For now—
Ada
had asked, so Maomao did exactly as she was told. Since she had no preparation, she sent someone to Rokushō-kan by fast horse
for textbooks—
to bring back.
Lately, with efforts being made to spread printed materials, the prices of erotic picture books had apparently been gradually declining. Even so, that shrewd old woman would probably still try to charge an inflated price.
This time, in addition to that, she had them bring something a little unusual. She decided not to say out loud exactly what kind of thing it was. It was somewhat—no, quite—vulgar, and when she took it out and showed it to Consort Risu, it was as though she'd seen—
a cockroach,
for she made a face and backed away all the way to the wall behind her.
Since she'd gone to the trouble, she tried calling Ada over as well, but Ada was clearly put off. It seemed her nights as Crown Princess had been very, very proper.
Occasionally, the children would try to enter the room, so she would say—
"Hey, it's still too early—"
or—
"You mustn't look!"
—while covering their eyes and sending them away.
She kept getting flustered
in the middle of lessons,
which was troublesome. Each time, the head attendant she'd brought along would have to comfort Consort Risu.
For the record, she did try teaching the preparations a courtesan goes through before taking her first client. Depending on the client's preferences, certain preparations are sometimes done to the courtesan in advance.
"Would you like to try?"
She asked Risu, who immediately shook her head.
She'll leave the nature of those preparations to the reader's imagination.
And so the lesson ended around the time the sun was already dipping low, and since she'd gone to the trouble, she was treated to a fine dinner. At that point, Ada insisted it was already too late and she should stay the night.
(Should I decline?)
Since it was such short notice, they'd probably respect her wishes. She wanted to prepare her medicines too, and whenever she went out, one way or another
Zhao Yu
would make a fuss. Just the other day, when she'd gone to the quack doctor's hometown, he'd been just as bad about it.
(But still...)
Maomao decided to accept the invitation anyway.
The food was delicious, the bath was spacious, and the bedding was warm and soft. Whatever was stuffed inside the futon—perhaps cotton,
or layers of rushes
stacked on top of one another, and then
covered with a padded sheet—
it was all in a different league.
She was on the verge of drifting into a dream, but she shook her head. No, no.
She slipped a jacket over the room clothes they'd prepared and stepped outside. To the guards on duty, she simply said she was going for a quick stroll. If they were suspicious, they'd follow her—and if they followed, there was no problem.
Her shoes clacked against the floor as she walked the corridors. As befitting an imperial retreat, the place was nothing short of lavish. She did wonder why they'd bothered building a retreat here when the main palace was right next door, but the answer was probably in the air.
A quiet atmosphere flowed through this place, different from both the inner palace and the outer court. Even the children who'd been clamoring during the day were now making nothing but the sound of sleeping breaths.
The courtyard was bathed in moonlight. She didn't understand rich people's tastes, but there was a large boulder at the center of the garden, riddled with holes—and she'd heard the more holes it had, the better the fortune it brought.
Someone was using that boulder as a backrest, pouring sake by hand.
(Same as always, huh.)
Maomao let out a soft sigh. There'd been a scene just like this before. Back then, it had been on the outer wall of the inner palace—dressed in the same male attire as always.
"Oh my, I've been found out."
With her hair simply tied back, Ada looked every bit the young man. Her slender figure only served to enhance her dashing appearance.
"Yes. Aren't you cold?"
Instead of answering, Ada showed her the sake. It looked like strong stuff—just having a drink would probably warm anyone right up.
Ada patted the ground beside her, signaling for her to sit. She'd even thoughtfully laid out a hand towel.
"Well then, if you'll excuse me..."
She said that, but Maomao showed no signs of holding back. She didn't think Ada would get angry over something like that—and more importantly, this was the whole reason she'd come, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
Perhaps because Ada was nearby, the guards were waiting at a slight distance. If they were that far away, unless they had rabbit ears, they wouldn't be able to hear what was said over here.
Ada had the same thought.
"...So, what do you want?"
"I appreciate you getting straight to the point."
