The Golden Hairpin

Several servants nearby had already gathered around the chair beside the green gauze cabinet, while Zhou Ziyan inside had long since rushed out and was standing with her maids, trembling uncontrollably.

Zhou Ziqin hurried over and asked, "What happened?" Then, looking up toward the green gauze cabinet, his expression instantly changed.

The lights by the waterside pavilion were bright, illuminating the boat dock on the shore. On the chair beside the green gauze cabinet, Qi Teng sat motionless with his head hanging, his entire body limp. A bloody hole in his chest was still oozing fresh blood.

Zhou Ziqin immediately stepped forward, first checking for breath, then feeling for a pulse on his neck. He stood up and said in a low voice, "He's... already gone."

The people around couldn't help but cry out in shock.

The sudden death of the military judge from the military commissioner's office in the prefectural residence made Fan Yingxi and Zhou Xiang both pale. Zhou Xiang knew the matter was grave, but as a civil official, he was momentarily at a loss for how to react and could only stand there dumbfounded.

A mix of anger and fear flashed across Fan Yingxi's face. The sudden death of his subordinate in his own residence—who knew if someone was targeting him? And what was the reason for this death here?

He was about to erupt but then remembered Prince Kui was right beside him, forcing him to suppress all emotions. He turned to Li Shubai for instructions, saying, "Your Highness, the military judge from my residence has died here. May I ask how Your Highness suggests Prefect Zhou and I should proceed?"

Li Shubai glanced at Huang Zitang and reassured him, "Yang Chonggu by my side has solved several cases in the capital and is quite capable. If General Fan requires assistance, feel free to command him."

Fan Yingxi quickly replied, "I wouldn't dare impose! If Your Highness permits, with Yang Gonggong's help, this case will surely be swiftly resolved!"

Huang Zitang paid no further attention to the formalities exchanged beside the corpse. After cupping his hands toward Fan Yingxi, he immediately approached the body to examine the marks.

Qi Teng's face was relatively calm, clearly indicating the attack had been sudden—he hadn't even had time to react before being killed, so his expression wasn't particularly twisted in fear. His body was still soft, slumped in the chair, hands hanging limply, back against the chair, head drooping. If not for the bloody hole in his chest, one might have thought he was merely dozing off.

Zhou Ziqin whispered beside her, "Look at the back of his left hand."

Huang Zitang lifted both hands and examined them carefully.

The back of his right hand was entirely normal, but on his left, there were several uneven small spots scattered about. Only upon close inspection did they reveal themselves as tiny wounds—like those left by a kitten's bite or blisters from splashed hot oil—irregularly scattered near the junction of his wrist and hand.

"These are injuries from a few days ago, already scabbed over. In a few more days, the marks will fade, leaving only a few barely noticeable scars on his hand," Huang Zitang said.

Zhou Ziqin nodded. "Yes, but we don't know where these small wounds came from or if they're related to this murder."

"Wounds from several days ago and today's death... it's hard to see any connection," Zhou Ziqin muttered, but he still noted it in the autopsy record.

Finding no other abnormalities on Qi Teng's body, Huang Zitang stood up and surveyed the surroundings.The spectators of the dance had all gathered on the open ground by the pier in front of the waterside pavilion. Surrounded by water on three sides, the only ways to access this area were either through the pavilion or by coming across the water.

Yet after walking around the pier, she found no traces of anyone having entered from the water—no wet marks on the steps by the shore, nor on the pier, under the trees near the pavilion, by the bushes, or on the lakeside rocks.

Tea and refreshments had already been set up inside the pavilion, where Zhou Xiang and Fan Yingxi were accompanying Li Shubai in drinking tea. However, Fan Yingxi, faced with the corpse of his subordinate, and Zhou Xiang, witnessing the death of his prospective son-in-law, were in no mood to enjoy the tea.

Only Li Shubai continued sipping his tea as usual. Seeing her return silently, he set down his cup and asked, "No signs of an outsider entering?"

