At the Court of Judicial Review.

Cui Shaoqing, who normally would have slipped home after lunch to accompany his wife, was surprisingly still present today. Upon seeing Huang Zixia and Zhou Ziqin arrive, his face immediately lit up with joy: “Ziqin, Chonggu! This is wonderful news – without any effort at all, the culprit has turned herself in. All these days of toil and anxiety can finally end! The pressure from the Princess’s manor on us has finally dissipated!”

While following him inside, Huang Zixia asked, “Has the suspect confessed to everything?”

“Yes! She came to surrender herself with a painting, claiming it was handwritten by the late emperor or something. Looking at that messy thing, it doesn’t seem like it.”

As they spoke, they had already reached the back of the main hall. The Court of Judicial Review had no prison, only several clean rooms set aside in the back for temporarily holding suspects awaiting interrogation.

Di Cui sat in one of the rooms, staring blankly at the swaying branches outside the window.

Huang Zixia entered with Zhou Ziqin and the court official, closed the door, and called out: “Lu Di Cui.”

Di Cui stood up reflexively, but upon seeing the men before her, she instinctively curled up and unconsciously took a step back.

Knowing she was still traumatized, Huang Zixia quickly reassured her: “Miss Lu, we’re only here to ask questions as per procedure. Just answer truthfully.”

Lu Di Cui bit her lower lip, stared at her for a long while, then nodded silently.

Huang Zixia gestured for her to sit down, then stood to the side, watching as the two court officials questioned her about the case.

“Name, age, and place of origin?”

“Lu Di Cui, seventeen years old, from the capital.”

“What crime are you surrendering yourself for?”

Di Cui’s eyes were still swollen from crying. She sat before them in a daze, lost in thought for a long while before slowly biting her lip and muttering vaguely: “I killed someone. Killed… two people.”

The two officials already knew why she had turned herself in and showed no surprise, only saying: “Tell us everything in detail.”

Di Cui’s voice was hoarse and slow as she spoke haltingly: “I killed… the eunuch Wei Ximin from the Princess’s manor, and also killed… Sun Laizi from Daning Ward.”

“Why did you kill them? How did you do it?”

“Wei Ximin had wronged me before, having people beat me unconscious and abandon me on a street corner, which led to…” At this point, her seemingly rigid face finally showed a twisted hatred, and her voice grew forceful, “That day at Jianfu Temple, when my veil fell and Zhang Xingying helped me pick it up, I saw Wei Ximin… He was wearing eunuch’s clothes, standing out distinctly in the crowd. Just then, lightning struck, the candles exploded, and those wax pieces were mixed with various flammable colors that ignited on contact. I… I don’t know where I got the strength, but I went mad, and when Wei Ximin was pushed next to me by the crowd, I shoved him hard, and he fell into the burning pile of wax, his whole body catching fire…”

Huang Zixia stood to the side, listening calmly and silently without saying a word.

The official asked again: “What about Sun Laizi’s death?”

“Sun Laizi… that beast… he bought off my father with money, but I would never let him go!” When Di Cui reached this point, she finally became frenzied with anger, her voice becoming harsh and shrill, terrifying to hear, “That afternoon, I went to Daning Ward to find Sun Laizi. Worried about being physically weak as a woman, I had even poisoned my dagger. That beast heard my voice and opened the door, and I rushed in and stabbed him twice. He fled back inside and locked the door. I wanted to stab him a few more times but couldn’t push open the door, so I… had to turn and run away.”

Huang Zixia examined Di Cui carefully, slowly furrowing her brow: “Then where did you get the poison?”

Di Cui gritted her teeth and said: “Brother Zhang had aconite in his medicine cabinet. He had taught me to identify medicinal herbs.”

“But Sun Laizi was found dead in his bed.”

“Perhaps… perhaps he crawled back to bed after being wounded, and died when the poison took effect.”

Cui Chunzhan quietly asked the two officials: “Does what she’s saying match the cases?”

One official nodded and said: “The wounds were shallow and puffy, indeed seeming like they were inflicted by a woman.”

