She hadn’t expected him to know every detail about a mere guard so thoroughly. Momentarily stunned, she could only say: “Actually… Zhang Xingying and I are sworn siblings, we…” She appeared to have difficulty speaking, while he pretended ignorance, waiting leisurely for her to continue fabricating her story.
She knew he had already seen through everything, but with the arrow on the bowstring, she had no choice but to immediately change the core of her lie, swiftly replacing the cousin’s relationship with a romantic one. With an expression of hesitation, as if struggling to speak, she said: “Zhang Xingying and I are very close. Since childhood, I’ve loved playing polo and dressing as a man, so worried about him facing military punishment, I insisted on substituting for him. When his stomach was unwell, I seized his horse, and he couldn’t catch up… that’s what happened.”
“Then, when departing for the detached palace, why didn’t you choose to explain this to the leader, instead opting for a choice that would place both you and Zhang Xingying in an even more serious situation—hiding in my carriage?”
His slender fingers lightly tapped the small table, those fingertips rising and falling slowly seemed to strike at her heart, making her feel another sense of foreboding.
Sure enough, he smiled coldly, mercilessly exposing her words: “So, you just need to conceal something, something more serious than impersonating my guard, even more serious than being executed on the spot as an assassin.”
She remained silent. Circumstances were beyond her control—she had taken a risk, and now being caught, she could only helplessly await his judgment.
“A woman, in the outskirts before dawn, dressed as a man, clothes still bearing traces of rushing through the rain—if you say this wasn’t pre-arranged with Zhang Xingying, I don’t think anyone would believe it.”
Seeing her lower her head in silence, only her thick black eyelashes trembling slightly, showing stubborn defiance to death, he couldn’t help but smile coldly and say: “Hold out your left hand.”
She bit her lower lip and slowly extended her left hand, palm up.
“Every person’s hands record everything they’ve done in their life. Other things can be hidden, but your hands absolutely cannot be concealed.” He lowered his eyes to look at her palm, finally allowing a faint smile to touch his lips. “Your hands tell me you come from a good family, clever and perceptive from childhood. At thirteen, your life changed—you left Chang’an for… Shu territory, am I correct?”
She looked up at him, struggling to keep her voice steady: “Yes.”
“There you met someone you loved. From your palm lines, I can see you have a cold heart and act decisively, so for love, you’re completely capable of massacring your entire family, and as for the method…”
He curved his lips coldly at her: “Poison.”
As if a needle had pierced her eyelid, her eyelashes jumped violently. Suddenly having her hidden identity exposed, she instinctively curled her fingers, as if trying to hide a nightmare, pressing her hand to her chest while staring wide-eyed at the person before her.
The person before her gazed at her with an expression of satisfaction at seeing prey walk into a trap: “So your name is—Huang Zixia.”
She looked down at her palm lines, the initial shock gradually subsiding. She lowered her hand, withdrawing it into her sleeve, and said softly: “Not correct.”
“Which part isn’t correct?” he asked coolly. “Your background, the murders, or your identity?”
“I am Huang Zixia, but I didn’t kill anyone,” she took a deep breath and said softly. “Much less… kill my own family!”
He leaned back against the brocade cushions, a cold smile still playing on his lips: “You mean you were wrongly accused?”
She knelt in the carriage looking up at him. The peonies woven into the soft carpet were vivid in color—she was like an insignificant insect on those peony petals, minute and fragile. The person opposite could crush her with one finger at any moment.
Yet she paid no attention to this position of being looked down upon. Even kneeling there, her spine remained straight, and as she looked up at him, her expression was calm yet showed even more stubbornness: “Prince Kui, who doesn’t have parents? How could I, as their child, do such a thing? I’ve come thousands of li to the capital for this wrongful case. Being wrongly accused is secondary, but I cannot let my parents and relatives’ vengeance go unavenged. That’s why I escaped to Chang’an through countless hardships, seeking a chance to clear my parents’ and relatives’ names. Zhang Xingying took pity on me, which is why he was willing to risk punishment to help me. I beg Your Highness to be lenient toward his kind heart and not implicate him.”
“A kind heart? Who knows if his kind heart hasn’t helped an evil person?”
“If I were the murderer, I could naturally find a place to hide my identity, but I can’t just hide for my whole life, otherwise… my parents and relatives would never rest in peace!”
“You don’t need to explain to me, you can tell it to the Court of Judicial Review or the Ministry of Justice,” he coldly cast his gaze on the brocade curtain’s pattern beside him and said, “You may leave. I dislike staying with unkempt people, especially in such a confined space.”
Under these circumstances, ignoring her was already showing her leniency.
Huang Zixia slightly pressed her lips together and bowed to him. As she raised her head, her gaze fell on the glass bottle where the small red fish still swayed in the water, its long tail like gauze.
She lowered her voice and said softly: “This fish is called Agashne, from India. Legend says it was transformed from a thought of the dragon maiden who attended the Buddha’s scriptures and often appears beside those who died unnatural deaths.”
Prince Kui’s gaze swept over the glass bottle, his voice calm: “Is that so?”
“Yes, I have heard people say this. However, in my opinion, this might be a deliberate fabrication for two possible reasons: first, incompetent officials inventing supernatural explanations to shirk responsibility; second, the real murderer spreading rumors to confuse the investigation.”
