind Li Shubai, Huang Zixia stood in silence with her hands hanging down. For some reason, Li Shubai chuckled. (Please read original translations from Cloud manor.)


    Li Rui quickly looked at him and asked, ¡°Fourth brother, in your opinion?¡±


    Li Shubai said with a smile: ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I was just thinking that Seventh younger brother and Wang Yun have a deep association. Then, have you ever seen Huang Zixia?¡±


    ¡°You can also be regarded as having met her once.¡± Li Run nodded, ¡°Three years ago, Huang Zixia was summoned and praised by the Empress for helping her father solve many strange cases. That day, Wang Yun came to me and said that Huang Zixia was his fiancee. I saw what he meant, so I went with him into the palace. He said that he wanted to see his fiancee secretly.¡±


    Li Wen quickly asked, ¡°So, you must have seen her? What does that Huang Zixia look like?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d count as having seen her, but we were late when we entered the palace, and she was already leaving. We could only see her on the veranda far away. She was behind the maids in the palace. She was dressed in silver red tulle, with black hair and fair skin. Her steps and figure were light and slender, with a glow of radiance like a budding flower. At the last corner of the corridor she turned and we got a look at her profile.¡±


    ¡°Is she a beauty?¡± Li Rui asked.


    Li Run nodded: ¡°The portraits in the arrest notification indeed depicted her visage, but it failed to draw her aura, she is definitely a beauty.¡±


    ¡°Wang Yun lost out heavily this time.¡± Li Wen said with a smile.

 CH 6

    Chapter 6: The Four Directions of Bodhi (Part 3)


    Finally, news came from the palace. It turned out that the Emperor had a serious head ailment this time, so he would not come over for the time being. Therefore, Li Shubai and the few princes got up and went with the palace supervisor to check the completion of the palace. Naturally, the Imperial Li Palace was not as luxurious as the Palace of Great Brilliance (´óÃ÷¹¬D¨¤m¨ªng g¨­ng), nor was it as vast as the Palace of Nine Cities (¾Å³É¹¬Ji¨³ ch¨¦ng g¨­ng). However, walking and sightseeing still took an hour.


    Huang Zixia had naturally been following Li Shubai. Her figure was so light, that ordinary eunuch clothes on her body looked particularly neat and slender; even if she didn¡¯t say a word and kept her head bowed, she was still beautiful.


    Li Rui looked at her along the way and said with a smile, ¡°Fourth brother, when did you change the people around you? I don¡¯t seem to have met this little eunuch.¡±


    Li Shubai, as if nothing happened, said: ¡°Jing Yang and Jing Yu, do not know who infected the other, are down with a cold.¡±


    However, Li Run looked at Huang Zixia again and again, slightly confused, and felt that she was similar to someone in his memory, but for a moment, he did not think that this little eunuch would resemble a young girl he had caught a glimpse of.


    ¡°What¡¯s the name of your little eunuch and how old are you?¡± Li Rui asked.


    Li Shubai smiled and turned to ask Huang Zixia. ¡°The Prince of Zhao seems to have an eye on you. Anyway, I don¡¯t like your clumsy appearance. Why don¡¯t you follow him?¡±


    Huang Zixia was stunned for a moment. Seeing that all the people¡¯s eyes were focused on her, she knelt down slowly and said in a low voice, ¡°This humble servant has heard that, it¡¯s hard for a bird to live on two branches, and a servant to serve two masters. After germination, it is difficult to move a tree sprout, the sweet orange tree when moved elsewhere becomes bitter orange. This humble servant is stupid. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯d be hard to adapt to it after leaving the Kui palace, but instead ruffle someone¡¯s feathers and make mistakes.¡±


    Li Rui said with a smile, ¡°The Fourth brother is really good at teaching the servant. If I insist on it, it will rob him of his aspiration.¡±


    There was a faint smiling expression on Li Shubai¡¯s face and he said, ¡°A glib-tongued indeed.¡±


    Fortunately, at this time, Prince of Kang, Li Wen, hollered that he was tired, and the group of princes let go of Huang Zixia and returned along the original road.


    Li Shubai gradually slowed down in the garden with numerous palace walls. When he came to a clump of Phoenix¡¯s Tail Bamboo (Bambusa) trees, there were no other people around him, only Huang Zixia still followed him. Li Shubai coldly turned to look at her: ¡°Huang Zixia, what are you doing here by being by my side?¡±


    Huang Zixia lowered her head in deference and said: ¡°A good bird chooses wood to live in. I want to stay with the prince and help him with my meager strength.¡±


    ¡°With what?¡± He asked coldly.


    ¡°In the long term, such as the little red fish; in the near term, such as the recent ¡®Four Directions¡¯ case in Chang¡¯an.¡±


    His eyes fell on her drooping face, cold and contemptuous, as if she was a speck of dust in the air. ¡°Some of these things, you do not deserve to help, others, have nothing to do with me; it even more have nothing to do with you.¡±


    She stood under the Phoenix¡¯s Tail Bamboo tree; the thin bamboo leaves shrouded her body, reflecting on her face a faint turquoise green, making it seem slightly pale and delicate. She looked up at him and said in a low voice without hesitation: ¡°However, since the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice are helpless, and the Emperor has a head ailment. I think the only one who can share the worries for the Emperor is Prince Kui.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you just want to find a patron to help you wash away the so-called injustice?¡± He said without mercy, ¡°Just now Prince of Zhao gave you a chance, why didn¡¯t you take it?¡±


    ¡°Follow him, I don¡¯t stand a chance at all.¡± Huang Zixia¡¯s face was pale, and her eyes were pale with a faint bluish tint in her eyes, but she did not hesitate. ¡°I don¡¯t need a place to live (shelter), and I don¡¯t need to settle down. I need to stand in the sun with my head held high again and wash away all the humiliations my family has suffered.¡±


    Li Shubai had a calm face and looked at her coldly. And she looked up at him, on her face in addition to the pleading look, there was also a slight hint of stubbornness, like the fog that reigns the nights, hard to detect, but clearly there.


    Li Shubai snorted coldly and turned to go back to the WaterFront Palace Hall (Ë®µîShu¨« di¨¤n). Huang Zixia  followed behind him; he did not turn back, but also did not slow down the pace.


    When they arrived at the gate of the palace, they found that several princes were waiting to say goodbye to Prince Kui. Hearing the eunuchs say that the emperor in a few days would summon his ministers to get together in the Imperial Li Palace to recite poems, everyone smiled bitterly at each other.


    Li Run and Li Shubai were left behind. Li Run could not help sighing: ¡°The emperor is really a carefree person. Nowadays, the vassal state is divided and the eunuchs are powerful, but the emperor is still enjoying banquets all day long¡­¡±


    Li Shubai indifferently said, ¡°The emperor is the Son of Heaven (rightful emperor), which is also blessing him as well as of the people in the world.¡±


    Li Run smiled, ¡°What Fourth brother said is right.¡± His eyes fell on Huang Zixia¡¯s figure, and his gentle and kind face was full of doubts.


    Li Shubai asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?


    ¡°This little eunuch, I seem to have seen him somewhere.¡± He motioned to Huang Zixia.


    ¡°I met him for the first time today. How about giving him to you and serving you by your side?¡± Li Shubai casually said.


    ¡°The Fourth elder brother must be joking. Ninth younger brothers had just been rejected. Am I still asking for trouble?¡± He smiled; the little cinnabar mole between his eyebrows looked more tender in the smile.


    Huang Zixia stood quietly with her head down. She could see the spring day that was accessible within her reach, but she had already chosen the most difficult road*, so she would not look back again. It would not be her life if she decided to just muddle through.


    (that she knew that she had chosen a more arduous and difficult path which was to avenge her family and clear her name instead of choosing to live a low-key, unsuspecting life.)


    When all the Princes were gone, Li Shubai got on the carriage. Huang Zixia stood at the door of the carriage, still hesitating, but heard his voice: ¡°Come up.¡±


    Quickly she got into the carriage and stood against the door.


    The carriage moved slowly leaving the Imperial Li Palace which was surrounded by mountains and wilds. Li Shubai looked up at the scene outside and said coldly, ¡°I¡¯ll give you ten days.¡±


    She leaned against the door and looked at him, quietly waiting for him to continue.


    He slowly withdrew his eyes from the window and his gaze landed on her. His eyes were like cold stars. It was so clear that there was no temperature inside, but it was so deep and bright that made her breath a little stagnant.


    ¡°You¡¯ve just heard the case we were talking about at the Palace of Jianbi this afternoon. Can you solve it?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± Huang Zixia answered simply.


    ¡°Just perhaps?¡± He leaned against the wall of the carriage, looking languid: ¡°Now, you have a chance to resolve your own grievances and regain your innocence. Of course, you can also let your parents get revenge and get the truth out.¡±


    Huang Zixia pondered for a moment and asked, ¡°What Your Highness means is that if I help you solve this case, you¡¯re willing to give a helping hand, to help me to clear my family¡¯s grievances for me?¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s not.¡± On the rugged mountain road, he saw her body shaking with the bumps, raised his chin slightly, motioned for her to sit down on the small stool in front of him, and then said, ¡°I have a thing, I want to find someone to help me do it, but now you suddenly appear in front of me with no evidence, how can I believe your ability?¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Huang Zixia nodded slightly, ¡°If I solve this case in ten days, I would be qualified to be trusted by the prince.¡±


    Li Shubai nodded and said, ¡°At least, you should let me see that you are a person worth helping. I don¡¯t have so much leisure time. I will never help a person who has no ability at all and can only talk about it verbally.¡±


    Huang Zixia, sitting on the low stool, lowered her head while contemplating, and asked, ¡°There are so many talented people in the Ministry of Justice and Court of Judicial Review. Surely many people have been deployed to deal with this case. In which operation entity is the prince going to let me participate in this matter?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you directly to the Department of Justice to investigate the case file.¡± Li Shubai answered without hesitation.


    ¡°Good.¡± Huang Zixia raised her hand to reach the back of her head and pulled out the wooden hairpin she used to tie back her hair. As soon as the hairpin left her hair, the beautiful long black hair suddenly fell and spread over her shoulders. Her hair was still damp from the shower, was entangled and half covered her pale cheek like black algae.


    She was stunned for a moment. She brushed her hair behind her and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I used to have a lot of hairpins, habitually I would pull one to make notes. I forgot that I am now a little eunuch with only one hairpin to tie with my hair¡­¡±


    Li Shubai frowned slightly and did not speak. She quickly lowered her head and swiftly raised her hands to bundle up her long hair into a bun in front of him.


    The girl, who had traveled thousands of mountains and rivers but never had the slightest hesitation and fear, showed a shy look in front of him at this moment.


    Li Shubai glanced at her and saw that her drooping face showed a faint blush. At this moment, he seemed to suddenly realize, more than when his hand locked her throat, that the person in front of him was actually just a young lass, and was 17 years old, not as mature and calm as she appeared on the surface.


    As she could sense his intense gaze, she lifted her chin and looked up at him for a moment. At this moment, he saw her extremely bright and clear eyes, half-hidden under her eyelashes, as if it melted the charm of autumn water, embedded on her peach-like face.


    Although her facial features are not the most beautiful, she had rare, clear eyebrows which imbued a spirit, clean and pure like May. There was a sense of alienation, as if not understanding the world, and as if too familiar with the world, as if a little estranged from the world, was faintly revealed in her vigilant gaze.


    He remembered what Li Run had just said about his impression of 14-years old Huang Zixia.


    At the age of 12, she became a famous girl in the world. Now, at 17, she had grown into a graceful girl. She suffered a great injustice and was reviled by all the people in the world, but she was not defeated. Instead, she faced up to the difficulties and tried her best to seek the truth. She hoped to wash the injustice with her own strength and make the truth known.


    It could be said that only by her appearance, no one would believe that she was Huang Zixia, either the famous one with a good reputation or the notorious one with a bad reputation.


    Huang Zixia stared at him, touched her face, slightly nervous and helpless.


    ¡°Very similar to the one on the wanted portrait.¡± Li Shubai turned his face to one side, staring at the complicated and entangled branches on the brocade curtain and said, ¡°in the future, don¡¯t appear in front of people in this way.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± She answered and tied up her hair. And then, she asked, ¡°Do you still remember the time when they said the crime happened?¡±


    Without hesitation, he said, ¡°January 17, February 21, March 19.¡±


    ¡°Today is April 16. That is to say, if the time (pattern of action) is almost the same, it should be time for the murderer to start his operation.¡± This time, she used her fingers instead of a wooden hairpin to draw the numbers on the wall of the car, contemplating, ¡°In ten days, the murderer should make a move.¡±


    ¡°With these figures, can you find the murderer among millions of people in Chang¡¯an?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± She stopped the gesture and began to think about it deeply, ¡°it¡¯s impossible to capture the killer in the vast sea of people without knowing the characteristics and motives of the killer.¡±


    Li Shubai sizing up at her situation, ¡°So, you are not sure?¡±


    Huang Zixia¡¯s fingers began subconsciously drawing on the carriage¡¯s wall again as she uttered to herself: ¡°On the 17th of the first month, by the dead old watchman was left a message: Jing(Pure); on February 21, the middle-aged blacksmith, the murderer¡¯s message: Le(Happy); on March 19, the dead four-year-old child, the murderer¡¯s message: Wo(I)¡­¡±


    Li Shubai continued after she spoke, ¡°Four directions: the first is due north of the capital, the second is due south of the capital, and the third is due southwest of the city.¡±


    After sorting out her thoughts, she said, ¡°If these cases really face the four directions, undoubtedly, you should try your best to find the direction due north, south and west, but the third stump was in the south-west of the city, which is a little strange.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because there is no target in the due west orientation, or it¡¯s more convenient to avoid people¡¯s eyes?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, at the moment, everything is possible, but the exact reason is not known.¡± Huang Zixia replied as she pinched her fingers while recalling the clues, ¡°The first death is an elderly, the second is a middle-aged blacksmith, the third is a child.¡±


    Li Shubai leaned on the brocade mat, sat with a most comfortable posture. Then he slowly relates his thoughts, ¡°I once asked the Court of Judicial Review about this matter. The other two are just old and weak. Maybe the murderer wanted to find victims which were less resistant and easier to kill. But the third victim is a child, which made me unable to understand ¨C because it was a four-year-old child who was dying of cold and hunger. His parents abandoned him on the roadside, although he was rescued by the passers-by but it was too late to treat him. Even if the murderer hadn¡¯t done it, it is inferred that the child would not have survived that night. However, the murderer sneaked into the charity hall and killed the child. Isn¡¯t that unnecessary?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s really a strange point. What¡¯s the need to risk being discovered and sneak into a charity hall to kill a dying child? ¡± Huang Zixia frowned, and her fingers began to unconsciously draw the words ¡°Chang, Le, Wo, Jing¡± on the carriage wall.


    Li Shubai looked at her drawing, and slightly frowned. He turned his eyes to the shadow of the mountains and rivers that loomed through the curtain outside. His voice was still calm and still. ¡°With these limited clues, and you only have ten days, where is the main point?¡±


    ¡°Since then we can¡¯t find the clues and physical evidence of the previous times. The best way is to predict the time and place of his next operation and the target.¡± Huang Zixia did not lift her head, only looked at her own finger and slowly calculated.


    ¡°I think so. So, if you¡¯re sure, I can give you a few days to investigate the case with the constables in the capital city ¨C but you need to take care of your hair, and you can¡¯t let others find out you¡¯re a woman.¡± (Please read original translations from Cloud Manor)


    ¡°No need.¡± Huang Zixia raised her hand, her slender fingers gently stroked on the hairpin, and then shifted her gaze at him. Although her expression was still dignified, her lips were slightly raised, showing a confident and calm expression. ¡°I already know the basis and reason for the murderer¡¯s crime. If I¡¯ve guessed it correctly and as long as the murderer dares to appear, I can find out where he will appear.¡±


    Li Shubai looked at her confident appearance, slightly stunned. ¡°You are sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I just need a Royal Almanac*(»ÆÀúhu¨¢ng l¨¬) from Your Highness.¡± Light breeze blew through the window, lifting up the curtain softly as the afternoon sunlight was beaming brightly on Huang Zixia¡¯s body. Her eyes, which were as clear as dew, were staring at Li Shubai in front of her without hesitation.


    Li Shubai was in a trance for a moment and then said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll wait and see.¡±


    (»ÆÀúhu¨¢ng l¨¬ ¨C A Royal Almanac that keep records of astronomy, twenty-four solar terms, good and bad things to avoid, the twelve gods, zodiac, feng shui, birth, wedding)

 CH 7

    Chapter 7: Being Eunuch (Part 1)


    Li Shubai brought Huang Zixia along, returning to the prince¡¯s manor and entered Jingyu Hall where he lived.


    Huang Zixia was reading the royal almanac while he sat by and watched with cold eyes. She flipped through the pages of the almanac from January 17 to February 21, then to March 19, and then to the current day. She read at a speed so fast, she almost put it down after at a glance. Then she said, ¡°If there are officers and soldiers patrolling tonight, you can focus on the southeast of the city, especially the families with pregnant women. They are likely to be targets.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure the fourth target of the killer is a pregnant person?¡± Li Shubai raised his eyebrows and asked.


    ¡°Very likely.¡± Huang Zixia said.


    Li Shubai turned his head and called out, ¡°Jing Yang.¡±


    The court eunuch outside the door who had a cheerful and lovely demeanor answered the call. ¡°Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Go to the Court of Judicial Review and ask Deputy Captain, Cui Chunzhan to come.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Jing Yang took the order submissively and did not even look at Huang Zixia who was standing in the hall. After paying obeisance, as he was leaving, Li Shubai pointed to Huang Zixia and said, ¡°Bring him with you and arrange a proper place for him. Remember that he is a young eunuch.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness, please rest assured.¡±


    Just like that, Huang Zixia, a wanted, prime criminal thus became a young eunuch in Prince Kui¡¯s manor.


    Along the way, Jing Yang introduced her to several paths of the manor and ordered several things to pay attention to. Then he took her to the north residence of the manor where the eunuchs lived. He gave her a separate room, and asked people to bring all the daily necessities and three sets of eunuch clothes. He said to her, ¡°Little eunuch, you are new here. So, you are not assigned any duties for the meantime. Just remember to go to the prince¡¯s residence to greet him every day.¡±


    Huang Zixia thanked him again. She went to the eunuch next door to exchange greetings and inquired about daily life, then went to the kitchen to get some food.


    She was exhausted after a day full of incessant activities, so tired that she fell asleep as soon as she hit on the pillow.


    When she woke up, it¡¯s already late in the morning. When she went to the well to fetch water, the eunuch who was sweeping the courtyard said to her, ¡°Eunuch Jing Yang asked us to tell you to go to the Yubing Pavilion when you wake up.¡±


    She quickly drank a bowl of porridge, after inquiring about the path, changed into eunuch clothes and ran to the Yubing Pavilion. Yubing pavilion was the study room of the manor, surrounded by flowers and trees; doors and windows also used Korean paper window screens.


    Before Huang Zixia entered the door, she saw through the carved elm wood window panel, Li Shubai was sitting inside while looking at the map of the capital.


    Hearing her footsteps, he raised his head and said, ¡°Come here.¡±


    Huang Zixia went to him. He pointed to the map and said, ¡°The murderer didn¡¯t show up last night. But in your opinion, is the killer going to be in the northwest tonight?¡±


    Huang Zixia was slightly taken aback, looked up at him. ¡°The prince already knows according to what method I judge?¡±


    ¡°You can read the almanac, and so can I.¡± He said quietly as his fair, slender fingers glided over the twelve lanes in the northwest of the capital and said, ¡°I¡¯ve been making inquiries in the morning, and there are a lot of pregnant women in these twelve lanes. There is a pregnant woman who are seven months along in Xiudefang*; there is another pregnant woman who are full-term and close to delivery in Puningfang; and there are two pregnant women in Judefang, five months and six months respectively.¡±


    Xi¨± d¨¦ f¨¡ng*=fang·»= lane (usually as part of a street name)


    ¡°Puningfang.¡± She pointed her finger at the Puningfang neighbourhood and said definitely.


    Li Shubai tilted the map a little, looked at the detailed composition of the Puningfang area, and said, ¡°The pregnant woman¡¯s home is next to Imperial Duke Li Ji¡¯s former residence.¡±


    Huang Zixia looked at Puningfang (on the map) and suddenly thought of something. She hesitated for a moment. Finally, she held back and planned to wait for the case to be solved.


    But Li Shubai seemed to have thought of it, turned his head, simply looked at her and said, ¡°Zhang Xingying¡¯s home is also in Puning square.¡±


    ¡°Hhmm,¡± she nodded. Since he initiated, she took up the topic and said, ¡°If this case can be solved, will the prince consider letting Zhang Xingying return to being the guard of honor?¡±


    ¡°Not possible.¡± He said without hesitation.


    Huang Zixia explained, ¡°Zhang Xingying asked me to pretend to be him and join the prince¡¯s honor guards. Although it is unreasonable, he is indeed a rare good man, and gratitude is also a gentleman¡¯s virtue. Can you please forgive him and let him investigate the case with me first?¡±


    ¡°Utterly wishful thinking,¡± he rebuffed, ¡°Although gratitude is justifiable, however, I don¡¯t need a sentimental person around me.¡±


    Huang Zixia bit her lower lip and said in a low voice, ¡°Please be kind, Your Highness¡­


    He interrupted, ¡°What¡¯s the use of making rules of punishment if the person who made the mistake can come back safe and sound in a few days? How am I going to control my men in the future?¡±


    Huang Zixia bowed her head and was speechless, so she gave up the idea and asked, ¡°What should I do next?¡±


    ¡°Go back to get some sleep, then go to Puningfang with me at night.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    Puningfang, Northwest of the capital.


