After the Crown Prince finished speaking, Zhao Huaiyu immediately responded with a smile: “Using lotus leaves instead of wine cups in summer is both elegant and can add some lotus fragrance to the wine. Dongpo Jushi also once wrote a poem about this: ‘Green tubes bent like elephant trunks, white wine faintly bitter with lotus heart.’ When I first read this passage years ago, my heart yearned for it, but I never had the opportunity to emulate it. Today at the Wenxi Banquet, seeing Your Highness choose the Green Tube Cup, I seem to feel the clear fragrance of lotus – it fulfills a long-cherished wish.”
The Crown Prince smiled slightly: “This wish is not difficult to fulfill.” He then instructed Qin Sishan to have the Royal Kitchen palace servants prepare several more Green Tube Cups to serve wine to the ministers in the pavilion.
Qin Sishan passed down the order, and Zhenzhen withdrew to the kitchen, leading several palace servants to pick lotus leaves and make Green Tube Cups. Shortly after, the wine cups were ready. Li Dianshan designated several palace servants, ordering them to carry the Green Tube Cups into Jingyi Pavilion. This was a tremendous honor, and those selected were all delighted to accept the task. Only one newly entered palace servant named Yun Yingge showed a different expression – though she nodded in agreement, her brows were furrowed with worry.
Feng Xian, who usually worked in the same group with her, seeing this, asked if she had any difficulty. Yun Yingge hesitated: “I… have never seen so many nobles. Now I feel my hands and feet trembling, worried I might make mistakes serving wine cups in the pavilion.”
Feng Xian then said: “Shall I carry the Green Tube Cup into the pavilion for you?”
Yun Yingge was overjoyed, thanked her, and requested Li Dianshan to make the substitution. Though Li Dianshan was not very pleased, she was too busy with numerous tasks to argue much and nodded in agreement.
The palace servants carried the Green Tube Cups into Jingyi Pavilion in sequence. Feng Xian had already memorized the seating arrangement in the pavilion, calculated the order, and switched positions with relevant palace servants to ensure she would be the one serving the wine cup to Zhao Huaiyu. When she came to Zhao Huaiyu’s side and lowered her eyes to present the Green Tube Cup with both hands to his table, she heard Zhao Huaiyu’s barely suppressed exclamation of surprise: “Ling…”
She slowly raised her head, smiled faintly as their eyes met for a moment, then bowed in salute before matter-of-factly picking up the wine pot to pour wine for him.
Zhao Huaiyu said no more, silently observing her every movement. As she was about to withdraw, he bowed to her in thanks. The two tacitly engaged in no conversation.
Thereafter, the topic in the pavilion became how fragrant and pleasant this Green Tube wine was, and how ingenious the wine cups were. The ministers took turns thanking and praising the Crown Prince, completely unaware of what turbulent undercurrents were hidden beneath this cup-changing decision.
Feng Xian withdrew to the kitchen, feeling an unusual atmosphere along the way. There were many more Imperial City Department guards in the courtyard, all with grave expressions. Leading them, Yin Rui held a large dog and patrolled around the kitchen area, adding a sense of deadly seriousness to the warm, fragrant breeze.
The remaining four toasts were all accompanied by delicacies and fine dishes made from premium ingredients with complex preparation processes, such as Five Treasures Hash, Half Lamb Body, Goose Gizzard and Palm Soup with Pickles, Seven Treasures Head Soup, and others, interspersed with various pastries and wine-accompanying fruits. Feng Xian and the other palace servants ran back and forth, working extremely hard. Only after the dishes for the final toast were prepared did Feng Xian have a moment to breathe and went to the eastern privy to adjust her clothes.
At the eastern privy, Feng Xian found that Hao Jinyan, the Female Secretary who usually instructed her, was already there. Today, the female officials all wore men’s caps called futou on their heads, narrow-sleeved round-collar robes, red leather belts around their waists, and cloud-toe shoes on their feet. Female Secretary Hao had taken off her cloud-toe shoes and was frowning as she rubbed her ankles. Seeing Feng Xian enter, she smiled apologetically: “I had washed and dried this pair of shoes and stored them in a cabinet. I haven’t worn them for a long time, and they’ve become stiff. Wearing them for most of this day, they feel much tighter and have rubbed my feet sore.”
