Li
As the physician had said, they were busy enough to want to borrow a cat's paw. The fact that medical treatment was available for free made it an extremely valuable opportunity. Soldiers who were working also stopped by, leaving them no time to rest.
Maomao
and the others did as Physician Li instructed.
The main examinations were left to Physician Li. Depending on the condition of each patient, Maomao would tend to wounds or dispense medicine.
Basen
looked uncomfortable, but he offered words of encouragement while handing bagged medicine to patients. Once he had gotten somewhat used to it, she handed him paper and
scissors
to cut wrapping paper, and he did so without complaint. He seemed to think it was better than having idle time while everyone else was working hard. However, having him do menial tasks was unseemly, so she had him do it where patients couldn't see.
(It's not that he can't do it.)
Basen could work as well as an ordinary civil official. But as
Jinshi's
aide, being able to do three times the workload was the baseline, so it was rather pitiful being measured against that standard. Even factoring in that his primary role was military, the prevailing attitude was that as a direct subordinate of the Imperial Brother, he should be capable of at least that much.
Suzume
had many peculiar and wasteful movements, yet her work was surprisingly fast. She finished washing and disinfecting the hanging cloth before noon, and with Maomao's help and whatever ingredients were on hand, she started preparing meals.
The most idle one was
Li Bai.
He was just standing at the entrance as a guard. The other two guards were occasionally put to work by Suzume, but Li Bai was truly just standing there.
"I'm basically just a scarecrow, you know."
He laughed as he said it, but honestly, he was quite useful. Though somewhat wild in appearance, Physician Li was quite slender compared to the people of the western capital. Many who came to the clinic to cause trouble were practically
vagrants.
Having a hulking man of at least six foot three standing at the entrance, even if just as a decorative piece, was quite the deterrent. Whenever a patient tried to bother someone, Li Bai would simply wander around the room without a word, which was a great help.
It would be one thing if they bothered Physician Li or Maomao, but it would be a problem if they targeted Basen. As Jinshi's
representative,
Since I was there as his representative, it would be bad to lose my temper, and more than anything, I'd rather not get burned by having some ridiculous accusation hurled at me.
If it came to a test of strength, I couldn't hold a candle to Basen, and even if a bone or two were broken, it would just be a minor injury. Also, I wasn't sure about the penal laws of the Western Capital, but I wanted them to understand that if they laid a hand on a representative of the imperial family, they could very well lose their heads.
While this was going on,
Physician Yang
and
Tenyou
came back.
"I'm home!"
They returned with a greeting as casual as if coming back to their own house. Their tanned skin had the air of a local, and behind them trailed a somewhat exhausted Tenyou.
"Welcome back, sirs! Shall I prepare a medical examination? Or a meal? A medical examination?"
Suzume was the first to respond, as though she knew nothing of fatigue. She seemed considerate, but in truth she was ready to put them straight back to work.
"I'd like to eat, but Physician Li hasn't eaten yet, has she?"
"Ehh, you don't want a meal?"
Tenyou was exhausted. In her right hand she held medical instruments, and in her left she carried a cloth bundle.
"Then, shall we eat? The time limit starting now is"
half an hour."
"
Suzume clapped her hands briskly. Before anyone knew it, she had taken charge of everything.
"Alright,
what's on the
menu?"
"Luxury side dishes we don't have. It's Suzume's special fried rice, made with everything we've got. The secret ingredient is dried scallops I'd been saving for drinking snacks."
With chopsticks and plate held at the ready, Suzume struck
a sharp, resolute
pose. She called it "leftovers," but she'd stir-fried and mixed in seasonings and eggs. It looked delicious.
"As for drinks, you have a choice of either grape water or goat's milk. The well water is a bit cloudy, so I'd recommend skipping it."
There was nothing she could do about it—locusts were floating in the well. Sparrow was
using a strainer
to filter water while doing the laundry.
(She should probably distribute drinking water too.)
