The season was still in the thick of summer. The medical aides—worn out but faithfully repeating the washing and disinfection of linens day after day—received a notice.
"For me?"
The one tilting her head was—
En'en.
The notice had been addressed to her alone.
"Whatever could it be?"
Peering over with a curious expression was—
Yao.
She was the most physically imposing of the three, including Maomao, yet her eager curiosity gave her an air that was childlike for her age.
"It appears to be an official appointment."
Reading the contents, all three of them frowned. Then they turned to look at the medical aide who had delivered the notice.
"So, En'en, I'll need you to prioritize this assignment for the time being."
The one who grimaced the most at the medical aide's words was En'en herself.
"I'm terribly sorry, but being separated from Lady Yao is really something I cannot..."
"Do you think I'm someone you can refuse?"
It was phrased with utmost politeness, yet brooked no argument.
As for what was written—
"So, in other words, I'm being assigned as an attendant to His Imperial Highness the Imperial Brother? On a temporary basis?"
Yao skimmed through the document. In other words, the position was that of a caretaker for Jinshi.
"May I ask one question? Why me? If you consider our academic performance and such, I would think Lady Yao is the more capable one."
(No, that's because you slacked off.)
Wanting to retort but holding back—that was Maomao's kindness.
"Furthermore, considering my family background, I don't believe I'm suitable."
Setting Yao aside, En'en was a commoner. When it came to serving as a lady-in-waiting for the imperial family, it was standard practice to select someone of at least modestly good lineage.
However, as far as Maomao was concerned, she felt she could understand why En'en had been chosen.
"If anything, they're avoiding women from good families."
The medical officer said, looking rather smug.
"If you openly select someone from a good family, there are more than a few who'd assume she's a candidate consort for His Highness."
Jinshi was one year older than Maomao, putting him at twenty. He looked older than that, and it would not be unusual for him to have taken a consort by now—rather, it would be stranger if he hadn't.
"And besides, with that
face
of his, the order came down that it would cause problems to assign him just anyone."
Just as she expected. En'en was somewhat twisted, but she was dead set on being a proper young lady—there was no way she would lose her head over Jinshi. If anything, her face was practically screaming "I don't wanna get transferred."
"Maomao was also on the list of candidates, but..."
The medical officer glanced outside. The eccentric with the monocle was plastered against the window. Maomao had thought she hadn't seen him around lately, but here he was again. Everyone was used to it by now.
"We received word from a certain party that she was not suitable, so she was excluded."
As he stared in, a pair who appeared to be his subordinates grabbed him from behind and hauled him away. Maomao wished he would never come back, but he would probably show up again before long.
(Come to think of it)
She saw the eccentric military advisor around often enough, but his
Rikuson
was nowhere to be seen. He was valued for his ability to remember anyone's face after seeing them just once—perhaps he had other duties to attend to.
"I know this is sudden, but I'd like you to start tomorrow."
"..."
Though her expression was blank, a definite air of
"Absolutely not"
was radiating from her. She glanced toward Yao, hoping for rescue. As for Yao, she had accepted it with a resigned "If it's about lineage, there's nothing to be done." Maomao had expected jealousy, but Yao was surprisingly nonchalant about such things. Perhaps it was because she knew En'en was genuinely capable.
"If it's En'en, it wouldn't be strange to post her anywhere. Good luck!"
Yao said this with a sparkling smile. Maomao had thought it might be payback for all the times En'en had gotten the better of her, but there was none of that—she was congratulating her wholeheartedly. She hadn't read En'en's intentions one bit.
En'en's face twisted. It would have been nice if her mistress had spoken up for her, but Yao had clearly adopted a see-her-off stance, leaving her with nothing she could say.
"Well then, I'm counting on you."
A pat on the shoulder from the medical officer, and En'en slumped in defeat.
"With one fewer person, work really does pile up, doesn't it?"
Yao said while putting away medicines on the shelf. She had been talking to Maomao more than before, but with En'en gone, that had only increased further.
"That's right. En'en is always bustling around."
Maomao sorted through the medicines, checking what each one was. Occasionally there would be rare ones mixed in, but today's delivery was mostly just additional stock of their usual supplies.
"I want to believe she'll be all right, but I do hope she won't cause any trouble for His Imperial Highness the Prince."
"There won't be any problems."
"That's right, it's En'en, so she'll be fine."
(Well, even if she causes a little trouble, they won't behead her.)
This judgment was based less on En'en's abilities and more on Jinshi's character. One way or another, Jinshi didn't particularly enjoy punishing people. Of course, when there was no alternative he would hand out discipline, but Maomao couldn't imagine En'en making that terrible a mistake.
(As long as she doesn't commit treason, that is.)
In any case, Maomao went about her work as usual.
○●○
There were more people than usual in the office. With paperwork in one hand, Jinshi reviewed the civil officials, military officers, and court ladies being introduced to him.
Normally, in his position, Jinshi wouldn't bother with individual introductions for every newly assigned person. However, taking the trouble to check on them was simply his way of doing things.
"Things are going to get busy from here on, so work hard for me."
Jinshi smiled warmly. It wasn't that he was trying to be charming, nor was it out of particular concern for his subordinates.
Every person present kept their expressions firmly in place.
Smiling at someone could leave a favorable impression, but for Jinshi, it more often brought disaster.
On his first day entering the inner palace as a eunuch, he had greeted the other eunuchs with a smile—and the moment Gaoshun looked away for an instant, he was dragged into the bushes. Losing their manhood hadn't entirely erased their desires, it seemed, and they had tried to treat Jinshi as their little plaything. He didn't know how far they'd intended to go, but regardless, it had been dangerous.
