On her first day in Yangdu, Lin Sui’an not only toured the outer city but also paid a visit to the administrative district, including a thorough deep-dive tour of the prison beneath the prefectural yamen in the Gaocheng Quarter.

Look at that ceiling height — over four meters. Look at that solid, durable construction material. Look at that underworld lighting. Look at that terrifying population density. Look at the sour expression on the prison guard’s face. This was truly — truly…

Could her luck possibly be any worse?

Lin Sui’an sat in the middle of a group of weeping and wailing women. The rotting stench of the prison mixed with thick waves of perfume, producing a truly unique bouquet. The young woman on her left wore the most fashionable low-cut dress from the eastern capital and was sobbing so hard she shook with every heave, which made Lin Sui’an’s vision swim. The young woman on her right had a face powdered white, a slender neck, a scarlet floral decoration pressed to her forehead, and tears cutting twin tracks through the powder on her face.

“This humble girl is wronged — how could this humble girl be a murder suspect? This humble girl is wrongfully accused, oh oh oh, wrongfully accused, oh oh oh —”

“One moment I was properly tending to a client, and now I’m a suspect — oh oh oh, so wronged, oh oh oh —”

Judging by the dress and manner of these women, they were clearly courtesans employed in the pleasure quarter. So every single one of these twenty-odd people was a murder suspect — and she was simply one among them?

Lin Sui’an scratched her head, feeling thoroughly aggrieved.

She had been bound and brought here by the law enforcement officers nearly an hour ago, and she didn’t even know who had been killed. To make matters worse, Qian Jing had been confiscated.

She could not just sit and wait for doom. She had to find a way out.

Lin Sui’an adjusted her expression and turned to the woman on her left. “Miss, could you tell me —”

“Oh!” The red-robed woman’s sobbing shot up an octave, and a fragrant handkerchief slapped Lin Sui’an in the face, triggering a colossal sneeze.

“All of you inside, come out! Time for the hearing!” the jailer barked.

The women in the cell dissolved into fresh weeping and had to be hollered at several more times before they quieted, their low sniffling trailing after them as the group was led out of the prison.

It was just past the second watch. The cool moonlight lay on the ground like frost and snow. The women, lightly dressed, shivered as the night wind struck them — their tears seeming to freeze on their faces. Lin Sui’an followed the procession forward, observing cautiously.

This compound was several times larger than the Nanpu county yamen — rooflines stretching in succession, high walls looming on all sides, yamen guards patrolling the courtyard without cease, security was forbidding. The jailers escorting them numbered ten, the law enforcement officers another ten — every one of them broad-shouldered and stout, long blades at their hips. The danger of an escape attempt was far too high.

Lin Sui’an abandoned the idea of escape and decided to first observe the situation in the main hall — perhaps there was still a way out.

Passing through five successive gates, Lin Sui’an finally saw the main hall: black columns, black eaves, solemn and austere. Before the hall stretched an open plaza, at least three basketball courts wide, surrounded on the outer edge by a ring of yamen officers and law enforcement guards, expressions primed and watchful, as though awaiting some important personage.

“Bring the suspect — suspect — suspect — suspect —”

The call from within the hall echoed in a cascading string through the empty night air. The women stopped crying, unsure of what to do, and were shoved by the officers into the main hall — all except Lin Sui’an, who was left alone in the plaza, buffeted by the wind, chilled to the bone.

Very wide. The sound of the women’s wrenching sobs and cries of injustice drifted out. Lin Sui’an’s throat tightened; a deeply ominous feeling came over her.

The crying gradually subsided. Then a second summons rang out:

“Bring — the — suspect —”

“Move!” Two law enforcement officers frog-marched Lin Sui’an into the main hall. Without warning, a vicious kick struck the back of her knees, and Lin Sui’an went down hard. Her instinct was to fight free, but a staff came crashing down on her back and nearly knocked the breath from her lungs.

Her palms and knees were soaked in cold liquid — the floor was wet, as though it had just been washed down. The courtesans who had been brought in before her were nowhere to be seen. The mingling stench of perfume and faint blood was nauseating.

Lin Sui’an began to understand what had happened.

