The Golden Hairpin

Luo Pei cried out in shock, "But... but if that person only had the tail end of the hairpin, how could the princess have spotted the Nine Phoenix Hairpin from such a distance among so many people? It's impossible for her to recognize just the broken half of the tail from so far away!"

Chuizhu shook her head desperately, sobbing uncontrollably, "I don’t know... I don’t know! When the princess called out the name of the Nine Phoenix Hairpin, my heart nearly leaped out of my throat in terror. I thought... I thought she had discovered what I had done. But to my surprise, she was pointing into the crowd. I knew it was absolutely impossible because the head of the Nine Phoenix Hairpin was tucked inside my robe at that very moment... So I desperately tried to dissuade the princess from going over, but in the midst of that chaos, she still... still..."

She could no longer continue, collapsing to her knees on the ground, wailing hysterically.

The officials in the hall could still wait, but the emperor could no longer restrain himself. Clenching his teeth, he commanded, "Get up! Tell me everything clearly, one by one!"

Torn between grief and fear, Chuizhu could only press her hand tightly against her chest, forcing out the rest of her words in a hoarse, broken voice, "Yes, this servant... this servant and a group of people were searching for the princess when I spotted that figure in the crowd! Though I still couldn’t see his face clearly, I could never forget that cloak... And then, I saw him leading the princess toward a secluded alley behind the wall. So I fought my way through the chaotic, jostling crowd, but... it was already too late. By the time I arrived, I saw the princess collapse..."

As she recounted the scene, her face turned ashen, as if the Nine Phoenix Hairpin had pierced her own chest, cutting off her life instead. "This servant... was so terrified that I rushed to her side, only to see the tail end of the Nine Phoenix Hairpin embedded in her chest! I... was petrified, knowing that if I were suspected, I would be searched, and the hairpin head hidden in my robe would become evidence of my crime—proof that I had murdered the princess! So I desperately ran to her side, and when I knelt down to embrace her body, I secretly tossed the Nine Phoenix Hairpin head, which I had been carrying all along, into the grass nearby, trying to make others believe... that someone had used the hairpin to kill the princess, and that it had broken during her struggle... But I swear, I didn’t kill the princess! I just... took one wrong step, and then another, until I ended up in this nightmare..."

The hall fell into silence, the officials unsure whether to be shocked or sorrowful.

The emperor exhaled deeply, his body drained of strength. His gaze shifted to Huang Zitang. "Is what she said true?"

Huang Zitang replied softly, "It is. When the princess fell, Chuizhu had just arrived. She stumbled and crawled to the princess’s side—there was no opportunity for her to commit the murder."

The emperor looked up, refusing to spare her another glance, and merely waved his hand, signaling for her to be taken away.

The yamen officers of the Dali Temple stepped forward, seizing Chuizhu by the arms and dragging her out.

Staggering as they hauled her away, Chuizhu turned her eyes to Qian Guansuo. Her voice, already weak from crying, now erupted in a hoarse scream, "Qian Guansuo! My entire life... from beginning to end, has been ruined by you! I will never... never forgive you, even in death!"

The emperor raised his hand slightly, signaling the officers to pause.Chuizhu collapsed weakly to her knees, stretching out her hands as she cried out, "Look, the birthmark on my wrist is gone. Why? Because I nearly died protecting the princess—my arm from wrist to elbow was burned, the wounds festered, and I suffered high fever for days! Only then did the princess, moved by my loyalty, transfer me to her side as her personal maid! When the princess was young, she had a little porcelain dog brought from outside the palace. But she accidentally broke it and cut her finger. The Emperor and Consort Guo blamed me for failing to care for her properly, forcing me to kneel on the broken shards all night until I passed out from pain before they spared me... Where were you when my knees were drenched in blood? Where were you when I was burned? Where were you when I was delirious with fever? You sold me, used the money to build your fortune, and now, plagued by guilt, you come pretending to care—only to destroy the last bit of happiness I had! You—"

Her chest heaved violently, tears streaming down her face as her voice choked, unable to speak further.

"It was your father..." Qian Guansuo gazed at his daughter, his lips trembling. After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice hoarse and broken. After uttering those two words, he hesitated, then painfully corrected himself, "I... I wronged you, Xing'er... I wronged you..."

He could say no more, breaking into loud, ugly sobs. He had always been an unattractive, short, and pudgy man, but now, with his face contorted in grief, he looked even more repulsive. Yet no one in the hall dared mock him. All eyes were fixed on the father and daughter in heavy silence.

The Emperor's voice cut through the stillness. "In life, you served Linghui diligently. Though you have committed grave crimes now, I show mercy—I grant you the honor of following your mistress in death."

Chuizhu clenched her teeth, shutting her eyes tightly. She said nothing more, refusing to glance at anyone in the hall as she was dragged away.

Consort Guo, watching her departure, spat bitterly, "She was one of the chief culprits in Tongchang's death! Why should His Majesty grant her the privilege of accompanying Linghui even in death?"

