The Golden Hairpin

by Qinghan CeCe

  Huang Zixia stood inside the hall, listening for noise in the east room. She heard nothing. She walked quickly to the door and looked inside. The bed’s brocade curtain hung neatly. The ornate couch was in place under the window. There were two cushions on the Persian rug. The engraved sandalwood wardrobe stood in the corner. The lantern light spilled into the night, but there was no sign of anyone. Wang Ruo, who so many people had seen go inside a moment ago, seemed to have disappeared like a wisp of smoke.

  Huang Zixia looked everywhere. She leaned over the couch, opened the window, and peered out. Two guards stood facing the window. She saw Li Shubai in the front hall speaking with Wang Yun.

  She signaled there was trouble.

  They hurried through the courtyard, saw the empty room, and ordered their men to search the palace. Every corner was searched, but there was no trace of Wang Ruo. When the Empress’s attendant Zhang Ling heard the commotion, she brought Su Qi inside and asked, “What happened?” When she saw Li Shubai, she immediately bowed, then looked at Ran Yun and Xian Yun, who whispered, “We don’t know where the Princess went.”

  “Su Qi and I were just bringing flowers and clothing. How could this happen in such a short time, with so many people around?”

  “Go back to the Empress,” Wang Yun said. “I’m going to take my men and search Yongchun Hall. If we find her, we’ll send word right away.”

  “I’ll leave a few people to help and get back to Penglai,” Zhang Ling said, indicating for the attendants to put the things down.

  Wang Yun began giving orders. With all those people, they were able to search every inch of Yongchun Hall several times but found no clues.

  Like the prophecy, Wang Ruo disappeared.

  Nine

  AUTUMN DEW

  Soon the Emperor’s eunuch Yong Ji came. Yongchun Hall was packed with eunuchs, ladies, guards, and soldiers. Li Shubai was annoyed by the commotion and ordered everyone out, apart from Wang Yun and about ten of his men, so they could find whatever traces they could.

  Li Shubai and Huang Zixia went to the entrance and carefully surveyed the surroundings.

  Quiet had returned to Yongchun Hall. In the darkness of night, it looked no different than any other.

  “We were standing outside, close to the veranda, when we watched Wang Ruo go inside the hall. She still had some distance to travel when she went through the rock garden, but we could still see her silhouette. We clearly saw her go in and not come out.”

  Li Shubai nodded.

  Huang Zixia continued to go over the details. She recounted how Xian Yun went to the kitchen and Ran Yun came out to search for the hairpin. “This is something we need to look into. In a time like this, why would Xian Yun and Ran Yun come out together leaving Wang Ruo alone?” Huang Zixia sat down at a table and instinctively reached to undo her hair, but she felt her eunuch cap and stopped.

  Li Shubai frowned slightly.

  Huang Zixia didn’t look at him. “I found the hairpin and gave it to them, as Xian Yun had just returned with walnut biscuits.” She looked closely at the map and traced a line from the inner hall to the kitchen. “Yongchun Hall has a small dining area in the southwest corner. It’s Xian Yun’s first time here, but she got there and found food incredibly quickly. Is that good luck, or does she have a great nose?”

  Li Shubai watched her unconsciously playing with her hairpin. “Anything else?”

  “The inner palace is nearly impenetrable. It consists of three parts, the east hall, main hall, and west hall, respectively. If you want to get into the east hall, the only way is through the main hall. And with Xian Yun, Ran Yun, and I standing at the entrance of the main hall, apart from climbing the wall, her only way out was through the window.”

  “But there were two guards outside the window,” Li Shubai said. “I was outside. If someone opened the window, we would’ve seen it.”

  “Another possibility is that the hall has a secret passage.”

  “A tunnel? Could be,” Li Shubai said.

  They went back to Wang Ruo’s room. Li Shubai sat at the table and poured some tea.

  Huang Zixia started looking around herself, knocking on the floors and walls. She even moved the wardrobe and examined the wall behind it. Li Shubai drank his tea and watched her as if it all had nothing to do with him. When Huang Zixia’s fingers got sore, Li Shubai tossed her a chunk of silver, thick and square, about one pound. It looked like someone cut an ingot in half.

  She lay on the ground and hit the floor with the silver and listened carefully but didn’t hear anything unusual. She lifted up the carpet and knocked underneath.

