The Golden Hairpin

However, the beef soup pancakes at this shop were indeed delicious, and both of them ate a large bowl each. There were no other customers in the shop today, so the owner and his wife sat inside watching these two guests—one a young eunuch, the other a young nobleman. The eunuch had delicate, androgynous features, his brows slightly raised, giving him an almost unearthly beauty. He ate in silence, expressionless, while listening to the nobleman speak. The nobleman, on the other hand, wore flamboyant robes of deep red and azure, a garish clash of colors, adorned with a dozen or so trinkets—scented pouches, flint stones, small knives, jade pendants, gold plaques, and silver ornaments—from a distance, he looked like a walking peddler.

What a strange pair of companions.

After finishing their meal, Huang Zixiao left the shop. Outside, the streets were crowded with people. Amidst the throng, she spotted someone hurrying along and couldn’t help murmuring softly, “Zhang Xingying?”

Zhou Ziqin asked curiously, “Who’s that? Do you know him?”

“Mm… he once helped me, but I ended up dragging him into trouble.” She sighed and, almost unconsciously, began following him.

Zhou Ziqin, though puzzled, didn’t ask questions and simply trailed along quietly with her through the bustling crowd as they slowly followed Zhang Xingying.

Zhang Xingying carried a mud-stained sack and made his way into Puning Ward. Huang Zixiao had been familiar with the capital since childhood and remembered that there was a massive locust tree in Puning Ward, and Zhang Xingying’s home seemed to be nearby.

Sure enough, the locust tree still stood tall and lush, and Zhang Xingying’s house was right beside it. It was early summer, and a few women sat on stone benches beneath the tree, chatting while doing needlework, watching their children play nearby.

Huang Zixiao slowly approached Zhang Xingying’s home. Though the courtyard wall was only waist-high, it was overgrown with a hedge tall enough to conceal her. Peering through the gaps in the branches, she saw Zhang Xingying emptying the sack—revealing freshly gathered herbs, which he spread out to dry on a stone slab in the yard.

An elderly woman nearby noticed her and asked, “Sir, who are you looking for?” Unable to recognize the eunuch’s attire, she assumed Huang Zixiao was an official and smiled politely, though she only dared glance at Zhou Ziqin once, as if afraid of being blinded by the dazzling array of gold, silver, and jewels on his person.

Huang Zixiao quickly replied, “I’m a friend of Second Brother Zhang. I came to see how he’s doing.”

“Oh, the Zhang family’s second son? Didn’t he get kicked out of Prince Kui’s mansion? Now he’s working with his father at Duanrui Hall—supposedly as an apprentice, but really just doing odd jobs. Sometimes, when herbs are in short supply, he even has to go into the mountains with the gatherers.” The old woman, being talkative, spilled everything at once. “Not long ago, they said he messed up at the prince’s mansion, got beaten with three hundred military rods, and was sent back. Why are you two looking for him now…?”

“Twenty rods,” Huang Zixiao corrected helplessly. Rumors truly got out of hand—who could survive three hundred military rods?

“Well, anyway, he was sent back. Must’ve done something wrong. Some say…” The old woman lowered her voice excitedly, as if sharing a secret, “They say it’s connected to the death of Prince Kui’s consort?”

Huang Zixiao was even more exasperated. “That’s nonsense. When he left, Prince Kui hadn’t even chosen a consort yet.”The old woman shook her head and sighed, "Ah, such a fine young man—handsome, tall, and well-built. No wonder he was selected for Prince Kui's honor guard! Only the best of the best get chosen. Everyone was so envious when he left, but who would have thought he'd be sent back in just a few months?"

Huang Zixiang stood there dazed for a moment before murmuring, "It's not a big deal. Prince Kui's household might still call him back."

"Really? But everyone says Prince Kui is the strictest with his subordinates. How could he possibly take back someone who made a mistake?" The old woman glanced around, her face instantly lighting up with gossipy excitement as she whispered, "Oh, you wouldn't believe it! Over a dozen families in our neighborhood were lining up to arrange marriages for their daughters with him. But now? Even the match that was already in the works has gone silent—look, he’s not even as good as my son, who’s been apprenticing with Carpenter Liu and is almost ready to start his own business!"

