In the night, a sudden downpour descended. The nearby mountains and forests, the long and short stretches of rivers and valleys, all lost their outlines in the abrupt rain, fading into formlessness. The path ahead grew increasingly unclear. Outside Chang’an City, the lilacs planted along the mountain path were mercilessly battered by the torrential rain. Clusters of brocade-like flowers broke in the fierce rain, falling into the muddy path, unseen in the deep night.

Huang Zixia trudged through the mountain path in the night. The sky-blue oil-paper umbrella in her hand had two ribs broken in the violent storm. Raindrops penetrated through the damaged surface, striking her cheeks like ice-cold knives. She merely glanced up once before unhesitatingly discarding the umbrella on the path, continuing forward in the downpour. The raindrops felt particularly heavy and cold on her body. In the night, the sky was dim, with only occasional glimmers from raindrops illuminating the vague scenery ahead, the whole world a blur.

At a bend in the mountain path stood a small pavilion. The current dynasty maintained rest stops with a long pavilion every ten li and a short pavilion every five li for travelers. In this dark and rainy night, three or four people were in the pavilion, some leaning, others sitting, engaged in conversation. Chang’an city enforced a nightly curfew, with the city gates opening only at the third point of the fifth watch every morning. The hour being early, these were presumably people waiting for the gates to open.

Huang Zixia walked through the mud and water. She wore the most ordinary male-style blue short robe. The people inside all turned their heads, seeing what appeared to be a delicate youth. Among them, an elderly man called out to her: “Young man, are you also hurrying to enter the city early? You’re completely soaked, poor thing, come warm yourself by the fire.”

Huang Zixia looked at his kindly smile in the firelight, pulled her wet clothes tighter, thanked him, and sat by the fire two feet away from him, silently helping to add firewood.

Seeing she only tended the fire without speaking, the others returned to their conversations, discussing strange tales from across the empire, speaking with such animation as if they had witnessed everything personally.

“Speaking of strange occurrences, have you heard about the recent mysterious case in the capital?”

“Elder, are you referring to the case known as the ‘Four Directions Case’?” someone immediately responded. “Three deaths within three months, and the victims lived in the south, west, and north of the capital with no connection to each other. Blood characters reading ‘Joy’, ‘I’, and ‘Pure’ were left behind. It’s truly bizarre and terrifying!”

“Indeed, it seems the next bloody incident must occur in the east of the city. That’s why people in the eastern districts are panic-stricken. They say anyone who could leave has already gone, leaving the east nearly nine out of ten homes empty.”

Huang Zixia’s fair hands held the firewood, slowly peeling away at the flames, listening to the faint crackling sound, her expression completely calm.

“With the world unsettled these days, every province is in turmoil. Not just the capital—recently there was a family massacre in Shu. Have you all heard about it?” One middle-aged man, clearly a traveling storyteller, habitually held a wooden clapper in his hand and spoke with great interest. “You’ve heard plenty of family massacres, right? But this case involves the family of Governor Huang Min of Shu!”

Huang Min.

As this name suddenly reached her ears, Huang Zixia’s steady hand involuntarily trembled, causing a spark to land on her hand, bringing sudden, intense pain.

Fortunately, everyone was caught up in a shocked discussion, and no one noticed her. They continued their conversation: “Isn’t Huang Min the official who served as Vice Minister of Justice in the capital, solved several mysterious cases over the years, and had quite a good reputation?”

“I’ve heard about this too! They say it wasn’t just Huang Min’s effort alone. He had a son and daughter—his son Huang Yan was unremarkable, but that daughter was a rare genius. They say when Huang Min was Vice Minister of Justice, many puzzling cases were solved thanks to her insights, and she was only fourteen or fifteen at the time. The current Emperor personally praised her, saying if she were a man, she would surely be talented enough to serve as a high minister!”

“Hah, talented enough to serve as a minister?” The storyteller sneered. “Have you heard the rumors? They say Huang Min’s daughter was born amid a room full of bloody light. Everyone who saw it said she was the White Tiger Star incarnate, destined to devour her entire family! Now the prophecy has come true—this Huang family massacre was carried out by the daughter’s own hands!”

Huang Zixia forgot the sharp pain in her hand. She stared blankly at the dancing flames before her. The tongues of fire flickered and writhed, licking at the darkness, but even the reddish glow could not hide her pale complexion.

The people around exchanged glances, and the elderly man expressed disbelief: “You’re saying the Huang family daughter… killed her entire family?”

“Exactly!”

This assertion came without hesitation, decisive and final.

“This is absurd. How could there be a daughter who would murder all her relatives?”

“This is true. The imperial court has issued arrest warrants. The Huang daughter has fled Shu, and if caught, she’ll face death by a thousand cuts, with no burial place!”

“If this is true, it’s truly inhuman, completely devoid of conscience!”

The elderly man asked again: “Such a tragedy—what could have been the reason?”

