Pei Shangshi’s narration came to an abrupt halt when she described returning to the doorway. Though she recalled in her heart what she had witnessed, she found it difficult to describe to Zhenzhen. From her silent expression, Zhenzhen guessed what had transpired and tentatively asked: “They… had intimate behavior?”

Pei Shangshi nodded.

Zhenzhen asked again: “Did you tell the late emperor?”

“No.” Pei Shangshi denied. Food Service Liu and Imperial Physician Zhang’s affair shocked her, but she could also understand it. Having suffered emotional disappointment herself, seeing these two people deeply in love, still casting aside all concerns and confessing to each other despite facing extraordinarily severe obstacles, she felt not only understanding but also a kind of envy. She silently withdrew to a more distant part of the courtyard and found ways to keep others from approaching. She never mentioned what she had seen that day to anyone, including the late emperor and Food Service Liu herself.

“I didn’t tell the late emperor, but when two people are deeply in love, it’s very difficult to hide. Given any opportunity to meet, that love will be like spring seeds nourished by rain and dew, sprouting irrepressibly. Moreover, the late emperor was extremely perceptive. Food Service Liu was simple and lively – in his eyes, she was like a crystal glass person he could see through at a glance. How could she hide whom her heart loved?”

Pei Shangshi shook her head and sighed.

“The late emperor favored Food Service Liu?” Zhenzhen asked.

Pei Shangshi replied: “The late emperor never had Food Service Liu attend his bedchamber, but he certainly treated her differently, giving her treatment and seasonal rewards no less than the talented ladies… Among the palace ladies, only Lady Ju from the Immortal Music Academy could compare.”

Zhenzhen had heard this mentioned before by Nurse Luo from Yinqi’s household, saying Food Service Liu and Lady Ju were the two gems of the palace in their day. She pursued the topic more curiously: “Did Food Service Liu and Lady Ju know each other? Would they have been hostile toward each other?”

“They knew each other,” Pei Shangshi said. “Food Service Liu had a cheerful personality and harbored no improper thoughts toward the late emperor, so naturally she wouldn’t be hostile to Lady Ju. But Lady Ju was wholeheartedly devoted to the late emperor, so initially she was somewhat wary of Food Service Liu. Later, once when Lady Ju fell ill and had no appetite, the late emperor had Food Service Liu attend to her meals. Lady Ju treated Food Service Liu coldly, but Food Service Liu didn’t mind at all, still going cheerfully every day to care for Lady Ju with great attention. Only then did Lady Ju’s hostility gradually dissolve, and later she even helped Food Service Liu meet with Imperial Physician Zhang. Unfortunately, this was quickly discovered by the late emperor, and all three were punished. But afterward, Food Service Liu and Imperial Physician Zhang’s feelings became even more passionate, and they finally found an opportunity to escape from the palace… Sadly, their good days didn’t last long. Food Service Liu’s whereabouts were discovered by people from Grand Tutor Qi’s residence. They brought her back to the residence, and reportedly, she was quickly executed by private punishment.”

Though she had heard of Food Service Liu’s death before, hearing Pei Shangshi mention it again still made Zhenzhen feel sorrowful and sigh repeatedly. Finally, she asked Pei Shangshi: “Where was Imperial Physician Zhang when she was captured? Was he also found by the Qi family?”

Pei Shangshi answered: “That I don’t know. I suspect Imperial Physician Zhang wasn’t with her when Food Service Liu was captured, and she would certainly have died rather than reveal his whereabouts… Palace people still don’t know Imperial Physician Zhang’s fate to this day.”

Zhenzhen asked again: “What about Lady Ju? What happened to her afterward?”

Pei Shangshi said: “Because the Empress Dowager was suspicious of her, she requested to leave the palace herself. Later, no one knows what became of her. Palace rumors say she was… by the Empress Dowager… ah, who knows if it’s true or false. In any case, she vanished without a trace.”

Having said this, Pei Shangshi looked meaningfully at Zhenzhen and said earnestly: “I tell you these things to remind you that people outside the palace call us female officials ‘inner wives’ because they see us as the emperor’s people. In fact, whether or not we attend the imperial bedchamber, we have no freedom to choose our own husbands. Private intimacy with men from outside is a great taboo. If discovered, the consequences are unimaginable. In the future, if you have someone you admire, you might find a good opportunity to tell His Majesty. His Majesty is benevolent and would likely fulfill your wishes. But you must never act on your own initiative like Food Service Liu and conceal anything. The crime of illicit relations is something no ruler will tolerate. Once exposed, you would face utter destruction.”

