At this point, Chai Yingluo's long eyelashes fluttered shut, finally revealing her exhaustion and sorrow:
"I didn't see much of my cousins from my eldest uncle's family during the WuDe Era, yet Yi Niang said I looked familiar the moment she saw me. At first I thought she was flattering me, but after more contact, I realized she was incredibly simple-minded and foolish—she couldn't even manage flattery... She also said I resembled my mother. I didn't pay it much mind—everyone says that—but then it occurred to me: when my late mother passed away, Yi Niang was only five or six years old. How could she remember my mother's appearance? What felt familiar to her... was clearly my own face."
On her first day at the Temple of Common Vocation, she hadn't been particularly careful, leaving the birthmark on her neck exposed. She noticed Yi Niang's gaze lingering too long on her neck. Later, growing wary, she took care to conceal it and probed indirectly, concluding that Li Wanxi hadn't fully recalled the events of the betrothal banquet at the Crown Prince's Palace. Perhaps that foolish little cousin would never remember, and they could both remain safe... But as the wedding approached, her father suddenly conceived another idea, one she couldn't dissuade him from. Left with no choice, she resolved to kill Yi Niang—she absolutely couldn't let her step into the Chai residence.
"Prince Consort Chai's idea—was it to bring out the jade statue of Princess Pingyang, usually enshrined in that secret courtyard, and place it in the main hall so it could receive the bride's ceremonial obeisance alongside him?"
Wei Shufen's heart had grown numb with pain, but her mind cleared. Wiping her tears, she asked this question. Chai Yingluo smiled and nodded in confirmation.
Wei Shufen had seen that jade statue of Princess Pingyang in the Chai residence's courtyard—also dressed in a Caged Crown and Wide-Sleeved Robe, with a red birthmark on its neck, nearly identical to Chai Yingluo's attire when she poisoned the wine at the Crown Prince's Palace. Perhaps she had been partly inspired by that statue when she committed the act. If Li Wanxi entered Prince Consort Chai's residence and saw that statue, that birthmark—no matter how slow-witted she was, she would likely recall that earth-shattering incident from when she was nine and deduce who had poured the poisoned wine for the current Son of Heaven.
The risk was simply too great. Chai Yingluo couldn't afford it.
Once she resolved to kill, she began arranging every detail. After entering the Temple of Common Vocation, she easily won Yi Niang's complete trust and learned of her budding affection for Yang Xinzhi. With honeyed words, she claimed her younger brother Zhewei had a vile temperament and would mistreat his wife in the future, even forging a love letter from Yang Xinzhi to trick Yi Niang into agreeing to elope. Chai Yingluo dictated the "suicide note" herself, having Yi Niang transcribe it. As an officially ordained Female Taoist Priest, she had attended many noble funerals and was familiar with epitaph phrasing—which was why Ouyang Xun, upon seeing the "suicide note," confirmed the handwriting was Yi Niang's but noted the wording "reeked of an old-fashioned scholar."
Chai Yingluo also casually fabricated that Yang Xinzhi planned to have his friends pose as barrier-blocking youths during the wedding procession to abduct Yi Niang halfway, with the two hiding in the Zoroastrian temple in Buzheng Ward to evade capture—an idea inspired by her acquaintance Kang Su-mi. Though she repeatedly warned Yi Niang not to breathe a word of this to anyone, the girl couldn't resist asking her nurse HeBa about the "Zoroastrian temple." When HeBa suddenly mentioned this during the temple's investigation, it gave Chai Yingluo quite a fright.The suicide note was forged, but why would a young woman, newly titled as a princess and about to marry into nobility, take her own life? Crafting a plausible reason was no easy task, and Chai Yingluo had agonized over it for a long time. Claiming that Princess Linfen had temporarily "succumbed to madness" might fool others, but the Son of Heaven and the Empress were far too astute, and with the imperial family's reputation at stake, they wouldn’t readily believe such nonsense.
