In front of the Zhou residence in Chongren District, Huang Zixia went to knock on the door. The doorkeeper came out in response.

“Uncle, please help me announce to your young master that my surname is Yang.”

The doorkeeper hurried away while others invited Huang Zixia to sit and poured her tea. Huang Zixia sat drinking tea, listening to their conversation.

“Is everything packed?”

“Yes, with only a month left until the master’s set departure date from the capital, everything needs to be properly arranged.”

“Though the young master doesn’t seem very cheerful lately.”

“Indeed. Earlier when the Emperor appointed him as the chief constable of Sichuan-Shu, wasn’t he overwhelmed with joy? How did he suddenly become so reclusive, staying shut in his room?”

Just as they were talking, their subject of discussion, Young Master Zhou Ziqin, came bounding out: “Chonggu, you’re here!”

“Young Master!” The doorkeepers all quickly stood up to greet him.

“You may go about your business.” Zhou Ziqin waved dismissively, only grabbing Huang Zixia to ask, “Is there any new progress in the case? Is there, is there?”

Huang Zixia shook her head, saying: “I just wanted to discuss it with you.”

“Come in, come in.” He pulled her hand, rushing inside. “I heard that because the weather’s getting warmer, that corpse has become too unsightly. Even keeping it in the ice house can’t prevent decay, so the Empress personally decreed to the Wang family that they won’t even wait for the first seventh day—the funeral will be held in three days.”

“Mm.” Huang Zixia sat down with him inside before speaking softly, “So we’d better uncover the truth within three days. Once the body is buried, the investigation will become even more difficult.”

“So there’s still no lead about those beggars I got killed…” Zhou Ziqin said dejectedly. “But how can such a complex case be solved in three days? Even if my most admired Huang Zixia were here, she might not be able to resolve this case…”

Huang Zixia’s lips twitched almost imperceptibly as she cleared her throat and said: “However, Prince Kui said that if we really can’t uncover the truth in three days, we’ll have to first reveal that this corpse isn’t Wang Ru. As long as the coffin isn’t sealed, nothing is final, and we can buy more time to investigate further.”

“Investigate… how do we investigate, where do we start, what’s the beginning of the clues? I’m completely lost…” Zhou Ziqin grabbed his hair, slumping dejectedly on the table. “Ah… if only Huang Zixia were here, she’d be able to quickly find the most valuable lead to follow…”

Huang Zixia felt her mouth corner twitching again. Having finally controlled her emotions, she lightly tapped the table corner: “Alright, Prince Kui and I have already reviewed the case and identified a direction we urgently need to investigate.”

“What direction?” Zhou Ziqin raised his head.

“Jing Yi has already gone to Xuzhou to investigate the disappearance of Pang Jun’s arrow. If we can understand why the arrow that Prince Kui used to kill Pang Jun appeared at Xianyou Temple, it might become an important clue in this case.” As she spoke, she took out a silver ingot and placed it on the table before her. “And this is the lead I need to follow up on.”

“A silver ingot? And only half of one?” Zhou Ziqin held the ingot, turning it over to look at the characters on it, asking, “Are you short on money? I can lend you some!”

Speechless, Huang Zixia pointed at the characters on the back of the ingot: “Look at this.”

“Deputy Commissioner Liang Weidong… Imperial Treasury Official Zhang Junyi, Silver Cast Two.” He read aloud, puzzled. “What’s wrong with it?”

“But among all the silver ingots cast by the Imperial Treasury over the years, there are no records of these two names.”

“Privately cast? Or fake?”

“If it were privately cast, of course, it would bear the owner’s name—why pretend to be from the Imperial Treasury? And it’s not fake; it’s genuine silver.” Huang Zixia held the ingot, looking at him seriously, saying, “Most importantly, this half ingot was discovered by Prince Kui and me in the East Pavilion when Wang Ru disappeared. At the time, it was covered by an overturned teacup on the table, which Prince Kui found while drinking tea.”

Zhou Ziqin said cheerfully: “Prince Kui is truly one of us, able to leisurely drink tea next to a corpse with blood and pus everywhere—he’s seen it all.”

“The female corpse hadn’t appeared yet at that time; Wang Ru had only been missing for moments,” Huang Zixia couldn’t help but remind him.

Zhou Ziqin paid no attention to these details. Holding the silver ingot in his hands, he asked: “So, according to your thinking, where should we go next?”

“Of course, to the Ministry of Personnel to check the historical official records and see if these two people can be found in the records.”

The clerk on duty at the Ministry of Personnel today held the note Huang Zixia handed over, looking at the two names “Liang Weidong, and Zhang Junyi” with an expression so bitter it could drip gentian juice: “You two, I suggest you don’t wait. Finding anything in ten days to half a month would be lucky.”

“Ten days to half a month?” Zhou Ziqin gaped. “It takes that long?”

The clerk pointed to the two-story, seven-room building before them: “Look, those are the historical official registry archives, from the dynasty’s founding until now. Although some materials have been lost, there are still this many records—and this is just the first row of archive rooms. Because there wasn’t enough space, three identical rows were built behind it.”

