Zhou Ziqin looked at her in astonishment, opening his mouth to ask her something. But Huang Zixia couldn’t hear anything anymore. Before her eyes surged a vast expanse of blood-red color, the same color as the sunset when she first met Yuxuan, just like the current sunset, dyeing the entire world blood-red, the whole world seems to contain only varying shades of red, everything losing its reality, only vague outlines, distorting and wavering before her eyes.

The grief and depression, the bitterness and forbearance that had pressed on her heart for half a year, now seemed like the sudden collapse of the Yellow River’s embankment, unstoppable sorrow quickly engulfing her entire being, making her hands and body tremble uncontrollably.

So… that was it.

The death of her parents and family, the turning point of her life, her disregard for reputation and status, all she had recklessly given – everything had been so easily erased by someone.

She grabbed Zhou Ziqin’s hand, gasping for breath, but couldn’t speak a word.

Zhou Ziqin, seeing her bluish-purple face and trembling body, couldn’t help but ask, “Chonggu, are… are you alright?”

Before he finished speaking, Li Shubai, who had been standing behind her, had already opened his arms and caught Huang Zixia’s trembling, nearly collapsing body. He let her safely lean in his arms, preventing her from falling to the ground.

Her hands waved aimlessly in the air, like tired crows unable to return home at dusk, seemingly trying to grasp something. Li Shubai’s hand protecting her shoulder moved down along her arm, tightly grasping her hand, their fingers interlocking.

The warmth from his body penetrated through her thin inner and outer garments, pressing against her skin, finally bringing some clarity to her chaotic, tumultuous mind.

It was he who embraced her, softly calling in her ear: “Don’t be afraid… you’ve already experienced the most frightening things in the world, what else is there to fear?”

His voice was so deep and gentle, and although her ears were filled with a roaring sound, only hearing the sound of boiling blood, his voice lingered by her ear, making her like a drowning person grabbing a rope thrown from the shore, holding tight, even though her mind had emptied of everything, turning blank, she knew she was saved and wouldn’t let go again.

Knowing he was behind her, knowing he would protect her well, so she let all her strength flow away, thinking of nothing else at this moment, just silently leaning against him. Because she knew this person behind her could give her all the strength and help, supporting her collapsed sky.

She leaned on Li Shubai, letting him support her as they walked to sit in the waterside pavilion.

Zhou Ziqin was at a loss, completely not understanding why she had suddenly become like this, seeing her colorless face, he couldn’t help but stammer: “That… that bracelet, is it very important?”

Huang Zixia nodded, holding her head, not speaking.

Li Shubai then said to him: “I think Chonggu probably suspects someone put poison on the bracelet.”

Zhou Ziqin remembered what Huang Zixia had mentioned to him, and quickly said: “Oh, this matter, Chonggu mentioned it to me before. But we tested it on Fugui earlier, and it seemed there was no poison. Besides, this bracelet had been with Fu Xinruan for quite a while, if there was poison on it, why did she only die from poisoning a few days ago?”

Huang Zixia raised her hand, grabbing his sleeve, a dry, hoarse voice squeezing out bit by bit from her throat: “Give it… to me.”

Zhou Ziqin quickly nodded, handing the bracelet in his hand to her, looking at Huang Zixia uncertainly, at a loss.

Huang Zixia took the jade bracelet with trembling hands, stroking the two small fish biting each other’s tails, intimately swimming together, her hands slightly shaking.

After a long while, she silently raised the jade bracelet, used her fingernail to hook inside it, and then put it on her left wrist. The translucent, brilliant jade bracelet, with sunlight shining on it, created shifting reflections. The two lively small fish seemed to come alive, slightly swaying on her wrist.

Zhou Ziqin gazed at her frost-snow-like fair wrist, appearing especially clean under that brilliant ring of light. He didn’t know why he felt somewhat nervous, stammering: “Chonggu, didn’t you say this bracelet might be poisoned?”

