The Golden Hairpin

by Qinghan CeCe

  “Please, child, don’t be foolish.” Huang Jun had already negotiated with the Wangs. Seeing her this way, his face dropped. He put down his chopsticks and said, “The Wangs of Langya are an old, illustrious family. The last two Empresses came from this family. You think we can just withdraw the proposal? Marrying into the Wang family would be a blessing from the ancestors. You should be preparing the dowry!”

  Father was angry too. “Zixia, this wedding, your grandfather arranged this marriage for you with Wang Yun when he was prime minister. Our family has been on a long decline. The Wangs have never wronged us, and it seems they really like you. Marrying Wang Jun would be a good thing. I’ve met him. He’s a good-looking guy.”

  “But I like someone else; I don’t like him!”

  Her older brother, Huang Yan, who had been eating, finally looked up and said, “Okay, you don’t think much of the royal family. Once you kill us all, you can withdraw the engagement.”

  Huang Zixia felt her forehead burn. She slammed her bowl on the table. Her hands were shaking as she dropped her chopsticks, and the bowl fell and rolled off the table, shattering with a crash.

  The soup splashed on Grandma’s dress. Grandma stood up and told her to clean it. “Your temper’s getting worse, child. Tell me, how could you break a bowl?”

  She felt tears in her eyes. She covered her face, turned away, and went into the other room to cry. She didn’t know how long she had been crying when she felt hands softly patting her shoulder. Her mother said, “Zixia, don’t be sad. Your dad and I are discussing the matter. If you object this much, we have no choice. Even if we have to offend the Wang family, we can’t make you suffer.”

  She looked at her mother and smiled tearfully and helplessly.

  “Go apologize to your grandma and uncle. Is there anything a family can’t sort out?”

  “But I . . . I’ll go . . . so embarrassing,” she said, sobbing.

  “Go to the kitchen and bring more soup. It’s your grandma’s favorite. Go. Bring everyone a bowl and apologize. Family will help you find a way.”

  She nodded and wiped her tears on her way to the kitchen. Then she brought a bowl of sheep’s-hoof soup to the table and served everyone. The soup had a fishy smell she didn’t like, so she just drank half a bowl of almond milk.

  That was the night her whole family was poisoned to death. Poisoned by arsenic in the soup she brought and served to each of them.

  Night had fallen. Changan’s lanterns were beginning to light.

  Li Shubai listened quietly. When she was finished, he said, “This means you didn’t poison your family. Is there someone else who had access to that bowl of sheep’s-hoof soup?”

  “No,” Huang Zixia said softly yet clearly. “The sheep was sent by Councillor Cang Cao the day before. That afternoon, since my grandma and uncle were coming, they slaughtered the sheep and made mutton stew, mutton soup, and sheep’s-hoof soup.”

  And there was no problem with the rest of the meal. Even the leftover hoof soup. The servants ate the rest and were fine. Only the bowl Huang Zixia personally served had some poison left. When the maids came later, they were lazy and locked it in the cupboard. The next morning, after the tragedy was discovered, the authorities watched the head maid, Ms. Lu, open the cupboard and take out the bowl. They tested it and found arsenic.

  “Did someone put poison in the bowl?”

  “No, I was worried my hands weren’t clean, so I washed the bowl before I served the soup. And also, there’s something else . . . ,” Huang Zixia said with difficulty. “They found an empty bag of arsenic in my room.”

  “Did you buy arsenic?”

  “Yes, I bought it from the famous Guiren Temple. Officers checked the sale records and found a clear signature of mine.”

  “Why did you buy arsenic?” Li Shubai asked.

  “I . . .” She hesitated. “Because Yu Xuan and I read a folk recipe in Holistic Health Daily that said hemlock juice could be made with half arsenic. I didn’t believe it, so we decided to test it ourselves. Made a bet on if it would work. Since I helped the government with a lot of poisoning cases, I tasked myself with buying the poison, while Yu Xuan went to the mountains to collect hemlock, and prepared to take it next door to some vicious dogs to try.”

