Inside a dilapidated old wooden house in the mountain outskirts, a few slanting rays of the setting sun pierced through the broken roof tiles, illuminating the floating dust in a reddish glow.
Wu Shiqing sat on a low wooden stool, frowning as she used a thin twig to write numbers on the ground.
No one had taught her reading, writing, or arithmetic in years. All she could do was review what she had learned in the past every day to keep herself from forgetting it.
Three years of fleeing had left the young girl considerably thinner. To conceal her identity, her once delicate, fair face had been smeared with dirt. Her hair was tied into the ordinary double buns of a young boy, and she wore a slightly oversized coarse-cloth tunic and trousers. At a glance, she looked no different from an ordinary young lad.
Yet those clear, dark eyes gleamed in the dim light with a stubborn determination that refused to yield.
The shabby wooden door creaked with a low groan.
Shi Yi hurried inside, casually placing a bundle of cold steamed buns wrapped in lotus leaves on the pile of dried grass before turning around and securing the door bolt.
“Miss, I’ve found out something.”
Shi Yi lowered his voice, beads of sweat still clinging to his forehead.
After days of making inquiries, he had finally managed to obtain some news from the capital. He had immediately hurried back to their lodging to tell his young mistress what he had learned.
Wu Shiqing sprang to her feet. “What is it? Is there any news about Second Brother?”
“Among the brothels for men in the capital, the two most famous are called Shuyu Pavilion and Drunken Cherry Court.”
Shi Yi pulled over a battered wooden stool and sat down, his expression grave.
“Each establishment has a top courtesan who is about sixteen years old. The one at Shuyu Pavilion is called ‘Young Master Yuexi,’ while the one at Drunken Cherry Court is called ‘Night Cherry.’ Rumor has it that both possess peerless beauty and are skilled in music and the qin. Moreover… both refuse to appear publicly to receive customers, entertaining only a very small number of distinguished guests.”
Wu Shiqing’s heart skipped a beat.
Sixteen years old, peerless beauty, skilled in music…
Every one of these conditions struck her heart like a heavy hammer.
Three years ago, when the Wu family was confiscated and its members arrested, she and Shi Yi had escaped the capital amid the chaos and fled from place to place.
For the past three years, she had never gone a single day without missing her family. Only recently had she learned that her family, her parents, and her eldest brother were already gone. Now, her only remaining hope was news of her second brother, Wu Jiuling.
“Can you determine which one he is?” Wu Shiqing asked urgently.
“I can’t be certain.”
Shi Yi shook his head. “Both establishments have powerful people backing them, and their security is extremely tight. I made inquiries through merchants traveling between the north and south and the waiters at teahouses, but I could only learn these superficial details. To confirm which one is the Second Young Master, we would have to… see him with our own eyes.”
“Then we’ll go to the capital.”
Wu Shiqing answered without the slightest hesitation, her gaze unwavering.
Shi Yi immediately furrowed his brows.
“Miss, the capital is a place of danger and intrigue. Although the authorities’ wanted notices for the Wu family are no longer as extensive as they were three years ago, if we approach the capital rashly and get caught…”
“Uncle Shi, we’ve been fleeing for three years. Are we supposed to spend the rest of our lives running?”
Wu Shiqing interrupted him. Though her voice was still youthful, it carried an unyielding resolve.
“Second Brother may be in the capital. Whether he is Young Master Yuexi or Night Cherry, I must confirm it with my own eyes. If he really is Second Brother, then even if I have to exhaust every possible means, I will rescue him!”
Shi Yi looked at the fourteen-year-old girl before him, her eyes so resolute, and seemed to see the shadow of his former master in her.
After pondering for a moment, he finally let out a long sigh.
“Very well. I’ll accompany you, Miss. However, we can’t simply walk into the capital, and we don’t have travel permits.”
Although the two of them had escaped back then, they were still wanted by the authorities. They had no way to openly apply for travel permits, as doing so would be no different from walking straight into a trap.
After thinking for a moment, he continued, “Today, I saw a merchant caravan transporting silk from Jiangnan to the capital resting at a post station up ahead. We can pay them to provide us with cover. Miss can pose as a young servant accompanying the caravan’s bookkeeper, while I work as a laborer carrying goods. That way, we can enter the city with the caravan and avoid close scrutiny by the soldiers at the gates.”
“Very well. I’ll listen to you, Uncle Shi.”
Wu Shiqing nodded. Then she touched her waist, and her expression darkened.
