Zhou Ziqin had good habits, rising and sleeping early every day, and today was no exception. However, when he looked in the mirror after getting up, he found his complexion quite poor and sighed: “It’s all Chonggu’s fault. Yesterday when such a big thing happened with Prince Kui, I rushed to Yongchang District to find her as soon as I heard the news, but she wasn’t there! What’s going on? I’ve been thinking about it all night until my head nearly split!”

Because he hadn’t slept well, his body swayed when he opened the door to go out, his eyes only half open. The person standing in the corridor called out “Ziqin,” making him nearly jump in fright: “Chong… Chonggu?”

Huang Zixia wore a sable cloak, standing outside his room. Seeing him pressed fearfully against the door, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“You… you… usually, I’m the one who goes to find you, how come today you’ve come to find me?” Zhou Ziqin said, then looking at her face more carefully, he became even more startled, “What’s going on? I thought my complexion was bad enough, how is yours even worse?”

Huang Zixia didn’t answer, only getting straight to the point: “I need to talk to you about something, regarding Prince Kui.”

“I was trying to ask you about this yesterday, but waited until late evening and you still hadn’t returned!”

“I had to investigate some matters last night, so I returned late, almost getting questioned by the curfew patrol.”

Zhou Ziqin had her sit in his home’s flower hall, then rushed to the kitchen to bring some food, first offering her a bowl of Job’s tears porridge.

“I’ve eaten already.” Huang Zixia shook her head.

“Eat some more, look at your condition. Let me tell you, without eating properly, you can’t do anything, especially not important things.”

Hearing him say this, Huang Zixia accepted the porridge he handed over and ate a few spoonfuls.

“Quickly tell me, what happened yesterday? The whole capital is saying that on New Year’s Day, Prince Kui killed Prince E! I was stunned when I heard it, how could this be possible!” Zhou Ziqin was so anxious he was scratching his ears and face, then scratching the table, nearly leaving marks on the black lacquered surface. “Hurry up and tell me!”

Huang Zixia held the porridge bowl, frowning as she asked, “The whole capital knows?”

“Yes, I heard Prince Kui has been sent to the Imperial Clan Court, and Prince E’s body has been returned to his mansion!” Zhou Ziqin was so anxious he couldn’t even eat, words spilling out rapidly, “They say over a hundred Divine Strategy Army soldiers witnessed it! Prince Kui stabbed Prince E in the heart, and Prince E, with his dying breath, grabbed Prince Kui’s robes and cried out to those who came running: Prince Kui killed me!”

Huang Zixia nodded, saying softly, “Yes, Prince E did say that.”

Zhou Ziqin did jump up this time, not even noticing when his chopsticks fell on his foot, only urgently asking: “Prince Kui killed someone? Did he kill Prince E in anger because Prince E slandered him? Impossible, Prince Kui has always been so calm, how could he possibly…”

Huang Zixia put down her porridge bowl and looked up at him: “Sit down and listen to me carefully.”

“Al… alright.” Zhou Ziqin, anxious enough to smoke from all seven openings, could only sit down again, craning his neck forward to look at her, wishing he could pull the words directly from her stomach.

“Prince Kui has been wronged,” Huang Zixia, considering that Zhou Ziqin would not easily accept the fact that Prince E had committed suicide to frame Li Shubai, kept it brief to avoid shocking him too much, only stating this most important point, “Though the murder weapon was indeed Prince Kui’s Fish Intestine Sword.”

The extremely shocked Zhou Ziqin finally came to his senses: “You mean someone inside Prince Kui’s mansion dared to steal the Fish Intestine Sword to frame him?”

“Yes, and it must have been someone very close to the Prince.”

“Jing Yi, or Jing Heng? Jing Xiang seems to have gotten separated in Shu, has he returned?” While Zhou Ziqin was still thinking, Huang Zixia asked, “Do you remember the mark Dicui left for us at the end of the alley when we met her last time?”

Zhou Ziqin nodded vigorously: “Remember, remember! But I still can’t figure out what it meant…”

Huang Zixia took the chopsticks, dipped them in Job’s tears porridge, and wrote the character “north” on the table, then drew an enclosure on the left and bottom sides.

Zhou Ziqin looked at this mark and said, “Right, that’s it, but what does it mean? Is it saying she’s in the north of the city and wants us to find her?”

Huang Zixia shook her head, then used the chopsticks to add a dot above the vertical stroke of the ∟ shape.

Looking at the mark with the added dot, Zhou Ziqin’s mouth grew increasingly wide, and he couldn’t help crying out: “Escape!”

