It had been some time since the sixty Royal Kitchen female officials selected from among the common people had entered the palace, yet the Emperor kept delaying permission for them to serve the nobles in the inner palace. After the Empress Dowager gently urged him several times, the Emperor finally made it clear that the inner palace didn’t need so many new Royal Kitchen female officials. Half should remain, while the other thirty would be assigned to Cifu Palace to serve the Empress Dowager.
The Emperor also asked the Empress Dowager to first send someone to select those who would serve in Cifu Palace from among the sixty female officials. The Empress Dowager didn’t decline and soon ordered Cheng Yuan to go to the Royal Kitchen to pick people.
Pei Shangshi asked Cheng Yuan whether the female officials needed to each demonstrate their skills for selection. Cheng Yuan said this wasn’t necessary—he only needed the female officials to line up in the Royal Kitchen courtyard so he could select them in person.
The selection proceeded as he suggested. Cheng Yuan walked among the female officials, his scrutinizing gaze examining each from head to toe. He rarely asked them anything, and when he did have questions, they were merely about their place of origin and age—not a single question concerned food or cooking skills.
Before long, he had selected twenty-nine people. These young women stepped out to stand on one side. Comparing the two groups, it wasn’t difficult to discover that he had chosen those with slightly inferior appearances, while the remaining thirty-one were all beautiful and of exceptional bearing. Feng Xian, Ying Ge, and Zhenzhen were all among them.
There was still one last spot for Cifu Palace. Zhenzhen saw that Cheng Yuan was currently examining two other female officials and secretly worried about losing this final opportunity. She stepped forward herself, bowed deeply to Cheng Yuan, and said, “Female Official Wu Zhenzhen wishes to enter Cifu Palace to serve the Empress Dowager. I hope Director Cheng will grant this.”
Hearing her voice, Cheng Yuan turned to look at her, his eyes remaining as calm as ancient well water, without a single ripple of emotion stirring.
After staring at her intently for a moment, Cheng Yuan asked, “Why do you want to enter Cifu Palace?”
Zhenzhen replied, “The Empress Dowager’s virtuous character and noble conduct have always been praised by all subjects. Even when Zhenzhen lived among common people, I had heard many stories of the Empress Dowager’s virtuous deeds and greatly admired her. Since entering the palace, I’ve never had the fortune to serve the Empress Dowager and have often felt regretful. Now that such an opportunity has arisen, I naturally don’t want to miss it. I hope Director Cheng will understand Zhenzhen’s admiration for the Empress Dowager and allow me to enter Cifu Palace.”
She simply wanted an opportunity to approach Cheng Yuan and investigate her mother’s whereabouts, so her admiration for the Empress Dowager was just an excuse made up on the spot. In fact, she knew very little about the Empress Dowager’s deeds. If Cheng Yuan had asked her to recount two or three stories at that moment, she would likely have been exposed. Fortunately, Cheng Yuan didn’t ask further questions. After brief consideration, he agreed to her request and designated her as the last Royal Kitchen female official to serve in Cifu Palace.
Feng Xian thought Zhenzhen’s action was too risky. “Your mother was taken away by Cheng Yuan, her fate unknown. Cheng Yuan holds great power in Cifu Palace—killing a palace servant would be as easy as crushing an ant. If he’s an evil person, your going there would be like walking into a trap. It would be better to stay in the inner palace. If you’re fortunate enough to serve someone in high position in the future, investigating Cifu Palace affairs wouldn’t be difficult.”
Zhenzhen shook her head, “Since you and I entered the palace, we’ve heard quite a bit about imperial family affairs. His Majesty is the late Emperor’s adopted son, not the Empress Dowager’s biological child. Since ascending the throne, fearing others might say he’s unfilial, he treats the Empress Dowager with extra courtesy and exceptional filial piety, never interfering with Cifu Palace’s internal affairs. If even His Majesty is like this, which noble person can I hope will help me delve deep into Cifu Palace to inquire about mother’s whereabouts? Entering Cifu Palace now may indeed be dangerous, but going there offers hope of learning the truth. If I don’t go, getting to the bottom of this would be indefinitely delayed.”