"No... the perpetrator must be one of us present. The servants attending to the household here, me, Zhou Ziqin, Zhang Xingying, Yu Xuan, Wang Yun, Miss Zhou, Prefect Zhou, General Fan, and even... Your Highness—all are suspects."

Li Shubai frowned slightly and stood up, walking out of the pavilion with her. His gaze fell on Zhou Ziyan, who was still trembling beside her maids.

Huang Zixiao understood his meaning and whispered in his ear, "Indeed, the time of the incident must have been during the short period when Gongsun Daniang was performing—no more than half the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. For someone watching the dance in front of the crowd to slip away and commit murder unnoticed, even in dim lighting, their figure would surely have been spotted. Only the green gauze cabinet, where Miss Zhou was seated, was placed at the very back of the crowd. And because Qi Teng approached Miss Zhou, the four maids who had been by her side had retreated to the shade of a nearby tree. Therefore, the most likely person to have killed without drawing attention would be the one who was with him at the time—Zhou Ziyan."

Li Shubai withdrew his gaze from Zhou Ziyan and said calmly, "For a bride-to-be to murder her fiancé in public would be truly shocking."

"Aside from questioning Miss Zhou, another approach is to conduct a thorough search to see if the murder weapon can be found. If not, we may have to dredge the water for it."

Four constables from the Chengdu Prefecture in Shu arrived overnight to search everyone present, including Yu Xuan.

He silently removed his outer robe and allowed them to search him, though his expression was one of suppressed frustration and displeasure.

Wang Yun, standing behind him, readily stood up and gestured for the constables to search him. Once cleared, he turned to Yu Xuan with a smile and said, "Being suspected like this is quite vexing, isn't it?"

Yu Xuan, unfamiliar with him, did not respond, merely glancing at him.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, no?" Wang Yun added leisurely.

Yu Xuan understood his implication—it referred to how he had once handed over Huang Zixiao's love letters to Fan Yingxi, the military governor, leading to her being accused of poisoning her entire family and fleeing for her life.

Silently, he turned his gaze to Huang Zixiao.

She stood behind the Prince of Kui, who had turned to speak to her. Amid the chaos and noise, she hadn't caught his words, so he leaned down and repeated them close to her ear.The usually cold face now wore a rare expression of warmth, and as he spoke, the tenderness in his eyes—fixed unwaveringly on her—was almost overflowing, impossible to conceal.

Yu Xuan's expression darkened momentarily, but he quickly turned his gaze back and said in a voice so low it was barely audible, yet just loud enough for him to hear, "What does she have to do with me? The one bound to her by a marriage contract isn't me."

His words were light and indifferent, but they struck Wang Yun—Huang Zixiao's betrothed—like a sharp pang in his chest.

Yet, ever the epitome of restraint, he managed to suppress the flames in his heart and merely smiled faintly at Yu Xuan, saying, "Indeed. Though I wonder, is it better to have a formal title, or to remain nameless and of unclear origin? What do you think?"

Yu Xuan turned his face away coldly and said nothing more.

Many of those present had been searched, but nothing was found.

"Chief, we... we found something..." A constable ran over, whispering hesitantly into Zhou Ziqin's ear, too afraid to speak up.

Zhou Ziqin immediately grabbed his ear and urged, "Out with it! What could possibly be so hard to say now? You're going to kill me with suspense!"

"It's... it's on Young Master Fan's clothes..." the constable murmured.

Zhou Ziqin rushed to Fan Yuanlong's side in three quick strides. The unlucky fellow had been dragged away by Yu Xuan earlier, vomited by the bushes, and then promptly passed out. Now, he was being hauled up, squatting there drinking sobering soup, covered in dirt and vomit—a complete mess.

Zhou Ziqin ignored the filth, crouched down, and pulled up the hem of Fan Yuanlong's clothes. There, two streaks of fresh blood.

Fan Yuanlong tugged at his clothes, muttering, "Why are you pulling at my clothes? I'm a man too, you know. What's so interesting...?"