  She got to the part of the floor where Li Shubai’s feet were. He moved indifferently to the other side of the couch. “Why does the Prince carry an ingot around? Half, at that.”

  “I don’t,” Li Shubai said casually, pointing at the teacups on the table. “It was there, under the teacup. I found it when I picked up the cup.”

  “Strange. Who would have put it there?” She picked the ingot up and looked at it closely. On the back, according to casting conventions, it said, Deputy Liang Weidong, Deng Yunxi, and so on.

  Li Shubai took it. “In order to make sure no one cuts corners and the makeup of the silver is correct, one minister and two deputy ministers have to examine it and engrave their names.”

  “I know; so after it was cut in half, it cut off a deputy minister’s name and part of the denomination. It was probably twenty silvers,” Huang Zixia said, weighing it.

  Li Shubai pointed at the names. “These two people aren’t responsible for examining currency.”

  “You even know who the treasury officials are?”

  “Actually, there was a bribery case there once, and I had to examine dozens of account logs. I also looked through all the records on gold and silver ingots and remember the names of the ministers.”

  She was amazed. “Could this be a privately cast ingot?” Then she shook her head. “Then they’d engrave the owner’s name, not that of a fake official—so it’s a forgery?”

  “No. Its purity and weight are accurate.” He looked at her thoughtfully, then held up four fingers. “It seems this is the fourth thing to consider—half a silver ingot of unknown origin.”

  Why is it half? Huang Zixia said to herself. She wasn’t expecting any easy answers, so she put it on the table. “And what do you want to do?”

  “With regard to that, there are things I have to take care of. Tibetan emissaries are arriving in the capital tomorrow. I have to receive them at the Ministry of Rites.” He stood and brushed his clothes. “As I said, you’re taking the lead on this. Now the worst has happened. You need to go forward and figure out how she disappeared.”

  Huang Zixia stood up. “By myself?”

  “The court and palace will certainly help. I’ll speak with them and make sure you—right, if you need help with a body or something, get Zhou Ziqin.”

  Huang Zixia’s mouth twitched. His betrothed disappeared before his eyes and he’s already thinking about bodies; what kind of man is this?

  Huang Zixia went back to Yongchun Hall and examined every corner. She considered several ways to sneak out of windows and doors but none seemed promising. At the Empress’s orders, men searched the rest of the palace but nothing turned up. They remove all the furniture and decorations but still nothing. Soon the Central Court’s Cui Chunzhan also came to undertake a review.

  Following Li Shubai’s orders, Huang Zixia went to see him.

  Cui Chunzhan was only thirtysomething years old and full of energy. He reminded her of Wang Yun. He asked her to sit and said, “You’re a young little man but quite the sleuth. I’m sure you’ll be very helpful in solving this one.”

  “I’ll help in any way I can.”

  The court questioned Su Qi, Xian Yun, and Ran Yun. But they all said the same thing. Neither Li Shubai nor any of the eunuchs or attendants saw Wang Ruo leave. The guards in the courtyard, faithfully watching the window, saw nothing move until
Huang Zixia opened it.

  “Of course, Wang Yun took every possible precaution. Still, this happened.” Cui Chunzhan sighed. “Does the little eunuch have any leads?”

  Huang Zixia shook her head. “Before you came, Li Shubai and I looked thoroughly but found nothing.”

  After all the searching, the only item found was a chunk of charred wood on the stove in the small dining room. Huang Zixia took it and examined it closely. Its shape was basically intact, vaguely like a water chestnut, narrower on one end and curved on the other.

  “It’s probably just a piece of wood from the firewood store. Nothing important,” Cui Chunzhan said.

  Huang Zixia nodded and gave it to a court staffer. “Let’s make sure, just in case.”

  “Yes, Mr. Yang’s right. Hold on to it.” Cui Chunzhan then ordered his men to get the paperwork in order and finish up for the day.

  When Huang Zixia said goodbye to Cui Chunzhan, he smiled. “Good to see you today. We’ll be working together a lot in the coming days. Why don’t you let me treat you to a meal?”

  Huang Zixia was on the case at the Prince’s orders, so she had to agree. When she got to the restaurant, there were already some people sitting in the private room.

