News finally came from the palace – the Emperor’s headache had become severe, and he wouldn’t be coming. So Li Shubai’s group rose and followed the palace supervisors to inspect the newly completed detached palace. Though not as luxurious and vast as the Daming Palace or as expansive as the Jiucheng Palace, the tour of stops and starts still took a full hour.
Huang Ziyi naturally followed behind Li Shubai the whole time. Her figure was light and graceful – even the ordinary eunuch’s clothes looked especially neat on her. Even though she walked behind them in silence with a lowered head, she was particularly pleasing to the eye.
Li Wei watched her along the way and smiled, saying: “Fourth Brother, when did you change your attendant? I don’t seem to have seen this young eunuch before.”
Li Shubai responded casually: “Jingyou, Jingyu, and the others – who knows who infected whom – they all caught colds.”
Li Run, however, kept studying Huang Ziyi, his face slightly confused, feeling she resembled someone in his memory, though he couldn’t immediately connect this young eunuch to that girl he had once glimpsed.
Li Wei asked again: “What’s your young eunuch’s name, and how old is he?”
Li Shubai smiled slightly and turned to ask Huang Ziyi: “Prince Zhao seems to have taken a liking to you. Since I’m not impressed by your clumsy ways anyway, why not go serve him instead?”
Huang Ziyi froze for a moment, seeing everyone’s eyes on her, then slowly knelt and said softly: “This humble one has heard that a bird cannot perch on two branches, nor can a servant serve two masters. Once a tea plant sprouts, it becomes difficult to transplant, and when an orange tree is moved north of the Huai River, it becomes a thorny citrus. This foolish one fears that after leaving Duke Kui’s household, I would struggle to adapt and might offend noble persons, committing errors.”
Li Wei laughed: “Fourth Brother truly trains his people well – after such words, if I insisted, I would be the one destroying his aspirations.”
Li Shubai gave an ambiguous smile and said: “Indeed, quite glib.”
Fortunately, Prince Kang Li Wen called out that he was tired, and the group finally left Huang Ziyi alone as they headed back.
Among the many palace walls and gardens, Li Shubai gradually slowed his pace. By the time they reached a stand of phoenix-tail bamboo, there was no one else around him except Huang Ziyi. Li Shubai turned to face her coldly: “Huang Ziyi, why are you following me?”
Huang Ziyi kept her eyes lowered respectfully and said: “As a good bird chooses its tree to perch upon, I wish to stay by Your Highness’s side, using my modest abilities to help in small ways.”
“Help with what?” he asked coldly.
“From matters as distant as that little red fish to ones as close as the recent ‘Four Directions Case’ in the capital.”
His gaze fell on her downturned face, cold and contemptuous, as if regarding her as a speck of dust in the air: “Of these matters, some you’re not worthy to help with, and others have nothing to do with me. Why meddle?”
She stood beneath the phoenix-tail bamboo, its fine leaves casting shadows over her, giving her already pale face a faint green tinge, making her look even more bloodless and delicate. She looked up at him, her voice soft but unwavering: “However, since both the Court of Judicature and Ministry of Justice are at a loss, and His Majesty has developed a headache, I think perhaps only you, Duke Kui, can help ease His Majesty’s burden.”
“Aren’t you just looking for a patron to help clear your supposed wrongful conviction?” he mercilessly exposed her intention. “Just now when Prince Zhao offered, wasn’t that also an opportunity?”
“Following him would offer no opportunity,” Huang Ziyi’s face was pale, with a faint glimmer of cyan in her eyes, but she showed no hesitation. “I don’t need a place to stay, nor do I seek to establish myself. I need to stand in the sunlight again, to wash away all the humiliation my family has suffered.”
Li Shubai’s face was stern as his cold gaze examined her. She looked up at him, her expression showing not only pleading but also a subtle stubbornness, like mist in the deep night – difficult to detect but unmistakably present.
Li Shubai gave a cold snort and turned to walk back toward the water palace. Huang Ziyi followed behind him – he didn’t look back, but neither did he slow his pace.
At the palace gate, they found the other princes waiting to bid farewell to Duke Kui. The eunuchs mentioned that in a few days, the Emperor would gather his officials to compose poetry about the detached palace’s landscapes, causing everyone to exchange wry smiles.
