Hearing her words, he was momentarily dazed, standing before her and staring at her appearance for a long while without moving.
Her slender body lay on her side on the couch, in red robes with black sashes—the attire of a eunuch. A few strands of hair had fallen onto her neck, meandering down into her collar, the black strands starkly visible against her white skin, involuntarily drawing one’s gaze downward, following her undulating curves.
In his chest, a faint heat suddenly welled up, rippling subtly. He understood in an instant, immediately turning away and sitting back at his desk without a word.
Huang Zixia looked at him in confusion, not understanding why the usually composed Prince Kui had suddenly acted so strangely.
After resting for a while, she felt the dizziness pass, so she quickly sat up and said to Li Shubai: “I dare not disturb Your Highness further, this servant takes leave.”
He watched her slightly unsteady steps, wanting to speak but hesitating, but when she reached the door, he finally said: “Don’t go looking for Zhang Xingying tonight.”
She turned back to look at him in surprise.
“With how unsteady you are, I’m afraid we’ll have to pick you up from the street tomorrow.”
Huang Zixia couldn’t help but smile, then said: “Then, I’ll go early tomorrow morning.”
“Mm.” He stood up, accompanying her as they walked out of Pillow Stream Pavilion.
Huang Zixia didn’t know where he was going, following slowly behind him.
The drooping willows by the shore brushed past their shoulders and arms, lotus flowers near and far bloomed in the moonlight, and he remained half a step ahead of her, maintaining a distance where he could reach out and catch her at any moment.
Huang Zixia suddenly understood—he was accompanying her back.
In this quiet darkness, the moon that had rushed to rise as soon as night fell was approaching fullness, its light brilliant.
That bright silver light poured over her body, and his as well.
She looked at the person half a step ahead of her, within arm’s reach, yet in her heart and mind, she kept repeating that line of poetry—
‘I wish to follow the moon’s splendor flowing to shine upon you.’
Unconsciously, due to deep self-loathing, her heart ached unbearably.
She could only clench her fists tightly, breathing deeply, forcing herself to squeeze those memories out of her thoughts bit by bit. She told herself: Huang Zixia cast aside all that past. Your parents and loved ones are all dead—if you can’t even do this last thing for them properly, you deserve heaven’s punishment and earth’s destruction!
They say evening clouds can travel a thousand li. The previous day’s brilliant sunset made the next day’s weather exceptionally fine, and as soon as the sun rose, Chang’an was already very hot.
Huang Zixia wore an inner garment with a thin crimson gauze robe over it, and she could feel herself already sweating. Staying still in the prince’s mansion was fine, but as soon as she moved, she was covered in sweat.
However, there was no help for it—the Princess’s mansion case wasn’t over yet, so she still had to go out.
Just as she reached the mansion gate, Zhou Ziqin was already there waiting for her with “Little Xia,” holding four steaming buns in his hands. Seeing her, he quickly stood up and held out the lotus leaf-wrapped buns to her: “Chonggu, here, two each.”
“I’ve already eaten.” But because she had only hurriedly eaten a rouge steamed cake that morning, she still took one, and they ate together while riding.
“I knew you were just brushing me off yesterday! If I hadn’t waited for you at the gate today, you definitely would have gone investigating alone!” Zhou Ziqin pouted accusingly.
Huang Zixia casually comforted him: “How could that be? I was planning to find you.”
“Really?” Zhou Ziqin immediately believed her, “Good brother, you’re true to your word! Tell me, where are we going today? Will there be corpses for me to show my skills?”
“Hopefully not.” Huang Zixia gave him a sideways glance, “We’re going to Second Brother Zhang’s house.”
“Ah!” Zhou Ziqin nearly fell off his horse, “Why are we going to Second Brother Zhang’s house?”
“Didn’t you go to the Court of Judicial Review yesterday? The painting at Second Brother Zhang’s house is missing.”
“That painting? You mean the one with the three dead people painted on it?” Zhou Ziqin was so excited he almost dropped his bun, “Could that painting be connected to what’s happened? What’s the connection? Why are the scenes in the painting so similar to the cases? Will Second Brother Zhang be in trouble? How does the Capital Defense Commission plan to handle this? Second Brother Zhang absolutely can’t have anything happen to him!”
“Just eat your bun.” Huang Zixia ended all his questions with one sentence, and raised her hand to pat Fu Sha, urging it to speed up.
Traveling from east to west across half of Chang’an, when they arrived at Zhang Xingying’s house, women who had risen early were fetching water and discussing: “Hey, those people yesterday must have been from the government, right? Why did so many come at once?”
“I heard it’s because Zhang’s second son got into trouble again.”
“No way, that child seemed so honest, how come he keeps getting into trouble lately? First getting dismissed from Prince Kui’s mansion, then being expelled from the Capital Defense Commission, and now even the government is investigating him, this is… we never would have thought he was this kind of person before!”
Zhou Ziqin couldn’t believe it, jumping off his horse to question them: “What? Who said Second Brother Zhang was expelled from the Defense Commission? How is that possible?”
The middle-aged woman became flustered as soon as she saw him jump down to question her: “Isn’t that right? Government officials came to thoroughly investigate his house, and he didn’t go out today, wasn’t he sent home?”
Huang Zixia frowned and said: “Ziqin, don’t argue with strangers.”
Zhou Ziqin reluctantly led “Little Xia” toward Zhang Xingying’s house. Huang Zixia also dismounted, and as the two of them reached Zhang Xingying’s door just about to knock, they saw a woman run out from inside, nearly colliding with them.