Huang Zixia lowered her head, turning the bracelet with her right hand, her chest slightly heaving, but didn’t say anything.

Li Shubai stood up, saying softly: “Don’t worry, no matter what poison, it couldn’t seep through her undamaged skin, right?”

Zhou Ziqin nodded but felt something wasn’t quite right.

Huang Zixia and Li Shubai didn’t say anything, walking one after another towards the outside. Zhou Ziqin was stunned for a moment, quickly catching up, “Where are you going?”

Li Shubai turned back to indicate to him: “You go to the flower hall first, wait for us.”

Zhou Ziqin agreed, then carefully asked: “Should we find a doctor to check on Chonggu?”

Li Shubai shook his head, saying: “You check this bracelet first. As for Chonggu, I will handle it.”

The prefect’s mansion kitchen was on the southwest side of the compound, close to the government office, and not too far from the dining hall where the prefect’s household had their meals.

When Li Shubai and Huang Zixia arrived at the kitchen, lunch was over and it was too early for dinner, several old women helpers inside were leisurely peeling water chestnuts and lotus seeds while chatting.

Seeing them at the door, the housekeeper Lu Daniang quickly stood up and asked: “Would you two like some snacks?”

Seeing Huang Zixia not speaking, Li Shubai asked: “Do you have lamb hoof soup?”

Lu Daniang quickly said: “No lamb hoof soup, but we still have lamb soup today.”

“Then a bowl of lamb soup,” he said, turning to look at Huang Zixia.

Huang Zixia walked in, chose a large bowl like the one from before, then personally washed it and placed it on the stove.

Though she came from a noble family, from age twelve she often wore men’s clothes and went out to investigate cases with her father, mixing more with yamen runners and constables, her manners having little of a young lady’s refinement, washing bowls and spoons in one smooth motion.

When the lamb soup was ready and she was about to reach out with both hands to carry it, she thought again, and like that day, rolled up her narrow sleeves before carrying it.

The large bowl was Yue kiln celadon, capturing the color of a thousand green peaks. Because the bowl was too large, it had two handles on the sides, she held it with both hands, walking slowly forward. Then carrying the bowl out of the kitchen, heading towards the hall.

This is the utterly familiar path.

After leaving the kitchen door, passing the loquat tree in the courtyard, through the wooden door with cracked boards, ahead was the smoothly polished bluestone ground, a long corridor.

She walked along the corridor forward, just like that time.

Back then, because she was depressed, she stubbornly carried such a large bowl of soup forward. Behind her, the maid Mimu followed, saying to her: “Let me do it instead, Young Miss, you’re too tired!”

But she didn’t pay attention to Mimu, just kept her head down walking forward. When her bent arms grew tired, she would hold the bowl handles, letting her hands drop down. The double fish bracelet slowly slipped from her wrist, making a “ding” sound as it lightly struck the porcelain bowl, a clear crisp sound like breaking ice striking jade.

This “ding” sound also echoed today, on her wrist and the large bowl, the same, as the past returns.

She carried the bowl all the way, silent, head down walking step by step towards the hall.

Li Shubai followed behind her, walking with her toward the hall – where her family had once eaten together happily.

From the porcelain bowl of freshly ladled lamb soup, steam rose to curl upward. The water vapor condensed on her downcast eyelashes, moistening her eyes.

She remembered the early summer of her fourteenth year, dragonflies flying low, lotus flowers just beginning to bloom. Blood-colored sunset enveloped the entire world, and she saw his eyes, gentle and clear, not looking at her like a little girl, but like someone he would guard for his whole life.

The tears in his eyes when he carried orphaned children who had lost their parents to the foundling hall. He said, Axia, perhaps in this world, only I best understand this feeling. She saw the thin gleam of water in his eyes, that kind of grief and melancholy, until the moment her family members passed away, she finally understood.