    As a rule, after the second watch, all the streets in Chang¡¯an City were closed and no one was allowed to walk on the street outside. So Li Shubai pretended to be a touring scholar, while Huang Zixia pretended to be his disciple. In the evening, they dressed in ordinary clothes and stayed in the inn of Puningfang.


    One was an elegant young man, and the other a handsome young man. On the way, even men turned their heads and stared at them. They lived in the inn, the innkeeper¡¯s wife came four times under the pretext of delivering water, and the innkeeper was worried, so he came five times.


    ¡°Forget it. I¡¯ll get in touch with the people in the Ministry of Justice. I¡¯ll go out tonight.¡± Huang Zixia tied up her hair, ready to go out, ¡°As for you, I don¡¯t think you could get away from the innkeeper and his wife.¡±


    Li Shubai said coldly, ¡°When I can¡¯t stay in peace, do you think you can go out?¡±


    Huang Zixia was about to speak when she saw the landlady, walking in an attractively elegant way coming back with the teapot.


    She looked back at Li Shubai, who also looked at her with an indistinct smile on his face and said, ¡°I¡¯ll give you a quarter of an hour to send the person away.¡±


    For a quarter of an hour, it seemed like the landlady would not give up so easily without giving her a harsh blow. And for a woman whose heart was infatuated, the biggest blow was, of course ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Huang Zixia stood in front of Li Shubai, took his hand and pressed it on her waist. Then, she raised her voice that could be heard outside the window as she pleaded in a cloyingly sweet tone, ¡°Aiya, young master, right now we are outside. We should avoid people¡¯s eyes and ears! No-no, don¡¯t touch it here, hey, you can¡¯t touch it here too, you are shameless. We¡¯re both men. What will people say when they see it¡­¡±


    As soon as she spoke, the landlady who was walking gracefully suddenly stopped midway and stiffened at the spot.


    Li Shubai¡¯s hand, which was held by her place on the waist, froze in an instant. But just for a moment, he slowly retrieved his hand from her grip and turned his face away to drink tea: ¡°The innkeeper¡¯s wife is very annoying. She always comes to stare at me. Could it be that she finds me only like men?¡±


    Outside the window, the landlady ran away with the teapot in her hand. Huang Zixia seemed to hear the shattering sound of her broken heart all the way.


    Huang Zixia was kind of pitying her and immediately condemned him, ¡°Why must you add the two words ¡®very annoying?¡¯¡±


    ¡°This is to allow you to complete the task faster.¡± He put down his teacup without expression.


    Huang Zixia fastened the door latch, and then opened the window to check the outside surroundings before jumping out the window. She waved to him, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    The second alley after Imperial Duke Li Ji¡¯s old house, it was the sixth house with a pomegranate tree in the courtyard was the Wei family.


    In the capital, every inch of land is equivalent to an inch of gold; the land of the Wei family was not very big. The so-called courtyard was actually only a small place about one zhang [328 square feet] in area. There were two houses behind the garden, and the surrounding garden walls did not reach Huang Zixia¡¯s chest level.


    Opposite the house, they quietly squatted by the bridge hole*, hiding themselves with a few clusters of Chinese herbaceous peony.


    https://www.pinterest.com/pin/945967096701131695/


    After the second gong signal1 [9:34pm], the street was quiet and the lights were out.


    The clouds covered the moon; the hazy moon light was dim. After Li Shubai and she squatted there for a while, he simply sat under the Chinese herbaceous peony flowers, and enjoyed the shadow cast by the moon in the water.


    Huang Zixia lowered her voice, ¡°Your Highness, why do you want to come here in person? What about the people of the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice?¡±


    ¡°This prince didn¡¯t notify them.¡± He said leisurely, pulling down the side of a bud peony, looked at it, thoughtfully said, ¡°This year, the ground is warm; Chinese herbaceous peony buds have sprouted before the m¨³d¨¡n peony.¡±


    Huang Zixia suddenly understood that she was going to catch that perverted, cruel and mysterious murderer, but her only accomplice was the guy who didn¡¯t seem to be conscious at all. She had no choice but to ask, ¡°Why not inform the people of the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice?¡±


    ¡°Cui Chunzhan of the Court of Judicial Review urged me to strictly guard the east of the city, as he believed the key to this case is the four-direction(s). Since he is determined and I think that I should respect his opinion ¨C so he is setting up a net in the east of the city.¡±


    ¡°And where is the Ministry of Justice?¡±


    ¡°The person in charge of this case in the Ministry of Justice is Minister Wang Lin, the father of your fiance Wang Yun, your former father-in-law ¨C do you want to have a face-to-face with him?¡±


    The water waves under the bridge reflected the bright moonlight onto her face. For a moment, Li Shubai saw her expression fluctuate slightly, just like the water surface at this time, but disappeared in an instant, as if it was just an illusion cast by the moonlight on her face.


    She spoke blandly, and all her emotions disappeared in the air. ¡°Forget it, let them go to the east of the city.¡±


    It was almost midnight when some sound finally emerged from the Wei family household. Some people lit candles inside the house, and soon after some people in the kitchen began to boil water. All of them were busy and rushing. A man put on his clothes to go out, opened the door and walked out of the yard. Someone called after him, ¡°Midwife Liu lives in the fourth house on Chouhua lane. Don¡¯t make a mistake!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, mother.¡± Although the man walked anxiously, his voice was full of joy.


    Huang Zixia motionlessly stared upstairs. Li Shubai also loosened his finger and let go of the peony and said, ¡°It seems that the lady is about to give birth.¡±


    ¡°Hhmm.¡± She answered, her eyes fixed on the courtyard wall. She saw a figure walking slowly in the dark. Standing beside the pomegranate tree, making a bird sound over the garden wall to the house two times: ¡°hoot, hoot ¨C¡°


    In the dark, this sharp and ominous voice was mixed with the groans of the pregnant woman in labor, which made people enervated when they heard it.


    ¡°Owl¡±, Li Shubai said thoughtfully, ¡°It¡¯s really ominous.¡±


    The ancients said that when the owl hooted at night outside the window, it was counting people¡¯s eyebrows. After counting, it will take away human life. The birth of a child was also said to be a tumble on the back of the coffin. So when the bird called, the people in the room jumped up. An old woman immediately ran out of the kitchen and shouted, ¡°I¡¯ll go and cover my daughter-in-law¡¯s eyebrows first. Husband, come and boil the water quickly!¡±


    The father-in-law went to the kitchen quickly. The old woman covered the eyebrows for her daughter-in-law. She heard the owl cooing twice outside the window. She quickly picked up the clothes pole next to her, ran to the yard, and hit the pomegranate tree, trying to drive the owl away.


    And in that moment she left, the man had already circled to the back of the house.


    Huang Zixia jumped up, but Li Shubai was faster than her. He took her hand and flew over the peony bushes. Huang Zixia felt that the wind in her ear was suddenly in chaos. After several steps of ups and downs, the shadow had already flashed into the back door.


    Li Shubai kicked open the door and pushed Huang Zixia in. He didn¡¯t go in.


    Huang Zixia saw that the murderer¡¯s dagger was held high to stab the pregnant woman¡¯s stomach. In shock, she was pushed by Li Shubai again, staggered a few steps, and suddenly fell heavily, hitting the murderer¡¯s side with her shoulder, and slamming him to the side.


    Seeing that he was exposed, the murderer tried to escape with the dagger. Huang Zixia was lying on the ground and couldn¡¯t stop him. She could only immediately grab the flower rack beside her and sweep it towards the murderer¡¯s feet.


    The flowerpot on the flower rack fell on the ground with a loud bang, and the murderer tripped over it and fell on the ground. Before he could stand up, Huang Zixia got up and kicked him on his wrist. The murderer felt pain shooting through his hand and couldn¡¯t hold onto the dagger. Huang Zixia grabbed it and pressed it against his waist. ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡±


    Li Shubai stood at the door and looked at her until she subdued the murderer. He said, ¡°Not bad, you¡¯re quite agile, however the steps are all in a mess.¡±


    Huang Zixia was speechless. ¡°You won¡¯t come in to help me?¡± She was in this critical juncture between life and death, however, he was standing at the door, not even moving slightly of his hair under the moonlight, his whole body was bathed in the bright moon, shining like an angel.


    ¡°There is a woman in there about to give birth to a child. How can I, a man, go in?¡± These few words already made her at a loss of words; he looked up at the moon in the sky leisurely as he asked another question, ¡°What¡¯s the situation of the pregnant woman now?¡±


    Huang Zixia did not speak, and the cry of the child rang through the whole room.


    The mother-in-law, who heard the chaos in the yard, finally came to the room. She saw in the room was originally with only her daughter-in-law, but right now there was a young scholar boy, a man in black who was pointed at by the young scholar boy with a dagger, a weak daughter-in-law, a child wriggling and crying on the bed, and by the back door, there was a man standing and looking at the moon, a broken flower pot and a flower rack smashed to pieces. She was stunned and frightened. ¡°Oh, heaven! What¡­what¡¯s going on?¡±


    Neighbors nearby heard the cry of the child, opened the window to ask, and the father-in-law also carried hot water to the door. Amidst the noise in the surroundings, Huang Zixia could only helplessly raise her head and squeeze out a smile at them, and said, ¡°Sorry, we are here to catch the bandit.¡±


    Father-in-law and mother-in-law looked at the dagger in her hand, then looked at each other blankly, suddenly jolted to realization just like waking up from a dream. They screamed to the outside, ¡°Someone help, please help, bandit has come to kill¡ª¨C.¡±


    The 5 g¨¥ngs (gongs) in the night are numbered from one to five. The time between each g¨¥ng is 2 hours and 24 minutes long.


    First gong; (7:10pm)


    Second gong; [9:34pm]


    Third gong: [12:08am]


    Fourth gong: [2:32am]


    and Fifth gong: [4:56am]

 CH 8

    Chapter 8: Being Eunuch (Part 2)


    Fortunately, the patrolling soldiers in the street came as soon as they heard the calls. After they greeted Li Shubai, they quickly tied up the murderer.


    When the midwife arrived, she was greatly surprised and said, ¡°The mother was frightened, so she pushed hard and the child came out quickly. Fortunately, the mother was healthy enough, don¡¯t worry as both the mother and child are safe ¨C I¡¯ll wash the baby now.¡±


    The father of the child held the new mother¡¯s hand and said affectionately, ¡°My wife, you¡¯ve worked hard. I¡¯ve decided that we should call this child ¡®Jing Sheng¡¯*, what do you think?¡±


    *(The mother had induced labor after sudden shock).


    The weak mother leaned weakly on the bed. ¡°Jing Sheng?¡±, she rolled her eyes and sneered, ¡°Why not name the baby ¡®Xia Sheng¡¯* instead?


    *(The mother had induced labor after being terror-stricken.)


    ¡°ah, that¡¯s a good idea. So it was decided then, ¡®Wei Xia Sheng¡¯, it¡¯s good, very good¡­¡±


    Huang Zixia heard that, and even the lofty and cold person like Li Shubai couldn¡¯t help it but corners of his mouth twitched slightly.


    Cui Chunzhan and Wang Lin were stricken with dismay when they received the news. When they came to the Prince Kui manor, it was already the time of dawn.


    Looking at their red eyes, Li Shubai did not say anything. He ordered people to serve tea to calm them down. He said, ¡°The murderer of the four directions case has been arrested. Let¡¯s open a trial tomorrow.¡±


    Wang Lin quickly nodded affirmatively but Cui Chunzhan was a little hesitant and asked, ¡°Your Highness, these four directions case, so far, there are no clues about the cause of the crime and the material evidence of the crime. Is Your Highness sure that the murderer of the four directions case was caught tonight?¡±


    ¡°Will you not find out if the culprit caught is the right one after tomorrow¡¯s interrogation?¡± Li Shubai raised his teacup in a salute to his guests as he spoke, ¡°There is a curfew in the capital. At night, the street gates are closed, and no one can enter or exit. He must have stayed in the inn of Puningfeng in advance. You can check the inn where he stayed.¡±


    The next day, the officials of the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review tried together to check the weapon, and it was confirmed that it was indeed the weapon that was used to kill the previous victims. In the inn where the murderer stayed, the scriptures copied by the murderer were found, which was in complete agreement with the handwriting left behind by the murderer at the scene.


    Knowing that he could not deny it, the assailant had to confess, and give the details and reasons of the previous murders. Finally, the four directions case, which had been the root of clamour in the capital for more than three months, was solved in one fell swoop.


    At the Purple Grandeur Hall of the Palace of Great Brilliance, the Emperor Li Cui, who had been ill for a long time suddenly, became mentally aroused and ordered people to summon the Princes, Cui Chunzhan, the Deputy Captain of the Court of Judicial Review, and Wang Lin, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice.


    Huang Zixia had just woken up from slumber, and ran to meet Li Shubai in the Wintry Ice pavilion to receive his commands.


    ¡°Change your clothes and follow me into the palace.¡±


    Huang Zixia, who was a little surprised, asked, ¡°Into the palace?¡±


    ¡°I said that if you can solve this case in ten days, you will be qualified to work for me. So, from today on, I have a matter for you to do for me, and for this matter, you need to be given a fixed identity.¡± He stood up, his posture was casual and elegant. He didn¡¯t look like he was engaging in trading with her. ¡°In short, today is an important day for you as a little eunuch of Prince Kui manor. If I don¡¯t take you, would it not be less fun and merry?¡±


    She bowed her head and replied, ¡°Yes.¡±.


    Li Shubai went to the door again and ordered the people standing there, ¡°Call Jing Yi over.¡±


    After a while, Jing Yi came. He looked very clean and smart. He looked at Huang Zixia for a moment and then asked, ¡°What is Your Highness¡¯s order?¡±


    Li Shubai asked leisurely, ¡°You are the personnel in charge of the people under my manor. I ask you, how many eunuchs are there in the mansion now?¡±


    ¡°There are three hundred and sixty-seven people in total.¡±


    ¡°What if the three hundred and sixty-seven people now become three hundred and sixty-eight people?¡±


    Jing Yi took a look at Huang Zixia and thought about it for a while, and said, ¡°I remember that last year, the Palace of Nine Cities suffered from a rainstorm and natural disaster, and many young eunuchs were lost. Most of those eunuchs were orphans who were sent to the palace, and some of them have not been found and do not know their whereabouts until today.¡±


    Li Shubai nodded. ¡°In this case, so to speak, he might be one of the eunuchs separated from the others during the disaster in the Palace of Nine Cities?¡±


    Jing Yi earnestly replied, ¡°It was according to this humble servant¡¯s conjecture, but I can¡¯t remember who it is. Please allow me to check the archives.¡±


    Li Shubai immediately waved his hand, indicating that he may leave. After a while, he returned with a thick names register and said, ¡°I have found out that there is a young eunuch named Yang Chonggu in the Palace of Nine Cities. He was responsible for the sweeping of the Misty Hillock pavilion. He was about sixteen or seventeen years old, five feet and five inches tall, slim and slender. He entered the palace as an orphan, he was lonely and friendless who stayed alone in the Misty Hillock pavilion. Everyone thought he had died in last year¡¯s natural disaster, and his name record had been cancelled in the palace.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, it turned out unexpectedly that Yang Chonggu survived the disaster and entered my manor.¡± Li Shubai looked at Huang Zixia and asked, ¡°What do you think of the identity Jing Yi said?¡±


    Huang Zixia stood there, brimming with emotion. She fled for several months and tried to cover up her identity. However, in such a short period of time, she could have another identity and become another person. From then on, she could appear in front of others in an open and aboveboard manner, and no longer needed to cover up.


    Who dared question what Li Shubai, the Prince of Kui, said in this dynasty?


    So she bowed to Li Shubai and said, ¡°This servant, Yang Chonggu, thank you, Your Highness.¡±


    When one entered from the Jianfu gate of the Palace of Great Brilliance, they could see the Hanyuan hall standing high after passing through the overlapping red gate and high wall. On the high platform, rows of imperial city watchtowers, just like a phoenix spreading its wings around all the people who enter the palace gate.


    After Hanyuan hall, there was the solemn and gorgeous Purple Grandeur hall. Behind the hall, splendid and resplendent cornices and arches stretched beyond the viewer¡¯s vision.


    Purple Grandeur hall was the inner hall. In recent years, the emperor had not summoned his ministers in Hanyuan hall, especially in the Purple Grandeur hall. As Huang Zixia waited in the palace, the emperor soon emerged in black clothes surrounded by eunuchs. He was a little plump, but not fat. His round chin, slender eyebrows and eyes had a kind of amiable appearance.


    Emperor L¨« Cu¨«, who was only 35 years old that year, has been indulging in sensuality and ignored state affairs since enthroned ten years ago. Although it was a bit far-fetched to say that he was a good and capable emperor as he had done nothing to disturb the people, and the people were living fairly stable lives.


    Huang Zixia thought that although he was one of his brothers, the emperor looked more gentle than Li Shubai. After looking at the Prince of Zhao, Li Rui, and the rest of the princes, she thought in her heart, ¡®Everyone seems to be better at deception than this Li Shubai, ah!. Why him? Why is it only him who can help me?¡¯


    The emperor sat down and said to Li Shubai with a smile on his face, ¡°Fourth brother, there has never been anything that would make it difficult for you to fail you! I just thought about the four directions case the day before yesterday. As a result, before I could even ask you to handle them, you had solved the case last night. It was really quick.¡±


    Li Shubai said, ¡°The credit does not fall on this imperial younger brother. Someone else solved the case.¡±


    The emperor¡¯s eyes fell on Cui Chunzhan. Cui Chunzhan quickly bowed down in fear and said, ¡°Everything related to the cracking of the case depended on the Prince of Kui. This subject and other officials were guilty, and were only patrolling the east of the city and did not obey the instructions of  Prince Kui, and Prince Kui went to the scene, captured the true killer, and broke the case¡­ ¡±


    The emperor¡¯s eyes fell on Huang Zixia who was behind Li Shubai and asked, ¡°Fourth brother, the little eunuch behind you, I seem to have never seen him before?¡±


    ¡°Replying to Your Majesty, this is the person who solved the case, so this imperial younger brother didn¡¯t dare to take credit and took him to the palace to meet Your Majesty.¡±


    All of them looked at Huang Zixia in surprise. They saw that the little eunuch had a beautiful face, peerless and outstanding. From beginning to end, her eyelashes were always cast down, and her face was calm. Not even her hair moved.


    The emperor said with a smile, ¡°This is the inner hall. Usually this imperial one gathers here with my brothers, there is no grand etiquette between us. You see, today my brothers and relatives are at present. Chunzhan is also the nephew of the Dowager Consort Cui. Minister Wang is the uncle of the Empress. This little eunuch, you need not be too restrained. What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°This humble servant, Yang Chonggu, pays respects to Your Majesty.¡± She went forward and knelt down.


    The Prince of Kang, Li Wen was naive and young after all. Seeing that she was about the same age as himself, he quickly jumped out and asked, ¡°Are you the one who solved the crime? I found this case utterly incomprehensible. Tell me quickly. Isn¡¯t this a ¡®four directions¡¯ case? Why were there murders in the south, north and west, but the last one is not in the east?¡±


    Huang Zixia looked up at the emperor and saw him nod his head for her to explain. ¡°This merely reflects the habitual way of people¡¯s mind. After combining the Buddhist scriptures of four directions of the Bodhi tree ¡°Chang, Le, Wo, Jing¡±, people assumed that the murderer¡¯s pattern was south, east, north and west of the city. When there were murders in the north, south and west of the city, people were almost sure they were right. However, who would have thought the murderer would make use of this law of four directions as a pretext. In fact, the third person killed by the murderer was in Chang¡¯anfang in the southwest of the city, not in the west of the city at all. So I thought it was a mistake to make decisions according to the law of four directions.¡±


    Li Rui, Prince of Zhao immediately intercepted, ¡°Then, I heard afterwards that you set the target of the murderer on the first day as southeast of Chang¡¯an, and on the second day at Puningfang, northwest of Chang¡¯an. What¡¯s the reason for that?¡±


    ¡°This case is complicated. We should start with the Buddhist scriptures that Master Zhuang Zhen misread.¡± Huang Zixia said carefully, ¡°On that day in the Palace of Jian Bi, I heard the princes talk about the details of the case. The Master Zhuang Zhen must have read a thousand words on the day of the Buddhist rituals, but the murderer was able to hear that one single mistake in the Buddhist scriptures. If he is not a Buddhist monk, then he must be a believer who is familiar with the Buddhist classics. In the capital curfew, the only way to kill people at a certain place must stay for a night one day before that day. There are no Buddhist temples nearby in the first few places where the crime happened, moreover, if a monk stays overnight outside, people are very quick to notice the unusual. Therefore, a believer had a greater chance to be the criminal. Besides, the man who killed many people was definitely not a true follower of Buddhism. In fact, he must have been fascinated by folk hearsay and was a superstitious man who had an absurd faith. According to the previous inference, this case has no relation to the ¡®four directions¡¯, hence, it crossed my mind that superstitious people often have a habit of reading the almanac (calendar book) ¡­¡±


    Therefore, after reading the almanac, she found that the location of the murderer¡¯s target was completely consistent with the auspicious location measured on that day in the almanac. On the day of the third murder, the auspicious location was directed to the southwest as written in the almanac. Take a quick look through the first two murders ¡ª one was murdered in the auspicious location to the north, and the second in the auspicious location to the south, which was exactly the murderer¡¯s killing location. Therefore, she conjectured that the murderer¡¯s rationale must be based on the almanac, unlike what everyone guessed, which was one person from four sides. (Please read original translations from cloudmanor and stop supporting theft.)


