After saying this, Caifang suddenly realized these words didn’t sound very pleasant and shouldn’t have been said so clearly for the person to hear, so she blushed awkwardly. She thought that normally, as long as she wasn’t in front of her masters, she would casually say much harsher things, not knowing why she was being so mindful today.

Huo Qi Lang didn’t care at all, laughing: “Old Seven’s fate has always been tough as nails—I can block spears, block swords, so naturally evil spirits are no problem either.”

She immediately tucked the chest under her arm and followed behind Caifang, heading once again to the main quarters where Prince Shao resided. Having completed the task assigned by the steward, Steward Zhou felt relieved. Watching Huo Qi Lang’s departing figure, he secretly thought that this wandering knight, viewed from behind, actually bore some resemblance to their master.

Along the way, Huo Qi Lang asked questions left and right, continuing to inquire about the situation in the Prince’s residence from Caifang. On the way, they encountered a servant carrying a large ceramic basin. The servant stopped to chat and joke with Caifang for a few moments—the basin was filled with fresh sweet melons.

Caifang glanced into the basin and said: “Washed fruits need to be dried of water stains before feeding, otherwise be careful of diarrhea.”

The servant laughed in response: “No need for your reminder. This is prepared for the heir—we wouldn’t dare be the slightest bit negligent. No matter how we tried to regulate his stomach these past days, nothing worked properly. Finally, we had to use spring water transported from outside the city to get him well—he’s quite delicate indeed.”

Caifang sighed: “Who says otherwise? Even the Prince has fallen ill—this place truly has poor mountains and evil waters.” These servants’ words, inside and out, all revealed their depressed feelings about relocating to the frontier.

After the basin-carrying servant left, Huo Qi Lang asked curiously: “How old is your Prince’s residence’s heir? His appetite is really something—this big basin of melons could feed seven or eight people.”

Caifang quickly said: “Keep your voice down! He was speaking nonsense—don’t take it seriously. Those melons are actually prepared for the Prince’s beloved horse, Jade-bridled Dun. The Prince still has no heirs, and he treasures that fine horse most, so the servants privately nicknamed it ‘heir.’ You mustn’t repeat this in front of the masters, lest you bring trouble upon yourself.”

Huo Qi Lang thought to herself that Prince Shao was so ill that even his coffin and mourning pavilion were prepared. Forget riding horses—he probably couldn’t even get out of bed to walk. That Jade-bridled Dun that needed sweet melons for feed would ultimately fall into whose hands, who knew.

She said to Caifang: “Thank you for the guidance, miss. Are there other things in this residence that need attention? Please tell me all at once…”

Huo Qi Lang was about to continue inquiring when she suddenly detected the sound of someone breathing behind the nearby flower wall and screen. Having just arrived, she didn’t want to expose this, but Caifang was oblivious and about to launch into a detailed discussion, so she used eye signals to indicate.

Caifang was a spirited and clever girl who immediately understood. She picked up a small stone from the ground and pretended to throw it to hit crows, cursing: “Where did this black crow come from, eavesdropping here so annoyingly!”

The stone hit the flower wall, startling that person, who hurriedly ran away carrying her skirt—from the back view, it was a small maidservant.

Seeing her run toward the West Courtyard, Caifang sneered and said to Huo Qi Lang: “You haven’t even moved in yet, and people from the West Courtyard are already coming to spy.”

Huo Qi Lang asked curiously: “Who lives in the West Courtyard, and what are they spying on?”

She naturally possessed a kind of charm that quickly brought her close to people—she was born handsome and debonair, with a cordial and sincere attitude. Since Lady Li had spoken to arrange for Huo Qi to stay in Prince Shao’s quarters, Caifang considered her one of their own and told her everything she knew like beans pouring from a bamboo tube.

Caifang lowered her voice: “The Prince’s residence is divided into inner and outer quarters. The outer quarters are governed by the steward, responsible for receiving visitors from outside. The inner quarters are divided into East and West courtyards. The Prince’s main quarters are in the center. Lady Li manages the East Courtyard, while Princess Consort Cui lives in the West Courtyard. She’s a jealous mistress—the Prince doesn’t like her, yet she insists on inquiring about people around the Prince.”

Although the inner quarter servants in the Prince’s residence had all been brought from Chang’an to Youzhou, a small portion were brought as dowry by Princess Consort Cui, while most were old-timers from Prince Shao’s residence. Because the Prince and Princess Consort had poor relations and no children, Lady Li, as the Prince’s wet nurse, also disliked the Princess Consort. Thus, the two groups of servants were clearly distinct and rarely interacted.

Huo Qi Lang asked: “Since he doesn’t get along with his principal wife, doesn’t he have other concubines to bear children?”