Huang Zixiang remained silent for a long while before turning to leave. The old woman called after her, "Aren’t you going in? He’s home today."

"No, thank you," Huang Zixiang replied, walking away. Behind her, she heard the old woman mutter to herself, "Such a fine young man, just a bit too delicate—almost like a little eunuch from the palace."

Zhou Ziqin couldn’t help but burst into laughter, but Huang Zixiang paid him no mind. They left Puning Ward and wandered through the streets and alleys. Only when they reached the broad Zhuque Avenue did she snap out of her thoughts and say to Zhou Ziqin, "Thank you for helping me check at the Ministry of Personnel today. Let’s meet again once we have more leads."

Seeing her low spirits, Zhou Ziqin patted her shoulder and said, "Hey, your friend—what’s his name again? Zhang Xingying, right? Don’t worry, I’ll help you sort it out."

Huang Zixiang looked up at him in surprise.

"I’ve been around the capital for years and know a few people in the Six Ministries. A buddy of mine recently told me the Capital Defense Division’s cavalry unit is expanding. You know how it is—out of all the government offices, the cavalry is the most glamorous. Riding through the streets twice a day in uniform with a sword, they’ve got girls and young wives peeking from their doors—no trouble finding a wife there! Plus, the pay is good. It’s a cushy job, and people are scrambling to get in through backdoors. If your friend weren’t so tall, handsome, and upright, I wouldn’t even dare recommend him!"

"Really?" Huang Zixiang asked, delighted.

"Of course! The head of the Capital Defense Division’s cavalry is an old friend of mine. Leave it to me!" Zhou Ziqin thumped his chest confidently. "Once this case is wrapped up, we’ll take you to meet Captain Xu Congyun."

"Thank you so much!" Huang Zixiang was deeply moved and looked up at him. "If this really works out, just name your reward—anything you want!"

"Haha, just let me talk freely during meals, that’s all." He laughed, then seeing her awkward expression, patted her back and added, "Just kidding! It’s really no trouble at all. After all, you’re the person I admire most besides Huang Zixiang. Just let me know if you need anything!"Huang Zixiang nearly coughed up blood from his enthusiastic pats. With a twitching smile, he said, "In that case, once this case is resolved, I'll treat you to a feast at Embroidered Splendor Tower. I'll listen attentively to whatever you have to say then!"

"That is, if you can afford it. I heard you haven't been working at Prince Kui's residence for long—have you even received your monthly pay yet?" He then pointed at himself with his thumb. "But as it happens, this young master has some spare family money. Feel free to come find me—I'll treat you to good food and drink..."

"Since when does anyone from Prince Kui's residence need your charity?" a cold, indifferent voice interjected. The invisible pressure in that tone made Huang Zixiang's scalp prickle. Turning around, he saw it was indeed Li Shubai.

Li Shubai's carriage had stopped at the street corner. He lifted the curtain to look at them, his expression unreadable, but Huang Zixiang still sensed a faint displeasure in his eyes. He could only shrink back and stand there silently, inching slightly closer to this unpredictable Prince Kui.

The oblivious Zhou Ziqin, however, remained utterly unaware. He grinned and nodded at Li Shubai. "What a coincidence, Your Highness! Passing through here too?"

"I was escorting the Turkic envoys back to the post station and happened to run into you," Li Shubai replied casually.

The capital's post station was visible in the distance, but Zhou Ziqin paid it no mind. Pointing at Huang Zixiang, he said to Li Shubai, "Your Highness, you see, this is how Chonggu is—always so stern-faced. If you hadn't passed by just now, you wouldn't have seen it, but when he smiles, it's truly a sight to behold—like a spring breeze brushing past, peach and plum blossoms in full bloom. Your Highness should order him to smile more often."

Huang Zixiang felt his face twitch—it had clearly been a strained smile, and Prince Kui's expression had darkened like gathering storm clouds. Yet Zhou Ziqin remained completely oblivious. What terrible perception.

"Is that so?" Li Shubai glanced sideways at Huang Zixiang. "What good news could have made Yang Chonggu's stone-faced expression crack into a smile?"

