Zhenzhen escorted Feng Jing back to the Royal Kitchen through Jinyan Corridor. Jinyan Corridor was a long gallery stretching one hundred and eighty bays, with removable wooden lattice windows on both sides painted rouge red. Palace servants could move these wooden windows according to seasonal changes to regulate temperature. The northern end of Jinyan Corridor connected to the rear garden, with concubine pavilions and courtyards and the Six Departments lined on both sides, a plum grove in between, while the southern end led toward the front court halls and Eastern Palace.
Throughout the journey, Zhenzhen kept urging Feng Jing to consider accepting the Emperor’s assignment to participate in the Jujing Garden design. Feng Jing remained silent, gazing ahead as she walked slowly, never agreeing. Zhenzhen couldn’t help saying: “You studied mathematics, architectural painting, and civil engineering for so many years, and it wasn’t for the Crown Prince. Now that you have a chance to use these skills, why abandon the opportunity to display your talents out of momentary pique?”
Only then did Feng Jing turn to look at her: “How much do you know about my affairs with the Eastern Palace?”
Seeing her slightly furrowed brow, Zhenzhen immediately felt that mentioning the Crown Prince earlier had been too presumptuous, and said awkwardly: “Not much, I only heard that you two previously met at Jifang Garden or something…”
Feng Jing continued walking, lowering her eyelashes, lost in melancholy thoughts. Zhenzhen didn’t dare say more, accompanying her as they walked step by step along Jinyan Corridor.
Each harboring their own concerns, they unknowingly passed the exit leading to the Royal Kitchen and continued walking slowly toward the southern end, until a powerful eunuch strode toward them with his head held high, blocking their path.
Looking up, they recognized the newcomer as Wang Muze, one of the most powerful eunuchs in the palace, whose current full title was Assistant Palace Administrator of the Inner Palace Bureau, Eastern Palace Supervisor, and Director of Left and Right Spring Offices.
The two women retreated to one side of the corridor and bowed to let Wang Muze pass, but he didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he stopped to look at Feng Jing, speaking to her in a seemingly polite but implicitly mocking tone: “Director Feng, please stop. If you continue forward, you’ll reach the Eastern Palace.”
He clearly knew well the secret between the Crown Prince and Feng Jing. His words were quite cold, and though the two women were traveling together, he singled out Feng Jing specifically. Even Zhenzhen found it harsh, let alone Feng Jing.
Feng Jing lowered her head without speaking, her face pale, offering no response. Zhenzhen felt quite indignant on her behalf and immediately stepped forward, looking directly at Wang Muze: “Director Wang, ahead of this Jinyan Corridor, the Eastern Palace is to the east and the front court to the west. His Majesty is currently in Chuigong Hall—why does the Director bring up the Eastern Palace for no reason?”
Wang Muze deliberately scrutinized Zhenzhen, smiled slightly, cupped his hands toward her, said nothing more, and turned to continue toward the rear garden.
After he had gone far, Feng Jing sighed: “We haven’t received His Majesty’s summons—how could you use His Majesty to counter him?”
“He used the Eastern Palace to mock you, so only mentioning His Majesty could instantly suppress his arrogance,” Zhenzhen smiled at Feng Jing. “Don’t worry, I only said His Majesty is currently in Chuigong Hall. I didn’t say we were going to see him. Even if Wang Muze wanted to pursue the matter, he couldn’t say I was lying.”
While leading Feng Jing back, she continued persuading: “Treat past events as if they were a dream—once they’re over, they’re over. People must always look forward. Do well the task His Majesty has assigned you, and who in the palace would dare look down on you in future? Then today’s unpleasant incident wouldn’t happen again.”
Seeing Feng Jing still silent, Zhenzhen added: “You haven’t let go of past matters, have you? If you had let go, your joys and sorrows would be unrelated to him, and you wouldn’t constantly avoid matters related to the Crown Prince, even willing to waste years of learned skills.”
“To let go—how easy is that to say,” Feng Jing stopped walking and stood on the western side under the corridor, her gaze drifting to fall upon the countless plum trees outside the corridor that were beginning to shed their leaves, beginning to speak of past events: “I know the palace widely spreads that the Crown Prince and I met at Jifang Garden, that I gained his favor with poetry and literature, thus becoming intimately acquainted… Actually, that’s not true. In terms of poetry and literature, who in the palace could compare to the Crown Prince? My meager accomplishments could only make him smile…”
“Then what attracted his attention was mathematics?” Zhenzhen guessed.
