Consort Liu received Zhenzhen in the hall, accepted Consort Li’s gifts, and then ordered the steward of her pavilion to take gold millet, rhinoceros horn jade money, gold leaf silk scattered flowers, along with various foods and fruits as return gifts. She conversed amiably with Zhenzhen for several sentences, asking her name, age, and hometown. Before long, she seemed already very familiar and began calling her affectionately “Zhenzhen,” having a serving maid bring out her own pearl hair ornaments to give Zhenzhen as a meeting gift. She also rewarded each of the young eunuchs from Laifeng Pavilion who had transported the gifts. Zhenzhen had originally thought that such a favored imperial consort would inevitably be somewhat arrogant, but now she seemed quite easygoing and very skilled at dealing with people.
Upon leaving Hibiscus Pavilion, Zhenzhen had taken only a few steps when she heard someone behind her calling “Sister,” asking her to wait. Looking back, she saw Xiangli lifting her skirt and running toward her.
Xiangli ran up to Zhenzhen, exchanged a few pleasantries, then told her: “His Majesty has granted an estate for my aunt and me to live in – it’s Consort Ju’s former residence in the palace. It’s much larger than where I used to live. Sister, please come visit me when you have time!”
Zhenzhen smiled and congratulated her, asking why she was so fortunate to receive Consort Ju’s compound. Xiangli replied: “That compound was locked up by the Late Emperor after Consort Ju left the palace, and no one has lived there for nearly twenty years. A few days ago, His Majesty and Consort Liu came to Xianshao Courtyard to hear my aunt play the pipa. Passing by that compound, they saw it was quite large but overgrown with weeds, completely abandoned. Hearing that my aunt’s living quarters were simple, he had people unlock it, clean the compound thoroughly, and granted it to my aunt and me to live in.”
Speaking enthusiastically, she immediately wanted to invite Zhenzhen to visit. Zhenzhen said she needed to return to Laifeng Pavilion to report back, promising to visit in the future. Only then did Xiangli release her hand and bid her a friendly farewell.
After returning to Laifeng Pavilion to report, Zhenzhen went as usual to the kitchen to help Supervising Cook Hu with work. Soon, a young eunuch from Hibiscus Pavilion arrived with Consort Liu’s return gifts, bringing the foods and fruits to the kitchen. While inventorying and storing them, Zhenzhen saw that the foods and dried fruits were contained in lacquered or metal vessels, while the fruits were in bamboo woven food containers. Touching those bamboo food containers, Zhenzhen recalled Wang Muze’s account of Consort Li switching babies with food containers, causing her movements to freeze. She simply bent down to carefully examine those containers.
These bamboo woven food containers were each about two feet long, one and a half feet wide, and over a foot tall, with two to three movable or removable compartments in the middle. The lids were arched with upright carrying handles. The containers were woven from bamboo strips with exquisite patterns, with slight gaps between each pattern through which fruit stored inside could breathe.
Such containers could indeed hold a newborn infant, and the gaps in the bamboo weaving should not cause the child to suffocate. Zhenzhen thought to herself that if Consort Li and her family wanted to switch children, these food containers would indeed be ideal tools.
Seeing her staring at the food containers in fascination, Supervising Cook Hu thought she was interested in these imperial implements and began chatting with her about the topic: “These bamboo woven food containers are quite useful, but not as refined as lacquered ones. Previously, when the palace and royal relatives had children, fruits were also stored in lacquered vessels, which looked much better. But later the Late Emperor discovered that lacquered vessels were too airtight and easily caused fruit to rot, so he ordered the inner treasury to switch to bamboo woven food containers.”
Zhenzhen’s heart stirred, and she immediately asked: “Which year did the Late Emperor have people switch to bamboo woven food containers?”
Supervising Cook Hu thought about it: “It must have been seventeen or eighteen years ago.”
“Seventeen years or eighteen years?” Zhenzhen pressed.
“How could I remember clearly? You’d have to ask people from the inner treasury,” Supervising Cook Hu said, then instructed Zhenzhen: “After taking out the fruits and foods, find two young eunuchs to return these vessels to the inner treasury.”
