"They apparently busted a dealer who'd been selling wine with strange additives."
While eating lunch in the dining hall, Maomao and the others chatted about current events.
They had staked out a corner so as not to bother the soldiers at their meal. Outside, the heavy rain had drawn even more people than usual. Autumn weather like this was rare — yesterday, a tremendous bolt of lightning had struck. It was so enormous that in the dormitory,
Yao
clung to
Yanyan
and made a huge commotion.
She recalled it had been right around the time the evening bell rang.
From what she'd heard, the lightning had struck a forest just northwest of the capital, or thereabouts. The court ladies who'd been loitering nearby had been gossiping about it.
"Wine with additives? Did they water it down?"
"No, they put medicine into a very sour grape wine to make it sweet, apparently."
Yanyan answered. Yao looked a bit disappointed, as though she'd wanted to explain, and ate her vinegared vegetables. Today's main dish was noodles topped with meat miso. The sharp spiciness was delicious.
"Make it sweet — did they put lead in it or something?"
Maomao was exasperated. If they'd laced it with that sort of poison, the drinkers would end up with lead poisoning.
"And apparently they were passing it off as imported goods. In reality, they'd been buying up cheap, low-quality grape wine and processing it."
Yao said this as though it was one point she wouldn't concede.
"Low-quality grape wine. That would mean either it was made somewhere around the Western Capital, or up north using wild grapes."
Maomao wanted to try some to see what it was actually like, but given that Jinshi hadn't brought the matter up, it had probably already been resolved.
"You seem to know a lot about grape wine?"
Yao asked with evident interest.
"I've done taste-testings quite a few times."
Maomao was looked after by a brothel called Rokushoukan. At this high-end establishment, they served wine suited to the client, and Maomao was called in for tastings. Her nose and tongue were quite sharp, and she had the madam's seal of approval.
"Grape wine, huh..."
"Miss..."
En-En looked at Yao with a forlorn expression.
Yao's liver had been damaged from her work tasting poisons. She ought to be watching her salt and alcohol intake.
"I'm not sure how strong it originally was, but wouldn't a small taste be all right? It'd be a problem if she drank enough to get drunk, though. Should I look for a grape wine with lower alcohol content?"
"...Is there really such a thing?"
Yao's eyes lit up for just an instant. She may have looked mature, but she was still only fifteen. She apparently had some interest in alcohol.
"Grape wine, once you remove the alcohol—"
"—is just—"
"—fruit juice."
"That only applies to you, Maomao."
En-En said flatly.
"My lady, I will accompany you when you drink, so please don't consume it in any way that could harm your health."
The overprotective En-En shot Maomao a look that pleaded, "Please don't push her too hard." Even Maomao knew better than to ignore that, so she simply ate her food in silence.
Just as she opened her mouth wide to take the last bite—
"Don't you lie to me!"
A man's voice boomed across the room.
Maomao and the others turned toward the sound.
It seemed to be a commotion on the far side of the dining hall, where many of the military officers were seated.
"What's going on?"
Everyone pretended not to know what was happening, but all were straining their ears.
"One of you put your hands on my little sister!"
Maomao thought this was hardly the sort of thing to discuss in the dining hall, but she still glanced over.
A large man was standing before three other men, veins bulging at his temples. That alone wouldn't have warranted much attention—but—
"Are those the same face?"
Yao tilted her head.
"...Right?"
Maomao, too, lifted her head to look.
The three men being berated differed in their attire, but all had the exact same face. With features that were each individually pretty, lined up in a row of three they looked almost doll-like.
Each wore a deadpan expression as they watched the man shout.
"Triplets, huh. At it again, I see."
A court lady standing nearby chimed in with a knowing look. She was a woman nearing her thirties, carrying the composed air of someone who'd seen it all.
"Triplets? What do you mean, 'again'?"
"Those triplets are quite the handsome devils, you know? All three of them are womanizers, always making moves on ladies here and there. Unmarried girls, married women — no sense of restraint at all. So every now and then, they end up getting screamed at like that —"
Troublesome lot, thought Maomao, glancing at the triplets.
Yao was scowling with undisguised contempt for the awful men, while En'en looked as though she'd bash anyone who so much as tried to approach her young mistress, clutching a piece of cutlery that could double as a blunt weapon.
"They can never seem to find proof, so they always get off the hook."
"Proof?"
"Yes. One of the triplets makes a move on a woman. But in the end, nobody can figure out which one actually did it. And their father happens to be a powerful man who bellows, 'Figure out which one did it. Try accusing the wrong one and you'll regret it.'"
If the sons were any indication, the father was cut from the same cloth.
"If you ladies don't want to end up in the same situation, I'd stay far away from them."
"Thank you very much."
Maomao thanked the well-informed lady of unknown origin and began tidying the cutlery.
