Lin Sui’an’s fears were, regrettably, confirmed.

After Su Feichang’s death, every lead pointing to the Suzhou Su family was severed. From the available evidence, everything was entirely the work of Su Feichang alone. That said, the Su family was not wholly unscathed — the Suzhou Su family’s reputation plummeted, and Su family members did not dare set foot outside, terrified of having rotten vegetables thrown at them.

A few days later, Jing Men sent word that the Su family was secretly transferring its family properties to the capital of An.

Strangely, this operation had not begun after Su Feichang’s death — it had been quietly underway for months. Reportedly, a talented merchant was covertly assisting the operation, and had already secured a solid foothold in An’s commercial circles. At this rate, the Su family’s resurgence was only a matter of time.

When Hua Yitang heard this news, he was wholly contemptuous. “Commerce is every bit as brutal as the battlefield — more so. Even my elder brother, gifted beyond measure, toiled without rest and poured his heart into it before securing even a modest position. With the brains those Su family fools have in their dog-eating heads, I’d wager they’ll be sold by someone and still help count the money.”

Unfortunately, no matter how fiercely Hua Yitang mocked them behind their backs, the Su family’s safe landing was already a foregone conclusion.

The day after Su Feichang’s death, Jiang Wende departed for the Eastern Capital, taking all the dossiers in the Su family case with him. Calculating by travel time and the standard procedures for processing a case, it would be at least a month before any response came back.

Ling Zhiyan, naturally, could not sit idle — he spent his days buried in the records room poring over dossiers, and such was his example that Hua Yitang felt too guilty to lie about doing nothing, and went in succession to the private residences of Duan Hongning and Mi Nina to review the case details.

Lin Sui’an, for her part, finally had some leisure. Fang Ke had forcibly pressed a supply of all-restorative pills upon her, and Mu Xia had been ladling turtle and soft-shell soup into her every day, until not only her wounds had healed but she had also put on five jin. At this rate, the “Master of Qian Jing” would before long become the “Ten-Thousand-Jin Master.” Lin Sui’an was thoroughly miserable. She waited for a day of fine, mild weather and slipped away from the Hua family’s ninety-nine-court residence.

She wanted to go and see Xue Qiu Niangzi, but on the way she ran into Hua Yitang, and then at the entrance of Qiuyue Teahouse they happened upon Ling Zhiyan — it turned out all three had been thinking the same thing.

Qiuyue Teahouse was open as usual, a scene of warm and pleasant tranquility. Xue Qiu Niangzi was delighted to see the three of them and welcomed them into the rear inner tea room. The moment Lin Sui’an stepped through the door, she noticed a folding screen embroidered with a cluster of bright red crabapple blossoms — vivid and full of life.

Xue Qiu Niangzi brewed tea personally for the three of them, using the white Hua family porcelain that Hua Yimeng had sent over. So much had changed since those days, yet the fragrance of the tea remained the same.

The four of them sipped their tea in silence, savoring this rare moment of peaceful repose. It was ultimately that ever-conscientious Censor Ling who broke the stillness.

“Ling reviewed the household registration change records of the past ten years and discovered a record of de-registration from three years ago. The person de-registered was named Yue Shisan Niang, who was removed from the register of entertainers and reclassified as a commoner. The person who assisted with the de-registration was the former patriarch of the Liu family in the western city — Liu Qingxi’s father, Liu Mulian. This Liu Mulian was a romantic man of literary talent in his youth, skilled in painting and calligraphy, and was a lifelong friend to Duan Hongning and Mi Nina.”

Xue Qiu Niangzi set down her tea cup and added a ladle of boiling water to the teapot. “Censor Ling’s deduction is correct. I am Yue Shisan Niang.”

Hua Yitang: “How long have you known Duan Hongning and Mi Nina, Xue Qiu Niangzi?”

“We met when we were very young. For eight years we depended on each other for survival in the music house,” Xue Qiu said. “When I was a child, my face was disfigured, and I was badly mistreated in the music house. Had they not given everything to secure my de-registration, I would not have survived to this day.”

As Lin Sui’an had expected — Xue Qiu was indeed the last person in Duan Hongning’s golden finger memories.

