The Golden Hairpin

Chapter 9: Being Eunuch (Part 3) 

At the spring banquet in the palace, a group of people toasted wine with each other, until the red sun edged towards the west.

Huang Zixia followed the carriage out of the palace gate and exhaled a sigh of relief as Li Shubai raised the curtain of the carriage, and called her, “Come up.”

As she reluctantly climbed into the carriage, she saw his eyes gave her a quick glance before turning to the window. She followed as well and looked outside of the window with hand carved auspicious clouds design, and took in view of the ordinary street slowly moving by.

His face remained looking outside when his deep and calm voice left his lips, “I want to hear about your family’s case now.”

Huang Zixia was stunned for a moment and asked in a low voice, “Is Your Highness really willing to inquire about this case?”

“Do you think this prince will renege on my own words?” His face showed her with an expression that said, ‘are you going to talk or not?’

Huang Zixia bit her lower lip for a long time, then sat down on the low stool opposite him, hesitated and said, “The matter should start from the day before the murder. On that day, it was sunny, and the plum blossoms in my small garden were full of flowers. Yu Xuan and I walked together on the snow. It was a rare and beautiful winter day… “

Li Shubai still looked at the slowly passing street view outside and asked, “Who is Yu Xuan?”

“He’s an orphan whom my father adopted after he arrived in Shu county. He was a talented student and at the age of 18, he passed the imperial scholarly examination, and the county gave him a small house, but he often came to visit my parents.”

He cast a side glance over at her and caught a slight changing expression on her face, and that pale face, which was caused by traveling on the road for many days and deep brooding over her grievances, with a tint blush on her face which made her look completely different.

‘Yu Xuan, it seemed, is a man who she grew up with.’

He shifted his sight back to the window, his expression remained calm as he gave her a faint reply, “Oh”.

Huang Zixia, seeing that he did not probe further, felt slightly relaxed in her heart. She took a deep breath and continued to tell the story of the day that had happened months ago, but was still imprinted on her heart.

In the early morning of that day, there was a light snowfall. After the snowfall was over, the red plum blossoms contrasted the white snow in the background, and the view was clear and bright.

Huang Zixia’s embrace was full of plum blossom flowers and she cheerfully showed it to Yu Xuan. Yu Xuan said, “I saw a pair of ‘bright days after the rain’ colored flower vases in the neighborhood the other day, and I thought it would be best to put them in your house. I had bought them, but I forgot to bring them here today. I made arrangements to deliver them to your house in the afternoon.”

She nodded with a smile. The day was beautiful as they held hands and looked at each other’s eyes. However, such a beautiful winter day for the two people didn’t last long.

Huang’s family housekeeper came in with her paternal grandmother and uncle. Huang Zixia shrieked with joy when she saw them, instantly threw the plum blossom flowers over to Yu Xuan before she ran over and hugged tightly at her grandmother.

She was doted on by her grandmother since childhood, and she was especially close with her. When Yu Xuan saw this, he greeted them and politely asked to excuse himself. Her grandmother looked at him with a smile, Huang Zixia could hear her grandmother let out a barely audible sigh after he left. 

The grandparent and grandchild held hands and went to her mother’s room to talk. The mother smilingly said, “Your grandmother and uncle are here this time for matters related to your marriage.”

Marriage. Huang Zixia silently put aside her grandmother’s hand and sat there without saying a word. The grandmother patted her hand and cajoled her with a smile, “Wang family is a large esteemed family, Wang Yun is the eldest grandson from the main wife’s clan*, and your father has seen him. He has always praised Wang Yun’s appearance and moral character. You’ll have a blissful marriage in your life.”

(Main wife have different privileges and status than concubines, it’s a huge difference, the children and grandchildren will naturally follow the status of mother.) 

Mother looked at Huang Zixia with sadness and then she whispered to grandmother, “Mother, you don’t know, this girl has been keeping thoughts to herself, she’s not happy when we mention the Wangs.”

“Little lass, she’s still shy.” Grandmother smiled.

After hearing that, Huang Zixia’s heart surged with irritation and was about to open her mouth to speak when the maids came to say that they’d served dinner. All of them got up and went out to eat. Uncle Huang Jun saw her and he spoke smilingly in a teasing tone, “Zixia, you’ll become a daughter-in-law in the future. No more taking your own sweet time and being late, you’ll have to be early, prepare the table and wait for your parents-in-law.”

The father laughed, “The Wangs are a prominent family, when do they ever lack maids and need the daughter-in-law to serve them? When Zixia gets married in spring time, things will still be the same as at home.”

Huang Zixia’s eyes widened with surprise, instantly put down the bowl and asked, “Spring?”

The mother quickly made a meaningful glance at her father and said to her, “Yes, your grandmother and uncle came here to discuss whether to let you get married off next spring, which happened to be the same as the Wangs’ opinion.”

