"Your humble servant Wanxi, eldest granddaughter of the Great Tang Emperor Emeritus, bows twice and states:
I am of meager talents and weak fate, and misfortune befell my late father. After nine years of heartache, in one night I have come to full understanding. Life is not under one's control. Though I was born into the imperial household and granted the status of a princess, receiving imperial guidance, my beauty is less than that of common reeds, and my constitution more fragile than dew on spring onions. Following the rules of the imperial women's quarters, I painfully left my mother's loving care. After receiving education in the palace, I am ashamed to hear of the withering of pine and cypress in winter. The waters of Yanping have dried up, the dragon sword has left its spring; the Qin jade tower has collapsed, and the phoenix flute has departed forever. I humbly pray for my imperial grandfather's ten thousand years, my various mothers' thousand autumns, and for this prosperous era's peace and the people's contentment. I, Li, bow twice."
Wei Shubin set down the plain paper for the eighteenth time, rubbed her eyes, and sighed, posing the same question to the other person in the room for the eighteenth time:
"Master Jingxuan, is this Yiniang's handwriting?"
"Miss Wei, this servant truly doesn't know," Daoist nun Jingxuan offered a wry smile. "This servant barely knows how to read—how could I recognize handwriting!"
After everyone else had departed the room, Jingxuan was ordered to accompany Wei Shubin and tidy up, but Chai Yingluo had instructed before leaving "not to disturb anything in the room," so the two only retrieved the fragments of Yiniang's wedding clothes and crown from the floor, with nothing else to occupy them. The suicide note that Chai Zhiwei had discovered rested on the writing desk, and Wei Shubin read it repeatedly in the lamplight.
The calligraphy wasn't particularly accomplished, resembling that of a beginning student, with each stroke clearly separated and occasionally trembling. The prose, however, was rendered in formal parallel style, with phrases like "fragile as spring onion dew," "painfully leaving mother's loving care," and "Yanping waters dried up, Qin jade tower collapsed" clearly expressing the young woman's self-pity, her departure from her beloved mother, and her decision to leave this world.
Wei Shubin's gaze focused on the opening self-address: "eldest granddaughter of the Great Tang Emperor Emeritus." Yiniang hadn't mentioned her executed father, nor identified herself as "the current Emperor's niece," seemingly harboring considerable resentment about the palace coup at Xuanwu Gate nine years ago. The title "Emperor Emeritus's granddaughter" carried a subtle hint of pride and accusation… Thinking back to the pale, shy bride-to-be she had encountered two days ago, it was difficult to imagine such complex emotions and resolute courage hidden beneath that timid exterior.
The inkstone on the desk was dry, as was the brush tip. No one knew when Li Wanxi had written this farewell letter, only that she had retrieved it and tucked it under her pillow before deciding to hang herself today.
"Master Jingxuan," Wei Shubin asked, "you've been here at Ganye Temple assisting the Upper Truth Master with the wedding arrangements for quite some time, haven't you? Do you think Yiniang seemed like the type of person who would commit suicide?"
Jingxuan sighed. "How can one say? This servant didn't observe much of Yiniang, but the poor young lady was so obedient and quiet, doing whatever others instructed her to do. I never noticed her feeling particularly bitter or melancholy. But who can truly know what's in another's heart? This afternoon when the Empress came and spoke with her privately, Yiniang cried and cried…"
"The Empress came this afternoon? Today?" Wei Shubin was startled.
"Yes. Don't you know?" Jingxuan replied. "The Empress usually dislikes making a grand spectacle, but today she made an exception, using the full imperial procession of the Inner Palace. Her four-horse carriage was so massive it barely fit through the temple gates, and her ceremonial robes and crown ornaments were so dazzling they nearly blinded this servant's old eyes. Tsk tsk, seeing such a sight once in a lifetime makes it all worthwhile…"
"Hasn't the Empress been in poor health these past two years? To go to such trouble…" Wei Shubin muttered, though she understood that Long Sun Empress wasn't merely casually visiting her niece as an aunt, but rather the "Mother of the Nation sending off a County Lady in marriage." The carriages and ceremonial requirements followed protocols—being too modest would be disrespectful.
