Chen Niangniang hadn’t noticed and simply said, “Yes, Xuese. Mei Wanzhi’s husband was a painter surnamed Cheng. He was exceptionally handsome and his paintings were outstanding, but his inner nature was different from others. Usually when we name children, we use names like ‘Flower’ or ‘Swallow’, but he named his daughter Xuese (Snow Color). Many people misheard it as ‘Xuese’ (Blood Color), and could only smile bitterly for Mei Wanzhi’s beautiful daughter in private.”

Huang Zixia felt some of the mist before her eyes gradually clearing away. She instinctively grabbed Chen Niangniang’s hand and asked urgently, “Chen Niang, what happened to Mei Wanzhi’s daughter Xuese?”

Chen Niangniang looked at her with great surprise, clearly not understanding why during their discussion about Jin Nu, she suddenly wanted to know about Xuese. But she followed along with her inquiry and explained slowly: “Mei Wanzhi’s daughter could be said to have had a tragic fate. Her mother passed away before she was five years old, and her father took her back to their hometown in Liuzhou. But he had no real means of making a living – painting alone couldn’t feed them. Poverty and illness combined took his life when she was around ten years old. The greedy relatives in the family immediately seized his property, leaving Xuese with no place in the clan, suffering constant bullying. Later, when the other women of the Yunshao Six learned of her plight, they had her come to Yangzhou for refuge. She arrived when I was already at Yunshao Garden. I only saw a thirteen-year-old child, dirty and frail, yet somehow she had managed to travel thousands of li to reach Yangzhou. Everyone was moved to tears at the time, saying that in those years Mei Wanzhi had been like a cluster of magnificent flowers, resplendent and beautiful, yet who could have imagined her daughter would face such circumstances…”

“Where is Xuese now?”

“Landai took her to Puzhou. Both Yiniang and I only saw her that one time.”

“Hmm… can she play music?”

“That I don’t know. Her mother was exceptionally skilled with the pipa, but Xuese was already quite old when she arrived, past the best age for learning. Everyone sighed, saying Mei Wanzhi’s extraordinary grace would not be passed down.”

“Was Mei Wanzhi a great beauty?” Huang Zixia asked again.

“I never saw her, but I heard she was an incomparable beauty!” Chen Niangniang said with absolute certainty. “Even after all these years, though Yunshao Garden never lacks outstanding beauties, and though Xuese herself is a rare beauty, Yiniang always says Xuese doesn’t compare to her mother. In terms of beauty, only Mei Wanzhi was truly radiant and dazzling – as they say, ‘Only the peony is truly the nation’s beauty,’ and only she deserved such praise.”

“Yes, I heard Jin Nu mention this too. She said her master was a peerless beauty.”

“When Mei Wanzhi passed away, Jin Nu was only around ten years old, but I always heard her speak of her master. Not only did Mei Wanzhi save her life by picking her up from the street when she was five, but Jin Nu truly revered and worshipped Mei Wanzhi. I heard when she left Yunshao Garden for the capital, she especially embraced her pipa and prostrated herself before Mei Wanzhi’s portrait, kneeling for a full half-hour.”

“Then, are there any portraits of Xuese or Mei Wanzhi?” Huang Zixia asked.

“There are of Mei Wanzhi. Her husband was a painter who came from humble origins but was extremely talented. Back then he painted a spring outing scene for the Yunshao Six, showing all six of their likenesses. It’s kept in Landai’s collection.”

Huang Zixia nodded silently, then asked, “Would it be possible for me to borrow that painting to look at?”

Chen Niangniang said, “That shouldn’t be difficult. Landai has already left Yangzhou, but she left us an address in Puzhou before she left. I can write a letter asking Xuese to send the painting scroll over. It would only take a day or two.”

Huang Zixia said delightedly, “Really? That’s wonderful! If Xuese could bring the painting herself, I think this matter might make great progress.”

“Yes, I’ll write to Landai today.”

“Thank you so much, Chen Niang!”

“Yangzhou, the courtesan houses…”

Back at the prince’s mansion, after hearing her account, Li Shubai frowned slightly: “How did this involve matters from so long ago and so far away?”

“I hadn’t expected it either,” Huang Zixia could only say, “But from various signs, it seems there truly might be a connection.”

As they discussed the case, they walked slowly along the waterside bridge toward Jingyu Hall. Li Shubai had never liked having many people carefully attending to him, so the guards and eunuchs only followed far behind, leaving only Huang Zixia walking with him on the bridge.

Looking back at the shore among the trees, palace lanterns had already been lit, their light reflecting on the gently rippling water along with the moon and Milky Way, flickering and sparkling, as the two walked among the stars and moon.

They both unconsciously stopped on the bridge, watching the vast light on the water’s surface. The night breeze had gradually warmed, and the late spring or early summer season was most pleasant and comfortable.

Li Shubai turned his head to look at Huang Zixia standing one step behind him, seeing her eyes sparkling brightly in the starlight and moonlight reflected off the waves. His gaze lingered unconsciously for a moment.

Just then, a sudden rush of footsteps on shore disrupted the tranquility. Someone ran hurriedly onto the bridge, shouting: “Prince Kui! Prince Kui!”

Li Shubai turned his gaze toward the newcomer, seeing the guards had already stopped the person on shore. He turned and walked toward the shore, seeing in the lamplight that the person standing anxiously at the bridge’s end was Zhou Ziqin.