It was somewhat concerning, but ultimately none of her business. Not something she or the others should stick their noses into.
Yao still looked bothered, but En'en stood guard like an iron fortress, determined not to let any pests near her young mistress.
They were just about to return to their afternoon work when —
"If nobody knows who she was with, then I don't have any proof either, do I?"
One of the triplets — the one wearing blue tassel ornaments — regarded the large man with a cocky, sideways look. It was exactly as the well-informed court lady had just described.
"Yeah, exactly. Besides, can't your sister even tell people apart?"
The one with the red cloth band said.
"If you've got a complaint, then file a formal accusation."
The one with the yellow belt said.
The three of them walked along, laughing at the big man. He carried himself with such an arrogant stride that he apparently couldn't see what was right in front of him.
He bumped into a tottering old official, who stumbled and spilled his untouched lunch across the floor.
"Sorry about that. Try not to stagger around so much."
The triplets walked off without even apologizing.
"...Maomao."
Yao peered into Maomao's face.
"Don't. Stay out of it."
Gently, Yanyan pressed down on Maomao's hand. She had apparently noticed that Maomao was about to grab a nearby medicine pot and go after the men.
"I know."
Reluctantly, Maomao set the medicine pot down and headed toward the old official who had fallen.
"Old man, are you all right?"
When she pulled on his arm, there was Luomen, looking utterly pathetic.
"Ha ha ha. I spilled it all."
The floor was covered with the spilled lunch. Yanyan was already tidying up without hesitation. Yao watched Yanyan and, flustered, began helping with the cleanup.
"Sorry, old man."
The big man from earlier came running over.
"What is wrong with those people?"
Maomao said, somewhat taking her frustration out on him. She felt bad for the big man, but this was no place for a brawl with so many people around during the daytime.
"Those guys are hopeless."
He spat the words out with a look like he'd bitten into something bitter.
"...Did your sister consent to it?"
The old man asked cautiously. He must have overheard the conversation as he passed by.
"...Consent, nothing. My sister is only fourteen. She's still too young to know any better, and she just went along with it."
"...She should just drop dead."
Yanyan said this lightly, then quietly moved behind Yao as if to protect her. Yao was fifteen as well — regardless of how she looked, she still retained a childish innocence.
"I understand what you're saying, but you've got the wrong place for it. When you think about your sister, this was a poor way to go about it."
The old man stood up as he spoke in a reasoning tone. Porridge clung stubbornly to his clothes, and a dampened cloth alone wouldn't be enough to get it off.
"I... I know that, but..."
He simply couldn't hold himself back, no matter what.
The old man furrowed his brow.
Seeing someone in trouble and being unable to leave them be—that was this former eunuch's bad habit.
"All you need is to know which of the three she dealt with?"
"Y-you can tell?"
The large man reacted to the old man's words. He looked like a military officer, bearing a vague resemblance to Li Bai in demeanor, though he lacked a certain composure.
"I can't say how much help I can be, though."
The old man placed his hand on the table and began to walk with a slight drag in his step.
They had borrowed a room in the medical office, and the old man and the large man sat across from each other. On the table, tea to calm the nerves had been set out.
"I shouldn't have swallowed that line about going out for a bit of shopping. She's terrified of thunder, and yesterday a bolt struck nearby and scared her witless. One of the triplets, who happened to be nearby, went and spoke to my sister like that."
The big man's name was
Maki
— a military officer, just as he appeared.
The day's work had long since begun, and under normal circumstances, Maki should have hurried back to his post. But the old man had been considerate enough to bring him along.
"What on earth do you think they're going to do?"
Yao peeked around the pillar with half her face showing.
"Those no-good rascals must be punished."
Yanyan said this with hot breath, fuming with indignation.
"You two are both too heavy-handed..."
Being the shortest, Maomao naturally felt the weight of the two pressing down on her from above. And it wasn't just Yao peeking in.
"What I'd like to know is whether you lot are going to handle this properly, or what exactly you plan to do."
An angry voice boomed from behind them. When they slowly turned to look—
Liu
The physician was standing there.
"S-S-Sorry!"
The three of them scrambled and scattered in a panic.
The conversation ended in about a quarter of an hour.
"What happened?"
Yao, unable to contain his curiosity, asked the old man. Naturally, making sure Physician Liu didn't overhear.
"I made arrangements for the triplets to receive a thorough questioning. All three of them appear to be military officers."
"...Old man."
Maomao could well imagine what the old man was planning. He would summon the military officers under the pretense of issuing orders. It was obvious whose help he intended to ask for.
His appearances had grown less frequent lately, but that troublesome man was still around.
"I really don't think summoning him through such roundabout methods is a good idea."
"Can't be helped, can it? It's a pitiful situation. Besides, you shouldn't be using that tone of voice here, should you?"
He gently tried to soothe her.
Maomao scowled, but could only wonder how things would turn out.