The Golden Hairpin

The gatekeeper of the Zhou residence immediately beamed at the sight of them. "Eunuch Yang, you're here? And this is..."

The gatekeeper nodded with a smile toward Li Shu Bai, who remained seated on his horse without dismounting, saying only, "You go in. I'll wait outside."

Huang Zi Xia dismounted and casually tied her horse to the hitching post by the gate. The gatekeeper smiled at her and said, "The young master has instructed that you may go directly to his quarters from now on. Come, let me show you the way."

Huang Zi Xia thanked him and followed him into the Zhou residence. They walked all the way to a small courtyard covered with creeping figs in a secluded corner near the garden.

The courtyard gate was wide open, and inside, two young servants sat under a grape arbor playing cat's cradle. Zhou Zi Qin's voice could faintly be heard: "I... I say, A Bi, A Yan, come here and help me hold this, won't you?"

"Young master, it's not that we don't want to help, but that thing is really creepy. How could we dare to touch it?" The two servants didn't even look up, completely absorbed in the red string between their fingers.

Zhou Zi Qin's exasperated voice was loud enough for Huang Zi Xia to hear outside the gate: "You two good-for-nothings, you'd rather play with that girly stuff than help your young master... Ouch, my bones are about to break..."

The gatekeeper, accustomed to such scenes, gave Huang Zi Xia a calm smile before leaving. Huang Zi Xia entered the courtyard and called out, "Zhou Zi Qin, come out quickly! It's urgent!"

Zhou Zi Qin's voice came from inside the house, as if he had been granted amnesty: "Chong Gu, save me! Quick... emergency rescue! Come help me!"

Huang Zi Xia glanced at the two servants still engrossed in their game and walked to the side room where the voice was coming from. There, she saw Zhou Zi Qin pinned to the ground under the weight of two bronze statues—one male and one female—in excruciating pain, yet still clutching a white skeleton tightly in his arms, refusing to let go.

Uncertain of the situation, she stepped in and dragged the oddly shaped bronze statues aside. The statues were semi-solid and extremely heavy, leaving her momentarily exhausted as she sat down.

Zhou Zi Qin was dressed today in a Sichuan brocade robe with a green base embroidered with purple peonies and a bright red sash. Even covered in dust, it remained eye-wateringly vibrant. He scrambled up from the ground, stroking the skull with relief. "Thank goodness it's not damaged, or I'd be heartbroken—I paid twenty taels of silver to have someone find me this intact young man's skull. Look at these graceful, smooth curves, these neat white teeth, these deep eye sockets..."

Huang Zi Xia couldn't help but interrupt him. "How did you end up like this?"

Zhou Zi Qin lovingly caressed the skull in his arms and said, "I was just getting this bone when my foot slipped and I fell. Then the two bronze statues toppled over from the impact. To protect my precious skull, I had to throw myself into the rescue without regard for my own safety—thank goodness I didn't have them made solid, or I'd have been crushed to death under them today!"

Huang Zi Xia looked at the perfectly white and flawless skull in his arms and gained a deep understanding of why this handsome, healthy, and cheerful son of a high-ranking official had yet to secure a marriage—no woman would want to compete with a skull for her husband's embrace. This was likely also the reason he had been relegated to the most remote corner of the residence.

"By the way, Chong Gu, what brings you here?"

Huang Zi Xia asked, "Do you remember those beggars who died under the poison arrow tree?"Zhou Ziqin immediately jumped up, clutching the skull. "Of course! How could I ever forget? I will definitely uncover the cause of their deaths!"

"I already have some leads. If you want to know, come help me with something." Huang Ziguang signaled for him to put down the skull first, then stood up and walked outside. "Remember to change into something light and plain—the more worn-out, the better. Don’t you dare go out in that gaudy red and green brocade robe you're wearing now!"

Zhou Ziqin managed to get a horse from the estate, and the three of them galloped northeast toward Chang'an.

After only a short distance, Zhou Ziqin quickly pulled his horse closer to Huang Ziguang and asked, "Chonggu, you said you already have an idea about the deaths of those beggars?"

"Yes, I have some leads. We just need to wait for one person to appear," Huang Ziguang replied with certainty.

"Wait for someone? Who?" Zhou Ziqin pressed eagerly. "Is it someone particularly important?"

Huang Ziguang nodded slightly. "If my guess is correct, once she arrives, this case that has troubled us for days will be practically solved."

"Who could possibly play such a crucial role?" Zhou Ziqin stared at her in astonishment.

She smiled faintly and only said, "It's just a preliminary idea of mine. I haven’t even seen the person yet."

Zhou Ziqin looked at her in confusion, but she said no more, leaving him to guess. Di’e, being hot-tempered, surged ahead, with Nafusha close behind, while Zhou Ziqin’s horse obediently trailed at the rear.

The three horses moved in single file along the streets of Chang'an. Suddenly, Zhou Ziqin slapped his forehead and called out loudly from behind, "I know! I know who the person you're waiting for is!"

Huang Ziguang turned back in surprise. Zhou Ziqin held the reins with one hand and waved the other excitedly, his eyes shining as he stared at her. "Is it a woman?"

Huang Ziguang was slightly taken aback. "Hmm, yes."

"A girl around sixteen or seventeen?"

"Correct."

"A sixteen- or seventeen-year-old, exceptionally beautiful girl!"

"Well... she should be quite beautiful." Huang Ziguang wasn’t entirely sure about that point.

"I knew it!" Zhou Ziqin grabbed her sleeve excitedly. "So, when is Huang Ziguang coming?"

"...What?" She gaped at him, speechless.

