The Golden Hairpin

The day before they left the capital happened to be the celebration banquet for Zhou Ziqin's father. His family's chef was quite skilled, and the guests all enjoyed themselves thoroughly before departing in high spirits.

By the time the meal ended, it was already afternoon. As Zhou Ziqin saw them off at the door, he said regretfully, "What a shame—we're missing the perfect gulouzi ."

Prince Zhao nodded in agreement. "Indeed. I fear we may never taste such delicious gulouzi again."

Prince E, Li Run, descended the steps with them and headed toward his carriage when he suddenly remembered something. Turning back, he approached Li Shubai. "Fourth Brother."

Li Shubai turned to look at him.

After a moment of hesitation, Li Run lowered his voice and asked, "Although this case has concluded, regarding that painting my mother drew... have you and Eunuch Yang reached any conclusions?"

"While the painting is related to the case, it was merely used to obscure the truth and add to the aura of 'divine punishment,'" Li Shubai mused. "I've given it much thought recently. I believe the painting by the Noble Consort must have been done during one of her rare moments of clarity after the late emperor's passing. Deeply moved by the memory of the late emperor's final brushwork, she secretly recreated it from her recollection."

"But what we still don't understand is why the late emperor painted it in the first place. What meaning was he trying to convey?" Huang Zixiao pondered thoughtfully.

Li Run's face was filled with sorrow. A devout Buddhist, he had always been a man of delicate features and distant gaze, but now he seemed utterly lost in thought, his mind wandering far away. After a long silence, he whispered, "In his final moments, the late emperor occasionally regained consciousness, yet he made no arrangements for state affairs. Instead, he painted such a picture—isn't that strange? After his passing, my mother was so grief-stricken that she lost her sanity. Yet in her last moment of clarity, she gave me this replica of my father's final work... I believe this painting must be of great importance. What it contains may well be... a secret that could determine the fate of the Tang dynasty and the Li imperial clan."

For when his mother had handed him the painting, she had told him that the great Tang was doomed to fall! That the empire would change hands!

And at that time, she had also said to him, "Run'er, remember this—you must never get too close to Prince Kui..."

Li Run gazed at Li Shubai, Prince Kui, who stood before him. The most outstanding figure among the Tang imperial clan, the pillar of the court, the sole force capable of upholding the Li family. Yet why had his mother warned him against getting close to this man?

Had she truly lost her mind, or had she glimpsed some terrible truth and thus revealed heaven's will to him?

Had his mother gone mad overnight after the late emperor's death purely from overwhelming grief, or... was there some other unfathomable, terrifying reason?

He dared not dwell on it further. After standing dazed for a while, he was about to bid farewell to Li Shubai when Zhou Ziqin, having finished seeing off the other guests, came bounding over in a few quick steps. "Your Highness, Chonggu! Speaking of gulouzi , I just remembered something! Did you know? Second Brother Zhang has resigned from his post at the Capital Defense Office."

Huang Zixiao asked in surprise, "Why?"

"Here, come with me to the West Market and you'll see."

Dragged along by Zhou Ziqin, they arrived at the West Market. The Lü Family Incense and Candle Shop was still open, but the people inside were now Zhang Xingying and his elder brother and sister-in-law.

Upon seeing them, Zhang Xingying quickly stood up and first bowed to Li Shubai.Li Shubai nodded, signaling him to rise, then glanced around the incense and candle shop before asking, "Are you taking over this shop?"

Zhang Xingying nodded, then shook his head. "I only learned about this yesterday when the local official came by. It turns out Old Man Lü... Lü had been renting this shop. At the beginning of the month, he used all his savings to buy it outright."

Huang Zixiang looked up at the pair of exquisitely crafted wedding candles on the counter and couldn't help but say, "Second Brother Zhang, Old Man Lü once told me these candles weren't for sale."

"Mm. I thought... when A-Di and I get married... we could use them ourselves," Zhang Xingying said softly.

Huang Zixiang nodded, feeling a surge of emotions in her heart.

Li Shubai, however, frowned slightly and said, "With the crime of exterminating an entire family, this shop will likely be confiscated."

"No, the shop... after Old Man Lü bought it, he immediately sold it to me." He nervously pulled out several documents to show them. "Look, here are the deeds for the land, the building, and the shopfront... Right after A-Di was released from the Dali Temple, he came to my house. I thought the ten strings of coins from selling that painting were meant as a betrothal gift for Dicui, so I stamped my fingerprint on the receipt he gave me. But..."

Old Man Lü had arranged everything in advance—this was his way of acknowledging Zhang Xingying, after all.

