The cuisine at the Duke of Kui’s mansion was light and pure, perfect for summer. The Pavilion of Flowing Pillows was an ideal summer residence. All four sides had windows and doors open, with lotus leaves swaying in the wind on three sides, while one side connected to a winding bridge leading to a shore lined with weeping willows.

The water breeze carried a faint cyan hue, with subtle fragrance lingering in the air, bringing coolness to the room.

Li Shubai sat alone at the table, staring at the empty seat across from him. The more he tried to ignore it, the more it bothered him.

He silently gestured to the attendant beside him to clear everything away and stood up to walk onto the curved bridge. A lotus flower in full bloom drooped before his face, overwhelmed by the scorching sunlight. As he caught the cool fragrance of the lotus, he couldn’t help but gaze at it for a long while.

Standing behind him, Jing Yu heard him softly utter three words—

“Second time.”

While Jing Yu was still pondering the meaning of these words, someone came running from the shore to report: “The Princess Tongchang’s mansion has sent someone to summon Master Yang Chonggu.”

Li Shubai only turned his head when he heard Yang Chonggu’s name and asked, “What happened?”

“Your Highness, it’s reported that something serious has occurred at the Princess’s mansion. Princess Tongchang has suddenly fallen ill with heart palpitations. The imperial physician is treating her, but she still ordered someone to summon Master Yang Chonggu first.”

Li Shubai slightly furrowed his brows and walked along the curved bridge toward the exit, instructing Jing Yu: “Prepare the carriage.”

“Master Yang, the Duke’s carriage is waiting for you at the entrance…”

Huang Zixia looked up in surprise at the guard from the Defense Bureau who came to report, and asked in astonishment, “Carriage?”

“Yes. They say it’s to take you quickly to the Princess’s mansion.”

Can’t even eat a meal in peace, yet they’re so strict about deducting monthly wages. How can such a superior be considered a good one?

Huang Zixia forced a smile, bid farewell to her reluctant colleagues with a cup of wine, and hurriedly ran outside the office to see that indeed, the Duke of Kui’s carriage was waiting there.

She quickly knocked on the carriage door and said, “My lord has been waiting, this servant deserves death.”

There was silence inside; it seemed the Duke wasn’t going to acknowledge her.

She breathed a sigh of relief and was about to walk around to the front to sit with Uncle A’yuan on the shaft when suddenly, Li Shubai’s icy voice came from inside: “You do deserve death.”

Huang Zixia drew in a cold breath and stood stiffly, not daring to move.

“As a royal eunuch of the Duke’s mansion, personally entrusted by His Majesty with the important task of the Princess’s mansion case, now before one wave settles another rises. Someone died just yesterday, yet today you’re here leisurely enjoying wine and feasting, exchanging toasts—don’t you think you deserve death?”

Huang Zixia’s scalp tingled, and she could only respond with meek agreement, not daring to speak.

He watched her through the carriage window. In the intense afternoon summer sunlight, her slightly flushed face had the color of blooming peach blossoms, incomparably alluring.

Because of this beautiful complexion, Li Shubai felt a strange flame rapidly burning up from his heart.

By his side, she was always quiet and cold, as if her mind was occupied only with vengeance and the case, her breathing never irregular, her actions never improper. However, when not by his side, she lived so vibrantly and charmingly, playing polo with men behind his back, drinking and socializing among groups of men… He didn’t need to witness it personally to imagine her acting like brothers with those men, laughing freely—

Completely forgetting she was a woman, completely abandoning the quiet coldness she maintained by his side.

And her most vibrant and brilliant moments would never be shown to him.

That flame in his heart scorched Li Shubai’s chest at this moment. In this instant, he forgot he was the cool and composed Duke of Kui, stood up to kick open the carriage door, and looked down at her from above, his voice low and slightly hoarse: “Get in!”

Huang Zixia looked up at him, at his deep and clear profile against the light, his hawk-like sharp eyes, and for some unknown reason, a strange fear welled up in her heart. Her breath caught unconsciously, and she dared not respond.

