Li Run remembered something and said, “I wonder how the case of the former Shu Prefecture Governor, Lord Huang Min, is progressing.”
Li Wei, being the most well-informed, immediately said, “Huang Ziyi has probably long since fled under an assumed identity. In this vast world, if someone chooses to live out their life in some remote village, they’d be quite difficult to catch.”
“It’s truly unimaginable that Lord Huang, such a gentle and cautious person, would meet such an end. It makes one sigh.”
Huang Ziyi stood beside them, listening to them discuss herself and her family’s bloody case, her expression calm to the point of iciness. Only in her chest did a suffocating pain unconsciously rise – there was a string there, constricting her heart, slowly, slowly tightening.
Li Shubai didn’t look to see what expression Huang Ziyi wore behind him, only saying coolly, “Perhaps Huang Ziyi is audacious enough to do the opposite of what’s expected and has come to the capital.”
“That would be walking straight into the trap – certain death,” said Li Wei.
Li Run sighed softly: “I remember when Huang Ziyi was once praised as a female prodigy in the capital. Who could have imagined she would become like this – it’s truly tragic, lamentable, and detestable.”
Among those present, Prince Kang Li Wen was young and didn’t know the story from those years. He asked curiously, “What was so extraordinary about this daughter of Huang Min? Why does everyone seem to know of her?”
Li Wei smiled and said, “She helped her father Huang Min, who was then Vice Minister of Justice, solve several cases. They were quite interesting – even now, storytellers in the entertainment districts still love to tell these tales.”
Li Wen asked eagerly, “I’ve never heard about this. Ninth Brother, tell me about it – let’s see if you can tell it better than the storytellers.”
Amidst everyone’s laughter, Li Wei assumed a proper storyteller’s pose, cleared his throat, and said, “Very well, let me tell it from the beginning. About five or six years ago, one evening the Ministry of Justice suddenly received news that a woman had hanged herself in Xingde District. When the coroner arrived at the scene, it turned out to be a new bride who had supposedly quarreled with her husband the day before, gone out alone to sulk for half a day, and upon returning in the evening, had taken her own life.”
Jin Nu covered her mouth, eyes wide, and sighed, “The narrow-mindedness of some women is truly both irritating and pitiful.”
“Indeed. At the time, the coroner’s examination confirmed death by hanging, so the Ministry of Justice was preparing to close the case. Vice Minister Huang Min went to review the final details, and eleven or twelve-year-old Huang Ziyi was outside the house where it happened, waiting with her brother for Huang Min to return home. The people of Chang’an love excitement, and seeing a death had occurred here, people were coming and going outside, all gathering to watch. A fabric merchant said the bride hadn’t bought her wedding clothes from his shop, and the color of her wedding dress hadn’t been proper, leading to this tragedy. A jewelry merchant mentioned she had chosen the design for a pair of silver hairpins at his shop that afternoon, asking if the husband still wanted them. A fortune teller claimed he had predicted the family would have both joy and sorrow this year if only they had come to him earlier… It was all quite chaotic. Just as Huang Min was about to sign off on the case, Huang Ziyi suddenly called out through the door: ‘Father!'”
Li Wei paused here, coughing lightly and like a professional storyteller, looked at his audience: “Ladies and gentlemen, at this point, does anyone know why Miss Huang Ziyi called out to her father?”
Li Run smiled, “You’ve only just begun the story without giving any hints – how could we know why Huang Ziyi called to her father?”
Li Wei laughed, “True, I’ve only told the beginning, but by then Huang Ziyi had already figured out both the cause of death and the killer, and I’ve already given you a hint.”
Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Li Wen spoke first: “In my opinion, that fortune teller seems very suspicious. Perhaps he killed her to establish a reputation as a divine prophet?”
Li Wei laughed heartily, then turned to ask Li Run: “What does Seventh Brother think?”
Li Run pondered briefly and said, “I’m not sure about this one. Could it be the fabric merchant who harbored a grudge over some dispute about the wedding clothes? Or perhaps the jewelry merchant had some conflict with the woman when she went to buy ornaments, and that’s why he did it?”
