Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2738 Still Vigorous in Old Age 122.0
"They only found out about the incense after investigating for so long? That shouldn't be the case!" Shen Cha looked at Xiao Fengqi, then at Jin Miaomiao, and then at Chu Han, raising her question, "With the little prince dead, shouldn't the first thing to investigate be the late Princess Liao's daily diet, her usual items, and her frequently worn clothes? That's the easiest place to tamper with, right?"

“That’s for sure, but we couldn’t find anything.” Xiao Fengqi shrugged. “Not only that, we checked many times, and there were no problems at all.”

"Why is that?" Shen Haolin also found it strange after hearing Xiao Fengqi's words. He looked at Jin Miaomiao and asked, "You are also very good at perfumery. If you were asked to investigate, would you be able to find out?"

"It depends on the situation. The Liao and Jin dynasties are quite different from us in many ways."

"The difference? The use of incense?"

“Yes!” Jin Miaomiao nodded, looked at Chu Han, then at Xiao Fengqi, and said, “For cases like miscarriage, the first thing to investigate isn’t the incense, but the daily diet and medication. That’s where things are easiest to tamper with. Especially food and drink, which are easy to leave evidence of. Secondly, you should check clothing, especially underwear, but…” She shook her head slightly, “As you know, once clothing has been starched and scented, it’s hard to leave any traces of the past. The same goes for incense. Even if there are some clues, they’re not conclusive evidence, and it’s particularly difficult to convict someone.”

"But does this kind of thing need to be used for a long time to be effective? One or two days shouldn't cause such serious consequences, right?"

“That’s for sure. Long-term use of incense is necessary. So, in the case of the Liao Princess, if there are no problems with her food and drink, then incense should be used. But…” Jin Miaomiao sighed softly and said, “As far as I know, the Liao people’s incense-making is completely different from that of the Great Xia, and it’s not very common. There aren’t many true perfumers, right?”

"While not entirely accurate, that's roughly the idea. Only royalty and high-ranking families use incense; ordinary people don't. As for perfumers, the real perfumers all come from the Great Xia; we have very few true perfumers." Xiao Fengqi took a sip of tea and continued, "Our incense-using habits differ somewhat from those of the Great Xia. You prefer something fresher, with more floral and fruity scents, right?"

"That's true. Besides, this kind of face powder is relatively safe. If I'm not mistaken, the Princess Consort of Liao should be using this kind, right?"

“Yes!” Xiao Fengqi nodded. “We usually prefer strong, pungent smells. Most of those spices come from the Western Regions. As you know, the spices from the Western Regions have a very strong smell, which we really like. I don’t know if it’s because we’ve been smelling such strong smells all the time that our sense of smell isn’t particularly sensitive or not very keen. So, at first, we couldn’t ask any questions at all.”

"Because the Princess Consort of Liao is pregnant, she cannot be exposed to such fragrances. The maidservant of the concubine is very skilled at making those cool and calming scented powders. That's why the Queen Dowager of Liao had this maidservant of the concubine make scented powders for the Princess Consort, right?"

“That’s right, so the people who checked the perfume powder didn’t find anything wrong.” Xiao Fengqi shrugged. “This kind of scent is basically odorless to them, so it’s possible that they couldn’t detect anything.”

“That’s true.” Shen Cha nodded, looking at Jin Miaomiao. “It’s also possible that the maid used a fragrance powder they weren’t familiar with?” She then looked at Chu Han. “We’ve smelled the fragrances popular in the Liao or Jin kingdoms, and they’re completely different from the spices we usually use.” “Right!” Chu Han nodded. “You’ve all been to Linhuang Prefecture or Yiqing Prefecture, right?” Seeing the children nod, he continued, “The spices they use for incense are rather coarse, unlike how we prepare them through many steps. They basically just burn the spices directly, which is very common for them. Moreover, they’re used to burning several spices together.”

“Indeed, I encountered them on the ship. Although they also crushed it, they didn’t grind it into a fine powder. They just used it directly, and the smell was particularly pungent, but they really liked it.” Xia Chen smiled. “I had wondered before if it was because they ate too much beef, mutton, and dairy products, so their body smell was strong and they needed to use a stronger fragrance to cover it up.” He looked at Xiao Fengqi. “This is just my guess. Please forgive me if it offends anyone.”

“Your Highness need not feel offended, it is indeed the case.” Xiao Fengqi nodded. “Another point is that the North is cold, and strong winds, heavy snow and heavy rain are common. The cool and fragrant scent that is popular in the Great Xia will be blown away very quickly and cannot be retained at all. Therefore, it is not very popular in our area.”

“But,” Shen Cha looked at Jin Miaomiao, “for a case like the Princess of Liao, there must be refreshing and calming spices, but very few people know how to use them and understand them. That’s why the concubine’s maid was chosen.”

“That’s right. The concubine’s maid said that the fragrance powder is made with ingredients that the Great Xia prefers. It’s very fresh and elegant and won’t have any effect on the princess.” Xiao Fengqi nodded. “As I mentioned before, the Queen Mother was also worried that she might tamper with it. So, every time the incense was made, someone would keep an eye on it, and no problems were found.”

"Even perfumers can't smell it, right?"

“It’s very difficult.” Xiao Fengqi gave a bitter smile. “So, after several rounds of investigation and more than a dozen perfumers, they all thought there was no problem, so the little maid thought she had escaped a disaster.”

"So how was it discovered later?"

"After leaving the palace, my great-aunt and Uncle Qi went to a restaurant run by people from the Great Xia. They smelled a faint fruity fragrance, a scent that seemed very familiar, almost identical to the one the little maid had mixed. They asked the manager, who said that the fragrance was specially selected by their perfumer, and that a recipe could be copied if customers wanted it. Both our household and the Qi household had perfumers from the Great Xia. They had the perfumer look at the recipe and approved of the method, but also warned my great-aunt and Uncle Qi that it was best not to use it if a pregnant woman was pregnant, as it contained a very rare ingredient from the Western Regions. This ingredient is called mustard. It has a very mild flavor and can easily blend into other ingredients, creating different scents. However, it is slightly toxic and rarely used in everyday perfumery. It is also uncommon in the Liao Kingdom, and only merchants from the Western Regions might have a small amount of it. Upon receiving this information, my great-aunt and Uncle Qi asked their perfumer to go to the palace to check if the princess's perfume powder and sachets contained this mustard ingredient."

"And then it turned out that the maid had this kind of spice?"

"Yes, it's mixed in with other spices, and if you don't know it, you won't be able to tell at all."