The Golden Hairpin

Huang Zixiao nodded, holding her breath as she watched him.

He held the teacup with three slender, pale fingers—thumb, index, and middle—between which the color of the secret-glazed porcelain shone like jade, cool and verdant.

"Actually, that half ingot of silver—when Pang Xun's side was tallying the privately minted silver ingots, the eight hundred twenty-tael ingots were all accounted for. In other words, there wasn't a single twenty-tael ingot missing. The one that later went missing was actually used by me."

Huang Zixiao was stunned, her hand holding the teapot freezing mid-air as she murmured involuntarily, "No way... So even Prince Kui is short on money?"

Li Shubai shot her a sidelong glance, ignoring her remark, and continued with what he wanted to say: "It happened when we stormed Pang Xun's residence. It's just that when I saw that half ingot earlier, I didn't connect it to this incident."

Hearing his opening, Huang Zixiao guessed he might go into detail, so she poured herself some tea, fetched some pastries from the desk, and began nibbling on one slowly.

Though it had been three years ago, Li Shubai's memory was impeccable, recounting every detail without omission.

In the ninth year of Xiantong, after Li Shubai shot Pang Xun, the defending soldiers quickly collapsed, their morale shattered, and they surrendered en masse. Within half an hour, Xuzhou City fell. The imperial troops moved in to search for remaining soldiers. Since Li Shubai had already issued orders that anyone caught looting or harming civilians under the guise of street battles would be executed, the soldiers in every alley acted swiftly. In less than two hours, Li Shubai had entered Pang Xun's residence.

"Perhaps because the imperial troops arrived too quickly, there were still a few hidden rebels in the residence trying to put up a last stand, but they were quickly dealt with."

He said it lightly, but Huang Zixiao thought to herself: charging straight into the enemy's stronghold before the rebellion was fully quelled—should this be called extraordinary courage, or reckless impulsiveness and lack of caution? Or perhaps—at that time, this man simply didn't care about his own life?

Of course, she didn't dare voice such thoughts aloud and simply listened quietly as he continued—

While chasing a fleeing rebel, Li Shubai found himself alone in a heavily walled courtyard, where he heard the shrill cries of a woman.

Through the window from outside the wall, he saw a man grabbing a frail, disheveled girl, dragging her by her torn clothes and hair while saying, "Once we're in the carriage, I'll take you and these chests of gold and silver far away where no emperor's rule reaches. We'll live in luxury for the rest of our lives."

At this point, Li Shubai glanced at Huang Zixiao, who was still nibbling on her pastry, and omitted the man's subsequent vulgar remarks, saying only: "The man was exceptionally burly, his face covered in scars. The girl barely reached his chest, and no matter how desperately she struggled, she couldn't break free, only wailing as he dragged her toward the door."

At the time, Li Shubai saw this from outside the window but couldn't find an entrance—the walls were too high to climb. Just as he was about to order his men to intercept the man's likely prepared carriage, another figure stumbled out from inside the house—a taller-looking girl. She too was disheveled, her face smeared with dirt, unrecognizable. In her hands, she clutched an iron poker used for stoking fires, which she drove with all her might into the man's back.Unfortunately, the man's skin was thick and tough, and the tall girl's wrists were weak. She didn't know how to target vital spots, so even with all her strength, the iron spike barely pierced him. The man merely winced in pain but didn't even let go of the delicate girl in his arms. With a furious roar, he turned and kicked the tall girl who had wounded him.

The kick landed squarely on her chest, sending her flying sideways. She crashed into a corner, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

Still enraged, the brute strode forward to attack her again. The petite girl clinging to him desperately tried to pull him back, but she was no match for his strength. As he marched toward the fallen tall girl, he clenched his fist—as large as a vinegar bowl—and aimed a vicious punch at her abdomen.

Li Shubai immediately nocked an arrow, silently regretting his momentary distraction. He feared he might not make it in time to save the girl—

Huang Ziyao had long forgotten about the tea and snacks. She straightened up, her eyes fixed intently on Li Shubai as she urgently asked, "And then?"

