The Golden Hairpin

The empire was on the verge of collapse, its foundations thoroughly rotted. Even Prince Kui Li Shubai, with his heaven-spanning talents and dazzling brilliance, could do nothing. In the end, he was but the last glimmer of the setting sun.

In the Daming Palace, the once-magnificent halls and pavilions were now steeped in the autumn melancholy shed by palace locust trees.

Huang Zixiang followed behind Li Shubai as they once again stepped into the Zichen Hall.

After briefly reporting on the current situation in Shu and presenting the regional tributes, Li Shubai stood quietly. The emperor, as always, wore a kindly smile, though his once-full chin now appeared somewhat gaunt. Since the death of Princess Tongchang, both he and Consort Guo had been grief-stricken, leading to significant weight loss.

"A few days ago during the Double Ninth Festival, all my brothers gathered in the palace for a feast—only you, Fourth Brother, were absent. Seventh Brother even recited Wang Wei's line 'With dogwood sprigs in hand, we miss one more,'" the emperor said, fingering his eighteen-bead rosary with a smile. "You haven't yet seen my newly renovated twin towers, have you?"

"Twin towers?" Li Shubai had heard of them but feigned ignorance.

"Indeed—'Twin phoenix towers pierce the clouds above the imperial city.' They're the first structures one sees upon entering Daming Palace. But the Xiangluan and Qifeng Pavilions before the Hanyuan Hall had grown old, so I ordered their complete renovation. The interior is entirely renewed—you'd surely admire it, Fourth Brother."

Li Shubai nodded but remained silent. He'd read the court bulletins back in Shu—this renovation of Hanyuan Hall and the twin towers had far exceeded previous scales. Sandalwood beams, golden nanmu pillars, thousands of taels of gold leaf and gilt, hundreds of hu of pearls, along with rhinoceros horn, gemstones, and more. The Ministry of Works had been robbing Peter to pay Paul, yet still couldn't balance the accounts.

The emperor, however, was enthusiastic. "After this year's winter solstice sacrifice, we'll drink by the new twin towers with distant music and dance. Surely this will become a celebrated cultural event in Daming Palace's history."

"Your Majesty speaks wisely," Li Shubai said. "Yet the project seems excessively costly. Yesterday the Ministry of Works approached me, saying constructing one hundred twenty pagodas to welcome the Buddha's relics would be... challenging."

Frowning, the emperor stroked his sparse beard. "Li Yonghe truly is incompetent. With all the Ministry's resources, he can't even build one hundred twenty pagodas?"

"This year's projects have been numerous—Bigan Palace in spring, the princess's tomb in summer, now the twin towers' renovation. Building pagodas would stretch resources thin."

The emperor sighed. "Fourth Brother, I've been uneasy lately. When Linghui first spoke, her words were 'to live.' Yet now she's gone overnight... A white-haired man burying his dark-haired child—like a candle guttering in the wind. Who knows if I'll 'live'? Where will tomorrow or the day after find me?"

"Your Majesty is in your prime—why such mortal thoughts? The empire still depends on you. I beg you not to dwell in such loneliness. In my humble opinion, we needn't welcome the relics at all."

"We must welcome them. To see them in life would leave me without regret in death," the emperor refused firmly, then asked, "Then... Fourth Brother, you've studied the classics extensively—would eighty-one pagodas suffice?""Nine times nine returning to one—that number is quite auspicious," Li Shubai said, though his brows furrowed slightly. "But if Your Majesty insists on welcoming the Buddha's relic, I believe sincerity matters most. In Buddhism, there are the Twelve Nidanas—building twelve pagodas would suffice. Alternatively, three pagodas could also be erected, representing the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, or the virtues of enlightenment, righteousness, and purity. That would also be quite fitting."

"Fourth Brother truly does not understand Our devotion. How could a mere handful of pagodas be appropriate?" The emperor was displeased and waved his hand dismissively, signaling for him to leave.

Li Shubai rose and withdrew. As he reached the palace doors, he heard the emperor say, "Seventy-two. We shall enshrine the seventy-two sacred incenses of Buddhism within them. That would be quite fitting."

"The last time the Buddha's relic was welcomed was in the fourteenth year of the Yuanhe era—fifty years ago."

In the Prince of E's residence, Li Run was brimming with excitement as he poured tea for Li Shubai. "They say it was an unprecedented spectacle back then. This time should be no less grand. I hear the common folk in the city are already scrambling to buy incense and candles to honor the relic."