  “You two often bet like that?”

  “More than once or twice.”

  “Did you explain it?”

  “Yu Xuan vouched for me, but it was dismissed.”

  Li Shubai raised his eyebrows slightly. “And where was Yu Xuan?”

  Huang Zixia was silent for a long time before she slowly said, “He didn’t have the chance to do it. When he left my house that day, he went to campus to talk with friends. He went home at night and didn’t go out again until he heard about my parents’ deaths.”

  “So you clearly committed the murder,” Li Shubai said casually.

  “Right, the only opportunity for poisoning the soup was while I was carrying it from the kitchen. And I bought arsenic and have a so-called motive.”

  Li Shubai nodded. “So the only person who could have killed your parents is you. This case won’t be easy to overturn.”

  As she sat across from him, she looked at the intricate brocade. Gold lines outlined a qilin, the auspicious, mythical chimera, and colorful clouds. There was the wakeful smell of styrax balsam. Reliving her trauma amid the soft fragrance made her feel cold and short of breath.

  Her lips were like withered white flowers in the wind. Even the crimson yarn of her uniform couldn’t warm her. She looked at him, her voice slightly hoarse. “My Prince, are you like them? Do you think someone in this world could kill their family—for that reason?”

  Li Shubai looked at her awhile, then looked back out the window. “Who knows? The human heart is unpredictable, especially in young women like you.”

  “If the Prince will really help me like he said, I believe the sun will come out from behind the clouds and my parents’ enemy will be revealed.”

  “After summer, I’ll go to Shu. I’ll take you to look at your parents’ files. I believe someone as good at solving mysteries as you, who earned the admiration of law enforcement, will have no problem clearing your name.”

  She bit her lower lip. “You really believe me and will help me?” Her pale face and clear eyes were striking, more than the sun itself. Such a girl, saddled with the most awful accusations, didn’t hesitate to take the hard road. The one that would toughen her up and require persistence.

  Li Shubai’s long-steady heart was suddenly moved, like the first ripples on a lake in a spring breeze.

  But it was only for a moment. He turned and looked outside the carriage again. He suppressed the feeling in his voice and it came out low and a little quiet. “Yes, I believe you and will help you. And in return, you have to give me your future.”

  Huang Zixia looked up at him and examined his face. In the sunset, his profile was like the beautiful contour of a river along a mountain range, one that after a thousand years of frost stood firm against erosion.

  “From now on, as long as you’re by my side, you don’t have to be afraid.”

  Now things had changed. Her life had crumbled. Fortunately, her determination had finally brought her an opportunity in the form of Li Shubai.

  The carriage stopped. They were already at Kui Palace. Li Shubai opened the door and got out. He turned and saw her coming down as if in a trance. He lifted his hand to help her.

  The sun was a gold sliver over the western mountains. She put her hand in his and saw his face and hands in that light shine with vigor.

  Four

  EXQUISITE GLASS

  It was in the season when the world melts that the twelve-year-old Huang Zixia heard her father call her. She turned, and the sun shining directly in her eyes made the world red.

  In the strange light, she saw the boy standing next to her father in baggy, old clothes that made him look dim but couldn’t cover his pale skin and dark hair. He looked at her with eyes as
dark as the quietest night. They seemed gloomy and relaxed, but they cut her heart like a knife, leaving a permanent mark.

  She stood barefoot in the pond, her armful of lotus flowers falling in the water.

  She saw a touch of amusement in the boy’s eyes as he slowly came and helped her pick up the flowers one by one. He must have seen the splash of mud on her legs and the grass stuck to the bottom of her gauze dress, but he just smiled and handed her the flowers.

  He looked at her with a gentleness unlike any boy before.

  Sometimes it just takes a look for a girl to grow up.

  “Yu Xuan . . .”

  Huang Zixia sat up in bed and reached out, trying to grasp the remnants of the scene in front of her, but it was only the exquisite glass of a dream.

