The Golden Hairpin

Zhou Ziqin was sitting on the railing of a roadside pavilion, idly kicking his feet while waiting for her return. The moment he spotted her figure, he hastily jumped down and asked, "Chonggu, shall we head back for lunch first? Where are we going this afternoon?"

Huang Ziyao led him toward the city: "Qi Teng's house."

Zhou Ziqin cheered, "Great! I love following you to uncover clues. By the way, are we going to Yu Xuan's place? I'd like to see him too."

Huang Ziyao's grip on the reins tightened slightly: "Why see him?"

Zhou Ziqin scratched his head sheepishly. "I don't know... It's just that—Huang Ziyao liked him, Princess Tongchang had some inexplicable connection with him, and the way people in the poetry society described him... It all makes me curious to meet him and figure it out."

Huang Ziyao lowered her head in silence, moving forward wordlessly. Only when passing under the tangled vines of withered roses did she lift her gaze to the dense green tendrils long bereft of flowers. In a voice barely above a whisper, she uttered two words: "Once upon."

Zhou Ziqin looked at her, puzzled. "Once upon?"

She nodded, standing beneath the thick shade of the roses, the hot late-summer breeze brushing past as she murmured, "Huang Ziyao... once liked Yu Xuan."

Amid Zhou Ziqin's incessant chatter—"How do you know Huang Ziyao doesn’t still like Yu Xuan now?"—Huang Ziyao remained expressionless as she rode into the city and returned to the prefectural office.

She was intimately familiar with the yamen. Stepping inside, she walked across the well-worn bluestone pavement, past the loquat tree in the courtyard, and through the cracked wooden side gate. Without even glancing at the ground, her steps never faltered, moving forward without hesitation.

Zhou Ziqin fetched two bowls of mutton noodle soup from the side and eagerly set out chopsticks for her, practically wagging an invisible tail. "Chonggu, tell me—do you know Huang Ziyao? Oh, why didn’t I think of it before? You’re both master detectives, so you must have crossed paths, right?"

Huang Ziyao didn’t want to engage further and buried herself in her meal. "No, just in spirit."

"Alright..." He held his chopsticks absently for a moment before murmuring, "I wonder where Huang Ziyao is now. Is she still on the run? Maybe she’s eating somewhere, just like us. What’s she eating, I wonder?"

Huang Ziyao took a sip of soup in silence, then tapped his bowl with the end of her chopsticks. "Hurry up, or I’ll go investigate Qi Teng’s house without you."

"Oh, alright..." Zhou Ziqin quickly picked up the pace.

Watching him, Huang Ziyao sighed and added, "Don’t worry... I think Huang Ziyao is probably eating delicious mutton noodles too, just like us."

Zhou Ziqin nodded, his expression even more resolute than hers.

Before they could finish, the little dog Huang Ziyao had picked up from the street to test for poison scurried under their stools, drooling at the aroma.

Zhou Ziqin immediately tossed it two large pieces of mutton, saying, "Fugui, you’d better grow up fast! The yamen is counting on you to become a legendary tracker—sniffing out scents ten li downwind, five li upwind, mastering every criminal’s smell in Chengdu Prefecture, and catching them all in one sweep!"

Huang Ziyao glanced at the happily munching puppy, her lips twitching slightly. "Fugui?"

"Yeah, the dog’s name," he said.Huang Zixiang was utterly speechless. She looked at the ugly dog with its mottled fur and suddenly remembered something. She called out to Zhou Ziqin, "Let me see that double-fish jade bracelet."

Zhou Ziqin took it out from his pocket and handed it to her, saying, "Be careful with it—it's Huang Zixiang's..."

Huang Zixiang ignored him and slowly turned the bracelet in her hands, examining the patterns. Two small fish biting each other's tails, two lustrous rice-shaped pearls.

She raised the bracelet to the sunlight streaming through the window. The translucent white jade resembled a curved piece of ice, hollowed out inside, with light refracting in delicate strands, creating an ethereal beauty.

