The Golden Hairpin

"Yes, after that, even if she ran, it probably wouldn't have been enough time for a round trip..." Fan Yuanlong was the first to voice his doubt.

"Right, after the petals finished falling, Gongsun Dayang continued her performance, releasing butterflies one by one from her sleeves. The butterflies flew faster and faster until they all finally took flight—if she hadn't been there at the time, the butterflies would have scattered in chaos. There's no way they could have been controlled so well, flying so slowly, right?" Zhou Ziqin once again began to let his imagination run wild. "Could it be that Gongsun Dayang had some method to make a lightning-fast round trip before the petals finished falling? Was it the art of shrinking the earth, or perhaps covering ten feet in a single step?"

"Of course not. The art of shrinking the earth and covering ten feet in a single step are just legends. But why don't you think about it differently? In truth, Gongsun Dayang didn't move too quickly back and forth. When the butterflies emerged, she didn't need to rush back at all. Instead, there was something that helped her control the speed at which the butterflies flew out, preventing them from scattering in chaos. They could only fly out slowly, gradually increasing in speed and number..."

Zhou Ziqin blinked his confused eyes, looking at her with a watery gaze. "Could it be... a delayed-release mechanism that could be set to activate later? So it would slowly open after she left?"

"No, how could such a mechanism be installed on a single gauze curtain or an embroidered robe at the time? And why go to such trouble? The thing she used at the time even had you helping to erase some traces."

Huang Zixiao's words made Zhou Ziqin's mouth drop open in shock. "R-really? Impossible! When did I ever help her... I barely interacted with Gongsun Dayang, and I never did anything for her!"

"Because from start to finish, you overlooked it entirely and never connected the dots." As she spoke, Huang Zixiao took out a small bag of maltose candies and showed them to everyone. "From what I know, because Yin Siniang suffers from poor blood circulation, she often carries a bag of candies with her. But the ones she chooses aren't hard candies like ginger candy or snowflake sugar—they're soft, sticky maltose candies."

Yin Luyi couldn't help but interrupt, her voice timid yet laced with hidden sharpness. "Eunuch Yang, I like eating maltose candies. Is that... a crime now?"

"Of course not. Some people prefer hard candies, others like soft ones—it's a matter of personal preference. But someone like you, who buys an entire slab of maltose candy, is something I've never seen before." Huang Zixiao distributed the candies to everyone, each piece resting on a small sheet of rice paper. "Moreover, after buying the entire slab, you didn't cut it up but instead carved little animals out of it for fun. That's a quirk we can't criticize. But I'd like to ask Siniang one thing—where did the two large sheets of rice paper that the vendor specifically placed on the top and bottom of the slab to prevent the maltose from melting or sticking go?"

The rice paper—thin, translucent sheets made from glutinous rice to keep the candies from sticking together—was easily torn but an essential wrapping for each piece of maltose candy.

The expressions of Gongsun Yi and Yin Siniang finally changed. Even Gongsun Yi's clear, resolute eyes began to flicker uneasily.Huang Zitang shifted her gaze away from her and said softly, "The butterfly cages were prepared long ago, opened and sealed with rice paper, then placed behind the sheer curtains. When you removed your outer garment, all you needed was to dip your finger in saliva and swipe it across the rice paper. The paper, upon contact with moisture, would gradually dissolve, eventually forming a large hole. The butterflies inside would then fly out one by one. No matter where you were, the hole in the rice paper would only grow larger, and the butterflies would escape faster and faster—"

At this point, she gestured toward the distance between the waterside pavilion and the dock, asking, "From the moment all the petals fell to the ground until the last butterfly flew away—was that enough time for you to make a round trip and kill someone?"

Such an inconceivable method, such precise timing, left everyone who heard it stunned. For a moment, silence fell over the waterside pavilion, and no one could utter a word.

Amid the silence, Gongsun Yuan's voice came slowly, still calm and composed: "Eunuch Yang, the murder method you've fabricated for me is undeniably ingenious and painstakingly devised. I never imagined that my younger sister's habit of eating malt sugar due to poor blood circulation could inspire so many associations; that my choice of a heavier dance costume could be twisted into a murder technique; or even that my need to pause and rest midway due to my age could be framed as an opportunity to slip away and kill someone..."