  The whistling wind in the dark, spring night outside the window chilled her to her bones. Huang Zixia clutched the brocade quilt and quietly watched the dream slip through her fingertips. She forced herself to slow her breathing and lie down deep in the silk. After breaking the Four Directions Case, she became a celebrity in the capital, so Kui Palace was quite good to its little eunuch. All her daily costs were covered, even better than when she was the daughter of a prominent family in Shu.

  But as she lay in the soft, warm bedding, she felt it was harder to sleep than when she was trekking through the wilderness and weather.

  She opened her eyes and listened to the wind blowing in the darkness outside. Sometime later, she pulled off the blanket, got up, put on clothes, and went out.

  Enveloped in shadow, she walked through Kui Palace courtyard. The guards on patrol ignored her. Though she was a new arrival, she was already well known and could come and go freely.

  She walked to Jingyu Hall and saw moonlight flow over the flowers and trees. It was quiet. It being late, Li Shubai was naturally still asleep.

  The dream had given her a sense of urgency, and she wondered how she could wake up Prince Li Shubai. She found a rock by the plants and sat down. She put her face on her bent knees, planning to sit awhile and go back to wait for his call.

  Later, the moonlight dimmed, and a faint ink-blue appeared on the horizon. The spring dew was thick and penetrated her clothing. She stared at the grass buds on the ground as if in a stupor; then a pair of black boots stepped on them.

  She raised her gaze and saw the dark-blue embroidered dragon on the purple robe, which was tailored to make him look tall. On his waist was the purple jade of the celestial castle, the blue silk sash tied in a knot. His cuffs were trim, his collar square in the capital fashion.

  As the Prince of Kui, Li Shubai’s cap blew in the wind, she thought about his role as a fashion trendsetter. From his appearance, he was a sheltered royal who liked to indulge in such sensual pleasures.

  Huang Zixia rested her head on her knees and gazed at him.

  Li Shubai stood and looked down on her. Since she didn’t say anything, he turned and looked at the lanterns in the trees. “What flowers did the little eunuch come to admire in this windy starlight?”

  She answered quietly. “Last night I had a dream. I want to ask about the thing you want me to help you with. Can I complete it as quickly as possible and return to Shu?”

  Li Shubai glanced at her but didn’t speak. Then he walked past her to the cloister.

  Huang Zixia followed him. He sat down, and she waited for him to speak.

  The lanterns painted with Mount Penglai hanging on the portico flickered and rotated in the night breeze. Li Shubai’s face seemed to dissolve into the night.

  Li Shubai looked at the lanterns hanging from the upturned cornices awhile. Huang Zixia felt uneasy as she waited. She turned and gazed at one, an ordinary octagonal construction carved with openings the shape of clouds over which was stretched white silk painted with the nine pavilions where the immortals come and go.

  She couldn’t figure out what was special about it. When she turned, she saw Li Shubai was looking at her. In the subtle light, his eyes were as dark as the sky.

  She touched her face, but before she could ask a question, Li Shubai spoke slowly. “It’s quite the coincidence. I just had a dream too. In the dream, I stood atop Xuzhou overlooking thousands of houses. When I woke up, I couldn’t fall asleep again.”

  Huang Zixia leaned on the railing next to the water and looked at him. She saw his gaze was as bright as the moon and stars and as trancelike as the waves.

  “For years, I’ve had something that’s difficult to explain. I’ve been in a sort of pickle and looking for someone to help me out.” He looked at the misty mountains on the lamp. “Do you know why I only gave you ten days?”

  Huang Zixia shook her head and looked at him in the lamplight with question in her gaze.

  “Because, like you heard at the feast, in ten days I had to choose my Princess. And I was hoping you could help me with it.” He took a deep breath and leaned back against the railing. “That year in Xuzhou, I heard a proverb that made me concerned.”

  Xuzhou. Huang Zixia suddenly remembered hearing about an event there.

  “My fate turned at Xuzhou. Everyone says it’s my paradise. But no one knows that after I pacified Xuzhou, the night before I went to the capital, I looked down over the city and saw something that left a deep impression on me.”

  Now he finally looked at her and took a piece of paper from his sleeve.