Caifang answered: “A few years ago, a young lady from the Hongnong Yang clan was arranged as a concubine. Birth charts were exchanged, betrothal gifts sent, but that lady was the same age as the Princess. The Prince felt she was too young, so he let her stay home in Huayin County with her family, agreeing to bring her over when she reached eighteen or nineteen. Who would have thought that plague ravaged Huayin County two years ago, and that young lady caught the epidemic and died, never even meeting the Prince once—truly an unfortunate fate.”

After saying this, Caifang suddenly realized that with Prince Shao now exiled to the frontier, in the servants’ eyes, being a Prince’s concubine was wealth and honor, but in the eyes of those prestigious families, it was probably not such a good prospect.

Huo Qi Lang secretly thought that the real “Yang Fangxie” was this girl who died of plague, and couldn’t help but sigh for her tragic beauty and short life.

Caifang looked around and lowered her voice: “After the Princess Consort married in, she also fell seriously ill several times. We privately say he might have a fate that brings misfortune to wives. There’s also currently an outside woman, Lady Jing, whom he took in on the road to Youzhou. The Prince won’t let her enter the residence and bought a house outside to settle her, probably fearing her life would also be short.”

As they talked and walked, the two had already reached the front of the main quarters.

Outside the building, a dark mass of eunuchs stood on the ground, surrounding a long table five feet wide and about ten feet long. A robust woman led seven or eight subordinates, each woman holding a multi-layered red lacquered food box, and each food box had a seal pasted on it.

Caifang whispered to Huo Qi Lang: “That woman is Kitchen Stewardess Zhang. They’re about to arrange the meal.”

At this moment, a eunuch leader wearing a tall hat loudly announced: “First test passed! Kitchen Stewardess Zhang has fulfilled her duty.”

Stewardess Zhang ordered her subordinates to transfer the sealed food boxes to the eunuchs, then bowed toward the main quarters and withdrew.

The eunuchs, under the watchful eyes of the palace guards, opened the two large doors of the main quarters. Four at a time, in two columns, they steadily carried the food boxes into the room, while another four carried that enormous long table slowly inside.

Caifang whispered to Huo Qi Lang: “Let’s go in too. Lady Li has strict rules—you absolutely cannot make a sound during meal service.”

Huo Qi Lang had never seen such a grand affair for eating a meal and was extremely curious. Following Caifang into the room, this time she was already an employee of the Prince’s residence and didn’t need to disarm or submit to searches.

The eunuchs placed the long table in the center of the room but didn’t rush to open the food boxes.

Upon returning to the room, Caifang immediately took her position, standing among the eight senior maidservants managed by Lady Li. Lady Li walked over from beside Prince Shao’s bed to personally inspect whether the food box seals were intact, then tore open the seals. Next, she and her trusted maidservants watched as the eunuchs took out the delicacies from the food boxes one by one, neatly arranging them on the long table. Before long, forty or fifty bowls and dishes filled the entire table—all delicious delicacies that Huo Qi Lang had never seen before and couldn’t describe.

She thought the sickly person on the bed probably couldn’t eat so much, but no one went to help the master come out for the meal.

The tall-hatted eunuch leader announced again: “Second test!”

Upon receiving his command, four eunuchs stepped out of formation and stood at the four corners of the long table.

Lady Li called out: “Caiwei.”

A maidservant standing beside Caifang came forward with a tray containing four silver bowls and four pairs of silver chopsticks, distributing them to those eunuchs. The four immediately used the bowls and chopsticks to take a little food from each dish, while the maidservants stared unblinkingly, ensuring not a single dish was missed.

When all four bowls were full without omission, Huo Qi Lang thought they should be served to Prince Shao for eating. Unexpectedly, those four eunuchs picked up their bowls and silently began eating heartily, leaving her dumbfounded. The eunuch leader also filled half a bowl with soup and slowly drank it down with a silver spoon.

After the four eunuchs finished eating, the bowls and chopsticks were immediately collected, and Lady Li personally checked whether they had changed color. Then the room returned to silence—everyone was in no hurry to do anything, just quietly waiting.

A maidservant held an incense burner to keep time. When one stick of incense burned out, the four eunuchs who had eaten showed no change in complexion or unusual behavior. Lady Li nodded, and the eunuch leader announced: “Second test passed! Eunuch Supervisor Ma Gaoxuan has fulfilled his duty!”

Only then did Huo Qi Lang suddenly understand—this grand affair was tasting for poison before Prince Shao’s meal. The kitchen responsible for cooking tasted once before serving, the food was boxed and sealed, then brought to the room for the eunuchs to taste again. Each person in charge had to risk their life to eat a few bites—truly watertight.