Li Wei smiled without confirming or denying, then turned to ask Li Shubai: “What does Fourth Brother think?”
“It was the husband who did it,” Li Shubai said casually.
Li Wei was instantly shocked, showing an expression of “Brother, let me bow to you”: “Fourth Brother, how did you guess?”
“I’ve seen the case files in the Ministry of Justice before, so I roughly know the truth,” he said plainly.
Li Wei sighed in relief and said, “Exactly. At the time, just as Huang Min was about to sign the documents, he heard Huang Ziyi call out ‘Father.’ He looked up and asked, what are you doing here at a murder scene, young lady? Go home quickly! But Huang Ziyi pointed at the jewelry merchant standing nearby and said, ‘Father, did you hear what he said? So that lady didn’t commit suicide – she was made to look like she had hanged herself. She was murdered!'”
Li Wen looked incredulous and said, “Ninth Brother, you said she was eleven or twelve then, even younger than me. Who would believe what such a young girl said?”
“Exactly so. At the time, Huang Min also thought it was absurd for such a young girl to say such things, and dismissed her with a ‘Go play somewhere else,’ intending to ignore her. But she placed her hand on her father’s case files and said, ‘Father, you once said when talking with colleagues at home that when people are about to die, their hearts turn to ashes. So, have you ever known anyone with a heart of ashes who would go to a jewelry shop to order silver hairpins before taking their own life? Moreover, she had only chosen the design – she hadn’t even received them yet!'”
At these words from Li Wei, the hall fell silent. Even Jin Nu, still holding her pipa, was lost in thought, unconsciously strumming a single note that no one noticed. Everyone had their moment of realization before breaking into praise.
Li Shubai raised his hand and lightly tapped the table, signaling to Huang Ziyi behind him. She understood, slowly kneeling to lift the wine pitcher and fill his cup.
He turned his eyes slightly, seeing her profile – her long eyelashes were thick and curled, lowered over those eyes as deep as pools. Sunlight through the window lattice slid across her eyelashes, creating a subtle play of light.
Li Wei’s story continued: “Huang Min realized his daughter’s words made sense and immediately called the coroner back for a second examination of the body. After careful inspection, they finally discovered slight displacement in the rope marks – marks that could only have been made by strangling once, then strangling again over the original marks. Therefore, they deduced that the victim had been strangled to death first, then hung from the beam to fake a suicide. The only person who could have done this was the one who first discovered her body and reported to the authorities that his wife had committed suicide – her husband.”
Li Wen’s eyes widened as he asked, “Did her husband confess?”
Li Wei nodded and said, “When the coroner discovered the discrepancy in the body, her husband was already terrified and pale. He immediately knelt and begged for mercy, confessing his crime. It turned out he suspected his wife had been intimate with someone from the street before their marriage. When he saw her go out after their argument, he thought she was going to meet her lover, and lost his reason in a fit of rage. When she returned home and turned to close the door, he grabbed a rope and strangled her. After coming to his senses, he quickly hung her from the beam, trying to fake his wife’s suicide to cover up his crime.”
Li Run praised, “He almost got away with it, but who would have thought a twelve-year-old girl would see through it all at once? Perhaps heaven itself wouldn’t let him escape.”
“Indeed! At twelve years old, Huang Ziyi solved a murder case with a single observation. From then on, everyone in the capital praised her as a genius girl. Whenever the Ministry of Justice had difficult cases, Huang Ziyi often helped Huang Min find leads. That’s why Huang Min once told others that his daughter was worth more than ten sons from other families – yet who could have imagined that in the end, it would be this very daughter who poisoned the entire family, creating a shocking bloodbath.”
Li Shubai noticed Huang Ziyi’s sunlit eyelashes tremble slightly. But it was only a slight tremor – she lowered her eyelids, rising silently with the graceful arc of a flowering branch swaying in the wind. Li Shubai thought to himself, who could imagine that such a delicate and refined young woman could stand so composed among people discussing her, listening expressionlessly to others recounting her past and her crimes, as calm as a peaceful breeze?
