Huang Zixia pondered slowly, saying: “Speaking of which, Qi Teng’s luck has been remarkable. I checked the records – last year he was still frustrated, serving as the lowest-ranked assistant under General Fan, but since this year he’s gained the General’s favor. Now he’s rising rapidly, promoted to Administrative Assistant to the Military Commissioner in just a few months!”
Yu Xuan nodded, saying: “Yes, who could have imagined.”
“With such rapid promotion, I wonder if he had relatives helping him?”
“Perhaps, but I don’t know,” Yu Xuan said.
The last flower bed was filled with roses. Withered by the summer sun, the roses were sparse, with only one or two branches listlessly bearing a few pale blooms.
“These roses are of excellent variety. I remember in spring, each bloom was as large as a bowl, perfect in form, color, and fragrance,” Yu Xuan said while watering. “I remember Qi Teng loved these flowers most.”
Huang Zixia asked casually, “Qi Teng likes roses?”
“He loves all bright and beautiful flowers. While Wen Yang hates roses, peonies, hydrangeas, hollyhocks – all those flowers with bright colors and large blooms.”
Huang Zixia immediately thought of the hydrangea and butterfly painting in Wen Yang’s study.
She nodded slowly and asked, “How is the relationship between Wen Yang and Qi Teng usually?”
Yu Xuan thought for a long while before saying slowly: “They don’t interact much.”
“And with you?” Huang Zixia hesitated for a long time but finally asked, “Between these two, who do you associate with more?”
Yu Xuan’s face darkened, but he eventually forced himself to speak: “Qi Teng saved me once, and Wen Yang studied calligraphy with me, but both of them… to me, are just passers-by. Whether they’re here or not, nothing changes.”
Huang Zixia pursued the question: “Qi Teng saved you – what happened?”
“After my adoptive parents passed away, I was in despair. Qi Teng happened to pass by and saved me.” He didn’t want to elaborate, just brushing past it.
These cold, distant words left Huang Zixia stunned there, as if all strength had been drained from her bones, not knowing how to react for a long while.
After a long time, she asked hoarsely: “Why… did you?”
“I… couldn’t bear it, just wanted to escape…” he turned his head aside, saying softly: “In this life, I’ve already experienced the pain of losing family once, I never want to endure… a second time.”
Huang Zixia felt her eyes burning, a violent ache slowly boiling and flowing through her heart, making her almost unable to contain her tears, about to burst forth.
Li Shubai, seeing her tearful eyes losing control, feared she might break down crying, so he said softly: “It’s getting late, Zhou Ziqin is waiting for us at the government office.”
Huang Zixia nodded, tilting her head back to take a long breath, forcing her tears away.
Seeing she was about to leave, Yu Xuan asked softly: “The Wen Yang case… is it related to my adoptive parents’ death?”
“In Chengdu Prefecture, very few people could obtain arsenic poison. And even fewer who had arsenic could get close to the Prefecture Lord’s mansion,” Huang Zixia said, then shook her head, saying, “But it might just be the same poison – I don’t know if I’m overthinking it.” There was another connection – the bracelet he had given her. But Huang Zixia thought for a moment and chose to ignore mentioning this.
Yu Xuan said slowly: “Speaking of this, I suddenly remembered something.”
“What?”
“I know someone who might have court connections and could obtain arsenic poison.”
Huang Zixia immediately asked: “Who?”
“Qi Teng.”
Not just Huang Zixia, even Li Shubai immediately became alert, asking: “Qi Teng has contact with people in the palace?”
“I don’t know about that, but a few days ago, Wang Yun from the Wang family of Langya arrived…” he mentioned this name, inevitably looking toward Huang Zixia.
Huang Zixia, being in low spirits, only showed a slight flicker in her expression before quietly waiting for his next words.
Yu Xuan hesitated for a moment, then continued: “The other day, Qi Teng brought him to visit me. That’s when I learned that Qi Teng’s mother is from the Wang family – he’s Wang Yun’s distant cousin.”
