“I heard women screaming, and when I entered the room, I saw Young Lady Yi hanging from the beam. I immediately grabbed her body, trying to lift her out of the noose to save her quickly. But despite several attempts, her neck remained firmly caught in the loop. Her hairpins had fallen and shattered, and nothing worked until I called Xinzhi. Being tall, he jumped up and cut through the noose with a knife, and only then could we bring Young Lady Yi down…”
In the dim candlelight of the secluded chamber, the slender youth Li Yuangui spoke softly, while the other three people stared at the noose that had ended Li Yi’s life, unable to look away.
It wasn’t a single silk scarf, but rather three connected sections: a loop made from a winter brocade shawl that women typically wore, which had trapped the young lady’s neck—no wonder they couldn’t lift her out; both ends of the shawl were tied to leather belts, which were then linked together and looped over the ceiling beam. The entire suicide apparatus formed two connected loops of different sizes. Of course, when Yang Xinzhi rescued her, he had cut through the shawl portion of the larger loop.
What a complex hanging apparatus.
Of the two leather belts, one was adorned with nine rhinoceros plaques, while the other was of even higher rank, decorated with gold plaques—only royal ladies and noble wives of the second rank or higher could use such items. The female official in charge, Chai Yinglu, pointed to the belt with rhinoceros plaques:
“This one was among Young Lady Yi’s wedding clothes. As she was marrying with the rank of County Princess, she had eight flower hairpins, eight pheasant-decorated robes, and formal shoes, sashes, and belts—all prepared by the Clan Court. I brought the complete set here. Before the Empress’s visit this afternoon, I helped her put everything on. As for this gold-plaque belt—”
Chai Yinglu paused and sighed. Wei Shubin asked, “Was it personally bestowed by the Empress to Young Lady Yi?”
Chai Yinglu nodded:
“This afternoon when the Empress came to speak with Young Lady Yi in this room, I and the other palace officials waited outside. I saw the Empress’s maid carrying a lacquered box and asked what it was. She was familiar with me but just smiled and said it was a gift for Young Lady Yi, saying everyone would see it in the evening. She mentioned it was originally made for the Crown Princess—since Su妃 had a slim waist, and Young Lady Yi was even thinner, one bolt of material had been enough to make two belts… Since she mentioned a ‘slim waist,’ it was naturally a waistband… Later when the Empress called her in, she carried the lacquered box inside and came out empty-handed. That box—”
Looking around, Chai Yinglu pointed to several stacked boxes on the clothing chest by the east wall:
“It’s right there. The box must have contained this gold-plaque belt. Indeed, last month at the Crown Prince’s wedding, Crown Princess Su wore one just like it. The Empress exceeded protocol in her bestowal, wanting Young Lady Yi to have a grand wedding—it was truly meant with good intentions…”
Yet the bestowed item became the weapon that took her niece’s life.
Wei Shubin looked at the brilliant gold-plaque belt, feeling that its gleaming light somehow emanated a sinister and vengeful aura, much like the thick fog permeating the cold night in the imperial temple.
If Young Lady Yi was truly such an outwardly gentle but inwardly strong-willed woman who would choose death to denounce her second uncle and his wife for killing her brother and plotting usurpation, then hanging herself on her wedding night using the belt personally bestowed by Empress Zhangsun would indeed have been the most effective choice. However…
“Young Lady Yi didn’t hang herself,” Li Yuangui said with certainty. “When people are determined to hang themselves, they’re usually agitated and trembling—they wouldn’t have the patience for such intricate work. They would simply tie three silk bands together into a long rope, throw it over a beam, make a single loop, put it around their neck, kick away the tall stool, and be done with it.”
But this noose had a complex double-loop structure. Wei Shubin shook her head, not quite understanding. Chai Yinglu also frowned and asked, “If Young Lady Yi was strangled and then hung up, how would that have been done?”
“Simple.” Li Yuangui stood up, lifted the tall stool from the ground, and demonstrated while explaining:
“Move the stool here, lay Young Lady Yi’s body face-down on it, first make a small loop with the shawl, and put it around her neck. Connect the two leather belts, and tie one end to the extending end of the small loop’s shawl. The killer climbs onto the stool, throws the long leather belt over the beam, then grabs the hanging end and pulls tight to hoist Young Lady Yi up. Once at the right height, tie the end in their hand to the other extending the end of the small loop’s shawl, closing the large loop. Step down, and knock over the stool. And thus the illusion of suicide is created.”
Wei Shubin blinked, taking a while to understand this sequence of actions, and couldn’t help saying:
“The killer must have been a tall, strong man… Strangling someone alive and then moving the body up and down, with such a high beam—it wouldn’t be easy.”