If people drank the raw water in its current state of decay, they'd get diarrhea. The reason she was running low on anti-diarrheal medicine might well be the water.
(She wanted to filter the water and, if possible, boil it.)
In truth, washing bleached cloth and boiling the water in the Western Capital was quite the luxury. Both water and fuel were scarce compared to the Central Capital. Water went without saying, and as for fuel, there was almost no firewood or charcoal—most of it came from livestock dung.
(Coal, then.)
The Central Capital thought of it as little more than a substitute for firewood and charcoal. But was its true value not vastly different from how Xuixi Province perceived it?
(The advantage of being worth mining mountains for.)
Gold and silver had no substitutes, so mining them was necessary. But the Central Capital would never bother extracting something that grew on trees everywhere and had roughly the same value. Xuixi Province, on the other hand, needed fuel that livestock dung alone couldn't cover.
There were certainly advantages—but.
(There still seemed to be something missing before she could recommend launching a war.)
As Maomao was growling to herself, someone tapped her lightly on the shoulder.
"Maomao, Maomao. Don't you think you're spacing out and letting your thoughts wander off somewhere a bit too much?"
"Sparrow, Sparrow. Am I really that out of it?"
"Rather than 'out of it,' it's more like things keep slipping out of your mouth."
"..."
Maomao quietly covered her mouth with her hand.
"Now then, Maomao, let's have some food too. It looks like Officer Yang has something he wants to say to Ma San."
"Oh my, that sounds like a troublesome conversation."
"Yes, it sounds like an interesting one."
She and Sparrow had a persistent gap in interpretation.
At the dining table where fried rice had been set out, a grinning Officer Yang and a sullen Ma San were seated. Tenyu's face made it perfectly clear he wanted to eat quickly, but since neither of the two had started, he couldn't eat either. It seemed even Tenyu knew his manners, to some degree at least.
"Ha ha ha, so Ma San is your representative?"
"Is there something wrong with that?"
Officer Yang and Ma San already had a tense air between them from the very start.
Maomao nudged Sparrow with her elbow.
"What is it?"
"Do those two know each other?"
"No, as far as I know, this is their first meeting."
They exchanged quiet whispers.
"What kind of person is Officer Yang?"
"Hm? Sparrow, you want the inside scoop?"
"Stop being coy and tell me. I'll suggest we go for a walk in town next time."
"Oh, now that's tempting."
Whenever Maomao went out, Sparrow tagged along. Sparrow seemed to prefer wandering around outside, so Maomao figured this offer would pique her interest.
"Officer Yang is bright and cheerful, takes his work seriously, has no hidden side to him, and gets along with just about anyone, but honestly, he and my husband would never see eye to eye in a million years."
Sparrow's husband, Ma San's older brother, had yet to make an appearance before Maomao. If someone that pushy were to approach her, she felt she might lose her mind.
"So having no hidden side means..."
"Just as Officer Li said, he doesn't seem to have any interest in politics. When you're looking for someone who's familiar with the climate and geography of the Western Capital, knowledgeable in medicine, and on top of that has no interest in politics — he couldn't have been a better choice."
The fact that she used the past tense — "was" — hinted at a miscalculation.
"A locust plague hits out of nowhere, the Lord of the Moon couldn't care less about evaluations, and to make matters worse, the eldest prince of—
Gyokuen—
sama, who's enormously popular with the locals, just happens to show up! That's the whole story!"
"So Officer Yang is..."
"Oh, he's absolutely not the kind of person who would ever betray the Lord of the Moon."
For some reason, Sparrow's words put Maomao at ease. But even if Maomao was reassured, there was someone who remained unconvinced.
"What could his intentions be?"
"What are his intentions, then?"
Basen tried to keep his composure, but his nostrils had flared slightly.
Physician Yang wore an expression that truly did not understand what was being said.