Li Shubai held his freshly brewed tea and asked slowly, "Seventh Brother, do you know that on the very day the Buddha's relic left Famen Temple, an old woman waited outside with her granddaughter? As soon as the relic emerged from the pagoda, she forced her granddaughter to drink a flask of mercury, offering the child's body as a sacrifice?"

Li Run gasped, his eyes widening. "But... that's just a testament to the profound teachings of Buddhism. With so many devout followers, it's inevitable that some might act fervently, seeking the Buddha's protection."

"Ordinary folk's devotion to Buddhism wouldn't normally reach such extremes. But when the imperial family leads the way, the court sets an example, and it becomes a calamity. What good comes from exhausting the nation's resources and driving the ignorant masses to madness?" Li Shubai shook his head. "Back then, Han Yu was demoted for opposing the welcoming of the Buddha's relic. Now, it seems the court needs someone to step forward and dissuade this folly once more."

"Elder Brother, don't do anything reckless!" Li Run urged anxiously. "Ever since Princess Tongchang's passing, His Majesty has been plagued by nightmares. Now, he only wishes to welcome the relic into the palace to ward off misfortune. His resolve is firm—no one can sway him!"

Li Shubai nodded slightly but said nothing.

Li Run drank half a cup of tea, relieved that Li Shubai remained silent. Then, noticing Huang Zixiang dressed in women's attire, he let out a soft exclamation and asked, "Elder Brother, you finally have a maidservant by your side?"

Huang Zixiang curtsied politely and nodded to him.

"You seem familiar... Ah!" He suddenly slapped his forehead. "Yang Chonggu! Recently, the capital has been abuzz with rumors—Huang Zixiang disguised as a young eunuch, assisting Prince Kui in solving mysteries during his southern journey. The storytellers have already spun tales and ballads about it!"

Huang Zixiang lowered her head. "I dared not reveal my identity earlier and did not mean to deceive Your Highness. I beg your forgiveness."

"Not at all. Three or four years ago, I accompanied Wang Yun to the palace and saw you once. Yet despite our many encounters since, I failed to recognize you—such is my lack of discernment." He gestured for her to sit and personally prepared tea for her before asking curiously, "But Wang Yun has returned to the capital, hasn't he? Why is Miss Huang still serving by Elder Brother's side?"

Huang Zixiang sipped her tea in silence. Li Shubai, however, replied, "Yang Chonggu is a low-ranking eunuch in my household, bound by contract. No matter what identity she assumes, she cannot leave unless I permit it."

Huang Zixiang shot him a reproachful look that screamed "shameless," while Li Run, witnessing this side of Li Shubai for the first time, was utterly stunned, forgetting even to refill the tea.Huang Zixiao took out a brocade pouch from her sleeve and gently pushed it across the table to Li Run, saying, "Prince E, this belongs to you—I’m returning it to its rightful owner."

"What is it?" Li Run asked, slightly puzzled. He took the pouch, loosened its drawstring, and pulled out the contents.

An exquisitely smooth jade bracelet, its surface shimmering with a faint glow as if veiled in mist. He silently held it in his hand, the jade's hues shifting and flowing with his movements, casting countless iridescent reflections.

After staring at it for a long while, he finally asked, "Did... A'Ruan ask you to return this to me?"

Li Shubai nodded slowly. "Before she died, she entrusted Gongsun Daniang to return it to you."

"Died...?" His head jerked up, his bewildered eyes widening.

"Since you’ve heard of Huang Zixiao’s involvement in solving mysteries, you must also know that the case began with the death of a courtesan?"

Li Run gazed at him dazedly, as if finally understanding. The vermilion mark between his brows seemed to dim against his pallid face. The teacup slipped from his hand, shattering on the blue brick floor, scattering green tea leaves everywhere.

Li Shubai sighed softly. "Seventh Brother, keep it safe. After all, it was the late Consort’s possession—it should be returned to its rightful owner."

"Yes..." he murmured absently, clutching the bracelet tightly.

Seeing his despondent expression, Li Shubai stood up. "I’ve just returned to the capital and have some matters to attend to. Now that the bracelet has been delivered, I’ll take my leave."

"Fourth Imperial Brother..." Li Run instinctively reached out and grasped his wrist.