    Li Shubai had also noticed this point immediately after she read the almanac, so on that day the auspicious location was directed to the northwest, both of them waited in front of the pregnant woman¡¯s house in Puningfang for the murderer to walk straight into the trap.


    ¡°I see!¡± Li Wen quickly asked another question, ¡°Well, how do you know which family the murderer was sure to attack? How do you know that this time the target would certainly be pregnant women?¡±


    ¡°Because of the first three dead people, one watchman was an old man, and the other was a strong grown man who was a blacksmith. These two people were killed, not to mention that the child in the charity hall was isolated and weak. He was dying. Even if he was not killed by the murderer, he would not live for long. Why did the murderer kill him?¡± Huang Zixia asked, pausing for a moment, then said, ¡°And then I noticed something, the young blacksmith, the crime scene where he was murdered, it¡¯s in the medicine hall ¨C in other words, he was killed when he went to see a doctor.¡±


    Li Wen was still thinking. Li Run was holding a glass of wine and sighed, ¡°The four hardships of life ¨C birth, old age, sickness, and death.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what happened. One old, one sick, one dying. The only missing piece was the ¡®birth¡¯ ¨C and that pregnant woman was the only one who was about to give birth in northwest Chang¡¯an. If the murderer wanted to attack on that day, he could only focus on this target. When he went out to kill people that day, he happened to meet a woman in labor. He was overjoyed that he thought God was helping him to complete the mission ¡®birth¡¯.¡±


    Cui Chunzhan sighed and continued, ¡°The Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice joined hands in the interrogation, and the murderer confessed. The killer confessed that his family had been killed, and he was left alone since January. He was afraid and worried, and believed in a sect from the western regions. This evil sect was ostracized by the locals and unexpectedly, it spread to the Central Plains. They had a kind of evil method, which said that calamity could be passed on to others. He believed that by killing those four people, he would be able to escape from the four hardships, and then he¡¯d be free from disease and disaster. He is now in prison, still stubborn, making a lot of noise in prison, saying that he is using Buddhist Scripture to judge himself. He is really unrepentant!¡±


    There was silence in the hall. The emperor waved his hand and said, ¡°No need to wait until autumn*. Since he has confessed and the evidence is complete, why would we still keep a good-for-nothing heinous criminal? You should take care of it in these few days, so that he won¡¯t make any noise.¡±


    (Autumn was a season for death row)


    ¡°It is inevitable for him a death penalty. This subject is ready to take Your Majesty¡¯s verdict.¡±


    ¡°Cut him in half.¡±


    The bloody murder case plaguing in the capital city for months has come to an end. Everyone was thinking about those brutal murder case, and then they saw the thin and emaciated eunuch of sixteen or seventeen years old standing in front of them like a willow in the early spring. But such a delicate boy, from everyone¡¯s helplessness and cluelessness, he effortlessly pulled the first strand of clue to clear the muddled path and sorted out all thoughts. Unconsciously, there is an inexplicable emotion welling up in their hearts.


    Li Rui tittered and said, ¡°This little eunuch is really smart. No wonder last time I asked for him from the fourth elder brother, the fourth elder brother was reluctant to nod.¡±


    Li Shubai replied with a faint smile, ¡°Ninth younger brother is kidding, I did not say a word against it at that time.¡±


    ¡°Yes it¡¯s true, I can testify for the fourth brother.¡± Li Wen interjected.


    The emperor was so good-natured that he kept smiling and watched them bickering until a female official came in and whispered in his ear. Then he smiled even broader as he said, ¡°Fourth younger brother, you have had double happiness recently. Let this imperial one set you a family banquet first. Later on the day of your wedding, the Empress and I will attend your palace in person to congratulate you.¡±


    A group of people suddenly showed a surprised look, Prince of Kang, Li Wen, was the first to ask, ¡°The Fourth brother has chosen his consort? Who¡¯s that maiden and from which family?¡±


    The emperor cheerfully said, ¡°She has not been chosen yet, but will be soon. Once confirmed, the Golden Books and Jade List (official announcement) will be issued. You just have to hold back your curiosity and wait. In short, the consort of the Fourth brother, of course she has to be the finest and most noble lady in the world. She and fourth younger brother are a pair of beautiful jade*, who reflect and brighten each other.¡±


    (A pair of beautiful jade ¨C they are suitable to one another/ well-matched)


    Hazel¡¯s thoughts: I should¡¯ve shown the picture of the Chinese calendar book (almanac) in earlier the chapter, so that you could¡¯ve a better understanding. My grandpa was well versed in the almanac, too bad that I¡¯ve learn nothing from him. If you want to learn more about it, you could read from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tung_Shing


    Cover page of the almanac https://www.yoycart.com/Product/522709716873/


    Pages inside the almanac https://www.pinterest.com/pin/945967096701181304/


    Simplified into a modern/daily calendar https://www.pinterest.com/pin/945967096701181312/

 CH 9

    Chapter 9: Being Eunuch (Part 3)


    At the spring banquet in the palace, a group of people toasted wine with each other, until the red sun edged towards the west.


    Huang Zixia followed the carriage out of the palace gate and exhaled a sigh of relief as Li Shubai raised the curtain of the carriage, and called her, ¡°Come up.¡±


    As she reluctantly climbed into the carriage, she saw his eyes gave her a quick glance before turning to the window. She followed as well and looked outside of the window with hand carved auspicious clouds design, and took in view of the ordinary street slowly moving by.


    His face remained looking outside when his deep and calm voice left his lips, ¡°I want to hear about your family¡¯s case now.¡±


    Huang Zixia was stunned for a moment and asked in a low voice, ¡°Is Your Highness really willing to inquire about this case?¡±


    ¡°Do you think this prince will renege on my own words?¡± His face showed her with an expression that said, ¡®are you going to talk or not?¡¯


    Huang Zixia bit her lower lip for a long time, then sat down on the low stool opposite him, hesitated and said, ¡°The matter should start from the day before the murder. On that day, it was sunny, and the plum blossoms in my small garden were full of flowers. Yu Xuan and I walked together on the snow. It was a rare and beautiful winter day¡­ ¡°


    Li Shubai still looked at the slowly passing street view outside and asked, ¡°Who is Yu Xuan?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s an orphan whom my father adopted after he arrived in Shu county. He was a talented student and at the age of 18, he passed the imperial scholarly examination, and the county gave him a small house, but he often came to visit my parents.¡±


    He cast a side glance over at her and caught a slight changing expression on her face, and that pale face, which was caused by traveling on the road for many days and deep brooding over her grievances, with a tint blush on her face which made her look completely different.


    ¡®Yu Xuan, it seemed, is a man who she grew up with.¡¯


    He shifted his sight back to the window, his expression remained calm as he gave her a faint reply, ¡°Oh¡±.


    Huang Zixia, seeing that he did not probe further, felt slightly relaxed in her heart. She took a deep breath and continued to tell the story of the day that had happened months ago, but was still imprinted on her heart.


    In the early morning of that day, there was a light snowfall. After the snowfall was over, the red plum blossoms contrasted the white snow in the background, and the view was clear and bright.


    Huang Zixia¡¯s embrace was full of plum blossom flowers and she cheerfully showed it to Yu Xuan. Yu Xuan said, ¡°I saw a pair of ¡®bright days after the rain¡¯ colored flower vases in the neighborhood the other day, and I thought it would be best to put them in your house. I had bought them, but I forgot to bring them here today. I made arrangements to deliver them to your house in the afternoon.¡±


    She nodded with a smile. The day was beautiful as they held hands and looked at each other¡¯s eyes. However, such a beautiful winter day for the two people didn¡¯t last long.


    Huang¡¯s family housekeeper came in with her paternal grandmother and uncle. Huang Zixia shrieked with joy when she saw them, instantly threw the plum blossom flowers over to Yu Xuan before she ran over and hugged tightly at her grandmother.


    She was doted on by her grandmother since childhood, and she was especially close with her. When Yu Xuan saw this, he greeted them and politely asked to excuse himself. Her grandmother looked at him with a smile, Huang Zixia could hear her grandmother let out a barely audible sigh after he left.


    The grandparent and grandchild held hands and went to her mother¡¯s room to talk. The mother smilingly said, ¡°Your grandmother and uncle are here this time for matters related to your marriage.¡±


    Marriage. Huang Zixia silently put aside her grandmother¡¯s hand and sat there without saying a word. The grandmother patted her hand and cajoled her with a smile, ¡°Wang family is a large esteemed family, Wang Yun is the eldest grandson from the main wife¡¯s clan*, and your father has seen him. He has always praised Wang Yun¡¯s appearance and moral character. You¡¯ll have a blissful marriage in your life.¡±


    (Main wife have different privileges and status than concubines, it¡¯s a huge difference, the children and grandchildren will naturally follow the status of mother.)


    Mother looked at Huang Zixia with sadness and then she whispered to grandmother, ¡°Mother, you don¡¯t know, this girl has been keeping thoughts to herself, she¡¯s not happy when we mention the Wangs.¡±


    ¡°Little lass, she¡¯s still shy.¡± Grandmother smiled.


    After hearing that, Huang Zixia¡¯s heart surged with irritation and was about to open her mouth to speak when the maids came to say that they¡¯d served dinner. All of them got up and went out to eat. Uncle Huang Jun saw her and he spoke smilingly in a teasing tone, ¡°Zixia, you¡¯ll become a daughter-in-law in the future. No more taking your own sweet time and being late, you¡¯ll have to be early, prepare the table and wait for your parents-in-law.¡±


    The father laughed, ¡°The Wangs are a prominent family, when do they ever lack maids and need the daughter-in-law to serve them? When Zixia gets married in spring time, things will still be the same as at home.¡±


    Huang Zixia¡¯s eyes widened with surprise, instantly put down the bowl and asked, ¡°Spring?¡±


    The mother quickly made a meaningful glance at her father and said to her, ¡°Yes, your grandmother and uncle came here to discuss whether to let you get married off next spring, which happened to be the same as the Wangs¡¯ opinion.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve all decided, haven¡¯t you?¡± Huang Zixia could not help but stand up, and trembled with anger, ¡°Father, mother, I have been begging you to withdraw this marriage proposal from the Wang family, but you¡­you still force me to marry into the Wang family!¡±


    ¡°You, this child, you are being ridiculous.¡± Huang Jun had already discussed and agreed with the Wang family. Now, seeing her like this, where is he going to put his face? He put down his chopsticks and solemnly said, ¡°The Wang family is a powerful and influential family with a hundred years of heritage. Two of the empresses of the current emperor are from this family. Do you think this marriage can be called off as you like? If you can marry into the Wang family, it¡¯s an honour to our ancestor, you¡¯d better prepare the dowry as soon as possible!¡±


    Father breathed a heavy sigh of resignation. ¡°Zixia, this marriage was arranged for you and Wang Yun when your grandfather was the Prime Minister. Now our family has already slackened influence in politics, but the Wang family has never despised us. It can be seen that the people of the family really like you. It¡¯s also a good thing that you can marry Wang Yun. Your father has met Wang Yun, and his character and appearance are top-notch, not worse than others.¡±


    ¡°But I like someone else. I don¡¯t like him!¡±


    Huang Yan, the elder brother who had been immersed in eating, finally raised his head at this time. Instead of helping, he fueled up the burning fire and exacerbated the situation. ¡°Alright, you deride them, don¡¯t you. Just do it, kill all of us then you don¡¯t have to marry into the Wang family!¡±


    Huang Zixia¡¯s rage churned in her heart, she put down the bowl in her hand forcefully as the chopsticks and bowl slipped off her trembling hand, the soup bowl suddenly fell down from the table and broke to pieces.


    Soup splashed on the side of the grandmother¡¯s skirt and hem; grandmother helplessly stood up, quickly let the maidservant wipe it off, she sighed heavily and lambasted, ¡°You child, your temperament is really getting worse and worse. Can¡¯t you speak nicely? Why must you throw the bowl?¡±


    She felt a burning pain in her eyes, and her tears were about to burst. She could only cover her face and run back to her room and cry bitterly. She didn¡¯t know for how long she cried. She just felt a pair of hands gently pressing on her shoulder. Her mother¡¯s voice fell softly into her ear, ¡°Zixia, don¡¯t be so willful and sad. This matter¡­ your father and I are talking about it. Despite your objection, we still can do nothing about it. If there was a choice, we would rather offend the Wang family than let you suffer.¡±


    She turned around to look at her mother, through her teary eyes she could only see the mother looking at her in a helpless smile. Mother said, ¡°Go back to your grandmother and uncle and apologize to them. We are a family, we can talk all the issues through.¡±


    ¡°But..but if I go back¡­, it¡¯d be embarrassing.¡± She sobbed.


    ¡°You go to the kitchen and bring back a dish, they have prepared your grandmother¡¯s favorite lamb¡¯s hoof soup tonight. Go ahead and bring back a bowl for everyone, admit your mistake and ask forgiveness, all of us will help you find a way.¡±


    She nodded, dried her tears and went to the kitchen. She brought the bowl of sheep¡¯s hoof soup to the table with her own hands, and offered one bowl to everyone. However, because she had just cried, her throat felt choked, and there was a fishy smell in the sheep¡¯s hoof soup, which she did not like, so she only drank half a bowl of sweet almond dessert soup.


    That night, all her family were poisoned to death, and she personally served a bowl of sheep¡¯s hoof soup poisoned with deadly arsenic to everyone.


    All the way to Chang¡¯an, the dusk was heavy; it was already the time when the lights were turned on.


    Li Shubai did not say a word as he listened, until she finished and stopped. His deep and low voice left his lips, ¡°But, in this way, it does not mean that you have poisoned the whole family. Didn¡¯t other people have a chance to get in touch with that bowl of sheep¡¯s hoof soup?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Huang Zixia¡¯s voice was low but clearly said, ¡°The sheep were sent by Counselor Cang Cao the day before. That afternoon, because my grandmother and uncle came, the kitchen slaughtered the sheep and made stewed mutton, mutton soup and mutton hoof soup.¡±


    There was no problem with the rest of the food. The sheep¡¯s hoof soup was cooked too much, after Huang Zixia scooped out a large bowl, the servants in the house ate the rest. Nothing happened to them. Only the bowl Huang Zixia took to the dining hall, and served everyone herself. There was still some left after dinner. Several ladies came back to the kitchen bringing the leftovers, they had slackened, and they locked it in the kitchen cabinet as it was. Because the tragedy happened early in the morning, at that time, the cabinet had not been unlocked. When Aunt Lu came in the morning and opened the cabinet under the scrutiny of the yamen constables, she took out the leftover bowl of sheep¡¯s hoof soup. It was in this bowl that arsenic was added.


    ¡°Could it be that the bowl was tainted with poison beforehand?¡±


    ¡°No, because I was afraid that my hands would not be clean, I took the bowl and washed it again. And there¡¯s one more thing¡­¡± Huang Zixia said with difficulty, ¡°In my room, they found an empty medicine bottle of arsenic.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve bought an arsenic?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I bought it in the most famous drug store Guiren Hall in Shu county. The yamen officials went over to look at the sales files and clearly recorded the words I signed and confirmed them.¡±


    ¡°What did you buy arsenic for?¡± Li Shubai asked.


    ¡°I¡­¡± She hesitated and replied, ¡°Because I read with Yu Xuan before, and there is a secret folk recipe in one book named ¡¶The West Classic Journal¡·. It says that the three qian (15g) of Gelsemium* juice is equivalent to two tael (100g) of arsenic. I didn¡¯t believe it, so I made a bet with him. Because I had helped yamen deal with all kinds of poisons, the duty to buy arsenic fell on me, and Yu Xuan went to the mountain to collect the flowers. We were going to try it on a vicious dog next door which bites people.¡±


    (Gelsemium is UNSAFE. All parts of the plant are very poisonous.)


    ¡°You used to make these kinds of bets before?¡±


    ¡°More than once or twice.¡±


    ¡°Did you explain this?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Yu Xuan also confirmed it for me, but his words were dismissed as an excuse.¡±


    Li Shubai raised his eyebrows slightly, ¡°Where is Yu Xuan now?¡±


    Huang Zixia was silent for a long time, then slowly explained, ¡°He had no chance to act. After he left my home that day, he went to the academy to discuss with a group of friends. He returned home at night and never went out again until he received the news of my parents¡¯ death.¡±


    ¡°So, it¡¯s clearly shown that you¡¯ve committed the murder.¡± Li Shubai summarized her words.


    ¡°Yes, the only chance of poisoning that bowl of sheep¡¯s hoof soup was on my way from the kitchen to the dining hall. Besides, the drug store has recorded that I had bought arsenic which was concluded as the ¡®motive¡¯.¡±


    Li Shubai nodded. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, the only person who could have killed your parents is indeed only you. It is not easy to overturn the case.¡±


    She sat opposite Li Shubai, looking at the brocade patterns decorated in the carriage with a fine hook of gold lines depicting the auspicious Qilin and magic clouds, and breathe in the refreshing scent of snowdrop bush wafted out from the incense burner. She sat idly in such a warm and soft surrounding, however her whole body was cold as if she had experienced everything all over again and it was difficult to breathe.


    ÈðÊÞ ru¨¬sh¨°u = auspicous animal// ÷è÷ë q¨ªl¨ªn = qilin (mythical Chinese animal) / kylin / Chinese unicorn// ÏéÔÆ Xi¨¢ngy¨²n = magic cloud


    Her lips were like withered white flowers in the wind, and even her crimson palace clothes could not add a little healthy red color to her. She looked at the person in front of her, and her voice was a little hoarse, ¡°Your Highness, do you think, like them, that someone in this world would kill their family for such a reason?¡±


    Li Shubai looked at her for a long time, shifted his gaze to the scenery outside the window and said, ¡°Who knows? People¡¯s hearts are the most unpredictable, especially of girls of your age.¡±


    Huang Zixia looked at his indifferent expression and said in a trembling voice, ¡°If the prince can really help as he said before, I believe that the clouds can never block out the sun for a long time, and the grievances of my parents will surely be able to be cleared.¡±


    ¡°When the summer is over, I will go to Sichuan once, and then I will take you there and pull out all your parent¡¯s files and reinvestigate. I believe a person like you who can easily solve a case will not be blinded by love to a stage where she can not clear away her own accusations.¡±


    She bit her lower lip for a long time before she asked, ¡°Can you really believe me and help me?¡±


    He stared at her visage, shadows of the trees outside the window sifted through the sunlight, which flowed unsteadily on her face. In the golden brilliance, her pale face and clear eyes were astonishingly bright and dazzling. Even the sunlight seemed to be just her foil and lost its brilliance in front of her.


    It was such a girl, carrying the most terrible accusations and enmities in the world, but without hesitation, embarked on the most difficult road, burying all the softness and frailty originally belonging to the girl, leaving only the road of striving for persistent progress, bright and brilliant.


    Li Shubai¡¯s heart, which had always been tranquil and serene, for the first time, suddenly rippled slightly at this moment, just like the spring breeze blowing over the lake surface of the deep valley, with shallow ripples.


    But it was only for a moment, he turned his face and shifted his gaze away from her face to the outside of the carriage. His voice was deliberately suppressed, making it low and slightly hoarse, ¡°Yes, I believe you, and I will help you. In the same way, you have to give the rest of your life to me.¡±


    Huang Zixia lifted her chin and looked at him, his beautiful profile in the sunshine looked like undulating mountains and rivers in the setting sun. It was as firm as the thousand-year-old ice crystals that could not be eroded.


    ¡°From now on, as long as you are by my side, you will no longer have to worry and fear.¡±


    She suddenly felt a touch of sourness dripping into her heart. The memories of that summer with lotus flowers in full bloom over the pond, flashed back in front of her eyes like a dream. At that time, the man who was holding her hand, had spoken like this.


    Now, the world had changed, and her life experience had withered. Fortunately, she worked hard and finally seized the opportunity to stand beside the man in front of her.


    The carriage stopped as they arrived at the Prince Kui manor. Li Shubai opened the door and got out of the carriage by himself. Looking back, he saw her coming down from the carriage in a daze. He nonchalantly raised his hand and helped her out of the carriage.


    The sun setting on the west mountain was like a golden ray. She placed her hand in his palm and saw his face under the sun, as with those hands, shining brightly.

 CH 10

    Chapter 10: Beautiful Coloured Glass (Part 1)


    The call of a Chinese francolin bird reached her ears. The weather in June was warm and pleasant, even the wind was gentle like water, like the lightest yarn passing by one¡¯s ear, tickling the skin , like the lingering song from far away of a girl picking lotus.


    https://www.pinterest.com/pin


    /710724384952701254/


    In the season where heaven and earth blended, 12-year-old Huang Zixia heard the voice of her father calling her. She turned her head to the water¡¯s edge; the sunlight was beaming against her eyes, and the red color resembling blood or agate covered the world in front of her.


    In this bright red light, she saw the young man standing beside her father, his old clothes and downcast expression could not hide his pale skin and dark hair. He looked at her nonchalantly with that pair of eyes, lacquered with black like the most silent, far-reaching dark night. Since then, as if with a knife edge engraved in her heart, forever could not be erased.


    She stood barefoot in the pond, and all the stalks fell from her hands into the water unknowingly.


    She saw a faint smile in the eyes of the young man. He walked up to her slowly and helped her pick up the budding lotus in the water. He must have seen the mud spots splashed on her legs and the grass scraps sticking under the gauze skirt. But he just laughed and held the flowers to her.


