The Golden Hairpin

Returning to Prince Kui's residence, the sky had completely darkened.

As soon as Li Shubai stepped out of the carriage, Jingyou hurried forward to greet him.

Walking inside, Li Shubai said to him, "Get me two large iron locks—the bigger and more intimidating, the better."

Without asking their purpose, Jingyou acknowledged the order and went to prepare them.

Huang Zixiang thought for a moment and immediately understood his plan, unable to help but exclaim, "Your Highness, isn’t this a bit too harsh..."

"Did they consider themselves too harsh when they were slacking off?" Li Shubai glanced at her, unmoved. "When the blocked waterways led to drownings, they should have realized this was a matter of life and death—not something to be brushed aside with money."

Huang Zixiang nodded, thinking to herself that once this formidable man set his sights on something, managing the capital’s waterways would likely turn from a lucrative post into a grueling ordeal starting tomorrow.

Just as she was considering taking her leave, Li Shubai turned and looked at her, so she obediently followed—though he was difficult to serve, she was more than happy to join him for dinner, especially since she was genuinely hungry now.

However, the meal didn’t proceed peacefully. After just a few bites, Jingyou entered. In his hands were indeed two fearsome-looking iron locks, pitch-black and heavy.

He showed the locks to Li Shubai and then said to Huang Zixiang, "Chonggu, the young master of Vice Minister Zhou is here to see you. He’s waiting at the gatehouse."

"Zhou Ziqin?" Huang Zixiang and Li Shubai exchanged glances, both seeing the same knowing look in each other’s eyes—he had come, as expected.

Li Shubai waved his hand. "Bring Ziqin here directly. Let’s see what’s happened."

"Of course it’s something major!"

Zhou Ziqin was dressed in a bright crimson robe, a jade-green belt around his waist, and a golden-yellow gauze cap on his head—his entire outfit a riot of garish colors.

Naturally prone to exaggeration, he was even more dramatic this time, his animated expressions practically embodying the phrase "relishing chaos."

"Your Highness, Chonggu! This afternoon, I was at the Dali Temple reviewing the records related to the case of Imperial Son-in-Law Wei Baoheng—have you seen them?"

Huang Zixiang nodded. "The Dali Temple sent me a copy."

"Well, I was reading them inside the temple. Around dusk—you know how the people at Dali Temple are all a bit odd, and the place itself is eerie—so after going through the records twice without finding anything useful, I was about to leave. Then, guess what? There was a commotion outside—someone had died!"

"Who was the victim?" Huang Zixiang fished out the only useful detail from his torrent of words.

"It was absolutely unexpected, earth-shattering, left me dumbfounded—I could hardly believe it!"

Li Shubai finally lost patience and frowned. "Get to the point!"

"Sun Laizi is dead!" Zhou Ziqin immediately switched to brevity.

Sun Laizi—that beast who had taken advantage of Dicui’s unconscious state to commit an unspeakable act—was indeed dead.

Recalling Imperial Son-in-Law Wei’s words, Huang Zixiang asked, "Who’s the killer?"

"No idea! Right now, there are no leads whatsoever!" Only then did Zhou Ziqin realize how parched he was from running all the way here. He grabbed a cup of tea from the table and gulped it down.Huang Zixiang and Li Shubai exchanged a helpless glance, each suppressing their impatience as they sat on either side of the desk, waiting for him to continue.

Zhou Ziqin downed an entire pot of water before wiping his mouth and saying, "No, I can’t make this short—I really have to start from the beginning."

"Go on," Huang Zixiang said, utterly exasperated.

"This is how it all unfolded—don’t blame me for rambling, but I really have to explain everything, or you won’t understand who’s who in this mess. So, in the capital, there’s a carriage and horse business called Qian’s Caravans. They do a huge trade, and the owner’s name is Qian Guansuo—though I doubt you’ve heard of him..."

Huang Zixiang and Li Shubai shared another silent look before Huang Zixiang said in a strange, complicated tone, "We know. We’ve heard of him."

Zhou Ziqin, oblivious, continued, "Good that you know! Qian Guansuo is the most famous carriage and horse merchant in Chang’an. Even the government gets horses through him. I’ve met him—a short, pudgy man, always grinning, the very picture of a man who thrives on harmony. Starting two years ago, his business expanded beyond just carriages and horses. He gathered a bunch of masons, carpenters, even a few people from the Ministry of Works who handle the city’s drainage system—nowadays, if you need repairs or construction in the capital, you go to him. And he even has this saying—‘clothing, food, shelter, and travel,’ the first two are managed by his wife, the last two by him, so he calls it—"

Huang Zixiang couldn’t take it anymore. "Ziqin, could you just start from the murder case?"

