Just as yesterday's
Basen
had reported,
Rahan
's elder brother had returned to the secondary estate.
"Phew, that was rough."
Rahan's elder brother set his farming tools down in front of the (provisional) infirmary. He had so many things to haul around — potatoes, farming implements, all sorts of luggage — that he was using the storehouse behind the detached building.
"That must have been hard work."
Since there were no patients in particular, Maomao greeted the worn-out Rahan's elder brother. The quack doctor had come along too, apparently with nothing better to do.
Ten'yuu
was on "house-sitting" duty, which was really just a nap. Rahan's elder brother was too utterly ordinary to interest him.
"You've had a long day, haven't you? My, you've gotten quite tanned."
The quack doctor spoke to him in the easy manner of a friendly uncle to his nephew. At this rate, he might soon be inviting Rahan's elder brother over for
dim sum
.
"Ahh, it hardly rains around here, so the sun beats down something fierce. Summer might really be something to dread."
Rahan's elder brother leaned a
hoe
against the wall. Diligent as ever, even right after coming home.
"Is that so, is that so. How about some cold fruit water? I've got water specially chilled down in the cellar."
(Isn't cold water a luxury item?)
Maomao wondered whether it was really alright to help themselves to it. Meanwhile, the quack doctor was already inviting Rahan's elder brother to tea.
"Yes, I'd love to —"
Rahan's elder brother stopped. No, frozen would be a better word for it.
Wondering what was the matter, Maomao gave him a poke. Looking closer, she saw that he was trembling ever so slightly.
"Eep! M-M-Moon —!"
The quack doctor was in a fluster.
When Maomao turned around, there stood
Jinshi
, wearing a smile that seemed to scatter rose petals through the air.
"You are Rahan's elder brother, are you not?"
Even scarred, a
jewel
is still a jewel. Tossing his glossy, silken hair, he approached Rahan's elder brother.
"Y-Yes, sir."
Rahan's elder brother gave a thoroughly nondescript reply. He clearly wasn't in any state to manage a proper conversation.
"You've accompanied us on this journey, yet I have been remiss in offering my greetings. My apologies. Would it be enough to say I am the Emperor's younger brother?"
Only a handful of people, such as the Emperor himself, were permitted to call Jinshi by his real name. That was probably why, even when introducing himself, he couldn't simply say his name outright. If he were careless enough to give his name and the other party remembered it — then, should they ever utter Jinshi's real name aloud, they could be punished for lèse-majesté. This was a consideration to prevent that.
(Royalty has it rough.)
In general, he was apparently called the Moon Prince, or the Prince of the Night, and so on.
"I-It is m-my g-great honor to a-accompany you on this —"
(And who was it again who said he'd been tricked into coming along?)
The unremarkable Rahan's elder brother was unremarkably nervous in front of Jinshi. The quack doctor, meanwhile, was staring at Jinshi with shining, starry eyes.
"I've heard much from Rahan. He tells me that his birth father, also of the Ra line, has a talent for agriculture. And that he has a brother who has been assisting him, possessing knowledge and skill in farming that ordinary farmers do not."
(A
professional
farmer.)
Rahan's elder brother wore an extraordinarily complicated expression. He was being praised, but apparently didn't find it the least bit gratifying. Still, ordinary commoners simply cannot stand up to Jinshi's dazzling
presence
.
In other words, they get swept along. The stage was entirely Jinshi's.
(Ah, I've seen this play out before.)
Maomao watched as Jinshi pressed his one-sided attack with his glitter as a weapon, and Rahan's elder brother — being merely ordinary — was helpless to do anything about it.
"To reduce pest damage, you carry out
autumn plowing
, I'm told. It was a term I'd never heard before. When I had my subordinates look into it afterward, I learned that in the past, rulers had imposed it upon the farmers. Sadly, the benefits of plowing the land in autumn were outweighed by the greater importance of fattening livestock through grazing, and so it fell into disuse.
Governance
is a difficult thing."
"Y-Yes, sir."
"And besides potatoes, you are well-versed in growing wheat as well. To think — trampling wheat to make it grow stronger and thicker is something I'd never heard of. There is much I do not know. I would have you continue to instruct one as ignorant as myself."
"N-No, sir, I wouldn't presume —"
Rahan's elder brother went red, then went pale, then red again. The quack doctor, meanwhile, kept a dreamy, blissful air about him, gazing at Rahan's elder brother — who was being continuously addressed — with just a hint of envy.
"And — though it pains me to ask — there is something I would have you teach me right away. Would that be alright?"
With a slightly troubled expression, Jinshi made his appeal.