"The sixteen- or seventeen-year-old beauty you mentioned—the one who can unravel the entire case just by showing up—who else could it be but Huang Ziguang?"

Li Shubai, riding ahead, didn’t turn around, but Huang Ziguang still saw his shoulders twitch slightly, as if suppressing a burst of laughter.

She sat on her horse, utterly speechless, and could only look up at the sky.

She could hardly imagine Zhou Ziqin’s reaction when he found out that she herself was Huang Ziguang—would he burst into tears?

As they neared the Taiji Palace, they dismounted and took a secluded alleyway.

Zhou Ziqin glanced back at the three horses and asked, "Will our horses be alright?"

Li Shubai walked ahead and casually replied, "With Di’e here, anyone daring to steal a horse should first prepare to lose a leg."

Huang Ziguang and Zhou Ziqin exchanged glances, both seeing the twitching corners of each other’s mouths.

Huang Ziguang led them to Guangzhai Fang, where the Right Outer Music Academy was located, and stopped.Zhou Ziqin tugged at the gardener's borrowed clothes draped over him as he followed Huang Ziguang along the small river, puzzled. "Chonggu... this seems quite far from where the beggars died..."

"Don't draw attention. I need to observe." Guangzhai Fang was located outside the Phoenix Gate of Taiji Palace. Huang Ziguang surveyed the palace city and the foreign quarter's entrance, estimating the shortest route. She then moved to an inconspicuous area overgrown with shrubs, examining the disturbed stones before pointing to the water channel flowing nearby. "Jump in," she told Zhou Ziqin.

Zhou Ziqin gaped. "Chonggu, first, it's not swimming weather yet. Second, I'm not a strong swimmer..."

"You don't need to be. The water isn't deep. Just retrieve something for me," she said.

Li Shubai appeared not to hear their conversation, admiring the scenery instead.

Zhou Ziqin asked, "Chonggu, what did you drop? I can have someone fetch it..."

Huang Ziguang cut him off. "I'm looking for evidence related to the beggars' deaths."

Before she finished speaking, Zhou Ziqin was already stripping off his clothes.

This time, it was Huang Ziguang's turn to look skyward while Li Shubai remarked dryly, "We specifically had you wear these old clothes. Why are you taking them off?"

"Oh, right..." Zhou Ziqin retied his garments. "Your Highness, Chonggu, next time you need me to go in the water, give me a heads-up so I can borrow some waterproof gear."

"Enough chatter. This must remain absolutely confidential," Huang Ziguang said, gesturing the length of a pipa. "Look for something about this size—maybe wrapped up, but definitely not smaller."

"Got it." With a splash, Zhou Ziqin plunged into the channel.

Li Shubai stood on the bank, gazing at the blue sky, white clouds, and lush elm and locust trees. "The sky's radiance, the clouds' shadows, the mist dispersing—quite the view," he mused.

Huang Ziguang sat on a flat stone by the shore, realizing her increasingly Li Shubai-like manner of coercing Zhou Ziqin. A pang of melancholy struck her.

Soon, Zhou Ziqin resurfaced, gasping. "This channel is deep! And filthy—full of mud and weeds. Finding anything will be tough. Should I call some men to comb through this section thoroughly?"

"No," Huang Ziguang said firmly from the bank. "We agreed to keep this between us to avoid alerting anyone."

Zhou Ziqin clung to the bank, looking up at her with a miserable expression. "But searching this entire stretch alone for who-knows-what is like finding a needle in a haystack!"

"Don't worry. Considering distance, direction, and concealment, this is the most likely spot the culprit would choose. I'm certain it's here."

"...But this place is nowhere near Qujiang Pond where the beggars died..." Zhou Ziqin muttered. Huang Ziguang pressed her right hand atop his head, sending him back underwater mid-sentence. His protests dissolved into bubbles swallowed by the channel.Zhou Ziqin flailed about in the water for a moment before resurfacing in a fluster, "Yang Chonggu, you bastard! You didn't even give me a warning! My—my foot got caught by the weeds!"

"What? No way!" Huang Zixiang immediately grew anxious. "I'm sorry! Here, give me your hand, I'll pull you up."

"They're tangled so tight, it's dragging me down..." Zhou Ziqin said while desperately shaking his leg. Huang Zixiang grabbed his hand and pulled, and after much tugging between the two, Zhou Ziqin finally freed himself from the weight on his foot and climbed out.

Both of them were exhausted, collapsing onto the ground and gasping for breath.

"What kind of weeds are so tough? They nearly dragged a big guy like you under."

"Don't even mention it. It was so heavy, wrapped around my foot like cloth. When I looked underwater, there was this huge dark mass—" Zhou Ziqin stretched out his arms to mimic the size, "—wrapped around my foot, and I couldn't shake it off..."

Huang Zixiang studied the size he gestured, then thoughtfully mimicked the size she had just measured earlier.

Zhou Ziqin froze.

Huang Zixiang looked at him, and he looked back at her. The two stared at each other for a long moment before Zhou Ziqin suddenly jumped up and plunged back into the canal with a splash, diving under again.

Just as Huang Zixiang prepared to receive whatever he might fish out, Zhou Ziqin suddenly resurfaced, shouting, "Quick! Hurry! A major discovery!"

"What discovery?" Huang Zixiang glanced at Li Shubai, mentally calculating the likelihood of him diving in to help.

"The water was too murky earlier—I only saw a shadow. But now that the sediment has settled, I can see clearly! Not just a bundle—there's a corpse too!"

At this, even Li Shubai showed surprise. "A corpse?"

"Yes! And it's headless—I saw it clearly, no mistake about it!"