    When he gazed at her, his eyes did not have the usual expression one would have towards a little girl, but the tender look of a boy towards a girl that she had never seen before.


    Sometimes, it only took a single look from the opposite gender for a girl to grow up.


    ¡°Yu Xuan¡­¡± Huang Zixia suddenly sat up from the bed and reached out to grasp the residual scenes in front of her, only to find that it was just a dream in the illusory night.


    In the dark night, heavy wind was howling outside the window, and a chilly spring invaded deep into the bones. Huang Zixia held a brocade quilt in the dark night, as she watched the dream of the past drift away from her grasp.


    She forced herself to steady her breaths and laid down slowly, drowning herself in the silk quilt. After she broke the four directions case, she was already a famous person in Chang¡¯an. Therefore, as a little eunuch. The manor of Prince Kui treated her very well. All her daily expenses were met well, even higher than when she was the daughter of an imperial official¡¯s family in Shu county.


    However, lying in her warm and soft bedding, she found it more difficult to sleep than when she trudged through the rain in the wilderness. She opened her eyes and listened to the wind outside in the dark. For a long time, she lifted the quilt, got up, dressed, opened the door and went out.


    The manor was surrounded by dark shadow trees, she followed the path as she remembered vaguely that led through to the Kui manor¡¯s courtyards. The bodyguards patrolling on the road turned a blind eye to her. She was a popular person in the Kui manor lately, so she could come and go freely without any restriction.


    When she went to the prince¡¯s residence, Virtuous Valley hall, she saw the moonlight streaming over the flowers and trees, and there was silence everywhere. But on the fourth watch (2:32am) of the night, Li Shubai should be still sleeping.


    It suddenly occurred to her that no matter how anxious she was because of her bad dream from before, how could Li Shubai, the Prince of Kui, get up at night and take care of her mood?


    So she could only find a stone to sit down under the flowering tree outside the hall, rest her face on her bent knees, as she prepared to sit quietly for a while, and then go back to wait for his call.


    She didn¡¯t know for how long she sat there like that; the moonlight was dim, and the sky also appeared a faint dark blue. The spring dew was heavy and stained her dress. She was staring at the grass sprouts on the ground when she saw a pair of black leather boots stepping on the tips of the bud.


    From the boots, her gaze trailed up to his face. He was wearing a purple dress embroidered with dark blue dragon patterns, which was tailored to look extremely slim and straight. At the waist was a celestial purple jade pendant tied with nine knots and eighteen turns of blue silk ribbon. The cuff and collar were simple with a narrow squared sleeve, which is the style that Chang¡¯an and the central government were striving to follow.


    Prince of Kui, Li Shubai¡¯s white sidecap, and the clothes he wore, a few days later, it would become popular in the city. Looking at his appearance alone, this man was really like a pampered child of the royal family who was rich in brocade garments and living an extravagant life.


    Huang Zixia put her face on her knee and looked at him, pondered.


    Li Shubai stood in front of her and looked down at her. Seeing that she was looking at him and not speaking, he turned towards the palace lantern on the flower tree and asked, ¡°What flowers has the little eunuch come to enjoy in the early morning?¡±


    Huang Zixia spoke in a soft and low voice, ¡°I had a dream last night. I¡­ I¡¯d like to ask about what you entrusted me with, and whether I can finish it quickly and return to Sichuan as soon as possible.¡±


    Li Shubai looked at her with the light of the palace lantern. Without speaking, he went past her side and walked to the corridor beside her.


    Huang Zixia stood up, followed him to the corridor, and saw that nobody was sitting next to him, but she just stood there waiting for him to speak.


    The palace lantern hanging on the porch swayed, and the night wind came slowly. The palace silk lantern with the painting of the fairyland in the fabled island was flying and spinning in the wind. Li Shubai¡¯s face, which seemed to blend into the night, was hard to distinguish.


    Li Shubai didn¡¯t pay attention and was not in a hurry to reply to her. He just looked up at the lantern hanging under the cornice and gazed at it for a long time. Huang Zixia grew restless after standing under the lamp for a long time, she finally felt something was wrong. She turned her head and looked at the lantern. It was an ordinary octagonal palace lantern, the frame was made of red lacquered wood and had been finely painted with fairy mountains and a sea of clouds, and there were nine pavilions on it where immortals frequented.


    She couldn¡¯t see anything special about this lamp. When she turned her head, she found Li Shubai looking at her. In the dim light, his eyes were as dim as a star in the far sky.


    She touched her face, and before she could ask questions, she heard Li Shubai said slowly, ¡°What a coincidence. Just now, I had a dream. I was standing on the Xuzhou tower and looking at the thousands of houses below. When I woke up, I couldn¡¯t go back to sleep. ¡°


    Huang Zixia sat on the railing by the water and looked at him in silence. He saw her eyes as bright as the stars and the moon, seemingly like a wave of light.


    ¡°For many years now, there is something about me that is extremely strange and difficult to explain. I¡¯m in it and I¡¯m at a loss. So I¡¯ve been looking for someone to help me solve this mystery.¡± Looking at the misty fairy mountain on the lantern with a calm expression, he asked, ¡°Do you know why I give you ten days?¡±


    Huang Zixia shook her head and looked at him in the flickering light, her eyes carrying a questioning gaze.


    ¡°Because ten days later, it is the day when I¡¯d choose my consort. And in regards to this matter, I hope you could do something to help me.¡± He sighed heavily and leaned his back against the veranda railing. The bright and dim lights flickered on him, making him feel particularly entranced on this spring night.


    ¡°That year when I was in Xuzhou, I received a piece of paper, the things written on it made me very concerned.¡±


    ¡®In Xuzhou¡¯. Huang Zixia suddenly remembered an event that had shocked the whole world, and her expression slightly changed. And Li Shubai continued, ¡°Yes, Xuzhou was the turning point of my destiny. Everyone says it is my lucky place. But no one knows that on the last night before I returned to Chang¡¯an after I pacified Xuzhou, when I looked down over the city from the tower, something happened, and that incident is still unfaded in my memory.¡±


    At this point of time, he finally turned around and looked at her while taking out a piece of paper from his sleeve.


    The paper was thick and yellowish, about two inches wide and eight inches long. It was shaded with cinnabar* weird patterns that looked like snakes and insects. On it were written with the six characters ¡°(÷¤-guan) widowhood, (²Ð-can) disabled, (¹Â¶À-gudu) loneliness and (·Ï¼²-fei ji) sickness¡± in thick black ink. Among them, there were two blood colored circles on the characters of ¡°widowhood¡± and ¡°loneliness¡±, which seemed these two fates delineated by the curse blood, and extremely repressive.


    (cinnabar ¨C a bright red consisting mercury used as a pigment)


    Li Shubai¡¯s finger ran across the fine red coloured lines of cinnabar that resembled insects and snakes in the shading, and said, ¡°This background shading of insects and snakes prints, and what is written are the ¡®day and hour chart¡¯* of my birth.¡±


    (Éú³½°Ë×Ö- ¡®sheng chen ba zi¡¯ it is the day and hour chart of one¡¯s birth, example born in day 18 Jan at time 10.15pm. In terms of superstition, witchcraft can cast black magic/spells on a person by knowing their day and hour chart.)


    Huang Zixia looked at the six ominous characters written on the ¡®day and hour chart¡¯ of his birth and the two circles like blood. She felt an ominous feeling creeping into her heart.


    Li Shubai put the paper on the railing, pressed it gently with his hand, and said, ¡°The night this piece of paper (talisman*) appeared just when I was standing on the wall of Xuzhou and overlooking Xuzhou City. It seemed to appear suddenly on the arrow stack beside me. When I got it, there were only six characters on it. The two red circles were not on it. There was only a faint red circle on the character indicating ¡°loneliness¡±.¡±


    (Talisman) https://newtalk.tw/news/view/2019-03-02/214351


    Huang Zixia stared at the piece of talisman, pondered in silence.


    His finger touched on the word ¡°loneliness¡±, as if he was caressing his past life. ¡°When I was young and had lost my parents, that pointed out the character ¡°loneliness¡±. At that time, my imperial father had passed away, but my imperial consort-mother was still around, so I didn¡¯t care. I thought the talisman was an ordinary curse of my opponent, so I left it like that and prepared to go through the people around me to see who would dare to bring this thing to me. Who would have known¡­¡±


    His eyes turned to the palace lantern beside him. In the still night, the lantern cast a slightly flickering light. Huang Zixia only felt that in this moment, the whole surrounding seemed to be blurred.


    ¡°That night, I had a lot of nightmares. The six characters indicating ¡°widowhood, disabled, loneliness and sickness¡± tossed and turned in my dream. When I woke up, I wanted to set the talisman on fire. When I took it out to look at it, I found that the circle which was originally a faint red mark on the character ¡°loneliness¡± suddenly intensified and became what it is now.¡± His finger points on that word, under the stars and the moon, the red circle beside his fingers stood out like a strange, blooming red flower, and it was like the trace of blood smeared out, it¡¯s shocking. ¡°It was also on that day and at that moment that an urgent message was dispatched from Chang¡¯an eight hundred miles away. I opened it and found that it was the news of my mother¡¯s death.¡±


    On the day when the red circle delineated the term ¡°loneliness¡±, he became an orphan and had no parents.


    Huang Zixia saw that his hand drew back from the paper and unconsciously clenched it into a fist. His beautiful hand, because it was held too tightly, even the knuckles, had turned pale.


    She can¡¯t help it but comfort him. ¡°Perhaps, it¡¯s just a coincidence. Your Highness doesn¡¯t need to think too much about it.¡±


    Li Shubai glanced at her but he didn¡¯t dismiss her word nor agreed with her, he just let out a slow and long sigh.


    ¡°On the way back from Xuzhou to Chang¡¯an after receiving the news of my mother¡¯s death, I encountered an assassin. I was stabbed in my left arm. Although the wound was not deep, the weapon was poisoned. All the military doctors who accompanied me said that my arm could not be saved. If I wanted to live, I had to amputate my left arm,¡± He stroked his left arm with his right hand, as if the pain was still on his body, ¡°At that time, I took out the talisman, and saw that the bright red circle was looming out, and the word ¡°disabled¡± was delineated.


    The night was silent and the wind suddenly blew. The lantern suddenly turned around in the wind, and the light faintly hit them. The lower corner of the talisman with scarlet circles was fluttering in the wind, as if fate was fluctuating.


    Li Shubai looked at her with a calm and almost stiff expression. ¡°You, do you know what I did at that time?¡±(Please read original translation from cloudmanor.wordpress.com)


    Huang Zixia, held out her hand and pressed on that piece of paper, stood under the fluttering palace lanterns, staring at him for a moment, and said, ¡°I guess Your Highness must have arrested the military doctor and tortured the culprit.¡±


    Li Shubai¡¯s face, which had been taut for a long time, relaxed slowly, and even, under the faint red lantern light, the corners of his lips seemed to float a trace of smile.


    His face, which had always been cold, suddenly showed a soft and clear smile like the spring breeze. Even though that was just a faint smile, yet, it couldn¡¯t cover up the content of his heart. He said, ¡°Huang Zixia, you are just like me. You do not believe in fate.¡±


    ¡°In my years in Shu County, I have handled 26 homicide cases, and eight of them had rumors of ghosts and gods. But in the end, the truth came to light. It was only the people who had the intention to play tricks. Another example is that of the recent ¡®four directions case¡¯ which also involved a false pretense of ghosts and gods.¡± Huang Zixia stabbed her forefinger on the piece of talisman and said, ¡°For example, this piece of talisman, which the prince said before, is enough to reveal the intention of the people behind the scenes.¡±


    Li Shubai looked at her and his mouth curved into a smile, ¡°Well, tell me about it.¡±

 CH 11

    ?


    She raised her hand to touch her top knot bun, however, when she touched the wooden hairpin on her hair, she stopped for a moment, obviously remembering the mess her hair became last time when she had unknowingly pulled the hairpin out. So, she put down her hand and wrote ¡°one¡± on the railing with her fingertips, and said, ¡°Firstly, the appearance of this piece of talisman can be done by the people closest to you. Therefore, it must be the people around you who have the intention, so they quietly put this thing on the Xuzhou tower where you are going.¡±


    With that, her finger drew two horizontal lines on the railing: ¡°Secondly, the red circle on the talisman suddenly changed when the paper was around you. Therefore, this person not only follows you to the tower, but also can get in touch with everything about you at any time. He should be the closest person around you, such as a servant.¡±


    ¡°Thirdly, the disability diagnosed and treated by a military doctor coincided with this talisman, which shows that there are more than one troublemaker around you, at least one is a military doctor, and the other, your trusted person.¡± With that, she retrieved her hand, blew her fingertips, and concluded, ¡°Follow the line of the military doctor, you should be able to find the others hiding in the dark.¡±


    Li Shubai was no-committal and continued, ¡°At that time, the military doctor committed suicide and I have removed all the guards I had trained over the years to various places with no intention to call them back.¡±


    Huang Zixia¡¯s eyes fell on the talisman. ¡°But on that one¡­¡±. It seemed that the red circle on the residual character ¡°disabled¡± had faded, leaving only a faint trace.


    ¡°After more than half a year¡¯s treatment, my arm was saved, so the red circle on the ¡°disabled¡± character gradually disappeared. But my left arm is now powerless. I can only do some day-to-day things like writing and painting, but I can¡¯t use my sword or draw a bow any more.¡± He stretched out his left hand and moved his finger in front of her, ¡°In fact, the left hand used to be my dominant hand before.¡±


    As a left-handed person, after his dominant hand was incapable of movement, had to train his right hand quickly; the hardships in such a process is probably incomprehensible to most people.


    At the thought of his neat skill of pulling her out from hiding in the carriage, Huang Zixia couldn¡¯t help but admire the man in front of him. At least, she felt that she probably didn¡¯t have the willpower to start all over again and train her right hand like him, which was his non-dominant hand for more than 20 years.


    ¡°Originally, I thought that this matter was over after I dismissed the people around me, so I have always kept this talisman in a secret place, because I still hope to find out the obscure string around me with the help of this talisman. However, just a few days ago, when I heard that the emperor was going to choose a princess for me, I thought of the word ¡°widowhood¡± on this piece of talisman. I took it out and looked at it. It turned out that a red circle suddenly appeared on the paper. This time, it was settled on the word ¡°widowhood¡±.¡± He took up the rune paper, put his finger on the character ¡°widowhood¡± delineated in a red circle with a sarcastic smile on his face. ¡°A man who loses his wife is called a widower. It seems that my marriage, perhaps, may suffer some unexpected changes.¡±


    Huang Zixia took the paper from his hand and studied it carefully. The scarlet color like blood on the ¡°widowhood¡± character indeed looked newer than that on the character for ¡°loneliness¡±, so it seemed even more ferocious.


    ¡°It¡¯s unbelievable. It¡¯s like being haunted by ghosts and gods. It¡¯s predestined. After three or four years have passed, new blood still blooms on this talisman.¡± Li Shubai slowly said, ¡°The people around me have changed many times, and I hide this talisman more properly than how I handled important military tasks. However, I didn¡¯t expect that this paper, which was supposed to be absolutely impossible to fall into any slip-ups, finally emerged with a bad omen.¡±


    Huang Zixia put down the paper and said, ¡°It seems that this talisman, perhaps, is much more complicated than we imagined.¡±


    ¡°Hhm¡­¡± He responded, pausing for a long time, and then slowly saying, ¡°In short, this time, there will be someone who will make trouble with my marriage. If my marriage is taken advantage of, or someone wants to make a fuss about it, for example ¡ª¡±


    His eyes remained on her for a long time before he said, ¡°It suddenly occurred to me that Wang Yun, the eldest grandson of the Wang family, seems to be your fiance. It¡¯s the biggest disgrace in his life that you refuse to marry him to the extent that you¡¯d even poison your entire family. He can bear this kind of shame, but I cannot bear it.¡±


    ¡°I did not kill my parents and family.¡± She bit her lower lip and enunciated every word, ¡°If you want me to help you, don¡¯t mention it again in front of me.¡±


    He glanced at her and replied in a playful tone, ¡°I am just relaying the opinions of others, not mine. If I choose to work with a murderer, wouldn¡¯t it be too foolish?¡±


    She bit her lower lip and asked in a low voice, ¡°When did you start to believe that I didn¡¯t kill my family?¡±


    He didn¡¯t answer, stood up and walked across the winding bridge on the water.


    They walked along the dimly lit path to the deep of the brightly lit pavilion. At this moment, the light from the sun begins to  appear at the far horizon of the dark blue sky.


    Huang Zixia followed him and heard his low and deep voice, ¡°Yes, because I had seen your palm and saw that you didn¡¯t kill.¡±


    She was stunned, and then immediately picked out the mistakes in his words. ¡°The last time you looked at my palm, you clearly said from my palm print that I poisoned my relatives, so you can infer my identity!¡±


    ¡°I lied to you.¡±


    ¡°Then, how did you identify me last time?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡± He deliberately put an end to the topic just like that, ¡°You just need to help me uncover the mystery behind this talisman, and your task will be over.¡±


    ¡°So, if you could see someone through by reading a palm print. Why don¡¯t you read the palm print of the people around you one by one, wouldn¡¯t that be much simpler for you to find out everything?¡± She¡¯s not letting him get away with it.


    ¡°I¡¯m not interested,¡± He answered without turning his back, ¡°because, compared to looking at other people¡¯s palm prints, I still prefer to see some people play the role of a little eunuch.¡±


    So, a sad little eunuch from Prince Kui¡¯s mansion, Huang Zixia, ..no, it should be Yang Chonggu! ¨C followed the prince into the palace for the second time, went to Penglai Pavilion of the Palace of Great Brilliance, and participated in the selection process of Princess Consort Kui.


    Even though it¡¯s already April, and the peaches and plums which were in full bloom in the imperial garden could not drive away the cold and overcast sky in the palace.


    ¡°It¡¯s strange that the Palace of Great Brilliance, which is built on a sunny high place, seems to be colder than inside the city.¡±


    Li Shubai, hearing Huang Zixia murmur to herself, glanced at her and casually said, ¡°Because this is the inner palace, the most noble place in the world, and it¡¯s the hardest place to get sunlight.¡±


    At this time, they were standing on the platform of Penglai Pavilion, overlooking the Taiye Lake below. In the wind, the flowers and trees beside the whole Taiye Lake rose and fell, just like a huge ocean of flowers. The blue Taiye Lake was surrounded by pink and white waves.


    However, such beautiful scenery doesn¡¯t bring a pleasant feeling, in fact it¡¯s chilly.


    ¡°The noble ladies should have arrived by now. Why doesn¡¯t Your Highness go into the palace and see what they are talking about?¡± Huang Zixia asked.


    Li Shubai¡¯s demeanor seemed uninterested, he glanced sideways at her and asked, ¡°Why are you in such a hurry?¡±


    Hearing his words, Huang Zixia had to hold back her impatient heart to see the beauties of Chang¡¯an and obediently waited for him to speak. She heard him ask, ¡°Is the gift still fine?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± She opened the brocade box she had been holding in her arms and took a look. All the people in the palace speculated about the keepsake that Prince of Kui would bestow to his future princess consort, but did not know what precious gold and jade or rare treasures was it made of. However, they did not know that what she was holding in her arms was a beautiful, blooming peony.


    Huang Zixia gazed at this gorgeous and incomparable scarlet peony and said, ¡°This morning I cut it off at the moment it bloomed as per Your Highness¡¯s instructions. The gardener Liu didn¡¯t know this servant was instructed by the prince, and as a result, he jumped around cursing me for a long time! Said that he had dug a tunnel with slow fire charcoal and it took him more than two months for this plant to finally bloom and it¡¯s extremely rare to see around the year.¡±


    Li Shubai indifferently replied, ¡°Pacify the gardener when we are back.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness gave her a peony as a keepsake, indeed a cultured man.¡± Huang Zixia covered the box and held it in her hand.


    Li Shubai¡¯s face was expressionless, and didn¡¯t seem to be happy about the consort selection. She couldn¡¯t help thinking in her mind that the beautiful flowers won¡¯t last and would be withered. How could such a clever person like Li Shubai, the Prince of Kui, couldn¡¯t think of this aspect? She guessed it was because other keepsakes can be properly protected for safekeeping. Therefore, if the prince wanted to take back his words in the future, it wouldn¡¯t look good on him when requested for a gift to be returned.


    She held the peony in her arms and thought of the piece of talisman she had seen a few days ago. She couldn¡¯t help but feel deep sympathy for the woman who was about to be chosen as Prince Kui¡¯s consort.


    Not long after, a female official from the side of the Empress came to say that everyone had arrived, and the prince could proceed to the hall.


    Li Shubai then motioned to Huang Zixia to follow him into the inner hall.


    It was a common practice in that dynasty that when a prince chose a consort, the candidates would be the daughters of important officials in the court or the daughters of aristocratic families. They were all women of noble status. Naturally, they would not be meeting face to face* with the prince and to be examined one by one. Before choosing the consort, although everyone knows it well, they won¡¯t say it. They only held a banquet in the front hall. The prince secretly scrutinizes the candidates at the back hall through the screen. If the prince had taken interest in anyone, he could tell the female official. The girl would then be invited into the back hall and given a keepsake by the prince himself. She would ask for her name and identity, and nothing else, then the marriage agreement is settled.


    (*Unmarried girls or women are not allowed to be seen by men beside their family members.)


    Huang Zixia followed Li Shubai into the side hall. She saw the banquet hall was heavily surrounded with silk curtains, and the front and back doors were shut. The deep and brilliant red rustic wood doors are carved in auspicious patterns on it. He could see all the people in the front hall clearly, but the people in the front hall could only see his silhouette.