Li Shubai turned back to look at him. Biting his lower lip, Li Run whispered, "I need to ask for your help."

Li Shubai sat back down. "What is it?"

"I suspect..." He hesitated, his grip on the bracelet so tight his knuckles turned an unnatural shade of blue. Suddenly, he stood up and scanned the open doors and windows, ensuring no one was nearby. Only then did he take a deep breath, steadying himself, and said, "I suspect my mother was murdered."

Li Shubai frowned slightly and glanced at Huang Zixiao.

After a brief pause, Huang Zixiao calmly asked, "Your Highness, what makes you say that? Have you noticed something?"

He clenched his jaw and nodded firmly. "Please, Fourth Imperial Brother and Miss Huang, come with me."

Consort Chen, the late emperor’s consort, should have resided in the Taiji Palace to live out her years in peace. But on the night of the emperor’s passing, she was driven mad by grief. The palace maids neglected her care, and when the young Li Run visited his mother, he found her disheveled and deprived of basic necessities. He knelt outside the Zichen Hall, pleading with the emperor to allow him to take his mother to his own residence.

After bringing her to his estate, though she still suffered occasional bouts of madness, the attentive care she received allowed her to live in relative tranquility. Li Run was a devoted son and had a small hall built behind the main palace for her to stay close to him. Even after her death, he preserved her quarters exactly as they were during her lifetime, untouched.

Li Run led Li Shubai and Huang Zixiao into the small hall, where Consort Chen’s memorial tablet was enshrined, adorned with fresh flowers and incense. The air inside was heavy with the scent of burning candles.

After paying their respects with incense, Li Shubai and Huang Zixiao turned to Li Run.Li Rui placed the bracelet before his mother's spirit tablet, clasped his hands together in silent prayer. His expression was grave, and it was a long while before he turned to them and said, "Before my mother passed, she had one moment of clarity. She told me that the Great Tang Empire... is about to fall."

Hearing such words, both Li Shubai and Huang Zixiao immediately realized the gravity of the matter and focused intently on his next words.

"At that time, my mother had been mentally unstable for a long time, and I knew her condition well. But during that brief moment of clarity, she was completely lucid—utterly different from her usual state," he recalled with a sigh. "So what she said then was definitely not the ramblings of madness. I believe she must have learned something at the time of my father's death that drove her to insanity—it must have been a secret of immense importance. Otherwise, why would she think it concerned the fate of the Great Tang and the stability of the realm?"

Huang Zixiao asked, "What exactly did your mother say at that time? Could Your Highness repeat it for us?"

Li Rui unlocked a cabinet and carefully retrieved a black-lacquered dressing case inlaid with mother-of-pearl flowers. The aged colors showed it had been used for many years. He opened it with great care, removed the dim and tarnished bronze mirror, revealing a hidden compartment behind it.

He then opened another small box nearby, took out a piece of cotton paper bearing three inkblots, folded it neatly, and compared it to the compartment behind the mirror. "At that time, my mother retrieved this drawing—who knows how long she had hidden it—from here. She handed this paper to me and said she had gone through great pains to draw and conceal it, urging me to keep it safe... as it concerned the survival of the empire."

"It seems the Dowager Consort's thoughts were very clear at that moment—definitely not the state of madness." Huang Zixiao pondered the phrase "survival of the empire," glancing at Li Shubai.

Li Shubai gave her a slight nod before asking Li Rui, "Was there anything else?"

"My mother had one more thing to say..." Li Rui hesitated but finally spoke, "She told me... not to get too close to my fourth elder brother."

Li Shubai lowered his gaze to the cotton paper in Li Rui's hands, silently studying the three dark ink stains.

Huang Zixiao, feeling slightly awkward, remarked, "Yet Prince E still chose to share this matter with us."

"My fourth elder brother and I grew up together in the Daming Palace and were sent out of the palace together. From childhood until now, we have always been close as brothers. I... know what my fourth elder brother means to the Great Tang Empire!" He pressed the cotton paper onto the table, his entire body seeming to lose strength as he barely managed to remain standing before the spirit tablet. "So I believe my mother must have discovered something, which led to her being framed, driven to madness, and made to say such things. And the person who harmed my mother must be deeply connected to my father's death—and must also be an enemy of my fourth elder brother."

Li Shubai nodded slowly but remained silent.

Huang Zixiao then asked, "Is this where the Dowager Consort lived before her passing? Has everything been kept as it was?"