Under the autumn creeper trellis, they sat back to back half a foot apart. He turned the pages of his book one by one, while she peeled lotus seeds one by one. Occasionally when there was an especially sweet lotus pod, she would peel one and pass it to him, and he would eat it silently. She got angry and plucked a creeper fruit, throwing it hard at the top of his head. The soft fruit flew away, while he rubbed his head looking at her, his face blank and innocent.

The night he moved out to live elsewhere, a snowstorm began in the early hours. When she got up early the next day to look for him, she opened the door to find him standing right by the doorstep, the eaves unable to block the flying snow, his whole body rigid, covered in snow. The snow on his shoulders had melted and then frozen again into ice, frozen on his shoulders. His expression was wooden, just looking at her, unable to speak. Only when she quickly pulled him inside and helped brush off the accumulated snow did he gaze at her and say in a very low voice, so low it was almost unclear: I have no choice, I don’t know what to do… without you all.

What to do, what to do? What to do…

Huang Zixia’s body began to tremble slightly.

She finally walked the last stretch of path, entering the hall, and placing the porcelain bowl she held on the table.

Zhou Ziqin was already waiting for her there, eager to speak with her, but seeing Li Shubai following behind her, and her expression so frozen and heavy, he stood stunned by the table for a moment, not going forward to disturb her.

Li Shubai, who had been carrying bowls and plates for her behind her, set the cleaned small bowls one by one on the table.

Huang Zixia silently took a deep breath, then tightened her already rolled-up sleeves, and began to ladle the soup.

Her left hand holding a small bowl, hovering above the steaming large bowl, her right hand using the wooden ladle to scoop up the soup inside, after filling one bowl, putting the wooden ladle back in the large bowl below, using both hands to put the bowl back, then picking up another bowl to fill with soup…

Her face was pale, and although she tried to control herself, she couldn’t suppress her trembling form. Li Shubai looked at her face and saw her expression like dead ashes, her eyes full of immense grief. But even so, she still stubbornly walked step by step towards the result she most feared, infinitely sorrowful, infinitely despairing, infinitely determined.

Li Shubai raised his hand to gently press on her shoulder, her continuously trembling body felt his palm pressing on her shoulder, a kind of strength flowing faintly through the point where his palm connected with her shoulder, from his hand, entering through her shoulder, a tremendous courage pressing down on her fragile, thin frame.

He lowered his head, saying softly by her ear: “Whatever the result, you need not be afraid – I always stand on your side.”

Her breathing became rapid because of his words. That death-like heavy burden pressing on her, those terrifying results she dared not face, that perpetrator destined to break her heart, all became unimportant in an instant.

What was important was truthfully reconstructing all the steps and details of the case, pulling apart all evil without allowing any concealment like unraveling silk cocoons, was extracting and refining all truth to present before everyone.

No matter what the truth was, she now had the most solid bulwark behind her, he would give her the greatest strength, and no one could take that away.

She looked back up at Li Shubai, slowly nodding to him, saying softly: “It’s alright, I will do it well.”

Li Shubai gazed deeply at her, seeing the determined look in her eyes, only then did he feel reassured enough to release her shoulder.

Her mind became clear and penetrating, her originally trembling wrists also becoming steady. She ladled five bowls of fragrant lamb soup, arranging them one by one on the table, then, one by one placing them in the positions where her family members had sat.

Then, as if all strength had left her body, she slowly sat down by the table, staring blankly at these five bowls of lamb soup for a long time, before opening her mouth to say: “Ziqin, help me test these five bowls of lamb soup.”

“Test for what?” Zhou Ziqin was somewhat confused.

“Poison… aconite poison,” Huang Zixia said slowly but very clearly.

Zhou Ziqin was immediately shocked, crying out: “How could there be poison? This was personally carried from the kitchen by you, escorted by the Prince of Kui, and personally ladled and placed on the table by you! Besides… besides where would you get aconite poison?”

“Test it.” Huang Zixia clenched her teeth, not saying another word.