The Golden Hairpin

After the gathering dispersed, Huang Zixiang deliberately lingered behind and asked Zhang Xingying, "Brother Zhang, I noticed you've been quiet the whole time, looking troubled. What's worrying you?"

Zhang Xingying quickly replied, "No, it's just... I was thinking about Eunuch Yu's death and worrying when those assassins might strike again..."

"Don't worry, His Highness won't give the assassins another chance," Huang Zixiang reassured him. "If he couldn't handle this, he wouldn't be Prince Kui."

Zhang Xingying nodded silently, his expression easing slightly. "Then... then I can rest easy."

Huang Zixiang watched him take up a guard position outside Li Shubai's door, seemingly prepared to stand watch all night, and couldn't help but feel exasperated. "Didn't you say you were at ease?"

"Uh... at ease to stand guard."

Huang Zixiang was both annoyed and amused. She knocked on Li Shubai's door and asked, "Your Highness, do you think the assassins will come tonight?"

Li Shubai's calm voice came from inside: "Every time they organize an assassination attempt, they aim for a single, fatal strike. Now that I've suddenly moved here, without proper planning, how could they possibly act?"

Huang Zixiang turned to Zhang Xingying with confidence. "So, the most dangerous place is the safest, and the most dangerous time is also the safest. If you trust us, go get some sleep."

Footsteps sounded inside as Li Shubai got up and opened the door.

"Now that my guards are scattered and I'm in danger, you're willing to stay by my side. Truly, adversity reveals true loyalty." Li Shubai patted his shoulder and said, "Rest well tonight. I'll need your help in the days to come."

Zhang Xingying replied with deep reverence, "This subordinate will spare no effort, even at the cost of my life!"

"It's not that serious," Li Shubai said lightly. "Just a few moths drawn to flame."

She slept until nearly noon, waking up so comfortably that for a moment, Huang Zixiang had to think before remembering where she was.

Outside the window, bamboo leaves rustled, and a stream murmured softly. She draped her robe over her shoulders and opened the window to see Li Shubai stretching in the bamboo grove.

Leaning against the windowsill, she covered a slight cough with her fist—her chest still felt dry and sore from yesterday's fire. "Already recovered?"

He paused and glanced at her. "Mm."

"What would you like for lunch? I'll go order for you."

"Whatever you prefer."

"Not picky, that's good." As she spoke, she noticed Zhang Xingying standing at the edge of the grove, gaping at them in shock.

Remembering the casual, informal exchange she'd just had with Li Shubai, her cheeks flushed slightly. She turned to Zhang Xingying and asked, "Brother Zhang, what would you like to eat?"

"I-I-I... whatever you order is fine."

The group ate the same breakfast together. Zhou Ziqin arrived, rubbing his bleary eyes. "Morning..."

Huang Zixiang asked, "You didn't go home this morning?"

"Obviously. If I went home at dawn, my father would scold me again. Might as well say I was out investigating a case." He scratched his head, struggling to think. "Ah, I slept so well my mind's completely blank—what are we supposed to do today? Feels like there's a lot of important things, but also like there's nothing at all?"Huang Ziyao reminded him, "General Fan, the military governor, is coming to your house, so you need to help Gongsun Daniang prepare some things."

Zhou Ziqin quickly patted himself down and only relaxed when he found the piece of paper.

"Alright, go and prepare the things," Huang Ziyao said, standing up.

Zhou Ziqin hurriedly asked, "Where are you going?"

"Out to the streets, for a stroll."

The streets and alleys of Chengdu Prefecture were still bustling and lively as ever.

Li Shubai accompanied Huang Ziyao through the winding streets until they reached a pawnshop. The shopkeeper, seated behind a high counter, lifted his eyelids to glance at them and asked, "What are you looking to pawn?"

Huang Ziyao inquired, "Shopkeeper, do you have a branch in Longzhou?"

"Yes, but the Longzhou branch isn’t under our management here."