Zhang Xingying’s voice called from behind: “Adi! Where are you going!”
Huang Zixia immediately raised her hand, grabbing the arm of the woman who had run out, stopping her.
The woman’s face was deathly pale, her hair tightly bound with a wooden hairpin, wearing a narrow-sleeved blue dress and blue shoes embroidered with hibiscus flowers—it was Dicui.
Caught by Huang Zixia and unable to break free from her grip, she trembled and called out “Eunuch Yang” once before tears began streaming down her face.
Huang Zixia quickly asked: “What’s wrong? Did you fight with Second Brother Zhang?”
Dicui shook her head desperately but wouldn’t speak.
Zhang Xingying had already run out and said helplessly: “Adi, please don’t act rashly, this matter… this matter has nothing to do with you.”
Huang Zixia and Zhou Ziqin exchanged a glance, and she pulled Dicui back, asking softly: “What exactly happened, can you tell us in detail? If we can help, we’ll do our best. If nothing else, at least you’ll have more people to offer advice, right?”
But Dicui only covered her face and wept, not speaking.
Zhang Xingying said helplessly: “She… ah, I don’t know why, but she stood in the courtyard all night yesterday. When I saw her this morning and quickly asked what had happened, she started talking nonsense, saying how I originally had a bright future ahead of me, and it was all ruined by her… by her, saying she couldn’t burden me anymore, and actually… saying she wanted to leave!”
Before Huang Zixia could say anything, Dicui spoke in a trembling voice, haltingly: “Second Brother Zhang, I… I truly am an ill-fated person. Being with me… I’m nothing but a curse! My father said long ago that I was born under an unlucky star. I killed my mother just by being born, and then… then ended up in such a state, I shouldn’t even exist in this world anymore…”
“Stop talking nonsense!” Zhang Xingying quickly interrupted her words. He looked around, and fortunately seeing no one, quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the courtyard, closing the main door.
“I… I’m not talking nonsense…” Dicui broke down crying, almost howling as she shouted at Huang Zixia and the others, “Do you know who I am? I’m Lu Dicui! The woman all of Chang’an laughs at and gossips about! Everyone in the world knows I was defiled by Sun Laizi, knows I should have died in the wilderness! I shouldn’t be alive here, I shouldn’t be dragging down Second Brother Zhang!”
“Adi!” Zhang Xingying rushed forward, holding her tightly and covering her mouth, preventing her from continuing.
However, although held by Zhang Xingying, although forcibly stopped from breaking down and screaming, large tears still rolled down from Dicui’s eyes, full of despair, and like her whole person, seemed as though already dead, making one sigh with melancholy.
Huang Zixia and Zhou Ziqin exchanged a glance, Zhou Ziqin at a loss, opening and closing his mouth not knowing what to say.
So Huang Zixia stood up, walked to Dicui’s side, and said softly: “Miss Dicui, actually we came with no ill intent. Second Brother Zhang is our close friend, he has helped me a lot before, and I know deeply that he is upright, as honest a person as they come. His involvement in this case is only because among the countless threads, a few happened to connect to him. We’re just here to ask routine questions, you needn’t worry, we’ll leave after we’re done asking.”
Dicui still stared straight at her, her expression showing she hadn’t heard a word Huang Zixia said.
Huang Zixia could only sigh and say: “Second Brother Zhang, please release Miss Dicui first, we’ll just ask a few questions and then leave.”
Zhang Xingying helped Dicui sit by the table, saying quietly to her: “Wait here for a moment, it won’t take long.”
Huang Zixia gestured for Zhang Xingying to sit at the stone table and asked: “What did the Court of Judicial Review people say yesterday? And what about the Capital Defense Commission?”
Zhang Xingying looked bewildered, wringing his hands as he said: “Yesterday afternoon, I was still at the Capital Defense Commission when suddenly people from the Court of Judicial Review came looking for me, saying they wanted to borrow a painting from my home that was supposedly done by the late emperor’s hand. I was very confused at the time, thinking this painting had always been carefully stored in my home and I’d never mentioned it to others, how did the Court of Judicial Review people know about it? But since they asked, I took them home, and had them wait downstairs while I went upstairs to open the cabinet where the painting was always kept… but when I opened the cabinet with the key and looked, the painting was gone!”
“Gone?” Zhou Ziqin exclaimed in shock.
“Yes, the painting that had been safely kept in my family’s cabinet for over ten years had suddenly vanished! I became anxious and quickly asked my father, who also became anxious. Including Adi, we turned the house upside down looking, but couldn’t find it. I had no choice but to tell the Court of Judicial Review people that the painting was missing. They didn’t believe me, saying this painting was no small matter, someone important had specifically requested it, and if I couldn’t produce it, no one could bear that responsibility. I know the Court of Judicial Review also has to answer to their superiors, but the painting did disappear from my home—what could I do? Then the Court of Judicial Review people went and told the Defense Commission people that I was involved in cases—two murder cases and the Prince Consort’s injury case. How could this not become a big issue? The Defense Commission told me to resolve this matter first, and until then I needn’t report for duty.”
Zhou Ziqin turned to Huang Zixia in surprise and asked: “Who do you think… which bastard specifically requested the painting from the Court of Judicial Review? Could it be… Princess Tongchang?”
Huang Zixia held her forehead—she of course knew that “that bastard” was Li Shubai, and he probably just said one word to the Court of Judicial Review, resulting in them making such a big fuss over it.