Li Rui nodded, sitting down on a chair in the hall and resting his forehead in his hand as he said quietly, "Miss Huang, you may examine everything carefully. Perhaps you will find some clues."Huang Ziyao passed through the partition of the small hall and entered the adjacent bedroom of the Imperial Consort to investigate. The room was not large. On the left side was a small window with a daybed, a dressing table, and chairs arranged beside it. On the right stood a carved sandalwood bed draped with brocade curtains and adorned with peachwood and jade ornaments.

She circled around the dressing table. The daily items of Consort Chen had all been packed away, leaving the space empty. The room was spotless, regularly cleaned. Her hand slid along the edge of the table and then paused.

After a brief hesitation, she bent down to examine the table edge closely. Li Shubai, standing at the door, watched her and asked, "What is it?"

She turned to look at him and replied, "There seem to be some indentations, as if made by fingernails."

Li Shubai casually picked up a piece of eyebrow pigment from the dressing case Li Run had brought out and handed it to her.

She lightly brushed the green pigment over the table edge, and the indentations became clearly visible—two chaotic characters, scratched out with fingernails:

"Prince Kui."

Li Shubai observed expressionlessly and motioned for her to continue applying the pigment.

The crooked handwriting gradually revealed more:

"Disaster arises from Prince Kui."

Li Run also approached the partition and stared at the words, his expression bewildered. "This... was this written by my mother?"

Huang Ziyao nodded at him and said, "There seems to be more."

Her hand moved further to the right, applying the pigment bit by bit. On the dark black sandalwood dressing table, the green-black eyebrow pigment took on a different shade under the sunlight, revealing a slender mark. Beneath it were shallow, disordered scratches—twelve characters in total:

"The Great Tang will surely fall, chaos will sweep the court and the wilds, disaster arises from Prince Kui."

Beyond this, there were no other markings.

Huang Ziyao searched the bed and cabinets but found nothing else.

She returned the eyebrow pigment to the dressing case and took one last look at the twelve characters before slowly wiping away all traces of the pigment with her handkerchief.

Li Run stood at the door, momentarily at a loss, and could only look at Li Shubai, calling out, "Fourth Imperial Brother..."

Li Shubai patted his shoulder lightly and said, "I understand. I will investigate the events of that year to uncover who has been manipulating everything behind the scenes."

On the way back, Li Shubai and Huang Ziyao sat in the carriage, watching the passing streets outside, both lost in thought.

"I was not close to Consort Chen," Li Shubai finally spoke, turning his gaze to her.

Huang Ziyao nodded. "His Majesty had just passed away, and the Imperial Consort went mad when you were only thirteen, correct?"

"Yes. I lived in the Daming Palace back then. My father would visit me when he had time, but I rarely went to his quarters. So even though Consort Chen attended to him in his later years, I didn’t see her often. After my father’s death, I never saw her again."

Huang Ziyao traced the carvings on the carriage window thoughtfully. "Why would a thirteen-year-old prince, whom she barely interacted with, be so firmly remembered by Consort Chen? And why, in her madness, would she believe you would bring about the downfall of the empire?"

Li Shubai frowned slightly, tapping his fingers lightly on the small table. "What do you think?"

"Among Prince E’s words, there was one sentence I found particularly insightful. If Consort Chen’s madness was artificially induced, then the culprit must harbor ill intentions toward you. That’s why they manipulated her into directing such intense malice at you."His slender, pale fingers rested on the small table. After a long silence, he finally spoke softly, "Zixia... do you trust me?"

She looked at him in confusion, unable to comprehend why he would suddenly say such a thing.

"Zhuang Zhou dreamed of being a butterfly, and upon waking, he no longer knew whether he was a man or a butterfly. Just now, when I discovered those words carved by Consort Chen, I suddenly thought of Yu Xuan," he said without looking at her, turning his face away as his gaze wandered absently over the unremarkable street scenes outside. "After killing your parents, he forgot everything, yet due to various hints, he became firmly convinced that you were the murderer."

Huang Zixia's eyes widened in an instant. Hesitantly, she asked, "What does Your Highness mean?"

"Perhaps when I was thirteen, I truly did something that left a deep impression on Consort Chen?" His brows furrowed slightly, and his gaze flickered faintly with the movement of the carriage outside. "And what connection does that little red fish that suddenly appeared in my life have with the one that vanished when Yu Xuan lost those crucial memories?"

