At the end of the sixth month, Consort Liu gave birth to a young prince, but the child was frail. Jaundice persisted for days after birth, and Consort Liu, deeply worried, wept daily. To ease her mind, the Emperor ordered the expansion of the gardens at Furong Pavilion, again entrusting the design to Lin Hong.
By the seventh month, the project to channel spring water into the Eastern Palace was completed. The outlet was beautifully constructed into a pool, and the spring water was clear, cool, and sweet. The Crown Prince was very pleased and ordered that this spring water be used henceforth for brewing his tea and preparing his soups. Lin Hong had originally intended to resign and return to his hometown after completing the project, but due to Consort Liu’s situation, he had no choice but to remain in Lin’an.
The Crown Prince had not forgotten to thoroughly investigate Zhenzhen’s background. In late July, Eastern Palace Supervisor Yang Zicheng gathered the preliminary information collected by his dispatched agents and presented it item by item to the Crown Prince, reporting: “According to the dynasty’s regulations, those who leave their hometown and migrate elsewhere can register as local residents after residing and working for one year. Following Your Highness’s command, I sent someone to Pujiang to examine Wu Qiuniang’s household registration documents. It was discovered that she had migrated from Ningguo Prefecture alone with her daughter Wu Zhenzhen. At that time, her daughter was three years old, and there was no husband accompanying them. When registering, she claimed her husband had already passed away. I then sent someone to Ningguo Prefecture to investigate the Wu family’s information based on the Pujiang registration details. Surprisingly, there were no archived records to verify; neither Wu Qiuniang nor the husband’s name she provided in Pujiang could be found. Upon closer examination of the documents left in Pujiang from that year, it was discovered that those purportedly from Ningguo Prefecture were all forged. It is highly likely that Wu Qiuniang bribed the official in charge of registration at the time, using fake Ningguo Prefecture household registration documents to settle in Pujiang. However, those sent to Pujiang to investigate also inquired with Wu Qiuniang’s neighbors, who all said that when she first arrived, she spoke with a Ningguo Prefecture accent. Thus, it seems Wu Qiuniang might indeed be from Ningguo Prefecture or have lived there.”
The Crown Prince reviewed these documents, pondered for a moment, and then asked Yang Zicheng, “What about Cheng Yuan? How is the investigation going?”
Yang Zicheng replied, “We have been keeping him under constant surveillance. Cheng Yuan has purchased several gardens outside, the one he visits most frequently is called Shi’an Garden. He manages it extremely strictly, forbidding outsiders from approaching, and all the servants inside are deaf-mutes. I also sent deaf-mutes to apply for positions there, but they were all driven away and could not enter. People nearby rumor that Cheng Yuan has bought several exceptionally beautiful singing and dancing girls to keep inside. I will continue to devise ways to gather information from within.”
The Crown Prince said, “Good, continue watching Cheng Yuan. Not just Shi’an Garden; his daily interactions, what he purchases, and where he sends things—all need to be thoroughly investigated.”
Yang Zicheng bowed slightly and said, “I understand.” He then sought the Crown Prince’s instruction, “Should this information be shared with Director Wu?”
The Crown Prince said, “Not for now. Wait until everything is fully investigated before telling her… You can take these household registration documents to Director Meng for review and have her transcribe a copy for safekeeping.”
Yang Zicheng accepted the order, gathered the documents, and left.
After he exited, Zhenzhen entered carrying a pot of freshly brewed tea and asked the Crown Prince, “Did Supervisor Yang find any news about my mother?”
The Crown Prince replied, “Cheng Yuan is cunning and meticulous, leaving no traces. So far, we haven’t found your mother’s whereabouts. But I will increase manpower and continue the investigation.”
Zhenzhen let out a somewhat disappointed “Oh,” set down the teapot, poured a cup of tea for the Crown Prince, and then smiled slightly, saying, “Your Highness cannot drink whisked tea and finds brewed tea too bland, but today’s tea has been tasted by both Director Qin and me. It is exceptionally fragrant and mellow, with a long-lasting sweet aftertaste. Your Highness will surely like it.”