Huang Ziyao took out the token she had obtained from Zhou Ziqin and tapped it twice on the counter. "Official investigation."

The shopkeeper took a closer look and quickly stepped out from behind the counter, ushering them to the back. He ordered tea and snacks to be served. "May I ask... what exactly are you investigating?"

Seeing his reaction, Huang Ziyao understood and reassured him, "Don’t worry, there haven’t been any major cases recently. We’re not here to track stolen goods."

The shopkeeper visibly relaxed and sat down beside them. "Then, what brings you here?"

"We’re looking for an item—it should have been a live pawn at your Longzhou branch. As far as I know, if a live pawn isn’t redeemed by the deadline, it’s sent to your main shop here. After the head shopkeeper reviews it, it’s put up for sale, correct?"

The shopkeeper nodded. "That’s right."

"I’m looking for a white jade bracelet with a pair of fish biting each other’s tails, hollowed out in the middle. The design is quite unique—once you’ve seen it, you’d definitely remember it."

"Oh, I remember! There was indeed such a jade bracelet. It was sent over from the Longzhou branch this past April after the redemption period expired."

"Then, where is it now?"

The shopkeeper hastily flipped through the ledger and showed them the entry: "The bracelet has already been sold, not long after it arrived. The buyer... didn’t leave a name."

The record read: "Double-fish jade bracelet, full payment received."

Huang Ziyao asked, "Is the person who handled the transaction still here?"

"Let me check." He hurried to the back to ask around, but all the clerks and shopkeepers shook their heads. Only a quick-witted young assistant said, "This... it was sent from Longzhou. Maybe someone from the Longzhou branch wrote this. Look, the handwriting isn’t ours—it might have been written by someone over there."

"Go and find out who delivered the items from Longzhou and whether they handled the bracelet at the time," the shopkeeper instructed before turning back to them with an apologetic smile. "Officers, how about this—we’ll send someone to Longzhou immediately to inquire. It should only take a day or two, and we’ll report back as soon as we hear anything."

Huang Ziyao nodded and wrote a note for him. "When the time comes, make sure to bring the person to Deputy Constable Zhou."

"Absolutely, absolutely! I’ll bring them straight to him as soon as they arrive!"

The three of them left the pawnshop. Huang Ziyao asked Li Shubai, "Where does Your Highness plan to go next?"

Li Shubai replied, "The military governor’s residence. Since they’ve forced us to reveal our movements, we might as well seize the opportunity to stir up some trouble.""Great." Huang Zixiao agreed without hesitation. "But we'll have to wait a bit. I suspect General Fan's son isn't even awake yet at this hour."

Zhang Xingying turned pale listening to their conversation. "Picking a fight?"

"Let's go." Huang Zixiao smiled. "Isn't causing trouble more fun than asking for help?"

Li Shubai gave her an approving glance and asked, "Are you certain those two men who harassed Gongsun Dayang at the inn a few days ago—the ones Zhang Xingying later beat up—were Fan Yuanlong's men?"

"Absolutely. I used to discipline them often." Huang Zixiao spoke, feeling her chest still dry from yesterday's smoke irritation. She covered her mouth and coughed lightly before turning toward Yunlai Inn. "We've got time—let's see if Gongsun Dayang is still at the inn. We'll ask her for a small favor."

Before they even reached the inn, they spotted Gongsun Yuan and Yin Luyi buying sweets at a confectionery shop along the street.

Gongsun Yuan had just purchased two large slabs of malt candy. Due to the heat, she had the shop assistant wrap them in several layers of rice paper before bundling them in large sheets of pristine white cotton paper to carry.

Huang Zixiao greeted them, eyeing the candy in surprise. "Do you have such a sweet tooth, Dayang?"

Gongsun Yuan turned, startled at first, but quickly composed herself with a smile. "Oh, I don't care for sweets much. It's Luyi—she suffers from poor blood circulation and often gets dizzy. We ran out of the sugar we brought, so we came to buy more."

