At the break of dawn the next day, Chai Yingluo rose and changed into plain mourning attire, taking her younger brother Chai Zhewei into the palace to report the bereavement to the Son of Heaven, the Empress, and the relevant authorities.
Wei Shufen had also been bustling about with her in a flurry, though in truth she was all fingers and thumbs, unsure of what she ought to do. Noticing this, Chai Yingluo smiled and instructed her to "have some breakfast first, then go check on Yi Niang's chamber."
The two women left the guest quarters where they had stayed the night, and Wei Shufen parted ways with Chai Yingluo, making her way alone to Yi Niang's chamber. There, she found the double doors locked with a brass padlock, the windows tightly latched as well. Just as she stood there at a loss, footsteps sounded behind her—Li Yuangui and Yang Xinzhi arrived together.
The three of them exchanged glances, each momentarily stunned and ill at ease.
After a night's sleep, Wei Shufen's emotions had settled, and her mind was clearer. She had come to realize that these two young men had actually been trying to help her the night before—especially Prince Wu, Li Yuangui. Though his words had been sharp, sarcastic, and shockingly rude, even coaxing her into admitting to murder and branding her a criminal, without those very words, how could her father Wei Zheng have stormed off in the end, sparing her life for the time being?
So she still had to offer a graceful curtsy of gratitude, doing her best to maintain the dignified demeanor befitting the daughter of a prime minister. She had just begun with:
"This humble Wei thanks His Highness Prince Wu—"
When the hem of the purple robe and the black leather boots before her lifted and turned—Li Yuangui couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge her, striding up the steps to the eastern wing's entrance instead.
Wei Shufen remained half-crouched where she stood, gaping in speechless humiliation, her limbs frozen in awkward paralysis. Once again, it was the tall, sturdy youth Yang Xinzhi who came to her rescue, his full-moon face round and plump, wearing a congenial smile as he greeted her with "Wei Niangzi, good morning." They exchanged courtesies and explained their purposes. It turned out the two young men had also come at daybreak to re-examine the crime scene.
Since Yang Xinzhi had also worked hard the night before to dissuade Wei Zheng and his wife, Wei Shufen thanked him as well. His reaction was far more normal—he bowed deeply in return and offered polite words. Standing close to him, the towering, fair-skinned young man bent forward, momentarily blotting out the sky like a collapsing jade mountain, giving Wei Shufen a vivid sense of the phrase "a mountain of jade about to crumble."
"Young lady, there's no need for such courtesy. Last night, your father was... well, sigh, Xinzhi shouldn't say more. Most parents in this world are like that—please take it lightly, young lady." Yang Xinzhi added a word of comfort.
A metallic jingling sounded from the steps. The two turned to look—Li Yuangui had taken a key from his belt, unlocked the door, and stepped inside to investigate. From start to finish, he seemed utterly indifferent to Wei Shufen's presence.
"...The Fourteenth Young Master actually sympathizes with you, young lady. He's reserved by nature, and at his age, still too shy to exchange pleasantries with noble young ladies. Please don't take it to heart..."
Yang Xinzhi was still dutifully explaining on Li Yuangui's behalf, though in truth, his words only made Wei Shufen feel even more embarrassed. She nearly turned on her heel to leave. But she had been entrusted by Chai Yingluo to investigate the case—one that was so closely tied to her—how could she simply walk away?
Yang Xinzhi excused himself and followed Li Yuangui inside. Gritting her teeth, Wei Shufen lifted her skirts and stepped in after them. At worst, she could pretend the arrogant, detestable Prince Wu didn't exist—after all, she was the biological daughter of Wei Zheng, the foremost remonstrance official of the Great Tang. If it came to a contest of inherited disdain, who was she to fear?The body of Princess Linfen, Li Wanxi, still lay on her own bed. Wei Shufen lacked the courage to lift the covers and look again at the terrifying face of the deceased. Instead, she took advantage of the now fully bright daylight to survey the bridal chamber once more.