"This servant wasn't far away and caught a glimpse—the Empress appeared well and was very happy, laughing and conversing with Madam Zheng and Lady Yang. She also brought quite a substantial amount of dowry items, declaring they were personal gifts for her niece," Jingxuan smiled and sighed. "After the Empress finished conversing with the two princesses, she said she had something to discuss privately with Yiniang, and took her into the east wing…"
"Here? Yiniang's chamber?" Wei Shubin asked.
Jingxuan nodded. "That's right. Yiniang didn't originally reside here—she stayed with her four sisters in the west compound under Madam Zheng's care. But since she was marrying, with all the complicated arrangements, the Upper Truth Master decided to have this east wing cleaned up nicely and moved Yiniang here until her wedding day."
Wei Shubin turned her head to survey this bridal chamber, which was newly furnished—the walls had just been whitewashed, and the window paper was fresh and thick.
Ganye Temple had been converted from the former Prince of Qi's mansion, and the main hall rooms of imperial retreat palaces and princes' mansions weren't designed for daily living—pursuing only "high and spacious" architecture, the beams were far from the ground and the doors and windows were wide, making it cool and breezy in summer but allowing the north wind to whistle through every crack in winter, with even ten braziers unable to warm the room. So this room had been fitted with a warm chamber, but the beams remained unusually high.
A tall table lay overturned beneath the beam. Wei Shubin contemplated for a moment and realized this must have been what Yiniang used to reach upward. County Lady of Linfen Li Wanxi, fully dressed, had moved whatever was on the tall table, carried it beneath the beam, climbed up, fashioned a noose from silk cloth, cast it over the beam, put her head through, and kicked away the table…
Shuddering, she shook her head to dispel that terrible scene and continued questioning Jingxuan. "What did the Empress and Yiniang discuss in this room? Does anyone know?"
"When the Empress said she wanted to talk privately, who would dare eavesdrop?" Jingxuan sighed. "Everyone waited outside until the Empress summoned her maid partway through. It was nearly dark when the Empress emerged, and she didn't return to the main hall to sit, but went straight to her carriage and returned to the palace… After that, Yiniang simply remained in this room. Who knew she would contemplate such a desperate act…"
This meant… that the last person to see Yiniang alive and speak with her was Empress Long Sun.
If Yiniang had indeed committed suicide, wouldn't that be closely related to the Empress? Could it even be concluded that she was "frightened or coerced to death by the Empress's private conversation"?
This thought startled Wei Shubin herself. This was Empress Long Sun, praised by court and commoners alike as a model of feminine virtue and motherly conduct for all ages…
Footsteps sounded outside the warm chamber, and Chai Yingluo's voice grew closer, soon entering with the Fourteenth Prince of Wu and her elder brother Chai Zhiwei.
Earlier, Wei Shubin had questioned Jingxuan and learned that the Prince of Wu was named Yuan Gui, indeed the fourteenth son of the Emperor Emeritus and the current Emperor's half-brother, born during the Wude era and only fifteen or sixteen years old, considerably younger than his nephew and niece of the Chai family. Though his status was noble, everyone knew that after Emperor Emeritus ascended the throne in his later years, he had vigorously produced over thirty children in less than ten years, and this Prince of Wu was merely one of them, not necessarily highly regarded…
Minister Wei's precious daughter comforted herself with these reasons, attempting to minimize her earlier discourtesy toward Li Yuan Gui as she rose to welcome Chai Yingluo and the others. Given the current circumstances, no one concerned themselves with formalities. After they all seated themselves, Chai Yingluo sent Jingxuan away and, without any pleasantries, proceeded straight to the point:
"Fourteenth Uncle, you said Yiniang didn't hang herself but was strangled to death—explain in detail. I must report clearly to the Empress when I enter the palace tomorrow. Suicide or murder, this is a matter of tremendous importance—you mustn't deceive me."
Li Yuan Gui sighed.
"What's so difficult to determine? Yingniang, you studied medicine with Doctor Sun when you were attempting to revive Yiniang earlier, didn't you notice the strangulation marks on the back of her neck?"
Chai Yingluo was startled and approached the bed, lifted the cover, and turned the corpse to examine the back of the neck. Wei Shubin looked too, and indeed, on Yiniang's delicate neck were two deep red marks crossing each other. Earlier, she and Chai Yingluo had been focused entirely on saving her life, and Yiniang's long hair had been covering her neck, so no one had noticed this.