“Lin of the Tangxia Lin family — confess how you murdered Yan Family Second Young Master! How you disposed of the body! And who ordered you to do it! Every single charge — you will confess, now!” A thunderous shout rattled the entire hall.

Yan Family Second Young Master? Could it be Yan He — the one she had kicked into the river?

He was dead?!

Lin Sui’an’s thoughts raced. She raised her eyes and saw seated behind the wooden bench an official in a crimson robe, short of brow and beard, around fifty years of age, a cold menacing light in his gaze. On either side of him sat two others, both in brocade attire, each past their fortieth year: the one on the right had thick brows and sharp eyes, of prosperous build; the one on the left was lean and angular, with facial features bearing an eight-part resemblance to Yan He.

Lin Sui’an immediately understood: the man on the left must be Yan He’s father, while the one on the right, who somewhat resembled Feng Yuyi, was likely someone from the Feng clan.

Was this what people called a three-judge tribunal? Absurd.

Lin Sui’an: “I did not kill anyone. This person’s death has nothing to do with me.”

“Preposterous!” Yan He’s father pointed at Lin Sui’an and shrieked. “Today you kicked my second son into the river — nearly drowned him — dozens of people saw it! You clearly killed him!”

Lin Sui’an: “At the time, Yan Family Second Young Master only fell into the water — he was not injured, and his life was not in danger. After that, I did not see him again. His death has nothing to do with me.”

The scarlet-robed official narrowed his eyes. “So you admit to having kicked Yan Family Second Young Master into the river?”

Lin Sui’an: “Kicking him in doesn’t mean I killed him.”

“Why did you kick him?”

“In the heat of the moment, to save someone.”

“Save whom?”

Lin Sui’an paused. That ominous feeling rose again. She thought for a moment, then decided to tell the truth. “Hua Yitang.”

The moment that name left her lips, a strange, indescribable atmosphere settled over the hall.

Yan He’s father’s eyes lit up, the scarlet-robed official’s face took on an air of smug satisfaction, and the Feng clan man’s lip curved slightly.

The scarlet-robed official slammed his gavel hard: “Just as I suspected! Lin Sui’an — you were ordered by Hua Family Fourth Young Master to murder Yan He!”

Oh, there it was.

Lin Sui’an now understood. Their real target was not her — it was Hua Yitang.

The scarlet-robed official turned to the Feng clan man with a smile. “Master Feng, as for this case —”

Master Feng didn’t even lift his eyelids. “I advise you, Prefect Zhou, to close this case swiftly — a prolonged affair breeds complications.”

“But then again, the Hua Family is after all —”

Master Feng’s gaze snapped up suddenly, eyes sharp as lightning.

Prefect Zhou flinched. Without hesitation he brought his gavel down: “Hua Yitang has hired an assassin — a heinous crime! Law enforcement officers, apprehend him at once!”

The officers looked at each other blankly. Not one of them moved.

Prefect Zhou: “Why aren’t you going?!”

Only then did the officers move out.

Master Feng: “Have Lin Sui’an press her fingerprint!”

A yamen attendant laid a document before Lin Sui’an. She had not yet had a chance to read the dense writing on it when one officer clamped her left arm, another seized her right hand and tried to press it into the red ink pad.

“Press your fingerprint — over my dead body!” Lin Sui’an twisted her right wrist and reversed her grip, seizing the officer’s wrist, snapping the bones in his hand with a crack. The officer’s scream hadn’t even left his throat before Lin Sui’an sent him flying, and almost simultaneously her right fist connected with the left officer’s face — this one also never got the chance to cry out, blood spraying from his nostrils as he dropped straight to the ground.

The two moves were so fast that ordinary eyes could not follow them at all — only a vague impression of the young woman twisting and flinging, and two stocky officers were rendered combat ineffective.

The hall went deathly still for an instant. Prefect Zhou leapt to his feet: “Seize her, now!”

The yamen attendants shouted and surged forward. Lin Sui’an slammed her palm to the floor and vaulted upright, sweeping her legs outward in four directions — the four attendants at the front toppled backward, blood pouring from their mouths.