"You came to the Western Capital on the Moon Prince's orders. But what is the Moon Prince's reputation here in the Western Capital? The relief supplies for the cooking stands were provided by the Moon Prince, and this clinic was established by the Moon Prince as well, correct?"
"That is correct. What a keen eye you have. That we are able to remain so calm despite such a devastating locust plague is all thanks to the Moon Prince — that is something I feel from the bottom of my heart."
Physician Yang praised Jinshi without hesitation. Moreover, he had casually dropped something important.
"You speak as though you have experienced and know about locust plagues firsthand."
Good, Maomao silently applauded Basen in her mind.
"Know about them? I have experienced them several times, in fact."
"Experienced? Several times? Locust plagues haven't occurred in decades, have they?"
"They have. It's just that they weren't large enough to warrant reporting to the central government."
Certainly, what Physician Yang said was not implausible.
"Isn't that negligence?"
"Negligence? Let me ask you, Lord Basen — at what point, when crops have been eaten by insects, does it qualify as a locust plague?"
"...When you can't even feed yourself?"
"When you can't feed yourself? As long as one has enough wheat to feed oneself, is there no problem? If one has other goods to sell and can make up the difference, there's no issue, correct? But what if one doubled the acreage, suffered a locust plague, and ended up with a harvest no different from any other year?"
"Ugh, well..."
Basen was at a loss.
Physician Yang was a senior physician, and sharp-witted to match.
The examples he gave were likely drawn from real past events.
Even if total yield remained the same, larger acreage meant more labor and more expenses. If the tax was still collected at the same rate without any compensation, then life would only grow harder.
"The nation of Ri is vast. But precisely because of that vastness, the far western reaches fall beyond the central government's gaze. If they look only at the numbers on paper, then even if a locust plague is reported, it can be brushed aside. In that case, the only option is to deal with it within Xixi Province itself — that much is self-evident, I think."
Physician Yang had no pretense about him. That was why he could speak so bluntly even to Basen.
(Even Physician Yang thinks this way?)
The fact that Jinshi's reputation in the Western Capital was so low appeared to stem largely from the belief that the central government did nothing for them.
"But the Lord of the Moon's actions were truly righteous. It reminded me of the Shino clan."
"The Shino clan?"
Maomao couldn't help but ask back.
"That's right. Do you know of them?"
Dr. Yang didn't seem to mind the interruption. Ma Sen wouldn't be returning to the conversation anytime soon—not until he'd loosened up his rigid thinking—so Maomao decided to take his place.
"Here, sit down. Right then, would it be all right if we ate while we talked? Come on, let's eat."
"Food!"
Tenyu's face finally looked like someone about to enjoy a proper meal. Had his prolonged silence been because he'd simply run out of energy?
"The Shino clan was always at the forefront, issuing instructions during the locust plagues."
"...Forgive me, but weren't they traitors?"
"Traitors? Hmph. Well, whatever they might have done, it was probably for the sake of Shusei Province. At the very least, I never knew anyone like that."
Dr. Yang scooped up rice with his spoon and ate.
"What kind of people were the Shino clan?"
Maomao took a bite as well. The rice grains were light and fluffy, and the egg was perfectly seasoned. The spices and dried scallops gave it a wonderful flavor. She quietly gave Suzume a thumbs-up in praise.
"They were all beautiful people, you know. Whenever you got close, they smelled wonderful."
"Smelled wonderful?"
"Oh, you didn't know? The Shino clan was matrilineal. It's mentioned in the founding legends of Ri—the story of the Queen Mother. With a remarkable woman like that, it wouldn't be surprising to have remarkable women among her inner circle as well. The Shino clan were her descendants."
Maomao was surprised. But neither Ma Sen nor Suzume were. Tenyu was engrossed in his food.
"I had no idea."
"Of course you didn't."
It was probably common knowledge among those who served the imperial family, but the lords who governed the distant western lands had nothing to do with Maomao. And if the clan had already been destroyed, even less so.
