“Yes, even if she ran, it probably wouldn’t be enough time for a round trip…” Fan Yuanlong was the first to question.
“Indeed, after the flower petals fell, Madam Gongsun continued performing, releasing butterflies hidden in her sleeves one by one, with the butterflies flying faster and faster until they all finally flew out—if she wasn’t there at the time, surely the butterflies would have scattered all at once, rather than being controlled so well to fly so slowly?” Zhou Ziqin then let his imagination run wild: “Could it be that Madam Gongsun had some method to go back and forth incredibly fast before the flower petals finished falling? Was it ground-shrinking magic, or taking ten-zhang steps?”
“Of course not. Ground-shrinking magic and ten-zhang steps are just legends. But why not think about it differently? Madam Gongsun didn’t need to move quickly back and forth. When the butterflies were flying out, she didn’t need to return at all, yet there was something that could help her control the speed of the butterflies’ release, preventing them from scattering all at once, making them fly out slowly but gradually faster and faster, with more and more emerging…”
Zhou Ziqin blinked his confused, watery eyes at her: “Could it be… a mechanism that could be triggered with a delay after being set up? So it would slowly open after she left?”
“No, how could such a mechanism be installed on just a gauze curtain and a brocade robe at that time, and why go to such trouble? And the thing she used then—you helped eliminate some of the traces.”
Huang Zixia’s words made Zhou Ziqin’s mouth form a perfect circle: “Re-really? Impossible, when did I help her… I barely interacted with Madam Gongsun, and I didn’t do anything!”
“Because you overlooked it completely, never making the connection.” As she spoke, Huang Zixia took out a small bag of maltose candy and showed it to everyone. “As I understand it because Fourth Lady Yin has weak blood circulation, she often carries a bag of candy. Yet she doesn’t choose hard candies like ginger candy or crystal sugar, but soft, chewy maltose candy.”
Yin Luyi couldn’t help interrupting, her voice timid yet carrying a hidden sharpness: “Eunuch Yang, I like eating maltose candy, is that… also a crime?”
“Of course not. Some people prefer hard candy, others soft candy—it’s a personal choice. However, I’ve never seen anyone like you who needs an entire block of maltose candy,” Huang Zixia said as she distributed the candies to everyone. “Moreover, after buying a whole block of maltose candy, you don’t cut it up but use it to carve little animals for fun—that’s certainly a kind of artistic interest, and we can’t say anything about that. But I want to ask Fourth Lady one thing—where are those whole sheets of rice paper that the shopkeeper specially added on both sides of the candy block to prevent the maltose from melting or sticking?”
Everyone held a piece of candy in their hands, each with a small sheet of rice paper underneath—translucent, soft thin sheets made from rice, used to prevent the candy pieces from sticking together. Though easily torn, they were an essential wrapper for each piece of candy.
Gongsun Yuan and Fourth Lady Yin’s expressions finally changed, and Gongsun Yuan’s clear, determined eyes finally began to waver.
Huang Zixia moved her gaze away from her and said softly: “The butterfly cage was prepared beforehand, opened and sealed with rice paper, and then placed behind the gauze curtain. When you removed your outer garment, you only needed to wet your finger with saliva and draw a line on the rice paper—when the rice paper met water, it would gradually dissolve, eventually creating a large hole. The butterflies inside would then fly out one by one, and no matter where you were, the hole in the rice paper would only grow larger, and the butterflies would fly faster and faster—”
At this point, she raised her hand to gesture at the distance between the waterside pavilion and the dock, asking: “From the time all the flower petals fell to when the butterflies finished flying—was that enough time for you to make the round trip and kill someone?”
This inconceivable method, this precisely timed plan, left everyone who heard it stunned. The waterside pavilion fell completely silent, with no one able to speak.
Amid the silence, Gongsun Yuan’s voice slowly came forth, still calm and composed: “Eunuch Yang, these murder methods you’ve fabricated for me are certainly clever and painstakingly thought out. I never imagined that my Fourth Sister’s weak constitution requiring some maltose candy could lead to such elaborate theories; my preparing a slightly heavier dance costume could become part of a murder method; even my needing to pause midway due to my age could be interpreted as sneaking out to commit murder…”
At this point, a smile even appeared at the corner of her lips, bright and enchanting, quite captivating: “So, Eunuch Yang, what about the evidence? Just because I had time to kill someone, does that mean I must be the killer? No motive, no weapon, yet with just a few words from you, I became a murderer?”