"Looking back on it now, it's hardly what you'd call a fond memory."
He muttered to himself. He had punched the man right then and there and run away. The truth was, it wasn't uncommon for eunuchs to form such relationships with each other, and on the surface they were called
sworn brothers
apparently.
I don't want to think about it.
"What's wrong, Lord Jinshi?"
Basen, finally healed from his injuries, tilted his head. His whole body should have been in peak condition, but the man apparently never missed a day of training. Even Gaoshun, his father, was exasperated by his son's toughness.
"No, it's nothing."
This round of selections didn't seem bad. He'd been a little anxious when he heard they absolutely had to include young ladies-in-waiting, but so far there didn't seem to be any problems.
Still, given the previous poisoning incident, there was no harm in staying on guard. He needed to keep his eyes peeled. Personally, Jinshi had wanted to bring in someone he'd known for a long time, but it turned out the person they'd gotten was that old acquaintance's colleague—a court lady assigned to the imperial physicians.
As the first members of a newly created department, the examination had been made appropriately difficult. He'd heard that those without aptitude for medical work were steadily eliminated, so their competence should be solid.
From here, each of them would be assigned duties for the Crown Prince's debut. Since Jinshi also needed to get to work, he decided to dismiss everyone promptly.
Once everyone had left, Jinshi let out a deep breath. Basen was the only one left in the room, so he could get away with that much.
Basen was working hard to make up for the time he'd missed. He was even tackling the paperwork he was bad at, which was gratifying.
"Lord Jinshi, regarding the matter of
the priestess from
Saō who is staying at the detached palace—what would you like done?"
Basen asked, holding up a document.
Politics was truly a hassle. Things that could be conveyed verbally had to be documented and circulated one by one. He was pretty sure the other party had arrived at the detached palace quite a while ago. Being asked about it now through official paperwork was troublesome. He'd greeted them once, and that had been it. He'd assumed someone else was handling the matter, so it had never occurred to him that it would end up back on his desk.
"I have to handle this myself...?"
He could only sigh at the mountain of paperwork before him. Work related to the Rear Palace still kept coming in, and it felt like all the gaps left by the departure of that faction had been dumped on him as well.
"Does everyone hate me?"
"No, if anything, I think you're beloved."
"Stop saying that with a straight face."
"Really? I just assumed everyone was coming here because they wanted to see you, Lord Jinshi."
He said it without a shred of malice, which made it all the more difficult to deal with.
The reason court ladies had been banned from entering was partly because there were quite a few who deliberately dropped documents to drag out the work. Occasionally, even civilian officials would do the same, so anyone who dropped a document was barred from entry, no exceptions.
Being barred didn't mean they spoke ill of the person to the other party, but people inevitably jumped to strange conclusions.
As a result, some had come to believe it was a place where you'd be punished for making a mistake.
Still, the paperwork never dwindles.
"So, regarding the matter of what to do with the priestess from Sandoi — the physicians still haven't met with her yet, correct?"
"That's right. If we're sending anyone, it would be Physician Han and the court ladies who attend him."
The other party was a dignitary of a foreign nation, someone who held the title of priestess. Even if the purpose was medical, it wasn't the sort of thing where a man could simply touch her at will. So Physician Han — that is, Luomen, Maomao's adoptive father and Rahan's uncle, a former eunuch — would go. The court ladies would be the ones to touch and examine her, and Luomen would diagnose the illness based on the information they gathered. That was probably how it would work.
It was a roundabout process, but it was what the other side had requested, so there was no helping it. They had just pulled one person away, leaving two behind, but with Maomao there, coordination with Luomen should go smoothly.
"Then, find out both our schedule and theirs. Let the medical bureau know that the visit should be arranged to accommodate their schedule as much as possible."
"Understood."
Mashin promptly took brush to paper and sent word to the messenger waiting outside the office.
"Is there anything else?"
He wanted to get the important matters out of the way first. The trivial cases that kept cropping up again and again could wait.
"Not particularly — oh, if anything, there is one thing."
"What is it?"
"...I was immediately handed a transfer request."
"..."
He received the transfer request, penned in an elegant hand. It must be someone from the group they had just met with.
"A court lady named Yenyan has requested to be reassigned back to her position as a physician's attendant."
There was indeed a saying about birds of a feather flocking together — it seemed that people drawn to rather unconventional positions tended to be rather unconventional themselves.
Maomao wanted young maidservants gone as soon as possible, and Jinshi had been thinking that if the other maidservants learned the work and there were no problems, the number could be reduced. If she could be patient for a while, the request could probably be accommodated.
"This court lady named Yenyan — what kind of recommendation does she have?"
"Her work is described as flawless, with a particular talent for putting others at ease. Her skills as a maidservant have been cultivated since around the age of ten, so there are no concerns there as well. She has a good memory, though it's noted that her reluctance to take initiative is both a strength and a weakness."
"That does sound rather good."
"Also... this is a bit unrelated to her abilities, but..."
Mashin turned his face away from the document in a manner that suggested he found this part awkward to relay.
"What is it? Out with it."
"...Yes. In the notes, it says she has no particular difficulty with or aversion to men, but..."
After a brief hesitation, he continued.
"She seems to have somewhat of a sapphic disposition."
Sapphic — that is to say, a preference for the company of the same sex over the opposite sex.
"Hired!"
Jinshi tossed the transfer request aside.
"W-wait, Lord Jinshi!"
"Ability has nothing to do with it, does it? She's excellent talent. Do not let her slip away."
With a sly grin, Jinshi said this to Baken, then returned to his work.