The Golden Hairpin

The crowd erupted in murmurs as their attention turned to Lü Zhiyuan.

The old man had been standing silently in a corner since entering the Dali Temple, unnoticed by anyone. Due to the disdain people held for him, even when discussing those connected to Dicui, their gazes merely skimmed over him without lingering.

Yet now, Huang Zixiang was holding up that iron wire, directing her questions at him.

Following Huang Zixiang's lead, all eyes in the hall settled on him.

Lü Zhiyuan, shrouded in the shadows of the courtroom, tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. His hunched posture and worn cloth robe remained unchanged, but the dim light deepened the contours of his face.

As if not comprehending, he slowly raised his eyes to Huang Zixiang and asked sluggishly, "What did you say?"

Cui Chunzhan chimed in, "Eunuch Yang, didn't you previously say this case was related to the late emperor's calligraphy kept by the Zhang family? Since they treasured that painting, has Lü Zhiyuan ever seen it?"

"Of course he has. After Wei Ximin's death, Dicui took out the Zhang family's painting to give to her father when he came demanding the betrothal gifts. She even told him about the three scribbles we had speculated about on the painting at the time. But Old Man Lü said he didn't believe it, so in a fit of pique, she pawned it for ten strings of coins and gave the money to him."

"So Old Man Lü... really did see that painting," Zhou Ziqin affirmed hesitantly. "But... but you said he went to demand betrothal gifts. Looking at him now, could he really... be a murderer?"

"Hmph... I didn't do it. I already got my money, why would I kill for some silly girl?" Lü Zhiyuan sneered and shook his head with firm denial. "No! I never put anything like this in my candles. Maybe someone else did it, or maybe the wire got mixed into the incense and burned like this in the censer. What does that have to do with me?"

"But in all that chaos, only the large censer at Jianfu Temple remained upright. If the wire was inside it, how could it have been brought out? And you claim someone inserted the wire into the candle wick—that's even more impossible." She showed him the bent end. "If it were straight up and down, someone might have inserted it into the reed wick. But this bent part is at the bottom. Who besides you when making the candle could have inserted this curved end into the straight bundle of reeds?"

Lü Zhiyuan replied slowly again, "Oh... I'm old, my eyes are failing. Maybe a wire got mixed in with the reeds at some point and I didn't notice. But may I ask, Eunuch, what law have I broken by making this small mistake?""Did you really let the iron wire mix in by accident? In any case, I don’t believe it, because what seemed like an unintentional act on your part was, in fact, the very beginning and focal point of this entire case." Huang Ziyao shook her head and said, "Old Man Lü, you put an extraordinary amount of thought into this murderous scheme. The weather in the days leading up to the incident was already oppressive, with thunderstorms imminent. You also noticed that the ten-foot-tall candle was level with the temple hall—inserting an iron wire would easily attract lightning. So, you embedded an iron wire into the wick of the enormous candle you made. To prevent others from discovering it, you insisted on personally erecting the candle—this way, once the candle was set up, you could pull out the wire you had hidden inside. And once the ladder was removed, who among those below would notice a slender iron wire concealed within the burning flame of the wick?"

"So... the so-called 'heavenly lightning strike' was actually orchestrated by him?" Cui Chunhan was dumbfounded. "Then... then his luck was too good—the lightning just happened to strike his enemy!"

"No, of course there was a reason. Otherwise, why would the lightning strike Wei Ximin out of the thousands of people in the Jianfu Temple?" Huang Ziyao held up the iron wire for everyone to see. "I wonder if you’ve noticed—this iron wire is straight at the top and bent at the bottom. The straight upper half not only shows signs of scorching but also has traces of black residue. Yet the bent lower half is completely untouched by fire. Isn’t that strange? Because I’ve seen how Old Man Lü makes the wicks for these giant candles: he wraps reed cores tightly with linen, soaks them in wax, then inserts a red-hot iron tip into the semi-solidified candle. So even if the candle exploded, the reed core wrapped around the iron wire—bound with linen and frozen in wax—would be very difficult to disperse. Even if, by some remote chance, it did scatter, the wax-soaked iron wire would burn for a moment, leaving a layer of black residue that wouldn’t wash off in water. But this wire of yours is completely clean on the lower half. Why is that?"

Cui Chunhan, Wang Lin, Jiang Kui, and others passed the wire around, deep in thought.

Though the emperor was also curious about the eunuch’s death, he showed little reaction and merely said, "Yang Chonggu, get to the point quickly."

"Yes. In my humble opinion, the wick Old Man Lü made was only as long as this half of the iron wire. The straight, blackened upper part was embedded in the wick, while below the wax surface of the candle, there was no wick at all—the iron wire was exposed, so of course it couldn’t burn."

Everyone was stunned. Zhou Ziqin quickly asked, "Then what was the point of making such a giant candle with only a short wick?"

"Because he needed that candle to hide something. And the bent curve of this iron wire was precisely to avoid that object."

Zhou Ziqin slapped his forehead and immediately said, "He must have hidden sulfur and gunpowder inside the candle! So when the lightning struck, the iron wire conducted it, the candle burned, and Wei Ximin nearby was burned to death!""That's not right. Shortly after the explosion, I went to inspect the scene and didn't detect any strong smell of sulfur or gunpowder," Cui Chunzhan immediately countered. "Moreover, Lü Zhiyuan wasn't present at the scene at that time. How could he guarantee that when the candle exploded, Wei Ximin would definitely be right beside it, and that the lightning fire would strike precisely the person he wanted to kill—Wei Ximin?"