Though lamps had been lit the previous night, the room had remained dim and shadowy. Only now, with sunlight streaming through the paper windows, could the layout of the warm chamber be clearly seen. The bed was placed against the southern wall. Beneath the western window stood a writing desk and a Dressing Bed, while the eastern wall was lined with chests, clothing racks, tall stands, and a charcoal brazier—all now piled high with various items, just as they had been on the night of the bride's departure.
The suicide note Li Yiniang had left under her pillow, along with the complex noose used for her hanging, had already been taken away by Chai Yingluo and her brother to the palace. The room still contained clothing, shoes, and incense burners. On the writing desk were brushes, ink, an inkstone, and a water vessel. The Dressing Bed held a mirror stand and a cosmetics case, its cover still open, the bronze mirror reflecting a bright human figure. Last night, Li Yuangui had said, "Yi Niang was strangled from behind while she was dressing in front of the mirror." Indeed, it appeared to be so.
Li Yuangui's tall, lean figure moved to the Dressing Bed. With a quick glance, he suddenly let out a soft exclamation and reached into the cosmetics case to pick up something.
Wei Shufen and Yang Xinzhi both leaned in to look. Yi Niang's cosmetics case was a plain box of boxwood, unvarnished, divided into several large compartments. Powders and jewelry were haphazardly piled within, numerous in quantity but lacking in value—except for the item now in Li Yuangui's hand.
It was a pale green jade ring, thick and large, its jade smooth and lustrous, uniformly colored inside and out, save for a faint blood-red streak winding around the exterior, carved into the shape of a taotie motif, its design archaic and unrefined. Li Yuangui turned it over in his hand several times, frowning, before passing it to Yang Xinzhi.
"You have many sisters at home. Have you seen this kind of jewelry before?"
Yang Xinzhi examined it and shook his head. "I haven't, and I don't pay much attention to such things. Fourteenth Young Master knows I rarely enter the inner quarters at home... Ah, Wei Niangzi, is this the kind of jewelry young women wear nowadays?"
Wei Shufen took the ring from Yang Xinzhi. The jade felt warm to the touch. She tried slipping it onto her finger, but it was too large and loose, wobbling even on her thumb.
She also noticed that the jade ring wasn't the usual slender, circular shape. Its band was tall and deep, with one side sloping steeply and carved with a notch, while the other had two small holes, likely for threading a cord to hang from a belt. It resembled a waist ornament more than a finger ring.
"I've never seen anyone wear this kind of jewelry. It wouldn't fit a young woman's hand, would it? Yi Niang seemed even slimmer than me. If it's meant to hang from the waist... there's no cord attached."
Wei Shufen fiddled with the jade ring a few more times but couldn't make sense of it, so she returned it to Yang Xinzhi. Catching sight of his large, fan-like palm and drumstick-thick fingers, she had a sudden thought and spoke up.
"Yang Dalang, this ring is far too wide—it doesn't seem like something a woman would wear. Why don't you try it on?"
Yang Xinzhi hesitated, glancing at her with a troubled expression. Li Yuangui chimed in, "Just try it. It's not as if men never wear rings. What's there to fear?"
With a wry smile, Yang Xinzhi complied, testing the jade ring on several fingers. Though it had wobbled on Wei Shufen's thumb, it fit snugly on his index, middle, and ring fingers. However, the band was so tall and long that once worn, his knuckles couldn't bend."This blasted thing is really not something one wears daily," Yang Xinzhi shook his head. "Too cumbersome, it practically cripples one hand."
Yet judging by its width, it clearly resembled a man's ring more. Li Yuangui took it from Yang Xinzhi's hand and tried it on his own left hand. His fingers were slender, much finer than Yang Xinzhi's, and it hung loosely on all four fingers—only his thumb fit snugly.
"To present delicate hands, from my lord I seek a ring..."
"How to convey devotion? A pair of silver rings..."
Li Yuangui and Wei Shufen simultaneously murmured these lines, though their verses differed. Both were contemporary poems describing secret love tokens exchanged between men and women, with rings as pledges—naturally, their thoughts had aligned.
Before finishing the verses, they exchanged glances and fell silent in embarrassment. Wei Shufen's face flushed crimson—for a refined young lady like her, reciting such love poetry could be considered improper conduct.