The attendants went pale with shock and retreated in trembling hesitation, not one daring to advance.

Lin Sui’an dusted off her clothes, sweeping a warning glance across the yamen attendants from the corner of her eye, then raised her gaze to the three old men at the bench. “I’ll say it one more time: I did not kill anyone!”

Prefect Zhou: “We have witness and physical evidence — you cannot deny it!”

Lin Sui’an: “Who is the witness? Where is the physical evidence?”

Yan He’s father: “Hua Yitang is the mastermind! You are his accomplice!”

Lin Sui’an: “I have no connection to Hua Yitang!”

“Oh my, benefactress, saying such things truly wounds me.” A bright, clear voice drifted in on the night wind. The faces of all three men at the bench changed.

Through the vast night, a figure in white came floating in, his beautiful features seeming to carry their own backlighting, gathering all the moonlight in the sky onto his person.

The law enforcement officers flanked Hua Yitang without daring to fall behind or press ahead — less like an escort, more like his own retinue.

“You needn’t have sent an invitation, Prefect Zhou — Hua has come on his own.” Though Hua Yitang walked quickly, his bearing was extraordinarily elegant — even his fluttering robes seemed to have their own rhythm. He stepped to Lin Sui’an’s side, gave a folded-fan salute, glanced at the fallen yamen attendants on the ground, then turned back to Lin Sui’an, his pupils glimmering even more brightly.

“You did all of this yourself?”

Lin Sui’an was astonished: “You came alone?”

Hua Yitang blinked. “It’s nearly the third watch of the night — disturbing other people’s sleep deserves a thunderbolt from the heavens.”

If they hadn’t become two ants on the same string at this very moment, Lin Sui’an truly would have wanted to drive her fist into that handsome face.

What was wrong with this person?

Wasn’t he a prestigious noble? One of the Five Surnames and Seven Lineages? Didn’t he have a pack of fawning followers? He actually came by himself to strut around — was he in such a hurry to die?

Lin Sui’an’s look of disdain was too obvious. Hua Yitang’s heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly reviewed his own appearance from head to toe: he had changed into his Fair Season Like a Dream robe and Silver River Faraway boots, with the matching fan to go with the set — the Golden Wind Jade Dew Together design. Nothing was out of place.

Ah, he had forgotten his hairpin — he should have worn the “Nimble Clouds Playing, White Jade Pin” one!

Hua Yitang cupped his hands in apology. “This was my oversight — I was remiss in your presence, and I beg your pardon.”

What on earth was going on?!

Lin Sui’an’s temples were throbbing. She lowered her voice. “Do you understand what the situation is right now?”

“I caught a few lines from outside the hall just now,” Hua Yitang said, fanning himself as he looked toward the bench. “Apparently someone hired an assassin to commit murder. I’m curious — who is the deceased? Who is the killer? And who is the one who hired the killer?”

Prefect Zhou stared at Hua Yitang, like a rooster with its neck being wrung — mouth opening and closing, no sound coming out. Yan He’s father jumped up screaming. “Hua Yitang, stop playing dumb — it was you who hired this wretched woman to kill my son Yan He!”

Hua Yitang’s fan came to a halt. His smile vanished abruptly. “Yan Second Young Master is dead? When did he die? How did he die?”

“Prefect Zhou,” Master Feng said in a measured tone, “show Hua Family Fourth Young Master the evidence.”

Prefect Zhou flinched. “Master Feng — wouldn’t that be a bit too abrupt — “

Master Feng’s cold gaze locked onto Prefect Zhou. Prefect Zhou’s forehead broke out in beads of sweat the size of soybeans. His trembling hand raised the gavel, shook it a few times, and then crashed it down with force. “Bring in the witnesses!”

The jailers dragged three people in. One was a courtesan Lin Sui’an had seen earlier — face ashen, hair in disarray, the back of her clothes torn and her flesh raw with wounds.

Hua Yitang saw the wounds on her body, and his gaze cooled three degrees.

The other two were men — one an elderly man with a lame leg, one a young man with a swollen, bruised face. All three knelt heavily in the middle of the hall, and without exception every one of them was shaking violently.

