"It's been a while."
"It's been a while."
Maomao echoed the same words back like a refrain.
The one who had appeared while she was languidly making medicine at the apothecary in the pleasure district was the original healing-type military officer—
Gaoshun.
It truly had been a while. It felt like more than half a year since they'd last met.
"Well, my foolish son was supposed to come in my stead, but he had the misfortune of injuring himself the other day."
So Gaoshun had come instead.
If Basen had sustained serious injuries, it must have been pretty bad.
"How did he get hurt?"
"He was assigned to escort Consort Risu, but on the way back he seemed oddly flighty. He was riding along in a daze when there was a loud commotion, the horse got spooked, and he was thrown off—and then trampled on top of it."
"...That's not something I can really take as a joke."
Being trampled by a horse could indeed cause serious harm—or even death.
"It was the kind of situation where his internal organs could have ruptured, but one of his few merits is that he's exceptionally sturdy."
"I see." Maomao nodded as she pulled open a drawer. There should have been some tea snacks in there.
"Maomao, please don't go to any trouble."
"Is that so? These are steamed buns from the main street that supposedly sell out before noon."
The girls from Ryokuseikan had given them to her.
The shaved-head girls—
she'd been planning to give them away, but there weren't enough to go around, so apparently she'd put them up for grabs. The steamed dough was mixed with brown sugar, lending them a faintly sweet taste.
"...I'll have some, then."
Gaoshun looked like a gruff military man, but he was quite partial to sweets.
Maomao prepared tea to go with the buns—tea brewed that morning and chilled with well water. In the sweltering season, serving a nicely chilled drink was the ultimate luxury. It was intended for distinguished guests, but the moment Maomao mentioned Gaoshun's name, the madam had served it up without a second thought.
Gaoshun ate the buns with a slight softening of his lips, but what was he here for? He hadn't come just for idle chat. When Maomao kept staring at him, he hastily stuffed a bun into his mouth and washed it down with tea.
"Well then, shall we get to the main topic?"
"I have one more, so go ahead."
Maomao pushed her own bun toward him. She wanted sake more than sweets. If the thoughtful Gaoshun would be around for a while, the buns would surely be swapped for fine sake before long. Most of all, she didn't want to hear what the main topic was.
After devouring one more bun, Gaoshun cleared his throat.
"Little cat, have you any intention of becoming a court physician?"
"I couldn't become one."
Women were not permitted to serve as court physicians. That was the law of this kingdom.
"I phrased the question poorly. Do you have any intention of attaining a position with the same authority as a court physician?"
"..."
The same as a court physician—that is to say, unlimited access to every medicinal herb filling that storeroom to the brim. Her lips, which should have been pressed into a thin line, began to tremble. Gaoshun's eyes glinted with a flash of light.
"Furthermore, you would be able to test new medicines. We have people lined up to serve as test subjects, of course."
"..."
Her cheek twitched. The corners of her mouth began to curl upward.
*(No—stop. This is suspicious. Definitely suspicious.)*
Too-good-to-be-true offers always come with a catch. And the one making the offer was none other than Gaoshun. It wouldn't be just plain delicious—that much was certain.
Besides, there was the apothecary to consider. She had an apprentice, but the moment Maomao was absent, the complaints would start again. She was still far from being a full-fledged apothecary.
*(Right, I should turn this down...)*
But of course, things would never go that smoothly—Gaoshun struck first.
And what did he say?
"Are you aware of the special envoy who arrived from the West?"
Maomao hummed and rummaged through her memory. The West—that would mean
Sandora.
She didn't know anyone from Sandora, but if she had to pick someone, it would be that woman she had met at a gathering the other day with
Raban,
the man she called the numbers fool.
He had dumped an impossible burden on Raban — a food crisis or asylum, and the man had quite the nerve.
He couldn't quite recall the name. What he did remember was a large, fair-haired, blue-eyed beauty. As for the food problem, whether sweet potato cultivation would succeed was the key.
"A woman named
Airin,
who recently entered the inner palace as a mid-rank concubine," Gaoshun continued. "...Huh?"
Maomao let out a vacant sound. She had thought the woman was tough, and sure enough, she was. In a sense, the inner palace might actually be safe — so long as you didn't consider the squabbling within its walls.
"Of course, she has her quirks. Being a foreigner, the other concubines and ladies-in-waiting look at her with harsh eyes. On top of that, she hasn't brought a single servant from Sahou."
Standing considered, that was probably the sensible thing to do, but it did seem a bit pitiful.
"So you want me?"
If she held a position equivalent to a court physician, gaining entry to the inner palace would be easy enough.
"Ideally, I would have you enter as a lady-in-waiting."
Gaoshun's expression was complicated.
Maomao had, until last year, served as the poison taster for Consort Gyokuyou — no, Empress Gyokuyou. She had turned that down and returned to the city, to the pleasure quarter. Even if it was an order, becoming a maid to someone else's concubine was bound to cause problems. Empress Gyokuyou herself might get rather cross about it.
"With the same authority as a court physician, I could meet with Empress Gyokuyou in an assisting capacity. When she was told about that, she was most pleased."
"I haven't even agreed yet."
If it had already been brought to Empress Gyokuyou...
"Yes, here is a letter of recommendation from the Empress."
Gaoshun produced the document with an innocent expression.
"From Lord Jinshi as well."
Gaoshun added another sheet.
"And from His Majesty too."
"Why on earth..."
When yet another impressive letter was placed before her, Maomao instinctively stepped back.
Gaoshun kept the furrow between his brows firmly in place and slowly closed his eyes.
"Some time ago, I had you obtain the qualifications of a court lady so you could serve at the palace, didn't I?"
"I did fail, though."
For a time, Maomao had worked directly under Jinshi. At that point, she was told to become a court lady and had a mountain of reference books thrust upon her.
"Yes, I thought you would pass easily. You're so studious when it comes to medicine and poison, and on top of that, you have a good memory."
"Unfortunately, that wasn't quite the case."
Maomao was not inherently superior to anyone else. She simply cut corners on the things others were expected to memorize and accomplish, and redirected that time toward the fields she was interested in.
"What Little Cat means is that she doesn't so much fail to memorize things she has no interest in as find them difficult to remember, right? In fact, she's learned the etiquette of the pleasure quarters quite thoroughly."
"That was out of necessity."
Already halfway to
being a mummy.
And yet, the old hag was still going strong. If you didn't memorize, you'd be beaten, and you wouldn't be fed either. Maomao's father, Luomen, tried to shield her, but a frail old man was no match for the formidable hag.
So in order to survive, with the help of the young ladies, she had managed to learn the etiquette of the pleasure quarters.
"In other words, you'll memorize it when you need to. Before, even with Lord Jinshi's orders, you didn't seem to have any real intention of studying properly."
What she had now were three letters.
From Jinshi, Consort Gyokuyou, and the Emperor.
Even if unofficial, these were three people in this country whom one absolutely must not cross, and she was being stared down by all three of them.
"You absolutely must pass this time."
"W-When you put it that way..."
Gaoshun flung wide the door to the apothecary. He brought in a large cloth bundle that had been sitting outside and dropped it with a heavy thud in front of Maomao.
"Absolutely."
Behind Gaoshun, for some reason, stood the old hag with a disciplinary whip. Visible in her bosom was a coin purse. She had apparently already been bribed.
(I've been cornered!)
"You will absolutely pass this time, no matter what."
Gaoshun declared to Maomao with finality.