The Golden Hairpin

Qian Guansuo seemed quite indignant at their doubts about his daughter. As he spoke, he stood up and went into the inner room. After fumbling with the lock for a while, he finally emerged with a triumphant expression, carefully carrying a small box which he placed before them. "Look, this is what my daughter gave me," he said.

The box was made of rosewood, intricately carved with delicate floral patterns—already extraordinary in itself. When the box was opened, Huang Zixiao and Zhou Ziqin couldn't help but pause in surprise.

Inside was a golden toad, about half the size of a palm, crafted from pure gold and perched atop a piece of emerald-green jade. The bumps on the toad's back were inlaid with various gemstones, and a perfectly rounded crystal bead—resembling a dewdrop—rolled playfully on the jade lotus leaf, looking utterly charming.

Qian Guansuo said proudly, "I was so startled that I immediately tried to return the box to my daughter, telling her, 'Xing'er, how could you just hand me something so valuable?' But guess what she said? She told me the princess's mansion is full of such things, and this was just something the princess didn’t want, so she gave it to her. She told me to keep it without worry. Even the maid attending her chimed in, saying, 'Indeed, this was bestowed by the princess—there’s no issue in keeping it.'"

With that, Qian Guansuo closed the box again, cradling it in his arms as he sighed. "Ah, knowing Xing'er is living such a life of luxury now, and that the princess treats her so well, my heart is at ease! I only hope that one day she can truly meet me and call me 'Father' just once."

Huang Zixiao and Zhou Ziqin exchanged glances before saying, "Yes, that’s truly wonderful."

Qian Guansuo hugged the box, his expression a mix of melancholy and contentment.

Huang Zixiao then said, "There’s one more thing I’d like to ask you, Master Qian."

"Please go ahead, Eunuch Yang," Qian Guansuo replied promptly.

"I heard you gave some lingling incense to Changpu, the one in charge of the princess’s kitchen?"

"Oh, yes, that’s right." Qian Guansuo nodded. "Changpu was the one who helped me find Xing'er, so of course I had to thank her somehow, didn’t I?"

Huang Zixiao smiled. "Master Qian, you truly have refined tastes. Most people would just offer money or silk—who would think of giving lingling incense?"

"Well, Changpu mentioned that accepting valuables from outsiders would be a serious offense. After leaving the prince’s mansion, I happened to run into Lü Zhiyuan. When he heard I’d found my daughter, he was happy for me too..."

Huang Zixiao tensed slightly. "You know Lü Zhiyuan?"

"Yes, since last year, I’ve also started a masonry crew, specializing in construction work like bricklaying. Many people need niches for candles or wall-mounted candle holders when building houses, so we’ve collaborated before. When his daughter met with misfortune, I even tried to console him, telling him about my own daughter’s situation and urging him to cherish his child instead of mistreating her. But alas, the stubborn old man wouldn’t listen."

"And what did Lü Zhiyuan say to you?"

"Well, when he learned I wanted to find something to thank Changpu, he told me women always love flowers and fragrances. Coincidentally, his shop had just received a new batch of lingling incense—top-quality stuff, originally prepared for the Buddhist ceremony at Jianfu Temple. He said if I wanted some, he could spare a bit. I thought it was a good idea, so I agreed. The next day, I picked up six liang of lingling incense from his shop and gave it to Changpu, following Lü Zhiyuan’s instructions to burn about one liang each night before bed to soothe the mind and aid sleep.""After that, did anyone from the princess's residence come to demand more Lingling incense from you?"

"How did you know?" Qian Guansuo was greatly surprised. "About five or six days later, a eunuch named Wei Ximin from the princess's residence suddenly came to me. He accused me of having illicit dealings with the cook Changpu and threatened to make trouble unless I gave him more incense. I had a terrible headache over it and had no choice but to take him to Lü Zhiyuan's house to buy some more. But as soon as we met, Wei Ximin looked extremely uneasy and kept urging Lü Zhiyuan to give him the incense, saying he had urgent matters to attend to and needed to leave immediately. Lü Zhiyuan, however, took his time rummaging inside. Seeing that Wei Ximin wasn't someone to be trifled with, I quickly made an excuse and left."

Huang Zitang asked, "Which day was that?"

"Let me think... It was probably..." Qian Guansuo scratched his head for a long time before saying, "The day before the Buddhist ceremony at Jianfu Temple. Yes, it was the day before the ceremony where a eunuch from the princess's residence was burned to death."

"The eunuch who was burned to death was this Wei Ximin. Did you know that?" Huang Zitang asked.

"Oh dear... That's really..." Qian Guansuo was shocked, his previously raised shoulders slumping instantly. "My noble guests, I swear this has nothing to do with me! I only took him to Lü Zhiyuan's shop and then left! Look, his shop isn't far from mine, and I was with that Eunuch Wei for barely a quarter of an hour... If there's any problem with this, it must be Lü Zhiyuan's doing!"

"Then, were you also present when Sun Laizi died in Daning Ward?"

Qian Guansuo looked miserable as he nodded. "I was summoned by the Dali Temple for that. But when I arrived, Sun Laizi was already dead—long dead and starting to stink! The Dali Temple confirmed I had nothing to do with it and let me go... Honestly, my luck..."

Qian Guansuo kept repeating how unlucky he was, and Zhou Ziqin, tired of writing it all down, closed his notebook and glanced at Huang Zitang.

Huang Zitang stood up and cupped her hands in a respectful gesture. "Master Qian, we've troubled you today. Please don't mind us taking up so much of your time."

"Not at all! You're always welcome..." he said with a pained expression. "Though next time, it'd be better if it wasn't for Dali Temple business."