Huang Zixia nodded and said, “Yes, this was the message Dicui left for us – escape. Since she knew few characters and wrote improperly, and that dot might have been too small for us to notice, it became this strange symbol.”

“Then why didn’t she just say so?” Zhou Ziqin asked.

“I think there must have been a reason, but to know exactly why, we’ll have to find Dicui and ask her.”

Zhou Ziqin pondered: “But that’s not right, Chonggu. Dicui is just an ordinary civilian woman and one bearing guilt at that. How could she have known such terrible things would happen and warn us?”

“Yes, when the current Emperor even punished the imperial physicians and their families, how would he spare the daughter of the culprit?” Huang Zixia sighed deeply and said, “Someone of her status, yet able to know in advance what would happen, to know what situation we would face, and leave a warning for us—can you guess where her information might have come from?”

Zhou Ziqin thought about it, then his face grew increasingly troubled. He looked at Huang Zixia, starting and stopping several times until he could no longer contain himself, asking in a trembling voice: “Brother… Brother Zhang?”

“Mm, it’s the only possibility, isn’t it?” Huang Zixia’s voice was calm but tinged with weariness.

Zhou Ziqin was completely stunned. He sat cross-legged before her, eyes fixed, mouth moving several times to open but ultimately unable to speak.

“I know, neither of us wants to think… that person is Brother Zhang,” Huang Zixia said, her voice also becoming slightly unsteady, her thoughts chaotic, her breathing uneven, “If it’s not him, that would be best, but if it is him…”

“How could it possibly be Brother Zhang?” Zhou Ziqin angrily interrupted her words, “Chonggu, he’s our Brother Zhang! He’s been through life and death with us, he’s saved us more than once! He’s always deeply loved Dicui… how can you suspect him? How can you suspect our Brother Zhang?”

Huang Zixia bit her lower lip, unable to control her rapid breathing. She could only turn her face away, unable to look at Zhou Ziqin’s face that seemed about to cry, choking out: “Ziqin, Zhang Xingying is my Brother Zhang too, I… feel just as terrible as you do.”

Seeing her so distressed, Zhou Ziqin didn’t know what to do, but finally comforted her softly: “At least, at least we’re not certain yet, right? Maybe it’s not Brother Zhang…”

Huang Zixia nodded forcefully, and they both fell silent for a long while, not knowing what to say.

Huang Zixia breathed deeply, struggling to calm herself, then spoke again: “Look, Ziqin, Prince Kui and I have reached such a situation now. We have almost no one we can trust, almost no one we can rely on…”

Zhou Ziqin spoke softly but firmly: “Don’t worry, at least I will stand on your side!”

“Yes, we need your help now,” Huang Zixia nodded slightly, looking up at him intently, saying, “Your special status might give you the chance to be one of those examining Prince E’s body. I hope that when the time comes, you can find some clues to help us.”

Huang Zixia’s words woke Zhou Ziqin as if from a dream. He nodded blankly, clearly still in extreme shock: “Alright, if they call me, I’ll examine it carefully…”

Before he could finish speaking, someone ran in from outside, calling: “Young Master, Young Master!”

Zhou Ziqin turned to look at him, still with a rigid expression: “What is it?”

“Director Liu who often comes from the Ministry of Justice is here, along with Eunuch Wu from the Imperial Clan Court. They say they’re inviting you to Prince E’s mansion.”

Zhou Ziqin glanced at Huang Zixia, shocked and dazed by her accurate prediction: “Alright, I’ll go right away.”

As he stood to leave, Huang Zixia said behind him: “Ziqin, please.”

He nodded once and walked out quickly.

“Examine a body…”

Zhou Ziqin’s reaction was far from what the Ministry of Justice and Imperial Clan Court had expected. This Zhou Ziqin, whose greatest interest in life was examining bodies, had suddenly changed his tune today. He sat cross-legged against the armrest, wearing a troubled expression: “The Ministry of Justice has so many coroners, why come looking for me?”

“Eh…” Director Liu from the Ministry of Justice almost had the urge to turn and look out the window to see if the sun had turned green today, “Young Master Zhou, your skill in examining bodies is unmatched in the world, at least in the capital you’re second to none, no one would dare claim first…”

“To tell you the truth, I found a fiancée, and she doesn’t like me examining bodies, so to avoid being single for life, I’ve even given up the position of Chengdu’s chief constable and came back looking for some proper work.” Zhou Ziqin said with a serious face, speaking as if it were true.

