The Golden Hairpin

Zhou Ziqin slammed the table in fury. "Damn it! Instead of going after his enemies, this old man torments his own daughter like this? Is he even human?!"

The tea server shook his head with a sigh. "It's tragic. His daughter Dicui knelt in the middle of the street, crying until she fainted two or three times, but the old man stubbornly refused to open the door! Imagine—a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl, suffering such a calamity, with the whole city gossiping about her, scorned wherever she goes. And then her own father shames her, telling her to die outside... How could anyone do such a thing?"

Though Huang Ziguang remained outwardly composed, a cold fury surged in her chest. Suppressing it, she asked, "What happened to his daughter afterward?"

"She knelt under the scorching sun for over two hours, and her father never opened the door. Eventually, we couldn’t bear it anymore and tried to pull her up, but she snatched a hemp rope and stumbled out of the West Market. Who knows where she went... Ah, she’s probably dead in some wilderness by now!"

Zhou Ziqin was so enraged he couldn’t speak. After a long pause, he pointed at the candle shop across the street and cursed, "That old man will get his retribution!"

"Ah, if retribution were real, it would’ve come long ago! The old man had this daughter late in life—his wife was already old and died from postpartum bleeding, leaving only this one girl. Dicui was truly obedient—helping her father with chores since she was four or five, standing on stools to cook for him by seven or eight! But the old man? He’d grumble every day about how useless his daughter was, his eyes nearly popping out whenever he saw someone with a son. Tell me—in a city of a million like Chang’an, plenty favor sons over daughters, but have you ever seen an old man so obsessed with having a son he’s practically gone mad? If lightning struck him dead one day, none of the neighbors would bat an eye!" The tea server sighed again as he went outside to fetch water, muttering under his breath, "All the neighbors say heaven has no eyes! That scoundrel Sun has been sick for years—if Dicui had run when he attacked her, he never could’ve caught her. So why was she seized that time?"

Zhou Ziqin was beside himself with anger. He turned to Huang Ziguang, only to see her lips pressed tightly together, her hands gripping the table so hard her veins nearly bulged.

Startled, he asked, "Chonggu, what’s wrong?"

Huang Ziguang took several deep breaths before finally releasing her grip, forcing her voice steady. "It’s nothing... I’ve just never seen a woman treated so cruelly. It’s infuriating."

"Also, did you hear what the tea server said? Doesn’t it strike you as odd? Why would Dicui have been caught by that sickly scoundrel without escaping? She should’ve fought back desperately. Besides, the Sixteen Estates area isn’t that secluded—if she’d screamed, someone might’ve heard..."

Huang Ziguang thought to herself, How would you know about the involvement of Princess’s eunuch Wei Ximin in this?

Zhou Ziqin frowned. "You’re not surprised at all? Not even a little shocked?"

"Very surprised, very shocked." Huang Ziguang sighed and stood up. "I’d rather not deal with this old man Lü, but we still need to question him. Get your notebook ready—we’re going over there."The Lü family had been running this incense and candle shop in the West Market for four generations, and over the years, it had grown quite shabby.

The narrow shop offered barely enough space to turn around once inside. To the left stood a row of iron candle racks, filled with candles of various heights and shapes. To the right was a wooden counter where Old Man Lü was hunched over, carving a thick dragon-and-phoenix wedding candle as thick as a child’s arm.

The shop occupied only half the space; through the open back door, the other half was an empty yard with a small shed piled high with wax blocks and molds. A pot of red wax was heating on a stove, emitting a peculiar odor.

Sensing someone enter, Lü Zhiyuan didn’t look up, his voice hoarse as he asked, “What can I get you, customer?”

Huang Zixiang clasped her hands in greeting and said, “Elder, I’m from the Dali Temple. We met at Jianfu Temple last time—do you remember me?”

Only then did Lü Zhiyuan set down his carving knife, squinting at her before offering a vague, muddled smile. “Ah, it’s you, Deputy Chief.”

“Regarding Wei Ximin’s death, the Dali Temple has some questions for you. Do you have a moment?”

