This chapter is nothing but idle chatter.
The three-day home visit passed in the blink of an eye.
Seeing all those familiar faces, she wanted nothing more than to stay forever, but she couldn't abandon her work in the Inner Palace, and besides, it would cause trouble for her guarantor,
Ri Haku,
so she had no choice but to return.
More than anything, she was pushed out the door by the old procuress, who was already scheming about what sort of
sadistic pastime
she could
sell Maomao
into at the New Year's first auction.
(Seems like she got to have a nice dream while it lasted.)
When she saw the young lady Hakurei, looking absurdly glossy and radiant,
and Ri Haku,
who had transformed to look as sweet as
an apricot
dipped in honey, with his drooping eye corners, she regretted having overpaid him so generously.
Thanks to that, her next place of sale had been decided.
Well, she could sympathize somewhat—once Ri Haku had tasted the nectar of heaven, the earthly variety just wouldn't do anymore.
The old procuress would surely keep him alive just long enough to squeeze every last drop out of him.
As for that, Maomao bore no responsibility.
And so, with souvenirs in hand, she returned to
the Jade Palace,
but what awaited her there was an oppressive atmosphere, thick with menace,
wrapping...
He was a young man who looked as if he might have been a celestial maiden.
Beyond his gentle smile,
she sensed an ominous presence—
like the foul miasma of gu poison.
For some reason, he was glaring at her intently.
Regardless of personality, a beauty was a beauty. And being stared down by one carried a fearsome force.
Finding him troublesome, she tried to slip by with only a slight nod of acknowledgment, but a firm hand seized her shoulder—fingers digging in hard enough to bite.
"Waiting in the reception room."
A voice like honey trickled into her ear. It was honey, to be sure, but—
the honey of monkshood.
That's what it was.
Behind her, he pleaded with his eyes to give up—
Gaoshun.
.
Looking troubled yet with eyes shining bright—
Gyokuyou—
the consort.
For some reason, she stared at Maomao as though blaming her—
Hongniang.
.
The three maids as well—curiosity far outweighed concern.
They would surely grill her for every last detail later.
(What on earth happened?)
After setting down her luggage and changing into her maid's uniform, she headed to the reception room.
"Is there something you need?"
The room had
Jinshi
alone in it. He wore his plain official's robes with elegance, legs crossed in his chair,
elbow
propped on the desk. He seemed somehow in a worse mood than usual. Was it her imagination? She wanted it to be her imagination. She would decide it was her imagination.
Her trusty cooling draught, Gaoshun, was nowhere to be found.
Consort Gyokuyou was nowhere in sight either.
In short, there was no one to ease the discomfort.
"I hear you went back home for a visit."
"Yes."
"How was it?"
"Everyone seemed healthy, which was all that mattered."
"I see."
"Yes."
"..."
"..."
"This Li Bai — what sort of man is he?"
"He is my guarantor."
(Why is he asking for a name?)
He would be a future regular as well. An important golden goose.
"Do you understand what that means? The meaning of it."
"Yes. One must be a high-ranking official with a solid background to serve as a guarantor."
Jinshi looked thoroughly exhausted.
Was he telling her not to state the obvious?
"
Hairpin
"...received a hairpin?"
"They were handing out quite a few, so I took one as a courtesy."
Thinking back on it now, she had been remarkably generous.
The design was
simple,
but the craftsmanship
was excellent—it was a well-made hairpin.
"So I was beaten by something you got as a mere courtesy?"
(I?)
She tilted her head at the unfamiliar first-person pronoun.
"I thought I'd given you one too, but I never heard a thing about it."
He pulled a sullen face.
The ethereal smile was gone; he now looked about the same age as Maomao, or perhaps even younger.
She marveled that there were people who could change this much from a single shift in expression.
It seemed he was displeased that Maomao had gone to Li Bai rather than having the matter brought to Jinshi's attention. How strange—it was always easier to stay out of trouble. Perhaps that was simply the privilege of having too much free time.
"I apologize. I simply couldn't think of anything that would serve as satisfactory compensation for you, Lord Jinshi."
(Inviting a eunuch
to a pleasure house—
wouldn't that be rude?)
If it were merely a place for drinking tea
and reciting poetry,
that would be one thing, but this was a place where carnal entertainment also came into play.
Inviting a man who was no longer a man to such a place felt rather awkward.
Above all, someone of Jinshi's stature—ordinary courtesans...
Then Again
Mummification
The Bird Becomes a Mummy.
"What do you mean, payment? You paid that guy Li Bai?"
He wore a look of suspicion.
On top of his ill temper, anxiety crept into his expression.
"Yes, I was quite delighted by the dream of a single night."
"(At that rate, she"
"won't be returning to"
"reality for a while.)"
Even a brave warrior would seem like a kitten to Miss Hakurei.
Would she be bringing gold coins from now on?
Looking at Jinshi, his face was utterly drained of color.
The hand holding his teacup was trembling.
(Is the room cold?)
Maomao added charcoal to the brazier and fanned the flames.
"It seems the customer was thoroughly satisfied, so our hard work paid off."
(I need to put more effort into finding new customers, too.)
As she clenched her fist with renewed determination, she heard the sound of a teacup shattering behind her.
"What are you doing?"
Shards of pottery were scattered across the floor.
Jinshi stood there deathly pale, his clothes soaked with tea stains.
"Ah, I'll go get something to wipe that up right away."
When she opened the door, there was Consort Gyokuyou clutching her belly and laughing.
And Gaoshun, looking utterly exhausted.
There was Hongniang, too stunned for words.
Maomao, still in the dark about what was going on, headed off for the time being
to the kitchen
to look for a cloth.
○●○
"How long are you going to sulk?"
Even after returning to his office, Jinshi remained slumped over his desk.
Gaoshun let out a deep sigh.
"Please don't forget that we're supposed to be working."
"I know, I know."
He did not know.
The person called Jinshi would not give such a childish reply.
He would not grow overly attached
to a toy.
After that, it had taken considerable effort to extract the full details from Consort Gyokuyou, who was still rolling with laughter.
In exchange for vouching for her, the reward had apparently been a meeting with the popular courtesan
she'd been longing to see.
He never would have guessed that girl had such connections.
Still,
the person in question
must have been imagining all sorts of things. Ah, youth was terrifying.
He had recovered some of his composure, but his dissatisfaction clearly lingered.
Well, if he finished his work in a hurry and went to see her, her going home with some unknown man would surely be nothing less than a thunderbolt from
the clear
blue sky.
There was no time to keep soothing the child.
Gaoshun set the lacquered box down on the desk and withdrew a letter from within.
"The report from the other day has finally arrived."
The order to find the burned maidservant. A month had already passed since then.
"That took too long."
He raised his downcast face
and turned back to
Jinshi.
"My apologies."
He did not add any excuses.
That was Gaoshun's creed.
"Who was it, exactly?"
"Someone surprisingly important, as it turned out."
He spread the letter across the desk.
"The one from
Pomegranate Palace —
Fuumei,
head lady-in-waiting
to Virtuous Consort."