Director Liu’s face was crying as he said: “Young Master Zhou, this matter really can’t be done without you… This body we’re examining isn’t an ordinary person’s…”

Zhou Ziqin showed a proud expression: “Not an ordinary person’s, haven’t I examined plenty of those? Princess Tongchang, the Wang family’s daughter, the princess’s mansion eunuch…”

“It’s His Highness Prince E’s body,” Director Liu had to state directly, “You know those coroners in our Ministry of Justice, they’re all rough and clumsy, examining a body once is like butchering a pig. How can we handle Prince E’s body like that? Moreover, not to mention this matter concerns the royal family, how could those people be allowed to view Prince E’s body?”

Zhou Ziqin thought to himself that Chonggu had been right, they had come looking for him. This hot potato had finally been tossed to him.

Since he now knew they would call him to examine Prince E’s body, he put on a shocked expression, eyes and mouth wide open, showing both extreme grief and feeling honored: “What? Prince E?”

“Indeed, I wonder if Young Master Zhou…”

“Prince E and I had quite a friendship, his sudden death truly pains me to my core—” Zhou Ziqin sighed, indicating he needed to get his tools, “In any case, I absolutely cannot let Prince E’s body suffer any indignity, I must do this without hesitation!”

He ran to his room to pack his box. Glancing sideways, he saw a thin youth standing nearby and asked: “Where’s my toolbox?”

The youth picked up a box beside him and handed it over, saying: “Let’s go.”

Hearing this voice, he froze – this slightly hoarse, deep adolescent voice had once been so familiar, belonging uniquely to that person. When he looked back again and saw a strange youth’s face with a waxy complexion and slightly drooping eyes, he was stunned: “Who… who are you?”

“Yang Chonggu,” Huang Zixia said calmly, adjusting her clothes. “The clothes borrowed from Ah Bi fit well enough, don’t they?”

Zhou Ziqin’s mouth twitched as he asked, “Who helped you with the disguise?”

“I did it myself. Your room has so many random things, I found what I needed to use.” As she spoke, she walked straight out.

Zhou Ziqin quickly shouldered his box and caught up with her, asking, “Where are you going?”

“You’ve come to pack your things, so naturally we’re going to examine Prince E’s body, aren’t we?”

Zhou Ziqin hurriedly nodded: “Then… you’re still my assistant?”

She nodded: “Yes, it’s familiar territory, everything as usual.”

“When did Young Master Zhou get an assistant?”

As the carriage traveled along, Director Liu scrutinized this youth with drooping eyes and a gloomy face, hesitating whether to let him be involved in this case.

Zhou Ziqin patted his chest and said, “Obviously! I’m now Chengdu’s chief constable, with my status, how could I not have an assistant? Besides, Chong… little Chong is very capable, though young, he’s already fully inherited my expertise!”

The person from the Imperial Clan Court then asked, “If Young Master Zhou has an assistant, why carry the box yourself?”

Zhou Ziqin was startled, looking at the box in his arms in bewilderment: “This… this…”

“I’d like to carry it for the young master,” Huang Zixia said hoarsely from beside him, “but the young master’s box contains countless secret techniques, he’s afraid I’ll learn them all, and then Chang’an’s top coroner might change hands.”

The two others found this reasonable and nodded thoughtfully, though their gazes at Zhou Ziqin now carried a hint of contempt.

“That’s impossible! How could you learn my skills without twenty or thirty years of study? What’s a mere box worth?” Zhou Ziqin denied it while secretly giving Huang Zixia a thumbs-up.

Huang Zixia kept her eyes lowered, maintaining that lifeless expression.

The journey wasn’t long, and soon they arrived at Prince E’s mansion.

Huang Zixia had come here many times before, but this time Prince E’s mansion was different from her previous visits. The mansion was setting up a memorial hall, and the people of Prince E’s household, already deeply worried last time, now knew the definite news about Prince E and were all desperate and helpless, with wailing heard throughout the mansion.

In a single day, both princely households had undergone dramatic changes, with everyone facing the danger of complete ruin.

Huang Zixia lowered her eyes, following straight behind Zhou Ziqin without looking around as they entered the back hall.

Prince E’s body lay quietly there. She had already examined this body, and now what needed to be confirmed was only that wound—in this aspect, as a woman, she wasn’t as well-positioned as Zhou Ziqin.

Zhou Ziqin put on thin leather gloves and examined Li Run’s body, casually saying as he did so: “Examination—”

Huang Zixia had already prepared ink and brush, quickly writing on the paper.