She returned the bracelet to Zhou Ziqin and lowered her hand to pat Fugui's head.

Fugui, having just eaten two pieces of mutton, was in high spirits and eagerly licked her hand, wagging its tail wildly.

She let Fugui lick her hand three or four times before standing up and walking to the well. She washed her hands in the overflowing water channel and then sat back at the table, watching Fugui.

Seeing her wash her hands, Zhou Ziqin said, "The cook gave Fugui a thorough bath yesterday, so it shouldn't be that dirty."

"Mm, I know," she replied absentmindedly. Noticing Zhou Ziqin hadn't finished eating, she pulled the hairpin from her hair and began slowly drawing on the table, organizing her thoughts. "By the way, didn't Qi Teng say he would get some purified water from Master Moushan to cleanse your bracelet? Did that ever happen?"

"No, there wasn't time. I never expected Brother Qi would die so suddenly," Zhou Ziqin said, his face clouded with sorrow. "Poor my sister—she thought she was finally getting married to a man who was excellent in every way... and now it's all gone."

Huang Zixiang nodded and continued drawing on the table. Zhou Ziqin finished his soup and, seeing her still absorbed in her thoughts, didn't disturb her. He simply rested his head on the table, watching her motionlessly.

Feeling awkward under his gaze, Huang Zixiang tucked the hairpin back into her hair and asked, "Shall we go?"

Zhou Ziqin nodded and stood up. "Chonggu, back when you... I mean, before you became a eunuch, what were you like? Did a lot of women like you?"

Huang Zixiang replied flatly, "No, no women liked me."

Zhou Ziqin gasped. "Then... did a lot of men like you?"

Huang Zixiang shot him a look that said, "Stop imagining nonsense," and stood up to leave.

Qi Teng's parents had already passed away, and although he had relatives, they were all distant branches of the family with no influence. When Huang Zixiang and Zhou Ziqin arrived, they saw several distant relatives squabbling over his belongings, acting as if everything in the house was already theirs.

Zhou Ziqin was dumbfounded. He shouted at the crowd, "Who's in charge here? Someone step forward—official business!"

The group paused briefly, then turned away and continued hastily gathering items.

Huang Zixiang strode to the center of the courtyard and declared loudly, "Listen up! Qi Teng's case is of grave importance. All items in this residence are now officially sealed by the authorities. Anyone who takes even a single item will be charged with embezzling official property and obstructing justice! Punishment ranges from flogging to imprisonment. Who dares to act recklessly?"The group was immediately frightened and quickly dropped what they were holding, retreating obediently to the corridor while spreading their hands to show they hadn't taken anything.

Huang Zixiang asked again, "Where's the steward? Who's in charge here?"

An old man standing by the side door, also with his hands spread, hurried over, bowing obsequiously. "This humble one is Qi Fu, usually managing affairs here. Greetings to you both, officers!"

"Old sir, let's talk over here," Huang Zixiang said, gesturing for him to follow her to a small side hall.

The side hall was quite exquisitely arranged, with a small artificial mountain in front, a pool of clear water beneath it, green moss covering the rocks, and a lush osmanthus tree planted there.

After pouring tea for them, Qi Fu sighed mournfully. "I'm a distant relative of Judge Qi. Last year when he returned to his hometown and saw me, knowing I was somewhat familiar with managing people, he said that after becoming a judge, he needed a capable person by his side. So he asked me to come here and help manage his affairs. When I arrived, I found there was practically no one in the residence—just a few of us from the clan who had followed him. It turned out the previous steward had sticky fingers, and along with several servants, had already been driven out. Those people you saw earlier were all ones I found after returning to the clan."

Zhou Ziqin asked, "All from the same clan? The man just died yesterday, and you're already dividing his belongings today?"

Qi Fu gave an awkward laugh. "Well... Judge Qi didn't have any close relatives left anyway. Once the rest of the clan arrives, won't they just split everything up? We served him all this time—if not for merit, at least for hard work. Taking a little extra... well, that's only fair, heh..."