No one echoed her words. No one answered.

Even Qian Guansuo remained kneeling motionless, his ashen face streaked with unending tears.

The Emperor signaled for Qian Guansuo to be removed as well. Turning to Huang Zixia, his right hand clenched into a fist, veins bulging from the strain, mirroring the twitching muscles on his face—a sight both startling and unsettling. "Then," he demanded, "who was it that incited Chuizhu to steal the Nine Phoenix Hairpin and murder the princess?"

Huang Zixia bowed silently before responding, "With just the broken end of a hairpin, Princess Tongchang could never have recognized it as the Nine Phoenix Hairpin. Yet, there is one person skilled in crafting lifelike flowers, birds, dragons, and phoenixes. For them, attaching a counterfeit Nine Phoenix head to the broken pin overnight would be no difficult task."

Zhou Ziqin shook his head. "Chonggu, that's impossible. Even a hastily made piece—even for the most skilled jade artisan—carving a jade hairpin would take days, let alone something as intricate as the Nine Phoenix Hairpin. And where would they find another piece of nine-colored jade?"Huang Zixiang countered, "Why use jade? Since it was only meant for the princess to catch a glimpse from afar amidst the chaos, a wax-made Nine Phoenix Hairpin painted the right color would suffice—how could she possibly recognize it in such haste? Moreover, crafting a wax hairpin overnight would be more than enough."

The hall fell into dead silence as all eyes turned to Lü Zhiyuan.

Imperial Consort Guo slowly shook her head, lowering her lashes as tears of helpless sorrow slid down her cheeks.

The emperor, after glaring at Lü Zhiyuan for a long time, staggered back two steps and collapsed into his chair. Unable to speak, he fixed Lü Zhiyuan with a gaze full of hatred and venom.

Lü Zhiyuan, however, remained silent, his eyes fixed on the sky outside the hall.

The deep wrinkles on his profile resembled the weathered crevices of a rock. Gazing into the distance, he seemed to watch his daughter running farther and farther away, finally leaving him behind—leaving behind this terrifying Chang'an—before she could ever learn what her father had done for her.

Perhaps she would never know what her father, whom she had once resented and hated, had sacrificed for her.

Huang Zixiang looked at Lü Zhiyuan, her heart filled with complex emotions, but she finally spoke: "Old Master Lü, I understand your desire for vengeance for your daughter. But you shouldn’t have dragged innocent people into this to cover your own tracks."

Cui Chunzhan cautiously sought the emperor’s permission: "Your Majesty, should we subject Lü Zhiyuan to torture to extract a confession?"

"No need. I confess... I killed three people—Wei Ximin, Sun Laizi, and Princess Tongchang. I killed them all," Lü Zhiyuan interrupted.

The oppressive atmosphere in the hall did not lift with his confession; instead, it grew even heavier.

Huang Zixiang sighed and said, "In this case, although Princess Tongchang indirectly harmed your daughter, it was unintentional. Given her status, why were you so determined to kill her?"

"Princess Tongchang... I didn’t actually intend to kill her. As you said, she wasn’t directly responsible for Dícui’s suffering. But I don’t know why—why Dícui would turn herself in to the Dali Temple, claiming to be the murderer. I couldn’t stand by and watch my daughter in peril, nor could I confess and implicate her!" Lü Zhiyuan took a deep breath and continued with difficulty, "At that moment, I thought of Princess Tongchang. I thought, since all this began because of her, perhaps only she could save my daughter. So I tricked Chuizhu into stealing the Nine Phoenix Hairpin for me, but she only gave me half. Though I failed to get the complete hairpin from her, I had already memorized its design. I guessed Chuizhu wouldn’t dare present a broken hairpin to the princess, so, as you deduced, I hastily crafted a wax replica. From a distance, it looked almost real."

Huang Zixiang pressed further, "You seemed very familiar with the affairs of the princess’s residence. Did Dòukòu tell you?""Yes, she had little contact with my family, but after all, Dìcuì's mother was her elder sister. When I went to sweep Chūnniáng's grave this year, she came too. I shared some incense with her, but she said that according to the rules of the princess's household, all valuable gifts from outsiders must be handed over to the princess. The princess has a particularly greedy attendant named Wèi Xǐmǐn, who also suffers from headaches. Any incense, especially calming ones, would surely be taken by him."

"But how did you know about the princess's dream of losing the Nine Phoenix Hairpin?"

"That day, when Wèi Xǐmǐn came to my shop, I drugged him with incense. After tying him up, he became delirious and thought he was in the underworld, so he was terrified into confessing everything. I asked a few questions, and he revealed the princess's dream. He also mentioned seeing the princess secretly meeting with Qián Guānsuǒ. Connecting that with Qián Guānsuǒ’s recent boasting about the golden toad his daughter had given him, and hearing that the princess’s maid Chuízhū had scars on her hands—helping the princess impersonate her convincingly—I guessed that Chuízhū might actually be Qián Guānsuǒ’s biological daughter."