The Golden Hairpin

Huang Zixiao looked at Dicui and spoke in the gentlest tone she could muster, "Miss Lü, I believe Ziqin has already mentioned it to you. We’ve come again because there are a few minor matters we need you to clarify for us."

Dicui timidly stood up and whispered, "I... I have nothing more to say. I already told you everything this morning..."

Seeing her so frightened and uneasy, Zhou Ziqin quickly waved his hands to reassure her, "No, no, don’t misunderstand! Brother Zhang is our friend, so you’re our friend too. Let’s just treat this as a casual chat!"

Noticing Dicui’s lingering hesitation, Huang Zixiao patted Zhang Xingying’s back and said, "Miss Lü, trust us. At the very least, we’ll always stand by your side. If it were the Dali Temple officials coming instead, I’m afraid you’d be even more terrified."

Hearing this, Zhang Xingying nodded emphatically and bent down to comfort Dicui, "Don’t worry, Eunuch Yang is incredibly capable—there’s no mystery he can’t solve. I believe that as long as you tell the truth, he will surely help clear your name!"

Dicui raised her head and gazed deeply at him. After a long pause, she forced a faint, trembling smile. "But... I have nothing to say. I really did kill those two people."

"Lying to us won’t help," Huang Zixiao interjected firmly, glancing at Zhou Ziqin, who immediately caught her cue. "Miss Lü, I was the one who examined Sun Laizi’s corpse. I remember the wounds on his body very clearly."

With that, he turned and snapped off a branch from outside, handing it to her. "Miss Lü, pretend I’m Sun Laizi. Show us how it happened. You said Sun Laizi was standing inside the door, and you raised the knife and stabbed him twice, right?"

"Yes..." Dicui clutched the branch, her voice trembling.

"Then how exactly did you stab him?"

Dicui hesitated, glancing at Zhang Xingying and then at the branch in her hand. Finally, she raised it and thrust it toward Zhou Ziqin’s chest.

Zhang Xingying panicked and moved to stop her, but Zhou Ziqin swiftly caught her wrist, halting her mid-motion. "Miss Lü, if someone stabs another person while facing them, the wound would naturally be downward-slanting. But Sun Laizi’s wounds were horizontal—left to right. This means he was stabbed while lying on his right side, with the blade slightly angled downward. We deduced that the killer must have crouched beside his low bed while he was asleep and stabbed him, not when he opened the door, as you claimed."

"So, if you insist you killed Sun Laizi, then tell us—how did you sneak into his iron cage-like room while he was sleeping? And how did you leave when the doors and windows were all locked from the inside?"

Dicui stood frozen before them, speechless.

Zhang Xingying stared at her in shock, his voice quivering as he asked, "A-Di? Why are you lying? Why are you falsely confessing to murder?""Of course it was for you, Second Brother Zhang," Huang Zixiao said quietly. "You thought she was the one who killed Wei Ximin and Sun Laizi, while she believed you were the one who killed those two to avenge her. So when she realized you had become a suspect, even to the point of jeopardizing your future, she chose to sacrifice herself—resolutely turning herself in at the Dali Temple, attempting to take the blame for your crimes and keep you safe!"

Huang Zixiao's words left both Zhang Xingying and Dicui stunned.

"Ah Di... you're too foolish!" Zhang Xingying suddenly grabbed her hand. This big man was a mix of joy, frustration, and sorrow, his expression unreadable. "You... you! What are we supposed to do now?"

Huang Zixiao watched their clasped hands, feeling both relieved and sorrowful. She could only say, "Now that the princess is dead, Miss Lü was in the Dali Temple's purification chamber at the time and is completely above suspicion. But for the previous two cases, you've already confessed, so it won't be easy to secure your release immediately. I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the real culprit is caught before you can leave."

Dicui nodded with a downcast expression and whispered, "I'm sorry, Second Brother Zhang... I didn't trust you..."

"Don't blame yourself. It's my fault for keeping things from you..." Zhang Xingying sighed.

"You two really caused quite a stir, forcing us to start all over again," Zhou Ziqin said helplessly, shaking his head as he carried the food box outside. After tidying up the table and chairs, he and Huang Zixiao sat down, while Zhang Xingying and Dicui sat side by side on the empty low bed.

"Alright, you were among the closest witnesses at Jianfu Temple that day. Miss Lü, I hope you can first resolve your inner conflict and describe the events of that day in detail for us, all right?"

Dicui bit her lower lip silently. Her gaze turned to Zhang Xingying, who nodded at her before she lowered her head and said quietly, "But that day, I was wearing a veil hat at first, so I couldn’t see clearly outside. Later, when Second Brother Zhang helped me pick up the hat, I was afraid of being recognized, so I covered my face and crouched on the ground. I didn’t see anything—not even Wei Ximin in the crowd. Logically, a eunuch’s red robes should stand out in a crowd, but I truly didn’t notice him."

Zhang Xingying also thought for a moment and said, "That’s right. The temple was packed that day, and Wei Ximin was short, so he was lost in the crowd. Even I didn’t see him. It wasn’t until the lightning struck and the candles exploded that I noticed Wei Ximin rolling on the ground and realized he was there too."