She could only lean toward the idea that Yi Niang had chosen death to expose injustice and accuse her uncle and his wife. Yet Li Wanxi’s temperament was too meek and compliant—no one who knew her at the Temple of Common Vocation would believe she had the resolve for such an act. It wasn’t until the afternoon of the wedding day, when the Empress’s carriage arrived at the temple and she privately spoke with her niece, that Yi Niang was seen weeping uncontrollably as she escorted the Empress out. It was then that Chai Yingluo suddenly conceived the perfect motive for suicide—whatever the Empress had said to her niece, the foolish girl must have misunderstood and spiraled into despair, ultimately choosing death.
At this point, the female Taoist raised her head and smiled faintly at the Empress, asking:
“A question has lingered in Yingluo’s mind for a long time. What exactly did Your Majesty say to Yi Niang that day? She was truly terrified. Even when I later entered to help her with her makeup, she kept weeping and refused to tell me.”
Empress Zhangsun’s ivory-like face grew even paler. After a moment of silence, she replied slowly:
“Since things have come to this, there’s no need to hide it. I recall asking her two things. First, I had heard that Consort Yang, Princess of Hailing, was behaving improperly. Since Yi Niang was close to her fourth aunt, I wanted to hear what she might reveal before her marriage. Second… during those years when I accompanied His Majesty on his travels and left Chengqian to oversee the court, I heard he often lingered or stayed overnight near the forbidden garden… I asked Yi Niang if her cousin had ever entered the Temple of Common Vocation…”
Though she didn’t state it outright, her implication was clear—she suspected Yang Buyao of having an affair with her son, Chengqian. Everyone in the room turned to look at Li Chengqian, who sat silently by, his fingers gripping his robe so tightly they turned white.
Chai Yingluo, however, let out a soft laugh. “So that’s it. Yi Niang might have indeed known that Fourth Aunt was pregnant and thought she had become entangled in palace secrets, which terrified her. Regardless, her suicide now had a motive, and the golden belt bestowed by the Empress made for a fitting strangulation tool. I waited until nightfall, ordered three large bonfires lit outside the temple gate to distract the groom, and seized the chance to slip into her chamber…”
As the Grand Commander of the wedding, she was expected to oversee everything, so her movements wouldn’t raise suspicion, and her brief absence went unnoticed. The three roaring bonfires, crackling with fireworks, and the Chai family’s bridal procession outside the gate were enough to keep all the guests occupied. Ensuring no one was near Yi Niang’s chamber, she entered and urged the bride, “Hurry and wipe your tears, reapply your makeup—you must look presentable before leaving for the carriage.”
After the Empress’s departure, Yi Niang had remained in her room, weeping until nightfall. The interior was nearly pitch-dark, but Chai Yingluo, accustomed to reading scriptures and tending cauldron fires in the Purple Void Monastery’s mountain chambers, found the faint glow from the courtyard torches outside sufficient. The bride sat before her dressing table, still unlit, when a scarf coiled around her neck.
A pained groan escaped as Li Chengqian clutched his forehead."You could have just killed Yi Niang, she was just an insignificant daughter of a criminal... But why did you have to drag me and my mother into this murder case with that Jade Thumb Ring and the gold-buckled belt personally bestowed by A Niang?"
"Because I didn't want this case to be thoroughly investigated," Chai Yingluo glanced at her lover the Crown Prince, her eyes filled with tenderness and apology. "The sudden death of the County Princess before her wedding would be a major case that shocks the court. If my plan succeeded, it would be best if the relevant authorities could conclude it as 'suicide from fright' and report it as such. If there were doubts, the Empress wouldn't want to bear the stigma of 'driving her niece to death with words.' Then I'd have to think of another way to make the Empress willingly accept a hasty conclusion to the case. There was no other way... I had to use that Blood Jade Thumb Ring."
After strangling Yi Niang, she didn't have the strength to lift the body high enough to tie the noose. She could only use three connected ropes to hoist the body up to the beam. After setting up the suicide scene, she took out the Blood Jade Thumb Ring she always carried with her and carefully placed it in the dressing case on the table—visible enough to be found during a thorough search but not too obvious, so she could later claim "it was too dark in the room that night to see it" when questioned by Li Chengqian. After completing these tasks, she quietly left the room and returned to the courtyard gate to continue directing the blockade against the groom.
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