Riri led Lanyun through the courtyard and into the Winter Palace’s largest building. The interior was decorated as elegantly as the exterior. Lanyun’s eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the ink paintings of winter mountain scenery that hung along the blue and golden walls. 

“This building is so beautiful,” Lanyun spoke up at last, trying to break the uncomfortable silence and calm his nerves. “What’s it called?” 

“The Hall of Serendipity,” Riri replied amiably.

“That sounds quite fortuitous, doesn’t it?” Lanyun remarked, feeling a bit more hopeful about his situation. “Not like a place that one would, hypothetically, harm a suspect?”

“Oh certainly not,” Riri said. “There’s nothing hypothetical about that at all. The Princess has ordered many lashings and even the occasional maiming in here for the last couple of centuries. Although she’s inherently soft-hearted, she won’t hesitate to decree punishment when decidedly necessary. She’s truly a wonderful celestial.” 

“Yes, how wonderful,” Lanyun echoed dryly, already mourning his foreseeable fate. 

She stopped before a wooden sliding door, carved with intricate designs of dragons. “Your Imperial Highness, I’ve brought the human Lanyun.”

“Let him in,” Lianbing’s voice sounded from the other side. There was no discernable emotion in her tone, which only made Lanyun more worried.

Riri stared at Lanyun expectantly. 

“Oh do I just…?” Lanyun pointed at the door.

“Yes,” Riri said. “Just slide the door open and walk right in. I will be out here.”

“Right, of course.” Lanyun looked at the door but didn’t move. 

“You seem sad,” Riri said, frowning. “Would you like some comfort?” She held up her hands, revealing her long, sharp nails. 

Lanyun looked between her nails and the closed door and decided to accept his fate. “No, but thank you for the offer.” He slid open the door and walked inside. 

Contrary to the bloody interrogation room that he had originally pictured, Lanyun was met with a different form of torture. After having not eaten any meal for the entire day and only bland, vegetarian dishes for the past two days, Lanyun felt his mouth instantly salivate as his senses were bombarded by the rich aroma of meat and spices. There was a table filled with a variety of hearty dishes, and sitting on the opposite side was Lianbing, holding an open blue and white hand-painted fan.

“Good evening, Your Imperial Highness,” Lanyun said stiffly, putting up an impassive facade. He didn’t know how she knew that he loved food, especially meat dishes, but he wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that her torture method had affected him. 

“Yes, good evening to you too, Lanyun,” Lianbing said. She snapped her fan shut and used it to gesture to the chair across from her. “Please, have a seat.”

Lanyun silently sat down. He stared ahead at the celestial, trying his best to pretend that he hadn’t noticed the alluring food on the table. The dish closest to him looked like cumin lamb. If he were to move his head just a bit forward, he would be just above the plate. And if he were to lower his head slightly, then the lamb would inevitably slide into his mouth. And then…

“I heard you went to work at the Imperial Gardens today,” Lianbing said, interrupting Lanyun’s thoughts from the temptation of the lamb.

“It is part of my punishment,” Lanyun said, wary of her motivation for mentioning it.

“Do you enjoy gardening?” Lianbing continued to ask. 

“Most of the time. I definitely prefer the planting and harvesting over the composting and manure aspect.”

“So you must really like plants?”

“I do find them more likable than certain people or celestials.” The words flowed out of his mouth before he realized. Lanyun quickly stopped talking and glanced at Lianbing nervously, bracing himself for her ire. Instead, he found her smiling slightly and nodding in agreement. 

“Well I can certainly agree with that,” Lianbing said. “There’s many humans where I’d prefer the company of a weed over theirs.” She looked away from Lanyun and fiddled with the ornate end of her fan. “But I am starting to believe that you may be better than a weed.”

 “Excuse me?” Lanyun said, not entirely sure if she was complimenting or insulting him.

Lianbing cleared her throat. “You should try these dishes. My chefs are some of the best in the realm.” 

Lanyun wanted nothing more than to do exactly that at the moment, but he didn’t budge. It appeared to be such an obvious trap. If the food didn’t poison him as soon as he took the first bite, then he was sure he would fail some sort of test that Lianbing had set up, and she would end his life herself. 

Seeing Lanyun still refusing to eat, Lianbing narrowed her eyes. “Are my chefs’ abilities not up to your standards?”

“No, it’s not that,” Lanyun hurriedly said before he accidentally offended the celestial further. “But you have to understand how suspicious this whole conversation is after you just threatened my life last night.”

Lianbing nodded slowly and fanned herself, appearing flustered. “I can see how you would think that.” She snapped her fan shut again and took a deep breath. “However, there is no reason for you to be suspicious of my intentions now. You see, we have already concluded our investigation into the matter of the damage to my lotus pond. And now I know that you are indeed innocent.” 

Lanyun was surprised at the speed of the investigation. “The Winter Palace is very efficient.”

Lianbing laughed at his words. “The real perpetrator had immediately revealed himself when I announced to my servants that I already had a suspicion regarding who had harmed my lotuses, and that they would face the most extreme punishment. Imagine my surprise when my gardener began groveling before me, begging for my mercy.”

“I can’t believe it was the gardener,” Lanyun gasped. He shook his head in disgust. “How despicable to intentionally harm the lotuses when he’s worked so closely with them.”

 “All things are possible with the right price,” Lianbing sighed. “Please, feel free to eat.”

Remembering another strange aspect of the meal, Lanyun skeptically glanced at the food. “Why are there meat dishes? I thought celestials are vegetarian.”

Lianbing frowned in confusion. “No, most of us are not vegetarian . What led you to think that?”