Huang Zixiang sighed and asked, "So, will you run the shop here?"

Zhang Xingying shook his head. "No, this is what A-Di's father left for her. I've discussed it with my family—we won't change the shop's name, and it will remain under mine and A-Di's names. The profits will be split three ways: one share for my elder brother and his wife, who've agreed to manage the shop for me; one share for A-Di, to be saved for her; and the last share for me to take on the road to search for A-Di... That way, even if I can't find her, if she ever returns, she'll find her way home and wait for me with my brother and his wife..."

Huang Zixiang's eyes reddened. "What about your father? Does he agree?"

"When he was ill before, I was always busy outside, and it was A-Di who took care of him day and night until he recovered. This time, he told me, 'If you don’t bring A-Di back, don’t come home.'"

Zhou Ziqin's voice choked up. "Second Brother Zhang, I believe A-Di will come back!"

"Best if she doesn’t return for a few years—wait until the time is right." Li Shubai glanced at Zhang Xingying's brother and sister-in-law tidying the shop, then at the masterfully crafted wedding candles, and added, "As for the shop, don’t worry about the authorities. I’ll handle it."

Zhang Xingying bowed deeply in gratitude. Huang Zixiang was stunned that Li Shubai would offer to help Zhang Xingying and stared at him, speechless.

Li Shubai turned his gaze to her. His perpetually calm and unreadable face now bore a faint smile at the corners of his lips.

Like the first light of dawn, it was a tender sight that made one's heart skip a beat.

On their way back, the three of them passed by Jianfu Temple and went in to offer incense and pray.

"May our journey to Shu be safe and smooth. May the murderer soon face justice. May my parents and family rest peacefully in the afterlife."

Huang Zixiang pressed her palms together and whispered her prayers before the Buddha.

The curling incense smoke drifted over her face like a light mist veiling peonies, ethereal and fleeting.Zhou Ziqin turned his head and saw her, momentarily stunned. He quietly retreated a few steps, sidling up to Li Shubai’s side, and whispered, “Your Highness, have you noticed…”

Li Shubai gazed at Huang Zitang from afar and asked, “What?”

“Yang Chonggu is a eunuch, yet he’s more beautiful than most women… If he hadn’t been castrated, what do you think he’d look like now?”

Li Shubai was silent for a moment before calmly averting his gaze and replying, “Perhaps taller, darker, with broader shoulders and sharper features.”

Zhou Ziqin quickly reconstructed Yang Chonggu’s appearance in his mind according to this description, then sighed regretfully. “Never mind, he’s much better-looking as he is now.”

As they stepped outside, a group of monks in front of the Great Buddha Hall were using ropes to pull down the two giant candles they had just erected.

Zhou Ziqin ran over and asked, “Are you storing them away to protect them from sun and rain?”

The monks, sweating profusely from exertion, snapped impatiently while managing the ropes, “Who has time to store them? The craftsman who made these candles is a ruthless murderer—even Princess Tongchang died by his hand. How can such objects remain in our sacred Buddhist grounds?”

With that, they lifted the fallen candles together and carried them to the drained and empty lotus pond.

A large pile of firewood had already been prepared there. The two enormous candles were tossed onto the pyre, and as the flames rose, the wax quickly melted. The firewood, soaked in wax, crackled loudly, the flames leaping nearly ten feet high.

The monks gathered around the pond bowed their heads and chanted sutras to purify the evil.

The summer afternoon was sweltering, and the heat from the flames rolled toward them, almost scorching those standing nearby.

Zhou Ziqin hastily stepped back and called out to Huang Zitang, who remained motionless by the fire, “Chonggu, step back! Be careful—you’ll get burned!”

But Huang Zitang seemed not to hear. She stood frozen beside the fire, watching as the wicks were revealed beneath the melting wax. Wrapped in reeds and linen, a line of small golden characters had been inscribed:

May my daughter Lü Dicui live a life of peace, prosperity, and joy.

Respectfully offered by Lü Zhiyuan.

She stood before the roaring flames, staring at these words Lü Zhiyuan had secretly written inside the candle—words that should have remained hidden in the Buddha’s presence, never to be discovered until the candle burned to its end.

Now, the golden characters curled and peeled away in the intense heat. All secrets were devoured by the fire, leaving only thin, ashen fragments that floated lightly into the air, scattered by the flames, vanishing without a trace.

Around her, Buddhist chants whispered softly, the sacred words rising and falling.

The dusk of Chang’an gently embraced its million souls.

The twilight of the Great Tang had arrived.

—End of Nine Phoenixes Missing —