“You’ve all decided, haven’t you?” Huang Zixia could not help but stand up, and trembled with anger, “Father, mother, I have been begging you to withdraw this marriage proposal from the Wang family, but you…you still force me to marry into the Wang family!”

“You, this child, you are being ridiculous.” Huang Jun had already discussed and agreed with the Wang family. Now, seeing her like this, where is he going to put his face? He put down his chopsticks and solemnly said, “The Wang family is a powerful and influential family with a hundred years of heritage. Two of the empresses of the current emperor are from this family. Do you think this marriage can be called off as you like? If you can marry into the Wang family, it’s an honour to our ancestor, you’d better prepare the dowry as soon as possible!”

Father breathed a heavy sigh of resignation. “Zixia, this marriage was arranged for you and Wang Yun when your grandfather was the Prime Minister. Now our family has already slackened influence in politics, but the Wang family has never despised us. It can be seen that the people of the family really like you. It’s also a good thing that you can marry Wang Yun. Your father has met Wang Yun, and his character and appearance are top-notch, not worse than others.”

“But I like someone else. I don’t like him!”

Huang Yan, the elder brother who had been immersed in eating, finally raised his head at this time. Instead of helping, he fueled up the burning fire and exacerbated the situation. “Alright, you deride them, don’t you. Just do it, kill all of us then you don’t have to marry into the Wang family!”  

Huang Zixia’s rage churned in her heart, she put down the bowl in her hand forcefully as the chopsticks and bowl slipped off her trembling hand, the soup bowl suddenly fell down from the table and broke to pieces.

Soup splashed on the side of the grandmother’s skirt and hem; grandmother helplessly stood up, quickly let the maidservant wipe it off, she sighed heavily and lambasted, “You child, your temperament is really getting worse and worse. Can’t you speak nicely? Why must you throw the bowl?”

She felt a burning pain in her eyes, and her tears were about to burst. She could only cover her face and run back to her room and cry bitterly. She didn’t know for how long she cried. She just felt a pair of hands gently pressing on her shoulder. Her mother’s voice fell softly into her ear, “Zixia, don’t be so willful and sad. This matter… your father and I are talking about it. Despite your objection, we still can do nothing about it. If there was a choice, we would rather offend the Wang family than let you suffer.”

She turned around to look at her mother, through her teary eyes she could only see the mother looking at her in a helpless smile. Mother said, “Go back to your grandmother and uncle and apologize to them. We are a family, we can talk all the issues through.”

“But..but if I go back…, it’d be embarrassing.” She sobbed.

“You go to the kitchen and bring back a dish, they have prepared your grandmother’s favorite lamb’s hoof soup tonight. Go ahead and bring back a bowl for everyone, admit your mistake and ask forgiveness, all of us will help you find a way.”

She nodded, dried her tears and went to the kitchen. She brought the bowl of sheep’s hoof soup to the table with her own hands, and offered one bowl to everyone. However, because she had just cried, her throat felt choked, and there was a fishy smell in the sheep’s hoof soup, which she did not like, so she only drank half a bowl of sweet almond dessert soup.

That night, all her family were poisoned to death, and she personally served a bowl of sheep’s hoof soup poisoned with deadly arsenic to everyone.

All the way to Chang’an, the dusk was heavy; it was already the time when the lights were turned on.

Li Shubai did not say a word as he listened, until she finished and stopped. His deep and low voice left his lips, “But, in this way, it does not mean that you have poisoned the whole family. Didn’t other people have a chance to get in touch with that bowl of sheep’s hoof soup?”

“No,” Huang Zixia’s voice was low but clearly said, “The sheep were sent by Counselor Cang Cao the day before. That afternoon, because my grandmother and uncle came, the kitchen slaughtered the sheep and made stewed mutton, mutton soup and mutton hoof soup.”

There was no problem with the rest of the food. The sheep’s hoof soup was cooked too much, after Huang Zixia scooped out a large bowl, the servants in the house ate the rest. Nothing happened to them. Only the bowl Huang Zixia took to the dining hall, and served everyone herself. There was still some left after dinner. Several ladies came back to the kitchen bringing the leftovers, they had slackened, and they locked it in the kitchen cabinet as it was. Because the tragedy happened early in the morning, at that time, the cabinet had not been unlocked. When Aunt Lu came in the morning and opened the cabinet under the scrutiny of the yamen constables, she took out the leftover bowl of sheep’s hoof soup. It was in this bowl that arsenic was added.

“Could it be that the bowl was tainted with poison beforehand?” 

“No, because I was afraid that my hands would not be clean, I took the bowl and washed it again. And there’s one more thing…” Huang Zixia said with difficulty, “In my room, they found an empty medicine bottle of arsenic.”

“You’ve bought an arsenic?”

“Yes, I bought it in the most famous drug store Guiren Hall in Shu county. The yamen officials went over to look at the sales files and clearly recorded the words I signed and confirmed them.”

