Yu Xuan looked at her, saying slowly: “I recognize this handwriting… I think you must recognize it too.”
Huang Zixia breathed heavily, trying to calm the surging blood in her chest. But it was useless – supreme terror enveloped her entire body in an instant, making her unable to control herself, almost turning to flee, to escape this dark wave rushing toward her face, to flee this terrifying abyss about to swallow her.
Her head buzzing, she threw down the letter, covering her ears with her hands, desperately trying to regain some rationality.
She raised her head, staring at Yu Xuan before her, asking word by word: “What is this? Are you suggesting…”
He gazed at her, eyes unblinking, his voice deep and hoarse: “I mean, when you warned me about Master Shan… perhaps you had met Master Shan before?”
Who knew?
What they faced might be true, might be false, might be half-true and half-false.
At least, she truly didn’t know when she had written such a letter, how it had reached his desk, and finally, how she had forgotten about this letter.
When she warned Yu Xuan, little did she know that she too had things that didn’t exist in her memory, unconsciously leaving traces she hadn’t noticed herself.
Huang Zixia pressed her temples hard but couldn’t suppress her gasping breaths.
Yu Xuan looked at her, calling softly: “You… don’t remember?”
Huang Zixia clenched her teeth and shook her head, unable to speak any words.
The plain paper floated to the ground, light as cotton, without a sound.
Li Shubai, who had been coldly observing, picked up the paper, examined these lines without heading or signature, read it silently once, then slowly asked: “This was written by Zixia to you?”
Yu Xuan avoided answering, just standing there, watching Huang Zixia.
But Huang Zixia nodded, saying slowly: “This handwriting… is mine.”
Yu Xuan silently closed his eyes, nodding heavily once.
Li Shubai examined the writing style, saying slowly: “Many people in the world study Lady Wei’s regular script – why do you think this letter is yours?”
Huang Zixia said softly: “Because… in every character with ‘ye’ (页), since childhood, I’ve always written the middle two horizontal strokes short, though I know this, I can’t change it when writing, so I have to add another stroke, therefore there’s always a trace of addition…”
The three “ye” characters on it – one in “gu” (顾), two in “yuan” (願) – were all like this.
“But, my handwriting, my actions, yet I myself… know nothing about it…” Huang Zixia felt as if all strength had been drained from her body. She supported herself on a nearby chair, slowly sitting down, saying bewilderedly.
“This is the second letter you sent me after the incident,” Yu Xuan said quietly. “After my adoptive parents died and you fled Chengdu Prefecture, one day when I returned from Qi Teng’s home, I found it on the desk in my study. Don’t know where it came from or how you sent it to me, but I think this was your confession of guilt, meaning to bid farewell to the world.”
Li Shubai carefully analyzed the letter’s content, saying calmly: “Looking at the wording of this letter, there is an intention to bid farewell to the world, but I don’t see any confession of guilt.”
Yu Xuan remained silent, while Huang Zixia asked in a hoarse voice: “Dripping fresh blood on hands – doesn’t that count?”
“This letter has many suspicious points. Let’s analyze it before concluding,” Li Shubai said with a calm expression, folding the letter back as it was and returning it to the envelope, his voice even more unperturbed than his expression.
Yu Xuan remained silent, just looking at Huang Zixia before him, saying hoarsely: “I’ve kept this letter hidden here for over half a year, showing no one. Giving it to you today, if you truly believe… believe Huang Zixia is innocent, please continue investigating, give me, and yourself, an explanation.”
Huang Zixia carried that letter as she returned to the Chengdu Prefecture office with Li Shubai.
Upon reaching the office, Zhou Ziqin was already sitting inside, one hand holding a bun, the other examining the twin fish bracelet, his face beaming.
Huang Zixia felt the letter’s folded corner seeming to prick her skin, making her feel both embarrassed and helpless.
Li Shubai gave Huang Zixia a meaningful look. As she was lost in thought, he suddenly leaned close to her ear, asking softly: “When do you think would be a good time to tell him the truth?”
Huang Zixia heard the teasing in his words, and the heavy stone pressing on her chest seemed to lift slightly before his banter, making her unconsciously retort: “Next life!”
“What next life?” Zhou Ziqin’s ears were sharp, already hearing them. He stood up and walked toward them, “Hey, you’re too slow, I’ve been waiting for ages.”