Hearing her mention poor circulation, Huang Zixiao couldn't help but recall the pouch of snowflake sugar Li Shubai had tossed to her at the cliffside. Her gaze instinctively flickered toward him.

Li Shubai met her eyes, the corner of his lips lifting slightly.

"In this heat, won't two whole slabs of malt candy go bad before you can finish them?" Huang Zixiao pressed.

Yin Luyi remained quiet and demure, lowering her head without a word.

Gongsun Yuan answered for her, "That's no trouble. Luyi carves the malt candy into shapes—she's an illusionist. Even if we don't eat it all, she can use it to practice finger dexterity."

"Oh, carving malt candy must be like carving tofu? That really would test your fingers." Huang Zixiao was fascinated.

Yin Luyi covered her mouth with a hand and finally spoke. "It's not so bad—easier than tofu. I'll share some with everyone once I'm done."

As the three women stepped out of the shop, they noticed Li Shubai hadn't followed. Huang Zixiao turned back to see him still inside—he had bought a packet of candy and lagged behind.

She gave him a puzzled look—he wasn't one for sweets—but he remained impassive, calmly handing her the packet.

The faint fragrance of pear reached her. Opening it, she found a packet of throat-soothing pear syrup candy.

A warm, subtly sweet sensation welled in her chest, as if the candy had melted right there. She pressed a hand to it, coughing lightly.

Hearing the cough, Li Shubai glanced at her sidelong.

Pretending to study the street, she popped a piece of pear candy into her mouth. When she looked back, he was already several paces ahead, as if he'd never turned around.

They arrived at the military governor's residence with Gongsun Yuan and Yin Luyi just as the side gate opened—right on cue, Fan's son emerged with a group of men leading horses.In the household of Fan Yingxi, the military governor of Xichuan, there were two notorious bullies. One was his nephew Fan Yuanhu, who had been exposed by Huang Zixiao last year for his wicked deeds. The prefect Huang Min sentenced him to fifty lashes and exile two thousand miles away. Fan Yingxi dared not provoke public outrage and had no choice but to endure it. The second bully was Fan Yingxi's own son, Fan Yuanlong, who was still swaggering around Chengdu, oppressing men and women alike.

As soon as Gongsun Yuan spotted the two men behind Fan Yuanlong, she frowned—weren't they the same two who had harassed her at the inn and were then beaten away by Zhou Ziqin and Zhang Xingying?

Zhang Xingying noticed them too and froze in place.

The two men glanced in their direction, whispered something to Fan Yuanlong, and the entire group began advancing toward them. Zhang Xingying took a step back and, noticing Li Shubai and Huang Zixiao not far away, quickly called out, "Run...!"

This reaction only made things worse in Fan Yuanlong's eyes—"Those two are accomplices too! Hmph, disrespecting my men is the same as disrespecting me. Beat them up!"

His followers smirked, rolling up their sleeves and asking, "Young Master, how far should we go?"

Seeing Zhang Xingying poised to flee at any moment, Fan Yuanlong brandished his whip and declared, "Break all their legs!"

"How does it feel to have your legs broken?"

Huang Zixiao nudged one of the fallen thugs with her foot and asked with a smile.

Watching as Li Shubai and Zhang Xingying laid waste to his entire entourage, leaving him standing alone amidst the stifled laughter of onlookers, Fan Yuanlong turned and bolted, shouting at the guards by the gate, "Are you all dead?! My men are being beaten, and you just stand there?!"

Everything had happened too quickly—the thugs who had intended to break legs found their own broken instead—and the gatekeepers and guards hadn't even processed the scene. Only after his shout did they snap to attention, grabbing whatever weapons were at hand and charging forward.

The crowd of spectators behind Huang Zixiao scattered in panic, some yelling as they fled, "Run for your lives, you're done for!"

Huang Zixiao withdrew her foot and, before the guards could reach them, pulled out an official token from her robe, shouting, "Messenger of Prince Kui's household! Who dares move?!"