    Feeling him watching from behind the screen, the movements of all the girls were a little unnatural. Only a girl sitting on the right hand side of the empress was acting leisurely and free without any formality.


    Huang Zixia¡¯s eyes fell on the empress. She was dressed in a red dress decorated with an auspicious clouds pattern. Her face was very beautiful. Her eyes were sharp and clear, and when she looked up there seemed to be a kind of glow coming from within her body. Her face was shining.


    She was the second empress from the Wang family. After her sister died, she was married to Prince Yun, when Prince Yun was enthroned as the emperor and made her the empress. She should be twenty five ¨C twenty six years old, but she looks like someone in their early twenties.


    All the women in the hall were dressed up with great care in splendid clothes and surrounded the banquet hall like flowers. However, no one could steal the luster exuded by the empress in the slightest. Huang Zixia amazed, thinking that when she went to the palace to meet the empress three years ago, she was just a kid who didn¡¯t know what ¡®a beauty caused the befall of a country and a city¡¯ is, but now that she is getting older, she finally understands that the charm of a beauty can actually be so.


    The girl next to Empress Wang should be the niece from the Wang family whose name is Wang Ruo. Wang Ruo and Empress Wang sat together. Although they were aunt and niece, they did not look alike at all. As her name suggests, Empress Wang¡¯s name is Wang Shao (peony flower), her red dress is like an extraordinary peony, elegant and beautiful. However, Wang Ruo¡¯s lotus flower colored skirt today was just like peach and plum, fragrant and charming. Although it was not as good as Empress Wang¡¯s color and temperament, she was young, delicate and charming after all.


    The rest of the women, although not bad in their own rights, were by contrast all eclipsed by the presence of these two women. Huang Zixia found a young girl in a moonlight-coloured dress. Her cheeks were slightly rich, and her almond shaped eyes were beautiful. However, her chin was always slightly raised, which made her temperament seem outstanding. Therefore, she emanated a kind of natural pride. Huang Zixia thought that this girl must be the Princess of Qi Le who wanted to marry Prince Kui by every possible means.


    Princess Qi Le comes from the line of the Prince of Shu, whose relationship was far from the royal bloodline. However, Prince Shu had great contributions to the official court, in which his daughter was bestowed with a princess title. Now Dowager Consort* Zhao was in charge of the palace. It was said that Princess Qi Le bribed the palace people in order to get close to Dowager Consort Zhao by helping her to copy the Buddhist scriptures. She seemed to be looked upon with favour by the dowager consort, therefore she requested that she be betrothed to Prince Kui. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t work out and became a joke in the capital city.


    (Dowager consort = Consort of the previous emperor.)


    In the middle of thoughts, Huang Zixia saw Li Shubai beckoning the female officer to come over. He pointed to Wang Ruo and said, ¡°It¡¯s her.¡±


    Huang Zixia was surprised. Isn¡¯t that too fast? How could he choose an important life event such as the princess consort selection, by just a quick glance at the person and settling it?


    But she could only say, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to think over it anymore?¡±


    Li Shubai¡¯s tone was flat, ¡°It¡¯s just from a group of people that I don¡¯t know at all and by picking one among them to spend a lifetime with me. Do I need to consider it?¡±


    ¡°But there must be something unique about the woman who would be chosen by Your Highness.¡±


    He turned his face and looked at her. The corner of his lips rose slightly. He seemed to be smiling, but there was no joy in his eyes. He said faintly, ¡°Yes, of all the candidates, she is the most beautiful.¡±

 CH 12

    Chapter 12: Beautiful Blooming Peony (Part 3)


    He gave her a very straightforward reason and she was stunned by his words. After a long time, she said, ¡°Perhaps¡­Your Highness should¡¯ve taken it more prudently?¡±


    ¡°This is the most prudent choice, and somehow things like family background, character and propriety have been chosen for me, so I just need to choose the one that looks most pleasing to my eyes. What do you think?¡±


    https://www.pinterest.com/pin


    /945967096701295293/


    She can only say, ¡°Congratulations to Your Highness on finding a good mate.¡±


    He held up a palm to her without saying a word.


    Huang Zixia didn¡¯t know what he wanted for a moment. She turned around and saw that Wang Ruo had come to the inner hall under the guidance of the female official. Then she suddenly realized.


    There was a little noise in the front hall. It turned out that Princess Qi Le saw Wang Ruo go to the back hall with the female official. Naturally, she clearly understood Li Shubai¡¯s choice. Her cup trembled and the warm soup poured on Grand Tutor Liu¡¯s daughter.


    (Grand Tutor is a government official who responsible for civil affairs)


    She quickly grabbed her own handkerchief and wiped it for Miss Liu as she said, ¡°Oh, I wasn¡¯t paying attention momentarily¡­¡± Before she finished speaking, her eyes suddenly turned red and could not speak, almost bursting into tears. She bit her lower lip and turned her head, grabbed the jade basin in the hands of the palace maid standing behind her, pretended to gargle her mouth, and stifled her tears.


    Huang Zixia had no time to bother about her, instantly opened the silk brocade box in her hand, took out the peony flower and handed it to Li Shubai.


    Wang Ruo¡¯s cheeks flushed red and lowered her head as she walked to Li Shubai.


    She was only sixteen or seventeen years old, slender and tall, even one head taller than the female official who was standing beside her. Her dress was embroidered with plump begonia flowers and exquisite silk cloud patterns. On her head, there were six rows of golden hairpins decorated with jewels which swayed and dangled as she moved. But such gorgeous clothes and ornaments, on the contrary, she appears to be a little immature, had a look of incomprehension on her face.


    She walked step by step, shyly bowing her head, afraid to look at people.


    Li Shubai waited for her to come to him and handed her the peony flower in his hand. His voice showed a kind of gentleness, ¡°Your name is Wang Ruo?¡±


    Her body jerked as if struck by lightning.


    Huang Zixia saw her clenching her hand. Then, she involuntarily lifted up her chin and stared at Li Shubai in a shocked and excited expression. In her eyes instantly condensed a thin sheen of moisture, the whole person seemed to be in a trance, body slightly trembling as her hand tightly gripping her own sleeve cuffs, unable to utter a word.


    Huang Zixia thoughtfully looked at Li Shubai standing opposite of Wang Ruo. Penglai Hall was located on a high platform. He stood by the window of the back hall. The sunlight slanted in from the outside, shining on him thoroughly, making him look like the son of a heavenly deity which was made out of crystal clear jade. The crimson peony in his hands looked radiant in full bloom, and yet couldn¡¯t take away the slightest bit of brilliance from him. On the contrary, he was more and more charming and peerless.


    Huang Zixia thought in her heart, ¡®If he can¡¯t make the girl fall in love with him at first sight, but he should¡¯ve at least don¡¯t frightened her!¡¯


    Li Shubai obviously also noticed Wang Ruo¡¯s strange reaction, however he didn¡¯t say anything.


    Wang Ruo felt herself reacting disproportionately, and instantly raised her both hands to cover her lips as she stammered in panic, ¡°Prince Kui¡­really¡­it¡¯s really you?¡±


    Li Shubai raised his eyebrows and did not speak.


    ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t expect that I would be so lucky, therefore my behaviour was a bit rude just now. Please forgive me¡­ ¡± She said incoherently, and the whole person was at a loss. When she looked up, she saw that Li Shubai did not respond. Her eyes suddenly sparkled with tears, and they were about to burst into tears.


    Li Shubai didn¡¯t speak, his expression changed slightly but was obviously more gentle than earlier. He handed her the crimson peony flower in his hand and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I think you must be unaccustomed to such an environment compared to the peace and quiet at home. It is I who did not seek your prior permission and yet startled you.¡±


    Wang Ruo nodded with tears and smiled as she bowed to the prince before extending her hands to hold the crimson coloured peony, holding the flower tightly in her arms and her face was as red as the Begonia.


    At that moment, Huang Zixia just in time to see a drop of tear fell on the peony flower, and the petals trembled slightly, then it splashed and dissipated into fine mist.


    ¡°What do you think of Wang Ruo?¡±


    On the way back in the carriage, Li Shubai asked Huang Zixia.


    Huang Zixia hesitated for a moment, then said, ¡°I am just an insignificant eunuch in the palace, I dare not presumptuously discuss the prospective princess consort.¡±


    Turning a deaf ear, Li Shubai picked up the small glass bottle in the carriage and gazed at the red fish swimming slowly inside. He was not even bothered to refute her.


    Huang Zixia had to say, ¡°There seems to be a problem.¡±


    ¡°Which is?¡± He flicked the wall of the glass bottle with his finger, and his tone was flat. ¡°When she hadn¡¯t seen me yet, the relaxed and calm demeanor was absolutely sincere ¨C she didn¡¯t care if I would choose her to be the princess consort.¡±


    ¡°However, after being invited in by the female officer and seeing your face, she had completely changed. The shock and joy were too strangely overwhelming, and with that, she became more suspicious.¡±


    ¡°Hhm.¡± Li Shubai nodded, and his gaze finally shifted from the fish to her. ¡°Also, when I left Penglai Hall, I exchanged the geng tie* with her. I found some places that we should be concerned about.¡±


    (Geng tie) https://www.taobao.com/list/product/%E5%BA%9A%E5%B8%96.htm


    (¸ýÌû Geng tie ¨C a written marriage proposal on which are stated the birth chart ¨C year, month, day and hour of one¡¯s birth)


    He took a piece of red paper out of the drawer of the carriage, put it on the table and pushed it towards her.


    Huang Zixia took it and looked at the words written on it.


    Wang Ruo, the fourth daughter of the Wang family branch, was born in the 6th year of Dazhong, intercalary 30th day of the tenth month during the period of m¨£o sh¨ª. Father Wang Zhong, mother Jiang, elder brother Wang Jia, Wang Xu, younger brother Wang Fu.


    (îʱ m¨£o sh¨ª = the period of the day from 5 a.m.to 7 a.m)


    (´óÖÐ Dazhong is the calendrical system in Tang dynasty)


    Just a few numbers. She looked at it, calculated it in her heart, and returned the red paper to him, saying, ¡°This written marriage proposal is a fake.¡±


    He nodded slightly. ¡°You¡¯ve seen that too?¡±


    ¡°Hhm. In the fourteenth year of Dazhong, there were only 29 days in the tenth month, not 30 days.¡±


    ¡°Not bad,¡± Li Shubai finally raised the corner of his lips and said, ¡°Could you also possibly, like me, naturally memorize the Lunisolar calendar?¡±


    ¡°My memory is not as good as Your Highness¡¯; however, I¡¯ve a way to calculate the Lunisolar calendar. The date can be calculated, which shows that the fraud is a bit crude.¡± As she spoke, she looked at the wedding proposal card again and said, ¡°The character for ¡°intercalary¡± is a little smaller. According to the general marriage proposal writing method, there should be a space between the years and months, but there is none here. Obviously, the character ¡°intercalary¡± was added afterwards, and for this I have no idea why.¡±


    ¡°It is because on the 30th day of the tenth month is my mother¡¯s death anniversary which is ominous.¡± He said faintly.


    She nodded, ¡°So, in order to avoid this, they made a last minute change in hopes of getting away with it.¡±


    ¡°Your reasoning makes sense, but according to the procedure, there are more doubts.¡± He put his finger on the red paper, and his expression was cold, ¡°The birth chart in the wedding proposal card should be calculated and combined by the imperial astrologer. If he saw the date ¡®30th of the tenth month¡¯, he would surely put forward that it was the death day of my consort mother, and that she could not be selected. Even if someone made a fake birth chart for her, he would not have made such a hasty amendment, and made a big mistake. If it had been submitted as 30th of the tenth month, then when the imperial astrologer reviewed through the spouse compatibility chart for these candidates would have immediately discovered that such a day did not exist, let alone let this birth chart appear in front of me.¡±


    ¡°Therefore, this Wang Ruo, who may not have been among the candidates at all and had not been reviewed, finally stood in front of us,¡± Huang Zixia guessed, ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because she is the sister from the empress¡¯s family, so the empress especially asked for her to make bypass all the cumbersome procedures and act conveniently.¡±


    ¡°Maybe. I am not worried about Wang Ruo; she¡¯s just a chess piece. What I care about is who sent her to me and what is the hidden agenda,¡± Prince Kui had a momentary thought before he continued, ¡°They had left faints clues and signs, perhaps, this time the selection of the consort is greatly related to the cursed talisman I got back then.¡±


    Huang Zixia nodded and recalled Wang Ruo¡¯s shocked look and the tearful smile on her shy face when she saw Li Shubai. As a woman, she felt that emotion was far from what a chess piece would possess. But she was not specifically sure what it was.


    Li Shubai saw her pondering in silence. ¡°It seems that the situation you have to face about the selection of my imperial consort is much more complicated.¡±


    ¡°The more complicated the inside story is, the more loopholes will be revealed, so we can catch more clues; complexity is not a bad thing.¡± Huang Zixia said.


    Li Shubai gazed at her. There was no hesitation on her face. She was quiet and calm. This was a kind of self-confidence that revealed her being fully aware of her own ability, which could not be questioned by others. He felt somewhere in his heart slightly throb, which made him dare not look at her. Instead, he could only lift up the carriage curtain in a concealed manner, and looked behind them.


    The selection of imperial consorts was over. The noble ladies went back to their respective homes. A group of chariots and horses left the Palace of the Great Brilliance and entered Chang¡¯an city.


    The wild grass which grew in the previous year was still beside the road. The new green grass was only two or three inches long. The mountain was mottled with yellow and green. When the wind blew, waves of yellow and green alternately showed in layers.


    Behind them was the carriage of the Wang family. An old servant drove two strong horses of variegated colors in slow-moving.


    He put down the curtain and said, ¡°Wang¡¯s carriage is in the back.¡±


    Huang Zixia thought for a while, stood up and opened the door, she said, ¡°When we get to the intersection in front, I will get down first.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the rush? I don¡¯t have a time limit.¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m in a hurry. It¡¯d be good if I could go back to Sichuan a day earlier.¡± After she spoke and seeing that she was at the crossroad, as the carriage turned and slowed down, she jumped down.


    Li Shubai narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked through the curtain, saw her stagger on her feet a little but got back to her center of gravity and stood still on the ground before he looked down at the little red fish in his hands.


    Huang Zixia looked at the carriage of the Prince of Kui driving away to the direction of Yongjiafang before she turned in the opposite direction to Anxingfang.


    As expected, the carriage of the Wang family slowed down and stopped beside her. A middle-aged woman lifted up the curtain and asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you the eunuch who serves for Prince Kui? Where are you going?¡±


    She looked up and said with a smile, ¡°Thank you for your concern. I¡¯m going to the west market to buy some goods.¡±


    The woman turned back and said a few words to the people on the wagon, and then she said with a smile, ¡°We are going to Guangdefang which is next to the west market. If the little eunuch doesn¡¯t mind, I can give you a ride. What do you think?¡±


    Huang Zixia declined, ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem proper, how can I ride with the noble family¡­¡±


    ¡°Aiya, we will be a family soon. You were the servant beside the prince and of course we will have many opportunities to meet in the future.¡± The woman was smiling delightfully and she looked amiable. She quickly opened the carriage door and let her in.


    After Huang Zixia got on the carriage, she saw that Wang Ruo was in the carriage. She quickly paid her greetings to the future princess consort and thanked the woman. The woman was more than 40 years old, but she had a kind of graceful charm. Even the corners of her eyes were slightly wrinkled; it only added a kind of charm to her. You could imagine that she must have been a beauty when she was young.


    Huang Zixia sat on the seat by the door and caught a glance of Wang Ruo from the corner of her eyes. Her sitting posture was very beautiful with one hand lay on another hand resting on her left leg. Under the wide sleeves of lotus flower colored silk clothes, she had a pair of soft and delicate palms, and her pink fingernails on the snow-white fingertips, formed a perfect appearance.


    Huang Zixia looked at the hands and thought, in the past, although she was a young lady of the governor¡¯s family, she would always go out riding with her brother and Yu Xuan every day. She even played polo and football much more aggressively than men. When did she ever pamper her hands like this?


    When she was in the middle of thoughts, the old woman suddenly asked her, ¡°Have this little eunuch been serving with the prince all this while?¡±


    She quickly shook her head and replied, ¡°I only started a few days ago. Before that, the prince was all served by other eunuchs. Unfortunately, this time the eunuch has fallen ill and several of the eunuchs were infected, so I was temporarily transferred to work for the prince for a few days.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s also because little eunuch is so prudent in doing things that you won the prince¡¯s trust.¡± The woman laughed and she inquired further, ¡°Does the little eunuch know well about the everyday lives of the prince?¡±


    ¡°Everyday lives? Not really.¡± She said honestly, ¡°I¡¯m clumsy, and seldom serve people. I only go out with His Highness once in a while.¡±


    ¡°You are someone close to the prince, and should¡¯ve known something.¡± The woman¡¯s eyes flashed brightly as she spoke, ¡°Little eunuch, tell us what color he likes and what tastes does he prefer, and what is the temperament of the palace maids around him?¡±


    Huang Zixia suddenly found herself in an unprecedented and difficult situation. ¡°Prince Kui¡­he doesn¡¯t like other people following him all the time, he prefers to be alone¡­about the palace maids, I didn¡¯t see any.¡±


    ¡®Was a clean freak, deserted personality and difficult to deal with,¡¯ she added a few more words in her inner thoughts.


    ¡°MoMo*.¡± Wang Ruo couldn¡¯t help but call her in a low voice.


    æÖæÖ m¨®mo = elderly servant / wet nurse


    Huang Zixia found Wang Ruo was about to bury her head in her clothes, and her cheeks turned pink as if she was slightly drunk, which was inexpressibly moving.


    ¡°Aiya! This little miss-ah! Since you have accepted the token of recognition, it¡¯s fine to get to know the prince as soon as possible, isn¡¯t it?¡± The woman quickly put her arms around Wang Ruo¡¯s shoulder and said with a smile.


    Huang Zixia finally breaks free from momo¡¯s probing questions, and she said, ¡°Miss, you don¡¯t have to worry. Prince Kui is a good person to get along with. Moreover, you are the daughter of the Wang family, and also born with such a good appearance. Since the prince noticed you at a glance among so many people, he must love you more than any treasure, and would never bear to part with you.¡±


    Wang Ruo lifted up her head and looked at Huang Zixia, ¡°Thank you very much. Little eunuch, I hope¡­.I hope it will turn out the same¡­as you said.¡± The corners of her lips curved slightly in a stiff smile and a layer of panic appeared on her face as she spoke.


    ¡°I ¡­I ..as soon as I saw the prince, I didn¡¯t know what to do. My body when rigid when I walked¡­ you has seen it too, Prince of Kui must have thought that I am stupid, and with that thought, it made me more and more nervous. I was afraid that he would not be satisfied with me, but I didn¡¯t know what to do. I was nervous until my back was sweating¡­ ¡°


    As Huang Zixia could hear Wang Ruo speak haltingly of her deep upset and nervous, she comforted, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the prince won¡¯t mind, he will understand you.¡±


    The woman immediately agreed and said, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the dream of many women in the capital to marry Prince Kui. Our family¡¯s little miss has always admired him since childhood. Little eunuch, you should understand this kind of troubled heart.¡±


    Huang Zixia nodded: ¡°Yes of course, this humble servant understands.¡±


    Wang Ruo let out a sigh of relief and said softly, ¡°Thank you very much.¡±


    She didn¡¯t say a word after that.


    When the carriage arrived near Guangdefang, Huang Zixia thanked them again and got off the wagon.


    Not far from the west market, she felt that it was not appropriate to go back to the Prince Kui manor immediately, so she walked into a noodle shop at the corner of the market.


    It was a small noodle shop, and she joined a table with a pair of mother and daughter; the daughter was only seven or eight years old, sitting on the stool, her feet did not reach the ground. The other used chopsticks to clip long noodles into short sections and fed them to her daughter.


    Huang Zixia looked at them vaguely in a trance. The other saw that she had been looking at her and said with an embarrassed smile, ¡°The child is small, and the noodles are too long; it is not convenient for her to eat.¡±


    ¡°Well, yes.¡± She answered, but her eyes were burning hot in an instant. She remembered that when she was about ten years old, her mother also helped her clip short noodles. Her father, sitting opposite her, shook his head and said, ¡°She¡¯s already so big, still being spoiled by you. You have to do it by yourself now.¡± Her brother on her left hand side, with a big mouthful of noodles shouted while laughing at her, ¡°Shame, shame, in the future, you have to find a husband who will serve you and take over from mother after you get married.¡±


    She was so angry that she had left her chopsticks, and ran back to her room. But after a while, her mother still brought the meal over and coaxed her to eat with a soft voice. She ate a few mouthfuls, looked up and saw her father standing far out of the window looking at her. Seeing her looking up and he pretended to be just passing by, walked slowly on the gravel path in the backyard and left.


    Even the patterns of pebbles arranged under her father¡¯s feet and the shadows of trees falling on her mother¡¯s hands outside the window at that time were now brought back to her in a vivid and incomparable way.


    Because of the fluctuation of this memory, she was deeply intertwined with sorrow and resentment. It was not until she bit her lips tightly and held back her trembling breath could she bear to swallow the indignation and tear it into her stomach and bury it deeply in her own blood.


    Father, mother, brother¡­


    With tears in her eyes, she ate the noodles bit by bit and swallowed them into her stomach in sorrow.


    All the present grievances, blood and tears, one day, she would go back to Sichuan and seek redress personally.