Suddenly, everything before them seemed shrouded in gloom, no longer clear.

In that moment, Huang Zixia found herself doubting as well—whether the rumbling carriage, the fleeting street scenes outside, and even Li Shubai, so close she could reach out and touch him, were all illusions.

Were their memories real or false? Had their lives up to this point been tampered with—things they firmly believed in added, while deeply etched experiences erased?

The carriage fell into silence. Neither spoke, as if a heavy weight pressed upon them, making even breathing feel slow and arduous.

After what seemed an eternity, she gently reached out, placing her palm over the back of his hand. "No matter what truth we uncover in the end, I know that everything we've experienced together is real... At the very least, what we feel for each other now is real."

Li Shubai silently lifted her hand and buried his face in her palms. In the stillness, she felt his slightly heavy, uneven breaths flowing urgently against her skin.

The lines on her palms—those markings that foretold the course of a life—had once allowed him to recognize her identity. Now, his breath mingled with her fate, leaving an indelible mark upon her very veins. For all eternity, she would never forget.

No one could say how much time had passed when the carriage finally came to a halt. A voice announced from outside, "We've arrived at the Ministry of Works."

Li Shubai raised his head, cradling her hand in his own for a quiet moment before saying, "Let's go."

His voice had returned to its usual cool and composed tone. Once they stepped out of the carriage, leaving behind this brief moment shared only between the two of them, he would once again become the aloof Prince Kui—never revealing the slightest hint of vulnerability.

Huang Zixia followed silently behind him as they entered the gates.

While Li Shubai discussed matters with Li Yonghe, Huang Zixia—now a woman—sat in the main hall for a while, surrounded by the whispers of countless officials. Eventually, she rose and walked to the front courtyard to admire the chrysanthemums in the garden.It was almost October, and the chrysanthemums had already been touched by frost, beginning to wither. As she absentmindedly gazed at them, pondering the meaning of the phrase "Disaster Rises from Prince Kui," someone suddenly rushed out and shouted, "Chonggu! So you are here!"

Huang Zixiang turned to look. The only person who still called her by that name was indeed Zhou Ziqin.

Today, he was dressed in an unusually understated bluish-green outfit, but unfortunately paired with a ginger-yellow belt, making him resemble a bundle of wheat stalks tied together with straw. However, Huang Zixiang didn't mind and asked with pleasant surprise, "Ziqin? What brings you to the capital?"

"You tell me first why you sneaked off to the capital without a word, leaving me behind!" he demanded.

Huang Zixiang gave a helpless, bitter smile and said casually, "You know how it is—staying with the clan means being nagged by the elders every day. It's quite vexing."

"That's true, ah! We're all being pressured by our elders. Me too—if I didn't run away, I'd be doomed!" Zhou Ziqin said, wiping his eyes as tears nearly spilled over. "It's absolutely dreadful! My father is forcing me to get married..."

Huang Zixiang couldn't help but laugh. "Which family's daughter is it?"

"A concubine-born daughter from the Chengdu Granary Superintendent's household. I heard she's a real tigress—even my notorious love for corpses didn't scare her off. I secretly asked her family's servants, and every single one said she's incredibly fierce, barely literate, wields two butcher knives with skill, and can carry a whole sheep on her shoulder like it's nothing! Tell me, is there any hope for survival if I marry a woman like that?"

Huang Zixiang thought for a moment before asking, "What's her name?"

Zhou Ziqin was both mournful and indignant. "The name is outrageously rustic! It's Liu Er'ya! Doesn't that sound like a death sentence? Clearly, my father saw that no woman would dare marry me, so he just picked the fiercest one he could find to keep me in line for life!"

"Hmm..." Huang Zixiang nodded. "Yes, it does seem like a dire situation. Though she's quite pretty and has a lovely personality, the name Liu Er'ya really isn't the best..."

"...You know her?" Zhou Ziqin froze, then smacked his forehead. "Of course you do! You used to be a magistrate's daughter—you noble kids must have all met each other."

Huang Zixiang smiled. "We have met, but only recently."

"Ah, never mind that. Hurry up and tell me—is this Liu Er'ya as fierce and terrifying as the rumors say?"

"Yes, just like the rumors. She can slaughter pigs and butcher sheep with ease—ordinary people would have a hard time bullying her."