"If she had hanged herself, putting her neck through the noose and kicking away the tall table to suspend herself, the noose would only have marked the front of her neck and jaw—how could there be marks on the back?" Li Yuan Gui stated. "It's obvious someone caught her off guard, used cloth or fabric to strangle her from behind, crossed it at the back of her neck and tied it, then tightened it forcefully to suffocate her, before suspending her to create a false scene."
His description of the scene was clear and precise, but his tone was emotionless, cold, and detached as if discussing a stranger's death that held no connection to him. Wei Shubin saw Chai Yingluo cast Li Yuan Gui a complex look and sigh softly, asking, "Is there anything else?"
"Yes," Li Yuan Gui nodded. "That was merely the first suspicious point. Have you ever witnessed someone who died by hanging? Even if not, you've heard descriptions of hanging ghosts, haven't you? They all have paper-white faces with protruding tongues—that's not merely fabricated. But Yiniang's face is completely different."
Wei Shubin couldn't help but glance down at the corpse again, looking before averting her eyes. Yiniang's swollen, distorted face was bright red, with blood foam still seeping from her mouth and lips—a horrifying sight.
"Blood rushing to the head and foaming at the mouth—these are signs of being strangled on level ground, correct?" Chai Yingluo asked. "Fourteenth Uncle, did you hear this from coroners who examine corpses?"
Li Yuan Gui nodded without elaborating. Wei Shubin found it peculiar—why would a young prince, the Emperor's brother, have heard coroners discuss such gruesome matters?
"Earlier, Fourteenth Uncle, you said four suspicious points were proving Yiniang was strangled—that's the second. What about the other two?" Chai Yingluo pressed.
Li Yuan Gui hesitated momentarily. "This is rather indelicate to mention, but when people struggle at death, their muscles relax, and they inevitably release their bladder…"
He gestured toward the overturned tall table under the beam. "If Yiniang had hanged herself here, this carpet should bear the smell, but it doesn't—I detected the odor over by the dressing table under the window!"
Everyone in the room looked toward the dressing table beneath the west window. It was unlit there, and the mirror stand, cosmetic boxes, and incense burner were barely visible. Li Yuan Gui indicated them one by one:
"While you were attempting to save Yiniang, I walked around the room and followed the scent to the dressing table. The mirror cover and cosmetic boxes were open, and there were signs of urination where someone had sat. The killer strangled her from behind while she sat at her mirror, then dragged her body and the tall table under the beam to stage the hanging. I surmise that incense burner was originally on the tall table, and the killer relocated it to the dressing table because they needed the table to reach upward, or perhaps they detected the urine and deliberately moved the burner there to mask it."
"That's correct, the incense burner was indeed on the tall table!" Chai Yingluo slapped her knee. "I brought that incense myself! This afternoon when the Empress was coming, I came in to check on Yiniang's preparations and thought the air wasn't fresh, so I instructed her to burn some incense to welcome the imperial visit. Who knew Yiniang barely comprehended what I was saying—she had forgotten how to burn incense, poor child—"
She stopped speaking and sighed. Wei Shubin also felt a surge of melancholy. Although her own family lived modestly and rarely burned incense to perfume their clothes, they still possessed the basic implements—vases, burners, and accessories—and she had assisted her mother in blending incense balls and powders. Yiniang should have been the Emperor's eldest daughter and First Princess, living surrounded by fragrance, but now she had forgotten everything about burning incense…
"Fortunately, Yiniang's nurse, who was also from the former Eastern Palace, still remembered the old customs," Chai Yingluo continued. "The temple naturally had no prepared incense, and we couldn't locate proper burners, so I could only have the nurse find a clean piece of tile to place in the brazier, and gave Yiniang my sachet, instructing her to select a couple of incense balls to burn as a temporary measure."
"So that's it, it was your incense, Yingniang, no wonder…" Li Yuan Gui paused, swallowing the remainder of his sentence.
A lingering fragrance still permeated the room, deep and lasting. "Yes, it was mine, still from what your mother created and gave me before she passed… ah, let's not discuss that. Fourteenth Uncle, what's the last suspicious point?" Chai Yingluo sighed.
No one answered her. Li Yuan Gui stared blankly ahead, his mind seemingly wandering elsewhere.
Chai Zhiwei, who had been silent since entering the room, touched his shoulder. "Fourteenth Uncle?"
Li Yuan Gui flinched, as if just awakening, cleared his throat softly, and continued. "The final suspicious point is the cord used to hang Yiniang… observe it, have you ever witnessed such a complex hanging rope?"