"Nothing much, just... he helped me with something," Huang Zixiang quickly replied.

Seeing Zhou Ziqin nod in agreement, Li Shubai didn't press further. Still, his expression remained stern as he asked Huang Zixiang, "Did you find anything useful at the Ministry of Personnel today?"

"Today was full of discoveries!" Zhou Ziqin exclaimed excitedly, tugging at Li Shubai's sleeve as if ready to discuss the case right there in the street. Huang Zixiang was speechless and gave a light cough, but Zhou Ziqin still didn't catch on.

Li Shubai pointed to a tavern behind them, and Zhou Ziqin finally realized. "Ah, right, right! We can't just stand in the street talking about this!"

Li Shubai stepped out of the carriage, and the three of them moved to the tavern, settling into a quiet private room on the second floor.

A pot of tea and four kinds of snacks were served. Once the others had withdrawn, Zhou Ziqin lowered his voice and said, "Chonggu is sharp as ever. He deduced that the silver ingot was connected to Pang Xun, so he went straight for the list of officials appointed by Pang Xun—and hit the mark right away. That ingot was indeed part of the treasury silver privately minted by Pang Xun in Xuzhou."

Li Shubai studied the copied note Huang Zixiang handed him, deep in thought.

Zhou Ziqin, meanwhile, looked at Huang Zixiang with admiration. "Chonggu, how did you figure out this silver was linked to Pang Xun?"Huang Zixiang casually remarked, "Judging by the darkened traces on the surface of this silver, I believe it was cast in recent years. Since we've ruled out the possibility of private or counterfeit silver ingots, and it bears the mark of the imperial treasury, it's likely cast by someone plotting rebellion. Among the recent rebels, only Pang Xun had the capability to forge imperial treasury silver."

"That makes sense! Why didn't I think of that!" Zhou Ziqin clapped his hands, lamenting his missed opportunity to solve the mystery.

Huang Zixiang continued, "Now, the question is how many of these ingots were cast and how many were circulated. If there were many, it would be impossible to trace."

"Not many, and the numbers were recorded," Li Shubai said calmly. "When Pang Xun rebelled, he acted hastily and hadn't yet established an imperial treasury or appointed false officials. It wasn't until I joined forces with six military governors to besiege Xuzhou that he began bestowing titles and ranks in an attempt to win people over and bind them to his cause, preventing dissent. Thus, the imperial treasury was established very briefly, and due to successive defeats in battle, very few silver ingots were cast. After Pang Xun's death, I entered Xuzhou and reviewed the records—only 5,600 ingots of various sizes had been cast. Among them, there were exactly 800 twenty-tael ingots, nearly all of which remained in the treasury. I ordered 794 of them melted on the spot, leaving only five as evidence. The molds were destroyed, so no additional ingots could exist."

Huang Zixiang keenly noticed an issue and asked, "What about the last remaining twenty-tael ingot?"

"If the five pieces of evidence retained by the Ministry of Justice are still there, then the missing one must be this." He placed the half-ingot found in Yongchun Hall after Wang Ruo's disappearance on the table and said slowly, "This is the only twenty-tael ingot that went missing during the inventory of Pang Xun's evidence."

Zhou Ziqin scratched his head, even more bewildered. "How did the only ingot missed during the raid on Xuzhou end up in Yongchun Hall of the Daming Palace? And why is only half of it left? It seems that after uncovering the origin of this ingot, we've stumbled into an even deeper mystery."

"Indeed, the deeper we delve, the more it seems connected to Pang Xun—or perhaps, someone is trying very hard to make us think it's connected to Pang Xun," Huang Zixiang said.

Li Shubai neither agreed nor disagreed. He closed the lid of the teacup in front of him and stood up. "That's enough for today. Let's head back. Ziqin, go to the Ministry of Justice and check if the five evidence ingots are still there. Yang Chonggu, review the other leads we can pursue."

"Got it!" Zhou Ziqin was a man of action. Despite it being past noon, when most government offices had already closed, he was ready to bang on the Ministry of Justice's door to inspect the evidence—after all, he was well-liked there and got along with everyone.