 CH 13

    Wang Yun wore a Jiang sha (round collar robe) https://www.pinterest.com/pin/945967096701484184/


    Wang Ruo of the Langxie family was from the Wang family branch and became the prospective princess consort of the Prince of Kui.


    The news soon spread all over the capital. People in the capital said that the Wang family had two empresses and a princess consort in recent years, which brought honor to the family.


    In the eunuch¡¯s clothes, Huang Zixia bearing the name as Yang Chonggu followed the grand ceremony procession and she walked half-way across the busiest part of Chang¡¯an city, quietly listening to discussions of the people on the street.


    She touched her face. Before going out today, she found that her complexion was looking good. It seemed that she had had a good rest recently. Hence, she had to go to the palace maids to swindle some yellow powder and put it on her face to give off a lackluster and dull skin appearance. It¡¯s because today, where she was going to was the residence of the Wang family in the capital city. And it was very likely that she would meet her ex-fiance, Wang Yun. Actually from the beginning until now, she hasn¡¯t officially withdrawn from the marriage agreement.


    Although she and Wang Yun have never met before, and according to Li Run, the Prince of Hubei, he had only caught a peek at her side profile in the palace three years ago. In short, she had to be careful, so she decided that the yellow powder was a necessary thing for her to go out in the future.


    Marriage ceremonies involved six rites; the proposal, name inquiry and acceptance rites were done. Therefore, today she was here with the ceremony procession for the engagement rites, giving the betrothal gifts to the bride¡¯s family.


    (Source: https://baike.google.com)


    After all, the Wang family was members of the aristocracy, and their residence which was located in the capital was also beautiful with seven courtyards, two gardens ¨C east and west, fortified with high walls and graced with extraordinary.


    Wang Yun, the eldest son of the younger generation in the Wang family, also upholds a good and impressive demeanour. Although people all over the world knew that his fiancee harmed her whole family because she didn¡¯t want to marry him, even after the shameless incident, he was still graceful, wearing an elegant jiang sha robe, and smiling. His face was like the dawn of the spring breeze, and his behavior was gentle and calm. Truly becoming of the behaviour expected from the descendant of a century-old family; one can¡¯t cultivate such a temperament if they weren¡¯t born in this family.


    At present, Prince Kui, who was one of the most notable bachelors, was engaged to marry the daughter of the prestigious Langya Wang family. Among the long rows of gift boxes and cases, the gold comb, jade ruler and silver dowry given by the imperial concubines attracted the most attention. Wang Yun sent them to the courtyard where Wang Ruo lived, and then sent people to call the envoys one by one and distributed the red envelopes. The grand display of hundreds of people was neatly managed by him.


    Huang Zixia and a female official in the palace named Su Qi came to Wang Yun and saluted, ¡°The servants were ordered to come here to teach the princess consort the rules of the palace and about the Court Affairs.¡±


    Wang Yun politely answered, ¡°This young lord hopes this wouldn¡¯t be too troublesome for both of you.¡± But he fixed his eyes on Huang Zixia¡¯s figure and looked at her carefully. He seemed to be thinking about something.


    Huang Zixia turned around and together with the female official Su Qi, followed the envoy of the rite to the back garden. However, Wang Yun followed her all the way and asked, ¡°What¡¯s your name, little eunuch?¡±


    She braced herself and replied, ¡°This servant¡¯s name is Yang Chonggu.¡±


    ¡°Is it the Yang Chonggu who broke the ¡®four directions case¡¯ of Chang¡¯an before? You are indeed a person of great renown; it¡¯s my pleasure to meet you today!¡± Wang Yun said in surprise, and then he asked the name of the female official, Suqi, before sending them to the gate of the courtyard. Thereafter, he didn¡¯t follow them.


    Huang Zixia walked under the eaves, relentlessly feeling like a thorn was pricking on her back. She could not help but turn and take a look behind, but saw him standing at the gate of the courtyard, staring at her thoughtfully the whole time. Seeing her looking back, he smiled and bowed to her and said, ¡°We will eat the ¡®five happiness¡¯ cookies later, please don¡¯t be late.¡±


    She bowed her head and saluted, ¡°Yes, I will only meet with the princess consort today, and will start teaching tomorrow.¡± Because she hadn¡¯t read the etiquette annals at all, she could not deliver lectures on it.


    https://www.pinterest.com/pin/945967096701451991/


    After entering the corridor, there were already four maids coming up to greet them. There was a harmonious sound of laughter in the room. The house was full of flowers and it was gorgeous. In front of the window lattices were placed with decorative branches of plum blossom, and the embroidered lotus flowers form a magnificent backdrop to the master seat, and a dozen of ceramic vases full of begonia flowers. There were about a dozen neatly dressed ladies, all of them wearing brocade dresses and flower hairpins, accompanied by Wang Ruo, who was sitting on a long padauk wooden chair.


    Today, Wang Ruo¡¯s dress was different from a few days before. She was wearing a pinkish grey colored skirt and a half sleeved coat. In such a lively dressing style, a red peony pattern was used to show a kind of cheerful and effortless beauty. She wore a ¡®hearts together¡¯ stylist bun on her head which had a strand of a colorful peony, and two jade hairpins, both solemn and unique.


    Huang Zixia thought to herself that she was really a woman who knew how to wear clothes. She actually knew her beauty very well.


    When they saw the arrival of the envoy, they all stood up to meet him. Wang Ruo paid homage and listened to Lord Xue, the Minister of Rites who served as the envoy for the procession as he read out the betrothal contract*. However, Huang Zixia listened to the lengthy words and looked up at the scenery outside the window in boredom. She saw swallows twittering between the beams. Spring was beautiful and the world was full of vitality.


    (Betrothal contract ¨C It¡¯s a detailed list of the betrothal gifts to the bride¡¯s family, in terms of gold and silver coins, jewellery, silk, land or estates.)


    Wang Ruo took the contract, looked up and saw Huang Zixia. The corners of her lips unconsciously showed a smile of joy. She said, ¡°I was born in a humble family. I have never seen the majesty of the heavenly family nor knew the etiquette in the palace. In fact, I have given a great deal of trouble to both of you, please enlighten me on this subject.¡±


    Su Qi promptly replied, ¡°It¡¯s not at all. Princess consort comes from a family who are people of great nobility with similar customary behaviour. Your Highness will be able to fully grasp everything in no time.¡±


    Wang Ruo only looked at Huang Zixia and smiled like a child who didn¡¯t understand the world. All the accompanying ladies were smiling, they were government official¡¯s wives who were selected by the imperial concubines to help with the affairs because Prince Kui had accepted the betrothal procession today, and the Wang family had not yet arrived. Therefore, of all the people in this house, it was probable that in addition to Wang Yun and the people that she brought along, Huang Zixia was the only one she had met.


    The excitement of finally finding an acquaintance among the strangers overflowed from Wang Ruo¡¯s face, which made Huang Zixia feel a little ashamed.


    She thought in her heart, ¡®For such a beautiful and naive woman; is it possible that she has a conspiracy hiding behind her?¡¯


    When they were about to leave, as Huang Zixia came to the door, she felt that someone was secretly pulling her sleeve. Looking back, it turned out to be Wang Ruo, with an awkward look on her face.


    She grinned cheerfully and turned to greet her, ¡°Does Your Highness have any orders for me?¡±


    Wang Ruo whispered in secrecy, ¡°It¡¯s great to see you. Here¡­They are all strangers to me.¡±


    Huang Zixia looked at her with a smile and asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t there the elder lady I saw in the carriage before? By the way, why didn¡¯t I see her with you today?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­because I have been chosen as the princess consort, Momo went back to Langxie¡¯s residence in a hurry and helped me get the things I use daily,¡± her expression changed slightly, pondered and said, ¡°She is old, so, she may not come back, and stay in the home at the village for the rest of her life.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, won¡¯t Your Highness be reluctant to part with her if she really does? After all, she was like the mother who raised you since childhood.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, but I couldn¡¯t do anything about it. Sooner or later, I have to attune myself to these changes. It¡¯s fine for me, but I¡¯m afraid she¡¯s too old to be receptive to the new changes.¡± She forced a smile, revealing a pair of shallow dimples on her cheeks, ¡°Besides, didn¡¯t I have you here with me? You wouldn¡¯t have known that I was trembling in the morning, because I was afraid that the one who was coming to teach me would be a very serious and rigid old eunuch. I didn¡¯t expect it¡¯d be you.¡±


    ¡°This is also because of the princess consort¡¯s benevolence, hence, this servant was given a good fortune to ride with Your Highness.¡± Huang Zixia responded with a smile.


    After that, they had some small talks until Su Qi came to call them, and the two went to the inner hall to have some dim sum. Wang household¡¯s cakes and desserts were different from those in ordinary restaurants and tea-houses. The ¡®five happiness¡¯ cookies made of Poria cocos (a type of mushroom), hawthorn, pine nuts, red dates and sesame seeds which baked in small assorted flavoured cookies were served on a crystal plate. Wang Yun personally brought them to Huang Zixia and asked her, ¡°Which flavor does the little eunuch like?¡±


    Huang Zixia glanced at it and before she spoke, he took the Poria cocos cookie and put it in front of her. He said, ¡°Our family has a cook who is good at making cookies. The poria cocos cookie has no medicinal taste, and it still retains the fragrant glutinous rice flavor. If you don¡¯t believe it, why don¡¯t you give it a try. Of course, it¡¯s better to try every flavor. That¡¯s the best way to have all the five blessings.¡±


    https://www.sohu.com/a/444097550_778000


    Huang Zixia quickly thanked him, and then took a piece of the white poria cocos cookie and slowly ate it. Wang Yun sat down beside her and asked, ¡°Where is the little eunuch from? Are you from the capital?¡±


    She nodded and said, ¡°This servant is from the suburbs of Chang¡¯an.¡±


    ¡°You seem to have a little Sichuan accent. Have you ever lived in Shu County?¡± Wang Yun asked another question with full interest.


    Huang Zixia shook her head, ¡°I haven¡¯t lived there before, but this servant¡¯s mother is from Sichuan.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± He cast her with a wondering look.


    ¡°When I was young, I got purified to become a eunuch, and then assigned to the Palace of Nine Cities by the internal service bureau before being transferred to Prince Kui¡¯s mansion. Because I know a few words, the prince asked me to teach the princess consort this time. It¡¯s a great honor for me to teach the princess consort.¡± She had the perfect pretext by taking the internal service bureau and the Prince Kui to make her own cover up. Sure enough, Wang Yun didn¡¯t pursue further questions, only scrutinizing her visage and expression carefully. There were doubts and uncertainty in his eyes.


    However, he is always a calm person; he changed the subject and smilingly said, ¡°I just asked casually without any intention. Little sir eunuch, I wonder whether the rules and laws in the palace are complicated?¡±


    She naturally said, ¡°There aren¡¯t many in particular. The princess consort is intelligent and quick-witted. Her Highness will be familiar with all of them in a few days.¡±


    ***


    ¡°It seems like¡­ this is just far too much.¡±


    Looking at Li Shubai¡¯s twenty or thirty thick books that he put in front of her, Huang Zixia¡¯s mouth was agape with incredulity. ¡°These many books are from the prince¡¯s mansion and also the imperial palace?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s actually, no.¡± Li Shubai¡¯s low voice replied unenthusiastically.


    She heaved a sigh of relief, ¡°Some of the books are not part of it?¡±


    ¡°No, all of them are part of the teaching,¡± Li Shubai answered without much expression on his face and he added, ¡°these are just a small portion of this prince¡¯s mansion rules.¡±


    Huang Zixia had the impulse to vomit blood (utterly frustrated), ¡°I have to learn everything and then teach them to your princess consort in a few days?¡±


    ¡°No, it should be finished by tonight, and learn it all by heart.¡±


    ¡°Would I believe that there really was someone who could recite it?¡± She stared at him with big rounded eyes.


    Li Shubai looked at her; he randomly picked up a book and threw it on the table in front of her, ¡°Go ahead, flip through that book and pick any of the paragraphs.¡±


    Huang Zixia took the book, turned the pages and looked through it, ¡°Thirty-fifth, New Year Festival, Article 19.¡±


    ¡°Thirty-fifth, New Year Festival, Article 19. At the Spring Festival, to rewards the kitchen¡¯s servants with spring festive cookies, and the other gifts distributions are as such: imperial concubines with ranks of Ruren are given ten hanks* silk and five hanks cloth; imperial concubines with ranks of Ying are given eight hanks silk and three hanks cloth; female attendants are given five hanks silk and three hanks cloth. The palace officials in the mansion, the first-rank officials are given ten silver liang, the second-rank are given five silver liang, and the third-rank are given three silver liang. The rest are given one silver liang.¡±


    (hank ¨C length per unit mass which varies of type of measurements. E.g. 30 meters per hank)


    Huang Zixia¡¯s lips quirked disbelievingly; she took another book and tried to find something by looking through it, ¡°Sixteen, Lecture on Morals, Article 4.¡±


    ¡°Sixteen, Lecture on Morals, Article 4. The imperial court appointed a lecture and reading officer for the princes. He is called the king¡¯s teacher and delivers lectures every five days for princes before adolescents. The tutor selects classics of poems, books, rites and music to discuss them. After adolescents, the princes could choose to have lectures every ten days; however the study cannot be discontinued.¡±


    No wonder this person could easily tell all the information of any bodyguard around him, inwardly Huang Zixia couldn¡¯t help but give him two thumbs up. This time she changed to another book as she read out, ¡°Twenty-fourth, Pavilion system, Article 93.¡±


    Hearing this, Li Shubai paused for a moment, and she looked at him triumphantly, ¡°You couldn¡¯t tell, do you?¡±


    ¡°Of course I don¡¯t know because the Pavilion system has 90 articles in total, and where does this 93rd article come from?¡±


    Huang Zixia looked at him with astonishment, ¡°To tell you the truth, it¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve ever seen a person like you who never forgets.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing that can¡¯t be remembered as long as you put your heart into it.¡± Li Shubai said, raising his hand to press on that pile of books on the table, the corner of his lips raised almost imperceptibly, ¡°So, tomorrow I will test you in the same way, and you¡¯d better pay attention to it.¡±


    ***


    Huang Zixia watched him leave, involuntarily wailed and fell on the table.


    In any case, although it was impossible to memorize all the rules overnight, Huang Zixia tried to keep up her spirits and at least read it once and wrote down the general situation.


    Before she went to Wang¡¯s house the next day, she thought she would accept Li Shubai¡¯s stormy and thunderous test. However, when she got up early in the morning and went to see Li Shubai, she heard that the prince had already got up to inspect the left division guards of the capital. He had only left a message for Yang Chonggu when she arrived at the palace that if she was not familiar with the rules, she could bring books to the princess consort to teach her.


    She was instantly relieved but at the same time a little sulky and pouted her lips ¨C ¡®Hey! He is having fun, isn¡¯t he? I was scared stiff and didn¡¯t get to sleep the whole night!

 CH 14

    Today, Wang Ruo was dressed in a light blue skirt with embroidered blooming flowers patterned on her sleeves and lapels. Her black hair was in a loose bun on the top of her head, and there were only two or three pink begonias worn underneath the hair bun, which looked so charming.


    Her eyes lit up when she saw Huang Zixia coming; she was smiling broadly as she lifted her skirt and quickly walked to the door to receive the coming guest. The smile on her face was pretty like a flower. Even Huang Zixia also found her smile was compelling and it¡¯s infectious, naturally the two became close with each other like friends for many years.


    She glanced nervously at Huang Zixia, ¡°In the morning, Senior maids Suqi had already told me all the names of the imperial concubines, princesses and other imperial relatives in the palace. There are so many people, and I¡¯m having trouble remembering all of them! After that, Senior maids Suqi also said that you have lots more to tell me. Oh, what can I do now? I¡¯m a little worried.¡±


    Huang Zixia¡¯s soothing voice could be heard as she comforted her, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Your Highness is smart and intelligent. In no time, you¡¯ll get on all right.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not true. When I was a child, I was learning the simplest song and uhm, it¡¯s called¡­ ¡®Flowing waters¡¯, and everyone else learned faster than me. My aunt always says that I am stupid, oh..what should I do?!¡± Her shoulders slumped and felt bad about herself, and then she quickly asked, ¡°Are the prince¡¯s family rules and regulations difficult to learn?¡±


    ¡°It looks fine to me; moreover, Your Highness comes from a large family with an ancestry of hundreds of years. Maybe there are more rules in your family instead.¡± Huang Zixia said while handing the rule books she had brought to her. She took a glance at her worried face before adding another sentence, ¡°These are only a part of the rules and regulations in the mansion. When the princess consort has finished reading it, I will bring others next time.¡±


    For the rest of the day, Huang Zixia ate snacks, sat there leisurely while watching Wang Ruo study the books earnestly. With that, she had a guilty conscience, hence she took a book and read through as well. It would be utterly embarrassing if she wasn¡¯t familiar with the rules as compared to the princess consort who was just a new member in the family.


    However, today wasn¡¯t as nervous as she was yesterday when she studied the books. After a moment of reading, her thoughts drifted as her eyes wandered around the room when she saw Wang Ruo was sitting there in a daze holding one of the books.


    Seeing her as if in absence of mind, Huang Zixia closed the rule book in her hand, and asked, ¡°What is Your Highness thinking about?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking about¡­. some things that Senior maids Suqi taught me earlier.¡± She said hesitantly.


    Huang Zixia asked with a smile, ¡°Well, what did Senior maids Suqi say?¡±


    ¡°Senior maids Suqi gave me a talk about the book ?The Female Prohibition?, in the subject of ¡®Fidelity¡¯ which she said, ¡®A virgin maiden once married off can never remarry, but the husband can remarry. Nowadays, many women are not satisfied with their husband¡¯s family and go to the court for a divorce. Their behaviours and minds are so perverse, and as a woman, the vows of chastity must be loyal from one until the end. Nevertheless, the royal family would pay more unbending attention to this matter.¡¯ ¡±


    Huang Zixia nodded and said, ¡°The education of ?The Female Prohibition? should¡¯ve begins at home and whereas Senior maid Suqi was just narrating a conventional example. How does Your Highness feel about it?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I have, of course, read it before.¡± Wang Ruo quickly said, ¡± I just suddenly thought of one or two things, and felt a little flummoxed.¡±


    ¡°May I ask what¡¯s bothering Your Highness? Can you tell me about it?¡±


    ¡°It is¡­ I heard that Empress Wu was once known as Emperor Taizong¡¯s Talented Lady*, and also in the other events that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang bestowed the Princess Consort Shao to become Noble Consort Yang* in his¡­ harem.¡± She said hesitantly.


    (Talented Lady ¨C Imperial concubines ranks given by the emperor. Empress Wu married twice; her first marriage was with Emperor Taizhong of Tang and then her second marriage to the emperor¡¯s youngest prince, Emperor Gaozong of Tang.)


    (Noble Consort Yang Ñî¹óåú ¡®yang gui fei¡¯- She was one of the historical Four Beauties in China¡¯s dynasties. She was married to Li Mao, the Prince of Shao as Princess Consort Shao and then remarried to the prince¡¯s father, Emperor Xuanzong.)


    Huang Zixia didn¡¯t expect it to be such tricky questions. Even thousands of historians would not be able to delineate about it, let alone her. What else could she do? After a momentary contemplation, her mouth curved into an ironic smile and replied, ¡°In this dynasty, there are indeed some things that are hard to say.¡±


    ¡°Then, how about the Han dynasty? There was also Emperor Wu¡¯s mother, Wang Lao, who was married to a commoner, abandoned her husband and daughter, and then married into the palace as if it was her first marriage. And later on, she became the mother of the world¡­ Am I right?¡±


    Huang Zixia was stupefied for a long time, and finally she could only say, ¡°Our great land of China has a history of thousands of years; there will always be one or two people who are different from each other, but they are also far and few.¡±


    Wang Ruo looked fixedly at the book on the desk and asked hesitantly, ¡°Therefore, Chonggu, what do you think of this Empress Wang who concealed her marriage history and entered the palace as a virgin maiden. Let¡¯s say the Emperor Jing of the Han dynasty should find out about it in the future, what would be her¡­.her ending?¡±


    Hearing this, Huang Zixia naturally laughed, ¡°Why should Your Highness worry about the history of the past? In the end, the Empress Wang became the Empress Dowager Wang, and her family was full of wealth. Her son, Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty, later learned that his mother had a daughter with a commoner. He also visited her personally and called her sister. I think the royal family also has feelings, and everything can be judged with common sense.¡±


    ¡°Hm.. I would think so too.¡± She held the book in her arms tightly, but she seemed a little lost in thought.


    Huang Zixia thought over silently in mind what she had just said, but couldn¡¯t grasp the point so she let it go for a time being. Soon after, her gaze followed Wang Ruo¡¯s line of sight and it led to the stalk of peony on the table.


    This peony is exactly that beautiful colored peony, and it now sits in a large crystal bowl with shallow water just enough to immerse the short flower stem in preserving the flower. But the flowers looked wilting nonetheless, and the petals were slightly rolled up, and one or two petals had dropped.


    When Wang Ruo realized that Huang Zixia was staring at the flower, she blushed and immediately lowered her head to roll up the scroll, looking uneasy and shy.


    ¡®It¡¯s strange indeed, by looking at her behaviour, it seemed that she truly adored Prince Kui.¡¯


    Huang Zixia studied over her secretly. She deeply felt Wang Ruo¡¯s yearning for Li Shubai was real just like any other young girls when they fall in love. Huang Zixia¡¯s mind was disoriented momentarily as if she had been influenced by her emotional and softened mood.