“However… the capital is still a long way away, and both bribing the caravan and gathering information will require money. I’m afraid we don’t have enough travel funds left.”
When Shi Yi had taken her away back then, her father had given them some money for the journey. But after all these years, most of it had been spent. At times, Shi Yi had even needed to take temporary laboring jobs to make ends meet.
As for her fine clothes, earrings, and ornaments, she had sold them all long ago.
Wu Shiqing walked to a corner at the back of the room and retrieved a small bundle from beneath the bed.
She took out a little cloth pouch wrapped in old fabric and carefully unwrapped it, revealing a golden plum-blossom hairpin inside.
The hairpin was made of pure gold, shaped like a branch adorned with several exquisitely carved plum blossoms that looked almost lifelike. A delicate chain at the end held a red agate bead. On the back of the petals of the lowest plum blossom, a tiny dent from wear could just barely be seen.
This was the gift her father and mother had personally placed in her hair on her tenth birthday.
“Qing’er, this plum-blossom hairpin was made by the finest goldsmith in the capital. Your father and mother both hope that our Qing’er will be as resilient and unyielding as plum blossoms that proudly withstand the snow and frost.”
Her mother’s gentle words seemed to echo in her ears even now.
She had loved this hairpin dearly in the past, wearing it almost every day.
Now, the Wu family had fallen, and both her parents were dead.
This hairpin had become the only keepsake she possessed that still carried the warmth of home.
Throughout three years of flight, no matter how cold or hungry she had been, she had never once considered parting with it.
“Father, Mother…”
Wu Shiqing’s eyes reddened, and a single tear silently fell onto the golden hairpin.
With trembling fingers, she gently caressed it.
“Qing’er is sorry… but Qing’er has to go save Second Brother. If you can see me from heaven, you will surely forgive me, won’t you?”
She took a deep breath, raised her hand to wipe away her tears, and gave the hairpin one last lingering look. Then she carefully wrapped it up again and turned toward Shi Yi.
“Uncle Shi, pawn this.”
When Shi Yi recognized the object in her hands, his expression changed dramatically.
“Miss! This is the only thing the master and madam left you…”
“Lifeless objects cannot save the living.”
Wu Shiqing gritted her teeth, doing her best to keep her voice calm.
“As long as we can find Second Brother, none of this matters. Uncle Shi, take the gold hairpin to a pawnshop and exchange it for cash. Remember to find a reputable establishment and avoid arousing suspicion.”
She continued giving him instructions.
“If the pawnshop asks where it came from, tell them it was given to you by your former employer. Say that you worked as a guard for many years at the home of a merchant surnamed Chen in the southern part of the city. Later, the Chen family’s textile business closed, and the mistress took her young master back to their hometown. Before leaving, she gave you this hairpin to settle the wages and rewards she owed you.
“If they ask why you’re pawning it, tell them that after your former employer’s household dispersed, you stayed in the city for a while, but now you want to return to your hometown and seek refuge with relatives. Unfortunately, you don’t have enough travel money, so you’ve been forced to pawn this keepsake from your former master. Make your story sound sincere and helpless, and don’t bargain too aggressively.”
Finally, she reassured Shi Yi.
“Once we find Second Brother, we can earn money later and find a way to redeem it.”
Shi Yi nodded. After the two discussed the matter further, he finally left with the golden hairpin.
Wu Shiqing watched his retreating figure.
She knew that once the hairpin was pawned, redeeming it in the future would be almost impossible for her.
But compared with the hairpin, there was someone far more important whom she had to find.
◇◆◇◆◇
Dressed in a coarse-cloth tunic, Shi Yi walked with his shoulders slightly hunched. Although his hands bore the thick calluses of years of heavy labor, he deliberately added a few traces of the timid, servile manner common among ordinary street folk to his demeanor.
With his head lowered, he made his way deep into the long street and entered a pawnshop bearing a large sign that read Yongan Pawnshop.
Behind the tall counter, the shopkeeper leaned against the sandalwood armrest. His half-lidded, triangular eyes were as sharp as a falcon’s as he sized up the man before him, whose skin was dark and whose clothes were covered in dust from travel.
“Shopkeeper, I’d like to pawn something.”
Shi Yi gently placed an old cloth bundle on the counter and pushed it forward.
The shopkeeper snorted coldly and swiftly unwrapped the cloth with a few movements of his fingers.
The moment the brilliant gleam of gold entered his eyes, his eyelids twitched sharply. His previously indifferent expression instantly changed.
He picked up the hairpin and carefully examined its craftsmanship.