Huang Zixia nodded once, muttering to herself: “The Wang family…”
With Empress Wang in the palace, if one wanted to, access would naturally be possible.
Li Shubai pondered beside her for a moment, looking at her thoughtfully, his eyes showing even more complex emotions.
Huang Zixia understood his meaning – Wang Yun coming to Chengdu Prefecture to find Yu Xuan couldn’t possibly be for court or Wang’s family business. There could only be one reason.
That situation must have been quite awkward.
Huang Zixia didn’t know exactly what she was thinking, feeling too confused to sort out her thoughts. She could only look up at the unreachable blue sky, let out a long breath, and say to Yu Xuan: “Thank you for telling me this. It’s important – I’ll go discuss it with Zhou Ziqin at the government office first.”
“Wait a moment.” Yu Xuan put the water bucket and dipper in the small house by the garden gate, arranged them properly, and then came out with them, saying: “I want to go too, to hear about the case’s progress. After all, you said this case might be related to my adoptive parents’ case.”
Huang Zixia nodded once, and Li Shubai showed no objection, so the three left Qing Garden together.
Thinking about Master Shan’s matter today, Huang Zixia hesitated but finally asked: “Yu Xuan, let me ask you, did you know that Master Shan might… know soul-capturing techniques?”
Yu Xuan frowned, asking in surprise: “What?”
“You might not believe it, but just now in his meditation chamber, he was trying to probe something from me,” Huang Zixia quietly watched him, studying his expression, saying: “The people of Chengdu Prefecture all say Master Shan’s Buddhist powers are boundless, delivering all beings to salvation – but actually, these so-called miracles might just be the power of his soul-capturing technique.”
“Soul-capturing technique…” Yu Xuan opened his mouth to say something but stopped there, motionless, silent, only his breathing gradually becoming heavier.
Li Shubai, seeing him stunned in place, said: “Soul-capturing technique is an art from the Western Regions. It’s said that during Empress Wu’s time, a sorcerer entered the capital who could make people lose control with just one look. Some palace servants were bewitched by him and tried to assassinate Empress Wu in her chambers at night. Fortunately, Shangguan Wan’er by the Empress’s side grabbed a dagger and threw it, killing the assassin, and protecting the Empress’s safety. Later, Di Gong Di Renjie solved the many mysteries, exposing the sorcerer’s soul-capturing technique. When exposed, the Western Region sorcerer tried to resist and was killed by a volley of arrows. Since then, there seemed to be no more mention of anyone knowing soul-capturing techniques.”
Huang Zixia nodded, saying to Yu Xuan: “Yes, and Master Shan seems to be an expert in this. So, although Master Shan hasn’t shown any misconduct, you should be careful in future interactions with him, to avoid being controlled by him.”
Yu Xuan silently nodded but said nothing. His face was pale, and in the sunlight, his skin seemed to have a slightly transparent, luminous white quality, particularly striking.
He followed silently behind them for a long while, then finally called out: “Xia…”
Huang Zixia turned to look at him.
He seemed about to speak but stopped, his pale face full of hesitation, doubt, and fear. After a long while, he said: “I mentioned before that I had something I wanted you to look at.”
Huang Zixia nodded, asking: “What is it?”
He pointed to the south, not far away, saying: “It’s in my study. If you have time now, you can come with me.”
Huang Zixia looked at Li Shubai, saw him nod once, and Yu Xuan, seeing Li Shubai’s approval, said nothing but turned to walk toward his residence.
Shu Prefecture had always had many talented scholars, and to encourage students’ progress, each county and village offered rewards. After Chengdu Prefecture students passed the provincial examinations, the government would assign them residences and provide monthly stipends to encourage their studies.