    Wang Ruo¡¯s head bent even lower as she stroked the beautiful flower in the crystal bowl. Just after, a charming and soft voice could be heard, ¡°Chonggu, you must be laughing at me in your heart.¡±


    ¡°Why should I laugh at you?¡± Huang Zixia smiled.


    She shyly raised her hands to cover her face and whispered, ¡°I wonder if you can feel my feelings right now. I¡­ I have been thinking about what my future husband will be like, what kind of life I will live in the future and what kind of person I would depend on. As soon as I was brought into the inner hall and saw the prince for the first time, I understood everything. At that moment, I seemed to see clearly the path of my life opened up in front of me,¡­ and I didn¡¯t fear the future anymore. I saw him standing in the light, holding the peony in his hand; his whole body was as clear as jade. Immediately, I knew that he was the man of my life..¡±


    Huang Zixia couldn¡¯t help but think back about the situation when Wang Ruo first met Li Shubai. Somehow in her heart, she felt Wang Ruo¡¯s reaction was different as described by her just now, yet she flashed her smile and said, ¡°Recalling what you looked like at that time, I understand.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t mention it to anyone else.¡±


    ¡°Ok.¡± Huang Zixia sat by her side, looking at her rosy cheek and longing in her eyes. Suddenly, her dark eyes glinted with a little melancholy, the image in front of her eyes changed as if she was dreaming. At dusk in early summer, dragonflies were flying all over the pond, when she looked back with lotus flowers in her arms and saw the young man looking at her from afar.


    Unconsciously, her mind drifted far away in deep thoughts and when she pulled back to reality, she felt a slight pain in her heart.


    She turned her head to look at the red sun, and then slowly stood up and said, ¡°It¡¯s time for this humble servant to take a leave now. Your Highness can keep these books for further readings.¡±


    ¡°Ok.¡± Wang Ruo¡¯s hand was still unconsciously stroking the peony petals, but it only destroyed it even more.


    Huang Zixia went to the door and saw purple wisteria blooming all over the small courtyard, and the enchanting purple was like mist around the pergola. The setting sun in spring is dazzling gold, shining on the purple wisteria, setting the whole courtyard off in gold and purple colors. For that instant, there were stirred up feelings in her heart, she could feel Wang Ruo¡¯s shy and timid joy.


    Therefore, she looked back at Wang Ruo and teased her with a smile, ¡°Please rest assured, Your Highness. This humble servant won¡¯t talk about it to others. I will only relay to the prince that the princess consort still treasures the piece of beautiful peony that His Highness gave her.¡±


    Wang Ruo, who was embarrassed and angry, stood up and stamped her foot, ¡°Hmph.. you are so¡­¡±


    However, before Wang Ruo could finish her sentence, Huang Zixia already left the room with a grin on her face.


    ***


    Prince Kui mansion¡¯s carriage that came to pick up Huang Zixia had already stopped at the gate of the Wang household. She got into the carriage and passed the streets and lanes of Chang¡¯an all the way. When the carriage reached the east city, the carriage stopped suddenly.


    With that, Huang Zixia furrowed her eyebrows and wondered who was it so bold to stop the carriage of Prince Kui¡¯s mansion. When she lifted the curtain of the carriage, she found that the car was parked by a restaurant. In front of the window on the second floor above her head, a man was standing there looking down. He was dressed in purple, and as the setting sun shone on him, just like the enthralling purple wisteria and golden sun in Wang Ruo¡¯s small courtyard. He was looking at her in the carriage below with his usual casual eyes, which were more profound in the sunset, but there was no expression on his face revealing his emotion.


    Li Shubai was watching her from upstairs; needless to say, she did not dare to neglect him. Without delay, she jumped out of the carriage, went into the restaurant and upstairs to the private room and knocked on the door. Immediately someone came to open the door. It was Jing You, the eunuch who was always with Li Shubai. Eunuch Jing You had not yet recovered from the cold; he told Huang Zixia to serve the prince attentively, and then closed the door and left.


    In the private room, she and Li Shubai were not the only ones present, but also the Prince of Zhao, Li Rui and Prince of Hubei, Li Ren, who were also dressed in their casual clothes, and a woman sitting in front of the table gently plucking on the zither¡¯s string. The woman was in her forties, and her facial features were very beautiful, but the aging sign on her face could be clearly seen. When she saw Huang Zixia come in, she nodded to her slightly without saying anything and played the zither softly. The sweet-sounding zither was clear and soothing.


    Seeing that she was looking at the woman, Li Shubai said, ¡°She is Madam Chen Nian, a disciple of Dong Tinglan. The day before yesterday, Prince Zhao said that she was here in Chang¡¯an. Therefore, Prince Run and I made an appointment to come here today to listen to her skills.¡±


    Ever since this dynasty, the musical instruments and music of Huhua ethnic in the western regions had been very popular for a time. The seven stringed instruments were seldom appreciated because of its insipid ancient sound. However, Dong Tinglan was highly praised for his superb talent in zither in the heyday of Tang Dynasty where Gao Shi also wrote poems for him as it reads: ¡°Do not worry there would be no bosom friends along the way, in this great world, who wouldn¡¯t know this honourable man.¡±


    Huang Zixia nodded to the woman to give her regards.


    Li Rui¡¯s mouth involuntarily curved into a smile and he said, ¡°Fourth brother, it seems this little eunuch has become very important to you now. What were you busy with today?¡±


    ¡°He has a good memory, so I ordered him to go to Wang¡¯s household to teach the rules of the mansion.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± he raised his brows and continued, ¡°Is he not only able to solve a crime, but also has the ability that seen once and will never forget just like the fourth elder brother?¡± Li Rui asked another question with a wry smile.


    Li Shubai only gave him a low hmm as a reply without saying a word.


    And at this moment, Huang Zixia saw that the glaring setting sunlight was reflecting on Madam Chen Nian¡¯s eyes. She frowned and walked to the window to pull down the bamboo curtain in front of her.


    As a result, Li Rui said with a smile, ¡°The little eunuch is very meticulous.¡±


    At the end of Madam Chen Nian¡¯s song, the sound of zither resonated like resounding jade, making the people forget the common customs, and no one answered Li Rui¡¯s words. After hearing the last reverberations of the music, Madam Chen Nian rose gracefully from her seat to salute the people.


    Li Ren praised, ¡°It¡¯s wonderful. You can imagine the style of Great Dong at that time.¡±


    Li Rui added, ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s very well played. Do you want to join the teaching workshop? Maybe we can help in referring you to them.¡±


    Madam Chen Nian modestly shook her head, ¡°I¡¯m old. Now I¡¯m working as a zither player in Yunshao Garden in Jiangnan. I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t adapt to the teaching workshop anymore.¡±


    Li Rui curiously asked, ¡°Why did you come to Chang¡¯an this time?¡±


    Madam Chen Nian replied, ¡°I was studying under the teacher¡¯s school with my senior sister Madam Feng Yi. We have good relationships and supported each other for many years. A few months ago, Feng Yi suddenly bid her farewell to me, saying that she would escort her daughter to Chang¡¯an, and will stay there at least one to two months, or three to four months at the most, before returning. But now it has been more than five months. There has been no news from her, and I went around asking all the people, I found that no one knows why she has come to Chang¡¯an and who she is escorting. The only way for me was to come to Chang¡¯an alone to inquire about the news. Who knows, not only I couldn¡¯t find her, but also the money I had was all spent. Fortunately, I met some of my old schoolmates and they introduced me to this place so I could play the zither and had the chance to meet the noble people.¡±


    Li Ren spoke smilingly, ¡°I know what you mean. You hope I can help you find the whereabouts of your senior sister, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, if you can get the whereabouts of my senior sister, I¡¯d be really grateful!¡±


    Li Ren said, ¡°Well, Chang¡¯an isn¡¯t that big, but not small either. How about I¡¯ll write you a letter? Then you can go to the office of yamen and ask them to draw a portrait for you and look for the person.¡±


    Madam Chen Nian looked at him with joy and gave a deep bow to him. She said, ¡°No need for trouble to redraw the portrait as I have with me a small portrait of my senior sister and me together which was drawn a few years ago. The one I have always taken with me looks very similar to us. I¡¯ll take it and show it to them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s even better. You can give me the portrait and right away I¡¯ll write the letter for you.¡±


    Li Shubai gave a look to signal Huang Zuxia and she obediently walked out the room to get the brush and ink from the shop.


    As Li Ren was writing the letter at the side, Madam Chen Nian sat in front of the zither and adjusted the strings one by one. Huang Zixia sat opposite her, and helped her to open the box of rosin powder and wipe the strings.


    Madam Chen Nian liked her very much because she was very thoughtful just now. Looking at her hand, she asked, ¡°Can the little eunuch play the zither?¡±


    ¡°I have learned pipa and konghou before, but I didn¡¯t have patience. So, I only learned a little, and then I abandoned it.¡±


    a) óíóó k¨­ngh¨®u ¨C Chinese harp; b) ÅýÅà p¨ªpa = Chinese lute; c) ÇÙq¨ªn = guqin ¹ÅÇÙ (a type of zither)


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity, because your hands are perfect for playing the zither.¡±


    Huang Zixia was a little surprised, and said, ¡°No one has said before that my palm looks good.¡±


    ¡°By looking at your palm, it seems to have enough strength, and when you play the zither or pipa, because the palms are a little larger, and you can press the strings with a larger span.¡±


    Huang Zixia smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s probably because I used to like playing polo, so, it has become like this.¡±


    When Li Rui heard polo was mentioned, he quickly jumped into the conversation, ¡°Hey, you little eunuch likes to play polo too? Sure, I will call you up when we get to play some other day.¡±


    Huang Zixia immediately said, ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve played one or two games before.¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t believe you dared to play polo especially in that thin body of yours. You could easily lose your arms and legs at any time.¡± As he spoke; he reached out his hand and wanted to pinch her shoulder but she shrank back and stared at Li Shubai. He just ignored her stares and coughed softly.


    However, Li Rui could hear him cough, he smiled, returned to his place and sat beside Li Shubai. Huang Zixia lowered her head and continued to sort out the rosin powder. She looked up occasionally and saw Madam Chen Nian¡¯s lowered face, with a high bridge nose and a small chin. As she thought to herself, Madam Cheng Nian¡¯s outline seems to have a very similar profile with her mother.

 CH 15

    As the time passed, Huang Zixia very quickly became close with Madam Chen Nian. And for no particular reason, she suddenly asked her a question, ¡°Madam Chen Nian, if I really want to learn zither, which songs should I begin with?¡±


    ¡°Well, songs such as ¡°Reminisce¡±; ¡°Longing¡±; ¡°Chrysanthemum of the East¡± are good for beginners. The melody is liked by most people yet simple and easy to get started with.


    Huang Zixia suddenly thought of something, and then she asked, ¡°How about the song called ¡°Flowing Waters¡±, is it a good song for beginners?¡±


    ¡°Young Sir Eunuch, you must be joking. ¡°Flowing Waters¡± (Á÷Ë®-Liu shui£©is a very difficult song to play. Even my master, who used to practice it, often lamented that he had not reached the level of perfection and he couldn¡¯t play it well.¡±


    ¡°So, is there any song for early learners that had the title with the character of ¡®Liu¡¯ in it?¡±


    Madam Chen Nian thought for a moment and said, ¡°I have been in Jiangnan for a long time, and I have taught countless songs and tunes, but I don¡¯t remember one which starts with the character ¡®Liu¡¯.¡±


    ¡°How about characters which are homophones, such as Li¨³(willow); Li¨²(stay); Li¨´(six) and so on?¡±


    ¡°There is one called ¡°Li¨´(six)Yao¡±, but this is a pipa song. When it comes to Li¨³(willow), there is also a ¡°Zhe Li¨³(willow) ¡±, which is easy to learn.¡±


    Huang Zixia shook his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s not ¡°Zhe Li¨³(willow)¡±. It¡¯s the first word with Li¨³(willow).¡±


    After hearing Huang Zixia¡¯s words, Madam Chen Nian began to mull over. She suddenly raised her slender brows and exclaimed, ¡°There is really a song that is easy to learn, but it¡¯s soft and gentle. It¡¯s very popular in Yangzhou and many girls in Yunshao Garden (the ancient nightclub) used to learn it, especially when they just started to learn how to play the zither, and I had taught many of them. The name of the song is ¡°Li¨³ mian-Gentle Willow¡±. But Little Sir Eunuch is from the capital city, moreover you are living in the prince¡¯s mansion, a noble place; you wouldn¡¯t have known it.¡±


    When these words entered Huang Zixia¡¯s ears, she instantly thought of the shy Wang Ruo; she awkwardly smiled and said, ¡°Most probably, it¡¯s not the one.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, as I have thought so. The folk music of the streets, any young girls from proper families eventually wouldn¡¯t learn this kind of music.¡±


    As they were talking, Li Ren finished writing the letter and sealed it. Huang Zixia was familiar with Chang¡¯an, so she went with Madam Chen Nian to retrieve the small portrait that was taken together with her senior sister, Madam Feng Yi. Huang Zixia told Madam Chen Nian not to worry as she will handle the matter on hand. After that, she opened the scroll of the portrait and took a look.


    On the portrait were two women, one sitting and one standing. It was Madam Chen Nian who was sitting. The drawings of her in the portrait were surreal and very similar to the person, with clear and beautiful eyes. And the person standing next to Madam Chen Nian, her eyebrows were slightly narrowed like a crescent moon as she smiled; although in her forties, she still had a kind of indescribable charm.


    Huang Zixia fixedly stared at the woman in the painting and asked, ¡°This is Madam Feng Yi?¡±


    ¡°Yes, my senior sister is a natural beauty.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, and it¡¯s obvious. As the saying goes, ¡°Regardless of the orchids in spring or the chrysanthemums in autumn, they are all beauties¡±, Huang Zixia spoke gently.


    ¡°She¡¯s a very charming and graceful lady, but it is difficult to be shown in the portrait. When you see her in person, you will understand.¡± Madam Chen Nian smiled as she said.


    Yes, one must really see it with one¡¯s own eyes to feel her amiable personality. Huang Zixia said it in her heart. But you didn¡¯t know that I just met her a few days ago in the outskirts of Chang¡¯an. She and the future Princess Consort Kui, who were in the same carriage, had invited me for a ride together with them.


    The daughter of Langxie Wang¡¯s family and a zither player from Yunshao Garden of Yangzhou, who travel together and have always, said that she was like her family members. Wang Ruo, there seems to be quite a lot of strange occurrences about her.


    If that¡¯s the case, the so-called daughter of an old friend should be Wang Ruo? But Wang Ruo, a noble girl from the Langxie family branch of the Wang¡¯s, how did her parents get acquainted with Madam Feng Yi and even entrust their daughter with her to go to Chang¡¯an?


    Huang Zixia carefully considered. She decided not to disclose the matter to Madam Chen Nian yet. After all, there are a lot of people who look similar in the world, so for the meantime, she pretended not to know. Maybe there was a personal data of Madam Feng Yi in the Ministry of Finance*, where she could find out what Langxie Wang¡¯s family had written about her identity.


    (Ministry of Finance »§²¿ hubu is mainly in charge for national economy including household registration, taxation, agriculture and business)


    Her expression was calm as she rolled up the portrait in her hands before saying goodbye to Madam Chen Nian and got into the carriage.


    When Huang Zixia got in the carriage, something came into Madam Chen Nian¡¯s mind and she pointed to the scroll of the painting in Huang Zixia¡¯s hands and said, ¡°Because the portrait is small and the artist is unable to draw on it. There is actually a black mole at the left side of Feng Yi¡¯s eyebrow. Anyone who had seen it should have noticed it.¡±


    Huang Zixia cast her mind back to the scene of that woman who was in the carriage with Wang Ruo that day, but she only remembered that she wore a piece of scarf on her forehead, and it covered her left eyebrow.


    She nodded and wrote it down. Immediately after that, the carriage started and headed straight to the Ministry of Finance¡¯s office.


    The Three Departments and Six Ministries System in this dynasty were all within the capital city. Very soon, she arrived and entered the governmental buildings and walked towards the Ministry of Finance department. Supervisor Hu, who was on duty on that day, was very enthusiastic and helped her to check the files of women who had entered Chang¡¯an in recent months. In the end, no one matched her age or description of her appearance. She did not find a person named Madam Feng Yi.


    After thanking Supervisor Hu, she turned around and wanted to take her leave but something came to mind. Hence, she approached the supervisor again, smiled sheepishly as she lowered her voice and said, ¡°Supervisor Hu, I have a small request and would you be kind enough to help me. I wonder if I¡­.¡±


    ¡°Young Sir Eunuch, if you have any orders, please say directly.¡± Prince Kui was becoming more and more influential in the imperial court recently. Supervisor Hu did not dare to neglect the people around him, so he quickly bowed and cupped his fists.


    ¡°Well you see, His Highness is already engaged to the daughter of the Wang family and will marry soon. I also went to the Wang family¡¯s residence a few days ago. Unfortunately, my memory is too poor. Although all the people around the princess consort-to-be had announced their names to me, I can¡¯t remember any of them. It¡¯s said that those family members arrived in the capital city together with our princess consort-to-be. So, can you do me a little favor and show me the household registrations of the family?¡±


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s just a small matter.¡± Supervisor Hu immediately walked to the bookshelves and pulled out a registration book from last month¡¯s archives and said, ¡°I remember very clearly that on the 26th of last month, it was the Langxie Wang family who asked me to register the names of their household. She was the daughter from the fourth family branch of the Wang¡¯s family. Yes, that¡¯s it. There are four people in all.¡±


    Huang Zixia quickly looked at the page and saw the official documents as reported:


    The daughter of the Langxie family, fourth family branch of the Wang¡¯s family named Wang Ruo had entered the capital city with servants, Xian Yun and Ran Yun, who were both 15 years old and housekeeper Lu Yi who was 35 years old.


    In the current dynasty, the household registration was strictly controlled, especially in the capital city, which was under the surveillance of the emperor. Even the migrants that stayed temporarily in Chang¡¯an also needed to report to the Ministry of Finance.


    ¡°What? Name of these two girls only? It seems that I have no choice but to thicken my face and inquire about the others.¡± She feigned a look of disappointment and thanked Supervisor Hu, packed her things and ready to leave.


    Just as she put away the small portrait, she turned her head and caught sight of a young officer of the Ministry of Finance who was standing nearby. He stared at the portrait and he seemed extremely surprised by what he saw.


    She immediately asked, ¡°Sir, have you ever seen the woman in the painting?¡±


    ¡°This¡­I¡¯ve seen someone similar to her, but not necessarily¡­ ¡± He hesitated, unsure of what to say.


    Huang Zixia¡¯s brows were knitted from anxiety. ¡°May I know where you have seen her?¡±


    The young officer hesitated for a moment and then he finally said, ¡°The city mortuary in the western of Chang¡¯an city.¡±


    ¡®The mortuary¡¯ as soon as these two words entered Huang Zixia¡¯s ears, she instantly frowned, and an ominous premonition welled up in her heart. In this circumstance, those who appeared in the city morgue and the case were handled by the Ministry of Finance. That means they were nameless corpses.


    Right after that, the young officer took out the documents from the cabinet and he said, ¡°There were more than ten refugees that came from Youzhou province to the western of Chang¡¯an. They were infected with disease a few days ago and all died. When I went to register the names this morning, there was a dead person who looked very much like the woman you were looking for.¡±


    He opened the casebook as he explained and then read, ¡°A deceased woman, unknown name and origin, about forty years old was five feet and three inches tall, slender body, fair skin, lush black hair, plump cheeks and has a black mole at the left side of her eyebrow.¡±


    She had a black mole at the left side of the eyebrow.


    She jolted upright and hurriedly asked, ¡°Is the corpse still in the mortuary? Can you direct me to the place and check it?¡±


    The young officer put back the book, shook his head and said, ¡°It can¡¯t be done. Those people died of a contagious disease. Therefore, their bodies together with their personal belongings have been burned and deeply buried.¡±


    ¡°In that case¡­ then there¡¯s really no other way,¡± she carefully rolled up the portrait, thanked the young officer and said, ¡°It appears that my job has not ended here and I still have to go to the city to investigate, see if there is anyone similar to this portrait. If there is no such person, I might have to tell the woman that the person she¡¯s looking for is perhaps already dead.¡±


    She then turned around and walked out of the Ministry of Finance¡¯s office. Along the way back, the road was full of carriages and horses. She closely examined the portrait over and over again, looking at the two smiling women in it, and began contemplating Wang Ruo¡¯s words the other day.


    Wang Ruo had said that because she was chosen as the princess consort, the elderly aunt rushed back to Langxie¡¯s residence to get the things which she needed for her daily use.


    And she looked slightly uneasy at that time, and then she briskly added on saying that the elderly aunt perhaps will not come back again because she was old, and she would stay in her hometown for good.


    She will not come back. Yes, she¡¯s really not coming back.


    Huang Zixia couldn¡¯t help but think of the shallow dimple on Wang Ruo¡¯s cheek. She looked cute and shy. And for some reason, Huang Zixia was slightly absentminded, as if she was enthralled by the purple wisteria in front of the courtyard.


    Huang Zixia didn¡¯t go to find Madam Chen Nian, but went back to Prince Kui¡¯s mansion instead.  She put the portrait in front of Li Shubai, and told everything that happened at the Ministry of Finance in detail, and then pointed to her eyebrows. ¡°Madam Feng Yin has a black mole on the left side of her eyebrow and so does the female corpse. But I couldn¡¯t see if there was a mole on her eyebrows when she was with Wang Ruo.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s a good starting point.¡± Li Shubai showed a rare happy look, and gently placed the glass bottle in his hand on the desk. The little fish in the glass bottle was slightly frightened and swishing its long tail.