Li Shubai gestured for the guards to let Zhou Ziqin through. He turned and walked toward the pavilion on the long bridge, sat down inside, and motioned for the anxious Zhou Ziqin to sit, asking, “What’s happened?”

Zhou Ziqin sat on the stone bench opposite him, clutching his fists nervously with a disturbed expression, seeming about to speak but holding back.

Li Shubai frowned slightly and asked, “What exactly is it?”

“I… I might have…” Zhou Ziqin spoke, his pale and bloodless lips trembling constantly. He looked up at Li Shubai, then at Huang Zixia, and after a long while, finally forced out a few barely discernible words, “Might have… killed someone.”

Li Shubai raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, “Might have?”

“It’s just… I can’t explain clearly right now. Chonggu knows about this too – I didn’t mean to kill them!”

Huang Zixia looked at Zhou Ziqin in surprise and asked, “How does this involve me?”

“Because the people who died were those beggars I gave food to last night!”

As soon as Zhou Ziqin spoke, Huang Zixia let out an “Ah!” and couldn’t help exclaiming, “The ones from last night?”

Li Shubai glanced at her and said in a deep voice, “Ziqin, explain the whole story carefully.”

“Yes.” Zhou Ziqin nervously recalled and said in a trembling voice, “Last night Lord Cui invited us to drink at Zuijin Tower. I heard that the eunuch from Prince’s household who solved the Four Directions case was also there, so I thought it must be Chonggu, and went to the dinner… Then after eating, I saw several dishes hadn’t been touched much, so I packed up our leftover food and gave it to those beggars… I’ve often done this before, and never had any problems.”

Huang Zixia nodded, indicating there was nothing wrong with what he said.

“Then, when I woke up this morning, I heard the Ministry of Justice was examining corpses, so I hurried over to look, and I found… found that the dead were exactly those beggars from last night!”

Huang Zixia asked, “But that doesn’t necessarily mean our food was poisoned, right? After all, when we ate, we didn’t notice anything unusual.”

Zhou Ziqin nervously grabbed her hand and said, “No, it’s true! Those people died from poison. I picked up the lotus leaves we used to wrap the food last night, took them home to test, and found traces of a deadly poison on them… Moreover, it’s a poison rarely seen in our region.”

Li Shubai glanced at his hand, and Huang Zixia had already discreetly withdrawn her palm, asking, “What poison was it?”

“It’s sap from the poison arrow tree, called ‘sealed by blood at first sight’ by the southern barbarians. It’s said that victims can’t walk more than ten steps – it’s one of the world’s deadliest poisons.” Zhou Ziqin frowned and said, “It’s rarely seen in the capital. I’ve only read about it in books before. People poisoned by it have their skin turn black and rot, and their hair, eyebrows, nails, and teeth all fall out, making their faces unrecognizable. It’s terrifying!”

“The beggars were like this too?”

“Yes, now the Ministry of Justice has ordered that this case is extremely horrifying and the ruthless killer must be thoroughly investigated.” Zhou Ziqin’s lips were pale, and his shoulders hadn’t stopped trembling, “But Chonggu, you know, I… I had no intention of harming anyone!”

Huang Zixia frowned and said, “The question is, since we were fine, how did the food we gave them suddenly become poisoned?”

“And… and we packed it ourselves and gave it to them directly…”

Li Shubai interjected, “I think the main question should be who poisoned the food you ate.”

Huang Zixia nodded and said, “Those present at the time were Lord Cui, Wang Yun, us, and several officials from the Court of Judicial Review… and Jin Nu.”

Zhou Ziqin counted these people on his fingers, clearly unable to consider any of them as the culprit. Finally, he looked up miserably and asked, “Chonggu, do you think this matter will be traced back to us?”

“What do you think?” Huang Zixia asked in return.

“When we went there last night, it was almost curfew time, and no one saw us, so I think maybe… as long as we don’t tell anyone, there shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“I don’t know how other constables would handle it, but I would immediately examine the food remains in the victims’ stomachs. For beggars to eat such fine food is rare, so the killer would be identified as someone from a wealthy family. Also, the lotus leaves left at the scene were fresh, typically purchased by restaurants, while ordinary households usually use dried lotus leaves for wrapping food. Why would anyone specially prepare fresh lotus leaves just to wrap food? You should know that the capital’s terrain is low-lying and cold – the lotus leaves in the city have just emerged from the water. Restaurants specially arrange with fishermen outside the city to pick lotus leaves when they deliver fish and shrimp in the morning – it’s quite a rare item.”

“Then… then maybe someone deliberately got lotus leaves to wrap food to confuse the investigation…”

“That’s possible. But before considering that possibility, the constables would have already visited all the major restaurants, and then immediately filtered out Young Master Zhou Ziqin, son of Lord Zhou, who never wastes food. They would have the details of the dishes you packed last night, with conclusive evidence, and could immediately request permission from their superiors to invite you to the yamen for questioning.”

Zhou Ziqin immediately collapsed in his chair, his face turning pale and his eyes glazing over.

Huang Zixia asked helplessly, “Don’t you usually deal with corpses? How come I didn’t know you were so afraid of dead people?”

Zhou Ziqin said weakly, “I just like studying corpses, but I don’t like turning people into corpses.”