After everyone left, Li Run and Li Shubai remained behind. Li Run couldn’t help but sigh: “His Majesty is truly at ease – even with the military governors dividing up territory and eunuchs growing powerful, he still spends his days in leisure and entertainment…”
Li Shubai said quietly: “His Majesty is an emperor of peace – this is a blessing for both him and the realm.”
Li Run smiled and said: “Fourth Brother speaks truly.” His gaze fell on Huang Ziyi, his gentle and kind face full of puzzlement.
Li Shubai asked: “What is it?”
“This eunuch – I seem to have seen him somewhere before,” he gestured toward Huang Ziyi.
Li Shubai then said: “I only met him today myself – why not have him serve at your side instead?”
“Fourth Brother jests – Ninth Brother was just refused, how could I invite such embarrassment?” he laughed, the cinnabar mark between his brows appearing even more gentle and lovely in his smiling expression.
Huang Ziyi stood with a lowered head. It wasn’t that she couldn’t see the peaceful spring days within reach – she had simply chosen the most difficult path and wouldn’t turn back. Living in hiding wasn’t her way of life.
After all the princes had left, Li Shubai finally got into his carriage. Huang Ziyi stood at the door, still hesitating, when she heard his voice: “Get in.”
She quickly entered and stood by the door.
The carriage moved slowly. Once they had left the detached palace grounds and were surrounded by wilderness, Li Shubai looked at the scenery outside and said coldly: “I’ll give you ten days.”
She leaned against the door watching him, waiting silently for him to continue.
He slowly brought his gaze back from the window to rest on her. His eyes were like cold stars – though containing no warmth, they were deeply brilliant, causing her breath to catch slightly.
“The case we discussed at Jianbi Palace this afternoon – I’ll give you ten days. Are you confident?”
“Perhaps,” Huang Ziyi answered simply.
He leaned against the carriage wall, his manner leisurely: “Now, you have an opportunity to clear your name of wrongful accusations and regain your innocence. Of course, you could also avenge your parents and reveal the truth.”
Huang Ziyi thought briefly and asked: “Does Your Highness mean that if I help you solve this case, you will assist me in clearing my family’s name?”
“Of course not,” seeing her body sway with the bumpy mountain road, he raised his chin slightly, gesturing for her to sit on the small stool in front of him before continuing, “I have a matter I want someone to help me with, but you’ve appeared before me suddenly without any credentials – how can I trust your abilities?”
“I understand,” Huang Ziyi nodded slightly. “If I solve this case within ten days, only then will I be worthy of Your Highness’s trust.”
Li Shubai nodded slightly and said: “At the very least, you must show me you’re worth helping. I don’t have so much idle time that I would help someone who only has words but no real ability.”
Sitting on the low stool, Huang Ziyi lowered her head in thought and asked: “The Ministry of Justice and Court of Judicature are full of talented people and must have mobilized many to handle this case. Under what identity does Your Highness plan to have me participate?”
“I will take you directly to the Ministry of Justice to investigate the case files,” Li Shubai said decisively.
“Good.” Huang Ziyi raised her hand to her temple and pulled out the wooden hairpin holding her hair. As soon as the pin left her hair, her dark tresses cascaded down, spreading across her shoulders and body. Her still-damp hair, like black seaweed, tangled and half-covered her pale cheeks.
She froze for a moment, awkwardly brushing her hair behind her back, saying: “I apologize – I was used to marking things with my hairpin, forgetting that I’m now a young eunuch with only one pin holding my hair…”
Li Shubai slightly furrowed his brows but said nothing. She lowered her head, gathered her long hair, and twisted it into a bun before him.
This young woman who had traversed thousands of mountains and waters without a hint of hesitation or fear now unconsciously showed a shy expression before him.
Li Shubai glanced at her, seeing a faint blush on her downturned face. At this moment, he seemed to suddenly realize – even more deeply than when his hand had gripped her throat – that the person before him was just a young woman and a seventeen-year-old who wasn’t nearly as mature and composed as she appeared on the surface.
As if sensing his scrutiny, she silently raised her eyes to look at him for an instant. In that fleeting glance, he saw her clear, bright eyes, half-hidden beneath her eyelashes like autumn waters melted into her peach blossom-like face.
Though her features weren’t supremely beautiful, her brows and eyes were remarkably clear and uplifted, possessing a grace as pure as May skies. A kind of otherworldliness – as if she either didn’t understand the world at all or understood it too well – showed in her gaze as she looked at him, both bewildered and alert.
She was indeed beautiful.