Zhenzhen quickly packed her belongings and transferred to Cifu Palace with the other twenty-nine female officials. Cifu Palace was in the northern part of the palace city—people in the capital also called it the “Northern Inner Palace.” The layout and scale of its pavilions and halls were similar to those in the inner palace, but the garden architecture appeared even more exquisite. The number of eunuchs and female officials in this Northern Inner Palace was also close to that of the inner palace. Those serving the Empress Dowager’s meals alone numbered no fewer than a hundred. As newcomers who had just entered the palace, Zhenzhen’s group naturally couldn’t serve directly before the Empress Dowager. They were handed over to Director Sun for training.
They were young cooks carefully selected from various regions, each with exceptional skills. However, the Empress Dowager seemed uninterested in experiencing their abilities and never issued orders for them to cook. Director Sun appeared kind and talkative, amiable and approachable—not like Pei Shangshi and Qin Sishan who often showed cold faces to people. But regarding these new female officials, she also seemed to have no serious plans for instruction, having them do only menial tasks like washing and cutting vegetables.
As soon as Zhenzhen arrived at Cifu Palace, she tried every means to inquire about Qiuniang’s whereabouts from the palace servants there, but still gained nothing. It seemed only Cheng Yuan could answer this question. Since entering Cifu Palace, Zhenzhen hadn’t seen Cheng Yuan again. He held high position and great power here, while Zhenzhen was merely an unranked minor female official—meeting him was naturally very difficult. After waiting in torment for many days, Zhenzhen finally caught an opportunity to speak with him.
That afternoon, the Empress Dowager was taking a short nap in her bedroom, with Director Sun attending outside. It was midsummer and the weather was hot. Deputy Director Wang under Director Sun had prepared some summer cooling sweets and had several female officials each carry a cup to the Empress Dowager’s bedroom. After those female officials departed, Deputy Director Wang took out another cup of chilled crystal soap jelly and ordered Zhenzhen to deliver it to Director Sun.
Zhenzhen carried the crystal soap jelly into Cifu Palace’s garden. By then, the female officials who had left earlier were already far away. Zhenzhen didn’t know where the Empress Dowager’s bedroom was located and had to ask palace servants she encountered along the way. Unfortunately, this garden was built in southern garden style, with winding paths everywhere, intertwining flowers and trees, standing rocks and hills creating countless peaks and valleys. Zhenzhen had only walked a short distance before losing her way. After going around several artificial mountains, she suddenly came upon a vast crabapple grove with a stream flowing through it. In the middle of the garden stood a pavilion several zhang high, like a high platform for flower viewing. A plaque hung under the pavilion’s eaves with the characters “Washing Creek.”
A thin man in long robes and a cap was writing calligraphy at the pavilion’s railing, seemingly composing characters or painting.
Looking closely, Zhenzhen recognized the person as Cheng Yuan. This unexpected encounter immediately gave her an idea. Carrying the crystal soap jelly, she walked toward a young eunuch standing guard below the pavilion and said, “Director Sun ordered me to deliver crystal soap jelly to Director Cheng to cool off from the heat. Please announce me.”
The young eunuch looked at her suspiciously and said, “Director Cheng never eats crystal soap jelly.”
Crystal soap jelly was made by soaking and boiling soap pod seeds. Soap pod seeds were the kernels of honey locust pods that swelled after soaking, taking on a translucent, gelatinous form, also called snow lotus seeds. Women in the capital often ate them with sugar water as sweets, said to nourish the heart, clear the channels, and beautify the skin. But Cheng Yuan never liked eating this.
Zhenzhen was startled but quickly found a response: “Director Sun said that food has no fixed taste—what suits one’s palate is precious. Director Cheng may not have liked crystal soap jelly before because the preparation didn’t suit his taste. This cup is seasoned differently than before and might please Director Cheng.”
The young eunuch had no choice but to reach for the tray, saying, “Give it to me, I’ll take it to Director Cheng.”
Zhenzhen immediately stepped back slightly, avoiding the young eunuch, and said, “Director Sun wants me to personally present the crystal soap jelly to Director Cheng so I can hear his opinion.”
