Jinshi
She was led to the room of the Chief Court Lady.
The middle-aged court lady withdrew on Jinshi's orders.
To be honest, she might as well just say it—being alone in the same room with this creature was absolutely, utterly impossible.
Maomao
That said, she had nothing against beautiful things.
It was just that when something was too beautiful, even the tiniest blemish felt like a terrible sin and became utterly unforgivable. It was the same as how a single scratch on a perfectly polished gem could halve its value.
And so, she inevitably ended up treating it the way she would a bug crawling along the ground.
There was nothing to be done about it.
(She wanted to admire him as a work of art.)
Those were the honest feelings of this commoner, Maomao.
As if taking the court lady's place,
Gaoshun
stepped into the room, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Lately, this silent retainer had been turning into something of a calming presence.
"How many colors are these, roughly?"
He laid out the powders he had brought from the medical office.
"Red, yellow, blue, purple, green—and if you sort them more finely, there are even more. I don't know the exact number."
"Then, how would you go about adding those colors to—"
Wooden tablets.
"—these?"
Rubbing the powder on as-is would never work. No matter how you looked at it, that would be suspicious.
"If it were salt, you'd just dissolve it in salt water. I believe these could work the same way."
She pushed the white powder forward.
"It seems some of the others can be dissolved in something other than water. This is outside my area of expertise, so I can't say for certain."
"That's enough."
The young man crossed his arms and sank into thought.
That alone was enough to form a complete picture.
Maomao knew that Jinshi had
a firm hold
on all affairs within the rear palace.
Her words must have given him some clue—he seemed to be fitting scattered fragments together in his mind.
(A cipher... perhaps?)
The answer he would arrive at was probably the same. However, Maomao knew full well that she should not say it.
The pheasant
that doesn't crow won't be shot, as the saying goes.
Since there didn't seem to be any further business, she was about to take her leave when—
"Wait."
She was called back.
"Yes?"
"I'm fond of pot-steamed dishes."
There was no need to ask what he meant.
(So he really did find out.)
Shoulders drooping, she
"I'll see if I can find some tomorrow, then."
told him.
○●○
Once she confirmed the door had shut with a soft click, Jinshi put away his honeyed smile. In its place, his gaze turned as sharp as the tip of a crystal shard.
"Find anyone who has suffered a burn on their arm recently. Start with anyone of chamber-attendant rank or above, and check the maids assigned to them as well."
"As you command."
Once Gaoshun withdrew, the head palace official entered.
"I'm sorry. I keep borrowing your space."
"N-not at all."
She flushed despite her age.
Jinshi's expression once again bore that smile sweet as heavenly dew.
This is how a woman should be.
For just a moment she pursed her lips,
then returned to her usual smile and left the room.
○●○
"Here, try this on."
The senior lady-in-waiting,
Yinghua,
was holding out a brand-new outfit to Maomao.
The top was unbleached, paired with a pale red
skirt,
and the sleeves were a light yellow, wider and more flowing than usual.
It wasn't silk, but it was made of fine cotton.
"What is this?"
The color was plain, befitting a servant girl, but
the design—
was impractical. What's more,
it was a garment with a wide-open neckline, something Maomao had never worn before, and her displeasure was clear on her face.
"What do you mean? It's for the garden party."
"Garden party?"
Maomao had been thoroughly enjoying the goodwill of her senior ladies-in-waiting. Every day, when she wasn't tasting poisons or making medicine, she would run around outside gathering herbs,
chat with Xiaolan,
and receive tea at the medical office. As a result, she had hardly heard any of the talk circulating among the upper classes.
When Maomao tilted her head in puzzlement, Yinghua explained with an exasperated look.
Twice a year, a social gathering was held in the palace gardens.
The emperor, who had no empress, would bring a first-rank consort. The ladies-in-waiting who served the consorts would accompany them as well.
Within the rear palace,
Gyokuyou
held the title of "Noble Consort,"
Rifa
held the title of "Virtuous Consort."
Two others—the "Virtue Consort" and the "Graceful Consort"—brought the total to four consorts, all of the first rank.
In principle, only the Virtue Consort and the Graceful Consort were supposed to attend the winter garden party. However, last time both Gyokuyou and Rifa, who had just given birth, were absent, so this time all four would attend.
"Everyone's attending?"
"Yes. We'd better be well prepared."
No wonder Yinghua's breathing had grown heavy.
Not only was it a rare opportunity to leave the rear palace,
but this time around,
it was Princess Lingli's debut, the senior consorts
would all be
stepping
out
together for the
occasion, and the event
was absolutely packed with significance.
Given the limited number of attendants, Maomao could not decline simply because she was unfamiliar with such proceedings. She understood well enough that in formal settings like these, the poison tester's role was taken particularly seriously.
*(Rain of blood might fall at any moment.)*
Maomao's intuition proved correct.
The trouble was that her intuition was almost always right.
"You ought to pad the front of your chest a bit. I'll also pad around your hips, but will that be acceptable?"
"As you wish."
Xiaolan cinched the sash tight and adjusted the length of the trailing garments and the sleeves, then delivered the final blow.
"You'll need to do your makeup properly as well. At least make an effort to hide your freckles once in a while."
It goes without saying that Maomao returned a strained smile to Xiaolan's grinning face.