After Li Wei finished telling that case, everyone contemplated it for a moment before Li Run suddenly remembered something and said, “If Huang Ziyi were in the capital, I wonder if she could solve the current strange case in the capital?”
Li Wei asked, “Are you talking about the ‘Four Directions Case’ that has everyone in the capital living in fear?”
Li Run nodded. Li Wen quickly asked, “What Four Directions Case? Why don’t I know about it?”
“It’s a recent case in the capital – bloody, bizarre, and cruel. Everyone’s been mindful of your young age, so they haven’t mentioned it in front of you,” Li Wei smiled and said, “Better not to ask about it – you should go listen to the scholars at the Hanlin Academy instead.”
“No, no! Ninth Brother, you tell stories so much better than the Hanlin scholars. I absolutely must know about this Four Directions Case!” Li Wen stood up, ran to sit beside Li Wei, and stared at him intently, his gaze like a fledgling bird waiting for its mother.
Li Run smiled and said, “Ninth Brother, please tell us about it. Though I’ve heard of this matter, I only know the outline. You’re always frequenting teahouses and restaurants listening to storytellers – what are people saying about it?”
Li Wei looked toward Li Shubai: “Fourth Brother, you’re familiar with both the Court of Judicature and the Ministry of Justice – do you have any new leads?”
Li Shubai slowly shook his head: “No, both departments are investigating thoroughly, but there’s been no progress.”
“Then I’ll tell what I’ve heard about this matter.” Li Wei gestured for Jin Nu to come to refill his wine, then with a mysterious expression, asked Li Wen: “Do you know that people in the eastern part of Chang’an are now living in fear? Though not completely deserted, most have fled to relatives’ homes in other parts of the capital or the suburbs, afraid to stay in the east?”
“Really? No wonder even the East Market seems quiet lately. When I went there last time, many shops were closed.” Li Wen grew more curious. “What’s happening? What occurred in the east?”
“Well, it started three months ago. On the morning of the seventeenth day of the first month, guards at the Taiji Palace in the north were conducting their routine early patrol when they found a night watchman over sixty years old murdered beneath the palace wall. Above him, someone had written the character ‘净’ (pure) in blood,” Li Wei narrated with dramatic flair and animation, his expression so lively that if one didn’t listen to the content, they might think he was telling a romance rather than a murder case.
“A month later, on the twenty-first day of the second month, a blacksmith in his thirties was killed outside an apothecary in Anyi District in the south, with the character ‘乐’ (joy) written on the wall. On the nineteenth of the third month, at a charity hall in Chang’an District in the southwest, a four-year-old child was killed, with the character ‘我’ (self) left as a message. The Ministry of Justice confirmed the handwriting and method of killing were the same, determining these three cases were committed by one person, temporarily naming it the ‘Four Directions Case.’ According to Buddhist teachings, the four directions of the Bodhi tree represent ‘permanence, joy, self, and purity’ – east represents permanence, south joy, west self, and north purity. Thus, people in the capital became terrified, and a rumor suddenly spread that these people were killed by an evil spirit because, on New Year’s Day, Master Zhuang Zhen had mispronounced this Buddhist verse during a ceremony, causing the evil spirit to remain in the mortal world. It would only leave after killing four people in four directions of the capital.”
“I remember Master Zhuang Zhen! Isn’t he the high monk from Jianfu Temple? When Princess Suining was born and Noble Consort Chen had a difficult labor, the palace invited him to perform rituals,” Li Wen asked curiously. “I heard he died a few days ago – could it be related to this?”
Li Wei nodded: “When Master Zhuang Zhen heard the rumors in the capital claiming the deaths were because of him, he recalled that day’s sermon. He had indeed mispronounced that verse – the character ‘乐’ should have been pronounced as ‘le’ but he mistakenly pronounced it as ‘yue’, a grave error. So in his distress, he passed away within days. But after his death, rumors in the capital grew even stronger, saying that since Jianfu Temple sits in the center of the capital, Master Zhuang Zhen’s death aligned with the Bodhi tree, facing all directions. Now that blood has been spilled in the north, south, and west, only the east remains, representing ‘permanence.’ People in the east believed these rumors, and in their panic, many families fled to relatives’ homes, leaving the eastern district nearly empty.”