Zhou Ziqin scratched his head, looking perplexed as he turned to Huang Zitang.

"What I've described so far is the evidence we can see. However, there's another piece of invisible evidence in this case—none of the five people present at the time—Prince Kui, Zhou Ziqin, Zhang Xingying, Lü Dicui, or myself—saw Wei Ximin near the giant candle before it exploded, regardless of how close or far we were from it." At this point, Huang Zitang turned to Li Shubai.

Li Shubai nodded in confirmation. "Indeed, I didn't see Wei Ximin at the time. Since he was someone close to the princess, if I had caught even a glimpse of him at Jianfu Temple, it would have left a deep impression."

"If someone with Prince Kui's photographic memory didn't notice Wei Ximin, one might argue it was because Wei Ximin was lost in the crowd, making him too far away to see. But Zhang Xingying and Lü Dicui were right beside the candle at that time. Wei Ximin, who had harmed Lü Dicui before, was also wearing bright crimson eunuch robes. Since he was the first to be set ablaze, he must have been very close to the candle. So why didn't anyone else near the giant candle see him?"

Under the thoughtful gazes of everyone present, Huang Zitang finally revealed her most crucial conclusion: "Because that candle was over ten feet tall and one and a half arm spans thick. Even accounting for the melted wax at the top and the narrower base, the remaining portion was still eight feet tall—while Wei Ximin was only five and a half feet tall. He could easily have been hidden inside the candle!"

The hall fell into silence as everyone was stunned by this outrageous idea, too shocked and bewildered to believe it.

"The originally translucent yellow wax was dyed in vibrant colors to conceal what was hidden inside. The wick was removed to create more space. Small holes could be poked into the carved patterns on the candle's surface to prevent the person inside from suffocating. The bent wire was necessary to avoid Wei Ximin's head while also directing the lightning fire into the candle's interior, causing the wax—mixed with cinnabar, sulfur, black oil, and other flammable substances—to explode and scatter rapidly."

Zhang Xingying, Zhou Ziqin, Li Run, and the others were utterly dumbfounded. They looked back and forth between Huang Zitang and the hunched, unassuming Lü Zhiyuan, unable to believe what they were hearing.

Lü Zhiyuan lowered his head, staring at the brick floor beneath his feet, a cold smile still on his face. "Sir, I don't know what you're talking about. Me, hiding a living person inside a candle? And then delivering that candle to Jianfu Temple? You're truly letting your imagination run wild!"

"It may sound absurd, but as I've said, I have irrefutable evidence," Huang Zitang stated clearly. "First, on the day the candle was delivered to Jianfu Temple, you had been working through the night and were exhausted. Why did you insist on delivering it personally instead of letting someone else handle it? Why did you refuse to leave until you saw it properly set up?"

"I'm devout in my Buddhist faith. That candle took me months of effort—I couldn't trust anyone else to deliver it for me!"Huang Zixiao neither confirmed nor denied, then continued, "Second, it took Jianfu Temple over half a year to gather enough wax to make that giant candle. Yet when it exploded, everything burned away completely. Would ordinary wax combust so thoroughly upon contact with fire, leaving only that half jar of wax you scraped away at the end? You were afraid the remaining wax would be too little and people would discover your candle was hollow, so you deliberately added large amounts of pigment that would ignite upon heating, ensuring all remaining wax would be completely burned away."

Lü Zhiyuan didn't even glance at her, saying, "What do you know? When making candles, various pigments must be added to achieve different colors."

"Yet after decades of candle-making, wouldn't you know that adding excessive cinnabar, sulfur, and black oil might cause the entire candle to burst into flames upon contact with fire?" Huang Zixiao shook her head and added, "Moreover, you committed an error no experienced candle-maker would ever make—mixing cinnabar into the wax."

Lü Zhiyuan sneered, "Who said I used cinnabar? I used ordinary pigments as always. How can you accuse me without evidence?"

"Though no one present suffered serious harm, I do have proof. After the incident, heavy rain washed the candle's remains into the fish pond, and all the fish in the release pond died overnight!" Huang Zixiao turned to Zhou Ziqin, whose mouth was agape, and asked, "At the time, you collected some dead fish for examination. What was the cause of their death?"

"Mercury poisoning," Zhou Ziqin quickly replied.

"Exactly. This is why cinnabar should never be used as pigment in candle-making. When cinnabar burns, it turns into mercury vapor, which poisons anyone who breathes it in. How could you use it? Yet to ensure the candle would ignite easily, you still chose cinnabar!" Huang Zixiao stared directly at Lü Zhiyuan. "When I visited your shop earlier, I saw you coloring candles red. That red wax definitely wasn't made with cinnabar, nor would it emit toxic fumes. So why did you use expensive and dangerous cinnabar specifically for that giant candle? You claim to be devout, so why would you make such a harmful candle for a Buddhist ceremony? Weren't you afraid the toxic fumes from the burning candle would endanger everyone—men, women, and children—in Jianfu Temple?"

Lü Zhiyuan was momentarily speechless. Standing in the shadows, the wrinkles on his face deepened, making him appear suddenly much older.

He opened his mouth but couldn't utter a word.