The old man cradled the candle in his hands and said, “Just a moment, please. The weather’s hot, and if I leave this freshly carved shape on the counter, it’ll warp right away. I need to color it first.”

“Take your time.” Huang Zixiang and Zhou Ziqin stood inside the shop, watching as he carried the candle to the back where the pot of red wax was heating. Grasping the reed tube at the candle’s base, he swiftly dipped it into the pot, coating the entire white candle in a thin layer of vibrant red wax.

He then tossed a handful of dull yellow substance into the pot to melt, stirring it with a brush as he asked, “What’s this about?”

“Where were you when Wei Ximin died?”

“Didn’t I already say? At home in Fengyi Ward!” He gestured toward the nearby Fengyi Ward with his brush. “See, after delivering the goods early that morning, I was so exhausted I collapsed under the candles and couldn’t get up! The cart driver Ma Liu, who’d come with me to deliver the items, took me home. Aunt Wu from the backyard even called a physician to check on me—that quack couldn’t figure out what was wrong, just prescribed some tonic and told me to rest. Right after he left, I heard the news—that the candle I’d made had been struck by lightning and exploded! I was so furious I tried to get up and go see, but the moment I stood, I got dizzy and collapsed again. Didn’t make it there till the next day!”

Huang Zixiang frowned slightly, finding no obvious flaw in his account, so she pressed on. “Then what were you doing the day before the Jianfu Temple ceremony?”

“Though Jianfu Temple is wealthy, they only gathered all the wax and sent it over a month ago. Do you know how much effort it takes to make such a massive pair of giant candles? Especially in the final days before completion—my daughter… well, I had to send her away for reasons, and my assistant Zhang Yan fell ill too. I was left alone, building frames and working on the candles, toiling through the night without a break. Ask the neighbors—was I ever gone that whole night?”

As he spoke, he checked the pot of gold lacquer, now ready. Dipping his brush, he carefully painted the raised dragon-and-phoenix and auspicious cloud patterns on the wedding candle, no longer paying them any attention.

Huang Zixiang asked again, “Regarding Wei Ximin’s death, what do you think, Elder…?”"Good, I wish he were dead!" he said without hesitation. "That eunuch who relied on his master's power to bully others—the sooner he dies, the better! It's just a pity that bolt of lightning ruined the old man's lifelong reputation and caused my candle to explode!"

"Do you think this old man... is a suspect?"

Zhou Ziqin asked cautiously, watching Huang Zitang walk ahead in silence.

Huang Zitang frowned and replied as she walked, "I don't know yet. We'll need to ask more questions."

They arrived at Fengyi Lane, where the Lü family lived, just after the hour of Shen. A group of women were washing clothes under the shade of a tree by the well, chatting about daily trivialities.

Huang Zitang approached them with a polite greeting and asked, "Excuse me, sisters, could you tell me how to get to Old Man Lü Zhiyuan's house?"

Several women pointed to a nearby courtyard with vines crawling over its walls. "There, that's the Lü family's place. But Old Man Lü is usually at his shop in the West Market during the day, so no one's home now."

"Then... does he come back in the evening?"

"Of course he comes back at night. Oh, we're his neighbors, and sometimes we really can't stand him. Especially this past month—the old man has been working on that candle day and night. Those copper molds and iron rods keep clanging all night, making it impossible to sleep."

Another woman chimed in, "Exactly! The night before the Jianfu Temple ceremony, remember? He woke up Butcher Liu next door in the middle of the night. Liu cursed at him for hours across the wall, but Old Man Lü just kept hammering away at his candle without a word. Butcher Liu said he wished he could take an axe and chop down the Lü family's door!"

Huang Zitang asked again, "What about his daughter, Dicui...?"

"Dicui? Who knows..." The woman's expression darkened with sympathy. "Ah, such a lovely girl, so fresh and lively. Many young men in our lane fancied her. Who would've thought she'd end up like this?"

"Exactly! If you ask me, that lightning should've struck that Sun the Lout instead. How did it end up hitting the eunuch from the princess's estate?"

"Maybe the lightning missed its mark?"

"Or maybe that Sun the Lout didn't even dare to show his face outside?"

