What had entangled Zhou Ziqin’s foot was indeed a package. Inside were a pipa, two pieces of clothing, a jewelry box, and a large stone.

Additionally, they pulled from the water a headless female corpse, tied to another stone. Zhou Ziqin cut the rope from the stone and dragged her onto the bank.

“I’m exhausted,” Zhou Ziqin crawled up and collapsed on the grassy bank, panting heavily.

“Without such heavy stones, how could things sink?” The other two, showing no signs of guilt, were already crouched beside the corpse examining it.

The headless female corpse had not been in the water long. Though the skin had turned pale from soaking, it hadn’t bloated much yet. She wore an extremely bright and soft gauze dress and judging from her slender waist and long limbs, she was a young and graceful woman.

“Ziqin, you’re more familiar with corpses, tell us about this one,” Li Shubai turned to Zhou Ziqin.

Zhou Ziqin lay on the ground, saying somewhat regretfully, “If I’d known there’d be a corpse, you should have told me earlier – I didn’t bring my tools.”

Huang Zixia explained, “I didn’t know there would be a corpse either, I only expected the package.”

Zhou Ziqin got up, still breathing heavily as he crawled to the corpse’s side and conducted a rough examination.

“The deceased is a young woman, about five feet three inches tall in life, and her figure… is exceptional, definitely ranking first among all the corpses I’ve examined. As they say, perfectly proportioned – add an inch and she’d be too tall, subtract an inch and she’d be too short…”

“Stay on topic,” Li Shubai had to interrupt him.

“Fine, she was thrown into the water channel after the killer cut off her head. The crime scene should be not far from here, and the killer is an experienced hand. Look, the neck cut is extremely neat and clean. Finding such a crime scene would probably be difficult – such an experienced killer should be able to perfectly handle all traces, especially with all the wild grass and scattered trees around here.”

“Mm… a headless female corpse, identifying her will be difficult.” Huang Zixia spoke while picking up the pipa from the package and examining it. The strings were broken, but the mother-of-pearl inlaid peonies were still intact, their colors vivid in the sunlight.

It was indeed Jin Nu’s inseparable pipa, the “Autumn Dew Touches Frost” given to her by her master Mei Wanzhi.

The jewelry box contained many pieces of jewelry, all very delicately crafted. “These are definitely Jin Nu’s things,” Huang Zixia particularly examined the silk-layered begonia that Jin Nu had worn in her hair when they first met, then closed the jewelry box and looked through the two wet pieces of clothing.

“Is it Jin Nu? That seems quite possible,” Zhou Ziqin asked thoughtfully, “Could she have been lured into eloping, then killed when they reached here, with the body and package tied to stones and thrown into the river?”

“I don’t think so. These things weren’t packed by Jin Nu herself,” Huang Zixia picked through the clothes, saying, “Although the most beautiful dresses were chosen, there are only outer garments, no undergarments. Would a woman leaving home only change her outer clothes?”

“That makes sense…”

“So the killer just grabbed a few pieces of clothing, attempting to create the false appearance of Jin Nu eloping.”

“Then this corpse?”

“Jin Nu was about five feet five inches tall, you said this corpse is only five feet three inches, so it isn’t Jin Nu.”

Zhou Ziqin remained confused: “But how is it such a coincidence that it appeared right here?”

Huang Zixia looked at him: “What do you think?”

Zhou Ziqin looked at her, then at Li Shubai, and exclaimed: “Ah! The killer deliberately used it to pose as Jin Nu?”

“Mm, the real Jin Nu—” Huang Zixia said calmly, “should be lying in Wang Ruo’s coffin now.”

Zhou Ziqin jumped up immediately: “Wh-what? You mean…”

“Yes, someone disguised Jin Nu’s corpse as Wang Ruo, attempting to resolve the mystery of the Crown Princess’s disappearance through the appearance of this corpse.”

“How despicable!” Zhou Ziqin couldn’t help but widen his eyes, “But why did the killer choose Jin Nu and treat her so cruelly?”

“Probably because of their similar builds. After all, Wang Ruo was quite tall, most women were half a head shorter than her, like this woman’s corpse – though headless, we can still judge her basic height. But a pipa player’s corpse isn’t as important as a Crown Princess’s, the officials won’t pay special attention to it, and besides, if a body stays in water long enough, it will bloat enormously. If it’s discovered a few days later, the height would be harder to determine.” As she spoke, she rewrapped the pipa and other items, gesturing for Zhou Ziqin to take them, “Keep the evidence at your place for now, there are too many eyes at my end.”

“Oh, alright.” Zhou Ziqin took the package, ignoring the mud still dripping from it, then asked, “What about this corpse?”

Huang Zixia coughed slightly and said, “Well… could you see if you can take it back to your house?”

“…Do you think that’s possible?” Zhou Ziqin asked.