As they stepped out of Qian's Carriage Shop, Zhou Ziqin complained, "How boring... Listening to the same old roundabout talk. Where's the corpse that would let me shine? Where's the moment of sudden clarity in this case?"

"Investigations are inherently tedious. What you need now is to pull out the most important threads from this tangled mess and reorganize everything," Huang Zitang said as she continued walking along the streets of the West Market.

Zhou Ziqin frowned. "Where are we going?"

"Lü's Incense and Candle Shop."

"What? Dealing with that stubborn old man again?" Zhou Ziqin, leading Xiaoxia, looked unwilling. "Sometimes I really want to slap that old man hard on behalf of Dicui! How can such a person exist in this world?"

"It's too early to say anything before the truth comes out," Huang Zitang said, tying Nafusha to a willow tree by the roadside before entering Lü's Incense and Candle Shop.Lü Zhiyuan was trimming candle wicks, cutting reeds of varying thicknesses and arranging them neatly. Hearing someone enter, he didn't look up, merely asking, "What do you need?"

"Old Master Lü, how's business?" Huang Zixiang inquired.

Only then did Lü Zhiyuan slowly raise his head, glance at her, and then return to stripping the leaves from the reeds in his hands. "Oh, it's you."

"Apologies for disturbing you again. We have some more questions and hope you won't mind our repeated visits." Seeing he paid her no attention, Huang Zixiang pulled over a bench and sat down with Zhou Ziqin.

Lü Zhiyuan remained silent, but she continued unfazed, "I heard Wei Ximin came to your shop the day before he died to buy some patchouli?"

He replied slowly, "Incense and candles go hand in hand. This is an incense and candle shop, after all."

"Could you describe in detail what happened when Wei Ximin visited that day?"

"That eunuch had been here before, collecting silver for the princess's residence. This time, he came with Merchant Qian. I thought it was about Dicui again, but he asked for patchouli, saying he suffered from headaches and couldn't sleep at night, and the patchouli helped. I only had two pieces left, so I sold them to him for three taels and four mace, charging him six hundred and eighty coppers."

"And after the purchase?"

"Why should I care what happened to him? Business is business. I made the sale, took the money—what else is there?"

Huang Zixiang didn't comment, only saying, "That night, Wei Ximin disappeared. The princess's household couldn't find him, and the next day, he turned up dead at Jianfu Temple."

Lü Zhiyuan slowly lifted his head, fixing her with his cloudy eyes. "Are you implying this has something to do with me?"

Huang Zixiang stared back without answering.

Ignoring her, Lü Zhiyuan stood up, gathered the longest reed wicks, and bound them tightly together with hemp cloth to form an enormous candle wick.

Zhou Ziqin asked, "Is this huge candle meant to replace the one that exploded at Jianfu Temple?"

"Yes. Tonight, we'll pour the wax for the body, and tomorrow, we'll attach the carved flowers, birds, dragons, and phoenixes, then gild them. It'll be ready soon."

So, despite the daunting scale of the task, for someone as skilled as Lü Zhiyuan, it was quick work. Huang Zixiang mused silently, eyeing the barrels of wax. "You're quite resourceful, Old Master Lü. You mentioned before that Jianfu Temple took a long time to gather enough wax for two candles, yet you've managed to collect enough in just a few days."

"In all my years, I haven't saved much money, but I've stored away plenty of wax." Lü Zhiyuan dragged the wick to the back, where a massive pot was melting wax blocks, emitting an unpleasant odor.

He pulled out a candle mold nearly as tall as a person, then brought out several buckets of varying sizes. Climbing onto a stool, he used a large copper ladle to scoop the melted wax and filled both the mold and the buckets.

Huang Zixiang remarked casually, "You're in good health, Old Master. Nearly sixty and still handling such heavy work alone.""Hmph, young people these days can't handle hardship. They run away after just two days as apprentices. What can you do?" Lü Zhiyuan said coldly. "When I was young, I was drafted into the army and served in the crossbow unit. I could load a three-stone bow with one hand!"

"So the old master has served the country," Zhou Ziqin remarked, unfazed, steering the conversation back. "This mold seems much smaller than the finished candle, doesn't it?"

"Where would you find a mold ten feet tall?" Lü Zhiyuan replied, pouring wax. "The wax blocks in these buckets below will also be poured out later. Then we'll stack them piece by piece, trim the uneven parts, and coat them with another layer of wax to form a whole candle."

Zhou Ziqin asked naively, "But how do you thread the wick through?"

The old man glared at him. "The wax in the middle hardens slower. So after stacking, we don’t rush to trim the outside. While the center is still a bit soft, we attach a red-hot iron tip to the bottom of the wick and push it straight through—it goes all the way down in one go."

"Ah, I see!" Zhou Ziqin exclaimed in admiration. "Truly, every trade has its tricks!"

While Huang Zixiang was pondering how to question Lü Zhiyuan about the death of that scoundrel Sun, a sudden shout came from outside: "Old Lü! Lü Zhiyuan!"

Lü Zhiyuan ignored it, continuing to pour wax.

The man at the door rushed in, stamping his feet and yelling, "Old Lü! Your daughter Dici... she's about to die!"

Lü Zhiyuan froze. His hands, which had been steadily holding the copper ladle, trembled slightly before he asked, "What? She’s not dead yet?"

"No! But now she really is going to die!" The man's words left both Huang Zixiang and Zhou Ziqin stunned.

"Your daughter went to the Dali Temple to turn herself in. She confessed to killing the eunuch from the princess's residence and that scoundrel Sun!"