Prefect Zhou: “Qingyu!”

The courtesan lying prone on the floor gave a shudder and struggled upright. “This servant is here.”

“Repeat once more what you saw and heard last night.”

Tangled strands of hair covered Qingyu’s face. Her voice was shrill and trembling, like fingernails dragged across iron.

“At the start of the first watch last evening, Hua Family Fourth Young Master met with a person at Meiwu’s establishment in the Red Blossom Quarter — he gave her six strings of copper coins and told her to kill someone.”

Prefect Zhou: “Kill whom?”

Qingyu: “Yan Family Second Young Master Yan He.”

“Is the killer now present in this hall?”

“She is.” Qingyu pointed at Lin Sui’an. “It is her.”

Lin Sui’an almost laughed. “I arrived in Yangdu this very morning together with the Mu clan merchant convoy — the travel permit inspections serve as proof. How could I possibly have gone to any Red Blossom Quarter last night?”

“Preposterous — who in Yangdu doesn’t know that the Mu clan merchant convoy is under the Hua Family?” Yan He’s father snapped. “The travel permit inspection must be falsified!”

Lin Sui’an’s heart lurched. She cut a glance at Hua Yitang.

Hua Yitang gave a slight grin — effectively confirming it.

“Bring the evidence!” Before Prefect Zhou had finished calling out, two officers entered carrying two leather sacks — the very six strings of copper coins Lin Sui’an had brought from the Luo family. “These were found in Lin Sui’an’s room at the inn!”

Prefect Zhou: “Where would a young woman like you get so much money? It must be the payment Hua Family Fourth Young Master gave you for the assassination!”

Lin Sui’an could see clearly that they had known all along she arrived in the city with the Mu clan convoy, and that they had known down to the last coin how much money she carried. Everything tonight had been long premeditated — there was no hope of resolving this peacefully.

“This money was given to me by the Luo Family of Nanpu County. It may be verified by inquiring of Luo Kou, the sole daughter of the Luo Family in Nanpu County,” Lin Sui’an said.

“You won’t weep until you see the coffin!” Prefect Zhou declared. “Tian Hegui — repeat the statement you gave earlier.”

The old man with the lame leg trembled violently, voice wavering as he said, “At the start of the first watch, I — I found a human head beneath the Kaiming Bridge. After I reported it to the authorities, I learned that the head belonged to Yan Family Second Young Master.”

Lin Sui’an’s heart lurched: just the head?!

Prefect Zhou: “When you discovered the deceased, was there anything unusual in the surroundings?”

“……There was.”

“What was it?”

“It was……it was……” Tian Hegui’s voice cracked into a sob, and he stammered incoherently, unable to get the words out.

“Bang!” The gavel came crashing down. “Speak!”

“I saw someone flee!”

“Is that person now present in this hall?!”

“They are……”

“Point them out!”

The old man raised his shaking hand and pointed it squarely at Lin Sui’an.

Hua Yitang’s eyes swiveled around to Lin Sui’an.

Lin Sui’an gave a cold laugh. “You are certain it was me?”

“……Yes.” The old man was hunched over, not daring to look at her.

Lin Sui’an: “At the start of the first watch, I was at the Yun Lai Inn in the Shuxing Quarter. I did not take a single step outside.”

Prefect Zhou: “Lu Shen!”

The bruised young man rattled off a string of words: “I am the innkeeper of Yun Lai Inn. This evening at the first quarter of the first watch, I saw the guest staying in the North Star room — Lin Sui’an — go out, heading in the direction of Kaiming Bridge. She did not return until the third quarter of the first watch.”

Lin Sui’an clicked her tongue. They had even dismantled her alibi.

Prefect Zhou: “Lin Sui’an, what have you to say now?!”

Hua Yitang snapped his fan shut. “What was the murder weapon?”

Prefect Zhou: “Bring the physical evidence!”

Two officers entered carrying a tray — and on that tray lay Lin Sui’an’s own Qian Jing.

“This is the murder weapon — found in Lin Sui’an’s room at the inn!” Prefect Zhou declared. “The cut on Yan He’s neck was abnormally clean and precise. Without a blade both heavy and razor-sharp, such a wound would be impossible!”