Li Run sighed slightly and asked Li Shubai: “Fourth Brother, with this matter growing so serious and three people already dead, have the Court of Judicature and Ministry of Justice truly made no progress?”
Li Shubai said: “This killer strikes swiftly and precisely, and is skilled at concealment. Chang’an has nearly a million inhabitants – finding such a person is practically impossible. Though both the Court and Ministry have mobilized all their forces, they’ve achieved nothing. Now it’s April, and given the killer’s pattern of one murder per month, they’re likely to strike soon. The Ministry and Court can only spread their forces throughout the capital; beyond that, they have no options for now.”
Li Run sighed: “Permanence, joy, self, and purity – Buddhist verses being used as murder messages. This case is truly bizarre and cruel, difficult to fathom… Perhaps even if Huang Ziyi were in the capital, she couldn’t solve it.”
Li Wei smiled and said: “She’s just a woman who occasionally solved a few cases with clever tricks – it’s just that women’s thinking can be narrow, allowing them to imagine what others cannot. With this current case, she would surely be helpless, impossible for her to solve.”
Li Wen, with wide eyes, said: “But Zhou Ziqin always tells me that Huang Ziyi is brilliantly talented – that there’s no case in the world she couldn’t solve!”
“Alas, the brilliantly talented daughter of Vice Minister Huang, Huang Ziyi, is now a murderer wandering the world, condemned by all,” Li Shubai said.
Huang Ziyi, standing behind him, remained silent and motionless.
Amidst everyone’s sighs, only Li Run said: “The bloodbath at the Huang family must have more to it – at least… it’s not as simple as it appears.”
“But the evidence in this case is conclusive, with both witness testimony and physical evidence. Huang Ziyi’s guilt is certain – there’s no possibility of overturning the verdict,” Li Wei shook his head and asked, “Does Seventh Brother say this because you know inside details of the case?”
“No, but Wang Yun is my good friend, and I cannot believe this matter.”
Li Wen asked curiously: “Which Wang Yun?”
Li Run said: “Naturally, the Empress’s cousin, the only son of the main branch of the Langya Wang family.”
“Indeed. Wang Yun was Huang Ziyi’s betrothed,” Li Wei said with a mysterious expression. “Folk rumors say that Huang Ziyi didn’t want to marry Wang Yun because she had another lover, so she poisoned her entire family, intending to elope with her true love.”
Behind Li Shubai, Huang Ziyi stood with hands lowered, completely silent. For some reason, Li Shubai let out a light laugh.
Li Wei quickly looked at him and asked: “Fourth Brother, what’s your view?”
Li Shubai smiled and said: “Nothing, I was just thinking – Seventh Brother since you’re close to Wang Yun, have you ever met Huang Ziyi?”
“You could say I saw her once,” Li Run nodded and said. “Three years ago, Huang Ziyi was summoned by the Empress for commendation after helping her father solve several strange cases. That day, Wang Yun came to find me, mentioning that Huang Ziyi was his betrothed. I understood his intention, so I accompanied him to the palace, ostensibly to pay respects to his cousin the Empress, but actually to secretly glimpse his future bride.”
Li Wen quickly asked: “Then you must have seen her! What did Huang Ziyi look like?”
“We did catch a glimpse. We arrived late at the palace after she had already left. We only saw her from afar in the corridor, following behind the palace maids, wearing silver-red gauze robes, with extremely black hair and very white skin. Her steps and figure were light and delicate, like a newly budding flower. At the last turn of the corridor, she turned slightly, and we caught a glimpse of her profile.”
Li Wei asked: “Was she beautiful?”
Li Run nodded: “Just like the image on the wanted notice – undoubtedly beautiful.”
“What a shame for Wang Yun,” Li Wen laughed.