It was a golden plum-blossom hairpin of exquisite workmanship. The plum branch curved gracefully, the petals overlapped in delicate layers, and a fine chain at the end held a red agate bead. It exuded the refined elegance of a wealthy household from days gone by.
“Where did this come from?”
The shopkeeper raised his eyelids, his tone carrying the routine scrutiny of someone conducting business.
Shi Yi remained composed, without the slightest trace of panic in his eyes. Instead, his expression carried the bitter helplessness of someone with nowhere else to turn.
“My former employer gave it to me. Something happened to their household, and the mistress took her young master away to escape the trouble. Before leaving, she gave me this hairpin to cover several months of unpaid wages.”
“That mistress certainly was generous,” the shopkeeper sneered, pressing him further. “Which family was it?”
“The surname was Chen. They used to run a shop in the southern part of the city, dealing in textiles. Later, their business closed, and the mistress took her young master back to their hometown. Before leaving, she gave me this hairpin to settle the wages she owed me.”
Shi Yi sighed, his shoulders slumping even lower.
“Shopkeeper, I’m a man with no family. Keeping this gold hairpin won’t put food on my table. Now I want to return to my hometown and seek refuge with relatives, but I don’t have enough money for the journey. If I weren’t truly desperate, who would willingly pawn a keepsake from their former master?”
The shopkeeper stared at him suspiciously, seemingly uncertain whether to believe him. After pondering for a moment, he pretended to examine the hairpin carefully against the light, as though scrutinizing its quality.
In reality, his mind was rapidly recalling a secret order that the head manager of Guangji Trading House had passed down several days earlier:
Find a golden plum-blossom hairpin. It has four identifying features: gold, a plum branch, overlapping plum blossoms, and a red agate bead.
The hairpin before him matched every detail without the slightest discrepancy.
The shopkeeper turned the hairpin over in his hand and shook his head.
“It’s made of pure gold, but the style is somewhat outdated. Gold prices these days aren’t what they used to be…”
He glanced sideways at Shi Yi’s clothes, putting on an expression of disdain.
“Thirty taels. Take it or leave it.”
Shi Yi appropriately displayed a mixture of urgency and reluctance. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Shopkeeper, this was a keepsake left by my former master. Thirty taels is far too little. I still need travel money to return to my hometown and survive along the way! At least this much—”
He held up five rough fingers.
“Fifty taels! If you won’t offer at least that much, I’d be better off going to another pawnshop.”
The shopkeeper pretended to hesitate for a while. Seeing how anxious Shi Yi looked, he smoothly gave in.
“Fine, fine. You seem like an honest fellow. Fifty taels it is. Let’s write up the pawn ticket.”
Shi Yi promptly signed the pawn ticket and pressed his fingerprint onto it. He grabbed the heavy silver payment and quickly disappeared into the bustling crowd outside.
Behind the counter, the shopkeeper watched the direction in which Shi Yi had left. After confirming that the man was completely gone, he carefully placed the golden hairpin into a wooden box and immediately beckoned over a quick-witted young clerk.
“Quick, go through the back street and notify the manager of the Guangji Trading House branch.”
The shopkeeper lowered his voice and instructed him, “Tell him that the golden hairpin that that person secretly instructed us to watch for has now been brought in by someone to pawn.”
◆◇◆◇◆
Inside Prince Yi’s residence in the capital.
The study was brightly lit by candlelight, while the night beyond the windows was as dark as ink.
Xiao Ying sat upright behind his desk, his gaze calm and still as water as it rested on the exquisite little wooden box before him.
Inside lay the golden plum-blossom hairpin.
Obtaining this item had naturally cost him another considerable sum, but to him, problems that could be solved with money were actually the simpler ones.
After all, he had a whole host of problems that money could not solve.
“Do you think this golden hairpin is genuine, or that someone wants us to believe it is?”
Xiao Ying raised his eyes slightly, his tone betraying no emotion.
Lan Ningcheng stood before the desk. His expression remained calm, and after glancing at the wooden box for a moment, he replied evenly, “I have already sent people to investigate the pawnshop’s background. It has been operating for more than twenty years without any unusual records. According to the shopkeeper, the person who pawned the hairpin claimed to be a guard for a merchant family surnamed Chen. He was tall and sturdy, with dark skin, and appeared to be in his forties. His appearance closely matches the characteristics we have on record for Shi Yi, although we still cannot confirm his identity with absolute certainty.”
They had only been searching for this golden hairpin for a short time, yet now it had appeared so conveniently in a pawnshop in a neighboring prefecture.