“What did you buy arsenic for?” Li Shubai asked.

“I…” She hesitated and replied, “Because I read with Yu Xuan before, and there is a secret folk recipe in one book named 《The West Classic Journal》. It says that the three qian (15g) of Gelsemium* juice is equivalent to two tael (100g) of arsenic. I didn’t believe it, so I made a bet with him. Because I had helped yamen deal with all kinds of poisons, the duty to buy arsenic fell on me, and Yu Xuan went to the mountain to collect the flowers. We were going to try it on a vicious dog next door which bites people.”

(Gelsemium is UNSAFE. All parts of the plant are very poisonous.)

“You used to make these kinds of bets before?”

“More than once or twice.”

“Did you explain this?”

“Yes, Yu Xuan also confirmed it for me, but his words were dismissed as an excuse.”

Li Shubai raised his eyebrows slightly, “Where is Yu Xuan now?”

Huang Zixia was silent for a long time, then slowly explained, “He had no chance to act. After he left my home that day, he went to the academy to discuss with a group of friends. He returned home at night and never went out again until he received the news of my parents’ death.”

“So, it’s clearly shown that you’ve committed the murder.” Li Shubai summarized her words. 

“Yes, the only chance of poisoning that bowl of sheep’s hoof soup was on my way from the kitchen to the dining hall. Besides, the drug store has recorded that I had bought arsenic which was concluded as the ‘motive’.”

Li Shubai nodded. “If that’s the case, the only person who could have killed your parents is indeed only you. It is not easy to overturn the case.”

She sat opposite Li Shubai, looking at the brocade patterns decorated in the carriage with a fine hook of gold lines depicting the auspicious Qilin and magic clouds, and breathe in the refreshing scent of snowdrop bush wafted out from the incense burner. She sat idly in such a warm and soft surrounding, however her whole body was cold as if she had experienced everything all over again and it was difficult to breathe. 

瑞兽 ruìshòu = auspicous animal// 麒麟 qílín = qilin (mythical Chinese animal) / kylin / Chinese unicorn// 祥云 Xiángyún = magic cloud

Her lips were like withered white flowers in the wind, and even her crimson palace clothes could not add a little healthy red color to her. She looked at the person in front of her, and her voice was a little hoarse, “Your Highness, do you think, like them, that someone in this world would kill their family for such a reason?”

Li Shubai looked at her for a long time, shifted his gaze to the scenery outside the window and said, “Who knows? People’s hearts are the most unpredictable, especially of girls of your age.”

Huang Zixia looked at his indifferent expression and said in a trembling voice, “If the prince can really help as he said before, I believe that the clouds can never block out the sun for a long time, and the grievances of my parents will surely be able to be cleared.”

“When the summer is over, I will go to Sichuan once, and then I will take you there and pull out all your parent’s files and reinvestigate. I believe a person like you who can easily solve a case will not be blinded by love to a stage where she can not clear away her own accusations.”

She bit her lower lip for a long time before she asked, “Can you really believe me and help me?”

He stared at her visage, shadows of the trees outside the window sifted through the sunlight, which flowed unsteadily on her face. In the golden brilliance, her pale face and clear eyes were astonishingly bright and dazzling. Even the sunlight seemed to be just her foil and lost its brilliance in front of her.

It was such a girl, carrying the most terrible accusations and enmities in the world, but without hesitation, embarked on the most difficult road, burying all the softness and frailty originally belonging to the girl, leaving only the road of striving for persistent progress, bright and brilliant.

Li Shubai’s heart, which had always been tranquil and serene, for the first time, suddenly rippled slightly at this moment, just like the spring breeze blowing over the lake surface of the deep valley, with shallow ripples.

But it was only for a moment, he turned his face and shifted his gaze away from her face to the outside of the carriage. His voice was deliberately suppressed, making it low and slightly hoarse, “Yes, I believe you, and I will help you. In the same way, you have to give the rest of your life to me.” 

Huang Zixia lifted her chin and looked at him, his beautiful profile in the sunshine looked like undulating mountains and rivers in the setting sun. It was as firm as the thousand-year-old ice crystals that could not be eroded.

“From now on, as long as you are by my side, you will no longer have to worry and fear.”

She suddenly felt a touch of sourness dripping into her heart. The memories of that summer with lotus flowers in full bloom over the pond, flashed back in front of her eyes like a dream. At that time, the man who was holding her hand, had spoken like this.

Now, the world had changed, and her life experience had withered. Fortunately, she worked hard and finally seized the opportunity to stand beside the man in front of her.

The carriage stopped as they arrived at the Prince Kui manor. Li Shubai opened the door and got out of the carriage by himself. Looking back, he saw her coming down from the carriage in a daze. He nonchalantly raised his hand and helped her out of the carriage.

The sun setting on the west mountain was like a golden ray. She placed her hand in his palm and saw his face under the sun, as with those hands, shining brightly.