    ¡°A zither player of an academy in Yangzhou accompanied a woman from a noble family to the capital to attend the event of the princess consort selection, and then died among the Youzhou¡¯s refugees. It sounds like there are a lot of hidden things that are worth studying.¡± Li Shubai was obviously very satisfied with the information she had brought back. The more chaotic the situation gets, the better it will be. He would be utterly disappointed if it wouldn¡¯t. And then he asked, ¡°What else do you find? Is there anything suspicious?¡±


    Huang Zixia pulled out the hairpin and wrote on the table. ¡°I thought¡­¡±


    As soon as the word left her lips, she quickly raised her hands to gather her scattered long hair, and then immediately curled it up and fastened it with the hairpin.


    Li Shubai stared at her without saying anything but she lowered her head slowly and said, ¡°It has become a habit, I always forget that I¡¯m a eunuch now and my hair tied up with only one hairpin.¡±


    ¡°Such a weird habit, you can¡¯t even remember something as simple as one, two, three, four?¡± Li Shubai slightly furrowed his brows, and then he pulled a clean sheet of paper from the case and threw it to her.


    Huang Zixia picked up the writing brush placed on the side of the table. She contemplated for a moment, and then wrote one, two and three on the paper.


    ¡°Firstly, as mentioned before, she used a fake birth chart and forged the wedding proposal card. Secondly, who is behind Wang Ruo actually? Has Langxie Wang¡¯s family got something to do with this? Thirdly, according to Madam Chen Nian, Madam Feng Yi left Yangzhou escorting the daughter of an old friend to the capital. What¡¯s more, I had a suspicion that they have known each other before and the princess consort is probably taught by Madam Feng Yi. The first song she learned was those popular songs from Yangzhou night courtyard¡­ for instance ¡°Gentle Willow¡±.¡±


    ¡°The prominent Langxie Wang¡¯s family with a hundred year old of history asked a zither player from Yangzhou academy who taught girls of the night courtyard, to escort their daughter to Chang¡¯an for the princess consort selection. This particular point itself raised the biggest suspicion. And in addition¡­ ¡± The corners of his eyes crinkled and his cold voice escaped his lips, ¡°The death of Madam Feng Yin may be due to their awareness that she shouldn¡¯t exist in this world, or else it may bring unnecessary trouble.¡±


    ¡°But now the question is whether the dead woman was really Madam Feng Yi? After all, there are many people who look similar in this world. Just a piece of painting can¡¯t be used as proof. Furthermore, I didn¡¯t see the left eyebrow of the lady when she was with the princess consort at that time.¡±


    Li Shubai creased his forehead, tapped his long finger on the desk as he contemplated. For a moment, he then said, ¡°With my understanding of the servants in the Ministry of Finance, they tend to be lazy. Burned and buried the corpses as they said, I don¡¯t think they are competent enough to do it.


    Huang Zixia felt there were ominous black clouds gathering overhead.


    Sure enough, Li Shubai opened the drawer and threw a distinctive token with a shape of a small goldfish to her. ¡°The Zhou¡¯s residence located next to the tomb of Dong Zhongshun in Chongrenfang, go find Zhou Ziqin, the young master of the Zhou family.¡±


    Huang Zixia of course still remembered the ambitious coroner who was the young master of the Zhou family. She felt even more foreboding as she asked, ¡°Your Highness wants me to go for¡­?¡±


    Li Shubai¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly, his thin lips hooked upwards as he looked at her. Strangely, his smile actually creeped her out, she felt a premonition that she was about to be kicked into the mud pool by the person in front of her.


    As Huang Zixia predicted, he said, ¡°Of course, you dig up the corpse together with Zhou Ziqin to examine it.¡±


    Huang Zixia felt like she just got struck by lightning!


    ¡±Prince Kui! I¡¯m a girl! I am a girl of seventeen-years-old! You are telling me to take a stranger and dig up a corpse in the middle of the night?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you often follow your father to investigate cases? I think you¡¯ve seen a lot of corpses.¡± His face seemed expressionless but he was watching her from the corner of his eye. ¡°Or, in fact, you shouted about things like redressing your parents¡¯ grievances, and you actually didn¡¯t really want to do it?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Huang Zixia looked at his slightly raised lips and eyebrows as if he was waiting to watch for a good show; her heart was full of resentment.


    But when she heard him mention her parents, for that moment, a numbing and penetrating cold seemed to spread through her.


    Huang Zixia, hadn¡¯t you made up your mind at that time to put everything in the world aside. Only the blood feud of your family was the reason for your survival?


    She clutched her sleeves tightly before grabbing the little goldfish on the table and turned around to leave. (Please read original translation from Cloudmanor)


    The next minute he heard the gong signal outside and immediately said, ¡°Hurry up, the first night watch of the day is coming, and soon the capital is going to start the night curfew.¡±


    ¡°Get me a horse!¡± She yelled as she glanced over her shoulder at him.


    Right after she spoke, he raised his hand gesturing her away, ¡°Two horses and fast!¡±

 CH 16

    Two horses, riding one and leading the other passed through Anxingfang and Shengyefang, the streets and alleys were already deserted.


    She galloped fast to the Zhou¡¯s mansion in Chongrenfang, got off her horse and hurriedly knocked on the door. The doorkeeper opened the door and looked at her, seeing her in eunuch clothes, he asked with a smile, ¡°Who is young sir eunuch looking for?¡±


    (Source: https://www.peakpx.com/en/hd-wallpaper-desktop-nchmr)


    ¡°Your young master Zhou Ziqin.¡± She replied and showed him the little goldfish token in her hand. When he saw it, he immediately responded, ¡°Oh, wait a minute.¡±


    She stood in front of the Zhou mansion, watching the bright moon rising from the east as she pursed her lips tightly. The sound of the drum vaguely coming from a distance, indicates the closing time of the  Chang¡¯an City gate.


    Not long after that, there were fast walking steps that could be heard coming from the inner mansion, and soon a young man appeared at the entrance. He was about 20-years-old, with clear eyes, handsome and elegant. He was wearing a richly embroidered brocade dress. The color of the clothes was gorgeous sky blue and smoky purple. A white jade belt with engraved chi patterns on it, with dangling incense pouches, small purses and white jade pendants jingling below his waist. At a glance, he seems like just any other ordinary guy on the street, the difference is that he has better looks and is more attractive than others.


    As soon as the boy saw her, he promptly asked, ¡°Young sir eunuch, is Prince Kui asking for me?¡±


    ¡°Zhou Ziqin?¡±, she asked in return.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s me.¡± He turned his head left and right as if he was searching for someone as he talked to her, he impatiently asked, ¡°Does the prince finally think that I can be put up to a good use? I heard that he spoke of me before the emperor and wished for me to go to Sichuan with my father.¡± At last, I¡¯m going to be a yamen runner! Hahaha, a new stage of my life is about to begin¡­¡±


    ¡°Keep your voice down,¡± she anxiously stopped him as she couldn¡¯t stand this man¡¯s clamoring, and she continued in a low voice, ¡°Now the prince assigns you a job, which is very suitable for you.¡±


    ¡°Really? Better than a yamen runner?¡±


    ¡°Uh huh, dig up the dead body.¡±


    ¡°Indeed he is the Prince Kui who knows me well,¡± without questioning further, he instantly raised his hand, snapped his fingers, and he said, ¡°Give me a minute! I¡¯ll come right after I get the tools!¡±


    By the law of the Chang¡¯an City, at the end of the day when the ¡°The drum of closing door¡± hits the 600th time, the city gate is closed. On the next day begins at 5th geng (4.56am) in the morning, when the ¡°The drum of opening door¡± hits the 400th time, the city gate is opened.


    The sky was getting darker and darker, and the sound of the drums could be heard from far away just like a ticking clock before the closing gate. Huang Zixia and Zhou Ziqin¡¯s horses were at full gallop on the street, heading straight to the Jinguangmen. Please read the original from cloudmanor and stop supporting theft.


    Almost at the moment when the last drum fell and the city gate officer yelled ¡°Shut the door¡ª¡ª¡±, their horses just in time made it through passing the city gate and ran along the trails to the wild western city.


    The mountains and forests in the west of Chang¡¯an City are covered in lush and flourishing greens, and Zhou Ziqin took her to the city morgue as he was familiar with the road. Inside the mortuary, only a single lamp was lit, and the old mortuary caretaker had fallen asleep.


    Zhou Ziqin had already taken off his brocade clothes, and was only wearing a brown coloured inner robe on him. He took out a flat metal plate from his sleeve, flipped the latch lightly and deftly, then quickly pushed the door and stretched out his hand, caught the latch the moment before it hit the ground, and put it on the window sill next to it without making a sound.


    Huang Zixia started to have a good impression on him. With this skill, he is nowhere likely to be a playboy; he is clearly cultivated for a thousand years old fox!


    Zhou Ziqin beckoning her over with his fingers, then tiptoed in, opened the wooden cabinet, took out the booklet inside, and turned to the most recent page¡ª¡ª


    There were 14 refugees from Youzhou, 12 males and 2 females. They were all buried beside the pine forest on the side of Qishan Hill.


    He slid his finger across the line of words, then silently pointed to a small hill outside, opened his lips and made a ¡°go¡± mouth shape.


    The two walked out the door slowly and carefully, he moved the latch back inch by inch with a flat metal plate, inserted it on again with difficulty, and waved her to go.


    Huang Zixia finally understood why Li Shubai asked her to find Zhou Ziqin, this guy is simply a habitual offender; he got extremely supple fingers and feet.


    After they left and traveled quite a far distance, Huang Zixia finally asked: ¡°You¡­have often done this kind of thing before? You seem to be very familiar with doing it.¡±


    He was complacent: ¡°That¡¯s right, I love what I¡¯m doing right now. Let me tell you, I secretly practiced my coroner skills from these unidentified corpses.¡±


    ¡°Unlocking the doors is probably the best in Chang¡¯an, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just so-so, I¡¯ve practiced it for about half a year now.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve wanted to ask, the window beside the main door, the bolt seems to be easily opened with a flick. Why do you have to go in through the door?¡±


    ¡°Window¡­window?¡± Zhou Ziqin stunned for a moment, Huang Zixia already strode quite far before hearing him wailing out loudly behind her, ¡°I wasted more than half a year to develop the skills! Who can pay back the blood and sweat that I had practiced day and night!¡±


    When they reached the foothills, the horses that they tied them to the trees nearby were pacing anxiously.


    Zhou Ziqin led the horses into the pine forest, a small hill in the north, which was the new soil that had been dug out and filled back into its original position.  He knew it should be here, so he took down the tool box that was hung on the horse¡¯s back earlier, opened it, took out the hoe and shovel, and threw one over to her.


    Looking disbelieving at the shovel in her hand; she was astonished, ¡°You even have this thing? You are an expert indeed.¡±


    ¡°Shh, don¡¯t mention it, Prince Kui got it from the Weapons Department for me. After my father found out, I was almost beaten to death!¡± He scrunched his face, and then took out a lobe of garlic, a piece of ginger and a bottle of vinegar from the box.


    When Huang Zixia thought he was going to take out a steam bun next, he had already taken out two strips of cloth, smashed the ginger and garlic, mixed it with vinegar, rubbed it on the cloth, and then handed her one, ¡°Wear it, dead bodies smell awful.¡±


    Huang Zixia remembered something and hurriedly reminded him, ¡°It was said that these people who died of the epidemic disease.¡±


    ¡°Then you should put it on and secure it more tightly,¡± He gave a smug look and continued, ¡°Although it doesn¡¯t smell good, this is a secret recipe passed down from great ancestors.¡±


    Huang Zixia almost fainted by the overwhelming smell, ¡°Isn¡¯t your father an official? Could you explain by passing down from your ancestors?¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s not my family¡¯s ancestral recipe. I have been begging for it for a long time and many months of persuasion to get this Zhu family¡¯s ancestral secret recipe from the city¡¯s famous coroner, Uncle Zhu.¡±


    She was silent, picked up the shovel and dug the soil on the ground with him. The corpses that were just buried today; the soil is not too difficult to dig up.  Without wasting much time, Zhou Ziqin already wields a hoe and starts digging; the speed is relatively fast.


    Under the moonlight, Zhou Ziqin was digging and digging, seemingly a little bored, and asked her casually, ¡°Are you the¡­ new love of Prince Kui?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Her lips twitched, if it wasn¡¯t for the piece of cloth covering her face, her expression would have made him understand her thoughts.


    It¡¯s a pity that Zhou Ziqin didn¡¯t see it and he continued to mumble to himself, ¡°What¡¯s the name again¡­ Yang Chonggu, right?¡±


    She let out a dejected ¡°hmm¡±, and after pondering for a second, she asked, ¡°That new love you said, what does it mean?¡±


    ¡°Uh? I don¡¯t know either. I just heard the rumors in the capital that Prince Kui has a pretty little eunuch serving him. Prince Zhao wanted to take the little eunuch in but Prince Kui wouldn¡¯t let. When I saw your appearance, I guess it was you.¡±


    After listening to his blabbering of silly words, she didn¡¯t feel like talking to him anymore; she rather buried her head deep into the ground out of grief and indignation.


    He kept on talking, ¡°I heard that you could solve crime cases, the one ¡®four direction¡¯ case.¡±


    ¡°Coincidentally.¡±


    ¡°But you can make a breakthrough in such a dignified ¡®four direction¡¯ case, I would say you can almost keep up with the person I admire the most!¡±


    ¡°It was just an average.¡±


    That night in the empty wilderness of the mountain, under the faint moonlight and the howling sound of the wind blew between the pine trees, the two were talking and digging in the mountains for a substantial amount of time. When something different in color from the soil appeared under the moonlight, Zhou Ziqin hurriedly said, ¡°Wait, wait, let me see.¡±


    He jumped and landed on the shallow pit below, put on a pair of thin gloves, picked up the bone and looked at it, he said, ¡°Yes, it is a burned body. But this is obviously a man¡¯s bone; you can tell by the thickness of the bone. If you are looking for a woman, we have to continue searching.¡±


    Huang Zixia squatted by the pit and said, ¡°Yes, what I¡¯m looking for is a woman, about forty years old, five feet three inches tall, of medium build, good at playing the piano.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± He rummaged through the soil with a small shovel. It took a lot of effort to find the bones of fourteen people, but the women¡¯s bodies were usually  separated. He dug on all sides, carefully identified them, and brought out a large pile of charred belongings.


    When she saw the pile of half-burned bones and flesh, she knew that Li Shubai was right. Sure enough, the Finance Ministry¡¯s officers had dug a pit and buried bodies after hastily burning them. They did not implement the standard procedures of ¡°burned and buried the corpses¡± as supposed to be.


    She put on the gloves and fiddled with the female corpse¡¯s hands first. After all it was at night, things looked blurry but it didn¡¯t bother her much. It was just the smell was a bit unbearable, even with the vinegar, ginger and garlic, it didn¡¯t ease the foul smell from getting into her nostrils.


    She held her breath and told herself, Huang Zixia, you are someone who has seen the corpses of your own family members, these are nothing to you.


    The feeling of nausea gradually receded, and she tried to calm herself down, reaching out to look at the corpse in front of her. She heard Zhou Ziqin say, ¡°Judging from the bones of the two female corpses below, this woman is about five feet or more in length, but the other woman¡¯s bones are fragile, her body is slightly hunchbacked, and she is about fifty-years-old. The latter one should be the person you are looking for.¡±


    She carefully identified the scorched black skull of the female corpse, and asked, ¡°Is there any way to find out whether there is a mole on the left eyebrow?¡±


    ¡°No, the moles and scars are all on the epidermis, and the skin has already been burnt. How can it still exist?¡±


    ¡°Then is there any other way to identify them?¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute, I¡¯ll look for it.¡± He took out a leather duffel bag from the box, and when he opened it, the moonlight shone on the things inside and it gleamed brightly. Inside are all kinds of knives, hammers and awls made of refined iron.


    ¡°If you want to do something, you must first sharpen your tools. I¡¯m well prepared, aren¡¯t I?¡± He continued to show off his skills, turning the bones over and over for a long time, and then he cut open the remaining flesh of the dead body, ¡°First, the throat mustn¡¯t touch¡­ the fingers are completely burnt; cannot be identified, the eyes are dry; cannot be identified, the ears are gone; cannot be identified¡­¡±


    Huang Zixia squatted beside the pit, looking up at the moon while listening to him.


    After Zhou Zhiqin went through all the fuss, in the end, he concluded, ¡°There is completely no way to see any trace of evidence.¡±


    She rested her chin on her knees and asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t the people in the ministry examine the body before it was burned? Is there any record in the mortuary?¡±


    ¡°These are the victims of the plague, nobody wants to check on them. They just simply want to deal with it as soon as possible.¡± After Zhou Ziqin explained, he pointed to the box beside her and said, ¡°The fourth line, second tray, take that small bag and give it to me.¡±


    Huang Zixia took the small cloth bag and threw it to him. He took out a flat, thin circular silver in the size of a little finger and a small bottle from the bag, then took a small cloth dipped into the liquid in the bottle and wiped it on the silver disc vigorously until it was shiny. He squeezed the dead man¡¯s chin to open the mouth, put the silver disc in, closed up the mouth and then sealed it with a piece of paper, and said, ¡°Wait a while.¡±


    Huang Zixia has been following the yamen guards around in Shu County for a long time, naturally she knew that this was for drug testing, and that silver disc was washed with saponin water. After half an hour, if the silver disc retrieved out from the mouth turned black, it means the deceased had died of poisoning.


    ¡°The other female body and also that refugee male victim, could you run a test on both of them too?¡± Huang Zixia asked.


    ¡°Sure.¡± He said, and carried out the test on each of them.


    She couldn¡¯t help but remind him aloud, saying: ¡°Remember to run a stomach test later, last time there was a woman in Shu County who was feed with poison after her death, but the toxicity test was done only in her mouth by the coroner and they almost made a wrong finding in the end.¡±


    ¡°Huh, is there such a thing?¡± Zhou Ziqin¡¯s eyes lit up immediately, and he climbed up and walked with her to the pine tree a little further away, took off his mask, and asked, ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me about that case in detail?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, it¡¯s quite simple.¡± Huang Zixia thought about it for a while, and said, ¡°A young girl in Longzhou, Shu County died suddenly at home. The coroner is using this method to test it, he concluded that she committed suicide by drinking poison. But because I¡­ but because the yamen head guard found that the woman¡¯s wrist had bruises with a kind of pattern, however not the grape decorative pattern on her bracelet, and it¡¯s kinda like pomegranate pattern. It was concluded that other women must have pressed her hands before she died. So they searched carefully in her mouth and nose, and found the trace of dried blood. After interrogating her family, it turned out that she caught the sister-in-law having an affair with the neighbor. When the sister-in-law restrained her hand, the man covered her mouth to keep the secret, but she died because she was suffocated. In desperation, the two drugged her with poison in an attempt to create the illusion that she committed suicide. Therefore, the poison could be detected in the throat, but not in the abdomen, thus breaking the case.¡±


    Zhou Ziqin asked excitedly, ¡°Really? Please tell me, who on earth could have such a meticulous and refined mind like thin hair? Who could break a case merely on a bracelet pattern?¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s Guo Ming, the yamen head guard of Shu County.¡±


    ¡°Impossible! I¡¯ve seen Guo Ming before. He has a big beard; he was loud and rough. How could he notice the pattern of bruises on the woman¡¯s hand!¡±


    Huang Zixia was helpless, rolled his eyes at the moon that had risen above her head, and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know about that.¡±


    ¡°I have a guess. Could it be Huang Zixia, the daughter of the governor Huang Shijun?¡± Zhou Ziqin said suddenly, ¡°I heard that she is very good at determining the case based on clues.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Huang Zixia lowered her chin on her knees, looked up at the moon for a long time, and then said, ¡°I seem to have heard of this person.¡±


    Zhou Ziqin didn¡¯t feel her indifference at all, and gleefully said, ¡°I know, you must have never been to Chang¡¯an before! and not even been to Shu County, did you? She is very famous in Chang¡¯an and Shu County! And there is more, do you know why I aspire to be a coroner and a yamen guard? It¡¯s because of Huang Zixia!¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± She remained indifferent.


    ¡°Wait a second.¡± He said, then turned his head and took out a bag of things from the box, and handed it to her, ¡°Come on, give you half!¡±


    She smelled something fragrant and looked down; she couldn¡¯t help but feel disgusted, ¡°We are here tonight to dig up corpses. What¡¯s more, it¡¯s charred corpses that we are digging and you brought roast chicken!?¡±


    ¡°Iya, I haven¡¯t eaten dinner yet! When I went to the kitchen earlier to get vinegar, ginger and garlic, I saw that this was the only food in the kitchen that was easy to carry, so I wrapped it in lotus leaf and brought it here. My nanny cooks very well!¡±


    The corner of Huang Zixia¡¯s mouth twitched slightly, she really didn¡¯t want to say anything to this person.


    ¡°Where did I stop just now? Oh¡­ Huang Shijun¡¯s daughter Huang Zixia, she is my sweetheart! The person I like! The person in my dream!¡±


    She snapped coldly, ¡°You won¡¯t even notice her if she is standing right now in front of you.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible? Every time I pass by the wanted notices at the gate of the city, I would stop and take a good look at her. She is so beautiful! Even in a portrait of a criminal wanted list, she¡¯s still gorgeous. She must be a real beauty in person, isn¡¯t she?¡±