Looks to me like the "speckled pattern" might just be surface marring. Here and there, I can see some vaguely parallel lines that might be a layered pattern weld (look at the uppermost photo). In fact, also in this photo, it looks like it may have a hardened edge. My advice is to polish and etch a window in this thing and see what turns up. Some of the nicer trousses do have layered blades with inserted or hardened (or both) edges.
To answer your question regarding wootz...there is no history of wootz in China. Phil and I have occassionally speculated that cakes of wootz could have feasibly been obtained through trade with India and the Muslim world, but no Chinese swords have ever turned up with wootz blades. There are certainly no examples in the Forbidden City, and if any did exist, I would expect at least one to turn up in the possession of the Emperor.
The rayskin on the scabbard looks 100% right as rain.
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