The Golden Hairpin

Zhou Xiang could only cough awkwardly—after all, something major had happened with the death of the military governor's judge. Could they at least show some restraint?

Zhou Ziqin stuck out his tongue but then searched more seriously before saying, "No murder weapon."

Li Shubai looked down at Huang Zitang and whispered in her ear, "Is this alright?"

Huang Zitang gave a slight nod and lifted her gaze to meet his. She remembered the time they were in danger, in the cold mountain forest, when she had held him close, pressing against him to keep him warm. And when she had helped change his bandages, she had already seen and touched his half-bare body.

How strange—now that she thought about it, it all felt like a dream. The skin that had once pressed tightly together, the breaths that had mingled so lightly, the fluttering emotions that had scattered in her chest—almost all of it had faded into darkness, becoming their secret. But from then on, even if unspoken, something between them had changed.

So she simply lowered her head and obediently raised her hands, standing before him. She felt his hand land on her shoulder, then slide slowly down her arm to her wrist and sleeve. When his fingers brushed against her palm beneath her wrist, they both felt the slightest quickening of their pulses.

He released her hand and moved to her waist, circling it once to confirm there was nothing hard hidden beneath the soft curve before bending down to trace his hands down her legs, all the way to her ankles.

Like a gentle vine, he wound lightly around her body. She suddenly thought—perhaps being bound like this wasn’t so bad.

Then he withdrew his hands, straightened, and looked at her, momentarily speechless.

How strange—it was his expression that seemed tense now, his breathing slightly uneven. Yet she remained composed, offering him a faint smile and even lifting her foot to wiggle her toes in front of him, teasing, "Nothing in my shoes either."

Li Shubai stared at her smile, feeling his chest tighten abruptly. A heat unlike anything he had ever known surged through his body, making the hands that had touched her clench involuntarily.

After a long moment, he finally turned back to the others and said, "No murder weapon."

With that, everyone at the scene had been searched, and no weapon had been found.

Zhou Ziqin ordered the constables to comb through every inch of the area once more, then called for a few who could swim to drain the pond and search for the weapon.

The ground in front of the waterside pavilion was smooth and even, paved with neatly arranged square flagstones. Because the Prince of Kui had arrived, the servants had cleared away any weeds growing between the stones earlier that day, leaving the stone slabs spotless. Aside from the two rows of shrubs planted along the water and a few ornamental rocks, the area was practically pristine, with nothing hidden from view.

Zhou Ziyan, who had just been searched by the maids and was in a foul mood, saw Zhou Ziqin preoccupied with sending people into the water and immediately cried out, "Brother, are you really this stupid? That dancer, Gongsun Da Niang, had two swords in her hands!"

Zhou Ziqin gave his sister an exasperated look. "Didn’t you see the swords she used before she came on stage? They were all blunt—completely unsharpened!"

Gongsun Yuan, who had also been searched, had been standing silently nearby. Hearing this, she stepped forward to the railing, retrieved the two swords, and presented them to the group.Sure enough, the two swords in her hands—one long and one short—were both unsharpened. Although coated with silver paint to enhance their gleaming effect, they couldn’t even cut through slightly thick grass, let alone kill anyone.

Zhou Ziqin let out a surprised “Huh?” the moment he took hold of them, sensing something amiss. He flicked the blade with his finger, producing a soft tap . It turned out the swords were not only unsharpened but also made of wood. The hilts were adorned with intricate gold-inlaid patterns and embedded with gemstones, but the blades themselves were wooden.

Gongsun Dayuan explained, “As I’ve grown older, wielding iron swords has become somewhat strenuous. Moreover, performing before esteemed guests with such lethal weapons is hardly appropriate, and carrying them over long distances is inconvenient. So, a few years ago, I had these two wooden swords made—purely for aesthetic appeal.”

Zhou Ziqin shot an amused glance at his sister, who still refused to admit her mistake, then pulled Wang Yun over. “Come on, Brother Yunzhi, help me out—smell these and tell me if there’s any trace of blood.”

Wang Yun couldn’t help but laugh. “I only have a passing knowledge of fragrances. Why ask me about this?”

“Oh, come on, your nose is sharp anyway,” Zhou Ziqin insisted, shoving the wooden swords under his nose.

With no choice, Wang Yun reluctantly sniffed them and shook his head. “No scent of blood, just a faint earthy smell.”

Huang Ziguang took them and examined them, noticing that the shorter sword had some mud clinging to the hilt, evidently soiled.

Gongsun Yuan also noticed and said with annoyance, “During the transition between acts, I just set the swords down carelessly on the ground. I hope the gemstones and gold inlays haven’t been scratched.”

Huang Ziguang glanced at the pavilion floor, then at Gongsun Yuan’s immaculate attire, but said nothing, simply returning the swords to her.

“Chonggu, come here quickly and help me examine this wound,” Zhou Ziqin called, dragging Huang Ziguang over to the corpse since the pond water hadn’t fully drained yet. Pointing at the wound, he said, “I’ve already checked it. The weapon was likely a dagger about an inch wide, with a very narrow and thin blade. The killer’s technique was clean—definitely a professional. One stab straight to the heart, no cry, instant death.”

As Huang Ziguang studied the bloody wound in the chest, Wang Yun approached from behind and remarked, “The killer was bold. With so many of us watching the performance—even though Magistrate Qi was at the back, Miss Zhou was nearby—to strike in public like this, they must have nerves of steel.”

Huang Ziguang nodded, then examined Magistrate Qi’s face, noticing a faint red mark on his right cheek. Holding the lantern closer, she saw it was a small crescent-shaped indentation.

“A nail mark,” she observed carefully.

