Chapter 642: The 18 Imperial Trees

’Turtle Immortal... come to think of it, this Longjing Tea has a special connection with you, doesn’t it?’ The distance from Wuyi Mountain to Hangzhou was much shorter than the trip from Yunzhong City to Wuyi Mountain. Shen Yibin drove for the better part of a day and arrived near West Lake, where he checked into a hotel near Lion Peak Mountain. The next morning, he took Hah’Er and the others to the front of Hu Gong Temple, just in time to hear a tour guide explaining the relationship between the eighteen Longjing tea trees there and Emperor Qianlong.

’This Longjing Tea was granted its status by Emperor Qianlong, and Turtle Immortal’s shell is engraved with an imperial reign mark from that very era. It’s a bit of a stretch, but you could call it a fateful connection. I just wonder if Turtle Immortal ever actually met the emperor back then?’

"During the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong made six southern tours. Four times, he visited the Longjing tea-producing region to observe the harvesting and processing of the tea, sample it, and compose poetry. On his return journey, he brought some Longjing Tea back for the Empress Dowager. After drinking it, the Empress Dowager’s ill temper vanished, and she repeatedly praised the Longjing Tea as being better than any miraculous elixir. Emperor Qianlong immediately decreed that the eighteen tea trees in front of Hu Gong Temple be designated as ’Imperial Tea,’ to be harvested and processed annually for the exclusive use of the Empress Dowager. From then on, Longjing became famous at home and abroad, and tea enthusiasts flocked here in an endless stream." The tour guide’s explanation sparked a buzz of conversation among the tourists.

PFFT. While the other tourists were marveling at the legendary tale, Shen Yibin had to struggle to keep from laughing. It was because he remembered a joke he’d once seen online: someone, out of boredom, did a web search for the two terms "Emperor Qianlong" and "raved about" and got countless hits for local snacks.

There were things like Wuxi soup dumplings, Zhenjiang pot-lid noodles, Xishi tofu, Luoding rice noodle rolls, wheel cakes, Huang Mountain dried tofu, crock-pot soups... the list went on for hundreds of items. They came from all over the country, and each one usually had a legendary tale attached to it.

The stories were all pretty much the same: Emperor Qianlong would be on a southern tour, some villager would offer him a local snack, Qianlong would taste it and rave about it, and then he’d compose a poem on the spot. The sheer number of these tales was beyond ridiculous. Someone had commented, ’Was Qianlong really an emperor? He sounds more like a beggar. Did he just eat whatever he was given? How many years had he been starving?’

An even harsher comment read: ’The only thing that guy didn’t eat was shit!’ To which someone had replied, ’Hey, don’t be so sure. He probably would have eaten shit and raved about that too.’

Of course, most of those stories were just fabricated by later generations to promote their local snacks. The story about Longjing Tea, however, was more credible. But West Lake Longjing Tea’s fame dated back long before Emperor Qianlong. As early as the Tang Dynasty, the Tea Saint Lu Yu had recorded in his *Classic of Tea* that the Tianzhu and Lingyin Temples produced fine tea.

Later, during the Northern Song Dynasty, "Xianglin Tea" from Xianglin Cave at Lower Tianzhu, "Baiyun Tea" from White Cloud Peak at Upper Tianzhu, and "Baoyun Tea" from Baoyun Mountain on Ge Ling were all designated as tribute teas. Literary giants like Su Dongpo would drink tea and compose poetry at Shousheng Temple at the foot of Longjing’s Lion Peak Mountain. He left behind a line praising Longjing Tea: "Beneath White Cloud Peak, new shoots unfurl; the glossy green is fresh in the spring rain." He also personally calligraphed plaques with phrases like "Old Longjing Tea." These are still preserved today at Shousheng Temple’s Hu Gong Temple and on the cliffs at the foot of Lion Peak Mountain within the garden of the Eighteen Imperial Tea Trees; Shen Yibin had just seen them himself.