Zhenzhen asked: “Can’t we keep them to use for gifts from our pavilion next time?”
Supervising Cook Hu replied: “The vessel designs change – they’re replaced every year or two. There’s no need to keep the old ones. For gifts, we must get the newest ones from the inner treasury each time.”
The day to return the vessels to the inner treasury, Zhenzhen went with the young eunuchs. She flattered the palace official who received them and offered many pastries and fruits. Seeing the official’s pleasant expression, Zhenzhen began inquiring about which year the fruit containers were changed from lacquered vessels to bamboo woven food containers. The official asked her to wait a moment while he went inside to check. When he returned, he told Zhenzhen: “They were stored in the treasury in the sixth month of Shaoxing 18th year and put into use in the eighth month.”
Zhenzhen quickly reported this result to Zhao Ai, explaining: “Feng Jing’s birthday was in the third month of Shaoxing 18th year. At that time, royal relatives’ birth gifts still used lacquered vessels for fruits. That means Consort Li and the Feng family couldn’t possibly have used bamboo woven food containers to switch babies as Wang Muze claimed.”
Zhao Ai’s eyes lit up with joy: “If this is a lie, then his other words aren’t credible either. These past days I’ve also been investigating carefully everywhere and may be able to find some witnesses and evidence.”
The next day, Supervising Cook Hu told Zhenzhen that the green salt used for cooking Consort Li’s meals was nearly gone, asking her to go to the Hanlin Medical Academy to get some from Physician Zhou. Zhenzhen immediately thought of the imperial physician Zhou who had treated Consort Li the day she gave birth, wondering if it was the same person. She asked: “Which Physician Zhou? What’s his full name?”
Supervising Cook Hu replied: “There’s only one physician surnamed Zhou at the Hanlin Medical Academy – Grand Physician Zhou Zhiqi.”
Zhenzhen asked again: “Don’t we usually get all our salt from the inner treasury? Why do we need to get it from Physician Zhou?”
Supervising Cook Hu answered: “Physician Zhou has been Consort Li’s attending physician for over ten years. He constantly reminds me to pay attention to details of Consort Li’s diet and never violate food taboos – very meticulous. He also insists on inspecting the seasonings Consort Li uses, testing them himself before allowing us to use them. So every time we get seasonings from the inner treasury, we first send them to him for inspection before bringing them back.”
Zhenzhen received the order and went to the Hanlin Medical Academy. That day the academy was cold and deserted with very few people. Zhenzhen finally found a young medical worker to ask, who said: “Today the Empress Dowager is feeling unwell, so most of the physicians have gone to Cifu Palace for consultation, including Physician Zhou.”
Zhenzhen worried that Supervising Cook Hu urgently needed the green salt and couldn’t help showing disappointment. The medical worker then asked about her purpose in seeking Physician Zhou. After Zhenzhen explained, he smiled: “That’s no problem. Recently Physician Zhou has often had me help prepare green salt, presumably for Laifeng Pavilion. I have some ready now – Miss can take it first.”
He led Zhenzhen to his medicine preparation area and gave her the green salt. Zhenzhen saw that the green salt looked normal in color, but hearing him mention “preparation” earlier, she couldn’t help feeling puzzled. She took a small amount of green salt to taste, gradually detecting an extremely faint medicinal flavor within the saltiness. This medicinal taste wasn’t obvious – someone with insensitive taste might overlook it, but Zhenzhen had often practiced blind taste identification with Yinqi and had carefully distinguished many types of salt flavors, so she quickly noticed this green salt was unusual.
“Why does this green salt have a medicinal taste?” Zhenzhen asked the medical worker.
The medical worker smiled frankly: “This is for palace women to clean their teeth with, so naturally some medicinal juice is mixed in. Physician Zhou says palace women don’t like medicinal taste, so I control the amount – the medicine proportion is very small, which is why the flavor is already very faint.”
Zhenzhen vaguely sensed something was wrong. The green salt Consort Li used for cleaning her teeth had always been prepared by perfume specialists from the Wardrobe Department, not provided by Physician Zhou.