He bent down to retrieve a long cord from the floor near the bed, and with a slight movement, it produced sounds of objects striking against each other. The two men and two women in the room passed it around to examine it, finally reaching Wei Shubin's hands. Before she could inspect it clearly, she heard Chai Yingluo cry out suddenly, "This leather strap… this leather strap…"
"What about it?" Li Yuan Gui stared intently, questioning.
"This leather strap on the noose…" Chai Yingluo's long eyelashes closed briefly, "This was personally bestowed upon Yiniang by the Empress during her visit this afternoon."
Notes:
Li Wanxi's farewell letter imitates medieval Chinese literary style and employs numerous classical allusions and idioms. It may be necessary to translate and explain each line:
"I am of meager talents and weak fate, and misfortune befell my late father" – "ๅ
่" refers to her deceased father – Implies she believes her ill fate brought misfortune to her father
"After nine years of heartache, in one night I have come to full understanding" – Refers to the nine years of grief since being confined in Ganye Temple – Suggests a sudden enlightenment or realization
"Life is not under one's control, born into the imperial household" – "ๆ็" literally means "thrown through the window" – Expresses that being born into the imperial family wasn't her choice
"Though granted the status of a princess and receiving imperial guidance, my beauty is less than common reeds, my constitution more fragile than dew on spring onions" – "่ค้ฒ" (dew on spring onions) references a famous funeral song comparing human life to fragile dew on spring onion leaves (thinner than chive leaves) – Expresses her self-perceived inadequacy and predestined short life
" – "Following the rules of the imperial women's quarters, I painfully leave my mother's loving care. Receiving education in the palace, I am ashamed to hear of the withering of pine and cypress in winter" – Expresses her sorrow at leaving her mother and her inability to be as strong as pine and cypress trees that withstand severe winter
" – This contains two classical allusions:
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From Jin Shu (Book of Jin), Biography of Zhang Hua: Zhang Hua and the extraordinary person Lei Huan unearthed a pair of precious swords—Longquan and Tai'e—in Fengcheng, Yuzhang. Each kept one sword. After Zhang Hua's death, his sword disappeared. One day, Lei Huan's son was passing Yanping Ferry wearing the sword when it suddenly leaped out and plunged into the water. When people tried to retrieve it, they saw two great dragons swimming underwater, creating a great commotion before disappearing. This allusion is usually written as "dragon sword leaving the abyss (yuan ๆทต)" but here uses "spring (quan ๆณ)" to avoid the taboo name of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan.
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From the Han Dynasty's Liexian Zhuan (Biographies of Immortals): During Qin Mu Gong's time, there was a handsome flutist named Xiao Shi. Mu Gong's daughter Nongyu married him to learn the flute, and their music even attracted phoenixes. Mu Gong built a high tower where the couple lived for several years without descending. Eventually, they flew away with the phoenixes and became immortals.
" – This is a formal closing similar to "Yours sincerely." In the Tang Dynasty, women often referred to themselves in letters and speech as "your servant (ๅฆพ) + surname," with given names being used less frequently.
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Dressing Bed (ๆขณๅฆ็): Before mid-Tang, Chinese furniture was generally low-set. In wealthy households, women's bedrooms often had a dedicated "dressing area" with a large, low couch called a "dressing bed" holding a standing mirror, cosmetics, and grooming tools. The lady would sit on this bed while servants helped with her grooming, as shown in the "Admonitions Scroll," though that earlier illustration shows a mat rather than a bed. The image also demonstrates how such tall hairstyles were created…
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Incense Burner (้ฆ็): The incense burner wasn't the open-mouthed type with stick incense that people typically imagine today. Before the Ming Dynasty, there was no "stick incense" as we know it. In medieval times (and even among professional incense enthusiasts today), people burned incense cakes, balls, or spheres, placed in burners with a fire-separation plate below and a pierced cover above to release the fragrance. This is why Tang Dynasty imperial incense burners excavated from Famen Temple in Shaanxi have covers. The "Three Implements for Incense" (็ถ็ไธไบ) that Wei Shubin mentions (though this term appeared later) refers to the incense burner, utensil vase, and incense box. The "utensil vase" held chopstick-like tools and incense shovels for handling ash, while the "incense box" stored the incense cakes, balls, or spheres.
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