After this long conversation, Zhenzhen felt grateful for Pei Shangshi’s care and guidance, and served her even more attentively. Pei Shangshi also discovered that the young eunuch who cleaned her kitchen would carefully check the positions of the various jars and bottles against a scroll of drawings after wiping the seasoning containers. Pei Shangshi took the scroll and examined it closely, seeing it depicted the items in the cabinet, with the locations of various seasonings marked precisely with written notes.

After brief contemplation, Pei Shangshi guessed Zhenzhen’s intention in doing this. Zhenzhen had never revealed any doubt about her sense of taste in her presence, and Pei Shangshi continued to maintain her silence. The two understood each other tacitly, creating even greater harmony. Pei Shangshi began actively teaching Zhenzhen culinary skills, often demonstrating and explaining once before having her cook accordingly, rather than just having her observe or guess after tasting. Zhenzhen’s cooking skills advanced further, and she felt even more grateful to Pei Shangshi, regarding her as both teacher and mother. Though they maintained proper decorum in daily interactions, they both felt much closer to each other in their hearts.

Later, Zhenzhen asked Pei Shangshi about what kind of close friends Food Service Liu had in the palace, hoping to find information about her mother and learn about her past. Pei Shangshi said: “Food Service Liu was sincere and kind to people, so she had many friends in the palace. Many of the Six Departments’ palace ladies were on good terms with her.” Zhenzhen asked if any had escaped the palace like Food Service Liu. “None escaped privately,” Pei Shangshi shook her head, but said: “There were many who were released from the palace by the late emperor or His Majesty.”

With too many candidates, Zhenzhen again lost direction in her search. From her mother’s privately kept copy of Food Service Liu’s “Jade Food Critique,” it seemed likely they knew each other, perhaps even as close friends. Sometimes the legendary Lady Ju’s shadow flashed through Zhenzhen’s mind, and thinking of Food Service Liu and Lady Ju’s interactions, she couldn’t help wondering: “If Lady Ju hadn’t been executed by the Empress Dowager back then, could she have…” But she quickly dismissed this almost fanciful thought: Wasn’t Lady Ju “wholeheartedly devoted to the late emperor”? How could she have eloped with someone and given birth to me? Moreover, she was such a delicate beauty kept in a golden house – how could she be like mother, wearing simple clothes and cooking meals? Besides, mother couldn’t dance at all – from childhood to adulthood, I had never seen mother dance.

This summer, a young man who had just arrived in the capital from the provinces became a legend eagerly discussed among the palace ladies.

Last year, after Feng Jing refused to participate in designing Jujing Garden, Liu Jieyu recommended her cousin to the emperor, reportedly a talent skilled in garden construction. The emperor gladly accepted and summoned this cousin to the capital. However, the cousin actually refused the imperial decree, declining by saying he was a country person with shallow learning who dared not accept such an important imperial task. The emperor invited him repeatedly, but the cousin still wouldn’t come. He only looked at the Jujing Garden blueprints sent from the palace, made slight modifications, and shared some of his ideas with the inner official who had brought the decree. When the inner official returned to the palace and conveyed his thoughts to the emperor and empress dowager, both were very pleased. The empress dowager then insisted the emperor must find a way to summon him to the capital to oversee the Jujing Garden project. The emperor had Liu Jieyu assist, so Liu Jieyu personally wrote her cousin a letter, and only then did the cousin accept the command and recently arrive in Lin’an.

The emperor appointed him as a sixth-rank Assistant Director of the Imperial Workshop and Propagator of Righteousness, equivalent to the initial official rank granted to the top scholar. After arriving in the capital, besides attending court meetings, this cousin went to the Northern Inner Palace to discuss Jujing Garden design plans with the empress dowager and the Palace Construction officials. He had not yet entered the rear palace to visit Liu Jieyu, but inner attendants and female officials who had seen him at court meetings or in the Northern Inner Palace praised his appearance and bearing unstintingly, quite struck by his celestial beauty.

Zhenzhen wasn’t as interested in handsome strangers as ordinary young palace ladies, but hearing so much discussion inevitably made her curious. She asked Feng Jing, who had once encountered him when accompanying Noble Consort Li to the Northern Inner Palace: “Is Liu Jieyu’s cousin more handsome than the Crown Prince and the Second Prince?”