“First, among everyone present, only you could have had the opportunity to commit the crime—no one else did.” Huang Zixia completely ignored her smile, her expression even calmer and more composed. “Second, I can certainly find the weapon, and prove that it belongs to you.”
Gongsun Yuan slightly raised her chin, standing silently before her, no longer speaking, with an expression of wanting to see what show Huang Zixia would put on.
“The first mystery of this case was the timing of the crime, which we have now solved. The second mystery was the missing weapon. There was a bloody hole in Administrative Assistant Qi’s chest, showing it was made by a weapon. But when we immediately searched almost everyone present thoroughly, we found no matching weapon, and none was found in the water or at the scene, which means—the weapon must still be at the scene, just well hidden.”
Zhou Ziqin couldn’t wait again and quickly spoke up: “But Chonggu, the yamen’s numerous constables have been searching here for several days with no results! Where exactly was the weapon hidden?”
“For this, we’ll need your help again.” As she spoke, she leaned close to his ear and whispered something, making Zhou Ziqin suddenly jump up, slapping his forehead and shouting: “How did I not think of that? I am a big idiot!”
Without saying anything else, he turned and rushed off, heading in the direction of the yamen.
Zhou Xiang could only apologetically say to Li Shubai: “My unworthy son is ill-mannered, coming and going without a word…”
Li Shubai set down his teacup, his face showing a rare smile as he said: “Ziqin is pure and unaffected by worldly conventions—this is what I admire most about him.”
Zhou Xiang quickly affected a humble manner, muttering “How could I dare, how could I dare” repeatedly.
Fan Yingxi looked at his son, and though his expression remained neutral, he turned his face half an inch away to avoid seeing him in his peripheral vision.
When Zhou Ziqin returned, everyone saw he was leading a thin, ugly mongrel dog, with a piece of clothing draped over his arm—it was the garment Fan Yuanlong had worn that day. It had been wiped with blood and stained with wine, and Fan Yuanlong had removed and discarded it on the spot, but surprisingly, the yamen had preserved it.
Zhou Ziqin crouched down and held the bloodstained part to the dog’s nose, patting its head and saying: “Fugui, smell the blood on this, quickly go find it! I’ll give you a bone if you find it!”
The dog sniffed repeatedly, completely missing Zhou Ziqin’s meaning and thinking it was food, opened its mouth wide and bit the cloth, chewing it a couple of times.
“Hey, you stupid dog…” Zhou Ziqin quickly pulled the garment from its mouth, looking dejectedly at the two tooth holes in it.
“Let me try,” Huang Zixia said resignedly, taking the dog from his hands and rubbing its head, leading it along the shrubbery toward where the gauze chamber had been placed.
When she stopped at a spot between two bluestone slabs, Fugui circled her feet several times, and seeing she hadn’t moved, began sniffing the ground continuously, nudging here and there, until suddenly perking up and starting to bark furiously at a crack between the stones.
Huang Zixia struggled to control it, turning to tell everyone: “Pry up this stone slab.”
Zhou Ziqin was immediately dumbfounded: “Chonggu, you’re being fanciful! This stone slab weighs several hundred jin—how could the killer have had time to pry it up to hide the weapon after the murder? Besides, the killer wouldn’t have had such strength!”
Huang Zixia shook her head: “No, the weapon isn’t under the bluestone.”
“Then why are we prying up the stone?”
“Because with the bluestone in place, we could never reach the place where the weapon is hidden.”
Zhou Ziqin didn’t waste words, immediately calling two constables to bring crowbars and wooden levers. Then, crouching on the ground and gesturing at the two bluestone slabs, he asked her: “Which one should we pry up?”
“Either one, the smaller one,” Huang Zixia said.
“Either one…?” Zhou Ziqin’s mouth twitched, but he immediately indicated the smaller slab, signaling them to begin.
While they worked on this, a group of people watched from the side.
