“Yes, when Lu Zhiyuan learned that Sun Laizi was having his house reinforced, he had already planned everything. He first obtained an iron plaque from Money’s shop – after all, that batch all had the same pattern – modified the inside, sealed it back up, then went over carrying his toolbox, deliberately pretending to just realize he was there to install lamp holders for Sun Laizi. He made a fuss and left, and none of the workers inside noticed that he had already switched out the original plaque – the craftsmen were working quickly, just fitting things into pre-prepared gaps without taking a second look.”

“However, if that’s the case, wouldn’t all the craftsmen present be suspects in switching the plaque?” Cui Chunzhan immediately said. “Besides, we should have been able to find the murder weapon by matching the angle of the poisoned metal blades in his body. Yet neither Ziqin nor the coroners from the Court of Judicial Review found any metal pieces in Sun Laizi’s body!”

“Yes, the poisoned blades would have completely revealed the secret of Sun Laizi’s death in a locked room, making it impossible to pass off as divine punishment. So the killer had to go to Daning Ward that afternoon to stage a scene, making Sun Laizi’s death public while ensuring he was the first to approach the body. That afternoon, Money Guansuo, heading to collect debts, met Lu Zhiyuan, who was also going to collect payment, at the tavern near Sun Laizi’s house. Together they broke down Sun Laizi’s door – Lu Zhiyuan brought the small axe, and Money Guansuo broke down the door. They rushed in before anyone else, and the drunk Money Guansuo immediately pushed the body to the ground, while Lu Zhiyuan, feigning ignorance, took the opportunity to turn the body over. However, no one saw that at this moment, among the two people closest to the body, someone removed the murder weapon from Sun Laizi’s body, then pretended to be frightened and retreated to the doorway with the other person. In the chaos of people reporting to officials and examining the body, the killer could take the opportunity to remove the mechanism from the iron plaque,” Huang Zixia said, her clear gaze sweeping across everyone in the hall. “Therefore, the killer was among the first people to approach Sun Laizi’s body after his death.”

She turned, her gaze falling on Money Guansuo, who was still kneeling there. His face showed complex emotions, whether shock or relief unclear, as he stared at Lu Zhiyuan, the flesh of his face trembling slightly.

Li Run asked: “Both Money Guansuo and Lu Zhiyuan were among the first to approach Sun Laizi’s body. You’re right that only they had the opportunity to remove the murder weapon. But why do you believe the killer was Lu Zhiyuan rather than Money Guansuo?”

“Isn’t it simple? First, Money Guansuo never had the chance to see that painting, so he couldn’t have killed according to the second scribble. Second, only these two initially approached the body. Between them, Lu Zhiyuan was sober – if Money Guansuo had taken the weapon, he would certainly have noticed; but if Lu Zhiyuan took it, Money Guansuo, in his state, might not have realized.”

Lu Zhiyuan remained standing there, hunched over, head bowed, motionless. Only his eyes stared fixedly at the blue bricks below.

There was a wet mark there, though unclear whether it was sweat dripping from his cheek or tears from his eyes.

The summer sun blazed in from outside the hall, and though everyone stood in the shadows, the heat waves still scorched them all, making hearts burn with anxiety.

In the hall’s complete silence, Lu Zhiyuan finally spoke. Though his expression was weary and gray, when he raised his head, his eyes were surprisingly sharp.

“Yes. I killed Wei Ximin, and I killed Sun Laizi. They both deserved to die, didn’t they?” His voice was hoarse, his tone calm. “Sometimes I’m also amazed at how smoothly everything went. Actually, after making the hollow outer candle, I also made the inner one. Just before Wei Ximin came to find me, I had given up hope and decided to insert the inner candle and abandon the plan… Who knew that as darkness fell, he would come – Heaven ultimately granted my wish! I wondered if it was because Heaven pitied my daughter, blessing my murders to proceed without hindrance, with perfect smoothness…”

“However, you seemed particularly rushed when killing the Princess. I suspect she wasn’t part of your plan?” Huang Zixia looked at him and said softly.

At these words, the hall fell dead silent, everyone’s breath-stopping.

The Emperor’s face changed dramatically, and unable to contain himself, he slammed the table and stood up with a whoosh.

He glared at Lu Zhiyuan, his eyes filled with bloodshot, and growled: “Tongchang… Tongchang was also… killed by your hand!”

Lu Zhiyuan stood motionless, head lowered, and said obscurely: “I never entered the Princess’s mansion, and had never even seen the Princess’s face.”

Wang Lin, the Minister of Justice who had remained silent until now, finally spoke: “Eunuch Yang, I also find this questionable. Don’t forget, the Princess died by the Nine Phoenix Hairpin, which had mysteriously disappeared before the Princess’s death. I think it would be difficult for a candle shop owner to sneak into the Princess’s mansion and steal the heavily locked Nine Phoenix Hairpin, wouldn’t it?”

Imperial Consort Guo also nodded, choking up: “Tongchang always treasured the Nine Phoenix Hairpin, and this time she was especially careful in storing it because of her dream. Who knew… who knew someone would still manage to arrange various methods to ultimately steal this hairpin…”

Huang Zixia shook her head and said: “No, this servant believes the heavily locked Nine Phoenix Hairpin could be stolen using a very simple method.”