  Jin Nu was there, and so was Zhou Ziqin in his blue silk robe with red trim and yellow belt. He gave a giddy explanation of how to tell how long ago the animal died based on the taste of its meat.

  Wang Yun gracefully sprung up to greet them.

  “Chonggu!” As soon as Zhou Ziqin saw her, he forgot his lecture and waved. “When I heard one of the Prince of Kui’s eunuchs was helping on the case, I knew it was you!”

  Huang Zixia ignored the open seat next to Wang Yun and sat next to the terribly dressed Zhou Ziqin. “Didn’t expect to see you here,” she said.

  Cui Chunzhan smiled. “Ziqin has a nuanced understanding of the human body. We often ask him for help. Shame he’s going to Shu with Minister Zhou soon. We won’t see each other as much. Let’s have some drinks.”

  Zhou Ziqin looked at him angrily. “Every time we drink, you act like an old lady and finish after one or two!”

  Cui Chunzhan laughed. Eight hot dishes came, and everyone took some.

  “Are there any clues about my sister’s disappearance?” Wang Yun asked.

  Cui Chunzhan shook his head. “Seems we need more time.”

  Wang Yun looked worried but didn’t seem to want to press Cui Chunzhan.

  Zhou Ziqin looked at the fish. “Huh? Ms. Li didn’t cook the fish today?”

  The server was surprised. “How’d you know? She’s home tonight.”

  “It’s clearly the work of a novice. The belly’s overdone. The fat and epidermis are destroyed, so the unique flavor is lost! And the black meat of the anus isn’t all the way clean. Ms. Li would’ve gotten it easily!”

  Everyone laughed. “You’ve met Ziqin before, Chonggu?” Wang Yun asked.

  Huang Zixia looked a little helpless as she watched Zhou Ziqin put a large piece of fish in his bowl. “Once or twice.”

  Cui Chunzhan smiled. “Ziqin hits it off with everyone, as we all know.”

  “Chonggu and I are like blood!” Ziqin said.

  Didn’t we just dig up a corpse together? Since when are we blood? Huang Zixia thought bitterly as she began to eat some fish herself.

  “I’m not kidding. You won’t find a better judge of fish anywhere!” Ziqin continued. “When I was little, my dad wouldn’t let me go out, so all I did was study the cook preparing meat. Cattle have one hundred and eight bones, chicken one hundred sixty-four, but fish bones vary a lot. Take the carp today―its bones are very evenly distributed. Here, let me teach you a trick. Don’t tell anyone. The meat on the back can be taken off in layers. That’s very important.”

  Everyone listened and drank and made jokes.

  Huang Zixia noticed that Wang Yun looked a bit at a loss, though he managed to fit in and smile.

  “Did you hear the latest rumor?” someone said.

  “What rumor?”

  “About Princess Qi Le. She’s so happy about the Princess of Kui’s disappearance, she went to pray at the temple. Of course, no one knows what she was praying for, but people can guess.” This didn’t surprise anyone.

  Jin Nu laughed. “Not a coincidence, then. When I went to play pipa for Lady Zhou, I saw Princess Qi Le.”

  “When the Princess went missing, Qi Le was in the palace?” Cui Chunzhan asked.

  “Yup. She was making copies for the lady—I heard she’d been doing that for a while in order to gain favor and try to become the Princess of Kui herself.”

  “Yes, when rumors spread that the Princess might go missing before the wedding, I’m sure she was the happiest to hear it.” All the men besides Wang Yun laughed. His presence wasn’t enough for them to restrain themselves.

  Cui Chunzhan maintained some composure. “It’s a difficult situation. The court has never questioned a Princess before.”

  “Ask the court about it tomorrow,” Cheng Fu, an official from the court said.

  Huang Zixia looked helplessly at the men and thought about Princess Qi Le a moment.

  The room was full of noise and activity, but Wang Yun was within himself. His black clothing and serious expression made him stand out among these men.

  Soon everyone was full of food and drink. It was late. The server came to light candles, and Jin Nu picked up the pipa and tuned it for the final song.

  “Ah, this weather,” she said. “It rained all day, which made the strings moist and loose. Doesn’t sound good.”

  “How do you fix it?” Huang Zixia asked.

