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2002年10月15日 
天阴气爽，我9点钟就来到此地。刚刚坐好，就有一位身材修长、皮肤白皙、长着一双杏眼的美丽女士走近我，并为我的午饭操心。令我意外的是，她塞给我几张工作人员专用的餐票。如我的出入证上所写，我不也是故宫的一名工作人员吗？中午，她领我来到附近的一个食堂。食堂位于开放的参观地段，是临时搭建起来的，我与她在这里共进了午餐。服务员们则用诧异的眼光注视着我，她们好奇地瞥视我挂在脖子上的出人证，又惊叹于一个老外竟能如此自如地使用筷子。 
午饭后，趁着日照并不强烈，我这位善良的“女菩萨”又坚持要领我参观我写生的那座院落的几座邻院。我们迈进一个小院后，她的表情立即僵滞了：在新近的一次翻修过程中，院中的树木已遭砍伐，地面也被铺上了灰色的混凝土砖。我们悻悻而回。 
完成这幅画作后，我的思绪飘离，忆起在一本收录传奇轶事的集子中读过的故事。明朝万历末年，属南三所之一的慈庆宫曾发生过一桩疑案。1615年春，有一位来路不明的农民在慈庆官被捕。慈庆宫那时是皇太子朱常洛的居所，这位农民正欲刺杀皇太子。本案引起的朝廷各派的纷争一直持续到6月，给本已很艰难的调查造成了阻碍。6月19日刺客被斩首，但由于形势过于错综复杂，真正的阴谋策划者永远没有被揭露出来，而此人很可能就是贵妃郑氏。五年后，皇太子登基，同年又在吞食了红丸之后死去，个中缘由更是扑朔迷离。 
October 15,2002 
Cloudy sky,brisk air.I arrive at nine.A pleasant woman-slim,fair somplexion,and large almond-shaped eyes-worries about my lunch.She gives me food tickets like the staff normally use.Well,am I not also a Forbidden City employee,as written on my pass?At noon,she leads me to a nearby canteen,installed in a hut in the tourist area.I share a meal with her.Amazed,the waitresses try to read the pass hanging from my neck,and observe this foreigner's skill in using chopsticks. 
After lunch,my white lady" insists on showing me other courtyards like the one I am working in.As we enter,her face freezes:in a recent renovation,all the trees have been cut down,and the ground has been covered with gray cement paving-slabs.Disappointed,we take our leave.In this place formerly reserved to the Emperor's children,I remember a book of legends and anecdotes about a strange event that happened during the Ming Dynasty,at the end of Wanli's reign.In the spring of 1615,a mysterious peasant was arrested at Ciqinggong-one of the three south residences,then belonging to Prince Zhu Changluo.