Zhou Ziqin, who used to climb through morgue windows to secretly examine corpses, had finally made it – now he could swagger in through the main gate on horseback, directly calling out to the keeper inside: “Uncle Jiang, I’m here to see Shu Prefecture’s most beautiful corpse!”
Uncle Jiang’s face was full of smiles, though with a trace of awkward embarrassment: “Oh, Young Constable, you’re taking this too seriously! You’ve… come to look again?”
Zhou Ziqin dismounted, saying: “This time I’m not just looking myself, I’ve brought someone else to look. This is our new… uh, constable, who’s very skilled at solving cases. I brought her to take a look.”
Uncle Jiang quickly bowed and nodded to them, looking at Huang Zixia with slightly furrowed brows in confusion: “This young man… seems somehow familiar?”
Huang Zixia, who had dealt with him frequently before, just smiled, staying silent to avoid trouble.
Uncle Jiang frowned in thought, and as he saw Zhou Ziqin leading the way inside, he quickly called out: “Young Constable, Young Constable…”
Zhou Ziqin turned back to look at him: “What is it?”
“That… that corpse…” he hesitated, looking troubled.
“Has it decomposed? That can’t be!” Zhou Ziqin immediately became anxious, “Impossible! How could it decompose so quickly in such an ice cellar?”
“No, that’s not it, it’s…” Uncle Jiang looked guilty, almost biting his tongue as he spoke, “Earlier a woman came, saying she was the deceased’s sister, wanting to see her sister’s remains. She didn’t seem like a bad person, so I, I took her down there.”
“Where is she now?” Zhou Ziqin asked.
“She’s inside paying respects…” Uncle Jiang fingered his sleeve, which hung down oddly, though who knew how much money that woman had given him?
The Shu Prefecture morgue was one of the places Huang Zixia knew best.
She first went to the morgue’s file cabinet, taking out a copy of the autopsy report that was routinely kept there, opening it to read the record.
The newest volume contained the “Double Suicide Case at Fu Residence in Songhua Lane.”
The examiner was Jiang Songlin, the prefecture’s senior coroner.
Examination: One male corpse, one female corpse.
Male corpse length six chi, thirty-seven years old, slightly plump build, wearing plain fine hemp clothes, plain silk shoes, lying face-up on the low bed where the Fu woman usually slept, face slightly contorted, body lying flat and relaxed, with mild diarrhea symptoms.
Female corpse length five chi and two cun, approximately under thirty years old, perfectly proportioned, hair in a coiled bun, wearing a gray-purple jacket, cyan skirt, and plain silk thread shoes, lying face-up on the male corpse’s right side. A left hand clasped with the male corpse’s right hand, their ten fingers tightly interlocked due to rigor mortis, difficult to separate. Right fingertips are slightly blackened, appearing to be stained with pigment.
Upon examination, both male and female corpses showed no signs of external force injury and died from poisoning. Poisoning occurred between you and Xu hours the previous day.
Poison presumed to be: arsenic.
She read through it carefully, then followed Zhou Ziqin into the corpse chamber.
Inside were several empty bamboo beds, with an entrance to a cellar on the inner side. They walked down the steps, going deeper and deeper, getting colder and colder. Shu Prefecture’s summers were hot, making it difficult to preserve corpses, so two years ago when renovating the morgue, Yu Xuan had discussed a solution with her. They dug several deep cellars under the corpse chamber, with thick walls of blue bricks, only opening a few small wind doors for ventilation. They also installed thick doors, storing ice inside during winter. If entry and exit weren’t too frequent during the height of summer, the ice blocks might not completely melt all summer, making them very suitable for preserving corpses.
As they descended the steps, the cold air became more piercing. In this gloomy cold, only their small lamps cast slight light, flickering on the surrounding stone walls, making it seem even more chilly.
Zhou Ziqin led them into the Xuan-numbered chamber, where candlelight flickered faintly, and a woman stood motionless before a corpse.
Though she wore simple cloth clothes and her hair was simply tied up, her slender, graceful figure immediately revealed who she was.
It was the current Madame Gongsun, Gongsun Yuan.
Huang Zixia immediately knew which corpse Zhou Ziqin had meant when he spoke of Shu Prefecture’s most beautiful corpse.
