Imperial Palace · Diligent Splendor Hall
Located in a secluded corner of the Imperial City, its halls connected one to another, profoundly quiet and secluded.
Su Ziji took Gao Ze and Jia Jing for a walk, then stopped before the doors and asked casually, "Jia True Person, although the Changchun Hall handled alchemy, the late emperor actually refined elixirs here, didn't he?"
"Yes." Jia Jing was gaunt-faced, with his hair gathered in a Daoist topknot and dressed in Daoist robes, yet he bore himself with elegant grace. Bowing, he replied, "Changchun Hall was for the initial refining of the embryo. Diligent Splendor Hall was secluded and quiet, so the elixirs were generally fused here."
Gao Ze had not come here often, but as the Commander of the Imperial City Office, he already knew that while Diligent Splendor Hall was indeed secluded, it was also staffed with confidential eunuchs who forbade anyone from prying. His heart turned solemn. He followed silently without speaking.
Su Ziji gave a hum and asked, "And the expenditure...?"
Jia Jing was the Left Furnace Master of Changchun Hall and naturally knew every detail. He immediately recited the figures as if recounting treasures from his own home. "Your Majesty, Changchun Hall and Diligent Splendor Hall consumed three hundred jin of precious medicinal ingredients each month."
"From the twelfth month of Chengshou's eleventh year to the fifth month of Chengshou's nineteenth year—a span of seven years and five months—they consumed six hundred and forty thousand taels of silver, sixteen thousand taels of gold, ninety jin of top-grade ginseng, sixty-two demon hearts of Sixth Rank or above, sixteen hundred taels of Golden Orchid Fungus, three hundred and thirty taels of Purple Spirit Grass..."
As they spoke, they proceeded inward. Su Ziji sat upon the imperial seat, accepted some tea,