Zhou Ziqin clutched his chest in despair. "There's no hope for me..."

"Not only is she fierce in demeanor, but she's also sharp-tongued and likes to call people 'Officer Ha.'"

"Ha? Why do people always like to call others 'Ha'..." Zhou Ziqin trailed off before finally snapping back to reality. After a long pause, he stammered, "O-Officer Ha?"

"Right. The girl who wields two butcher knives, carries a whole sheep on her shoulder like it's nothing, likes to call people 'Officer Ha,' and is the second child in her family," Huang Zixiang said, grinning at him.

Zhou Ziqin's eyes widened so much they could have popped out, his mouth gaping wide enough to fit an egg. "S-S-Second Miss?"

"What do you think?"

"B-But... didn't her parents pass away?"

"Didn't you see that chubby Liu Xiying looking for her that day? He said he was a distant relative who wanted to adopt her. From what I've heard, the Chengdu Granary Superintendent just stepped down, and his replacement seems to be a Liu from Mianzhou."

"I had no idea! I heard the Granary Superintendent changed, but I never pay attention to these things!" Zhou Ziqin's face flushed bright red. "D-D-D-D-Does that mean...?"

"What do you think?" Huang Zixiang patted the railing beside her. "Did you flee all the way to the capital just to ask Prince Kui to help you talk your father out of the marriage?"

Zhou Ziqin pressed his forehead, speechless.

Huang Zixiang asked again, "So, do you still want to bring it up with Prince Kui?""Let... let me think about it first..." he muttered, squeezing out a few words. "After all... somehow... no matter how you look at it, we're acquaintances. Wouldn't it be bad to refuse? Besides, you know how rare it is to find a girl who isn't afraid of corpses..."

"Then take your time to consider it," she said with a meaningful smile.

Zhou Ziqin looked at her smile and wished he could dig a hole to hide in. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"Nothing," she replied calmly, looking up at the sky.

"Actually... actually, you're quite nice too," Zhou Ziqin sighed and said in a low voice. "It's just... the timing of our meeting was off. That's why I always thought of you as a little eunuch—it would've been great if we could just be buddies digging graves and examining corpses together."

Huang Zimo lowered her head with a silent smile, cupped her hands in a salute, and stood up. "Then shouldn't you hurry back to Chengdu Prefecture and agree to that marriage arrangement with your father?"

"Don't rush me... Anyway, it's already settled," he said awkwardly, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right! That talisman of Prince Kui—is it real?"

Huang Zimo was taken aback. "You know about the talisman too?"

"Of course! I think the whole capital must be talking about it by now!" Zhou Ziqin tugged at her sleeve, glancing around. Seeing no one nearby, he quickly pulled her into a corner. "I arrived last night! Went to the West Market to eat my favorite Niu A-da's flatbread... and guess what? The two people sitting next to me were talking about Prince Kui's household!"

Huang Zimo frowned slightly. "What were they saying?"

"Apparently... Prince Kui killed Pang Xun in Xuzhou!"

"..." Huang Zimo was speechless. "Do we really need 'apparently'? Isn't that common knowledge?"

"No, no!" Zhou Ziqin leaned in conspiratorially and whispered in her ear, "They say that after Prince Kui killed Pang Xun, his ghost possessed Prince Kui! Now, the spirit inside Prince Kui isn't his own—it's Pang Xun's!"

Huang Zimo was at a loss for words in the face of such baseless supernatural rumors.

"They say, how could Prince Kui be so brilliant and extraordinary if he were just a mortal? Apparently, he gained the power of ghosts and gods—that's why he has a photographic memory and unparalleled wisdom!"

"Evidence?" Huang Zimo couldn't help but ask. "Just because he's too smart, it must be supernatural?"

"Uh..."

"Besides, when Prince Kui was young, the late emperor praised him endlessly, calling him peerlessly intelligent. All the emperor's sons were enfeoffed as princes and moved out of the palace to their own residences at the age of ten—except Prince Kui. Even after his enfeoffment, the emperor kept him in the Daming Palace to raise him personally. Back then, Pang Xun was nowhere to be seen!"

Zhou Ziqin scratched his head, looking troubled. "That's true..."

Huang Zimo pursed her lips in thought, then asked, "What else? What about the talisman?"