The Crown Prince took a couple of sips and smiled, saying it was good. After chatting with Zhenzhen about tea for a while, he suddenly asked, “Have you made up your mind?”Zhenzhen asked in confusion, "Figured out what?"
The Crown Prince smiled, "In three more days, our one-month agreement will expire."
Zhenzhen's face flushed instantly, and she immediately took two steps back.
"You've always been straightforward in your actions, don't go back on your word..." Before the Crown Prince could finish speaking, his expression suddenly changed. He clutched his chest with one hand and bent over. "Zhenzhen, my stomach hurts."
Zhenzhen retreated further, laughing, "Your Highness, I already know this trick of yours. It won't work anymore."
The Crown Prince gasped for breath through parted lips, forcing a smile. "Come and massage it for me."
"Again!" Zhenzhen continued laughing. "I know what Your Highness is trying to do. Better try another trick."
The Crown Prince had no strength left to argue. His head drooped and knocked against the table as he gasped in pain, large beads of sweat streaming down from both temples.
Only then did Zhenzhen realize something was seriously wrong. She rushed over to support him, quickly examined him, and promptly raised her voice to instruct the junior eunuch outside the door to summon the imperial physician.
This illness was extraordinary, striking with fierce intensity. The Crown Prince first experienced stomach pain, followed by repeated vomiting. Each time he vomited until bile came up, he had to abstain from food and water for several hours before he could consume a small amount again; otherwise, it would trigger severe vomiting. After several such episodes, his entire body began to run a fever, burning so fiercely that he became delirious, making it even harder to take in food.
The imperial physician said the symptoms resembled food poisoning. However, Qin Sishan, Zhenzhen, and the physician together examined the food records of all the meals the Crown Prince had consumed over the past few days. They found that all ingredients came from the safest sources, with no signs of spoilage or deterioration, and none violated dietary taboos. Moreover, all meals had been tasted by either Qin Sishan or Zhenzhen before the Crown Prince consumed them, and neither showed any symptoms.
Imperial Physician Guo Siqi decided to first reduce the fever and then treat it as food poisoning. He prescribed a formula and instructed Zhenzhen and others that, aside from the prescribed medicine, the Crown Prince could only consume bland porridge and water for now. Yet the Crown Prince's condition fluctuated—sometimes he could drink a bowl of porridge, but at other times, the same porridge would be vomited out shortly after consumption.
After nearly half a month without improvement, he grew increasingly weak. Both the Emperor and Empress came to see him and were deeply anxious at the sight, yet they were at a loss. Finally, the Empress Dowager also arrived, accompanied by several palace attendants responsible for the Northern Inner Palace's food and drink. After seeing the Crown Prince, she ordered Fengxian to stay behind and said to the Crown Princess, "Ling Fengxian is skilled at making medicinal cuisine. Recently, when I experienced gastrointestinal discomfort, consuming the meals she prepared helped me recover quickly. Let her stay in the Eastern Palace for a few days to prepare some medicinal cuisine for the Crown Prince. Have the imperial physicians examine it first, and if there are no issues, then offer it to the Crown Prince."
Seeing the Crown Prince's heart and abdominal pain, Fengxian believed his visceral energy was deficient and invaded by pathogenic factors. She suggested preparing a porridge for the Crown Prince using peach kernels, raw rehmannia root, cinnamon bark, ginger, and japonica rice. Guo Siqi found this feasible, so Fengxian went to prepare the ingredients. When fetching water, Yun Yinge, a palace attendant previously assigned to the Eastern Palace, told her, "His Highness instructed us to use spring water drawn from Phoenix Mountain for brewing his tea and making soups." Fengxian then took a white porcelain jar and asked Yun Yinge to lead her to the water outlet.