As they approached, Gongsun Yuan turned to look. The candlelight reflected off the surrounding ice blocks, and created several dancing rainbow halos around her, making her entire person impossible to look at directly, even her tears appearing crystal clear.
She raised her hand to wipe away tears, bowing to them, her voice hoarse: “Forgive me, Constable Zhou! I rushed here from Yangzhou but couldn’t see my little sister one last time. Fearing it would become a lifelong regret, I begged Uncle Jiang to let me come in for a look. Please understand, Constable Zhou.”
Zhou Ziqin quickly said: “It’s fine, as long as you don’t move or touch anything.”
“I know… I’m just standing here looking, I haven’t gone near or touched…” As she spoke, the tears she had just wiped away welled up again, “I know… Aruan lying here must be very cold.”
Zhou Ziqin said: “This case is considered closed. She and her lover certainly committed suicide together. Wenyang’s distant relatives have said they’re willing to bury them together, letting them rest in peace soon. What does the lady think?”
Gongsun Yuan gazed at Fu Xinruan’s body, forcing herself to nod slightly, saying: “Perhaps… wait for my sisters to come, at least let them see Aruan one last time.”
Zhou Ziqin nodded, saying: “That’s fine too.”
Gongsun Yuan bowed to him again in thanks.
Huang Zixia held the lamp up to the corpse, gesturing for Zhou Ziqin to come over. Zhou Ziqin saw that the white cloth covering the corpse had only been pulled down to the neck by Gongsun Yuan, revealing Fu Xinruan’s face, so he directly pulled off the entire white cloth, exposing her whole body.
Huang Zixia held the lamp and carefully examined Fu Xinruan. Her clothes were still neat – the gray-purple jacket, cyan skirt, and plain silk thread shoes matched exactly what was recorded in the autopsy report. And her figure was indeed, as Zhou Ziqin had said, a rarely seen perfect corpse. Though the muscles had turned blue and hard from freezing, her skin was smooth and pure white, her figure perfectly proportioned. When alive, she must have been a beauty who would look too tall if taller, too short if shorter, too red with rouge, too white with powder.
After scanning once, she focused on Fu Xinruan’s hands. Her fingers were long and well-proportioned, and as stated in the autopsy report, her right fingertips indeed showed an uneven black color, particularly noticeable against her pale blue-white skin.
She examined it for a long while and raised her hand to rub it several times, but it was ice cold and wouldn’t rub off. She bent down to smell it, but the body had been frozen for so long that obviously no smell remained.
She frowned slightly, put down Fu Xinruan’s hand, and checked the rest of her body. Zhou Ziqin said: “I’ve checked twice already, definitely death by poison.”
“Mm… indeed it is.” She nodded in confirmation, lightly pulling the white cloth to cover the corpse again. The ice cellar was extremely cold, and they were all wearing summer clothes. After talking and examining the corpse, they were already frozen cold to their hands and feet. Seeing no other discoveries, Huang Zixia said to Gongsun Yuan: “Madame, I fear the lamp flame will melt too much ice, perhaps you should go up first.”
Gongsun Yuan nodded, silently gazing one more time at Fu Xinruan lying there quietly, then walked up the steps.
Huang Zixia then went to the Tian-numbered chamber, where Princess Qile’s body was indeed stored. Her round face and those beautiful almond eyes were forever closed. The poison needles had been removed from her body, but they still showed that blue-black color, indicating the poison’s violent nature.
Zhou Ziqin said behind her: “No need to look, died from poison.”
She pulled Princess Qile’s collar down slightly, seeing the needle holes on her neck and chest had turned into small black holes.
Zhou Ziqin, having examined carefully, said: “These needles seem to have been urgent, fast, and dense, probably shot by a mechanism, not stabbed in by someone.”
Huang Zixia nodded, thinking that Li Shubai’s ability to dodge those poison needles was truly impressive – though perhaps it was instinct developed through long experience.
She thought about the assassin again but had no clues. Thinking that since Li Shubai was familiar with him, he must already have a grasp on this matter, she stopped thinking about it and gently covered Princess Qile’s body with the white cloth again.
Uncle Jiang, caught red-handed in his misconduct today, was eager to make amends and had already prepared a water basin and refreshments for them.