Feng Jing nodded and continued her account: “My elder brother Feng Jun is Assistant Director of the Ministry of Works. The Ministry of Works oversees the construction of city walls, palace chambers, bridges, streets, boats, and vehicles. I loved mathematics from childhood, and seeing my brother devoted to studying construction methods and techniques, I learned alongside him. I also learned architectural painting of buildings and gardens with him. Over many years, I barely managed to understand a little. Later, when Brother was responsible for supervising the Palace Repair Office’s renovation of Jifang Garden, on impulse, I designed a Meandering Water Pavilion with flowing cups for the garden and drew the blueprints. Brother showed them to the Palace Repair Office people, who thought they were good and actually built a Meandering Water Pavilion according to the design. Last year during the Shangsi Festival, Brother said he’d take me into the garden to see the pavilion I had designed, so I went with him. To avoid attracting attention, Brother found palace servant clothing for me, saying if anyone asked, I should say I was a palace servant permanently stationed in the garden to manage internal affairs…”
She was hidden in the dappled light filtering through Jinyan Corridor’s window lattices, her eyes brightening and dimming with the shifting sunlight as she recalled past events, a bitter smile appearing at the corners of her lips.
That day, the weather was fine and pleasant, with Jifang Garden full of delicate blooms in endless fragrance. But since renovation wasn’t complete, no imperial relatives had come to enjoy spring in the garden. Feng Jing toured quietly for a long time when she suddenly heard slight commotion in the garden. Many palace officials and servants hurried toward the main gate, including her own brother. Moments later, they surrounded a young man in a blue shirt wearing a soft-footed cap as they entered the garden, introducing every scenic spot to him and respectfully requesting him to bestow names and write plaques.
From how people in the garden addressed him, she determined this was Crown Prince Zhao Xi. Feng Jing quietly approached, using her palace servant clothing to blend into the crowd, silently observing his every word and action.
He wrote with composure, beautiful words flowing from his brush: Yixiu, Yilu, Cuiyan, Yurui, Wangjiang, Qingsheng… She remembered his beautiful calligraphy but couldn’t remember which scenic spots these words corresponded to. Later, recalling that day, she felt the garden had only two beautiful sights: his smile was one, his contemplative gaze was another.
After finishing the plaques, the Palace Repair Office supervisor invited Zhao Xi to take the seat of honor in the Meandering Water Pavilion for drinks. Zhao Xi said: “Enjoying alone is not as good as enjoying together. Since it happens to be the Shangsi Festival and we’re sitting in the Meandering Water Pavilion, why don’t you gentlemen join me in drinking games, sharing the pleasure of flowing cups on meandering water.”
At his invitation, several officials, eunuchs, and female officials with ranks and positions sat around three sides of the pavilion’s curved stone channel. The stone channel was carved from a single stone block measuring fifteen feet square and twelve inches thick. The water groove carved in the middle curved and twisted, shaped like the character for “wind,” called the “flowing cup channel.” Both ends of the flowing cup channel were on the stone’s western side, with water flowing in from one end, passing through the winding waterway, then flowing out the other end. A water gate was set above the inlet end to control water level. During drinking games, the host would fill a lacquered cup with wine and release it into the water flow. Wherever the wine cup stopped in the flowing cup channel, the person sitting on that side would drink wine and perform.
After everyone was seated, Zhao Xi saw one empty seat remained. He looked around, his gaze finally sweeping past several people to fall on Feng Jing’s face, smiling as he spoke to her warmly and gently: “That palace servant under the pear tree, would you honor us by joining our drinking games?”
Hearing this, Feng Jing looked up and discovered she had somehow come to stand under a pear tree.
With orioles singing in the tree and her heart pounding like a startled deer, she lowered her head and curtsied to him, expressing gratitude while secretly hoping the swaying flower shadows would sweep away the flush that had risen to her cheeks.
The rules the Crown Prince set that day were: the guest where the cup stopped would first drink one cup, then either compose poetry or lyrics asking another guest to harmonize, or pose a riddle for others to guess, or tell an allusion asking others to identify its source. If the guest could answer, the performer was penalized three cups; if they couldn’t answer, the guest was penalized three cups, or could present their own skills to avoid these three cups.
