Jinshi and Lady Risu.
So that's how it was, Maomao thought.
In terms of age, it was a perfect match. Jinshi was twenty by count, and Lady Risu was sixteen. In terms of appearance, Jinshi looked somewhat older... no, he was simply more mature, but that was well within acceptable range.
Jinshi was the imperial prince, and while Gyokuyou's son was now the Crown Prince, his own claim to the throne was still quite strong.
Moreover, rather than remaining in the fiercely competitive inner palace of the Emperor, it might actually be better to marry Jinshi, who had no wives at all.
Even if she couldn't become Empress someday, she could still become the wife of the Chancellor.
Of course, it would make enemies of every woman in the country, plus a fair number of men.
He was far too perfect a candidate to be called a safe bet.
Those in power simply had to be pragmatic about marriage.
Miss Byakurei—
the free love she champions
is nothing but
a fantasy.
Maomao stared at the person beside her.
Bashen, Jinshi's milk-brother, surely knew all of this as well. And yet, it seemed there was an indescribable frustration in his heart.
To put it bluntly—
(sister-in-law jealousy.)
He wanted to see with his own eyes whether she was truly worthy of serving such a beautiful and capable nobleman.
"Father didn't look too happy about it."
That had apparently made her anxious.
(Well, naturally.)
From the Emperor's perspective, there was no need to intervene—Risu was like a daughter to him. From Ada's perspective, Risu could be moved somewhere safer than the inner palace. As for Risu herself, the nobleman she admired turned out not to be a eunuch after all—and he would be her husband, at that. She should have been overjoyed.
From Jinshi's perspective, Risu herself was neither here nor there. She had a cute face, and in a few more years she'd mature a bit. She wasn't exactly capable, but she probably wouldn't overstep her bounds either. The only hassle was the extended family connections, but that was something you had to deal with no matter where your bride came from.
"Maybe there's some kind of flaw."
Maoshan was practically snorting with anger as he spoke.
(Don't call them defective.)
To anyone who might overhear, that sounded like a line that would get him beaten to a pulp.
"Oh, that reminds me."
Maomao looked at Maoshan as though the thought had just come to her.
"If you're that curious, why not just go see for yourself?"
Maoshan glared back at Maomao with an unpleasant expression.
"I am not a eunuch."
"No, that's not what I meant—"
When she explained that Risu was temporarily staying with Ada, Maoshan's expression changed in an instant.
He slammed his fist hard against the wall of the shack.
(That thing's going to break.)
Even this rundown shack had a certain sentimental value for Maomao. If it collapsed now, she'd have to gather all her medicinal herbs all over again.
"What the hell! You think she can just waltz out of the rear palace whenever she feels like it?!"
"Well, apparently she did receive the Lord's permission."
That said, the rear palace wasn't exactly a place you could freely come and go from at the best of times. And all the more so for a high-ranking consort. You only had to recall the incident with Consort Lou Lan to understand that.
On top of that, she'd apparently said she was going shopping along the main avenue today. Honestly, even Maomao thought that was a bit too carefree, but apparently this too had the Lord's permission, and a proper escort was in place.
(She's being way too indulged.)
That must be why Risu's father was getting carried away.
(I should keep this to myself.)
The moment that thought crossed her mind, Maoshan's intense, unwavering gaze was already right in front of her.
"You're hiding something, aren't you?"
"What do you mean?"
When Maomao played dumb, Maoshan twisted his mouth in irritation and pressed his palm against his forehead.
"Ow, ow, ow."
It was an obviously forced monotone.
"Because of that poison from earlier, my eyes... my eyes are going weird."
He kept glancing at Maomao as he said it.
It was infuriating to watch.
"No, it wasn't poison."
"No, my eyelids are shutting. If this keeps up, I'll go blind."
Like that would ever happen. A bit of bitter compound had simply gotten into his eyes. The substance had been made purely as a deterrent and was essentially harmless. If Maomao had actually intended to blind him, she would have concocted something far more vicious.
He continued his over-the-top act while sneaking glances at Maomao.
(This man...)
For all his stiffness, he did seem to have a playful side. But he was still nowhere near his father Gaoshun's level. He had a fair amount of embarrassment about him. If anything, it was more embarrassing for the person watching.
Maomao scratched the back of her calf with her toe, looking thoroughly bored.
In fairness, she had accidentally rubbed some herbs into his eye, so she decided to come clean. Rather, the performance was so comically bad that Maomao herself was growing increasingly embarrassed just watching it.
And so, she brought up the idea of going out shopping, which—as goes without saying—meant she got dragged into a whole mess of trouble.