Rahan's elder brother's cheeks flushed crimson, and the quack doctor was taken down by the stray shot.
(Ugh.)
Ruthless as ever, Maomao thought to herself, and devoted herself to being a spectator. She did, however, lean the farming tools Rahan's elder brother hadn't finished putting away against the wall for him.
"Yes. I-If it's something m — I mean, I — am able to do."
"Is that so!"
At the way Jinshi's smile brightened the room, the quack doctor opened and closed his mouth like a carp on a chopping block.
"Then, since we're here, let us go inside so I can explain."
Jinshi raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. Quick as a flash,
Basen
and
Suzume
came running. In Basen's hand was a large rolled-up sheet of paper.
(All things considered, these two get along well.)
Jinshi walked into the infirmary as though he owned the place. Ten'yuu, who had been napping on the long bench inside, sat up with sleep-bleary eyes. The bodyguard,
Lihaku
, was silently asking Maomao with his gaze, "What's all this?"
"What's going on?"
"A lot of things."
Explaining it all to Ten'yuu sounded like too much trouble for Maomao.
"Hmm."
He sounded indifferent, but he was clearly interested, watching them on the sly.
The paper Basen had brought was a map, and it was spread out on the infirmary's table.
"This is a map of Xu'xi Province."
Basen explained.
Grasslands, mountains, and a desert region. Compared to Hua'yang Province it was quite a drab landscape, but there was a road that ran straight across its center. A trade route linking east and west.
"There are places circled here and there, aren't there?"
Ten'yuu joined in the conversation with a perfectly innocent face. The quack doctor had begun preparing tea.
Basen made an openly displeased face.
(The distance is too close.)
It was a familiarity quite improper for someone facing royalty. It might have been one thing back in his eunuch days, but Maomao couldn't help worrying about whether this was really alright.
Still, right now, Jinshi was acting out of calculation, she thought.
"Rahan's elder brother."
"Yes!"
(His name is fine without using it?)
Rahan's elder brother snapped to attention.
"The truth is, the areas marked with these circles are farming villages. I would have you, by all means, take on autumn plowing and potato cultivation in them as a kind of farming practicum."
Jinshi flashed a smile that looked positively murderous.
"... Eh?"
Rahan's elder brother had only just gotten back from a farming village.
"As soon as possible. Let's say — I would have you set out as early as tomorrow."
Faced with the radiant smile, Rahan's elder brother closed his eyes as though dazzled. He couldn't refuse.
(— So that's what this is about.)
Use those who can be used, as the saying goes, but the ones being used are pitiful all the same, Maomao thought. The map was awfully large and wide.
"How far is it from the Western Capital to the most distant village?"
She tried asking Suzume, who looked a bit bored. Today she seemed to have just tagged along. To be honest, she didn't really need to be here, but she had probably wanted to escape her bird-of-prey mother-in-law.
"Roughly
a hundred ri
, I'd say, probably."
"A hundred ri..."
Rahan's elder brother's face went pale.
"First, I would have you go to the nearest village. Then on to the next. If horseback isn't your strong suit, I'll arrange a comfortable carriage."
It was a conversation that took for granted he would be put to work.
"If possible, I would have you teach autumn plowing in every district within two months. As for the potatoes, we'll start on those in order afterward."
It might be called a farming practicum, but the real point was anti-locust countermeasures. Since they didn't know what would prove effective against locust plagues, they would try everything they could. And they intended to use up anything usable in the process.
It was pitiful for Rahan's elder brother, but he would have to labor as a noble sacrifice. As for what Maomao herself could do —
Maomao took out some medicine from the cupboard and kneaded it with honey. She thinned it with water and poured it into a glass vessel. Beside the quack doctor as he served tea, she held it out to Rahan's elder brother.
"Here you go."
"What's this?"
"A tonic. I'll prepare a concentrated stock that keeps well, so please drink it when you get tired on the road."
"So labor is just a foregone conclusion now?!"
"... Can you refuse?"
"... Do you think I can?"
No, you can't, Maomao had thought as she made the tonic. She'd also better prepare some compresses and the like for sore muscles.
An ordinary commoner like Rahan's elder brother had no way to refuse when Jinshi closed in at this distance to make a request. And Jinshi had factored that in from the start.
(Ruthless.)
Ordinary, yes — but as ordinary men went, Rahan's elder brother was an outstanding specimen.
"You'll do it for me, won't you?"
Jinshi tilted his head slightly with a troubled-looking smile.
Rahan's elder brother could only slump his shoulders in defeat.
Ten'yuu, an outsider to the whole affair, was snickering at someone else's misfortune.
(゜∀゜)Ahya