The second day dawned with fine weather, the early summer sky a deep azure blue stretched high above, so bright it was almost dazzling to the eyes.
When Huang Zixia went to the stables to meet Li Shubai as arranged, he was already mounted on a spirited black horse, walking it in small circles to warm up its muscles.
Huang Zixia stood beneath the enclosing wall watching him. He wore a single layer robe of gray-purple gauze silk, and when the light caught it at certain angles, one could see densely woven patterns of blue-purple linked pearls hidden in the fabric. Against the smoke-gray azure sky, he appeared lofty and ethereally distant.
Seeing her approach, he gathered the reins and raised his riding crop to point at the stables behind him: “Choose one.”
Huang Zixia looked around, then untied the white horse she had ridden before and leaped into the saddle. Last time when she went to find Zhou Ziqin, she had ridden a different horse while leading this white one. This horse had a gentle, obedient temperament and swift feet, following steadily behind her at an unhurried pace all the way to the Zhou mansion without showing any signs of unruliness, truly winning her heart.
Li Shubai also appreciated her choice, and as he led her out, he said: “This horse is excellent, it was one I often rode before, named ‘Na Fu Sha’.”
“Strange name,” Huang Zixia said.
“They say ‘Na Fu Sha’ means noble and gentle in temperament in Dayuan. It has always been very obedient, but because of this, it’s easily approached and tamed by others, and thus easily forgets whom it belongs to.” Li Shubai slightly furrowed his brow, seeming to recall some distant memories, but then immediately raised his hand to pat his own magnificent and proud black horse, saying, “Compared to it, this ‘Di E’ is much better.”
“Di E?”
“It means daylight in Dayuan, though given its appearance, Cleansing Evil suits it just as well.” He rode half a horse-length ahead of her as they spurred their horses up the steps and out through the mansion gates. Huang Zixia didn’t ask where they were going, simply following him westward.
“Di E has a much worse temperament. When I first tamed it, it took three days and four nights. By dawn of the fourth night, it finally couldn’t endure anymore and bent its front knees to me,” Li Shubai said casually. “In this lifetime, no other person will ever be able to ride it.”
Huang Zixia was studying Di E, still calculating her chances of riding it, when Di E’s eye flashed beneath its long lashes, and its right hind hoof suddenly kicked out at her, with fierce accuracy and stability, striking Na Fu Sha squarely in the belly. Na Fu Sha whinnied in pain and lurched forward a step, nearly unseating Huang Zixia, who in her anger also raised her foot and kicked hard at Di E.
Di E’s neck was struck and it was becoming enraged when Li Shubai tightened its reins, and surprisingly it immediately calmed down, though its nostrils still flared with heavy breaths, clearly very disgruntled.
Seeing Di E’s sulky appearance, Huang Zixia couldn’t help but point her riding crop at it and burst out laughing.
Having experienced such misfortune in her life, she was usually melancholy, and this was the first time she had laughed so freely in front of him, causing Li Shubai slight surprise, unconsciously gazing at her for a long while.
Her laughing countenance was brilliant beyond compare in the early summer sunlight, as if all the world’s daylight was shining in her clear, uplifted brows and eyes, a radiance too bright to look at directly.
He turned his face away as if afraid of being burned by the sunlight, not daring to look at her again.
Huang Zixia didn’t understand why and looked at him once with questioning eyes. He coughed lightly and said: “Come, let’s go to Prince E’s mansion.”
Prince E Li Run still met with them in that deliberately elegantly arranged tea room. When Li Shubai mentioned wanting to see Chen Niangniang, he looked surprised and asked: “Fourth Brother, why are you asking about her today?”
“There are some small matters to inquire about with her.”
Li Run said helplessly: “What terrible timing, Chen Niangniang has already left.”
“What? Chen Niangniang has left?” Huang Zixia was immediately stunned. Li Shubai glanced back at her, then asked Li Run: “When did she leave?”
“Yesterday. She packed her things and left Prince E’s mansion without saying goodbye, only leaving behind a letter. I’ll have someone bring it for you to see.”
Chen Niangniang’s letter was immediately brought over. Though called a letter, it was just a plain note with a few characters written on it—
To His Highness Prince E’s attention:
Having received Your Highness’s shelter, this old woman will forever remember your great kindness and virtue. However, now that my heart’s wish has been fulfilled, I shall leave the capital never to return. In the future across great distances of mountains and waters, I shall certainly pray from afar for Your Highness’s blessings of long life and prosperity through thousands of autumns and tens of thousands of years.