"Fine," Zhou Ziqin said, a little deflated. "This evening, just before dusk, Qian Guansuo was drinking at a tavern in the West Market with one of his managers. He got drunk and started cursing the man. Everyone around heard why—apparently, this Sun Laizi was already despised in the neighborhood. After Wei Ximin was struck dead by lightning, Sun Laizi shut himself indoors. But his door and windows were so flimsy he was afraid someone would break in and kill him, so he went to the manager to get credit for repairs. For some reason, the manager agreed and sent a few men to fix his doors and windows in an afternoon. When Qian Guansuo heard about it while drinking, he flew into a rage, saying this scoundrel was universally hated and too poor to even pay for repairs—what kind of idiot would agree to this? After ranting for a while, drunk and furious, he dragged the manager straight to Sun Laizi’s house, swearing that even if he had to tear the place down, he’d get his money back."

Huang Zixiang was much more satisfied with this version of events and nodded. "So he found Sun Laizi, and then they fought?"

"No! When the people in the tavern saw the commotion, a huge crowd followed Qian Guansuo to Sun Laizi’s door. The repairs, by the way, were actually pretty good—reinforced door, reinforced windows, half-inch-thick wooden panels. The place was locked up tight, like an iron barrel. Qian Guansuo kicked the door while cursing Sun Laizi, but there wasn’t a sound from inside. Then someone handed him an axe. Drunk and fired up, Qian Guansuo started hacking at the door. The crowd, afraid he’d charge in and chop Sun Laizi to pieces, quickly wrestled the axe away and returned it to its owner—guess who handed him the axe in the first place?"Huang Zixiao shook her head. Zhou Ziqin turned to see that even Li Shubai couldn't guess, and immediately became somewhat smug: "This person's appearance here is both strange and not strange—it's actually that old man Lü Zhiyuan!"

Huang Zixiao asked in surprise, "Why would he be there?"

"Don't people in the capital often install those lamp holders when renovating houses? Lü Zhiyuan frequently collaborates with that manager to install lamp holders for others. This time, the tavern in the West Market is right next to his incense and candle shop. I heard he went to demand money from Sun Laizi. Lü Zhiyuan shouted that Sun Laizi had promised to compensate him but still hadn't paid in full. Yet Sun Laizi had money to renovate his house but none to give him. So in a fit of anger, Lü Zhiyuan grabbed a small axe used for splitting wax and went along to demand payment."

Huang Zixiao had nothing to say about this old man and could only ask, "Then did the group hack Sun Laizi to death?"

"No! Sun Laizi was already dead!" Zhou Ziqin exclaimed excitedly, slamming his fist on the table with such force that the teapot jumped twice. "When they kicked the door open, they found Sun Laizi lying stiff on a broken bed inside. The weather was so hot, and the room was tightly shut—the whole place already reeked of decay!"

Frowning, Huang Zixiao pressed, "What was the scene like then?"

"At the time, others smelled the stench and sensed something was wrong, but only the drunken Qian Guansuo rushed forward, grabbing Sun Laizi's clothes to haul him up for a beating. Lü Zhiyuan, who was right behind him, quickly stepped in to pull him back. But Sun Laizi's corpse had already been yanked to the edge of the bed, and when Qian Guansuo let go after being restrained, it thudded to the floor—already stiff in death! Lü Zhiyuan crouched down to turn the corpse over and was so terrified he nearly lost his soul. He dragged Qian Guansuo back in a hurry. When Qian Guansuo saw the twisted face of the corpse, he too recoiled in horror. The two of them fell to the ground and couldn't get up for a long time. Bystanders rushed to help them up, report to the authorities, and call the local official. By the time the report reached the Dali Temple, it was almost dark. As soon as I heard Sun Laizi was dead, I hurried over to check the scene and then came to find you."

"How did Sun Laizi die?" Huang Zixiao asked.

"Stabbed to death! The wounds were thin and small, likely from a sharp dagger about an inch and a half wide. The killer didn't have much strength—the wounds weren't deep. Knowing this, the killer poisoned the weapon, stabbed him twice, and fled. The murder weapon wasn't left at the scene; the killer must have taken it."