Ideally, she would have preferred to talk somewhere warmer, but with sake available, it wasn't bad. Ada filled Maomao's cup to the brim with sake and then drank directly from the gourd.
"May I speak hypothetically?"
"Go ahead."
"What if I told you that Ada's father was actually a complete stranger with no blood relation to you at all?"
Ada scratched the back of her neck.
"Father died before I was born. I had no stepfather, and my mother raised me by serving as wet nurse to His Majesty."
"This is a hypothetical. If, say, that father told you one day that you had to marry him—how would you feel about that?"
Maomao hoped she would understand who this was about. She was worried, but it seemed Ada understood.
Ada scratched the tip of her nose, then vigorously scratched her head.
"...So that's what this is about."
"Yes, exactly."
"But I don't think a father is that significant a thing."
Maomao felt the same, but at the very least, her adoptive father was someone worthy of respect. There were many people in this world who considered the bond between a man and a woman to be the highest thing in life. But Maomao was one of those who believed it was not everything.
And one more thing.
This was what Maomao felt Ada lacked the most.
"His Majesty is the same way, isn't he?"
At those words, Ada blinked several times.
"...It'll be fine, won't it? It's only pairing up with a creature like a sister."
(Pairing up with...)
That was quite a bold way to put it. Utterly disrespectful. But perhaps only Ada, as His Majesty's foster sister, could say such a thing.
(So that's how it is.)
For Maomao, the Emperor was simply her little brother. No matter how impressive his beard might grow or how high he stood at the pinnacle of the nation, he was still her brother.
Ada, who had become the young emperor's guardian, had probably come to accept things as they were. And because she herself had made peace with it, she assumed everyone else could too.
People tend to assume that what they can do, others can do as well.
(A little brother, huh.)
She suddenly recalled how, back when His Majesty was still Crown Prince, he had taken no concubines other Ada. Even after she had become unable to bear children, he had kept her in the inner palace.
"..."
"What's the matter?"
"It's nothing."
Ada tilted her head.
Not knowing — she thought that was a cruelty unto itself.
And pretending not to know was just as cruel.
"If she's like a daughter to me, then she must be like a daughter to His Majesty as well."
Ada let out a soft chuckle, then pressed the gourd to her lips as though swallowing the laughter back down.
"But I don't want to leave that girl in such a cramped position within the inner palace forever."
(That's only natural.)
Though fewer in number than before, the other high-ranking concubines still looked down on Risu, dismissing her as a title in name only.
When you satisfy one party, the other feels slighted — that's just how things go. The world was full of such impossibilities.
"If it's truly unbearable, though, there is one other option."
Ada glanced briefly at Maomao and flashed a grin. There was something almost mischievous in her expression.
Maomao had nothing more to say. She simply made sure to drain every last drop from her cup.
Several days had passed since Maomao returned from Ada's detached palace. She sat by the riverbank, gazing at the gentle green of the foliage.
(Hmm, this feels nice.)
Maomao was plucking mugwort that grew along the roadside. Her basket already held butterbur sprouts and Japanese parsley. The fern shoots had only just begun to unfurl their heads, so she decided to hold off on gathering those for now.
This time,
Zhao Yu
I was thinking of bringing her along to help out, but knowing her, she'd probably mix up the poisonous water dropwort and bring back the wrong thing.
I need to drill that into her properly.
The soil near the river is rich.
Occasionally I come out here for a walk outside the city to gather wild herbs.
The last time I got carried away and ventured too far, I ended up nearly sold off to a slave trader, so I need to be more careful about that going forward.
There were large outer walls surrounding the city, but in general, coming and going was free.
Farmland stretched along the highways around the city.
Restricting entry and exit would be inconvenient, since the food to support the city's population of several hundred thousand had to be hauled in daily.
With larger carts, the guards did perform cargo inspections, but Maomao simply gave a polite bow as she passed by and entered the city.
The south gate connected directly to the pleasure district, so the rules there were especially lax.
A cart loaded with burlap sacks full of rice showed its wooden pass to the guards and went on through.
Now then, Maomao pondered what to do with her riverbank spoils.