Prince E’s face was still peaceful, with slight muscle distortion, eyes and lips both closed. The body was about six chi long, rather thin, with even white skin, and a blood hole in the chest, preliminarily determined as the cause of death. Wearing gray cotton clothes and black silk shoes, the body lying flat and relaxed. Slight bluish postmortem lividity on the back and joints, blanching with pressure, showing paper-like skin patterns, eyes beginning to cloud, oral mucosa slightly dissolved.

Preliminary time of death: Around 3-5 PM yesterday.

Preliminary cause of death: A sharp weapon pierced the heart, and died from cardiac vessel damage.

Wound shape…

At this point, Zhou Ziqin hesitated and stopped, looking at the wound in silent contemplation.

Huang Zixia held the register looking at the wound, asking, “How is it?”

His gaze turned to Director Liu and Eunuch Wu beside him, seeing them also looking at him with concern, then he turned back to look at Huang Zixia, opening and closing his mouth, looking hesitant.

Huang Zixia’s brush was fully inked from the inkstone, and she looked at him calmly, giving a slight nod.

Seeing her expression unchanged, Zhou Ziqin finally said gravely: “The wound is narrow and long, should be from a short sword or dagger, direction… from our position, slightly downward to the left.”

Huang Zixia wrote down the original sentence word for word without showing any reaction, then put down the brush and gently blew the ink dry.

Director Liu stood up and came over, looking at the writing, asking, “Is there anything unusual?”

“Director Liu, look at this wound, it…” Just as Zhou Ziqin was speaking, he felt his sleeve being gently pulled. He turned his head slightly and saw Huang Zixia beside him, though she pretended to be tidying things on the table, only glancing up at him once, but the worry and gravity in that gaze made him quickly close his mouth.

He saw her lips barely move, saying in a voice almost inaudible: “Self-preservation comes first, speak no more than necessary.”

Zhou Ziqin pondered her words in his heart, suddenly understanding in an instant.

If even Prince Kui couldn’t resist this force, how could he expose everything at this moment? Once the truth was spoken, he and Huang Zixia beside him would have only death awaiting them.

So, Zhou Ziqin only hesitated briefly before saying: “Looking at this wound, it must have been made by an extremely sharp blade. Director Liu, look, have you ever seen such a clean and perfect wound…”

Seeing him stroke that blood hole as if caressing a blooming flower, Director Liu felt his spine tingle and quickly stepped back, saying, “How would I know? You know I handle administrative work in the Ministry of Justice, how could I come into contact with these things?”

“That’s true, Director Liu is a scholar, I hear your poetry is among the best in the Ministry of Justice.” Zhou Ziqin forced a smile and was flattered.

Director Liu shook his head proudly: “No, no, when your father was in the Ministry of Justice, I was merely second best.”

Zhou Ziqin felt his hand trembling slightly and quickly pretended to be excited, gesturing for Huang Zixia to hand over the autopsy report, asking: “Director Liu, do you have any doubts about this examination?”

Director Liu read it through, saw everything recorded matching exactly what Zhou Ziqin had said, praised the “good handwriting,” and indicated for Zhou Ziqin to sign first, then wrote his name on the right, while the Imperial Clan Court official also added his signature beside it.

After handing the copied autopsy report to Director Liu, Huang Zixia put the original back in the box. Zhou Ziqin still carried the box as they left Prince E’s mansion.

The people from the Ministry of Justice were very familiar with Zhou Ziqin, and the carriage driver taking them home even grabbed him a handful of chestnuts, asking: “Young Master Zhou, how is your father doing in Shu now? When will he come back to visit everyone at the Ministry of Justice? Everyone misses him!”

“Oh, he… he just arrived in Shu, terribly busy, I think it’ll be some time.” As he spoke, as if afraid of the cold wind outside, he quickly ducked into the carriage.

Huang Zixia climbed into the carriage to find him sitting on the low stool inside, lost in thought.

She called out: “Ziqin.”

Zhou Ziqin made a sound of surprise, his hand shaking, and the handful of chestnuts scattered across the floor.

Huang Zixia glanced at him and crouched down to pick up the chestnuts one by one. The carriage was cramped, and as she crouched on the floor, she saw his hands still trembling violently.

She opened his palm and put the chestnuts back in his hand.

Zhou Ziqin nervously listened to the sounds outside the carriage, then desperately lowered his voice to ask: “What’s going on? Why… why did Prince E commit suicide?”

She nodded once and said: “That’s why I didn’t explain everything to you earlier. This matter is unspeakable, but I knew you would understand as soon as you saw it.”

“Of course! Prince E’s wound angles slightly down to the left, this can only mean two things: either the killer was left-handed, or he used his right hand to stab himself!”