"Any signs of a struggle?"

"None. The killer likely struck while the victim was asleep."

"Where were the wounds?"

"Sun Laizi was lying on his side on a narrow bed, facing the door with his back to the wall. His body was in a natural sleeping position. But he was covered in festering sores—examining the corpse nearly made me sick." Zhou Ziqin gestured to his own body. "One wound was below the left shoulder blade, and the other was on the right side of his waist near the navel. Both wounds slanted downward, clearly made by the killer crouching beside the low bed where Sun Laizi slept."

"Any signs of a struggle?"

"None."

"That defies logic," Li Shubai said calmly.

Huang Zixiao nodded. "It does. Neither wound was fatal or deep. The victim should have at least struggled or resisted."Zhou Ziqin looked at them with a hurt expression. "I don't know either. When I went to examine the body, it was already lying under the bed. But according to what people said when the door was first opened, Sun Laizi was indeed lying motionless on the bed in a sleeping position."

Huang Zixiao frowned slightly, setting aside this confusion for now, and asked, "What was the exact time of Sun Laizi's death?"

"I can say with absolute certainty that it was no later than noon today. He definitely died at noon or before."

"So, he had been dead for at least three hours before Lü Zhiyuan and Qian Guansuo barged in?"

"Yes, inside that newly repaired house—the one reinforced like an iron barrel with strengthened doors and windows. The door was tightly shut with the latch secured from inside. Qian Guansuo kicked it several times with great force but couldn't break it open. The only window was made of a single thick wooden panel without any carvings, also latched from inside. The walls were solidly packed earthen ones, without even a mouse hole." Zhou Ziqin looked utterly bewildered. "So, how did the killer enter to commit the murder, then leave, locking the doors and windows from the inside without leaving a single trace?"

Huang Zixiao frowned again and asked, "From what we know now, there's no physical evidence at all?"

"None. But... there are witnesses." At this point, Zhou Ziqin's face twisted into something resembling a toothache. "But, but..."

Huang Zixiao motioned for him to continue.

Zhou Ziqin lowered his voice and said, "According to testimonies from several elderly women in the neighborhood, around noon, while they were sewing shoe soles under the shade of a tree by the old well, they saw a man and a woman who weren't from their area. They came one after another near Sun Laizi's house, seemingly loitering and observing something, but then left without doing anything noticeable."

"A man and a woman?" Huang Zixiao asked with a frown.

"Yes, a man and a woman." Zhou Ziqin clutched his head in frustration, muttering, "They said the man came first—tall, upright, with an air of righteousness, the very picture of a fine young man. Even though the women were older and sitting in a secluded spot, they couldn't help but notice him. But from their angle, they couldn't see Sun Laizi's house, so they don't know exactly what he did there."

"What about the woman?"

"The woman kept her head down, hiding her face, so they couldn't see her clearly. But she was slender and likely young. She came after the man left, retracing his steps and lingering near Sun Laizi's house for a long time."

"Any other distinguishing features?"

"There was one..." Zhou Ziqin said with difficulty. "She was wearing a pair of soft-soled blue cloth shoes with two hibiscus flowers embroidered on them—one on each shoe, facing each other."

Huang Zixiao recalled the pair of soft-soled blue hibiscus-embroidered shoes she had seen on Dicui at Zhang Xingying's house that afternoon and felt her expression change. "Did you report this to the Dali Temple?"

"No. But I suspect the Dali Temple will soon uncover their identities once they start questioning people in the neighborhood. They'll likely be summoned for interrogation."

Huang Zixiao looked silently at Li Shubai, who walked to the desk, pulled out a sheet of paper, and wrote a few words. "You two should go investigate the situation there tonight before any evidence disappears."Zhou Ziqin grabbed Huang Zixiao's sleeve and urged, "Come on, let's go. I've already checked—Sun Laizi's room has absolutely no possible entry or exit points. Quickly help me confirm and see if there's any way someone could commit murder in such a room."

"Yang Chonggu." As they reached the door, they heard Li Shubai call her name softly from behind.

Huang Zixiao immediately turned back. "Your Highness."

Li Shubai's gaze fell on Zhou Ziqin's hand, still holding her sleeve, as he said slowly, "We have important matters tomorrow. Remember to return to the residence early—no staying out overnight."

Huang Zixiao hastily pulled her sleeve free from Zhou Ziqin's grasp and bowed her head in acknowledgment. "Understood."