The water dropwort and butterbur shoots would make a fine addition to dinner, and as for the mugwort—she could use it for moxibustion, or make rice cakes with it. There were plenty of possible uses.
In high spirits from her haul, she was walking along when someone seized her by the shoulder.
Before she knew it, she had been dragged into an alley.
Even though it was daytime, this was the pleasure district—one of the roughest areas in the city.
Maomao quickly pulled out a bitter lump of medicine she kept tucked inside her collar and jammed it into the eyes of the man who had grabbed her.
"Ah..."
The medicine hit its mark. The man who had pulled her in clutched both hands over his eyes and collapsed onto the ground.
He was too well-dressed for a vagrant, and what was more, she recognized him.
"What do you think you're doing? Lord Masei."
"That's what I should be saying to you!"
Rolling about on the ground, Masei grumbled and cursed.
Using a damp handkerchief to shield his eyes, Masei and Maomao relocated. She had been about to head to the Rokushōkan, but when Masei begged her not to, she gave up the idea. Even without being able to see his face, the sheer desperation in his voice alone was plain to hear. He had apparently been genuinely terrified the other day when his precious belongings had nearly been snatched away by Miss Shiruzu.
Risu was one headache, but this man was a problem all his own, Maomao mused. As a father, Gaoshun already had another child producing grandchildren, so he didn't seem especially bothered.
It seemed the pain in his eyes had finally subsided, as Masei removed the handkerchief.
"What is this place? A stable?"
"It's my home."
"..."
With the Rokushōkan off-limits, there was nowhere else to go. He gazed at her with pitying eyes, as if to say she actually lived in this hovel.
"...You're not in debt or anything, are you?"
"Um, there's no need to worry about that."
Even letting him inside would only earn more sympathy once he saw how shabby it was. Maomao decided outside was fine enough and went to fetch a chopping block base. She placed it on Masei's chair, then sat down on a large rock nearby.
The surroundings
were devoid
of any people, so there shouldn't be any problem.
"What is it you need?"
Normally, it would be another day or two before Jinshi was due to visit. For Masei to show up ahead of schedule meant he must have had something urgent. He had even gone out of his way to track down Maomao.
"Well, here's the thing—"
He wore a troubled expression and hemmed and hawed.
"If there's nothing in particular, may I go do my laundry?"
"Hey, wait a moment!"
Masei heaved a deep sigh and leaned his face close to Maomao's.
"Say, do you know what kind of person Risu is?"
"If that's what you're asking, you'd be better off asking Gaoshun."
He would certainly know more than Maomao, being always at Jinshi's side.
Quite the
perfect timing
for this topic to come up.
"That's exactly the problem—I can't do that."
Basen spoke with a serious expression.
To Maomao, Gaoshun was a taciturn man on the outside but quite an amiable old fellow on the inside—a real hard worker. In front of his son, however, he never let that inner side show, appearing only as the capable attendant to the imperial brother.
"No matter what you say—"
His personality was timid and he cried easily, still childish in many ways, but to put it positively, he hadn't been corrupted by the world. That childlike quality divided opinions, but fundamentally he was cute and stirred one's protective instincts.
"...Are you really sure about that?"
"Why do you have to be so suspicious?"
Basen narrowed his eyes and, arms still crossed, beckoned Maomao to come closer.
"Even His Excellency Jinshi and my father balked when they heard that name."
"Balked at what?"
Maomao tilted her head, unable to follow the conversation.
"As for family background, the Usagi clan has been making a name for itself lately, which is a bit concerning, but not enough to refuse over. No, rather—"
"No, please don't mutter to yourself."
Setting aside her own habit of doing the very same thing, Maomao said to the groaning Basen.
"...Don't tell anyone, okay?"
"Then I don't particularly want to know."
"Come on, you've come this far—just let me tell you."
With that, Basen leaned in and whispered into Maomao's ear.
"There's talk of bestowing Lady Risu to someone. The recipient would be His Excellency Jinshi."
"Oh my."
So that was why Ada had been laughing the other day.
Maomao clapped her palms together.