At this point, a faint smile even appeared at the corner of her lips, bright and vivid, utterly captivating: "So then, Eunuch Yang, where is the evidence? Just because I had the time to kill someone, does that mean I must be the murderer? Without motive or a murder weapon, with just a flick of your lips, you declare me guilty?"

"First, among everyone present, only you had the opportunity to commit the crime. No one else did." Huang Zitang ignored her smile, her expression even calmer and more composed. "Second, as for the murder weapon—I can certainly find it. And what's more, I can prove it belongs to you."

Gongsun Yuan lifted her chin slightly and stood silently before her, no longer speaking, her face a picture of someone waiting to see her fail.

"The first mystery of this case was the timing of the crime, and now we've solved that. The second mystery is the missing murder weapon. Clearly, there was a bloody wound on Magistrate Qi's chest, indicating a stab from a weapon. Yet when we immediately searched nearly everyone present, we found no weapon that matched. It wasn't recovered from the water, nor was it discovered at the scene. This means—the weapon must still be at the scene, just well hidden."

Zhou Ziqin couldn't hold back any longer and blurted out, "But Chonggu, the constables have been searching here for days and found nothing! Where exactly is the murder weapon hidden?"

"That's where I need your help." She leaned in and whispered a few words into his ear. Zhou Ziqin immediately jumped up, smacking his own head and exclaiming, "How did I not think of that? I really am an idiot!"

Without another word, he turned and rushed off, heading straight for the yamen.

Zhou Xiang could only awkwardly apologize to Li Shubai: "My son lacks manners, coming and going without even a word of greeting..."

Li Shubai set down his teacup, a rare hint of a smile appearing on his face. "Ziqin is innocent and unrestrained, unbound by worldly conventions. That's precisely what I admire most about him."Zhou Xiang quickly put on a look of alarm, muttering, "Oh no, no, how could I dare..."

Fan Yingxi glanced at his son. Though his face remained expressionless, he subtly turned it half an inch away to avoid catching sight of him in his peripheral vision.

When Zhou Ziqin returned, everyone noticed he was leading a skinny, ugly mutt by a leash, with a piece of clothing draped over his arm—the very garment Fan Yuanlong had worn that day. Stained with blood and later splashed with wine, it had been discarded by Fan Yuanlong on the spot. No one expected the yamen to have kept it.

Zhou Ziqin crouched down and held the bloodstained cloth to the dog’s nose, patting its head as he said, "Fugui, sniff this blood and go find it! I’ll give you a meaty bone if you do!"

The dog sniffed and sniffed but clearly had no idea what Zhou Ziqin wanted. Thinking it was food, it opened its mouth wide and clamped down on the fabric, chewing twice.

"Hey, you dumb mutt..." Zhou Ziqin hastily yanked the cloth back, only to see two puncture holes from the dog’s teeth. He sighed in frustration.

"Let me try," Huang Zixiao said helplessly, taking the dog from him. She rubbed its head and led it along the bushes toward where the green gauze cabinet had once stood.

When she reached a spot between two stone slabs, she stopped. Fugui circled her feet a few times, and when she didn’t move, it began sniffing the ground intently, nosing here and there. Suddenly, it perked up and started barking furiously at a crevice between the stones.

Holding the dog back, Huang Zixiao turned to the others and said, "Pry up this slab."

Zhou Ziqin was stunned. "Chonggu, that’s absurd! This slab weighs hundreds of pounds—how would the killer have had time to lift it and hide the weapon underneath after committing murder? Besides, the killer wouldn’t have had the strength!"

Huang Zixiao shook her head. "No, the weapon isn’t beneath the slab."

"Then why are we prying it up?"

"Because the place where the weapon is hidden—if the slab is still in place—is somewhere we’d never be able to reach otherwise."

Without another word, Zhou Ziqin immediately called for two constables to fetch crowbars and wooden poles. Then, crouching, he gestured at the two slabs and asked, "Which one should we lift?"

"Either. The smaller one," Huang Zixiao said.

"Either...?" Zhou Ziqin’s mouth twitched, but he quickly motioned for them to start on the smaller slab.

As they worked, the others watched.