The Emperor pointed at her and said sternly: “Tell us quickly!”

“It might be difficult to describe verbally. Please have the Court of Judicial Review prepare a box and two locks, one large and one small, and I can demonstrate how the Nine Phoenix Hairpin vanished.”

Cui Chunzhan immediately ordered someone to bring a box. Huang Zixia had it placed against the wall, then borrowed the cotton paper box from Prince E Li Run, pressed down the hollow-carved grass pattern of the hairpin in her hair, pulled out the jade hairpin inside, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and placed it in the box.

After showing the items to everyone, she had Li Run lock it himself. After Li Run placed the box inside the larger box, she asked him to lock that with the other lock and keep the keys safe.

She pointed at the box and asked Chuizhu and the other maids: “Was this how the Princess stored the Nine Phoenix Hairpin in the storehouse?”

The maids all answered tearfully: “Yes, the same.”

Huang Zixia nodded, then said to everyone: “You can all see that I haven’t touched anything in this box with a single finger, yet I have already stolen what’s inside.”

Li Run said in shock: “Impossible! You’ve been standing two steps away from me, how could you have stolen anything?”

“If you don’t believe me, please give me the keys, Prince E, and I’ll open it to show you. Just like when the Princess gave the keys to her maids to retrieve items,” she turned to look at the terrified maids and smiled. “Of course, several people must go together to supervise each other.”

She walked to the box and asked the four maids to stand behind her: “The storehouse had rows of shelves. Where were you standing?”

The maids thought for a moment, then took their positions behind her.

“Because of the surrounding shelves blocking the view, you could only stand behind me, seeing my back but not what my hands were doing, right?” As she spoke, she faced the wall and opened the box, then took out the inner box and placed it on the now-closed outer box lid, opened the small box, and announced loudly, “The item is gone!”

Hearing her announcement, not just the maids but everyone in the hall gathered around. They saw Huang Zixia standing before the empty open box, holding the empty open small box, looking back at them.

Zhuiyu turned pale with fright and said: “Yes! That’s exactly how it mysteriously disappeared! Chuizhu, Chuizhu, isn’t that right?”

Chuizhu stood motionless, not responding.

Huang Zixia said coldly: “This is a method that only the person who opened the box could execute.”

Zhou Ziqin suddenly understood and immediately asked: “So you mean, when opening the box, you slipped the item into your sleeve or clothes, then pretended the box was already empty?”

“Impossible!” Luopei immediately said. “When we discovered the item missing, the Princess immediately ordered everyone to search. Not just Chuizhu and us who went to retrieve it, but every maid in Qiyun Pavilion had their person and rooms searched. The Nine Phoenix Hairpin was so large – if Chuizhu had hidden it, it would have been found immediately!”

“Of course, it couldn’t be hidden on a person,” Huang Zixia rolled up her sleeves to show there was nothing inside. “I just used that moment when the box lid was opened again to place the item somewhere no one would think to look.”

She pulled the empty box back, and there in the gap between the box and the wall corner lay the hairpin, still wrapped in the handkerchief, placed in the box that Prince E had locked himself.

Amid the stunned gasps of the crowd, Huang Zixia opened the handkerchief, took out the jade hairpin and inserted it back into her silver hairpin, then returned the box to Prince E, saying: “While everyone was searching people and rooms, no one thought to pull that box out from the bottom shelf and look in the gap behind it, to see what might be hidden there. And in Qiyun Pavilion’s storehouse, only that box had cloth padding underneath. Presumably, Chuizhu had planned, fearing that when she lifted the box to let the hairpin slide down, the Nine Phoenix Hairpin might make a sound, so she had placed cloth strips there beforehand to muffle the noise, isn’t that right?”

Chuizhu listened in a daze, her knees giving way as she collapsed to the ground.

Imperial Consort Guo jumped up and shouted in anger: “Chuizhu! It was you! You… the Princess treated you well, yet you… yet you dared to murder the Princess!”

“No! This servant only… this servant only concealed the Nine Phoenix Hairpin, this servant… this servant had no choice…” Chuizhu cried, shaking her head repeatedly. “How would this servant dare harm the Princess? Even with ten thousand times more courage, this servant would never dare!”

The Prince Consort Wei Baoheng, his already haggard and dispirited face now looked even worse, almost ashen. He stood up shakily, his lips moving, but no words came out.

“Tell me the truth!” The Emperor strode to her front, pointing at Chuizhu and demanded, “You were closest to Linghui, she trusted you most of all. Why did you deliberately steal the Nine Phoenix Hairpin, causing the Princess such anxiety?”

“Because… because…” Chuizhu spoke trembling, but couldn’t continue, only falling to the ground sobbing, nearly fainting.

Huang Zixia turned to look at Money Guansuo, who was kneeling by the hall trembling in confusion, and said slowly: “Naturally, it was because of your father, Money Guansuo.”

Chuizhu continued crying, prostrate on the ground, not raising her head.

Money Guansuo’s body shook, his fat, loose neck turning inch by inch to look at Chuizhu, who seemed to be convulsing from crying so hard. His lips trembled violently, but he couldn’t squeeze out a single word.