While fetching water, a eunuch approached Yingge to inquire about the Crown Prince's condition, and Yingge chatted with him for a while. During this time, Fengxian fetched water alone and suddenly noticed that the spring water gushing from the outlet into the white porcelain jar seemed to carry a slight impurity. Fengxian picked it out and saw it was an extremely tiny mushroom, grayish-white in color, as if it had been boiled. She checked the pool again but found no similar substances. After a moment of careful thought, Fengxian quickly concealed the mushroom in her palm, poured out the water from the jar, and said to Yingge, "I just remembered—medical texts say well water is best for boiling this porridge. Let's go fetch well water instead."After drinking the peach kernel porridge prepared by Fengxian, the Crown Prince did not vomit and slept until midnight, when he opened his eyes. Since he fell ill, Zhenzhen had been keeping vigil for him every night, attending to his nighttime medication or meals. At the first sign of movement, Zhenzhen was startled awake and quickly rushed over to ask how he felt. The Crown Prince smiled faintly and said, "I'm feeling better. But you—you haven't had a full night's sleep in many days, have you? Your eyes are dark, and you look exhausted."
Hearing this, Zhenzhen felt both relieved and heartbroken, nearly choking up: "Your Highness hasn't spoken this much in a long time..."
"Silly girl..." the Crown Prince smiled and reached out to her. "Come, lie down beside me."
Zhenzhen hesitated and did not immediately obey.
Qin Sishan had relayed Guo Siqi's words to her: "His Highness is currently very weak and must exercise caution. Contact with palace attendants must absolutely not lead to intimacy, or the consequences would be unimaginable." Qin Sishan had also specifically reminded Zhenzhen, "When serving His Highness, you must be especially careful not to get too close to him or stir his emotions." Therefore, during this period, Zhenzhen had been very mindful of maintaining distance while attending to the Crown Prince. When he was conscious and tried to kiss her, she had avoided it. Now, hearing the Crown Prince's request, she dared not comply easily.
The Crown Prince seemed to sense her hesitation and said with a faint, intermittent smile, "Don't worry, I won't touch you. I just want to talk to you... Although the one-month agreement has passed, given my current condition, I won't take you as a consort... If I were to pass away, you could still marry someone else if you remain pure. Otherwise, you'd be left alone for the rest of your life. How could I bear that?"
Tears instantly fell from Zhenzhen's eyes as she said, "Nonsense! Don't talk about passing away. Your Highness promised to protect me for a lifetime."
With that, she resolutely walked over, climbed onto the bed, and gently lay down beside him.
The Crown Prince held one of her hands and said slowly, "I don't know if I'll recover from this illness, so let me give you a few instructions: If I don't make it, you can marry someone else—Lin Hong or the Second Great King, whoever you choose. If you have children in the future and they look like you, bring them to show me when you come to pay your respects. If they look like their fathers, forget it—I don't want to see them..."
Zhenzhen felt deeply moved by his first few words, but when he said the last part, she couldn't help feeling both annoyed and amused. She gently patted him and whispered, "I don't want anyone else. I just want Your Highness to recover."
Then she turned to the side, wrapped her arms around one of the Crown Prince's arms, buried her face in his sleeve, and closed her eyes.
The next day, Zhenzhen decided to prepare all her meals according to the same portions the Crown Prince consumed. Not only would she eat the same things, but she would also eat the same amount he did. She realized that when she had previously tasted his food for him, she had only taken a tiny bite. If he consumed more than she tasted, and the food was poisoned, it was possible that she wouldn't be affected due to the small amount she ingested, thus failing to detect the poison.
So when Fengxian prepared soup for the Crown Prince, she also served a bowl to Zhenzhen. Zhenzhen tasted it slowly and then asked, "This soup was made with well water, wasn't it?"
Fengxian confirmed it and praised her keen sense of taste. Zhenzhen immediately thought of how the Crown Prince had only consumed the peach kernel porridge made by Fengxian the day before, and he hadn't vomited for a full day and night, and his spirits seemed better. Suddenly, it dawned on her: "It's the water—it might be the water!"