"Hey, do you all remember what happened last month? Dicui hid a candle snuffer and wanted to fight Sun the Lout to the death."

"Who could forget? That Old Man Lü is heartless! He took the money from that man, snatched the snuffer away, and slapped Dicui to the ground in one go! Isn't it strange, though? I heard Sun the Lout had been sick for years with no money for treatment—where did he get so much cash to give the old man?"

"Poor Dicui! She lost her mother at birth, and now this happens..." A sentimental auntie lifted her apron to wipe her tears. "It might be better for her to join her mother in the afterlife sooner rather than suffer in this world."

It seemed the princess's estate had done a thorough job—the common folk had no idea that Wei Ximin had played a part in Dicui's tragedy.

Huang Zitang and Zhou Ziqin left Fengyi Lane. Noticing her distracted state and unsteady steps, as if she were walking on cotton, Zhou Ziqin grew concerned. He steadied her shoulder and asked, "Chonggu, what's wrong?"

"Putting myself in her shoes... I feel... so terrified," Huang Zitang murmured, suddenly crouching down as waves of nausea rose in her chest.

She crouched there, gripping a nearby tree, forcing herself to breathe deeply, trying to suppress the suffocating weight in her heart.Zhou Ziqin couldn't understand why Yang Chonggu, being a eunuch, would empathize so deeply with a young girl's tragedy. He squatted beside her, watching her puzzledly for a long while. Only when the pallor gradually faded from her face did he cautiously ask, "Are you alright?"

"...I'm fine. I think I might just be too tired." She leaned against the tree trunk, forcing an explanation. "The case Her Highness assigned us doesn't seem straightforward."

"Exactly! The simplest explanation would be coincidence, yet Her Highness insists we find the culprit." Zhou Ziqin then asked with concern, "Should I escort you back to Prince Kui's residence?"

"No... I'd like to visit Zhang Xingying's place first, to see... A-Di."

"Alright, but..." Zhou Ziqin asked carefully, "Are you hungry? Forget about A-Di for now—let me buy you something to eat. What would you like?"

Huang Zixiang gave him a helpless look. "I suspect A-Di is very likely Di Cui."

Zhou Ziqin leaped to his feet, his mouth agape, his eyes widening even more than his mouth. "What? Why? How do you know this?"

"The timing of Di Cui leaving home to commit suicide matches when Second Brother Zhang rescued A-Di on the mountain path. A-Di refuses to see anyone, hides in the Zhang family courtyard every day, and secretly cries at night..." Huang Zixiang let out a long sigh and said quietly, "Isn't it all too obvious?"

Zhou Ziqin remained dumbfounded. After a long pause, he shook his head vigorously. "I don't believe it! A-Di... gets along so well with Second Brother Zhang. How could something so tragic have happened to her?"

Huang Zixiang took deep breaths, lowering her lashes as her gaze fell to the ground.

Beneath the tree's shade, several ants scurried busily, searching for direction, crawling around the tips of her shoes.

She had blocked their path home.

Huang Zixiang slowly moved her foot aside, watching the ants joyfully surge from their nest, some returning home excitedly, while others—crushed unknowingly under her foot—lay broken and silent.

The world is merciless. Overwhelming forces sweep everything along, unseen hands pushing each person's fate forward, helpless against the tide. Perhaps even the power governing their destinies is itself helpless, unaware that sometimes a small, insignificant action can spell utter ruin for another.

She lifted her foot and stepped onto the stone path beside her.

Zhou Ziqin watched her bewilderedly, calling softly, "Chonggu..."

She slowly raised her head to look at him. "What?"

"Oh..." He studied her calm, composed face uncertainly before hesitantly saying, "Nothing... For a moment there, I thought you were crying."

Huang Zixiang looked up at the sky and said, "Let's go."

"Where to?"

"Zhang Xingying's home."

Zhou Ziqin immediately followed her. "Then, Chonggu, how should we present ourselves? As assisting the Dali Temple with the case, or..."

After a brief pause, Huang Zixiang replied, "No. Just as Zhang Xingying's friends."