Zhou Ziqin was speechless at his shameless justification.

Huang Zixiang pressed on, "While Judge Qi was serving here, who did he usually associate with?"

"He was always busy, mostly at the military governor's office, coming home early and leaving late. To be a judge in the military governor's office at such a young age—such a high position, isn't it remarkable? Our Qi clan hasn't had such a high-ranking official in so many years..."

Unyielding, Huang Zixiang steered the conversation back. "Old sir, please think carefully. Aside from people from the military governor's office, who else did he associate with? This matter concerns whether we can quickly find the true culprit behind Judge Qi's case. Please try to recall for us."

Only then did Qi Fu ponder seriously before saying, "The judge often visited Venerable Mu Shan to discuss Buddhist teachings. Venerable Mu Shan has also dined here at our home before. Does... does that count?"

Venerable Mu Shan. Huang Zixiang remembered this name. She asked, "So Judge Qi was interested in Buddhist philosophy?"

Qi Fu looked confused. "I wouldn't know about that. I don't even know which temple Venerable Mu Shan is from."

Huang Zixiang asked again, "Aside from the venerable, who else?"

Qi Fu seemed genuinely unaware of Qi Teng's usual social circle and hesitated.

Huang Zixiang had no choice but to ask, "There's someone named Yu Xuan—does the old sir have any impression of him?"

Qi Fu exclaimed, "Ah! There was such a person! He even stayed here briefly for two or three days. It seemed he tried to commit suicide, but Judge Qi saved him. At the time, Venerable Mu Shan also came to see him. I don't know what happened, but the three of them were talking in the room when Judge Qi smashed the porcelain bowl he used to keep fish in and demanded that Young Master Yu return his fish!"

Fish. Huang Zixiang keenly seized on this key point and immediately asked, "I heard Judge Qi enjoyed keeping fish?""Do I like it? Not necessarily. It's just that Magistrate Qi was particularly proud of the fish he raised. He said it was a rare species from the Western Regions, very uncommon in the Central Plains, which Monk Muxian happened to acquire in the capital and brought back to gift him."

Huang Zixiao asked again, "He asked Yu Xuan to return the fish to him, so does that mean he gave the fish to Yu Xuan? Would he really part with such a rare fish?"

"Exactly! It didn’t seem like Magistrate Qi and Yu Xuan were that close. I doubt he’d give away something he treasured so much. The magistrate once boasted to us that this fish could live a hundred years, and when he died, he’d place a vat of clear water in his tomb so the little fish could accompany him... Now that I think about it, those words were terribly ominous. No wonder he... Ah!" Qi Fu sighed heavily, his face wearing a sorrowful expression, though his eyes kept darting around the room, especially toward the furnishings with gold inlays, silver accents, or jade embellishments—practically drooling over them.

Huang Zixiao asked a few more questions about Yu Xuan, but Qi Fu only recalled superficial details. He mentioned that during Yu Xuan’s brief stay here, he lay motionless like a dead man. Once he regained a bit of consciousness, he had people from his own residence come to take him back. Not a single sound escaped his lips the entire time.

Seeing that Qi Fu couldn’t provide much more, Huang Zixiao asked, "Where did Magistrate Qi usually handle official business? Did he leave behind any documents or records?"

"All in the study. Please follow me." Qi Fu led them to a small pavilion at the back. Inside were bookshelves, a desk, and several hanging paintings—roses, azaleas, narcissus, and one of a pine tree.

Huang Zixiao stood before the pine painting, gazing at the three or four verdant, twisting pines under which a man sat peacefully playing the qin. The man rested the instrument on his knees, lightly plucking the strings. Beside him was inscribed: "With a single sweep of his hand, I hear the roar of countless valleys’ pines."

Zhou Ziqin, standing behind her, remarked, "Hmm... something feels a bit off about this."

"Indeed. If it were a painting of hydrangeas, it might fit better," Huang Zixiao said.

Qi Fu let out a surprised "Oh!" and said, "That’s right. Before this, there was a painting of hydrangeas hanging here."