"It was precisely because they were women that they could guard the border so fiercely. The Shino clan never took husbands, yet beautiful children with exotic features were always born to them. The daughters became lords, they say, while the sons were sent off to travel."
Repeated intermarriage was what produced their beauty, and through those intermarriages, they kept other nations in check.
"
Saou
"She got along well in the land of the shrine maidens. But even though they're both women, perhaps she just couldn't see eye to eye with the Empress."
"I shall refrain from commenting on disputes between women."
However, she had managed to hear something unexpected. Since Jinshi had never mentioned it either, Maomao might truly have been the only one who didn't know.
While Maomao and Dr. Yang were talking, Maosen seemed to have finished his fried rice. He set down his spoon with a clatter. The meal seemed to have loosened up some of his rigid thinking as well.
"I understand what you're saying, Dr. Yang. Let's proceed with the understanding that Tsukinokimi is covering the Central's debts. However, I have some reservations about the fact that all of Tsukinokimi's accomplishments are currently flowing to Lady Yang Yuanying. And you, Dr. Yang, are complicit."
"Complicit? Me?"
"All of your work, Dr. Yang—a native of the Western Capital bearing the surname Yang—is being credited to Lady Yuanying."
"Is that true?"
Dr. Yang turned to Tianyou for confirmation.
"Well, Dr. Li did say something to that effect. She told me to always start with 'from the Central' as a kind of preamble before beginning treatment. I assumed that meant I was working under Tsukinokimi's orders, though."
"'From the Central' is a bit strange, isn't it? This is where you're from, and on top of that, you run into plenty of old acquaintances."
"Then wouldn't it be better to say 'By order of the Imperial Brother'?"
"But then wouldn't that be, like... kind of embarrassing?"
What was this middle-aged man talking about? So basically, even if you went to the big city, made a spectacular career for yourself, and came back home, being fawned over by old acquaintances was mortifying?
"Maomao, Maomao. Dr. Yang is in the same
category
as Yabu-san, wouldn't you say?"
"Well, he's a bit of a different breed, so I'd prefer a separate category, if you don't mind."
"Understood."
Maomao could well imagine what kind of category Suzume was referring to.
"I mean, if you're a local, you'd at least know the difference between the old Yangs and the new Yangs, right?"
"Old? New?"
Maomao tilted her head.
"The Yang family of doctors are the old Yangs. The Yuyuans are the new Yangs who moved in. They've got a huge family now with tons of kids and grandkids, but when they first came, it was just Mr. Yuyuan, his wife, and their eldest son who was still small. They did have plenty of servants, though."
"Well, even among the locals, you'd have to be at least in your forties to know that."
Fifty years is often as far as the common folk get, so those over forty were few and far between.
More importantly, the face of the Western Capital was the Yuyu family. For the young, when one spoke of the Yang clan, it meant either Yuyuan or Yuying.
"Oh, so that's how it is."
"It's surprisingly recent. I thought they'd been here for generations."
"It seems they did stop by as a base for trade, but they properly settled down around then. If you looked at the family registers, you'd know the exact time."
"Checking the registers isn't possible. They've already been burned."
Sparrow answered while drinking goat milk.
"That's a shame."
"So, please be sure to properly convey that you are acting under the orders of His Highness of the Moon to the patients."
It was Sparrow, speaking on behalf of Jinshi, who delivered the main point earnestly.
"...Do I really have to?"
The burly older man's brows furrowed.
"Official Yang, you don't usually shy away from things, so I don't understand why you're being bashful about this."
"Shut it, Tiannu."
Despite his ability, he was the type to be embarrassed about showing himself off. Perhaps it was precisely because he served the meritocratic Official Liu that he was able to become a senior official.
"Um..."
There were eyes staring at Maomao and the others with a certain intensity.
"If you've finished your meal, could you perhaps hurry up and switch places?"
The resentful Official Li was peering through a gap in the door.
∧_∧
(`・ω・) 。・゜・⌒)
/ o━＜＜＜))
Shhh.