“Then why was I only served vegetarian meals these past couple of days?” Lanyun contended.  “The same one too.” 

“Well we certainly weren’t going to waste our fine food on someone who was at worst, a lowly criminal, and at best, an unwelcome guest,” Lianbing said, not understanding Lanyun’s point.

Though offended, Lanyun couldn’t find fault in her logic. With his suspicions cleared, he picked up his chopsticks and warily tasted the white rice in front of him first. It was steamed perfectly, fluffy and fragrant. Next, he reached for the braised pork belly and bamboo shoots. The rich fat from the pork melted on his tongue, and the crunchiness of the bamboo shoots paired harmoniously with the tender meat. Even if the food was actually poisoned, Lanyun knew that he would at least die satisfied and with a full stomach.  

“Someone in the Spring Palace had taken my gardener’s wife and daughter hostage,” Lianbing said, placing a short rib into her own bowl. “They wanted him to slowly poison my lotus pond.”

“Why would they want that?”  Lanyun asked while helping himself to the scallops stir-fried with asparagus, bell peppers, and deep fried tofu. He needed a dish with more subdued flavors to offset the two plates of greasy pork and lamb he had already finished.

“To ruin my reputation and friendship with Renwu,” Lianbing said, picking a bone out of the fish steamed with chili peppers and ginger. “How familiar are you with the corruption that plagues celestials?”

Lanyun set down the unidentifiable bird thigh he was chewing on and swallowed. “Granny Tao told me the basics, such as how it will eventually result in the death of the celestial, but she said that no one knows exactly how it happens. Because of the mystery surrounding it, she refused to say any more in case merely discussing it spreads the corruption”

“She’s more courageous than I expected, to reveal so much to you,” Lianbing said in surprise. “Perhaps it is because she’s still young.” She stared at Lanyun with a serious expression. “It is precisely because few wish to discuss it that they attempted this plan. They wanted to spread rumors that my lotuses were dying because Renwu’s corruption had spread to my palace and possibly to me too. This would then suggest to others that I have endangered my palace by failing to choose my friendships carefully enough.”

“Why would they want that?” Lanyun helped himself to another bowl of lamb and radish soup. 

“Well it would certainly cause my father to doubt my abilities and character,” Lianbing said. “Anything that would allow me to fall out of favor with His Imperial Majesty will benefit any of my other siblings.” 

“That sounds tiring,” Lanyun remarked, selecting a piece of sweet and sour short rib. 

Lianbing shrugged. “A small price to be the best. Although, your unforeseen care for my lotuses did derail their plan quite quickly.” She paused, noticing for the first time the numerous empty plates around him. Picking up a plate near her, she passed it to him. “Try this.”

Accepting the plate, Lanyun set it atop one of the empty ones. There were ten small, semi-translucent round balls. Biting into it, Lanyun realized that the translucent skin appeared to be made from rice flour while the inner meat filling was golden with flecks of green and white. “What kind of meat is this?” It tasted like a mixture between crab and shrimp.

“It’s made from jinxia meat,” Lianbing explained. “They only live in the ponds atop the mountains of the celestial realm. You can have the rest if you like it.”

“It’s delicious,” Lanyun said while helping himself to the remaining nine. 

Lianbing immediately handed over another plate once Lanyun had finished with the jinxia dumplings. 

“This is also made from two ingredients that only grow in our realm,” Lianbing introduced the dish. “The plant used to make the bun is similar to the cattail plants you have in the human realm. It’s what makes it so pillowy and naturally milky sweet. The inside filling is shenguo, which can only grow from the mist of passing clouds.”  

Lianbing looked at Lanyun with an expectant expression as he tasted the dessert. His teeth effortlessly sank into the bun, as if he were biting into a cloud, and a purple sweet cream burst out from inside. It tasted familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. Every bite resembled a different flavor, starting from strawberry to lychee, then taro to cinnamon, and ended on rose and raspberry.

“That was incredible,” Lanyun said in awe.

“Shenguo is also a great antioxidant and rich with many vitamins that you humans need,” Lianbing added, taking one for herself. “Feel free to eat more if you still have room in your stomach.”

Lanyun shamelessly reached for another bun.

Lianbing leaned forward and rested her chin up on her hand, staring at Lanyun in fascination. “Where does it all go?”

Afraid that she was going to stop him from eating anymore, Lanyun quickly shoved another shenguo bun into his mouth. 

“Slow down, I promise I won’t take it away from you,” Lianbing said, laughing at his antics. “I prefer not to ask for human sacrifices as payment, so perhaps my understanding is limited, but I’ve never seen someone eat as much as you before. I had asked my chefs to prepare enough food for ten people because I wasn’t sure what you would enjoy, but you’ve nearly finished them all. It’s very captivating.” 

Lanyun felt his face flush at her words. His grandmother had always scolded his sister and him for eating too much especially when someone else was paying. “I’m sorry. I just can’t stop myself when there’s such delicious food in front of me.”

“No need to apologize,” Lianbing said, waving her hand dismissively. “The chefs will be thrilled to hear that someone enjoyed their food so much.”

Exercising restraint, Lanyun set down his bowl and utensils and wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin. “Thank you for the meal. It was very delicious.” He got up from the table. “I suppose I’ll return to my room now.”

“Actually,” Lianbing suddenly said, standing up as well and stopping Lanyun before he could open the door to leave. “Since we did just eat a large meal…especially you, how about we go on a stroll to help digest before retiring for the night.”

“Go on a stroll?” Lanyun repeated. “Like, just the two of us?”

Lianbing nodded and smiled. “Come, let me properly introduce you to my lotuses.”