Li Shubai still held the secret-color porcelain teacup in his hand. He took a slow sip before continuing, "Just as I drew my bow and looked back at the courtyard, I heard the man scream in agony."

The petite girl was now trembling in a corner, clutching a silver ingot with bloodstains on its sharp edges. In that critical moment, she had grabbed the ingot from a nearby chest and smashed it against the man's head. Enraged, the brute clutched the back of his head and slapped her hard across the face, sending her crashing into the wall. Yet she still held the silver ingot tightly against her chest.

As the man grabbed her collar and raised his hand for another strike, the tall girl, curled up in the corner, lunged forward again with the iron spike. Hearing the rush of wind behind him, the brute turned—only for the spike to plunge straight into his right eye. At the same moment, Li Shubai's arrow pierced his left eye.

Amid the man's howls of pain, the petite girl, still gripping the silver ingot, began frantically beating his head like a madwoman. The brute kicked her to the ground, but his own limbs flailed wildly before he finally collapsed. The tall girl pounced on him, stabbing wildly with the iron spike—hundreds of times, from his face to his abdomen—until his body convulsed and fell still.

Covered in blood, the two girls finally dropped their weapons and crawled toward each other, trembling as they clung together and stared at the corpse. Only then did they notice the arrow embedded in the man's left eye.

Gasping in terror, they scanned their surroundings—and spotted Li Shubai behind the latticed window.

"Don't be afraid," he called through the window. "We're here to suppress the rebels. Stay where you are—I'll come in and handle this."

The girl with the iron spike frantically pointed to Li Shubai's right. He walked about ten paces in that direction and found a side gate, though it was locked. Drawing his sword, he pried at the lock a few times before kicking the door open and stepping inside.

Still traumatized, the girls remained huddled together, shivering uncontrollably.

Li Shubai glanced down at his robes, where only a few drops of blood stained the brocade. He doubted he looked like a villain, yet the girls' eyes held nothing but fear.Li Shubai knew they were terrified, so he stepped forward and crouched down in front of them, meeting their eyes as he asked gently, "Who are you? How did you end up here, captured by such villains?"

His expression was tender, and despite his noble status, he lowered himself to kneel before these two disheveled girls with the gentle ease of a forest stream, soothing them in a soft voice.

After being abducted, the two girls had encountered nothing but ruthless and savage rebel soldiers every day, living in constant fear of the horrors they might face. Now, gazing at this youth in splendid robes who seemed as warm and radiant as spring sunshine, they felt as though the world around them had suddenly shifted, allowing them to relax their guard slightly.

"You... was it you who saved us?" The petite girl clutching the silver ingot spoke in a hoarse voice, her lips trembling like withered leaves in the wind, pale and ashen.

Li Shubai pulled an arrow from his quiver and compared it to the one embedded in the corpse's right eye. Since he had long since exhausted his own arrows, which bore his personal insignia, he was now using ordinary soldiers' arrows. Seeing that they matched, the two girls immediately knelt and bowed in gratitude, tears streaming down their faces as they choked back sobs.

The taller girl remained silent, staring at him, while the petite one, bolder, bowed and said, "Thank you, kind savior, for rescuing us. My surname is Cheng." She then gestured to the taller girl beside her. "She is my sworn sister, Xiao Shi. After my parents passed away, we traveled from Liuzhou to Xuzhou to seek refuge with my aunt..."

"How did you end up in the hands of the rebels?"

The girl surnamed Cheng sobbed, "Because of Pang Xun's rebellion, by the time we arrived, my aunt had already fled. Unfortunately, we were captured by the rebels and locked up here with a group of other women. Two days ago, we heard that the imperial army was at the city gates, ready to crush the rebels, so no one had time to deal with us yet. But today, they started looting gold and silver, and then they fought over us and the other abducted women, saying... saying that besides that , if they ran out of food on the road, the flesh of teenage girls would still be tender and delicious..."