Hua Yitang: “There was a rumor at Red Fragrance House that on the fifteenth of every month, Duan Hongning would dress up carefully and go out to meet a lover. Looking back now, the person Duan Hongning was going to meet was not any lover — but Mi Nina and you.”

Xue Qiu smiled faintly. “People all assume that a woman who takes pains with her appearance must be doing so for a man she admires. Little do they know that in many women’s hearts, those unworthy men are not remotely deserving of the effort.”

Hua Yitang visibly choked on this. Ling Zhiyan gave a dry cough. “At these monthly gatherings on the fifteenth — besides the three of you, there was also the veiled pipa player Shiwu Niang who attended Mi Nina’s side — that is to say, Lian Xiaoshuang, correct?”

Xue Qiu Niangzi poured fresh tea for each of them in turn, set down the teapot, and wiped her hands with a handkerchief. She raised her head. “Yes.”

Ling Zhiyan gave a nod, then produced two items and laid them flat on the tea table: one was a rubbing of the embroidery from Lian Xiaoshuang’s crime scene, and the other was the half-embroidered crabapple silk handkerchief found on Qu Hui. “After Lian Xiaoshuang’s death, we found a folding screen in her embroidery room. Half the crabapple blossoms on the screen were stitched by Lian Xiaoshuang herself; the other half bore someone else’s needlework. We made a rubbing of the embroidery,” Ling Zhiyan placed the handkerchief and the rubbing together, “and Qu Hui’s handkerchief can be fitted together with the rubbing to complete the same embroidered piece. Upon examination, the thread on the handkerchief is the very weapon used to kill Lian Xiaoshuang.”

Xue Qiu sat with lowered eyelids, listening quietly, her expression entirely unruffled.

“According to Qu Hui’s testimony, she killed Lian Xiaoshuang after seeing that she had already finished embroidering the entire screen, and then strangled her with the embroidery thread. Qu Hui killed at approximately the seventh double-hour of the night. A witness confirmed that Qu Hui arrived home at the third quarter past the seventh double-hour. Based on the time required to travel that distance, Qu Hui had no time to dismantle the screen and re-embroider it.”

“Moreover, Qu Hui recuperated at the Hua family residence for many days, during which all her medical care and bathing were attended to by Hua family maids. No handkerchief was found on her person throughout that time. Qu Hui only obtained the handkerchief after leaving the Hua family residence.”

“After severing relations with Wu Zhengli, Qu Hui — aside from her own family home — visited only one other place: Qiuyue Teahouse —”

Xue Qiu raised her eyes. “Correct. That handkerchief was given to Qu Hui by me.”

Hua Yitang: “According to Pi Xi’s testimony, he personally witnessed Duan Hongning attending to Lian Xiaoshuang’s body. So the person who dismantled the crabapple embroidery from the screen and re-embroidered it was also Duan Hongning. Which means this handkerchief was actually given to you by Duan Hongning.”

Xue Qiu: “Yes.”

“We found a fragment of Qingzhou embroidery beneath the stitched flowers on the screen, and traced it as a lead that uncovered the Wu family cloth trading crimes. That was the information Lian Xiaoshuang left for us. So — was anything hidden beneath the other half of the embroidered flowers? And if so, what was it, and who was it left for?”

Hua Yitang rose and paced slowly around the tea room. “Hua went to the rooms of Mi Nina and Duan Hongning. Both had a crabapple screen. The crabapple blossoms at the center of each screen — the most vivid — were stitched in a different technique from the rest. Comparing them, it turns out those flowers were stitched by Mi Nina and Duan Hongning themselves.”

Hua Yitang stopped in front of the crabapple screen in the tea room. “And so, Hua speculates: perhaps these crabapple screens were a means by which you all communicated with one another.”

Xue Qiu smiled. The pearl-white skin of her face glowed with a soft light; the rims of her eyes turned faintly red. “This was Xiaoshuang’s favorite game. She always loved to embroider her favorite verses beneath crabapple blossoms and wait for us to find them. When we found them, she would be overjoyed. When she found the person she loved, she embroidered that person’s name beneath the crabapple blossoms too…”

Hua Yitang’s gaze lingered on the crabapple screen for a moment, then he walked back to the tea table and sat down once more. “Hua’s own name contains the character ‘tang,’ as in the crabapple tree — it seems Hua and this flower are fated to be connected. If Xue Qiu Niangzi is willing, perhaps you would tell Hua the story of the crabapple blossoms.”