Zhou Ziqin flipped Qi Teng’s hand over—his nails had been recently trimmed, and very short at that.

“The killer must have been behind him,” Huang Ziguang deduced. “Covering his mouth and nose with the left hand while swiftly plunging the dagger into his heart with the right. That’s when the killer’s nail left this mark on his face.”

Zhou Ziqin immediately jumped up. “Check everyone’s nails! Who has long nails?”

The longest nails belonged to Zhou Ziyan, followed by the four maids, then Yin Luyi and Gongsun Yuan. Aside from the women, a few male servants also had untrimmed nails.Zhou Ziqin's face immediately darkened: "You... you want to interrogate my sister?"

Huang Zixia crouched down and pulled the jade hairpin from among the silver ones in her hair: "What's wrong?"

Zhou Ziqin squatted beside her, on the verge of tears: "Who dares to interrogate that tigress? Unless they have a death wish!"

"But your sister is highly suspicious, isn't she?" Huang Zixia sketched in the sand, reviewing everyone's positions. "At that time, your sister was sitting in the back of the green gauze cabinet, while the four maids had retreated to the front under the trees because she was sitting with him... In other words, if she wanted to kill someone, everyone was in front, and no one would have noticed."

Zhou Ziqin nodded, then quickly added, "But, but my sister is lucky to even get married—why would she kill her own husband?"

Huang Zixia turned to look at him. Though his words were mocking, he was so anxious that sweat was beading on his face. She sighed and said, "Wipe your sweat, good brother."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she suddenly remembered that she, too, had once had such a brother. Though he constantly complained about her, a girl, dealing with corpses all day, whenever she was in trouble, he would always jump in front of her, roll up his sleeves, and roar, "Who dares to bully my sister?"

Her mood darkened, and she stopped teasing him deliberately. She simply said, "Don't worry, your sister isn't the murderer."

Zhou Ziqin was overjoyed and eagerly pressed, "How so?"

"Because at that time, your sister was sitting inside the green gauze cabinet, and Qi Teng happened to be sitting to her right." Huang Zixia gestured toward the nearby green gauze cabinet. This was a summer setup to keep out mosquitoes and flies—a bamboo bed in the middle with gauze curtains hanging down to the ground, also serving as a screen for female family members. "Logically, your sister could have lifted the curtain and stabbed Qi Teng in the chest with a dagger she carried, but we found a fingernail mark on Qi Teng's cheek, which completely clears your sister of suspicion."

She motioned for Zhou Ziqin to enter the gauze cabinet and sit on the small bamboo bed, then lean toward Qi Teng's corpse on the right, mimicking the killer's posture at the time.

Zhou Ziqin strained to lean to the side but found it impossible to maintain balance.

Huang Zixia said, "See, when you sit on the bamboo bed in the green gauze cabinet and try to lean right, covering Qi Teng's mouth and nose with your left hand while raising the dagger with your right, you would inevitably—"

Before she could finish, there was a thud as Zhou Ziqin lost his balance and tumbled off the bamboo bed.

"—fall," Huang Zixia finished, just as the word left her lips.

Zhou Ziqin rubbed his face as he stood up and asked, "So, my sister's suspicion is cleared?"

"Yes. Among everyone present, a few people would have had the hardest time committing the crime." Huang Zixia pointed at the sketched map on the ground with her hairpin, tapping the green gauze cabinet. "One is your sister. If she wanted to kill someone, she would have had to come out of the green gauze cabinet, then circle behind Qi Teng to stab him. But Qi Teng would have been watching her the whole time—how could he have been completely unaware when she struck?"

"What about the others?" Zhou Ziqin hurriedly asked.Huang Zixiao pointed her hairpin toward the pavilion again: "Gongsun Daniang was dancing inside the pavilion the entire time during the incident. Everyone's eyes were on her, so she had neither the time nor the opportunity to commit the crime."

Zhou Ziqin nodded firmly, then also pointed toward the large lantern beside the pavilion: "And Yin Luyi, who was adjusting the lighting and handling props like flower petals, stood right next to the lantern by the pavilion. If she had moved, everyone would have seen her."

"Exactly, so she also had no opportunity. Additionally, those seated at the very front—Prince Kui, your father, and General Fan—were always the center of attention. Even standing up would have been noticed, let alone going to the back to kill someone." Huang Zixiao's hairpin crossed out three more names. "Then there's you, me, and Zhang Xingying, who were standing by the chairs. But—our likelihood is a bit higher. When the lights dimmed, petals fluttered, and Gongsun Daniang released butterflies on stage, everyone was marveling. Perhaps we could have slipped to the back unnoticed and returned. With enough luck, perfect timing, and quick movements, we might have escaped the notice of those behind us?"

"Then Wang Yun, Yu Xuan, and Fan Yuanlong's suspicion is even greater than ours, isn't it? If they went to the back to commit the crime, their chances of success would be higher than ours."

"Indeed. For this crime, the further back someone was, the more likely they were involved. Moreover, Fan Yuanlong and Yu Xuan left midway, so only Wang Yun remained in the last row." As she spoke, Huang Zixiao wiped the jade hairpin clean on Zhou Ziqin's clothes and tucked it back into her silver hairpin. "There are also the musicians playing by the pavilion, the four maids under the trees, and the six servants who came to assist—ten people in total. That should keep you busy questioning them tonight."

But Zhou Ziqin wasn't concerned about that. He tugged at his sleeve and asked, "Why did you have to wipe your dirty hairpin on my clothes?"

"Because your sleeve is already stained with blood. You'll have to change anyway."

"Fair point." With that, Zhou Ziqin casually took off his robe and tossed it to the ground.