Feng Jing thought for a moment and said: “They’re all handsome, but the feeling is different. The Second Prince is like morning sunlight falling on the courtyard – warm and bright. The Crown Prince is like the compassionate smile on Buddha’s lips – that gentleness brings peace to heart and spirit. Liu Jieyu’s cousin… still as a pool of clear waves, a pool of moonlight; in motion like a banished immortal descending, with elegant bearing and tranquil expression, not like someone from the mortal world.”

Zhenzhen smiled: “Your words describing him are so carefully crafted and beautiful – clearly he’s no ordinary person.”

Feng Jing smiled: “I only regret my clumsy tongue can’t describe half his bearing.”

“Does he resemble Liu Jieyu in appearance?” Zhenzhen asked again.

Feng Jing shook her head: “Not similar, but both are first-rate talents. Who knows how much sunlight and moonlight their family absorbed to produce such a pair of celestial siblings.”

Following Feng Jing’s description, Zhenzhen tried to sketch this immortal cousin’s image in her mind, but the outline remained frustratingly vague. Soon after, the emperor ordered Liu Jieyu to host a lunch banquet for her cousin at Hibiscus Pavilion, bringing Zhenzhen along, giving her the opportunity to see his true appearance.

That day after the court meeting, Zhenzhen accompanied the emperor to Hibiscus Pavilion first. The emperor conversed with Liu Jieyu in the pavilion while Zhenzhen and several palace ladies waited outside the pavilion door to welcome the immortal cousin. Zhenzhen observed carefully and discovered all the palace ladies had drawn their eyebrows, painted their faces, and applied flower decorations, their makeup far more elaborate than usual. Knowing they were deliberately trying to attract the immortal cousin’s attention, she couldn’t help but smile inwardly. Zhuang Lingzi, a palace lady recently serving at Hibiscus Pavilion, saw her smiling and asked what was amusing her. Zhenzhen whispered: “I bet the last time you dressed up like this was when the Crown Prince was selecting a consort.”

Zhuang Lingzi spat and whispered back: “Just wait and see. When the Propagator of Righteousness arrives, you’ll definitely regret not doing your makeup properly today.”

Zhenzhen smiled: “I’ll bet you five coins the Propagator of Righteousness isn’t as handsome as the Crown Prince – he might not even match the Second Prince.”

Zhuang Lingzi said: “Fine, I’ll put up five coins to bet with you.”

As soon as she finished speaking, there was a commotion around them. The palace ladies whispered to each other, pointing toward the mountain path below: “The Propagator of Righteousness is coming!”

Zhenzhen looked in the direction they indicated and saw a young official in scarlet robes, wearing a white square-heart curved collar, with a gold-plated belt and suspended silver fish pouch, wearing a three-beam crown, ascending the jade steps along the mountain path.

His official robes displayed the fame and fortune bestowed by the mundane world, yet his figure was graceful and without arrogance. Walking in flowing robes and wide sleeves among the misty mountains, he indeed had the bearing of a banished immortal.

His crown tassels fluttered as he approached, his increasingly clear features gradually overlapping with the person from Zhenzhen’s countless dreams. Like jade, like precious stone, like carving, like polishing – he came gracefully from the other side of her dreams, clothed in clouds and sunset glow.

Zhenzhen covered her chest with her hand, blinking repeatedly, finally confirming it was him. This unreal scene left her mind in a daze. When he reached the pavilion door and discovered her, walking directly to her, she steadied herself and felt joy surge from her heart like the vermillion color now spreading up both sides of the jade steps toward the mountain peak – touched by the warm breeze, pomegranate flowers bloomed like flames.

He stopped before her, his gaze meeting her astonished eyes. Though she wanted to smile, she felt a wave of heat in her eyes.

Looking somewhat flustered, she lowered her head and softly called: “Teacher Lin.”

She felt the tremor in her own voice. He maintained proper composure and bowed deeply to her, solemnly greeting: “Manager Wu.”

This formal address from his mouth sounded particularly strange, leaving Zhenzhen stunned.

Under the gaze of the palace ladies who bowed after him, Lin Hong stepped inside to see the emperor and Liu Jieyu.

As soon as his figure disappeared, Zhuang Lingzi grabbed Zhenzhen’s arm and asked excitedly: “Zhenzhen, you know him?”

Zhenzhen suppressed her agitated emotions, slowly freed herself from Zhuang Lingzi’s grip, and said lightly: “You won.”