With deepest respect,
Chen Niangniang
The handwriting was very graceful, yet showed signs of being hastily written, giving a sense of being done in a rush. Li Shubai scanned the letter once, then passed it to Huang Zixia.
Huang Zixia’s gaze fell on the four characters “heart’s wish fulfilled,” pondering for a long while before returning it to Prince E, saying: “If that’s the case, the chances of seeing Niangniang again must be very slim indeed. What a pity that my qin skills are not yet refined; I had hoped to learn from her a while longer.”
Prince E Li Run smiled slightly and said: “That’s nothing to worry about, there are many qin masters in both the Internal and External Music Bureaus, including some extremely outstanding experts. Oh yes, yesterday was the fifteenth, and when I went to the palace as usual to pay respects to the Imperial Consort Dowager, Chen Niangniang had asked me to mention that the Imperial Consort Dowager most enjoyed the pipa, and that years ago in Yunshao Garden in Yangzhou there was a painting of the Six Ladies of Yunshao, which some say contained deep insights into pipa playing. If the Imperial Consort Dowager would like, she would present it to her in a few days for her enjoyment. However, when I mentioned this to the Imperial Consort Dowager today, she just smiled and said what’s there to see in a painting, and declined.”
Li Shubai asked: “Then, when you returned from the palace, Chen Niangniang had already left?”
“Yes, so even if the Imperial Consort Dowager had been interested, I wouldn’t be able to produce that painting now.” Li Run smiled. His temperament was indeed extremely good, his expression relaxed and untroubled, clearly harboring no resentment over Chen Niangniang’s matter.
Li Shubai nodded and said: “Since she has already left, we won’t be able to find her. Thank you for personally brewing tea for us today, Seventh Brother.”
“What are you saying? I’m delighted that Third Brother could come.”
After exchanging a few more courtesies, Li Shubai led Huang Zixia out.
Only after Li Run, who had seen them out, was left far behind did Li Shubai rein in his horse, stopping with Huang Zixia in the streets of Chang’an, remaining stationary for a long while.
Both could see some speculation about this matter in each other’s eyes.
Li Shubai asked: “Where was it you said yesterday you wanted to investigate?”
“The water channel outside Guangzhai Ward. Since it’s still early, there might be people drawing water there, so it would be better to go in the afternoon.”
Li Shubai nodded, raised his head to ponder for a moment, then turned his horse westward, saying: “Let’s go to the Western Market.”
Huang Zixia lightly swung her riding crop, tapping Na Fu Sha’s rump intermittently, and asked: “Oh? Are we going to watch magic tricks again?”
He didn’t answer, only asking: “What do you think is the biggest mystery and difficulty in this case so far?”
Huang Zixia replied without hesitation: “Although this entire case is bewildering, in my view, the biggest mystery is how Wang Ruo suddenly disappeared from the heavily fortified Yongchun Hall, from among two hundred guards. How could someone vanish in just the blink of an eye after entering the East Chamber? What method could achieve this?”
“Yes, Wang Ruo’s disappearance should be the key to the entire case. If we can solve this mystery, perhaps we can grasp the essential thread of the case and strike at its core,” Li Shubai held the reins loosely, allowing both horses to walk slowly, and said, “I’ve been thinking about this issue recently, and I feel perhaps because we were so impressed by the magic trick we saw in the Western Market last time, with the bird cage having a mechanism allowing the small bird to escape, we’ve been fixated on thinking about whether Yongchun Hall has some hidden mechanism or secret passage.”
“But people’s thinking tends to follow such patterns. For a living person, in a room with hardly any furniture, how many possible directions are there for entry and exit? Above, there’s the carved and painted ceiling with hanging palace lamps, not only no skylight but not even any roof beams. Of the four walls, two are solid earthen walls without any gaps, one has a door leading to the main hall. At the time the hall doors were wide open, if anyone had come out, not to mention the guards at the door, the eunuchs in the hall would certainly have seen them. The last wall has windows, with guards posted outside who confirmed no one came out. Then there’s below, but we found no underground passage or secret cellar.”
Li Shubai concluded: “In a room surrounded as tightly as a bird cage on all sides, the person simply vanished.”
“Yes, and a few days later, a completely disfigured corpse appeared, yet it wasn’t the person who had disappeared.”
As they discussed in low voices, they had arrived at the Western Market.
They tied their horses at the market supervision office and merged into the bustling crowd, slowly moving with the flow of people.
The Western Market was still a scene of prosperity and bustle, with hundreds of trades and thousands of businesses, rare treasures gathered together, Lanling wine, and blue-eyed foreign courtesans. The trend of extravagance set by the current Emperor was spreading throughout Chang’an of the Great Tang.