"So, do you think it’s possible someone took the opportunity to harm him then?"

"Absolutely impossible!" Zhang Xingying shook his head firmly. "The lightning strike and candle explosion happened in an instant. Who could react in that split second, pull Wei Ximin out of the crowd, and make sure he just happened to crash into the fire?"

"Besides, his entire body was on fire—not just one or two spots where the candle flames touched him," Dicui added softly. "That’s why, even as he rolled on the ground, the fire couldn’t be stopped. So I believe it must have been divine retribution."

Huang Zixiao nodded, then asked thoughtfully, "So, did you get a clear look at Wei Ximin at the time? Did he seem unusual in any way?"Zhang Xingying nodded and said, "Of course! I knew he was the one who harmed Dicui, so I even turned back to look at him several times amidst the chaos. I saw him... he seemed to be stunned, the fire burning on him must have been very painful, but at first he was still somewhat dazed, lying on the ground for a moment before screaming and rolling around trying to put out the flames on his body."

"Hmm... I remember too... that look of his, as if waking from a dream," Dicui said.

Zhou Ziqin, while jotting down notes, tilted his head to look at Huang Zitang: "Well, doesn't it seem more and more like divine retribution the deeper we investigate?"

Huang Zitang neither agreed nor disagreed, instead turning to Dicui and asking, "Why did you take that painting to pawn it?"

Upon hearing this, Dicui trembled slightly and glanced at Zhang Xingying.

Seeing that Zhang Xingying's expression remained unchanged, still gazing at her tenderly, she bit her lower lip lightly and said softly, "I... my father found me..."

Zhang Xingying was shocked and asked, "When?"

"That day... the day you played polo," she said with her head lowered, timidly. "I wanted to make you a goulouzi, so I went to the West Market to buy mutton... But as I passed by my father's shop, I... I couldn't help but glance inside..."

Even though she was wearing a veil, after all, they were father and daughter for over ten years. Lü Zhiyuan recognized her immediately. When she arrived at the Zhang family's doorstep with the mutton, she felt something was amiss and turned around to find her father following her from a distance.

Realizing he had been spotted, Lü Zhiyuan walked up to her and said, "Good, good. I didn't expect you not only to be alive but also to have found a place to stay."

Terrified and trembling all over, afraid that the Zhang family would discover her true identity, she could only beg her father to pretend she didn't exist and leave quickly.

Lü Zhiyuan sneered, "Found yourself a man and now you want to shake me off? Is this how you repay me for raising you for seventeen years? Listen here, either you get the hell out of the capital and stop shaming me, or have this family prepare ten strings of cash as a betrothal gift—consider it payment for all the years I spent raising you!"

Zhou Ziqin sighed and asked, "So you took the painting and pawned it for ten strings of cash to give to your father?"

Dicui clenched her teeth and nodded silently, saying, "I... I really had no choice. I didn't want to leave Second Brother Zhang, but I was also afraid he'd learn about my past... I... I thought no one in this world would accept a woman with such a disgraceful past..."

As she spoke, she covered her face with trembling hands, her voice growing softer: "I was in despair. I thought I could rot away in that little courtyard for the rest of my life—it was my last refuge... But my father forced me, he wanted to destroy my last hope in this life... Until I heard... heard Second Brother Zhang talk about that painting, learned of its imperial origins, and then... I took the painting to my father, told him it was an imperial brushwork and very valuable, and that he should never come looking for me again after taking it. My father didn't believe me, so I took it to the pawnshop and indeed got ten strings of cash. I gave him the money and said, from now on, the Lü family has no daughter. From now on, I am a member of the Zhang family..."At this point, she could no longer continue, her breath coming in ragged gasps from the overwhelming emotions. After a long, long silence, she finally choked out, "Brother Zhang, I... I'm sorry... I, I'm a thief... I stole the most precious thing from your home..."

"No, don't say that. Even if you did it just to stay by my side, even if you sold everything in the house or threw it all away, it wouldn't matter." Zhang Xingying gently took her hand and said softly, "My father has just recovered from a serious illness, and I've been away. Right now, the household relies entirely on you to manage everything—you are the mistress of this home! Isn't it only natural for the mistress to take things?"

Dicu had never expected him to say such words. She stared at him blankly, tears silently streaming down her face. Zhang Xingying gently wiped them away and gazed at her for a long time before sighing sorrowfully, "A-Di, you're too foolish... Now, what are we going to do?"

"Exactly, look at the mess we're in now—it's really quite a predicament." Zhou Ziqin, seeing no one else around, lowered his voice and added, "But you don't need to worry too much. While the princess's death is a great misfortune for the court, for Dicu, it might actually be a stroke of luck... Vice-Minister Cui is a reasonable man. As long as Dicu can clarify the truth to him, and we ask a few princes to put in a good word—after all, both Prince Zhao and Prince E have met you before. If we plead sincerely, they should be willing to help. As for His Majesty... in the current empire, the only person who might sway the Emperor's mind is probably Prince Kui. And as for Prince Kui... well, that's where Chonggu comes in..."

The hopeful gazes of all three fell upon Huang Zixia.

After a moment of hesitation, she nodded and said, "I'll do my best."