Yu Xuan became Shu Prefecture’s top scholar before nineteen, his prominence unmatched. Although Huang Zixia’s father was very reluctant, he still let him live in his assigned residence – perhaps because his father felt that since his daughter was already betrothed, it wasn’t appropriate for her to remain so close to Yu Xuan at fifteen or sixteen.
The residence built for Yu Xuan by the prefecture was beside Hanyuan Bridge in the east of the city. Weeping willows and small peach trees were planted along both sides of the entrance – in spring, it would be a beautiful sight.
Huang Zixia couldn’t remember how many times she had come here, lightly knocking on the door. But she knew she was the person most familiar with its layout besides Yu Xuan – entering through the main gate, there was a powder-white screen wall, behind it a narrow courtyard with a small pool about four or five feet square, where water lilies grew vigorously. Now in late summer, they should be blooming at their best. Behind the pool was the main hall. Side rooms and covered corridors flanked it. Further back was the rear courtyard, with three rooms connected, the study and bedroom joined together, separated only by bookshelves, the room open and spacious.
She had once teased him, saying such a small residence – why not secretly return to live at the Prefecture Lord’s mansion? Just the Xieli Courtyard where he had lived was more spacious and elegant than this place. But he would lie on his couch, covering his face with a book to block the sunlight, saying in a deep voice: “For someone of my background, having a roof over my head in this life is already great fortune. This place is fine – in life, even princes and nobles, how much space do they need for living and sleeping?”
Thinking back now, their relationship had indeed begun to grow distant after he moved out. She was busy with various cases, he was busy with gatherings and lectures, often not seeing each other for ten or fifteen days. Even though they frequently wrote letters, it only made them feel more distant.
At that time, he had said to her, Xia, if only you weren’t investigating cases.
She was extremely angry, as if her meaning in this world had been overthrown, leaving her with no pride to stand on. They had their first intense argument, and she ran back swearing never to see him again. However, the next morning, he gently knocked on her window, handing her an osmanthus branch with a box beneath it.
The sweet fragrance of osmanthus filled her entire chamber, and the bracelet in the box turned all her night’s depression and grievance into nothing –
Inside was the design they had discussed for so long – two small fish biting each other’s tails, just like them, dependent on each other, never to be separated.
Huang Zixia silently thought of the past as she followed Yu Xuan inside.
Past the powder-white screen wall, through the courtyard blooming with water lilies, the rear hall was his study and bedroom, three large rooms without barriers, connected and separated only by bookshelves and curio shelves.
Yu Xuan walked to his desk, pulled open the drawer, and from beneath everything, extracted a letter and handed it to Huang Zixia.
Huang Zixia saw the letter had no addressee or signature, completely blank. She raised her hand to take it, looking up at him questioningly.
He said slowly: “One day, after returning from Qi Teng’s home, I found… this letter on my desk.”
Huang Zixia opened the unsealed envelope and found inside only a thin sheet of snow-white paper.
She pulled out the paper, spread it open, and carefully read the familiar handwriting –
“Ten and more years of filial joy, in one evening waves surge forth, an entire family leaving only one lonely soul standing in the world, unwilling to let dripping fresh blood accompany my remaining life. The one I love is not human, long violating my heart’s wishes, various karmic bonds, mostly fate’s tricks. Not to meet in the next life, this life is finished, writing these words to bid you farewell, heaven’s wind and rain eternally separating us from the mortal realm.”
Huang Zixia looked at the flowing ink traces on this plain paper, the slightly scattered handwriting making cold sweat break out on her back, her entire person seeming dazed, standing there, not daring to move.
Because this handwriting was so familiar, making her feel each character was like a terrifying monster, revealing its most ferocious face to her, about to devour her soul and consciousness completely –
This was her handwriting.
In this world, no one was more familiar with it than she was with her writing.
She felt every inch of her skin, her hair standing on end; every pore on her body breaking out in pin-point cold sweat; her breath short, making her body tremble, her face instantly turning ashen white.