“Using whatever’s at hand to strangle someone does seem like something a strong man would do,” Li Yuangui said thoughtfully, “but it’s not necessarily so. Young Lady Yi was a delicate young woman—if attacked suddenly from behind, she might have been completely unable to resist. And this method of hanging using double loops doesn’t require the killer to be particularly tall or strong.”
Chai Yinglu added, “If the killer strangled her from behind while she was in her mirror doing her hair, it means Young Lady Yi was very familiar with this person and had no suspicions. There isn’t a single strong man in the world who could enter Young Lady Yi’s chambers so freely—she had been confined for nine years, and ordinarily, not even a blue bottle fly could get in here…”
The Daoist priestess gave a bitter smile and concluded:
“Therefore, at least four points prove Young Lady Yi was murdered rather than committing suicide: the strangulation mark on the back of her neck, her face being red and blood-filled rather than pale with protruding tongue, urine on the dressing table, and the strange way the noose was tied. Isn’t that right, Fourteenth Uncle?”
Li Yuangui nodded without speaking further.
“But this suicide note—” Chai Yinglu sighed as she picked up the plain paper from the desk, “Fourteenth Uncle, what do you make of it? Tomorrow when I go to the palace, I’ll certainly have to present this. How can I tell Her Majesty the Empress that Young Lady Yi wrote a suicide note, and just as she was preparing to kill herself, someone murdered her—”
“The suicide note might be forged since none of you can recognize Young Lady Yi’s handwriting,” Li Yuangui replied. “Tomorrow when Sister-in-law Zheng feels better, we can show it to her first to verify if it’s truly Young Lady Yi’s hand.”
Chai Yinglu nodded and continued, “Besides the suicide note, there’s another point that doesn’t make sense if someone came in to kill her. Have you thought about it, Fourteenth Uncle?”
“What is it?”
“Oh right, you don’t know about this. After the Empress left in the afternoon, Young Lady Yi said she wanted to be alone and asked not to be disturbed. It was almost dark then, and until late when this happened, no lights were lit in her east wing room. The evening was busy and we were short-handed—since she asked not to be disturbed, no one paid attention, but the room must have remained dark. If someone snuck into the warm chamber during the chaos and darkness to kill her, move the body, tie the loops, climb up and down—all while fumbling in the dark and not alerting people passing by outside the windows—that would require extraordinary eyesight…”
Wei Shubin recalled that when she entered the main courtyard from the east side, the entire row of east wing rooms had indeed been dark, with no lights ever being lit. Li Yuangui also pondered, “This is indeed strange. Even if Young Lady Yi was hanging herself, she would have needed light to tie the noose, move the stool, and throw it over the beam—how could she do all this in complete darkness? And if according to my theory she was murdered while sitting at her dressing table doing her hair, she would have had to light the small lamp on the dressing table—how else could she see her appearance? Unless—”
Li Yuangui’s expression suddenly became stern as he thought of something:
“Yinglu, when the Empress visited in the afternoon, I retreated to the back after receiving her, as you know. When the Empress spoke privately with Young Lady Yi in this room, roughly what time was it? And when did the Empress leave the room? At that time—was it dark yet?”
This series of questions left Wei Shubin somewhat confused, but when she understood what Li Yuangui was implying, she couldn’t help but take a deep breath and sit up straight with wide eyes.
Heaven above, was he suggesting that Young Lady Yi might have been… strangled by Empress Zhangsun herself?
If it wasn’t dark yet when the Empress spoke with Young Lady Yi in the room, there would have been no need for lights. The Empress could have used the excuse of “personally helping her niece with her appearance,” had Young Lady Yi sit at the dressing table, then strangled her from behind, created the illusion of suicide, tidied herself up, and left, pretending to exchange a few words with Young Lady Yi inside about not needing to see her out, and even instructing others not to go in and disturb her… It made sense logically, but why? And to harbor such suspicions about the Emperor’s consort was utterly treasonous.
Chai Yinglu’s lips parted slightly, seemingly turning over the same thoughts, and after staring at Li Yuangui for a while, finally responded:
“Fourteenth Uncle, what nonsense are you thinking!”
“I am indeed thinking nonsense,” Li Yuangui admitted, though his tone remained calm, “but this matter is too tragic, Young Lady Yi was innocent and pitiful—to find the true killer, we must eliminate suspects one by one…”
“Then you can eliminate the Empress first,” Chai Yinglu said decisively. “After speaking with Young Lady Yi in the afternoon, when the Empress left the warm chamber, Young Lady Yi personally saw her out, right to the door—many people witnessed this. Young Lady Yi’s complexion was poor then, her eyes red and swollen from crying, her makeup smeared, but she was undoubtedly alive.”
