The Golden Hairpin

Huang Zixiang took the tea and turned around to see Wang Yun standing behind her with a gentle smile, seemingly unaffected by the recent murder case and the surrounding commotion.

Seeing her hesitate, Wang Yun poured a cup for Zhou Ziqin as well and asked with a smile, "What do you think, Ziqin? With Yang Gong on the case, who in the world could surpass him?"

"I wonder what Huang Zixiang would think if she were here..." Zhou Ziqin held the teacup, lost in thought.

Wang Yun chuckled. "I believe her thoughts and methods would be identical to Yang Gong's."

Huang Zixiang gave Wang Yun an awkward glance and lowered her head to sip her tea, masking her discomfort. "Captain Wang, you haven't returned yet?"

"With the truth still unclear, I wouldn’t be able to sleep even if I went back." He sat on the railing, smiling as he looked at her.

Huang Zixiang was at a loss for words and could only say to Zhou Ziqin, "Let’s go back and rest. It seems there won’t be any progress tonight."

"Leaving already?" Wang Yun stood up gracefully, brushing the dust off his clothes. "I’m also heading back to the Jiedushi’s residence. We can go together."

Huang Zixiang silently glanced at him. His expression was gentle and open, leaving her no room to refuse, so she followed him out of the prefectural office.

Her horse, Nafusha, had been rescued but was still recovering from its injuries. She rode carefully, moving slowly as they left the prefectural office.

Wang Yun’s horse also walked at a leisurely pace. Side by side, the clip-clop of their horses’ hooves echoed softly through the quiet streets of Chengdu at night.

The moonless sky was silent. Wang Yun turned to look at her. Her lowered face was indistinct in the darkness, but when her gaze flickered toward him, it was like rippling water shimmering in the night.

Huang Zixiang studied his face, obscured by the darkness, and suddenly felt a stir in her heart. Memories surged violently, like dark ripples rising, bringing with them a thick, uneasy dread.

She hesitated, then suddenly let out a startled cry.

"What’s wrong?" Wang Yun urged his horse closer, concerned.

Huang Zixiang dismounted and examined the horse’s injuries. "It seems Nafusha hasn’t fully recovered. It’s trembling after such a short ride. It’s better to let it rest."

"Should we return to the prefectural office to switch horses?" Wang Yun asked.

Huang Zixiang shook her head. "We’ve already come quite far. We’ll reach the Jiedushi’s residence soon."

Seeing her walk below, leading her horse, Wang Yun recalled the nights in Chang’an when she walked the streets while he rode beside her. He couldn’t help but smile and playfully leaned down from his horse, offering his hand. "How about... riding with me?"

She looked up at him and, without a word, took his hand and swung herself onto his horse, settling behind him.

Wang Yun was momentarily stunned. He turned back in surprise, but all he could see was the faint trembling of her lowered lashes. Her expression was hidden in the darkness, and only her soft voice reached him: "With everything that’s happened lately, I think I’m truly a bit tired."

"Then... I’ll take you back," he said.

Huang Zixiang didn’t respond, but he sensed her nod slightly before she gently wrapped her arms around his waist.In such a dark night, it felt like a dream. The woman he had long admired from afar was now sitting behind him, holding him gently, letting him take her home—it didn’t seem real, more like a midnight illusion.

Yet her hands were clearly around his waist. The summer clothes were thin, and the warmth of her skin seemed to seep through the fabric, reaching his body. Her breath was so light, faintly stirring a strand of his loose hair, brushing softly against his neck...

Just as Wang Yun was momentarily lost in thought, her body suddenly tilted to the side, as if caught off guard. Her hand slipped and pressed heavily against his left rib.

He let out a muffled groan. Though he controlled it well, the sound was faint, but she clearly heard it. Her voice turned cold: "Captain Wang, you're injured? On the left rib?"

Wang Yun clenched his teeth silently and replied in a low voice, "A few days ago, I went into the mountains with the Western River Army to track down Prince Kui. Unexpectedly, we encountered some rogue assassins and I got a little hurt."