  “Just need to rub some rosin on it.” She took out an intricate box and used three fingers to pinch some rosin powder and carefully rubbed it along the strings. “This came from the palace today. Look, even the box is beautiful.”

  Huang Zixia didn’t understand why she was so proud. She looked at the pipa and said, “This ‘Autumn Dew’ is really beautiful.”

  She smiled slightly and kept rubbing the rosin. Her smile grew wider as she took the jade pick and began to play a cheerful song.

  When the song stopped, Cui Chunzhan said, “Grace is truly a burden. We must do everything we can to break this case and regain the trust of the Emperor, Empress, and Prince of Kui. I hope everyone will pitch in with advice and suggestions. We’ll finish soon, by the grace of heaven!”

  With that, their feast ended.

  The court people paid the check and saw Cui Chunzhan and Wang Yun off. Only Zhou Ziqin, Jin Nu, and Huang Zixia were left. Zhou Ziqin saw a few of the dishes hadn’t been touched. He tapped a couple. “So they have lotus leaves, right? Pack this chicken, fish, and pig’s feet up for me.”

  “It’s true,” Jin Nu said, “Mr. Zhou doesn’t waste anything.”

  “Animals have a certain dignity. Why turn it into swill for nothing?” Zhou Ziqin smiled. “That one in front of you, yes, the cherries—help me pack it.”

  “Cherries have dignity too?” Jin Nu watched her own white fingers struggle to fold the cherry into the lotus leaf and give it to him. She frowned and said, “These stems are so hard. They poked my hand.”

  “I knew your hands were tender, but not that tender. Thanks,” Zhou Ziqin said as he tied the packages into a bundle.

  “When would be convenient for me to visit you?” Huang Zixia asked Jin Nu.

  “Oh, Mr. Yang’s interested in pipa too?” She batted her eyelashes.

  “Just some things I want to ask.”

  “About my master?”

  Huang Zixia had no interest in her, but she smiled and said, “Of course, it’s related to your classmates who had their eyes on the Prince of Kui.”

  “Sure, why not ask the Prince of Kui to come himself? I’ll certainly point out all the girls that like him.” She laughed.

  “Jin Nu,” Huang Zixia couldn’t help but add, “that day in Penglai Hall, you said something that really concerned me.”

  “What?” Jin Nu looked a
t her innocently.

  “You said the Princess shouldn’t be her.” Huang Zixia spoke quietly but clearly.

  Jin Nu’s face suddenly stiffened. “Don’t say it. It upsets me. Really, it’s just that Princess Qi Le looks more like a Princess, that’s all.”

  Huang Zixia wanted to ask more, but Jin Nu was already out the door, telling the driver to hurry before the curfew started. Huang Zixia helplessly watched her carriage go, worried that if Li Shubai and the Central Court arrested her, she’d be doomed. She couldn’t even take the pain of picking up cherry stems, after all.

  The Zhou carriage was waiting outside too. “Where are you going, Chonggu?” Zhou Ziqin asked.

  “Back to the Prince of Kui’s.”

  “I’ll drop you on the way,” he said, motioning her to get in.

  Huang Zixia smiled. “On the way? Kui Palace is much farther than your house.”

  “I’m not going home!” he said, waving her on again. The driver didn’t wait for his orders to start driving north toward Xingqing Palace.

  Changan’s curfew had started. The moon rose as darkness fell, and the streets were quiet. Outside the Xingqin Palace walls, emaciated beggars sat around fires on the rocks by the moat. The carriage stopped, and Zhou Ziqin jumped out. He brought the packages of food and set them on some rocks, untied a package of roast chicken, and got back in.

  The driver began heading toward Kui Palace.

  Huang Zixia pulled the curtain aside and looked back.

  The beggars had gathered around the food and were eating excitedly now. Huang Zixia couldn’t help but smile. “I didn’t know you did more than study anatomy.”

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” he said, waving his hand.

  Lanterns hung along the neighborhood walls, illuminating the silent streets. As the carriage passed, some light flickered through the windows. Zhou Ziqin’s smile seemed gentler and simpler, even innocent, in that light.

  It made Huang Zixia feel a little nostalgic. The smile on the person before her was gentle and pure—effortless.

  And she, who had experienced so much evil—did she still have a soft place inside?