"Oh, they say that when Pang Xun possessed Prince Kui, he left behind a fate-sealing talisman! It foretells Prince Kui's destiny—eventually, he will lose his sanity, be controlled by Pang Xun, and in the end..." He glanced around mysteriously again before whispering in her ear, "When the character for 'perish' appears on that talisman, Prince Kui will completely lose his mind and bring ruin to the empire!"Huang Zixiang abruptly stood up, her voice trembling as she asked, "The rumors in the streets... have they really reached this point?"

Seeing her pale expression, Zhou Ziqin quickly waved his hands and made a silencing gesture. "It's just nonsense from those street storytellers and idle gossip. Why take it so seriously? Don't... don't get so worked up..."

"You don't understand..." She was breathing heavily, beads of sweat faintly appearing on her forehead.

The person who had leaked the secret of the curse must have been the one who set the trap in the first place. Now that all six characters had been identified, the faintly visible character for "doom" on the watermark had also been made public, signaling that the pressure on Prince Kui had reached its final stage.

The saying in Prince E's mansion—"Disaster arises from Prince Kui"—coincided perfectly with the rumors now secretly circulating in the streets: "The downfall of the realm." The net that had been cast four years ago was slowly tightening, yet they still couldn't even confirm who was pulling the strings.

They didn't even have a chance for a desperate, last-ditch struggle.

Seeing her face turn deathly pale, Zhou Ziqin panicked, tugging at her sleeve and whispering urgently, "Chonggu, you... what's wrong? I was just talking nonsense, really..."

Huang Zixiang leaned against the wall behind her, breathing heavily. Her chest felt icy cold, tangled with countless threads of chaos she couldn't begin to unravel.

Just as Zhou Ziqin was at a loss for what to do, voices sounded behind him. Turning, he saw several officials from the Ministry of Works emerging, all looking jubilant. A few familiar faces spotted Zhou Ziqin and immediately came over to greet him. "Ziqin, you're back in the capital already? Was Chengdu not fun?"

"Oh, Brother Qian, Brother Liang, Brother Yu..." He greeted them absentmindedly while still clutching Huang Zixiang's sleeve, clearly regretting having relayed the rumors to her.

"Isn't this... Miss Huang?" The men, in high spirits, also greeted her. "His Highness will be out shortly. You can wait a little longer."

Huang Zixiang nodded in acknowledgment.

Noticing their cheerful expressions, Zhou Ziqin asked, "Aren't there rumors in the capital that the Ministry of Works is building 120 pagodas and is so short on funds you'd all jump into the moat? Why is everyone so happy today?"

"Nonsense! In a few days, we'll have enough money to add three layers of railings to the moat!"

Zhou Ziqin blinked. "You're not planning to rob the Ministry of Revenue, are you?"

"Pfft, where would the Ministry of Revenue have money now? We’re relying on Prince Kui to solve this for us! The announcement will be posted tomorrow—the court is welcoming the Buddha’s relics to the capital, and 72 pagodas will be built along the route as resting places for the relics. Merchants and scholars who wish to accumulate merit by welcoming the relics can bid for the right to build them. Think about it—with so many wealthy people in the realm and only 72 spots, won’t they be fighting tooth and nail for them?"

Another chimed in, "So, in the end, not only will we not spend a single coin on these 72 pagodas, but the Ministry of Works will also make a hefty profit..."

Zhou Ziqin suddenly understood, stroking his chin. "Then I also heard that on the day the relics arrive, the capital will be decorated with flowers and colorful banners along the route, and all the neighborhood archways will be adorned..."

"Of course, we can do the same! There’s no shortage of wealthy folks eager to earn merit!"Watching the Ministry of Works officials cheerfully drafting official documents and memorials, Zhou Ziqin couldn't help but turn to Huang Zitang and say, "Brilliant... With Prince Kui here, every difficult problem seems to resolve itself!"

Huang Zitang stood quietly under the vast sky, gazing at the desolate autumn scene before her, and slowly replied, "What's the use..."

"Huh?" Zhou Ziqin looked at her in confusion.

But she said no more, only raising her eyes to the setting sun on the horizon. Golden light bathed all of Chang'an as dusk prepared to shroud the land in darkness.

The great edifice was about to collapse; the imperial court had already rotted from its very foundations. Prince Kui Li Shubai, for all his heaven-spanning talent and dazzling brilliance—what use was it all?

In the end, it was nothing more than the last lingering glow of a setting sun.