Huang Zixiao nodded slightly and said, "I see..."

Before she could finish, her foot suddenly kicked forward, landing squarely on another injured spot on his leg. The pain shot through him, making him shudder uncontrollably, and he couldn’t suppress a low moan.

Taking advantage of his momentary weakness, Huang Zixiao released his waist, swiftly dismounted, and leaped onto her own horse, Nafosha. She turned the horse around, putting distance between them.

They reined in their horses, standing on opposite sides of the street. The warm orange glow of a streetlamp at the corner illuminated them, but as Huang Zixiao gazed at Wang Yun in the summer night breeze, she felt a chill creeping over her.

Wang Yun gritted his teeth imperceptibly, forcing a composed yet strained smile onto his face. "What’s wrong?"

Huang Zixiao stared at him intently. In the silence of the night, the wind flowing between them carried an eerie, unsettling weight.

Her voice was barely above a whisper, but each word was deliberate and crystal clear: "So... it was you."

Wang Yun met her gaze, his smile growing faint and serene. "Yes, it was me."

Huang Zixiao recalled the complex, meaningful look in his eyes when he saw her intimate gestures with Li Shubai in the dark forest. She remembered the expression on his face when she fed him fish and he asked why she was so kind to him. She thought of his words when she threatened him—such a beautiful woman, why disguise herself as a eunuch...

Her mind was in turmoil. The summer night wind howled chaotically through the streets and alleys of Chengdu, rushing past them as if it would never cease.

Wang Yun watched her from afar. The ever-gentle expression on his face gradually faded, replaced by a deep, penetrating gaze that seemed to pierce straight through her heart.

She bit her lower lip and asked, "Why? Who ordered you to hunt us down? And why did you take this mission?"

Wang Yun urged his horse toward her. His voice, infected by the night wind, turned cold and stiff. "Your horse can’t endure a long chase now. There’s no escape for you. Better surrender quietly."

Huang Zixiao pulled her horse back a step, eyeing him warily. "I have one more question for you."

"Speak," he said coldly, halting his horse a few feet away from her."In the mountain forest, Prince Kui had already seen through your identity but chose to conceal it, and you ultimately helped us escape. So why did you later attempt to assassinate us again at the inn? At a time when your identity was already exposed, organizing another assassination—do you think that was wise?"

Wang Yun gave a cold laugh and asked, "And what do you think?"

"Because the second assassination wasn’t orchestrated by you—perhaps it came from an entirely different faction." Her gaze was icy as she looked at him, a mix of insight and pity. "And the people behind you, knowing full well that Prince Kui was already aware of your identity, still arranged the second attempt. If it succeeded, fine; if it failed, you would be the scapegoat. The forces behind you would reap the benefits regardless of the outcome..."

"There’s no need for you to sow discord," he interrupted coldly. "I was simply injured at the time and temporarily withdrew from the matter. As for how others carried it out, that has nothing to do with me."

Huang Zixiang continued, "The prince’s decision in the forest that day was clearly sparing your life. Besides, you were only following orders. If you expose the mastermind behind this, your mistakes will naturally be forgiven..."

"Enough stalling!" Wang Yun spurred his horse forward, charging straight at her. "Huang Zixiang, I won’t let you return to his side! Even if I have to destroy you, I refuse to see you happy with someone else!"

Huang Zixiang, however, yanked her horse’s reins and swiftly turned to gallop away.

With only a few feet between them, though Nafasha was a rare Ferghana steed, it was still recovering from illness and reacted sluggishly. Wang Yun’s horse, though inferior, was still a fine mount and leaped forward, cutting off her path.

Huang Zixiang wheeled her horse around again, racing in the opposite direction.

Wang Yun urged his horse to pursue her, but with a sharp "snap" followed by a "thud," his saddle suddenly tilted, sending him crashing to the ground.

Fortunately, Wang Yun reacted quickly, rolling to lessen the impact and avoiding serious injury. But his old wounds split open from the fall, staining his chest with specks of blood.

He turned his gaze to his horse and saw the neatly severed saddle straps, realizing she must have tampered with them when she mounted earlier.