Quite coincidentally, three consecutive times the lacquered cup on the water stopped at the bend in the waterway in front of Zhao Xi. Each time he followed the rules by drinking one cup himself, then composing poetry or posing questions for others to harmonize and answer. Poetry, lyrics, and allusions came naturally to him, while most of those he called upon to respond couldn’t answer, each time settling the matter by penalizing themselves three cups. When the host released the cup again, it still stopped at Zhao Xi’s position. Everyone felt somewhat awkward, looking at each other uncertainly. The Palace Repair Office supervisor immediately stood and bowed to Zhao Xi: “Your Highness’s presence brings radiance to the entire garden. The flower spirits here must see Your Highness’s bearing and, unable to suppress their admiration, repeatedly cause the flowing cup to stop before Your Highness’s seat, showing that even a thousand cups would not suffice to honor you.”
Everyone at the gathering agreed and flattered the Crown Prince endlessly. Zhao Xi smiled without speaking but didn’t take that cup of wine.
Feng Jing couldn’t bear to watch. She stood and saluted Zhao Xi, then spoke the truth: “Your Highness, if the flowing cup repeatedly stops at a certain waterway bend, this spot’s width, depth, and curvature may not conform to proper specifications. This channel section should properly be one foot wide and nine inches deep, but from visual estimation, while the curvature is sufficient, the width is insufficient. Perhaps Your Highness could have the garden craftsmen measure and verify whether there was deviation during the carving.”
Zhao Xi then ordered craftsmen to measure, and comparing with the blueprints, there were indeed significant deviations in curvature and width dimensions. He praised Feng Jing: “Miss has excellent insight. As a lady of the inner chambers, how did you become so familiar with flowing cup channel dimensions?”
Feng Jing thought to herself: I drew these blueprints—how could I not know? However, she replied tactfully: “This servant has observed construction methods in several gardens, so I know a little.”
Zhao Xi asked if the channel could still be used today without immediate modification. Feng Jing requested adjusting the water level by opening the gate and trying smaller cups. The host ordered this done as requested, and after testing, the flowing cup indeed passed through that bend.
The drinking games immediately continued. This time, under Zhao Xi’s gaze, the flowing cup seemed divinely guided as it flowed to stop in front of Feng Jing. Feng Jing stood, drank the cup of wine, then curtsied to Zhao Xi: “This servant dares to ask Your Highness to answer a question.”
Zhao Xi smiled and calmly raised his hand with palm upward, indicating she should speak.
Feng Jing gestured to a plate of cherries before her: “This plate of cherries—counting by threes leaves a remainder of two, counting by fives leaves a remainder of three, counting by sevens leaves a remainder of two. Question: what is the minimum number of cherries on this plate?”
Zhao Xi pondered briefly, then smiled and answered: “Twenty-three.”
Feng Jing nodded approvingly but asked further: “If counting by threes and fives leaves remainders as stated above, but counting by sevens leaves a remainder of four, what would be the minimum number?”
This time Zhao Xi thought for a long while without reaching a conclusion. He looked around at the others and saw them either struggling to calculate or whispering to each other, with no one able to compute the answer immediately. Zhao Xi then smiled broadly and said to Feng Jing: “This round, Miss has won.”
He didn’t accept the penalty wine the host had filled, but ordered someone to bring a qin. He played it himself while singing melodiously: “Autumn wind rises and white clouds fly, grass and trees turn yellow as geese return south. Orchids have beauty and chrysanthemums have fragrance, thinking of a beautiful person whom I cannot forget.”
Initially, Feng Jing wondered why he would sing this autumn poem amid the garden’s full spring colors, but soon felt this didn’t matter—she shouldn’t let such foolish questions interfere with hearing this lingering melody.
His posture plucking the strings and singing softly was very elegant, his voice also pleasant, with trailing notes like meandering water that could gently flow into listeners’ hearts. The surrounding palace servants held their breath listening, each one as if drinking pure wine, their hearts and spirits intoxicated.
When the music ended and people dispersed, he stood and passed through several layers of palace servants to come before Feng Jing, speaking gently and softly to solicit her opinion: “I’ll think more about your question when I return. Will you still be here tomorrow? If I can’t calculate it, may I come to ask for your guidance?”
Actually, she had no idea whether she could come here tomorrow, whether asking her brother would put him in a difficult position, but these subsequent problems could be considered later. Finally, under his gentle gaze, she lowered her head slightly and gave him a definite answer: “Yes.”