"Ahem, ahem..." Yang Xinzhi couldn't suppress his laughter and tried to mask it with coughing, producing a strange choking sound from his broad, mustache-covered mouth. Li Yuangui glared at him resentfully: "What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing... Fourteenth Young Master is quite familiar with 'Dingniang's Ten Requests,'" Yang Xinzhi chuckled. "Having just entered the prince's household, I hadn't realized Fourteenth Young Master was also a seasoned pleasure-seeker. Truly, appearances can be deceiving."
Wei Shufen's verse, "How to convey devotion? A pair of silver rings," came from a scattered volume of New Songs from the Jade Terrace , an ancient collection of romantic poetry—though improper, it was at least an old work. But she hadn't heard Li Yuangui's line, "To present delicate hands, from my lord I seek a ring," before. Judging by Yang Xinzhi's mention of "pleasure-seeking," was it perhaps a song sung by courtesans in brothels...?
Seeing Li Yuangui's face redden as he snapped, "What nonsense are you spouting?"—adamantly denying it, as if protesting too much—she felt a pang of irritation and changed the subject:
"Yi Niang's jewelry is truly peculiar. The other items in the box combined aren't half as valuable as this ring."
Her gaze swept over the dressing table—a few silver-copper hairpins inlaid with small pearls and jade, lacquered wooden hair sticks, hair ribbons, a gilded comb with simple, worn engravings, a wooden powder box, and eyebrow pigment. The simplicity bordered on shabbiness, clearly Yi Niang's everyday items. The dowry Chai Yingluo had sent likely contained more valuable ornaments, but they weren't in this box—Yi Niang hadn't included them in her daily use.
Li Yuangui also studied the jade ring thoughtfully:
"Jade of this quality is rare nowadays. Even in Great Peace Palace, I've seldom seen such flawless jade ornaments, let alone with such ancient carvings and patterns... Where did Yi Niang get this?"
Which man gave it to her?—Wei Shufen sensed this was what Li Yuangui truly wanted to ask, and she wondered the same. The ring seemed too much like a man's possession. Within the palace walls, women exchanging gifts wouldn't likely send such jewelry to avoid suspicion.
If Li Yiniang had indeed received a token from a man... Wei Shufen recalled the pale, lifeless face of the eighteen-year-old bride, her fingers nervously twisting together, and suddenly felt a warmth in her chest—hoping this speculation was true.If Li Wanxi had ever been deeply cherished by someone, then her years in this world would not have been in vain. If there had ever been a clear image of someone in her heart—someone who brought her joy and sorrow, for whom she shed tears and suffered heartache—then she would have sensed the pulse of her own existence, becoming whole as a person. If she had loved, or even just been loved, she would no longer have been merely a fleeting pale specter, a mere symbol of her tragic father’s bloodline left in the mortal world. Even if she died mysteriously, she would have been far luckier than most women who remained in this world, marrying, bearing children, and muddling through household chores...
Yang Xinzhi shattered Wei Shufen’s reverie with a single sentence:
“Perhaps this was left to Yi Niang by her late father.”
“Ah...” Wei Shufen was momentarily at a loss for a rebuttal. Li Yuangui also nodded. “That makes sense.”
After all, Yi Niang was the eldest daughter of the former Crown Prince and had lived in the Crown Prince’s Palace for eight or nine years, surrounded by servants and doted on by her parents. Even after being sent to live here, it wouldn’t be strange if she still had one or two precious imperial jewels left.
The three of them discussed it further when footsteps sounded at the door, and several maidservants entered.
Leading them was Jingxuan Daogu, and each carried items, seemingly here to tidy the room. Seeing Li Yuangui and the others inside, the maidservants bowed in apology and made to withdraw, but Li Yuangui stopped Jingxuan:
“Jingniang, you’ve been assisting Yingniang with affairs in this temple for some time. Have you ever seen Yi Niang wear this piece of jewelry?”
He handed her the jade ring. Jingxuan took it, examined it, and shook her head. “This servant has never seen it. Did it belong to Yi Niang? Heba—have you seen it?”
She passed the ring to a middle-aged serving girl beside her with swollen eyelids and explained to Li Yuangui and the others, “Heba was Yi Niang’s wet nurse since childhood.” In truth, no introduction was needed—one glance at the serving girl’s puffy face, dark under-eye circles, and the look of someone who had wept all night made it obvious.