Xue Qiu scooped another ladle of boiling water and poured it into the teapot, wiped her hands with the handkerchief — this time she did not let it go, but gripped it tightly. The smile on her face seemed to slip into a dream she never wished to wake from.

“Xiaoshuang was the youngest of the four of us. She loved to laugh. She loved to embroider. She loved to put her finished crabapple embroideries out in the courtyard to bask in the sunlight. She said that way the embroideries would be like real crabapple blossoms — they would carry a fragrance.”

“She was our little sister. The most cherished person we had. The person we most wanted to protect. For ten years we planned and longed for the day when we could help her leave the lower registers, so she could live freely in the open sunlight —”

Here, Xue Qiu’s smile slowly faded. “If not for saving me, the first one to be de-registered should have been Xiaoshuang. We were so close — just a little more, just a little bit more…”

What Xue Qiu said was vague, but the three of them instinctively did not press the matter.

After a long silence, Xue Qiu continued slowly, “Later, Xiaoshuang met that man — Yidu’s great hero, the Military Adjunct Officer of great future prospects, deeply devoted to Xiaoshuang… He said he could secure her de-registration, that he would marry Xiaoshuang as his proper wife. We didn’t believe him… of course we didn’t believe him… but Xiaoshuang believed him. Xiaoshuang said… that man was worthy…”

“Xiaoshuang went with him. Everything that followed, you already know.”

The three fell silent together.

“But what you don’t know is this: while Xiaoshuang was being held captive by Wu Zhengli, she was forced to attend a banquet.” Xue Qiu’s gaze shot directly across at them. “That banquet was the Su family’s white livestock feast!”

Lin Sui’an felt the hairs on her back stand on end. The expressions of both Hua Yitang and Ling Zhiyan changed.

Xue Qiu’s smile was desolate. “It seems I need not explain what a white livestock feast is.”

Lin Sui’an gripped Qian Jing and forced herself to press down the seething blood in her veins. Hua Yitang quietly closed his hand around Lin Sui’an’s wrist.

Ling Zhiyan held Xue Qiu’s gaze steadily, signaling for her to continue.

“At this white livestock feast, Xiaoshuang discovered a secret.” Xue Qiu’s voice was as flat and still as stagnant water. “Wu Zhengqing was the peach blossom murderer.”

What?!

Lin Sui’an nearly cried out — but when she thought it through, she sensed something was off.

Ling Zhiyan had previously laid out the timeline of the peach blossom murderer’s killings. Wu Zhengqing had been a constable at the time, working day and night alongside his subordinates to hunt down the perpetrator — eating and sleeping with the constable teams. He had neither the time nor any motive to commit the crimes. So why would Lian Xiaoshuang have mistakenly believed Wu Zhengqing was the peach blossom murderer? A thought chimed inside Lin Sui’an’s head — could it be that —

Ling Zhiyan: “The peach blossom murderer’s serial killings spanned five years with seventeen cases. For fifteen of those cases, the first person to discover the body was a passerby — always a different person. But for two of the cases, the first discoverer was the same beggar.”

Hua Yitang: “In the seventh and ninth cases, the victims were two girls under ten years of age. The peach blossom brand on them differed from the other victims. Looking at it now, they were almost certainly discarded white livestock.”

Xue Qiu: “Those young lords had killed the white livestock and disposed of the bodies carelessly. As it happened, the peach blossom murderer had emerged at exactly that time, and Wu Zhengqing seized the opportunity to pin those two bodies on the peach blossom murderer. It was done without leaving a trace, and the feat was accomplished so cleanly that it helped the Wu family get close to the Su family. From then on, all white livestock bodies were handed over to the Wu family to dispose of, and on the strength of this service, the Wu family secured the Qingzhou embroidery trade.”

Damn it! Lin Sui’an swore inwardly.

“Did Lian Xiaoshuang discover all of this herself?” Hua Yitang asked.

Xue Qiu: “Wu Zhengqing told Xiaoshuang himself.”

Ling Zhiyan was taken aback. “He revealed something so secret to her outright?”

“Xiaoshuang was carrying Wu Zhengqing’s child at that time.”