  The paper was thick and yellowed, about eight inches long and two inches wide. It had a strange vermilion snake pattern. Written in bold lettering were the words widowed, lonely, diseased. The widowed and lonely had two gripping, blood-red circles over them.

  Li Shubai’s fingers ran along the paper’s pattern. “This worm-snake pattern spells out the eight characters of my birth date.”

  Huang Zixia felt a sense of dread as she looked at the three words written over his birthday and the two blood-red circles.

  Li Shubai pressed the paper with his hand. “On the night this paper appeared, I was standing on top of the Xuzhou wall, looking down on the city. It appeared on the pile of arrows next to me. When I picked it up, there were only the three words, not the two red circles. Only lonely had the faint outline of a circle around it.”

  Huang Zixia looked at the red circle, pondering.

  His fingertip was on lonely as if he were touching his own life. “I was lonely after losing my father at a young age. At that time, my mother was still around, so it wasn’t so bad. I felt this paper was an ordinary curse. I was going to look around and see who dared to bring it to me. Who knew . . .” He looked toward the lanterns. They flickered in the darkness and made everything blurry for a moment.

  “That night I had many nightmares—all about widowed, lonely, and diseased. When I woke up, I wanted to burn the cursed thing, but when I looked at it, I found that lonely, which before only had the faintest red circle around it, had a much darker one like it does now.” Under the stars, his fingertip touched the word. The red circle was like a strange red flower blooming, or a wound opening—terrible. “That same day, that same time, an urgent message came from the capital eight hundred miles away. When I opened it, I discovered that my mother had died.”

  On the day the circle around lonely turned red, he became an orphan.

  She felt compelled to comfort him. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence; the Prince shouldn’t think so much of it.”

  He looked at her, not disagreeing or agreeing. He took a long breath.

  “When I got the news of my mother’s death and began traveling from Xuzhou back to the capital, there was an assassination attempt on me. I was stabbed in the left arm, and though the wound was not deep, the weapon was poisoned. The military doctor with me said my arm was lost. If I wanted to live, they would have to amputate it.” He gently stroked his left arm as if the pain still lingered. “At that time, I took that paper out, and the red circle got darker around diseased.”

  The wind suddenly began to blow in the silent night and turn the lanterns on their axes. The light around them fl
ickered, and the corner of the cursed paper lifted. It seemed as though the paper wasn’t shifting, but fate was.

  Li Shubai looked at her, his expression so calm as to be almost stony. “Do you know what I did then?”

  Huang Zixia stretched her hand out to hold the paper down. “I guess the Prince arrested the military doctor for treason.”

  Li Shubai relaxed and even smiled a little. His cold face now seemed soft and bright as a spring breeze. “Huang Zixia, you’re just like me, untrusting.”

  “I was in Shu for several years and worked on twenty-six murder cases. Eight of them were rumored to be done by spirits, but in the end were just people imitating them. This recent Four Directions Case could be one too.” Huang Zixia pointed at the paper. “For example, what the Prince has said so far is enough to reveal people’s intentions.”

  Li Shubai looked at her cheerfully. “Why don’t you tell me?”

  She touched her temple, about to loosen the hairpin, but then stopped, remembering what happened last time. On the railing, she drew the number one with her finger. “First, this paper could only have appeared if someone close to you put it where you would be expected to go—the tower at Xuzhou.”

  She then drew the number two. “Second, the red circle changed, so the person not only went up the tower with you but also stayed near you. It must have been someone close to you, like one of your guards.”

  “Third, the medical diagnosis and treatment coincide with its appearance, which means there wasn’t just one person behind it. There were at least two, the military doctor and a bodyguard.” Saying this, she took her hand back and blew on her fingertips. “Pursue the military doctor and you’ll find the other traitor.”

  Li Shubai shook his head. “The military doctor killed himself at the first opportunity, and I gradually sent away all the guards I’d trained for years and never called them back.”

  Huang Zixia looked at the paper. “But there . . .”

  The circle around diseased had faded and was only faint again.