The air was filled with the rich aroma of fragrant tea and sweet pastries.
Their skin was smooth and glossy, like that of newborns, and they chattered away in cheerful, high-pitched voices.
With a description like that, anyone would picture a tea party of young women.
But, however— "Welcome back, little miss~"
The host of this tea party was a middle-aged man—and a eunuch at that.
He was a quack doctor. His conversation partner was— Ten'yu, who was nodding along while eating dried jujubes.
Li Bai stood guard against the wall, but perhaps having nothing to do, he held walnuts in both hands and was trying to crack them open.
(Aren't those the walnuts he brought in as medicine?)
Maomao had her doubts, but she returned the quack doctor's greeting for the time being.
"I'm back. The clinic has really started to look the part, hasn't it?"
The detached building at Yu'en's villa had been converted into a clinic, and it was now quite well-equipped. Shelves and beds had been added, and screens were set up as well.
"Your room is right at the top of the stairs. It's where you slept on the first night, so you should know which one it is, right?"
"Yes. What about my luggage?"
Maomao had headed off to the farm village without properly unpacking. She shouldn't have tidied anything up at all.
"I didn't touch any of your belongings. But the room was so bare and dreary that I added a bit of furniture here and there, so it should be much more comfortable now!"
The quack doctor was oddly enthusiastic. In other words, he had enough free time to redecorate Maomao's room.
"The clean-shaven handsome guy went all out on the renovations~"
Ten'yu wore his usual flippant grin. Maomao had a very bad feeling about this.
"Were there any particular problems?"
Maomao set down her luggage and asked, opening the drawers of the newly installed medicine cabinet. The bitter smell of real medicine, which she hadn't smelled in ages, was soothing.
"Hmm, nothing special. Business as usual — going out on Tsukihime's house calls, with patients showing up now and then—"
"Mostly colds. The temperature swings have been brutal, and a few folks got weakened from the sea voyage."
Ten'yu chimed in from the side, perhaps because the quack doctor's leisurely way of speaking was too sluggish. Maomao wanted to hear things concisely, so she began checking the stock of ephedra while keeping an eye on Ten'yu.
"One guy got stung by a scorpion, but he was fine. Someone nearby treated him right away, so even though he was whining about it, they said he wouldn't die."
Ten'yu being the messenger was probably because it wasn't his area of expertise. The quack doctor couldn't possibly know — so was there someone knowledgeable about scorpion venom?
"Was there someone here who knows about poison?"
She pulled down some Cynanchum from the shelf, tore off a bit, and tasted it. It was so bitter she regretted it — exactly the kind of medicinal taste she liked.
"Scorpion venom isn't rare around here, so the cafeteria lady just told me about it. Then she added, 'And you call yourself a doctor?' — putting me down."
"Yeah. In the Western Capital, they apparently deep-fry scorpions and eat them. Scary, huh."
The quack doctor furrowed his brows.
"Let's go eat some!"
Maomao's excitement surged at once.
She put back the licorice she had taken out.
"No way, I don't wanna."
The quack doctor shook his head vigorously.
The two medical officers were in this state, so Maomao concluded there were no particular problems. She'd like to play with the medicines a bit longer, but reluctantly decided to head to her room.
She opened the room right at the top of the stairs. The moment she did, she understood why Ten'yu had been laughing.
"What the heck is this..."
The room that should have been plain and empty now had a cherry-blossom-pink canopy carefully fitted over the bed. For a mosquito net, it was remarkably cute, with embroidery scattered here and there. The built-in desk was covered with an embroidered tablecloth, and the chair had a Western-style cushion crafted with openwork lace.
A canopy with cut-out patterns hung over the window as well, and a floral tapestry adorned the wall.
It smelled of incense. For Maomao, it was absurdly cutesy— a floral fragrance, no less. To make matters worse, dried roses had been scattered everywhere.
"..."
She trembled, wanting to tear everything down and redo the décor on the spot, but the quack doctor with his sparkly eyes was standing right behind her. He fixed Maomao with a look full of expectation.
"Heh heh. That cutwork lace is nice, isn't it? The traveling merchant assured me it was perfect for a young lady."
A young lady—there was nothing young about Maomao. Besides, by age, she was practically past marriageable age already.
"Well, little lady? Do you like it?"
His round, childlike eyes bore down on her.
"Ng—"
Maomao's face twitched, and her shoulders slumped in defeat.
Behind her stood a sympathetic-looking Li Bai and a grinning Tianyou. As for today's revenge, she decided to swap Tianyou's evening tea for Senpurin tea.
Dinner ended, and Maomao returned to her room. She had gotten her revenge on Tianyou, so she felt slightly better.
(Sheesh, it's medicine, just medicine.)
It was originally a herb she used to mix into her eyebrow powder back in the pleasure district. It was said to help reduce hair loss. It also worked for indigestion, diarrhea, and stomach cramps, but its awful taste meant it was seldom used in the palace's medical office.
So why did she bother bringing it along? Because as a hair-loss remedy rather than an intestinal tonic, it had far better public appeal.
(Hair consultations do come up every now and then.)
Of course, unlike the quack doctor, Maomao always kept her patients' personal information confidential. That didn't mean she wouldn't use those visits to finagle a favor or two in return, though.
She sighed at how unbearably cute the room looked. If she redecorated everything at once, the quack doctor would be heartbroken, so she would have to change things little by little without him noticing.
She was thinking it was too much hassle today and she would start tomorrow when she went to change into her nightgown.
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in."
"Oh."
Ri Haku was the one who walked in.
"What seems to be the matter?"
"Well, I figured it might not be the best idea to bring this up in front of the old man and that Ten'yū guy, so I came to tell you directly."
She'd had a feeling, but it seemed Ri Haku and Ten'yū really didn't get along. Apparently even a big, friendly dog of a man like him had people he couldn't stand.
Ri Haku might look like a bit of an airhead, but he was quick on the uptake with sharp instincts. He'd probably caught a whiff of that untrustworthy air about Ten'yū.
"Did Ten'yū do something?"
"No, he hasn't done anything. It's just that he had this vibe like he was going to toy with the old man and turn it into a game, so I didn't mention it."
"So then... is this something you don't want the Imperial Physician to hear?"
"I keep telling you it wouldn't be a problem even if he did—"
"It would really help if you could just get to the point."
Maomao had just returned from her trip and was still drowsy. She'd come across a little blunt.
"Apparently, they show up."
"They show up? What does?"
"A head that flies around."
"A what?!"
When she said "head," she meant a head. How could a head possibly fly?
"A Flying Head is apparently showing up."
Ri Haku said it in the most dead-serious voice.