“Women are shallow-minded—what else could it be but matters of the heart?” The storyteller continued with dramatic flair. “They say she was betrothed since childhood, but as she grew up, she fell for someone else. So when her grandmother and uncle came to discuss her marriage arrangements, she served them a bowl of lamb soup at the feast. Minister Huang Min, Lady Yang, young master Huang Yan, and even her grandmother and uncle—all died from poison. Only she escaped, whereabouts unknown. Officials found arsenic packets in her room and records showing she had bought arsenic from an apothecary days before, documented in black and white. It turns out she had someone in her heart, but her parents forced her to marry another, so in her anger, she poisoned the whole family and planned to elope with her lover!”

The people in the pavilion, hearing of this violation of human morality, expressed amazement mixed with horror. Someone else asked, “How did this vicious woman escape?”

“After poisoning her parents and family, knowing she would be discovered, she arranged to elope with her lover that night. However, he was disgusted by such a heartless woman and submitted her love letters to the authorities, bringing people to arrest her at their meeting place. Somehow that evil woman sensed something was wrong and managed to escape! Now there’s an imperial warrant for her arrest, with wanted posters at every city gate in all provinces. Heaven’s net casts wide and though its meshes are large, nothing escapes it—I want to see when this vicious woman is caught and suffers death by a thousand cuts!”

The speaker told the tale with relish, while the listeners were filled with righteous indignation, creating an atmosphere of shared hatred in the small pavilion.

Huang Zixia sat hugging her knees, listening to the curses of the crowd. Suddenly she felt overwhelmingly tired. She rested her face against her knees, her eyes staring vacantly at the dimly flickering fire. Her clothes were half-dry, half-wet, and in this spring night, the cold seemed to pierce her skin like invisible needles, leaving her half-awake, half-asleep.

It was still early, the city gates remained closed, and the conversation around her turned to recent strange occurrences in the capital. Topics ranged from the Emperor building a new palace, Consort Zhao personally sewing curtains for the Three Pure Ones Temple, and how many noble ladies wished to marry Prince Kui, among other things.

“Speaking of Prince Kui, isn’t he returning to the capital soon?”

“Indeed, the Emperor loves feasts and celebrations, so naturally the new palace must be inaugurated with festivities. And how can any palace gathering be complete without Prince Kui’s presence?”

“This Prince Kui is truly the most outstanding figure in the royal family. The late Emperor also favored him greatly. No wonder Princess Qile is desperate to marry Prince Kui, repeatedly using every means possible, to become the laughingstock of the capital.”

“Prince Yi left behind only this one daughter. If he knew about this in the underworld, he’d probably be angered back to life…”

While everyone was enthusiastically discussing royal matters, Huang Zixia showed no interest, merely resting with closed eyes, listening intently to sounds from outside.

The rain had stopped, and in the gradually brightening sky, the faint sound of hoofbeats could be heard, barely audible.

Huang Zixia immediately opened her eyes and quickly left the pavilion, leaving behind the animated discussions.

In the dim morning light, the sun’s rays were just appearing on the horizon. Coming up the winding mountain path was an orderly guard detail. Though still bearing raindrops, they were neat and alert, clearly well-trained.

In the middle of the formation were two pure black horses pulling a carriage slowly forward. The carriage was decorated with dragon and phoenix motifs, and gilded carvings adorned with mother-of-pearl and turquoise. Two small golden bells hung from the carriage eaves, gently swaying with the movement, producing clear, ethereal sounds.

The procession passed the pavilion and continued forward. Huang Zixia followed at a distance. At the rear of the formation, a soldier about her age seemed distracted, glancing left and right as they moved. When he spotted Huang Zixia behind the trees, he turned to his companion and said, “Brother Lu, I think I ate something bad last night… I need to relieve myself.”

“What’s wrong with you? We’re almost at the city—can you catch up?” The person beside him lowered his voice and glared, “The Prince is strict with discipline. You know the consequences if you’re discovered!”

“Yes… don’t worry, I’ll catch up right away.” Clutching his stomach, he hurriedly turned his horse into the dense forest.

Huang Zixia pushed through the undergrowth and quickly ran to the waiting soldier, who had already hastily removed his royal guard uniform and took off his helmet to give to her: “Miss Huang, you… can ride a horse, right?”

Huang Zixia took his helmet and said softly, “Zhang Xingying, you’re taking such a risk to help me—I’m truly grateful!”

“What are you saying? If it weren’t for you back then, my parents would have died long ago. If I didn’t help you now, my parents would beat me to death.” He patted his chest boldly, “Besides, today we’re just escorting into the capital, not on military duty. Even if we’re discovered, it’s not serious. Last time Liu Wu also privately found someone to substitute for him, and only got several dozen military lashes. You just need to insist you’re my cousin… my cousin who was passing by, saw me with stomach trouble unable to stand, and substituted for me on duty. Today we’re just escorting the procession into the city, nothing major.”

Huang Zixia nodded, quickly removed her outer garment to give to him, and then put on his clothes. Though the clothes were a bit large, her tall frame made them passable.

After hurriedly thanking Zhang Xingying, Huang Zixia mounted the horse and urged it out of the dense forest.