He recalled Li Run’s earlier impression of the fourteen-year-old Huang Ziyi.
The girl who had become famous throughout the land at fourteen had now grown into a graceful seventeen-year-old woman. Bearing an enormous injustice, enduring the contempt of everyone under heaven, yet she hadn’t been broken. Instead, she faced the challenge head-on, striving to seek the truth, hoping to clear her name through her efforts.
Probably no one who saw only her appearance would believe she was Huang Ziyi – whether the one of good reputation or the one bearing infamy.
Huang Ziyi stared at him, touching her face with slight nervousness and uncertainty.
“You look very much like the wanted poster,” Li Shubai turned his face aside, staring at the intricate flower patterns on the brocade curtain, and said, “In the future, don’t appear before others looking like this.”
“Yes,” she responded, tightening her hair before asking: “Does Your Highness remember the times of the murders they mentioned earlier?”
Without hesitation, he said: “The seventeenth of the first month, the twenty-first of the second month, the nineteenth of the third month.”
“Today is the sixteenth of the fourth month. So if the timing is similar, it should be nearly time for the killer to strike again,” she slowly traced these numbers on the carriage wall with her finger, lost in thought. “Within ten days, the killer should make a move.”
“Can you find the killer among the capital’s million residents just from these numbers?”
“No,” she stopped her gesturing, contemplative. “Without knowing the killer’s characteristics and motives, finding them in such a vast sea of people would be impossible.”
Li Shubai observed her casually: “So, you’re not confident?”
Huang Ziyi’s finger unconsciously began drawing on the carriage wall again as she muttered to herself: “First month seventeenth, victim an old watchman, killer’s message: ‘Pure’; second month twenty-first, middle-aged blacksmith, message: ‘Joy’; third month nineteenth, victim a four-year-old child, message: ‘Self’…”
“The Four Directions Case – first murder in the north of the capital, second in the south, third in the southwest,” Li Shubai added casually.
Huang Ziyi pondered: “Logically, if it were truly facing the four directions, they should have sought locations exactly north, south, and west, but the third was southwest – that’s rather strange.”
“Perhaps there was no suitable target in the direct west, or perhaps it was easier to avoid detection there?”
“Yes, at this point anything’s possible, but we don’t know the exact reason yet.” Huang Ziyi continued, counting on her fingers: “First victim elderly, second a strong blacksmith, third a child.”
Li Shubai leaned back on the brocade cushions, finding the most comfortable position before speaking slowly: “I asked the Ministry’s investigators about this. The other two being old or weak is one thing – perhaps the killer sought victims who couldn’t resist. But the child seems strangest to me – because it was a four-year-old already nearly dead from cold and hunger, abandoned by the roadside. When passersby found and brought them in, they were beyond saving. Even if the killer hadn’t struck, the child likely wouldn’t have survived the night. Yet the killer still snuck into the charity hall to kill this child – isn’t that unnecessary?”
“Yes, that is strange. For a child already near death, why risk discovery by sneaking into the charity hall just to kill someone who was dying anyway?” Huang Ziyi frowned, her finger unconsciously tracing the characters for “Permanence, Joy, Self, Pure” on the carriage wall.
Li Shubai watched her absent drawing, slightly furrowing his brows. He turned his gaze to the shadowy landscape visible through the curtain, his voice still calm: “These are all the clues about this case. If you want to solve it within ten days, what’s the key?”
“Since we can’t find clues or evidence from the previous incidents, the best method is to predict the time, location, and target of the next attack,” Huang Ziyi said without looking up, slowly calculating on her fingers.
“I thought the same. So, if you’re confident, I can give you a few days to investigate with the capital’s constables – though you’ll need to manage your hair and ensure no one discovers you’re a woman.”
“No need,” Huang Ziyi lightly touched the hairpin on her head, turning to face him. Though her expression remained serious, her lips curved slightly, showing a confident and composed smile. “I already know the killer’s basis and motivation. If my theory is correct, as long as the killer dares to appear, I can find where they will strike.”
Li Shubai was slightly startled by her self-assured manner: “You’re already confident?”
“Yes, I just need Your Highness to provide me with an almanac.” The gentle breeze from outside passed through the curtain, the shifting sunlight falling on Huang Ziyi, making her form brilliantly transparent. Those eyes, clear as morning dew, stared unflinchingly at Li Shubai before her, without any hesitation.
Li Shubai was momentarily dazed before saying: “Very well, I look forward to seeing your results.”