That shop owner selling fish tanks still sat there playing with his fish, appearing indifferent to customers. Li Shubai bought the same fish food as last time, and turning back to see Huang Zixia looking at him with a complex expression, he originally didn’t want to explain, but at the doorway still said: “That fish likes this kind of food, it seems to have gotten fatter lately.”
Huang Zixia felt her mouth twitching slightly and said: “Let’s go see that couple performing magic tricks.”
The couple was indeed still performing magic tricks by the street, this time doing a trick where an egg turned into a chick. Although Huang Zixia could tell at a glance it was just sleight of hand, when the fluffy chick ran around on the ground, she still found it quite adorable and helped them gather up the scattered chicks and put them back in the box.
As the crowd dispersed, the wife smiled when she saw her, though her gaze flicked toward Li Shubai as she asked: “Want to learn another magic trick?”
Huang Zixia said: “The bird-vanishing trick you taught us last time still hasn’t been put to use—we can’t train the bird, there’s nothing we can do! Do you have any tricks that are simpler and more convenient than the last one?”
The woman smiled, and turned back to call to her husband: “Bring that bird cage, and that cloth too, yes, the black one.”
The woman shook out the black cloth, demonstrating that it was indeed just a light, empty black hemp cloth without anything hidden in it, then covered the empty bird cage with it, looked up at Huang Zixia, neither moving nor speaking, just smiling.
Huang Zixia knew this was the secret of the trick and naturally couldn’t be taught so simply, so she reached her hand toward Li Shubai—needless to say, the lowest-ranked eunuch’s monthly salary hadn’t been paid yet.
With just a movement of her eyes, Li Shubai understood her meaning and casually took out a small silver ingot from his money pouch to give to her.
Having received payment, the magic-performing woman’s face immediately lit up. Her right hand grabbed a chick from the box and approached the cloth-covered bird cage, her left hand gently lifting the black cloth on the cage, and under Huang Zixia and Li Shubai’s watchful gaze, she inserted the yellow chick into the covered cage. Her five fingers spread like lightly playing a pipa, moving away from the cage to show both her hands were empty.
Behind her, the black cloth moved twice, showing that the chick had truly entered the cage.
The performer smiled slightly at them, then lifted the black cloth from the cage, revealing it to be empty inside.
Huang Zixia instinctively picked up the cage, examining it carefully, but it was truly empty inside, and moreover, this cage was roughly made, appearing to have no mechanisms or hidden passages.
The performer smiled and said: “This is a cage without any alterations, and this chick just hatched from its egg, without any training. Moreover, this trick’s method is very simple—anyone who knows the secret can learn it.”
Huang Zixia and Li Shubai exchanged glances, their gazes simultaneously falling on the black cloth in the performer’s hands. Something was moving inside the black cloth.
The performer smiled slightly and shook open the black cloth, revealing a small pocket on its inner side, from which the yellow chick was poking out its head, looking at them bewilderedly and innocently.
Such a simple method—Huang Zixia couldn’t help but laugh, murmuring: “So that’s how…”
Before she could finish speaking, countless fragments flashed through her mind—
The prophecy of the man who suddenly appeared in Xianyou Temple; the assassin who left no trace in Penglai Hall; the gold hairpin with leaf veins that fell by the artificial mountain; the heavily guarded Yongchun Hall sealed tight as a drum… all were threaded together by an invisible line, winding and turning, rapidly connecting in her mind.
This feeling of sudden enlightenment as the threads came together made her involuntarily take a deep breath, as if unable to bear the shock of glimpsing heaven’s secrets, her whole person falling into a daze.
Li Shubai saw her standing motionless and raised his hand to lightly pat her shoulder, but surprisingly she still didn’t react, so he had to take her hand, holding her sleeve as he turned to leave.
Her hand was slender and soft, like a small young dove resting quietly in his palm.
Inexplicably, he felt his palm begin to sweat slightly.
Huang Zixia followed him dazedly to an elm tree before letting out a long breath and saying: “I need to find Zhou Ziqin.”
Li Shubai slowly released her hand and asked with slightly furrowed brows: “What have you figured out?”
“I need to confirm my suspicions, so I need Zhou Ziqin’s help.” She said this, then looked up at him and asked, “Do you want to return to the mansion first?”
Li Shubai snorted, giving only two words in response to her this-bridge-is-crossed-then-demolished behavior: “Not returning.”
“Then does Your Highness want to come with me to find Zhou Ziqin?”
He maintained an expressionless face as he turned to get his horse: “Nothing else to do anyway might as well go.”