Fengxian asked calmly, "What water?"
Without answering immediately, Zhenzhen stood up and rushed out to find Lin Hong.Over the past month, the Crown Prince had been drinking tea and broth made with mountain spring water. Because the amount of spring water drawn was limited, and there was concern that excessive use might pollute the water quality, the Crown Princess decided to reserve it exclusively for the Crown Prince, rarely using it herself. If the water were toxic, although Zhenzhen and Qin Sishan had tasted the Crown Prince’s drinks and meals beforehand, they consumed only small amounts and thus showed no symptoms. However, the Crown Prince drank tea and broth daily, which would lead to poisoning... Zhenzhen deeply regretted that she had only thought to inspect the ingredients earlier but had forgotten to check the water quality.
Learning that Lin Hong would be coming from the Furong Pavilion garden that day, Zhenzhen waited for him at the exit of the Brocade Rouge Corridor. Dressed in the official attire of a female official—a round-collared robe with a headscarf and a leather belt at the waist—she greeted Lin Hong from afar with a deep bow, the gesture of a man, and called out, “Lord Xuan Yi.”
Seeing it was her, Lin Hong was quite surprised. He immediately stopped, remaining two zhang away, and returned her bow. “What guidance does Director Wu have for me?”
Zhenzhen explained the Crown Prince’s illness and how the only difference in his diet over the past month was the mountain spring water. Lin Hong understood at once. “You suspect the water is poisoned.” He then added, “I personally selected the water source. Before finalizing it, I drank it myself for several days and felt no discomfort. I also had several imperial physicians examine it, and they all confirmed the water was of excellent quality before we began using it.”
“I am not questioning Lord Xuan Yi or suspecting the water itself is toxic,” Zhenzhen said. “But since the water pipes are made of bamboo, could there be decay or mold inside, causing the spring water to spoil?”
Lin Hong replied, “That’s unlikely. The bamboo poles are newly made, and with little air inside the pipes, flowing water does not stagnate, so mold is improbable.”
“What about leaks or impurities entering at the joints of the bamboo poles?” Zhenzhen asked further.
Lin Hong thought for a moment. “The joints were tested repeatedly and are unlikely to leak. As for impurities... we could inspect the pipeline to see if anyone has recently dug it up or removed the bamboo pins used for inspection.”
Zhenzhen suddenly understood and thanked Lin Hong. He said, “Director Wu need not be so polite. Please take good care of the Crown Prince upon your return and help him recover soon.”
“I will,” Zhenzhen replied. “Now I eat and drink the same as he does. If he falls ill, I cannot live on alone.”
Lin Hong fell silent for a moment, then asked, “Do you love him?”
Zhenzhen met his gaze and said, “I vow to share life and death with my husband.”
Her words struck his heart like a sudden, heavy blow, and for an instant, Lin Hong felt so much pain that he stopped breathing. Yet his expression remained calm. The next moment, he decided to smile and meet her resolute gaze, saying gently, “I wish Director Wu and His Highness the Crown Prince a harmonious marriage and a lifetime of happiness together.”
“Thank you,” Zhenzhen replied with a smile, offering her own blessing. “I wish Lord Xuan Yi a long life, with the grace of a qin and the freedom of a crane.”
Lin Hong nodded, maintaining his smile as he began to walk forward. He couldn’t help but recall her from the days at the Woodcutter Inquiry Post. On such sunny and breezy days, she would often pick flowers in the garden and bring them to him. Looking up and seeing him, her eyes would sparkle with fragments of sunlight, and she would smile radiantly, always calling out joyfully, “Teacher Lin!”
...
Now, as they passed each other, both still smiling, neither glanced sideways, each continuing on their own path. Yet, in that moment of passing, almost simultaneously, a tear fell from each of their smiling eyes.
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