Fan Yingxi, sensing something amiss, strode over, yanked Fan Yuanlong up, and demanded furiously, "You little bastard! What the hell is this on your clothes?"

Fan Yuanlong slurred, "Isn't it... just dirt?"

"Dirt? Take another look!" Fan Yingxi roared.

Zhou Xiang quickly stepped in to mediate, diverting the anger from his own son: "General Fan, the truth isn't clear yet. Your son is still drunk and confused. Don't frighten him. Let's question him properly later. What do you say?"

Fan Yingxi, beside himself with rage, released his son's filthy, stinking clothes and shoved him to the ground. "You little beast! What the hell did you do while drunk? You're going to be the death of me!"

Li Shubai, however, interjected calmly, "It may not necessarily be your son. After all, what murderer would wipe a bloodied weapon clean on their own clothes and then discard it?"

Fan Yingxi exhaled in relief and bowed deeply to Li Shubai. "Your Highness is right. I lost my head in anger!"

Zhou Xiang also hurriedly instructed Zhou Ziqin, "Investigate thoroughly! Find the real culprit as soon as possible. Let’s see who dares to falsely accuse Young Master Fan!"

Zhou Ziqin nodded obediently. Huang Zixiao crouched beside him to examine the bloodstains on Fan Yuanlong's clothes.

The blood had just dried, still bright red, with two non-parallel streaks. It was clear that after committing the murder, the culprit had grabbed Fan Yuanlong's clothes and wiped the bloodied weapon on them—once forward, once backward—leaving the two marks.Zhou Ziyan, who had been trembling and cowering in the corner, suddenly pointed at Huang Zixiao and cried out, "And that eunuch—hasn't he been searched yet?"

Zhou Xiang immediately scolded, "Nonsense! Eunuch Yang is a renowned detective across the land, having solved numerous perplexing cases in Chang'an. Moreover, he is His Highness's close associate—how could he possibly be a suspect?"

Huang Zixiao glanced at the constables responsible for the body searches, feeling rather awkward. This measure had been proposed by her and Zhou Ziqin. Though they knew the likelihood of the murder weapon still being on the culprit was slim, it was still a necessary routine procedure. Who would have thought it would now fall upon her?

Zhou Ziqin was still examining Qi Teng's corpse, his hands probing the wounds to deduce the characteristics of the weapon. Hearing the commotion, he hastily stood up, raising his bloodstained hands. "I'll do it! I'll search him! I've never searched a eunuch before—I need to study why Chonggu's posture always seems more graceful than others. His bone structure must be different! So no one else gets to do this, got it? I'll fight anyone who tries to take this from me!"

Huang Zixiao was speechless and could only turn to look at Li Shubai.

Standing behind her, Li Shubai gently placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "She is a member of my Prince Kui's household. As Prefect Zhou just mentioned, out of respect for my household, searching her would be seen as an affront. However, I have always upheld impartiality. Since she is involved, a search is not unreasonable. Therefore, I will personally conduct the search. This way, none of you need to worry about offending the Prince's household, and it ensures equal treatment for all. Does anyone object?"

The crowd quickly responded, "Of course not! Your Highness is indeed just and rigorous!"

Only Wang Yun lowered his eyes with a faint smile, while Yu Xuan remained silent under the tree. Zhou Ziqin wore a crestfallen expression, staring at them resentfully.

Li Shubai added, "Zhang Xingying is also now under my service. Ziqin, haven't you always admired his martial prowess? You may search him as well."

"Oh! I get to search Zhang Xingying? Fantastic!" Zhou Ziqin immediately wiped his hands clean and lunged forward, grabbing Zhang Xingying's arm with admiration. "Brother Zhang, your muscles are truly impressive—let me get a good feel!"

Zhou Xiang was utterly exasperated and could only cough pointedly—after all, a grave incident had occurred. The military governor's advisor was dead. Could they at least show some restraint?