Gongsun Yuan and Yin Luyi sat rigidly, their faces ashen. Yet the atmosphere around Li Shubai was anything but tense. Fan Yingxi had brought Monk Mershan over to chat with him. The last time Li Shubai had visited, he had been in disguise, so this was effectively their first meeting. Fan Yingxi extolled Monk Mershan as a peerless, saintly monk, while Li Shubai merely remarked that he had heard of him in the capital. He added that the monk’s presence today had been unnecessary, but since he had learned the monk would be traveling tomorrow and might miss him, he had taken advantage of the monk’s friendship with Magistrate Qi to request an audience. He concluded by praising the monk’s dignified bearing as truly extraordinary.

Fan Yingxi and Monk Mershan were both delighted, their worries dispelled, and the atmosphere grew warm and congenial.Zhou Xiang inquired about old acquaintances in the capital from Wang Yun, then asked after the well-being of Wang Yun's uncles, cousins, and other relatives—more than ten people in total—enough to occupy his concern for an hour or two.

Fan Yuanlong, meanwhile, sidled up to Zhou Ziqin. Watching them pry up the stone slabs, he lamented to Zhou Ziqin how unfortunate it would be if those two beauties were truly the murderers. He insisted they should at least find an opportunity to "have their way" with them in prison first—only to be met with two fierce glares from Zhou Ziqin. Though Zhou Ziqin admired beautiful women, he utterly despised such lecherous behavior. Moreover, while both were unconventional scions of official families, Zhou Ziqin's fascination lay with corpses, making him vastly different from the likes of Fan Yuanlong. It was no surprise he wanted nothing to do with him.

The smaller slabs proved easier to handle, and soon the group had lifted them away, revealing an empty hollow beneath. Aside from some dirt between the slabs, there was nothing else.

Zhou Ziqin called Huang Zixia over and pointed to the soil beneath the slabs. "Should we dig further down here?"

"No need," she replied. Borrowing Zhou Ziqin's gloves, she crouched down and ran her hands through the dirt around the slabs, then unerringly retrieved an object. She casually took the garment Fan Yuanlong had been wearing and wiped the mud-covered item clean.

As soon as the object was revealed, Zhou Ziqin exclaimed, "The murder weapon!"

It was an inch wide and four inches long—a narrow strip of metal. Its blade was as thin as paper, allowing it to slip effortlessly into the narrow gap between the two stone slabs. The metal was extraordinarily sharp; under the lamplight, its gleam was almost blinding. Tempered steel, a blade like frost—it sent a shiver down the spine.

Huang Zixia compared the weapon to the bloodstains wiped on Fan Yuanlong's clothes. The sizes matched perfectly.

She placed it on her gloved palm and presented it to the group. "In the past, Emperor Taizong once bestowed three items upon the martial talent Wu Zetian to tame the lion steed: an iron whip, an iron hammer, and a dagger. That dagger was originally Taizong's personal possession, forged from cold iron sent from overseas. Twenty-four blades were made, but only one stood out and was chosen by Taizong to carry with him. It is said that the cold iron from the distant lands never rusts; even after a hundred years, its edge remains as sharp as ever, too dazzling to behold."

After everyone had examined it, she placed the metal strip on the table in the waterside pavilion and said calmly, "Later, during the Kaiyuan era, this dagger came into the possession of Gongsun the Elder. When she performed her sword dances, she wielded two blades—one long, one short. The long sword was 'Chengying,' now lost to time, while the short sword was that cold iron dagger. However, there is another legend about Chengying. Does anyone recall it?"

Her gaze turned to Li Shubai, whose prodigious memory and mastery of classical texts made him the natural source. He said, "As recorded in the texts, Kong Zhou possessed three swords. The first was called 'Hanguang'—invisible to the eye, its movement unfelt. When it struck, it left no trace, passing through objects without their notice. The second was 'Chengying.' At the break of dawn or the fall of dusk, if one observed it from the north, a faint presence could be discerned, though its form remained indistinct. When it struck, it made a soft sound, passing through objects without harming them. Later, it was said that Hanguang and Chengying were twins—Hanguang resided within Chengying, an intangible, shadowless sword, while Chengying was merely its outer sheath."