Lady Li changed to a new set of tableware, walked to the table, randomly selected several easily digestible dishes and took small portions, also served three or four kinds of porridge and soup, tasting each for saltiness, blandness, and temperature—effectively a third test. Huo Qi Lang noticed Lady Li’s hands bore several burn marks, new and old overlapping, which shouldn’t appear on such a noble lady.

Lady Li carried the tray behind the screen to attend to Prince Shao’s meal.

After all the grand commotion for half a day, the person himself could barely eat anything. Huo Qi Lang listened to the person on the bed eat one bite and rest for a long time, as if living itself was an extremely painful and difficult thing for him.

She saw six or seven steamer baskets on the long table containing different exquisite steamed breads and pastries. Because they were made so elaborately with fillings inside, no one broke them open to taste, and Lady Li didn’t touch them either—apparently these were merely decorative dishes for viewing. Estimating that the things on the long table would soon be removed, Huo Qi Lang reached out and took a piece of golden chestnut goose oil cake, silently chewing away.

Seeing Huo Qi Lang eating cake as if no one else was around, Caifang glared at her fiercely. She pretended not to see and muttered quietly: “Huo Qi has fulfilled her duty!”

Steward Li Chengyin entered the room, waiting to speak after Prince Shao finished his meal. After a long time, Li Yuanying behind the screen finally couldn’t swallow anymore and said quietly to Lady Li: “From now on, don’t go through such trouble preparing meals—I have no appetite anyway.”

Lady Li handed the bowls and plates to the maidservants to clean up. Seeing the steward waiting in the room, she ordered the eunuchs to remove the long table and everyone else to leave, keeping only Huo Qi Lang.

Lady Li said solemnly: “The spies from Chang’an reported that the Princess suddenly died, and rumors among the people said it was due to poisoning. You cannot be too careful and cautious.”

Li Yuanying said: “Since she is now safe and sound, it shows it wasn’t poisoning, or at least not fatal poison. Moreover, if that person in Chang’an is determined to have me die, he need only openly send someone to bestow a cup of poisoned wine—that would be enough to kill me. Why go through such elaborate trouble to poison me?”

He grasped his wet nurse’s burned hand and said softly: “Don’t go supervise the kitchen anymore.”

Lady Li knew he was referring to the current emperor. A wave of sadness rose in her heart, but she didn’t want to show it, only silently noting the time to calculate the interval for taking medicine later.

Hearing that he had finished eating, the steward came forward to report: “Both the Military Supervisor and the Commissioner sent people over under the pretense of inquiring about the Prince’s condition, but actually probing about the letter delivery. I’ve already replied that it was a courtesy letter from staff. Seeing the coffin and mourning pavilion, they didn’t pursue further and left after a few polite words.”

Then he turned to instruct Huo Qi Lang: “You delivered the letter, and many people saw it. If anyone inquires, you must keep the same story as me.”

Huo Qi Lang was about to answer when the golden chestnut cake, having been boiled then steamed, was extremely soft and sticky—a large bite got stuck in her throat and wouldn’t go down. She grabbed a pot of fermented water from the table and drank straight from the spout, finally managing to swallow it. Clearing her throat, she said: “No problem. I can’t read a single character, so you can say it’s any kind of letter you want.”

Li Yuanying had been fasting for many days. Today, hearing the good news of his sister’s survival, he forced himself to eat some food. Though it caused heartburn and nausea, extremely uncomfortable, he finally managed to gain a bit of strength to speak.

He first asked Steward Li Chengyin: “During my serious illness, how has Lady Jing been?”

The steward answered: “Madam Yu says all is well. I still send support according to custom at regular times. She’s only worried about the Prince’s health and wants to meet as soon as possible.”

Li Yuanying was silent for a moment, then said: “It seems I can hold on for a few more days. Tell her to wait patiently.”

Huo Qi Lang thought that this person, seriously ill and on the verge of death, having just caught his breath, didn’t ask about other things first but was concerned about whether his concubine had money to spend. Clearly, this outside woman was his most beloved. She figured that such nobles’ principal wives were all marriage alliance partners and might be plain-looking, while concubines and outside women were personally chosen.

She couldn’t help but yearn dreamily, fantasizing about what kind of devastating beauty Lady Jing must be—how wonderful it would be if she had a chance to glimpse her.

Author’s Note: The terms “husband” and “wife” (老公老婆) existed in the Tang dynasty—I’m not using them incorrectly. “Jade bridle” (玉勒) refers to jade-decorated horse bits, which only nobles and wealthy families could afford to use to decorate their mounts, used here to refer to a precious horse. This passage explains the old Li-Yang marriage alliance, clarifying why Yang Xingjian in “Nine Aspects Observation” would know Prince Shao’s birth chart.