The plum blossoms on the head of the hairpin and the dent along the edge of the petals perfectly matched Young Master Yuexi’s description. There was not a single flaw.
It was almost too perfect, like a net woven specifically for them.
“Moreover, the information we spread along the trade routes was limited to the general characteristics.”
Lan Ningcheng analyzed the situation slowly.
“Even if the information had accidentally leaked, the chances of someone forging a hairpin with the exact same number of plum blossoms, down to the tiny dent caused by a childhood accident, would be extremely slim. Judging from the physical evidence, there is a ninety percent chance that this hairpin is genuine.”
Xiao Ying smiled faintly, but there was no mirth in his peach-blossom eyes.
“The object is genuine. The person… may not be.”
Lan Ningcheng’s heart tightened.
“Your Highness suspects that… if Wu Shiqing has already fallen into someone else’s hands, they could use this genuine hairpin as bait to lure Young Master Yuexi out?”
Xiao Ying’s gaze suddenly deepened, but he said nothing.
The false intelligence letter that had nearly driven both Li Ziao and Young Master Yuexi into a dead end a while ago remained vivid in his mind.
Their opponent was skilled at exploiting the weaknesses of the human heart, disguising the deadliest bait as the most desperately desired path to survival, then placing it along the very road their targets were bound to take and waiting for the prey to walk into the trap of its own accord.
Nevertheless, this was the only lead they had obtained in recent days.
“What happened to the person who pawned the hairpin afterward?” Xiao Ying asked in a low voice.
“According to the report, our people followed the pawnshop owner’s leads and investigated the area. They discovered that on the day the hairpin was pawned, a silk merchant caravan from Jiangnan had been resting at a nearby post station. The man had contact with the caravan’s manager and subsequently left with the caravan. There was also a young lad traveling with them.”
Xiao Ying’s gaze narrowed slightly as he asked in a deep voice, “Where is the caravan headed?”
“It is currently on its way to the capital.”
Xiao Ying’s eyes returned to the golden hairpin inside the wooden box. After considering the possibilities, he said, “If the person who pawned the hairpin really is Shi Yi, and the companion traveling with him is Wu Shiqing, then, as two wanted fugitives of the imperial court, they would have no legitimate travel permits. A fourteen-year-old girl disguising herself as a boy and hiding among a merchant caravan, spending money to smooth the passage through checkpoints, would indeed be a practical way to evade inspection.”
He changed the direction of his argument, tapping his fingers rhythmically against the wooden box.
“Judging from the route taken by the caravan, after leaving the prefectural city gates, they would inevitably encounter numerous checkpoints and patrol offices along the way. Inspections would become especially strict as they approached the capital region. The capital’s city gates are directly under the jurisdiction of the Capital Garrison, and scrutiny there is the strictest of all. Without sufficient money for bribes or proper connections to provide cover, things could easily go wrong. The fifty taels obtained by pawning a single golden hairpin would barely be enough to cover the caravan’s share of the expenses and the numerous checkpoints along the way.”
Xiao Ying frowned, pressing two fingers against his temples and slowly massaging them. A complicated note crept into his voice.
“It seems she really is in a hurry to enter the capital to find her elder brother, yet she has underestimated the scrutiny and expenses in the capital region.”
The two had actually dared to head straight for the most dangerous place of all—the capital. Although using the money from pawning the hairpin to secure the caravan’s protection was already no small feat, their actions still seemed somewhat rash.
Lan Ningcheng bowed slightly.
“Does Your Highness intend to help them enter the capital?”
A playful curve appeared at the corner of Xiao Ying’s lips.
“If we don’t let them in, how will we know whether this is an act or the real thing?”
His gaze was deep as he continued slowly, “If she really has pawned the object she treasures most to obtain travel money and risk the journey to the capital… then aside from coming to find Wu Jiuling, the only other possibility is that this is a trap. I can think of no other explanation.”
How important the golden plum-blossom hairpin was to Wu Shiqing could be understood from Wu Jiuling’s own words.
Unless she had truly been driven to desperation, she would never have willingly pawned the only keepsake left to her by her parents.
And aside from searching for her brother, there was absolutely no reason for a fourteen-year-old girl to risk arrest by entering the capital, a place as dangerous as a dragon’s lair and a tiger’s den.
“Should we inform Young Master Yuexi first?” Lan Ningcheng asked.
“Not yet.”
Xiao Ying’s tone brooked no argument.