“Everyone in Chang’an knows that Duke Kui is always calm and shows neither joy nor anger. Why is he angry at a minor eunuch today?”

A teasing laugh came from behind, seemingly completely unaware of the tense atmosphere between the two. Wang Yun smiled broadly, lightly waving the folding fan that Huang Zixia had returned to him last time, and gave a slight bow to Li Shubai: “Today is the first day that Master Yang’s good friend joined our bureau. Master Yang values friendship greatly, and many of our brothers in the bureau also greatly admire Master Yang, which is why I invited Master Yang to come. I trust Your Highness won’t blame us for persuading Master Yang to have a few extra cups of wine?”

Seeing Wang Yun come out personally, Li Shubai couldn’t openly dismiss his goodwill and only said: “I don’t interfere with her matters, but today there’s a problem with the case she’s responsible for that must be dealt with immediately, otherwise it might cause complications.”

Wang Yun smiled and said to Huang Zixia: “Hurry along then. Once this case is solved, the brothers at the Defense Bureau will treat you to a celebration drink.”

Li Shubai glanced at him and gestured for Huang Zixia to go sit with Uncle A’yuan in front.

Huang Zixia breathed a sigh of relief, gave Wang Yun a meaningful look, then quickly ran to the front and jumped up to sit beside Uncle A’yuan.

Wang Yun smiled as he watched her leave. Behind him, Zhou Ziqin hurriedly ran out and asked: “Did Chonggu go to the Princess’s mansion? Did something happen? Why didn’t you take me along?”

“What would you go for? Isn’t following Chonggu around all day enough?” He dropped these words and turned to walk back.

Zhou Ziqin was inexplicably stumped by his words: “What’s wrong with following Chonggu? Following him means there will definitely be mysterious cases and corpses—such good resources, if I don’t follow him, who should I follow?”

Wang Yun looked up at the sky speechlessly: “Let’s go.”

Early afternoon.

The people at Princess Tongchang’s mansion all stood trembling outside the high platform on duty, yet not daring to enter. A crowd gathered there, but no one dared make a sound.

Li Shubai led Huang Zixia up the platform step by step. Seeing him arrive, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly bowed in greeting.

Huang Zixia saw Chuizhu standing at the front of the crowd, her face anxious and eyes shifting, and asked: “What happened to the Princess?”

Seeing her, Chuizhu quickly lowered her head and said: “The Princess’s Nine Phoenix Hairpin… is missing.”

Missing. Princess Tongchang’s dream had come true, and that hairpin she valued most was gone.

Huang Zixia slightly furrowed her brows, saw that Li Shubai had already gone inside, and quickly nodded to Chuizhu before hurrying to follow.

The golden thread-woven bamboo curtains had been lowered, making the small pavilion appear somewhat dark. In this half-light, they saw Princess Tongchang reclining on the couch, with Noble Consort Guo sitting beside her, fanning her with a white fan.

Princess Tongchang wore white gauze robes, her loose long hair flowing like black silk over the couch. The black was extremely black, the white extremely white, and her weak, sickly state made her face appear less thin and stubborn than usual, making her seem much more pitiable than usual.

However, seeing the person sitting before her, Huang Zixia’s heart slightly trembled, and she suddenly understood in her heart the reason for her appearing so moving.

Yu Xuan.

The light in the hall was dim, but it couldn’t obscure his clear, commanding presence. He sat upright yet relaxed before Princess Tongchang. His impeccable bearing and pure and bright countenance emanated a kind of cold and subtle radiance, like that of a waning moon.

And his voice was gentle and clear, like jade fragments lightly striking each other in ice water, as he explained to Princess Tongchang: “At that time, the qin had five notes—gong, Shang, jue, zhi, and yu—each string representing the emperor, ministers, people, affairs, and things. Later, King Wen of Zhou and King Wu of Zhou each added one string, making it a seven-stringed qin…”

His voice was gentle and crystal clear, seeming able to drive away the scorching heat on this summer day. Not only did Princess Tongchang gaze at him, but even Noble Consort Guo put down her silk fan and listened intently.

