Apparently, the poisoning incident
had turned out to be
quite a serious matter.
Xiaolan
came at Maomao as though to pounce on her,
demanding answers.
Behind the laundry shed was where the maids
would gather to
gossip.
There they would sit on wooden crates,
lined up like dumplings,
and eat hawthorn berries.
(She'd never suspect I was involved.)
Xiaolan, cheeks stuffed with hawthorn berries,
dangled her legs, looking younger than her age.
"You're the maid at Maomao's place, right? The one who was poisoned?"
"That's me."
She wasn't lying.
"I don't know the specifics, but there's talk about who you really are. Is everything really okay?"
"I suppose so."
It made her uncomfortable,
so she deflected time and again until Xiaolan pouted in resignation.
Xiaolan dangled the skewer with the last hawthorn berry—like a blood-red coral
jade hairpin.
It seemed so.
"So then. Did you get any hairpins or anything?"
"More or less."
Including obligatory gifts, four in total.
Gyokuyou
She was also counting the consort's necklace.
"That's nice. So you can get out of here, huh?"
"(Hm?)"
"What did you just say?"
"Huh? Aren't you getting out of here?"
Yinghua
had been saying it persistently.
She herself had been letting those words slip right past her.
She clutched her head, realizing she had failed.
She shook her head and sank into self-loathing.
"What's wrong?"
She looked at Xiaolan, who was gazing at her with puzzlement.
"Tell me all about that."
Seeing Maomao so unusually motivated, Xiaolan puffed out her chest proudly.
"Alright, fine."
The chattering girl taught her all about how to use hairpins.
○●○
Li Bai
had been summoned right after his training.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, he handed the freshly sharpened sword to his subordinate.
Effeminate
eunuch
passed over a wooden tablet and a woman's hairpin.
A pink coral
ornament adorned it — merely one of
many
he had distributed before.
He had assumed she would understand it was just a courtesy and not take it seriously, but apparently that was not the case.
It would be cruel to embarrass her, yet having her take it seriously would also be troublesome.
Still, if she turned out to be a beauty, that would be a waste.
While mulling over gentle words of refusal, he looked at the wooden tablet.
"Jade Palace — Maomao"
That was what was written on it.
He had given only one hairpin to a lady-in-waiting of the Jade Palace.
Only to that sullen maid.
Tsk, tsk — rubbing his chin, Li Bai prepared to change clothes.
The inner palace was off-limits to men, as a rule.
Li Bai had not been castrated, so the inner garden was naturally forbidden to him. He was unlikely to be there in the future, and it would be problematic if he were.
It was a fearsome place, but with special permission, one could summon a lady-in-waiting from within.
This hairpin was the means to do so — one of several methods.
He borrowed the duty room at the Central Gate and waited for the person he had summoned.
The room was not particularly large: desks and chairs for two, with a eunuch standing before each of the doors on either side.
From the door on the inner palace side, a thin, small-framed maid appeared.
Freckles and spots covered the area around her nose.
"Who are you?"
"I'm often told that."
The maid spoke in a flat, blunt tone as she covered the area around her nose with her palm. A familiar face emerged.
"Don't they ever tell you to use makeup to cover it up?"
"I'm often told that."
She took it in as a plain fact, without the slightest sign of displeasure.
He could vaguely understand.
That this was the poison-tasting maid from before.
However, looking at her freckled face, he just couldn't connect it to that
alluring
courtesan's smile.
It was truly, utterly puzzling.
"But do you even realize what it means to summon me here again?"
He crossed his arms and legs.
As the large-framed military officer sat there looking self-important, the small girl
showed not a shred of
fear as she spoke.
"I was hoping to return to my family home."
She said it without a shred of emotion.
Li Bai scratched his head in exasperation.
"And you want me to help with that?"
"Yes. I heard that if someone could vouch for my identity, a temporary leave to go home would be possible."
She was saying the most outrageous things.
He wanted to find out whether she even understood what that originally meant.
It seemed this girl called Maomao was trying to use him to get herself a trip home. That was no job for a military officer.
Whether this was boldness or plain recklessness, he could not tell.
Li Haku rested his chin on his fist and snorted.
Even if told his attitude left something to be desired, he had no intention of correcting it.
"What's this? You want me to let you use me, is that it?"
Li Haku was considered a decent man, but when he glared, his face was terrifying enough.
He would berate a lazy subordinate so harshly that even uninvolved bystanders would end up apologizing.
Yet she didn't so much as twitch a single eyebrow.
She simply watched, devoid of any feeling.
"No, I was wondering if I might offer some appropriate thanks in return."
Maomao placed a bundle of wooden tablets on the desk.
They looked like letters of introduction.
"
Meimei,
,
Byakuren,
,
Joka,
"
They were women's names—Li Haku recognized them. No, he was sure plenty of other men would know them too.
"
Ryokuseikan
How about viewing the cherry blossoms at Ryokuseikan?"
It was the name of a high-class brothel where a man could burn through a year's worth of silver in a single night. The names she'd just listed belonged to three popular courtesans known as the Three Beauties.
"If you have any concerns, showing this should put your mind at ease."
The girl gave him nothing but a crooked little smile.
"You've got to be kidding."
"Please, check for yourself."
It was quite unbelievable.
That a mere maid would have
ties to the pleasure house
that
even high-ranking officials could barely enter
was quite unthinkable.
What was going on?
As he scratched his head again in confusion, the girl let out a sigh and rose to her feet.
"What's wrong?"
"You don't seem to believe me. Sorry to have put you to trouble."
She deftly produced something from inside her garment.
Two hairpins — one of red crystal, the other of silver.
"I apologize. I'll try my luck elsewhere."
"W-wait—"
He stopped the wooden tablet she was about to take back.
Maomao's expressionless eyes stared at Li Bai.
"What would you like to do?"
He knew he had lost.
○●○
"Is that all right, Lady Gyokuyou?"
Hongniang
peered through the gap in the door at Maomao. She looked healthier than usual, bustling about with her packing in high spirits.
It was rather strange, because Maomao herself probably thought this was perfectly ordinary.
"Well, it's only for three days."
"I suppose so,"
The head attendant picks up the princess, who is trying to pull herself upright using her for support.
"She absolutely has no idea, though."
"No, not at all."
The other maids are congratulating Maomao, but she herself doesn't seem to understand. She cheerfully replies that she'll bring back souvenirs.
Consort Gyokuyou stands by the window, gazing outside.
"My goodness, the one to feel sorry for is that girl."
She lets out a soft sigh, yet a mischievous smile surfaces on her lips.
Having finally wrapped up his work and freed himself up,
Jinshi
visited the Verdant Palace the day after Maomao's departure.
Flag Crusher