Prince Kui’s lips finally curved slightly upward as he asked: “What else?”
“Objects appearing at murder scenes should be inauspicious, yet Your Highness keeps it constantly by your side. The deceased must have had an extraordinary relationship with Your Highness, and this murder case might still be unsolved.”
“And then?”
She pondered for a moment, then finally said slowly: “If Your Highness is willing to help me, I can also help Your Highness solve that murder case. No matter how long ago, no matter whether traces still exist, I can give Your Highness a clear resolution.”
Prince Kui raised the glass bottle to look at it, thoughtfully observing the blood-red glow on the fish’s body.
The small fish swam slowly in the glass bottle, causing no ripples.
Prince Kui reached out to lightly touch the fish’s head, watching it startle and dive to the bottom, before slowly withdrawing his finger and raising his eyes to look at the person kneeling before him, saying: “Huang Zixia, you are very bold.”
Huang Zixia knelt before him, expression unchanged, only looking at him with eyes clear as morning dew.
“Do you know that even the current Emperor has explicitly stated he cannot interfere in this matter, yet you dare to take it upon yourself, saying you can handle this case?” He raised his eyes to look at her coldly, and she realized he had extremely deep eyes that, on that cold face, appeared even more intimidating. “This matter is a court taboo, yet somehow it leaked out. Where did you hear about this old case, and then prepare to use it to bargain with me?”
Huang Zixia hadn’t expected such turbulent undercurrents behind this small fish. She bowed her head to him, yet her expression remained calm: “Your Highness, please forgive me. I had never heard anyone speak of this matter. I only saw this fish and recalled that absurd legend. The rest was all my conjecture; I truly knew nothing beforehand.”
He coldly placed the glass bottle on the small table, studying her expression: “I trust you wouldn’t dare.”
“But revealing worldly truths isn’t about daring or not, it’s about ability,” Huang Zixia said softly. “From Your Highness’s words, this case must be shocking and far-reaching, perhaps even more bizarre than my parents’ deaths. But I think, as long as someone dares to investigate, there will surely be a day when the truth comes to light.”
Prince Kui didn’t respond, only asked: “Since you’ve come to the capital to seek justice, you must have concrete evidence of who murdered your family?”
“I…” she fell silent, slightly furrowing her brow. “After it happened, I was immediately identified as the suspect and could only flee in hiding. But if Your Highness helps me, gives me some time, I believe I can definitely find proof!”
He raised his eyebrows slightly: “Speaking of which, I recall that when you were in Chang’an before, you helped solve several mysterious cases in the capital. I heard you also helped your father solve many problems in Shu Prefecture, is that right?”
“…Yes.”
“Well, that’s quite the case of early promise not guaranteeing later success. You could solve unsolved cases at fourteen, yet now you can’t even find your enemy?” His lips curved upward, with a touch of mockery. “You can’t even clear your name, yet you dare to presumptuously discuss my affairs and attempt to bargain with me?”
Huang Zixia remained silent. Li Shubai saw her biting her lower lip, yet refusing to make a sound, maintaining that stubborn demeanor. A seventeen-year-old girl, bedraggled and haggard, clothes disheveled, yet unable to conceal that clear, bright beauty, overlapping hazily with certain things in his memory.
So he lowered his voice slightly and said: “Huang Zixia, everyone in the world says you’re the murderer. If I speak up for you, won’t people suspect there’s something between us? Moreover, if the Court of Judicial Review or Ministry of Justice shows you mercy outside the law because of my intervention, wouldn’t that mean I’ve used power to distort national justice?”
Huang Zixia listened, kneeling below, not making a sound, only biting her lips hard.
Li Shubai didn’t even look at her, just said: “Leave. I have no interest in your affairs, nor in revealing your whereabouts to the authorities. Take care of yourself in the future.”
She paused, then silently lowered her head, preparing to exit the carriage. She had known that this man opposite her, though wielding great power, had no connection to her and wouldn’t help her. That he hadn’t immediately called someone to bind and send her to the Court of Judicial Review was already showing mercy.
So she could only bow deeply to him in gratitude. Just as she was about to rise, the carriage slowly came to a stop, and she heard the guard outside say: “Your Highness, we’ve arrived at Jianbi Palace.”
Jianbi Palace was the newly completed detached palace, just in the suburbs near the capital, barely ten li from Daming Palace. In the time they had been talking, they had already arrived.
Li Shubai lifted the carriage window to look outside, seeing that all the princes had arrived, with noise and commotion outside. He frowned slightly and said: “It seems people will inevitably discover I shared a carriage with a female murderer.”
Huang Zixia said softly but stubbornly: “I didn’t kill anyone!”
He ignored her, lifted the curtain, and said: “Get out.”
She hesitated for a moment, then followed him out of the carriage. A low stool had already been placed below the carriage. As she stepped onto the stool to descend, before her foot could steady, she felt someone lightly kick the back of her knee, causing her body to fall forward involuntarily. In front was a pond where newly planted lotus leaves drooped listlessly, the water murky. She fell into the water, choking violently on the dirty water, lying in an utterly bedraggled state in the mud, unable to get up.
Li Shubai turned to the palace maids who came forward and said: “Clumsy fool. Take her to wash up and let her walk back on her own.”
As for explaining whether she was male or female, he couldn’t be bothered, leaving Huang Zixia to deal with it herself.