Gongsun Yuan and Yin Luyi sat motionless with ashen faces, but the atmosphere around Li Shubai was not at all tense. Fan Yingxi was bringing Master Mu Shan over to converse with Li Shubai. Since Li Shubai had worn a disguise during his previous visit, this was considered their first meeting. Fan Yingxi praised Master Mu Shan as an unparalleled great virtuous monk, while Li Shubai merely said he had heard the master’s name in the capital, and that normally the master’s presence wouldn’t have been required today, but hearing he would be leaving for a walking meditation tomorrow, he feared missing the chance to meet him, so he had used the master’s acquaintance with Administrative Assistant Qi as an excuse to invite him—and indeed, his dignified appearance was truly extraordinary.
Fan Yingxi and Master Mu Shan were both delighted, a great weight lifted from their hearts, creating a thoroughly harmonious atmosphere.
Zhou Xiang was inquiring about Wang Yun’s old acquaintances in the capital, asking about the recent situations of Wang Yun’s uncles, cousins, and other relatives he knew—over a dozen people, enough to keep him concerned for an hour or two.
Fan Yuanlong had slipped over to Zhou Ziqin’s side, watching them pry up the bluestone while lamenting to Zhou Ziqin that if those two beauties were the killers, it would be such a waste—he’d have to find a chance to have his way with them in prison—naturally earning two huge eye rolls from Zhou Ziqin. Though Zhou Ziqin admired and worshipped beautiful women, he most despised such lechers. Although they were both unruly officials’ sons, he preferred corpses, which was vastly different from Fan Yuanlong’s type—he wouldn’t bother with them.
The smaller stone slab indeed required less time and effort; several people lifted it in no time, revealing an empty hollow beneath, with only some mud between the stone slabs and nothing else.
Zhou Ziqin invited Huang Zixia over, pointing at the soil under the stone slab and asking: “Should we dig down here?”
“No need.” As she spoke, she borrowed Zhou Ziqin’s gloves, crouched down to feel through the mud around the stone slabs, and then unerringly retrieved something, using Fan Yuanlong’s nearby garment to wipe the mud-covered object clean.
As the object was revealed, Zhou Ziqin immediately cried out: “The murder weapon!”
One inch wide and four inches long, it appeared to be just a narrow iron blade, but its edge was as thin as paper, allowing it to slip effortlessly into the narrow gap between the two stone slabs. The iron blade was incredibly sharp, with the lamplight reflecting off it almost too bright to look at—a hundred-times-forged steel, frost-cold blade, making one’s heart tremble.
Huang Zixia compared this weapon with the two bloodstains wiped on Fan Yuanlong’s clothing—they matched perfectly.
She held the weapon in her gloved hand, presenting it to everyone, saying: “Years ago, Emperor Taizong bestowed three items upon Talented Lady Wu for taming the Lion Stallion: an iron whip, an iron hammer, and a dagger. That dagger had been Emperor Taizong’s weapon, made from cold iron sent from overseas. Twenty-four were forged, but only one was particularly outstanding, chosen by Emperor Taizong to carry personally. Legend says that overseas cold iron never rusts, and even after a hundred years, its edge remains as sharp as new, too dazzling to look at directly.”
After everyone had examined it, she placed the iron blade back on the table in the waterside pavilion and said softly: “Later, during the Kaiyuan era, this dagger came into Madam Gongsun’s possession. When she danced then, she held two swords, one long and one short—the long sword was ‘Shadow Bearer,’ now lost, and the short sword was this cold iron dagger. However, regarding Shadow Bearer, there is another legend—does anyone remember it?”
Her gaze turned to Li Shubai, who was widely read and remembered every classic text he had seen, and he naturally said: “It is recorded that Kong Zhou had three swords. The first was called Light Concealer—it could not be seen when looked at, nor felt when wielded. What it touched left no trace, passing through objects without them knowing. The second was called Shadow Bearer—in the dim light between night and dawn, or in the twilight between day and night, when examined facing north, it appeared faintly as if something existed, though its form could not be discerned. What it touched made the slightest sound, passing through objects without harming them—but later there was another tradition saying that Light Concealer and Shadow Bearer were twins, with Light Concealer within Shadow Bearer, a formless, shadowless sword, while Shadow Bearer was merely its scabbard.”