“…” The two stood there, realizing this task indeed seemed impossible.

“What can we do? Is there any way to quickly filter out the people we want to find from so many records?” Zhou Ziqin asked.

Huang Zixia thought for a moment, suddenly walking toward the clerk, saying: “Please help me look for Xuzhou’s official records from the past ten years.”

“Xuzhou? Records for local officials like that probably aren’t too numerous.” The clerk called over a minor official, who led them to the fourth room of the second row, opening the door and saying: “These are all the historical official records for Xuzhou.”

Zhou Ziqin stared in shock at the rows of bookshelves inside, packed so tightly there was barely room to walk between them, muttering: “Still feels like… an enormous task…”

“Thank you, I’ll look first.” Huang Zixia left with these words, already striding into the room.

Zhou Ziqin watched her head straight for the ninth year of Xiantong’s official records, taking down the stack of materials from the early Dazhong era, quickly opening to the section about Pang Jun’s false appointments and the court’s handling of them.

The room was somewhat dark, with dust motes dancing in the sunlight slanting through the windows. Zhou Ziqin turned to look at her; her face, originally powdered yellow, was washed out by the sunlight, appearing jade-white and flawless in the dust. Her long, thick eyelashes covered her dewy eyes like butterfly wings.

He was momentarily stunned, thinking that Yang Chonggu must have been castrated at a very young age, otherwise, how could he be so delicate, with a kind of softness radiating from within his bones? Over the years, he had seen many tender, feminine eunuchs, but based on his study of various human bones, he always felt there was something distinctly different about Yang Chonggu—examining that rounded jaw, slender neck, and gentle shoulders, he thought that if one day Yang Chonggu were reduced to just a skeleton, he would mistake those bones for a woman’s.

No wonder there were rumors in the capital saying Yang Chonggu was Prince Kui’s new favorite, sharing his carriage when out and his chambers when in…

Immediately afterward, he hurriedly forced himself to stop any imaginings about this young eunuch and Prince Kui, hastily picking up the stack of Dazhong-era records and flipping through them.

The room fell silent for a moment, with only the rustle of turning pages. In the stillness, Zhou Ziqin couldn’t help but turn to look at Huang Zixia again. He saw her finger sliding rightward, scanning ten lines at a time past names and regulations, until her fingertip finally stopped at one spot. After reading before and after it again, she let out a light sigh and handed the volume to him, saying: “Look.”

Zhou Ziqin leaned in to look, and saw written:

Pang Jun’s established Imperial Treasury, false appointments: One Treasury Commissioner Zhang Junyi, five Deputy Commissioners Lu Yuxin, Deng Yunxi, Liang Weidong, Song Kuo, Ni Chufa, etc. Prince Kui dismissed them all, melted down all privately cast gold and silver ingots, and returned to the Imperial Treasury.

Huang Zixia looked up at him, saying: “It seems that ingot was privately cast when Pang Jun attempted to establish himself as king.”

Zhou Ziqin slapped the volume, ignoring the dust his strike stirred up, shouting in surprise and joy: “So this was the work of Pang Jun’s remnants after all!”

“But even if it was Pang Jun’s remnants, why leave a silver ingot of all things? Why specifically leave this behind?”

“Could it be meant as blood money?” Zhou Ziqin stroked his chin thoughtfully. “But how could a princess consort be worth only ten taels of silver?”

Huang Zixia ignored him, going to borrow paper and brush to copy down that passage, saying: “Whatever the case, it’s a lead. Let’s report back to the Prince first.”

Zhou Ziqin walked out of the Ministry of Personnel with her. It was nearly noon, and Zhou Ziqin patted his stomach saying: “Ah, I’m so hungry. Chonggu, let me treat you to a meal!”

Huang Zixia hesitated slightly, saying: “I should report back to the Prince as soon as possible…”

“The Prince holds multiple positions and is so busy every day. It’s not yet time for offices to close—how could he be waiting at the mansion?” Zhou Ziqin said, pulling her hand without further discussion, heading toward the West Market. “Come on, come on, I know this delicious restaurant. The owner there makes the most amazing beef! Do you know why? He cuts the beef following the grain of the meat, meticulously slicing it across it, which makes the flavor penetrate when cooked! Speaking of meat, I think killing livestock is just like killing people—the knife technique is very particular. If you cut across the muscle fiber, the wound opens up like a begonia flower, but if you slice along the grain, the wound flows like water, and the blood flows especially smoothly, not splattering everywhere…”

“Whether blood splatters or not mainly depends on whether you cut an artery, right?” Huang Zixia interrupted him, adding, “If you mention one more word about blood, flesh, or bones, I’m not eating.”

“What about internal organs?”

Huang Zixia immediately turned to leave, but Zhou Ziqin quickly grabbed her shoulders to turn her back, saying: “Alright, alright, I swear, I won’t mention it!”