Wei Shubin couldn’t help but feel relieved, and also felt somewhat embarrassed for this detective prince. Li Yuangui himself remained unperturbed and asked another question: “Was it still light then?”
“Yes, it was just the beginning of dusk. The Empress ordered Young Lady Yi to return to her room and fix her appearance, and she bowed deeply in farewell. After the Empress left the courtyard, she closed the warm chamber door herself and told the maids not to disturb her as she wanted to be alone—no one saw her after that. I just returned from the west courtyard where I spoke with Elder Uncle’s wife and asked around—these details are certain.”
Li Yuangui nodded: “I never seriously suspected the Empress anyway. When I held Young Lady Yi’s body trying to lift her down, I felt her body was still warm and soft—she hadn’t been dead long. If she had been killed at dusk and hung there for so long, with the weather being cold, her body would have stiffened already.”
Now he was making convenient excuses… Wei Shubin secretly rolled her eyes at Li Yuangui. She had thought she was caught up in an “Empress murder case” and might be silenced!
Chai Yinglu also snorted: “The Empress is so virtuous and noble—just having such thoughts deserves having your tongue cut out and heart gouged! If you’re so capable, why don’t you share these thoughts with your Second Brother? Second Uncle would kick you into the sea pool!”
“Not necessarily,” Li Yuangui calmly replied. “In this case, even if it wasn’t the Empress who personally did it, even if Young Lady Yi truly hanged herself, it still can’t be separated from the Empress.”
That was true. Young Lady Yi died after speaking with the Empress, using the belt personally bestowed by the Empress, and given her special status, no matter how you looked at it, this death was inextricably linked to Empress Zhangsun—not something easily explained away.
Chai Yinglu sighed again: “Suicide doesn’t make sense, but there’s a suicide note for murder—how am I to report this to Their Majesties tomorrow? Ah…”
“Sister.”
The bridegroom Chai Zhiwei, who had been silent since entering the room, suddenly called out softly, his voice carrying a chill:
“There’s another possibility.”
“What possibility?” The other three turned to look at him.
“Perhaps Young Lady Yi neither hung herself nor was killed by a living person…”
Wei Shubin froze for a moment before understanding Chai Zhiwei’s implication and suddenly felt her hands and feet turn to ice. Chai Yinglu also said: “What do you mean? Not a living person? Are you suggesting Elder Uncle and Fourth Uncle and the others…”
She couldn’t continue, but Wei Shubin knew what she was thinking.
The complex series of actions leading to Young Lady Yi’s death had all been carried out in darkness, nearly impossible for a living person’s eyesight. Young Lady Yi’s deceased father and Fourth Uncle Prince of Qi, along with ten brothers and cousins—if this string of wronged spirits were wandering in the Prince of Qi’s old residence, they probably couldn’t bear to see Young Lady Yi getting along harmoniously with the current Emperor and Empress, maintaining a façade of peace, so they took her soul and her life—
“This marriage has been filled with disaster and ill omens from beginning to end,” Chai Zhiwei continued in a low voice. “There were constant changes even before the engagement, then the engagement banquet caused such an uproar, after which Elder Uncle’s entire family was bloodied… Could it be that our two families have stumbled upon some taboo or curse?”
Wei Shubin looked at Chai Zhiwei. The bridegroom had unknowingly undone the ties under his chin and removed his six-tasseled crown, setting it aside. His exposed hair bun looked somewhat comical, but his expression was quite serious:
“The marriage alliance between Elder Uncle’s family and mine was arranged when Grandmother was still alive before the Great Tang rose to power. Sister, your three engagements all… Young Lady Yi and I were fine, but now this happens at the last moment—could it be that someone just can’t bear to see our Chai family and… Elder Uncle’s family join in marriage? Over all these years, to call these things coincidences would be too strange indeed.”
After a moment of silence, Chai Yinglu parted her cherry lips and uttered a single word:
“Get out.”
“…”
“Who had three engagements? Keep talking nonsense and I’ll give you a good slap.”
Wei Shubin wanted to laugh a little, but given the circumstances, she really couldn’t. Just then, a man’s cough came from outside the west window—a voice so familiar that Wei Shubin jumped straight up from where she sat on the bed.
“Pardon the disturbance, Master Daoist. I am Madam Pei of the Wei family. May I ask if my daughter Shufen is here?”
It was her parents speaking outside the window. Wei Shubin’s legs went weak, and she nearly collapsed to the floor again.