Li Shubai said, “Just notify Cui Chunzhan directly, tell him you discovered a headless female corpse and a package here. As for how the Department of Justice determines the deceased’s identity, don’t interfere. Also, remember to pack all the evidence properly – if we call for you tomorrow, bring it quickly.”

“Alright,” he said, wearing a bitter expression as he begged Huang Zixia to quickly notify Cui Chunzhan while he stayed to guard the package and corpse.

Huang Zixia and Li Shubai emerged from the shrubbery by the water channel and walked along the deserted path to the edge of the ward, where they saw several idlers sitting and chatting in the shade of trees by the road.

Huang Zixia pointed toward the water channel and shouted, “They’ve found a corpse in the water over there!”

Immediately, the idlers jumped up – some went to look, some called for others, some shouted about reporting to the authorities, creating an instant commotion.

Li Shubai and Huang Zixia walked to an empty alley where Di’e and Feisha were leisurely chewing on grass. Wearing bits was quite pitiful – they could barely eat any grass, but the two horses still idly nuzzled the few weeds in the corner.

They mounted their horses and discovered that even Li Shubai, who had remained uninvolved, had clothes streaked with mud and water stains. But neither of them cared anymore, riding slowly and chatting intermittently.

Huang Zixia asked, “Has Jing Yi sent word back from Xuzhou?”

“Yes, when the arrowhead disappeared, it was just when Pang Jun’s remnant forces were running wild near Xuzhou.”

“Is it true that when the arrowhead went missing, the crystal box’s lock was completely undisturbed, yet what was inside vanished without a trace?”

“It’s true. After reaching Xuzhou, Jing Yi thoroughly investigated the whole matter, interrogated all the soldiers guarding the city tower at the time, and discovered that Pang Jun’s remnants had bribed the guards, who stole what they were meant to protect and blamed it on supernatural forces.”

Huang Zixia pondered, “And what happened in Xuzhou spread instantly throughout the capital, along with supernatural claims. It seems someone must be manipulating this matter from behind, deliberately dragging in Pang Jun’s affair to conceal their true intentions.”

Li Shubai said coolly, “Yet they don’t realize this only makes things more suspicious, their cleverness backfiring.”

“Mm, it seems another hypothesis can be confirmed.”

They chatted casually as they rode through Chang’an’s wards.

Under the azure sky, Chang’an’s seventy-two wards stood neat and dignified, standing firm amid the long winds and thin dust. The early summer sun carried some warmth, making sweat appear on Huang Zixia’s neck beneath her lined garments. She wiped it with her sleeve as they slowly rode along the street’s locust tree shade, pondering this mysterious case.

Li Shubai casually handed her a white handkerchief folded into quarters. She took it and wiped her neck, then came to her senses and turned to look at him.

His features in the locust tree shade at that moment were covered with a faint radiance. May sunlight filter down through the night, like strands of golden thread, shifting and flowing. But when the sunlight fell on them, it transformed into spots of brilliant halos. In this ethereal, changing light, she saw his expression – within his usual coldness, there seemed to be something different, making the air between them seem to flow more slowly for an instant.

Huang Zixia lowered her head, silently riding beside him. When they approached Yongjia Ward, she suddenly turned her horse, urging Feisha northward.

Li Shubai followed her, asking, “Going to Yongchun Hall in the Great Ming Palace?”

“Mm, I need to confirm one last thing, then this case can be resolved.”

“You’ve figured everything out?” He was slightly surprised, looking at Huang Zixia beside him. The locust trees grew sparse, their shade retreating, golden sunlight showering down on them completely. He saw Huang Zixia riding beside him covered in a layer of dazzling light, seeming to emanate not from the now-setting sun but from within her very being.

He was slightly dazed, continuing to watch Huang Zixia. She entered directly through the hall doors, passed through the front hall, walked along the level brick path past the rockery, then crouched down near the inner hall, pointing to decorative rock, saying, “It was right here where I found Wang Ruo’s leaf-veined hairpin.”

Li Shubai nodded slowly. He watched her raise her hand to touch the silver hairpin on her head, press the rolled leaf, pull out the jade pin inside, and draw a faint white line on the blue brick ground—

“Front hall, back hall, rockery in between. Here…” her hairpin drew a circle around the rockery, enclosing the highest point, “is where Wang Ruo’s gold leaf-veined hairpin was lost.”

Li Shubai pointed to the outer hall’s corridor: “This is where we were standing.”

“Yes, in the outer hall corridor, one person every ten steps, eyes fixed on the inner hall entrance. And inside the rockery, the guards outside the window never took their eyes off the windows.” She plucked a leaf from nearby, wiped her pin clean, and then quickly and deftly inserted it back into the silver hairpin. She looked up at him, her lips curving into a bright, pure smile, “This case is now closed.”

Li Shubai stood silently, looking around. Dusk had begun to envelop the place, twilight about to swallow the bright daylight.