Huang Zixia washed her hands in the basin, then invited Gongsun Yuan: “Madame, please join us for some refreshments. Regarding your little sister, we have some matters we need to verify with you, please don’t hesitate to instruct us.”
Gongsun Yuan nodded and knelt at the table with them. Zhou Ziqin personally poured tea for them and eagerly offered them snacks.
But Gongsun Yuan had no heart for refreshments, just holding her teacup as she said: “Eighteen years ago, we had six sisters who admired each other’s arts, so we became sworn sisters in Yangzhou, vowing to support each other for life, relying on one another. At that time, I had an old friend who spent a fortune to build us Yunshao House, so people called us six the Ladies of Yunshao.”
Zhou Ziqin said: “I heard about this from Jinnu in the capital.”
“Yes, Jinnu was my second sister Mei Wanzhi’s disciple. After my second sister disappeared, in terms of the Yangzhou pipa, she was the best.”
Huang Zixia didn’t know if she knew Jinnu was dead, but she thought, Gongsun Yuan certainly didn’t know that Jinnu had died at the hands of her long-missing second sister Mei Wanzhi.
“Each of us had our specialties. I excelled at vigorous dance, Third Sister Lan Dai at soft dance, and Fourth Sister Yin Luyi’s singing voice was praised as heaven’s ultimate sound… but Aruan was different from all of us. She wasn’t one to appear in public, because her specialty was choreography.” Gongsun Yuan sighed, saying softly, “A few years ago, Aruan was invited by several song and dance houses in Sichuan to help them compose a grand piece. It was supposed to be just two months before returning, but who knew she would meet Wenyang and delay month after month? We heard in her letters that Wenyang’s wife had died early, and thought becoming his second wife wouldn’t be so bad, so we let her stay here. Later, because Wenyang’s parents opposed their son marrying a woman from the entertainment register, Aruan returned to Yangzhou for a few years. Until the autumn before last, she met Wenyang again elsewhere and learned his parents had both passed away, so she came with him to Shu Prefecture. Last month, she wrote to tell us that Wenyang’s mourning period was over and they would soon marry. We sisters all contacted each other, Third Sister from Puzhou and Fourth Sister from Suzhou both agreed to come together. Only I, being the eldest sister, thinking to come early to help prepare for the wedding, set out before the others, but who knew that when I arrived in Shu Prefecture, what greeted me would be news of Aruan’s tragedy…”
Speaking to this point, she still couldn’t control her emotions, her eyes brimming with tears, but she forced herself not to let them fall. She looked at Zhou Ziqin, saying: “I heard that Young Master Zhou is the Imperial-appointed Chief Constable of Shu Prefecture. I think you must also feel it’s impossible – my little sister Aruan waited so long, finally about to become a pair with her lover. Now with no obstacles, deeply in love, why would they choose to commit suicide together right before their wedding? I feel there must be more to this!”
Zhou Ziqin nodded, saying: “This indeed defies common sense!”
Huang Zixia asked further: “Did Wenyang have any troubles outside?”
“None at all. I also found Wenyang’s neighbors, who said after his parents and wife passed away, he lived in seclusion, barely interacting with others. Because his family had forest assets providing a good yearly income, he spent his days just reading and painting, a person of very gentle temperament. This matches exactly what Aruan told us in her letters.”
“Then, your sixth sister, did she show any unusual signs before the suicide?”
“I don’t know… Aruan specialized in choreography and musical composition, so she normally lived in seclusion, only renting a small house in Chengdu with just one maidservant. Now that she was about to marry into the Wen family, that maidservant was already sent home, and can’t be found.” Gongsun Yuan shook her head tearfully, “And the song and dance houses she usually helped with choreography only said that two days before her suicide, she went to bid them farewell. At that time she was radiant, glowing with happiness. It’s unimaginable that she would take her life with her lover just days later…”
Huang Zixia nodded thoughtfully: “Speaking of this, it is indeed very strange. After waiting ten years, with all obstacles gone, to commit suicide before the wedding – however you think about it, it seems inconceivable.”
“Therefore, I hope Young Master Zhou can thoroughly reinvestigate this case. Gongsun Yuan would be eternally grateful!” She looked at Zhou Ziqin, her tear-filled eyes unconsciously making him nod and say: “Don’t worry, as Chief Constable of Shu Prefecture, I cannot shirk this responsibility!”