"What kind of concubine is she! Honestly!"
Basanstride along the main avenue, his footsteps heavy and deliberate.
Maomao trailed three steps behind him, her expression clearly saying "I wish this were over already."
Maomao had thought that once she said everything she needed to say, she would be off the hook, but it was not so simple.
Maomao was acquainted with both Ada and Concubine Risu by sight, but Basan was not. He said he had seen Ada from a distance at the garden party, but had no idea what Concubine Risu looked like. During the attempted poisoning of Concubine Risu, he had happened to be away on a trip and hadn't witnessed it.
Besides, he had never seen Ada dressed as a man, so he had dragged Maomao along because finding them would take extra effort.
"Hey, what about those two over there?"
"You shouldn't point at people."
When Maomao shook her head to indicate no, Basan moved on to his next candidate.
The main avenue during the daytime was packed with market stalls and crowds. Finding Ada and her companion in the middle of all this was a backbreaking task, and above all, Maomao had no motivation.
(Could they actually have gone out?)
She had heard they went out, and that was what Maomao had told Basan. Part of it was because the person she was speaking to was Basan, but normally, this was not the sort of thing you went blabbing about.
This held true for both Maomao and Ada.
For all its faults, the rear palace was safer than the outside world. There might be jealousy among the women or quarrels between the consorts, but it rarely escalated to the point of bloodshed. If a fight broke out, the eunuchs would rush over and break it up immediately.
Harassment and poisoning were possible, but measures had been taken against those as well, so they rarely amounted to anything serious. In terms of probability, you were more likely to get food poisoning at a market stall.
(They probably had guards, though)
There was no telling who might be watching or listening.
"If you make too much noise with your footsteps, you'll be noticed."
When Maomao said this, he at least had the composure to quieten his footsteps.
Basen darted his eyes about, scanning the surroundings.
With his shabby appearance, he looked like a pickpocket on the prowl for a target.
"If you don't buy anything at the market, people will find it strange."
Saying this, Maomao pointed at a skewer vendor, and Basen said "Fine" and lined up at the stall.
"Just one?"
"..."
Basen bought two and gave one to Maomao.
"These are good here."
"..."
After taking a single bite, Basen lined up again and bought another skewer.
He really was easy to read.
He seemed uncomfortable eating while walking, so he sat on a makeshift chair fashioned from a barrel beside the shop to eat.
"Aren't you thirsty?"
Maomao pointed next at a shop selling fruit water.
"..."
It hit the mark, but he seemed unwilling to keep doing exactly as Maomao said, so he walked past that shop and bought fruit water at the next drink vendor instead.
(Oh well.)
But the moment he took a sip, Basen's face twisted horribly, went pale, and he hurried off into a side alley.
Maomao bought fruit water and plain water from the drink shop she had pointed out first, then ducked into an alley.
Basen had his hands braced against the wall and was throwing up what he'd just drunk.
"Shall I rub your back?"
"No!"
"Want some water?"
"...Give me some."
Basen gulped the water down in one go, spilling it from the corners of his mouth.
"What the hell was that?"
Basen asked, finally having calmed down.
"That shopkeeper is stingy, so he buys up cheap fruit that's about to rot and makes fruit water out of it. And he probably mixes in the leftovers from the day before and the day before that, too."
The squeezed juice had started to ferment, making it half like wine. Some oddballs actually liked the taste, but it wouldn't suit the palate of upper-class folks like Basen.
"Hope that place goes under."
"If it does, he'll just move somewhere else."
Basen looked thoroughly exhausted and let out a long breath.
"Are you heading back?"
"Don't be ridiculous!"
He clearly still had plenty of fight in him, so Maomao reluctantly handed him another fruit water to rinse his mouth with.
Basen took it but narrowed his eyes, sniffing at it cautiously before slowly taking a sip. This time it seemed to be fine — his throat bobbed as he gulped it down.
Once he'd finished it all, Maomao took the empty container back from Basen.
"What are you going to do with that?"
"The cost of the container is included in the price of the drink. If you return it, they give you your money back."
Basen didn't understand street-level money, so he apparently hadn't realized the fruit water was expensive.
Basen handed her the other container — the bad-tasting one — too, saying "This as well." He probably gave it to her not because he wanted his money back, but because he didn't want to just throw it away.
As Maomao, thinking she'd made a nice profit, turned to exchange them for cash, Basen grabbed her by the wrist.
"What is it?"
"...I can hear something."
"Hear what?"
I strain my ears but can't hear a thing. I look to Basen to see if I'd imagined it, but he was already gone.
"I'm going to check!"
With that, he ran off into the depths of the alley.