At this point, Li Shubai set down his teacup gently, lost in thought.

Huang Zixiang, listening intently, pressed, "What happened next? What about the other abducted women?"

"Horrified by what I heard, I immediately got up to lead a rescue party after the other women."

Following the direction Cheng pointed, Li Shubai rushed outside and saw the carriage parked there. He untied one of the horses and leaped onto its back, glancing back to see Cheng's tears falling like rain, washing away the grime to reveal her fair, delicate skin beneath.

Though her eyes were swollen and red from crying, filled with fear and panic, their shape hinted at the beauty of phoenix eyes. Xiao Shi, clinging tightly to her, also had delicate features. Li Shubai thought to himself that these two must have been quite beautiful to have been abducted. In the chaos of Xuzhou, a pair of girls like them would undoubtedly face countless dangers.

Though he wanted to help them, his mind was also preoccupied with the other abducted women. Just as he hesitated, soldiers arrived outside, saluting him and calling out, "General!"Huang Zixiao asked again, "Huh? Why do they call you General?"

"Because at the time, I was appointed by the imperial court as the General Who Pacifies the South. When not in the capital, soldiers naturally address me by my military rank. When the general is away, of course, they call him General," Li Shubai explained casually.

Li Shubai ordered the soldiers to unload the gold and silver from the carriage for inventory. He then dispatched a cavalry unit to pursue the fleeing rebels. Only after the cavalry had ridden off did Li Shubai ask the two young women, "What are your plans?"

"We’re heading to Yangzhou. My aunt left word that she had gone there," said the young woman surnamed Cheng.

Li Shubai then asked if they needed soldiers to escort them back. Fear flashed across their faces, and they shook their heads vehemently, saying they did not wish to travel with soldiers.

Li Shubai figured that after being abducted by the rebels, they must have been terrified of the military and soldiers, so he didn’t press the matter. Instead, he gestured for them to pick up the silver ingot and iron spike from the ground, saying, "These are murder weapons—remember to clean up the scene. The silver ingot can also be exchanged for travel expenses. Take it."

The silver ingot was smeared with blood and brain matter, a gruesome mix of red and white. At Li Shubai’s words, Xiao Shi hesitated, reaching out to take it but first doubling over to retch. It was the young woman surnamed Cheng who tore a piece of cloth from the dead man’s clothes, used it to pick up the bloodied silver ingot, wrapped it, and held it in her hand, her fingers never daring to grip it tightly.

Li Shubai tugged the reins, and the carriage sped off. The two women clung to the shafts, motionless as the vehicle jolted along.

By the time they reached the outskirts of Xuzhou, the desolate plains gave way to a bustling official road. Many travelers had fled to mountain villages during Pang Xun’s rebellion, fearing conscription. Now that Pang Xun was dead, they were returning joyfully.

The two young women, exhausted from the bumpy journey, were so weak they couldn’t even step down from the carriage. Li Shubai helped them down and advised them to stay on the main road to avoid trouble.

"Still, since you’ve made it from Liuzhou to Xuzhou, traveling together to Yangzhou shouldn’t be too difficult, right?"

They only looked at him and nodded silently.

Li Shubai left them then, turning his horse and riding away.

Just as his carriage was about to turn, someone suddenly ran up from behind, grabbing the reins and looking up at Li Shubai.

It was the young woman surnamed Cheng. She tilted her face toward him, her small features smudged with dirt, her eyes clear and bottomless, tinged with a hint of shyness.

Li Shubai leaned down to look at her. "Is there something else?" he asked.

Biting her lower lip, she rummaged in her clothes for a long time before pulling out a silver hairpin. Standing on tiptoe, she raised it as high as she could toward Li Shubai.

"Benefactor, this was the token of love my father gave to my mother. After I was captured, I lost everything—this hairpin is the only thing of importance left to me. In the future, you can bring it to Yangzhou to find me. My aunt’s name is Landai."