The young eunuch then asked Zhenzhen to wait while he went upstairs to ask Cheng Yuan for instructions. He returned shortly and gestured for Zhenzhen to go up.
Cheng Yuan was writing cursive calligraphy. Hearing Zhenzhen enter, he didn’t look up but continued writing while smiling, “This crystal soap jelly wasn’t prepared by Director Sun, was it?”
Since Cheng Yuan didn’t eat snow lotus seeds, Director Sun naturally knew this and would never send him such a thing. Upon hearing the phrase “food has no fixed taste, what suits one’s palate is precious,” Cheng Yuan had already guessed that the visitor was Zhenzhen and was well aware of her purpose.
Zhenzhen didn’t waste words either. She set down the crystal soap jelly, hurriedly bowed to Cheng Yuan, then spoke directly: “When Director Cheng went to Pujiang, you took away my mother. Zhenzhen boldly asks—where is my mother now? Is she safe?”
Cheng Yuan didn’t answer but pointed to the characters he had just written, smiling as he gestured for her to look: “What does the female official think of my calligraphy?”
Zhenzhen approached the writing desk and briefly examined Cheng Yuan’s characters. She saw it was a seven-character quatrain: “Whose house below burns night incense? The jade pipe’s mournful notes play in early coolness. A guest by the wind chants of autumn fans, none witness late makeup under the moon’s homage.”
Zhenzhen didn’t quite understand the poem’s meaning. She only thought the calligraphy looked good, but couldn’t say exactly what was good about it. Unable to think of elegant words of praise, when Cheng Yuan again asked her opinion, she could only offer general praise: “Director’s characters are written in a soaring, dancing style—truly excellent.”
Actually, Cheng Yuan had written in running cursive script—free and elegant, but with calm and restrained brushstrokes that hadn’t reached the level of “soaring and dancing.” Hearing Zhenzhen’s inappropriate praise, Cheng Yuan didn’t mind and instead asked, “Has the female official ever heard this poem?”
Zhenzhen shook her head in confusion.
Cheng Yuan explained, “It was written by Dongpo Jushi.”
“So it’s Dongpo Jushi—I know of him…” Zhenzhen had a sudden realization, feeling like she’d heard mention of someone familiar, then sighed, “Though I know more of his dishes than his poetry.”
Cheng Yuan couldn’t help but laugh aloud.
When his laughter subsided slightly, Zhenzhen continued pressing, “Where is my mother? Please enlighten me, Director.”
Cheng Yuan still didn’t answer but brought up another matter: “The day before yesterday, the Lady of Chen came to pay respects to the Empress Dowager and mentioned that the pastry cook in her residence wasn’t quite satisfactory. The Empress Dowager then decided to select one from among Cifu Palace’s Royal Kitchen female officials to give her. I’ve heard your pastries are quite good—why don’t I recommend you go to Prince Yanping’s mansion?”
Zhenzhen said in shock, “I haven’t seen my mother yet. I can’t leave Cifu Palace now.”
Cheng Yuan smiled, “I’m not asking for your opinion.”
Zhenzhen fell silent, then asked after a moment, “So Director won’t tell me my mother’s whereabouts?”
“You have no qualification to question me,” Cheng Yuan looked at her with seemingly gentle manner but spoke words devoid of warmth. “You’re just an insignificant minor female official, while I oversee Cifu Palace. In this palace, except for the Empress Dowager, everyone must act according to my mood. Usually, I’m the one asking others questions. Apart from polite inquiries about health, others dare not ask me anything. Even if they did ask, I wouldn’t answer. You needn’t try further—I won’t answer any of your questions. What you can do now is obediently pack your luggage and go to Prince Yanping’s mansion to be a cook. If you’re unwilling or say too much, I’ll have to punish you according to palace regulations.”
Zhenzhen sensed the coldness and finality in his eyes, understanding that further words would be useless and this matter was irreversible. She stopped trying to persuade him but asked Cheng Yuan one final question: “If one day I reappear in the palace, no longer an insignificant minor female official, would Director then tell me my mother’s whereabouts?”
Cheng Yuan’s gaze was gentle, his lips curved in a smile, and he replied almost kindly, “You can try and see.”