Since she was her superior, Feng Xian had always treated her with great respect. Seeing this, she wanted to step forward to massage her feet, but Hao Jinyan quickly withdrew her feet, repeatedly saying “no need,” stuffed her feet into the shoes, and tried to stand. But after taking just one step, she frowned and cried “Aiya,” as if in unbearable pain.
Feng Xian quickly helped her sit down and removed her shoes and socks to look. Indeed, she saw that her heels were rubbed red. Hao Jinyan looked at Feng Xian’s shoes and discussed with her in a low voice: “Later I still need to serve millet to Jingyi Pavilion, but with my feet rubbed like this, every step feels like walking on knife points, so… I have an unreasonable request… Today we’re all wearing shoes of the same style. I see that the size of your shoes should be about the same as mine. Could you temporarily exchange with me? After the task is completed, we can switch back.”
Feng Xian agreed: “As long as Sister Female Secretary doesn’t mind, you can use my shoes. We’ll switch back after returning to the palace.”
The two then exchanged their cloud-toe shoes with each other. The shoe sizes were indeed the same. Feng Xian didn’t find them uncomfortable to wear, and Hao Jinyan stood up and walked a few steps, also showing joy: “Much better indeed.”
Feng Xian didn’t think much of this matter. After adjusting her clothes, she and Hao Jinyan returned to the kitchen one after the other.
After the Wenxi Banquet ended, the Crown Prince, ministers, and jinshi left one after another. When the last banquet attendee exited the examination hall gates, Yin Rui immediately ordered all courtyard gates closed. Qin Sishan had the Royal Kitchen palace servants gather in the courtyard. Without much explanation, she directly poured some wine from the Crown Prince’s wine pot and handed it to Yin Rui.
Yin Rui received the wine cup and brought it to the nose of the black dog he was leading, letting it smell. After sniffing, the black dog quickly ran toward the palace servants, moving among them to inspect and identify scents. Suddenly it leaped and knocked down one palace servant. That palace servant screamed, and as she fell, her futou cap fell off, and the lotus jade goblet hidden in the cap rolled out, revealed before everyone’s eyes.
The black dog continued searching and found another palace servant with a lotus jade goblet hidden in her futou cap.
Watching from the side, Zhenzhen thought briefly and understood the principle behind this: The lotus jade goblet was the Crown Prince’s commonly used wine cup. Wine vessels carved from jade stone inevitably have some tiny stone veins. The Crown Prince’s weak constitution meant the wine he drank was specially prepared by Qin Sishan, different from others. Long-term soaking had infused the lotus jade goblet with wine essence that was difficult to remove even after repeated washing, so the black dog could identify the lotus jade goblet by the wine scent.
Qin Sishan sneered coldly and ordered the Imperial City Department to escort these two palace servants back to the palace for interrogation by the Palace Justice. She also asked Yin Rui to lead the black dog to sniff where the Crown Prince’s wangguo had been trampled, then ordered all female officials and palace servants to sit down, extend their shoes with soles facing outward, for the black dog to identify scents.
Two palace servants’ faces immediately changed, curling up their feet unwilling to show their shoe soles. However, even so, they were discovered by the black dog, which ran to them and barked incessantly. Qin Sishan gestured for Yin Rui to arrest them. Before she finished speaking, the black dog suddenly turned and ran toward Feng Xian.
The black dog sniffed twice at Feng Xian’s feet and barked loudly, indicating she was also one of those who had trampled the wangguo. Without waiting for Qin Sishan’s instruction, two guards had already reached her side, grabbing her arms from left and right, about to drag her away, when they heard Feng Xian shout coldly: “Wait!”
Under Qin Sishan’s sharp gaze, Feng Xian, pale-faced, struggling to suppress her current fear, unease, and anger, told the truth: “The shoes I’m wearing now are not my own…” She also understood the real reason Hao Jinyan wanted to exchange shoes with her. Turning her head to look coldly at Hao Jinyan, she said: “They belong to Female Secretary Hao.”