Li Shubai glanced at the bracelet in his hand, asking: “What are you waiting for us for?”
“Tang Zhuniang, that maid of Fu Xinruan – her body has been found, and several people who knew her have come from Long Prefecture. Let’s hurry to investigate!”
Zhou Ziqin walked out holding the jade bracelet in one hand and a bun in the other, eating as he went. The cook peeked out and seeing him, quickly called: “Captain, Captain! There’s still rice cake here, want one?”
“Oh, I love rice cakes!” Zhou Ziqin’s face lit up, quickly tucked the bracelet into his clothes and took the rice cake.
“Ziqin, so early?” someone laughed nearby.
Zhou Ziqin turned to look – it was Qi Teng, holding a stack of documents, clearly coming to discuss official business. He quickly stuffed the remaining bun in his mouth and cupped his hands in greeting: “Brother Qi!”
“What kind of habit is this, eating rice cake with such dirty hands.” Qi Teng mocked, reaching out to take the rice cake from Zhou Ziqin’s hand, but didn’t eat it, just looking at Zhou Ziqin’s hands, saying, “All covered in rice paste – you’re going to investigate cases like this?”
“Oh…” Zhou Ziqin blinked, still looking at the rice cake in his hand, but Qi Teng casually threw the rice cake into the nearby drainage ditch, then scooped up some water, saying: “Come, wash your hands.”
Zhou Ziqin felt extremely embarrassed, quickly saying: “I… I’ll do it myself…”
“Come on, you’re almost my brother-in-law now.” Saying this, he insisted on splashing two or three scoops of water, washing Zhou Ziqin’s hands completely clean before letting him go, throwing the water dipper aside, and saying, “Ziqin, do you know how dirty women’s things are? They’re covered in invisible oil and grime! I had a friend who often held his lover’s bracelet, reminiscing while looking at it. Once he ate fruit without washing his hands and got so sick with vomiting and diarrhea that he almost died. Later we found out the bracelet was from a pawnshop, taken by those despicable people from corpses floating in the river. Can you imagine handling such things, keeping them close, holding them while eating?”
Zhou Ziqin laughed dryly, touching the bracelet through his clothes: “Brother Qi, this bracelet… is new, definitely not from a floating corpse…”
“Just be extra careful! I’ll be free this afternoon, I’ll take you to Mount Mingyue to get some purified water from Master Shan to properly cleanse this bracelet!”
Saying this, he picked up his stack of documents again and went into the office.
Zhou Ziqin stuck his tongue out at his back, muttering softly: “Never noticed before, here’s another clean freak…”
Huang Zixia’s gaze fell on the rice cake thrown into the drainage ditch, thoughtfully raising her head to meet Li Shubai’s eyes.
Huang Zixia knew he would never do such a thing, so she could only make a bitter face and nod once.
As the three walked out, Huang Zixia suddenly cried “Ah!” shaking her foot, saying frustratedly: “Stepped in dog poop.”
Zhou Ziqin asked concernedly: “Are you alright?”
“It’s fine, luckily it’s dry. I’ll go scrape it off by the drainage ditch.”
Saying this, she ran to the drainage ditch. Zhou Ziqin called from behind: “Hurry up, I’ll wait for you.”
“Don’t wait, let’s go to the stables first,” Li Shubai walked ahead.
Zhou Ziqin looked back once more, then had to follow him.
Huang Zixia went to the drainage ditch, pretending to scrape her shoe sole while watching for people around. When no one was there, she grabbed a tree branch from the ground, stabbed the rice cake, and lifted it. Fortunately, the rice cake had fallen on a stone and hadn’t been dissolved by the water.
She tore off a cabbage leaf nearby, wrapped the rice cake in it, and carried it to the stables to meet Li Shubai and Zhou Ziqin.
Diee was still gaining weight, proudly eating beans and bullying other horses. Fengsha lay beside it recovering, resting in the hay, its large eyes looking around.
Though Li Shubai and Huang Zixia were disguised, they feared Diee might smell them, so they deliberately went to the opposite stable and chose two inferior horses.