After lowering her eyes to think briefly, she asked the medical worker casually: “This salt looks similar to what we use in our kitchen. If one accidentally used it for cooking and ate it, what would happen?”
The medical worker replied: “Eating a little occasionally should be fine, as long as you don’t eat it year after year.”
Zhenzhen pressed about the consequences of long-term consumption. He answered: “It would cause mental fatigue, affect the stomach and intestines, disrupt qi and blood, cause bloating and swelling, things like that.”
The doubts in her heart gradually found answers. Zhenzhen thanked the medical worker and asked his name and position. The medical worker smiled and replied: “I’m called Han Suwen, eighteen years old this year. I was originally a medical student who just passed examinations in ink skills, pulse diagnosis, and general medical principles to enter the Hanlin Medical Academy. My current medical rank is Hanlin Medical Scholar.”
Zhenzhen praised: “Excellent, excellent! To be able to test into the Hanlin Medical Academy at only eighteen – you’re practically a medical genius! With more good training, in time you’ll surely become a great national physician of our dynasty.”
Hanlin medical officials were generally called imperial physicians or court physicians. Only those qualified to examine the imperial pulse could be called “national physicians” – certainly only the most famous among famous doctors would qualify for this title. Therefore, Han Suwen was very happy to hear her say this, laughing heartily as he thanked her.
Since they were chatting pleasantly, Han Suwen invited Zhenzhen into a hall hung with portraits of famous physicians from previous dynasties, pointing to one portrait: “To tell the truth, my aspiration is to become a great national physician like him.”
Zhenzhen looked up to see the painted figure was a Hanlin medical official wearing blue-green court robes, with proper features and righteousness between his brows, a thin mustache, looking no more than thirty years old. Standing on a cliff edge with hands behind his back holding a scroll of “Plain Questions,” facing the wind, his cold gaze looked sideways out of the painting with an air of looking down upon the world.
“Who is this?” Zhenzhen asked.
“National Physician Zhang Yunqiao,” Han Suwen answered. “When he was only in his twenties, the Late Emperor made him a Grand Physician. He cured many patients, including the Late Emperor and the current emperor, as well as my father. So I regard him like a deity, praying to him before every examination or medical visit, asking him to bless me with success.”
“So… he’s no longer in this world?”
“Hard to say,” Han Suwen scratched his head. “In his lifetime, he probably only had one patient he couldn’t save – Grand Preceptor Qi. After Grand Preceptor Qi died, he left the Hanlin Medical Academy and disappeared without a trace. After the current emperor ascended the throne, he sent people to search for him many times, but they never found him. No one knows if he’s still alive.”
Han Suwen gestured toward the portrait again: “This portrait was painted by His Majesty’s order to help search for him, then later bestowed upon the Hanlin Medical Academy for people to venerate.”
Zhenzhen returned to Laifeng Pavilion with the green salt, first testing the remaining green salt in the kitchen and tasting that it was the same as what Han Suwen had prepared for Zhou Zhiqi. She immediately asked Supervising Cook Hu to temporarily stop using the green salt, then went to Qinghua Pavilion to meet Zhao Ai and inform him about Physician Zhou giving Consort Li food containing medicinal salt. Zhao Ai first had Feng Xian bring out the green salt from his pavilion, having Zhenzhen and Feng Xian compare and distinguish it from Physician Zhou’s. Feng Xian also tasted that Physician Zhou’s contained medicine while Qinghua Pavilion’s was normal. Zhao Ai then said: “It seems this matter only targets Consort Li… Zhou Zhiqi has been plotting to harm Consort Li for years with malicious intent. I just don’t know if this is his personal action or if he’s acting under Wang Muze’s orders.”
Though Feng Xian didn’t know the hidden circumstances between Zhao Xi and Feng Jing, from listening to the conversation between Zhao Ai and Zhenzhen, he understood that Zhou Zhiqi might be colluding with Wang Muze in some plot. After thinking, he said: “Plotting to harm Consort Li is no small matter. To determine whether Wang Muze is involved in this, we could test him…”