A terrible thought suddenly occurred to Lin Sui’an. Lian Xiaoshuang had grown up in the music house and would naturally know how to prevent pregnancy — yet she had willingly carried Wu Zhengqing’s child. “Could it be that Lian Xiaoshuang became pregnant because —”

Xue Qiu laughed coldly. “Men all believe that once there is a child, a woman will be devoted to him until death. How laughable!”

Dead silence in the room.

After a long pause, Xue Qiu said again, “That night, it was another night of the full moon. Xiaoshuang rarely had the chance to come out and gather with us — she was in high spirits, and we talked deep into the night. Xiaoshuang suddenly said she had thought of a way to catch the peach blossom murderer.”

The three of them stared at Xue Qiu, their instincts telling them the next words would be the crux of everything.

“Xiaoshuang said: as long as she was killed by the peach blossom murderer, the peach blossom murder case would be reopened, and Wu Zhengqing would be the prime suspect. By following Wu Zhengqing, one could trace back to the Wu family and the Su family.”

“As she talked on, she even began laying out a serious plan: suicide wouldn’t work, she said, because a coroner can determine the true cause of death. And the area at the top of the thigh — there would have to be a five-petal peach blossom brand. Xiaoshuang even said with a laugh that Wu Zhengqing had told her all these case details himself, in a moment of drunken self-congratulation.”

“At the time, we all assumed Xiaoshuang was joking. She had only ever mentioned it that once, and never brought it up again —”

“Until that day, when Xiaoshuang sent a message asking Jiu Niang to come to her home around the time of the tenth double-hour of the night, and asking Jiu Niang to come alone in her own carriage…”

The afternoon sunlight fell into the tea cup, golden as glass — a tear slid down Xue Qiu’s face, and the glass shattered.

From beneath the tea table she brought out a small wooden box, opened it, and took out a folded scrap of paper — barely two finger-joints in size — and pushed it across to the three of them.

“Your guess was right. Beneath that half of the crabapple blossoms, there was indeed Xiaoshuang’s final words.”

Hua Yitang carefully peeled it open. Fully unfolded, the paper was approximately the size of two palms. It was so thin as to be nearly transparent, and the writing on it was tiny and dense — yet each character was graceful and spirited, even carrying a hint of joy.

“Jiu Niang, by the time you read this, I will most likely already be dead. I know you will remember my words, and you will surely understand why I did this.

Behind the door is a brazier; in the brazier is burning charcoal; beneath the embroidery frame is hidden a peach blossom hairpin.

The peach blossom brand must be on the upper right thigh.

Outside the back window is a large wooden box. Push my body out through the back window into the box. Wait until after the second double-hour of the night, then move my body to the rear gate.

The rear gate opens directly into the rear alley. Follow the alley out through the ward gate; there is a slope. At the bottom of the slope is a drainage channel, and beside the channel are wooden stakes and rope. Bind the box in the drainage channel and you may go.”

“Tomorrow afternoon, my body will appear in the Huanhua Stream. The Huanhua Stream is only half a ward away from the Zhang Yi Tower, where the Hua family will be hosting a banquet tomorrow for the newly appointed Judicial Adjunct Officer of Yidu. I have heard this person hails from the Hua family of Yangdu — a distinguished background, extraordinary and unconventional, having solved countless unusual cases. If it is this person, perhaps they will be a match for the Suzhou Su family. I am willing to make one wager.”

“I have heard that beside General Hua there is a Lin Niangzi — a matchless martial artist, warm-hearted and chivalrous. If the chance arises, greet her on my behalf.”

“Do not rush to take revenge on Wu Zhengqing. Keep him alive; only then can his crimes lead back to the crimes of the distinguished families.”

“My killer is only a pitiful person I manipulated into it. Do not blame them.”

“The child in my womb has gone on ahead, spared from suffering alongside me.”

“Do not grieve. If my dying body can save those children, it is worth it.”

“After all this rambling, I suddenly recall — Jiu Niang, do you still remember the verse I most loved to embroider beneath the crabapple blossoms…”

The final words were blurred beyond reading by tears. In the faint curling fragrance of the tea, Lin Sui’an heard Hua Yitang read it aloud, one word at a time:

“Ground to dust, the musk’s fragrance still does not fade; bent to pieces, the lotus threads still cannot be severed — Xiaoshuang’s final words.”