When Heba spoke, her voice carried a faint familiarity—likely the same woman who had wailed outside the room last night upon discovering Yi Niang’s hanging body:
“This isn’t Wanxi—Princess Linfen’s jewelry.”
“It isn’t?” Wei, Li, and Yang all pricked up their ears.
“No.” Though exhausted and grief-stricken, the middle-aged wet nurse spoke with an odd certainty. “This servant is familiar with every piece of Wanxi’s jewelry. I also carefully inspected the dowry and attire sent by the High Truth Master—this item was definitely not among them.”
“Are you certain?” Li Yuangui asked. “This jade ring was just found in Yi Niang’s dressing case, mixed among her other jewelry. If it wasn’t hers, then whose could it be?”
Wet Nurse Heba frowned, glanced again at the oversized jade ring in her hand, and her face twisted with distaste:
“Since Princess Linfen moved into the Temple of Common Vocation, she hasn’t stepped beyond its gates once in nine years, nor met a single outsider. How could such an item have come into her possession? When the two young daughters of the Yang ladies in the east courtyard fell ill, they even sought treatment at the nearby Purple Void Monastery. Wanxi refused even that—she was truly a chaste maiden who never left the inner quarters. Trinkets like this ring or embroidered handkerchiefs have absolutely nothing to do with Wanxi!”
It seemed she also believed this to be a man’s ring. Acknowledging it as Yi Niang’s would imply she had a secret romantic affair. Wet Nurse Heba emphasized again, her tone firm:“Yi Niang definitely did not possess this item during her lifetime. Yesterday afternoon, before the Empress arrived, the High Truth Master instructed us to burn incense in this room. I even searched through the dressing case to see if there were any leftover Scented Pills from previous years. At that time, there was no such thing in the case—the High Truth Master can also testify to this.”
Since she said so, it must be true. But... perhaps at that time or earlier, Yi Niang hadn’t placed this valuable piece of jewelry in her dressing case but had kept it hidden on her person. If it was related to a man, she would have been even more careful not to let others see it.
“It wasn’t there in the afternoon, but after the chaos last night, Yi Niang’s misfortune occurred, and this appeared in her dressing case,” Li Yuangui mused, staring at the jade thumb ring in HeBa wet nurse’s palm. “Are you suggesting that someone took advantage of the confusion to plant this item in Yi Niang’s dressing case, framing her?”
HeBa hesitated, as if wanting to say more but holding back. Wei Shufen thought for a moment. Those who had moved about this room for a long time last night included the Chai siblings, Li Yuangui, Yang Xinzhi, her parents, and herself—all respectable nobles. As a mere wet nurse and serving girl, HeBa likely didn’t dare to accuse anyone carelessly.
“After the gentlemen left last night, perhaps someone sneaked into the room and placed this item in the dressing case,” the wet nurse replied reluctantly.
That was also a possibility. Li Yuangui frowned. “When we left last night, I locked the door from the outside, and the key has been with me ever since. This morning, when we opened the door to enter, the windows and door were intact, with no signs of forced entry. However...”
He looked up at the high ceiling beams, then beckoned Yang Xinzhi over. Pulling a tall stool to the side, he leaped onto it, then stepped onto Yang Xinzhi’s shoulders. Gripping the beam with both hands, he twisted his head to inspect the area above.
Being slender had its advantages—this series of movements was swift and agile, making him perfectly suited to be a cat burglar sneaking over rooftops and into houses. Wei Shufen couldn’t help but think this rather uncharitably.
“Hand me a lamp,” came Li Yuangui’s slightly muffled voice from above the beam.
Wei Shufen glanced around. The other servants were all holding items, leaving only herself idle. She stepped forward and picked up the short bronze oil lamp from Yi Niang’s desk, passing it first to Yang Xinzhi, who then raised it up to Li Yuangui.
Without looking down, Li Yuangui reached out and took the lamp, lifting it to the beam. After a moment, he lowered it again, glaring down at Wei Shufen with barely concealed irritation. “Light it first before handing it to me.”
