The diplomatic banquet begins beneath lacquered beams and hanging lamps. Silk, steam, and rank order fill the room while Lihua stands with the low clerks against the wall.

Arslan Temur and Saran sit as honored foreign guests. Lihua notices the service pattern is wrong.

The official decree arrives with impossible speed, already matching across the three lawful copies.

The kitchen staff whisper fearfully while Lihua approaches the smoke vent.

Lihua opens the smoke vent and finds the hidden fourth copy.

The fourth copy reveals Shen Qifeng as the poisoner and assigns Lihua as a future recanting witness.

Lihua hides the fourth copy and is immediately summoned by Shen.

Lihua enters Shen's private office expecting punishment or poison.

Shen offers not poison but a valid furlough seal.

Shen tells Lihua to take her younger brother to the countryside for a month.

Lihua understands the furlough as a trap but accepts outwardly.

Lihua crawls through the record shaft and reaches Shen's private office.

Lihua searches Shen's office and finds a locked wax kit.

Inside the wax kit, Lihua finds ingredients matching the forbidden almond wax and her mother's binding resin.

Lihua finds Bai Suyin's maker mark on a wax spoon and remembers her mother's lesson.