Li Shubai stood at the pavilion entrance, examining Yu Xuan. After a while, he turned to look at Huang Zixia. Seeing that Huang Zixia only stood quietly with a lowered head, showing no expression on her face, he finally withdrew his gaze and lightly coughed.

Seeing him, Princess Tongchang sat up properly and stepped down from the couch to bow to him: “Fourth Uncle.”

Yu Xuan stood up and moved to one side, silent.

“You’re unwell, there’s no need for such ceremony.” Li Shubai said to Princess Tongchang. Noble Consort Guo helped her stand and said: “We’re honored that Duke Kui has come personally to visit today. Tongchang is truly fortunate.”

Princess Tongchang looked at Huang Zixia and said: “Master Yang, now my Nine Phoenix Hairpin is missing! What… what do you think should be done?”

She was still afraid because of her dream, covering her chest and breathing slightly heavily, with deep fear in her eyes.

Huang Zixia quickly asked: “May I ask how the Nine Phoenix Hairpin was lost? Could the Princess describe the details to me?”

Noble Consort Guo, being a consort, found it inappropriate to remain in the same room as the Duke, and could only sigh, gesturing for Yu Xuan to withdraw. Yu Xuan silently and calmly took up his book and followed Noble Consort Guo out of the pavilion.

Li Shubai sat nearby, casually flipping through the “Rites of Zhou” left on the small table by the bed, listening indifferently as Princess Tongchang described how the Nine Phoenix Hairpin was lost.

Besides the “Rites of Zhou” sat a small porcelain dog about two inches tall. While everything in the Princess’s mansion was elegant and magnificent, this small porcelain dog was quite different from the gold, jade, and pearls. Though exquisitely made, it was a common market item, small in size and endearingly naive in appearance.

He looked at the porcelain dog as Princess Tongchang said to Huang Zixia: “After I had that dream a few days ago, and you said yesterday you would pay close attention to this case after you left, I gave the Nine Phoenix Hairpin to my maids and told them to guard it carefully…” Princess Tongchang had only said this much when she began to have heart palpitations and shortness of breath. She leaned back on the couch, her breathing irregular, pressing her chest, and unable to speak.

Huang Zixia quickly patted her back while calling out: “Someone come!”

Hurried footsteps approached as Chuizhu and Luopei, along with several other personal maids, rushed in. They quickly supported Princess Tongchang to help her breathe. Chuizhu hastily took out a small bottle from her bosom, poured out a pill for Princess Tongchang to take, and continued rubbing her back until her breathing steadied, only then breathing a sigh of relief herself.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Chuizhu’s forehead, but she didn’t bother to wipe them, hurrying instead to pour tea. Seeing Huang Zixia examining Chuizhu, Princess Tongchang weakly raised her hand to point at her and said softly: “You see, Wei Ximin is gone, and among all my people, only Chuizhu is most capable… but sadly she’s about to be married off. Who will be so attentive to me after that?”

Chuizhu quickly knelt and said: “Just one word from the Princess, and Chuizhu would rather serve the Princess until old age, never leaving!”

“Go on, I don’t even know how long I’ll live.” As she said this, she turned to look at Li Shubai and Huang Zixia with a bitter smile. “Fourth Uncle, I can only let Luopei take you to investigate, I’m not able to.”

“Rest well. You’ve had this illness since childhood; you must avoid excessive worry and anxiety,” Li Shubai said.

Chuizhu knelt by the Princess’s bed, took out the key from the small drawer by her bed and gave it to Luopei, remaining kneeling as she helped Princess Tongchang gently wipe away her sweat with a handkerchief.

Huang Zixia followed Luopei out of the pavilion and asked: “Where was the Nine Phoenix Hairpin lost?”

“In the side room next door.” As Luopei spoke, she led them to a locked side room nearby. Two eunuchs were guarding the front of the room, and seeing Luopei arrive, they opened the door to let them in.