Cui Chunzhan nodded and asked her: “Lu Di Cui, since you had already killed two people without anyone knowing, why did you come to turn yourself in, seeking your death?”

Di Cui took a deep breath, gathered her courage to look directly at him, and said: “These two cases have caused an uproar in the capital, and innocent people have been implicated. Though I am a weak woman, one must take responsibility for one’s actions. Moreover, I want all evil people under heaven to see that wrongdoing will surely be repaid!”

Hearing her words, Cui Chunzhan was moved and nodded, sighing: “Her circumstances are pitiable, but her crime cannot be escaped!”

An official asked again: “Do you know about the Prince Consort’s injury at the polo field?”

Di Cui lowered her eyes and nodded, saying: “I heard about it… my benefactor Zhang Xingying was on the field that day.”

“Were you involved in this matter?”

Di Cui shook her head, then thought and nodded, saying: “I deserve to die… When I heard Zhang Xingying would be in the polo match, I stayed home that day praying, asking for the opponent to fall from his horse so Zhang Xingying would win… I think, perhaps my dark prayer was heard by the Buddha…”

At this explanation, even Cui Chunzhan could only say to the two officials: “There’s no need to write this down, it seems there’s no real connection.”

The official asked again: “What about the painting you brought?”

“That was a painting from Zhang Xingying’s home, which the Court was looking for. He couldn’t find it because… because I had stolen it. I had achieved my revenge but needed money to leave the capital. Hearing it was the late emperor’s handwriting, I thought it must be valuable, so I stole it and pawned it. But then the Court came looking for it, causing a huge commotion, so I had to redeem it and bring it here.”

“Do you know what’s painted on it?”

Di Cui shook her head numbly: “No… I looked at it for a long time, but it was just three ink blots, so… so I pawned it for ten strings of cash.”

The official turned to Cui Chunzhan and said: “We checked with the pawnshop, and this is correct. Though the pawnbroker couldn’t understand the painting, he said the paper and ink were good quality, and the mounting was fine too. It seemed to be from the palace, so he thought it must have significant origins and agreed to take it for ten strings.”

Cui Chunzhan, being someone who showed consideration for women, looked at Di Cui and shook his head with a sigh, asking: “Lu Di Cui, is there anything else you want to confess?”

Di Cui knelt there in a daze for a long while before finally raising her head to look at Huang Zixia and saying: “Master Yang, please help me tell Brother Zhang that though we have no fate in this life, Adi will repay his kindness in the next life by carrying grass in her mouth to weave a ring.”

Huang Zixia felt a pang in her heart and nodded: “Very well.”

The group returned to the main hall, where an official had already taken out the painting and laid it flat on the table for everyone to see.

It was still those three scribbled ink blots on yellow hemp paper, mounted with white silk – the exquisite mounting unable to hide the fact that it was merely crude scribbling.

Having seen it before, Huang Zixia and Zhou Ziqin looked at it briefly, confirmed it was the same painting as last time, and just exchanged a glance.

Cui Chunzhan had his face almost pressed against it, looking it over repeatedly before frowning: “How could this be the late emperor’s handwriting? This is practically treasonous, slandering the late emperor!”

The other court officials all agreed, showing disdain for the painting. Nevertheless, as was evidence in the case after everyone left, Cui Chunzhan personally rolled it up, preparing to return it to storage.

Seeing the hall was empty, Huang Zixia quietly asked: “Lord Cui, might I borrow this painting?”

Cui Chunzhan looked somewhat troubled: “Oh, this… Master Yang, this is important evidence – though I’m not sure what use it has – but generally speaking, before the case is settled, taking it away might not be legally proper…”

Huang Zixia took out a token from within her robes and presented it with both hands: “Lord Cui, I offer the Duke Wei’s token as collateral. Please lend it to me for half a day – I will return it first thing tomorrow morning.”

Cui Chunzhan looked at the token thoughtfully, then very straightforwardly handed the scroll to her, saying: “You were appointed by the Emperor to be involved in this case, so it’s legitimate for you to take case evidence for research. Just write a note for the evidence room and take it.”