Hao Jinyan immediately denied it loudly: “Pure nonsense! I’ve always been particular about cleanliness, as everyone in the Royal Kitchen knows. How could I possibly exchange shoes with others! You clearly trampled the Crown Prince’s wangguo, and now that your crime is exposed, you want to frame me!”
Feng Xian calmly recounted the events at the eastern privy, every detail and conversation exactly as it happened. After hearing this, Qin Sishan didn’t take a position but asked Feng Xian: “Do you have witnesses?”
Feng Xian was momentarily speechless. At that time, only the two of them were in the eastern privy, with no witnesses. Finally, she could only shake her head.
Qin Sishan ordered both Feng Xian and Hao Jinyan to remove their shoes for the black dog to sniff again. The conclusion remained that the one who trampled the wangguo was the pair Feng Xian had removed.
Both pairs of shoes were the standard cloud-toe shoes of Royal Kitchen palace servants, identical in appearance and color, even the same size. When Qin Sishan showed them to several Food Management and Food Preparation officials, none could distinguish which pair belonged to whom.
At this moment, Zhenzhen suddenly stepped forward, saluted Qin Sishan, and requested: “May I examine these two pairs of shoes?”
Qin Sishan gave permission, so Zhenzhen took both pairs of shoes to examine carefully. After a moment, she picked up the pair Feng Xian had removed and said: “This pair of shoes is not Sister Feng Xian’s, but more like what Female Secretary Hao normally uses.”
Hao Jinyan angrily said: “You and Ling Feng Xian both come from Pujiang, originally sisters, so you’re working together to slander me. Not half a word you say can be trusted!”
“I don’t discuss personal relationships, only reason,” Zhenzhen withdrew her gaze from Hao Jinyan and turned to Qin Sishan: “This pair that trampled the wangguo shows wear on the outer sides of both heels. This situation generally occurs because the wearer habitually walks with toes pointed inward, causing the outer rear part of the shoes to receive force first. Over time, this leads to wear. Sister Feng Xian has normal gait – after returning to the palace, you can examine all her shoes and won’t find such wear. When I first entered the palace, I was criticized by you for my gait not being dignified enough, so I carefully observed the walking postures of female officials in the palace. I noticed that Female Secretary Hao habitually walks with her toes pointed inward. Therefore, if we must choose the owner of this pair of shoes between Feng Xian and Female Secretary Hao, I believe it should be Female Secretary Hao.”
Qin Sishan examined the soles of both pairs of shoes again carefully, then said after pondering: “This reasoning makes sense. However, Female Secretary Hao may not be the only one in the Royal Kitchen who habitually walks with toes pointed inward. Based solely on Ling Feng Xian’s words, it’s not convenient to determine that Female Secretary Hao wanted to exchange shoes with Ling Feng Xian.”
“There’s another way to recognize my shoes,” Feng Xian suddenly interjected: “After receiving this pair of cloud-toe shoes, I took apart the insoles according to my preference, sprinkled agarwood powder on the shoe bottom, and sewed them back together to give the shoes their own fragrance. So please check the shoes Female Secretary Hao removed, take apart the insoles and look – if there’s agarwood powder in the shoes, they must be mine.”
Hao Jinyan recalled that when exchanging shoes with Feng Xian, she had indeed smelled a trace of agarwood fragrance. Seeing Qin Sishan hand the shoes to the guards who were about to take them apart, in her anxiety she called out loudly: “This method was taught by me to Ling Feng Xian, so she knows I sprinkled agarwood powder in my shoes.”
Feng Xian turned toward Hao Jinyan and asked matter-of-factly: “What? Female Secretary Hao also sewed fragrant powder into her shoes?”
Hao Jinyan said: “Since I taught you this method, I naturally use it myself.”
Feng Xian asked again: “Are you certain the fragrant powder in this pair of shoes was placed there by your own hand?”
“Of course,” Hao Jinyan said. “I personally selected the agarwood, placed it in the shoe bottom, and sewed it up with my own hands.”
“I see…” Feng Xian smiled at her and said slowly: “I’m truly sorry, I remembered wrong. I originally only had my shoes scented with fragrance, I never actually placed fragrant powder in the shoe bottom. So, if the guards take apart the shoe bottom and find fragrant powder, those shoes must definitely be yours. If not… tell me, whose shoes should they be?”