Hua Yitang noted, somewhat belatedly, that though it was only a short blade two chi in length, two officers were required to carry it, and judging by their expressions, they found it no easy task. He remembered this blade — he had seen it hanging at the benefactress’s waist that afternoon at the Hibiscus Tower, and she had carried it effortlessly as she walked. He had assumed it was a decorative blade such as women commonly wore. Could it really be that heavy?

Hua Yitang: “Where is the rest of the body?!”

Before Prefect Zhou could answer, Yan He’s father sprang up in a frenzy and shrieked. “This woman is utterly ruthless and callous — she didn’t even leave my son an intact body! Oh! Prefect Zhou, you must see that justice is done for my Yan family!”

Prefect Zhou slammed the gavel down. “Lin Sui’an — you clearly used this blade to sever Yan He’s head, then dismembered his body and scattered the pieces into the river to destroy the evidence! Truly wicked beyond measure, audacious and lawless, shocking beyond words!”

Lin Sui’an’s fury turned to cold amusement. Had Prefect Zhou here reached the average intelligence level of a higher primate? What kind of absurd reasoning was this?!

“Innkeeper Lu,” Lin Sui’an said, “you claim I went out — do you have evidence?”

Lu Shen: “I — I am the witness myself!”

“What was I wearing when I went out?”

“The same clothes you’re wearing now.”

“And when I came back?”

“Naturally still the same clothes.”

Lin Sui’an’s cold smile deepened. “Elder Tian over there — you say you saw me at the scene. What was I wearing at the time?”

Tian Hegui: “Naturally — naturally the clothes you’re wearing right now!”

“Outrageous!” Lin Sui’an burst out — and discovered that someone had said exactly the same word at exactly the same moment.

It was Hua Yitang.

Hua Yitang moved to stand at Lin Sui’an’s side. He stood a full head taller than her, and from this angle one could see the clean line of his jaw. In this instant, an odd feeling rose unexpectedly in Lin Sui’an’s heart — the flamboyant young idler before her seemed somehow strangely familiar —

Hua Yitang: “Severing a head with a sharp blade, then dismembering the body to destroy evidence — blood would spray for several meters. A large volume of blood flowing into the river would stain the water red and draw a crowd. Why is there only one witness?”

Prefect Zhou: “Perhaps it was too dark……”

Lin Sui’an: “I was wearing these same clothes all night — why isn’t there a single drop of blood on them?”

Prefect Zhou: “Perhaps you were wearing an outer garment when you committed the act……”

Hua Yitang: “If there was time and energy to dismember the body, why not also dispose of the head?”

Prefect Zhou: “Uh……”

Lin Sui’an: “If I truly used this blade to kill someone, why not throw the weapon into the river on the spot, instead of keeping it on my person?”

Prefect Zhou: “……”

“What pattern did the blood at the base of Kaiming Bridge form?”

“Has the surrounding area been thoroughly searched by the officers?”

“Has the coroner performed an examination?”

“Where is the coroner’s report?”

Lin Sui’an’s words came in rapid succession, and Hua Yitang’s were even faster — the two of them taking turns, matching each other with uncanny precision. Not only were the three men on the bench stunned, but Lin Sui’an herself was taken aback, and she shot a sideways glance at Hua Yitang.

As if by some shared intuition, Hua Yitang seemed to sense it and looked over as well. His long lashes fluttered; he gave a small smile.

Then abruptly his smile vanished. With a sharp snap he folded his fan and leveled it directly forward, his voice dropping into a furious roar: “Go to hell! Zhou Changping, you shameless old bastard — it’s plain as day you’ve colluded with Feng Song to frame my Hua clan. I spit on you!”

Lin Sui’an stumbled back half a step and nearly slipped.

The story Mu Zhong had told came leaping back to her mind.

[Ten years ago…… the case of the serial abductor…… there was a person who stood up in the courthouse and started screaming and cursing…… he cursed for a full quarter of an hour, and everyone was stunned…… he was only six years old at the time……]

Well. So it was you all along!