“That previous letter already put him in danger. If this turns out to be another trap, telling him in advance will only give him false hope and might even cause him to lose his composure. I will bear this uncertainty and risk on his behalf. Once they enter the capital and we confirm their identities, there will be time to inform him.”
He did not want Young Master Yuexi to suffer the torment of falling from hope into despair a second time.
“Make the arrangements.”
Xiao Ying raised his eyes to look at Lan Ningcheng, a cold resolve flashing through them.
“Secretly make arrangements at the checkpoints along the route and within the capital. Give priority to ensuring that they enter the city safely, but keep everything discreet. Do not alert anyone. That includes those two themselves. Let them believe they managed to get in through their own abilities.”
Lan Ningcheng furrowed his brows slightly.
“Your Highness does not intend to intercept them along the way and escort them directly back to the prince’s residence for confirmation?”
“Absolutely not.”
Xiao Ying rejected the idea almost immediately.
“Shi Yi managed to protect her and keep her on the run for three years while evading the authorities. His vigilance is far beyond that of an ordinary person. If we rashly intercept them halfway, we will not only disturb the merchant caravan, but even if we make our good intentions clear, Shi Yi will only assume it is a trap. We would expose ourselves immediately and might even force them to disappear into hiding once again. The capital is full of undercurrents, and Sheng Yuanli’s spies are watching movements everywhere. We cannot make too much of a disturbance.”
He paused briefly, his tone returning to its usual calm.
“Although there are great dangers within the capital, everything will be under our watchful eyes. When the time comes, we can catch the turtle in the jar. Whether they are the bait or the fish will naturally become clear once they set foot inside this city.”
Lan Ningcheng immediately understood Xiao Ying’s intentions.
“This subordinate will make the arrangements at once.”
“Mm… Go ahead.”
Lan Ningcheng was about to withdraw when the corner of his eye caught sight of Xiao Ying still massaging his temples.
A layer of persistent weariness hung between his brows, and his complexion was somewhat paler than usual. Lan Ningcheng paused, ultimately unable to hold back his concern.
“Your Highness, has your headache returned?”
Xiao Ying slowly released his hand, let out a long breath, and forced a bitter smile.
“It’s nothing. It’s probably because everything has piled up at once lately… I have to report to the Imperial Clan Court every day, and at night there’s a whole mess of open and covert political struggles waiting to be dealt with. Over the past two months, I’ve been busier than I was during the entire previous two years combined.”
Upon hearing this, Lan Ningcheng exposed the flaw in his words without changing his expression.
“That is because Your Highness spent far too much time idling away your days in the past. Although life is hardly peaceful now, your former routine of staying up all night and spending your days in wine shops and pleasure houses could hardly be considered normal either.”
Xiao Ying glanced up at him, a trace of helplessness in his eyes.
Recently, he had been unable to sleep at night, and his ears rang incessantly, as though a nest of cicadas were flapping about wildly inside his head. His temples were already aching and tense, yet this fellow still insisted on making every other sentence sound like a barb.
“In the past… wasn’t I also forced into that situation by circumstances?”
His voice dropped slightly, and he sounded rather unconvincing even to himself.
Seeing him like this, Lan Ningcheng ultimately said nothing more.
He merely looked at his master’s face, which could barely conceal its exhaustion.
Xiao Ying had always been slender, and no matter how well he was fed, he never seemed to put on much weight. After all the strain of recent days, he had grown even thinner than before.
Faint dark circles shadowed his eyes, clearly indicating that he had been getting very little restful sleep.
Yet this man was accustomed to gritting his teeth and forcing himself to endure. Unless someone knew him extremely well, they would never notice the strain he was concealing beneath that seemingly languid exterior.
“Shall I summon the physician from the residence to examine you?”
Xiao Ying raised a hand.
“…No need. It’s just an old ailment.”
“Then I’ll prepare your medicine as usual.”
“Very well…”
This time, Xiao Ying did not refuse.
“Your Highness, since you’ve been sleeping poorly, should I have a bowl of calming soup prepared for you?” Lan Ningcheng asked again.
The moment he heard the words calming soup, Xiao Ying instinctively recalled the sinister calming soup involved in the Pruning Branch Case.
“Nowadays, just hearing the words ‘calming soup’ is enough to wake me right up. There’s no need.”
Lan Ningcheng sighed inwardly, bowed in farewell, and quietly withdrew from the study. He prepared to head to the Precious Medicine Pavilion to collect the ingredients, leaving the room filled with candlelight and the chill of the night to the noble man seated behind the desk.