During the Ming Dynasty, Longjing Tea’s fame grew even greater, with local chronicles and scholars of the time writing about it extensively. Then, in the Qing Dynasty, the eighteen ancient tea trees in front of Hu Gong Temple were designated as Imperial Tea. After a millennium of history, Longjing Tea finally cemented its status as the number one famous tea in the world, and the eighteen trees right in front of Shen Yibin were the finest examples of them all.

Don’t be fooled by the fact there were eighteen tea trees here, several times more than the Mother Tree of Da Hong Pao Tea on Wuyi Mountain. Their tea yield didn’t even come close. Combined, the eighteen imperial tea trees produce at most 250 grams of tea a year, making it even rarer than Dahongpao. The tea produced is sold by the gram, and ordinary people have absolutely no chance to buy it.

The eighteen tea trees were enclosed by a fence, and tourists could only look at them from the outside. However, that wasn’t a problem for Shen Yibin. He quietly found a secluded spot and set Maphario down. Maphario immediately slipped through the fence and began searching for tea seeds. ’Having more trees has its advantages,’ Shen Yibin thought. ’At least it’s not as easy to get caught as it was with the Dahongpao trees on Wuyi Mountain.’

While listening to the tour guide recount the various tales of the Eighteen Imperial Tea Trees and West Lake Longjing Tea, Shen Yibin waited nervously for Maphario’s return. Fortunately, Maphario didn’t disappoint. After a little over half an hour, he secretly scurried back into Hah’Er’s pocket, and Shen Yibin left the area along with the other tourists.

’Let’s see how many you got.’ After leaving, he found a restaurant, got a private room, and ordered some famous West Lake dishes like West Lake Vinegar Fish and Song Sao’s Fish Soup. While waiting for the food to arrive, Shen Yibin couldn’t resist reaching into Hah’Er’s pocket to feel around. ’Whoa, it feels like there are quite a few more than last time!’

His hand immediately found a small pile of seeds. He took them out and counted carefully—he’d managed to get nine seeds, more than double the number he’d gotten from the Dahongpao trees on Wuyi Mountain! Shen Yibin was overjoyed.

’On second thought, it made sense. There were eighteen ancient tea trees here, after all, which averaged out to only half a seed per tree. That wasn’t a lot. Even with staff members carefully collecting them, it was inevitable that some would be missed.’

"Good work, Maphario. Here, try some of these pine nuts." With the prospect of planting both West Lake Longjing Tea and Wuyi Mountain Dahongpao in his own courtyard, Shen Yibin quickly grabbed a small dish full of nuts to reward Maphario.

SQUEAK! SQUEAK! Maphario looked very proud, holding a pine nut with both paws and starting to nibble on it. He had only eaten one or two when the waiter began bringing out the dishes.

"Here, Hah’Er, let me get the bones for you." No matter how smart Hah’Er and Xiaoliu were, they were still animals. A task like picking out fish bones was too difficult for them, so Shen Yibin had to do it for them.

He placed the deboned fish meat on the plates in front of them, and Hah’Er, Xiaoliu, and Turtle Immortal immediately began to eat. Turtle Immortal seemed to have a particular fondness for fish, relishing both the Song Sao’s Fish Soup and the West Lake Vinegar Fish. ’Maybe when I get back, I can look up some fish and shrimp recipes,’ Shen Yibin mused. ’I should try to make a special dish for Turtle Immortal every day.’

There were many beautiful women around West Lake, but unfortunately, Shen Yibin was worried that spending too much time traveling would be bad for planting the tea seeds. He reluctantly departed from West Lake without even having a chance to visit the sites related to Lady Bai and Su Xiaoxiao, and began his journey back to Yunzhong City.

As soon as he got on the highway, he pushed his car to the legal speed limit. After stopping to rest for one night, Shen Yibin was back in Yunzhong City by the following afternoon.

"I’m a bit tired tonight, so let’s just have some congee for dinner. I’ll make you all something nice tomorrow morning." After a hasty dinner, he and Maphario soaked the tea seeds. Then, Shen Yibin went to bed and was soon fast asleep and snoring.

Early the next morning, Shen Yibin was full of energy again and got ready to plant the tea seeds.