Before he could rise, Huang Zixiang had already dismounted and pressed the Yuchang dagger to his throat—the same blade she had hidden on Nafasha before the banquet and secretly retrieved while pretending to inspect the horse.

Lying on his back, chest burning with pain and body weak, he stared up at her.

It was as if the scene from the mountain forest was replaying—on this silent, deserted street, she had subdued him once again.

"Huang Zixiang... I’m no match for you after all," he muttered bitterly, his voice filled with resentment and resignation.

Huang Zixiang tilted the Yuchang dagger slightly to avoid cutting him. "Captain Wang, in the forest, we let you go under the circumstances. But now that you’re in my hands again, why don’t you come clean? Who, exactly, is the mastermind behind you?""There is no mastermind behind me. I only follow my own heart." Wang Yun's gaze was coldly fixed on her, sharp as a blade. The warm, spring-like demeanor he once had was completely gone, replaced by a wintry chill. His voice, carrying the same icy tone, pierced deeply into her heart. "When I left the capital this time, someone gave me a piece of advice. He said, if there’s something you desperately want but it ends up in someone else’s hands, it’s better to destroy it than to let it torment you."

Huang Zixiang tightened her grip on the Fish Intestine Sword’s hilt, her knuckles turning white from the force, yet she seemed oblivious to the pain. She simply stared at Wang Yun, unmoving, as if looking at a complete stranger—like watching a garden full of flowers suddenly consumed by war, all traces of beauty vanishing without a trace.

"Huang Zixiang, do you know how much I hate you?" His voice was low and slow, devoid of any emotion. "You humiliated me, you humiliated the entire Langya Wang clan. You turned me and my family into a laughingstock for the whole world. Tell me—how could I bear to see you live on peacefully?"

Huang Zixiang countered, "To get revenge on me, you would drag Prince Kui into this?"

"Hmph..." He didn’t answer, only coldly averted his gaze and looked up at the night sky.

"Even if you truly hate me, even if you truly want me dead, your primary target was still Prince Kui. I was just someone you wanted to kill along the way, wasn’t I? The forces behind you are the true instigators of this assassination." Huang Zixiang took a deep breath and met his eyes without hesitation as she pressed the question.

"I wanted you dead, and Princess Qile wanted you dead. We simply found common ground—that’s all." He still refused to say more.

Huang Zixiang was about to press further when she heard a calm voice behind her: "Chonggu."

She turned and saw a figure standing beneath the starry sky, elegant and poised, tall and imposing—it was Li Shubai.

She kept the Fish Intestine Sword pressed against Wang Yun’s neck and called out, "Your Highness..."

"Don’t jump to conclusions." Under the starlight, she couldn’t make out Li Shubai’s expression, only his eyes reflecting the stars with a faint, enigmatic glow. "Yunzhi is my good friend, the eldest grandson of the Langya Wang family, cousin to Empress Wang, and the commander of the Imperial Guards. There’s no way he could be the one behind my assassination."

Huang Zixiang was about to speak, but the moment their eyes met, she suddenly understood.

She lowered the Fish Intestine Sword, sheathed it, and tucked it back into her robes, murmuring, "Yes, I was overthinking things... I beg Commander Wang’s forgiveness for my rashness and offense."

Wang Yun slowly sat up, watching her silently. After a long pause, his gaze shifted to Li Shubai.

Li Shubai said calmly, "Yunzhi, Chonggu is naive and inexperienced in worldly matters. Please don’t hold it against her."

Wang Yun pressed a hand to his chest and, after a long silence, replied quietly, "I wouldn’t dare."

Li Shubai said nothing more, simply stepping forward and offering his hand.

Wang Yun took it and slowly rose to his feet, then turned his gaze back to Huang Zixiang.

Suppressing the turmoil in her heart, Huang Zixiang bowed her head in apology. "Commander Wang, please forgive this lowly servant for being overly concerned with His Highness’s safety and wrongly accusing you."He raised his hand to stop her, then slowly walked past her toward the military governor's residence.