His lips seemed to twitch as if forcibly swallowing the word “idiot.” Of course, he needed the lamp because the beam was too dark to see clearly—Wei Shufen only realized this now, her face flushing as she took the lamp back to light it with a flint. As she handed it up again, she silently cursed his arrogance and rudeness.
The flickering flame was raised above the beam, illuminating the entire room. Li Yuangui stood on Yang Xinzhi’s shoulders, one hand steadying himself against the beam while turning the lamp to inspect the area. Finally, he shook his head and descended the same way he had gone up.
“The dust on the beam is thick. Aside from the marks from last night’s rope, there’s no sign of anyone entering from the roof.”
So the blood-veined jade thumb ring couldn’t have been placed there by someone sneaking in during the night. At the very least, it must have already been in Yi Niang’s dressing case by the time they left the scene of the tragedy last night.
Wei Shufen recalled her only meeting with Li Yiniang—the timid, naive young bride, her frightened and shrinking eyes, her simple, almost foolish speech and mannerisms... After being confined in the forbidden temple for nine years, with which man could she have secretly pledged her love? Did she even possess such charm and courage?Or perhaps, as the eldest daughter of the former Crown Prince, she had inherited the courage and capability of the Longxi Li family, deliberately putting on such an act to deceive everyone?
Everyone in the room turned their gaze to the HeBa wet nurse. Her haggard face alternated between pale and flushed as she stood there dumbfounded, speechless, her eyes growing increasingly red. Suddenly, with a wail, she rushed forward and threw herself onto the bed, disregarding the filth of the corpse, embracing the deceased Yi Niang and bursting into loud sobs:
"My poor little lady... what sin have we committed... even in death, you're being slandered... they killed your parents and now they're ruining your reputation... who knows who's falsely accusing you..."
Wei Shufen, Li Yuangui, and Yang Xinzhi exchanged glances, momentarily at a loss. If the HeBa wet nurse insisted that Yi Niang had been "falsely accused to ruin her reputation," given that the girl was already dead, it would only garner more sympathy for her. And her cries of "they killed your parents" seemed to... implicitly point the finger at the current Son of Heaven or Empress Zhangsun as responsible...
Recalling that Empress Zhangsun had been the last person to speak with Yi Niang before her death, Wei Shufen felt a sinking feeling in her heart. If this valuable jade ring had been given to Yi Niang by the Empress, or perhaps secretly placed in her dressing case without her knowledge... alas, what a sin.
Li Yuangui also shook his head and didn't press further, stepping forward to bend down and extend his hand: "Give that thing to me."
Earlier, he had climbed up to the beam and couldn't easily carry the object, so the jade ring had remained in HeBa's hands. This was crucial evidence that needed to be presented before the Emperor or handed over to the investigating officials.
The wailing wet nurse looked up, turned over her left palm, and with a face streaked with tears and snot, took a deep breath. Suddenly, she raised her left hand and shoved the jade ring into her own mouth.
Li Yuangui and Yang Xinzhi both gasped in shock and rushed forward to pin down the middle-aged woman.
Wei Shufen, Jing Xuan, and the other women also screamed, crowding around to see what was happening. Though the two men had restrained the wet nurse, pulling at her hands, pressing her shoulders, prying open her mouth, and choking her throat, they couldn't retrieve the jade ring. HeBa's hair was disheveled, her mouth forced wide open, but the sizable jade ring had already been swallowed.
"Damn it! Are you rebelling?!"
Li Yuangui released her in fury, his usually indifferent face suddenly contorted with murderous intent. With a swift motion, he drew the sword at his waist:
"Do you believe I'll cut you open?! The evidence is crucial—your worthless life means nothing!"
Still pinned down by Yang Xinzhi at the foot of the bed, HeBa closed her eyes, silent and resigned to death. Wei Shufen's heart pounded wildly as she raised her voice to intervene: "Fourteenth Young Master, don't—"
Amid the chaos, a woman's voice suddenly came from outside the window:
"Reporting to Prince Wu, His Majesty summons Prince Wu and Yang Ku-zhen for an audience. The Empress summons the young lady of the Wei family to the palace."
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