As they rode through the streets, a fierce, thin dog rushed out from an alley, barking furiously at them. It was like someone offering a pillow when you want to sleep – Huang Zixia immediately threw out the rice cake wrapped in cabbage. The dog sniffed it and ate it all, including the cabbage, in a few bites.
Zhou Ziqin said: “I wouldn’t feed such a vicious dog!”
Huang Zixia said: “I needed a dog, planning to catch it for use.”
“What use?”
“Dogs have very sensitive noses – well-trained, they can help investigate cases. Looking at this dog’s appearance, it should be the best tracking hound.”
Zhou Ziqin immediately turned to instruct someone behind: “A Zhuo, quickly catch it for me!”
So by the time they arrived at the mortuary, they had become four people and one dog.
The old man guarding the mortuary saw the dirty, thin dog and laughed: “Young Captain, if you wanted a dog you should have told me! My dog just had several puppies – much better looking than this thing!”
“You don’t understand! Just look at this dog’s appearance – it’s the best tracking hound!” Zhou Ziqin tugged the dog’s leash, tying it at the entrance.
The old man could hardly believe his eyes, squatting at the door and staring at the dog for a long while before muttering: “This thing a tracking hound? It’s just a mongrel!”
Zhou Ziqin strode into the mortuary, seeing a corpse covered with white cloth inside, several constables chatting, and several middle-aged men and women with gloomy faces standing nearby – probably Tang Zhuniang’s relatives and friends.
“Come, come quickly meet Young Captain Zhou!” the constables called out, introducing everyone to Zhou Ziqin one by one – who was a neighbor, who was a nephew or niece.
Zhou Ziqin first opened his toolbox, put on thin leather gloves, and examined Tang Zhuniang’s injuries. She had indeed died from falling off a cliff, with broken limbs and a bloody, mangled head. Her face was also completely ruined – only a mole behind her ear accurately revealed her identity.
“These are the things she was carrying when she fell from the cliff,” the constables handed over a bundle.
Zhou Ziqin casually looked through it, seeing only some change of clothes, some loose coins, and nothing else in the bundle. He threw the things aside, saying: “Looks like she just fell off the cliff accidentally while traveling.”
Huang Zixia suddenly remembered something and asked: “When did she die?”
“Yesterday morning, around… the fifth watch.”
Fifth watch. Huang Zixia immediately thought of Zhang Xingying, who had been knocked off the cliff by that galloping horse during the fifth watch yesterday.
“By the way, Ziqin, I heard that because of the assassination attempt on Prince Kui, the mountain roads from Chengdu Prefecture to Han Prefecture are all guarded by Xichuan troops, making it very troublesome for common people?”
“Yes, that road never lacks merchants and travelers. Now the Xichuan army forbids anyone from riding horses or carriages in or out, and even people walking through are searched. The common people are full of complaints,” Zhou Ziqin said, then remembered something else, saying, “I wonder if Brother Zhang has reached Han Prefecture yet. Ah, poor Brother Zhang – in this vast world, in this sea of people, how difficult it is to find Dicui!”
Huang Zixia crouched down to examine Tang Zhuniang’s wounds, seeing even her skull was cracked – truly horrific. She stood up and turned to ask Zhou Ziqin: “Want to know where Brother Zhang is now? Should I tell you?”
“I don’t believe you!” Zhou Ziqin snorted disbelievingly: “Do you have clairvoyance and divine hearing to know Brother Zhang’s every move in Han Prefecture?”
Huang Zixia smiled at him, saying: “Believe it or not. I not only know where he is now, but also know his right arm is dislocated and he’s brewing medicine at an inn…”
Zhou Ziqin immediately jumped up: “What did you say? Brother Zhang is injured and brewing medicine at an inn?”
“Don’t worry, he’s not brewing medicine for himself – it’s not that serious.” She said while examining Tang Zhuniang’s bundle again, carefully checking the patterns and styles of the clothes.
Zhou Ziqin was anxiously hopping from foot to foot, finally turning to grab Li Shubai’s sleeve and pleading: “Brother Wang, Brother Wang, please tell me what’s going on?”
Li Shubai glanced at Huang Zixia, saying: “Follow us at noon and you’ll know.”
“You… you’re killing me!”
Watching Zhou Ziqin running around like an ant on a hot pot, Huang Zixia couldn’t help smiling at Li Shubai, giving him a “well done” look.