Huang Zixia said calmly: “There’s another possibility – someone could have held Prince E from behind and reached around with their right hand to stab his chest.”

“Yes, that could also create a wound angling down to the left, but the problem is, after being stabbed, Prince E still had enough strength to shout to the people rushing over that Prince Kui killed him! This shows he had enough strength to struggle at the time! So if someone had restrained him from behind, his struggling would have left marks on his body, and his hands would have instinctively fought back, but Prince E had none of that – he had absolutely no signs of injury anywhere on his body, ruling out this possibility!”

Hearing him speak so excitedly, his voice getting louder and louder, Huang Zixia pressed her finger to her lips in a gesture of silence.

Zhou Ziqin bit his tongue hard, forcibly stopping his words. He stared with wide eyes, not daring to speak more, just staring at Huang Zixia, waiting for her to answer his questions.

But Huang Zixia closed her eyes, leaned against the carriage wall, and said no more.

Zhou Ziqin, who had been anxious the whole way, immediately jumped out of the carriage as soon as they reached his home and ran inside.

Huang Zixia followed him to the back courtyard, where he slammed the door shut and firmly bolted it, then grabbed her sleeve and urgently asked: “Quick, tell me! Why did Prince E commit suicide? Why did Prince Kui become the murderer? Why did Prince E tell everyone with his dying breath that Prince Kui killed him?”

Huang Zixia brushed off his hand and sat before the mirror in his room, washing off the disguise from her face with clean water while recounting everything that had happened yesterday, then asked: “What do you think in this world could make Prince E disregard even his own life, willing to die just to make Prince Kui fall from grace and into a desperate situation?”

Zhou Ziqin sat dumbly before her, his face ashen, and after a long blank moment finally moved his lips to ask: “Soul-controlling magic?”

Huang Zixia nodded but said nothing.

“But soul-controlling magic can’t be performed out of nowhere? Without any reason, how could Prince E suddenly hate Prince Kui enough to trade life for life? Moreover, didn’t they say Prince E hadn’t left his mansion for ten days? Who could have cast the spell on him?”

“And how did he disappear into thin air after jumping from Xiangluan Pavilion…” Huang Zixia closed her eyes, shook her head, and said softly, “This case is so terrifying, so strange, I now… truly don’t know how to take the next step…”

Zhou Ziqin was also at a loss, thinking only of this terrifying case. He stared blankly at Huang Zixia as if seeing behind her a huge whirlpool slowly rotating. Like the mouth of a giant beast, blood and darkness spreading from it, thousands of thorny vines crawling out, and before she could notice, she was already tightly bound, being dragged in inch by inch, unable to escape.

Cold sweat dripped from Zhou Ziqin’s forehead as he involuntarily stood up, calling her in a trembling voice: “Chonggu…”

She washed her hands clean and turned her head to look at him.

He said in a trembling voice: “Let’s run… let’s run away…”

Huang Zixia lowered her eyes, looking at the water drops remaining on her hands, thinking of that character for “escape” that Dicui had left them. By this point, even someone as carefree as Zhou Ziqin knew that in the face of such terrifying power, the only way out was to escape.

But she closed her eyes and slowly, painfully shook her head.

“Ziqin, thank you. But if I run away, what about Prince Kui? Living in hiding in some dark corner – that’s not the life I want.”

When her loved ones died and she was falsely accused of being the murderer, she chose to go north to Chang’an, willing to risk death seeking a faint hope rather than accepting such a life.

And now, she made the same choice.

“What I want is to live in the sunlight with the person I love most, walking hand in hand, going wherever we want to go. If I can’t have such a life, then… even if I die, what is there to regret?”

Zhou Ziqin, seeing such determination on her pale face, felt his chest surge with emotion. He couldn’t speak, could only nod forcefully.

She too was moved, unable to speak for a long while, only silently looking at him for a long time before going inside to change back into her clothes, then putting on the sable cloak she had taken off, preparing to leave.

He saw her to the courtyard, watching her pass through the heavy gates. The cold wind howled outside as she wrapped the cloak tightly around herself. Even wearing such heavy sable fur, her figure was still long and slender, like a fragile aster in the wind, yet still swaying and blooming brilliantly in the bitter wind and mist, never afraid.

He stared blankly at her retreating figure, suddenly understanding in his heart – she was Huang Zixia, not Yang Chonggu.

She was a young woman, graceful in form and beautiful in face, lovely and gentle from her hair tips to her fingertips – Huang Zixia.

He would never again have that little eunuch Yang Chonggu with whom he could call himself brother.

He didn’t know whether to feel regret or joy.