Gyokuo—
ten days had passed since her death.
Maomao
watched
Jinshi
grow weaker by the day as she went about her work.
All sorts of people came to see Jinshi.
The most frequent visitors were Lu Shilang of the Ministry of Rites, the last remaining noble from the capital,
and Gyokuo's half-brothers.
Maomao had only caught glimpses of Lu Shilang before, but when they had crossed paths recently, she had the strange feeling he was watching her.
(I haven't done anything!)
If anyone had done something,
it was Tenyuu.
Maomao had heard the reason she and the others were assigned to the guest house was that they had angered the nobleman who had been on the same ship.
And sure enough, Tenyuu was currently
being dragged around by Physician Yang, examining patients in the western capital.
Rather than saying they got along well, it was more like Tenyuu simply could not win against Physician Yang.
As for Gyokuo's half-brothers, there were apparently quite a few of them, and several had come.
They were Gyokuen's sons, and among them the ones she saw most often were the second and third sons.
She had never caught the second son's name, but the third was
called Taikai.
Taikai was a sturdy-looking man in his mid-thirties who oversaw the port of Junsei Province.
The visitor to the guest house today was this very Taikai.
"It's really something, isn't it? A visitor every day."
The quack doctor wiped the sweat from his forehead as he swung his hoe. Stoop-shouldered he was, but since he had nothing better to do—
at Rahan's—
brother's field, he was helping out.
Without ingredients for medicine, the quack doctor had no work, so there was nothing to be done about it.
Maomao, for her part, had received some plant pots and was sowing seeds of several fast-growing medicinal herbs.
(Even if they grew, it wouldn't amount to much.)
Better than nothing, she thought as she watered them.
That evening, Maomao was summoned to Jinshi's room.
Suiren—
had prepared tea and sweets, and she was told to sit, so she sat. But even though she was accustomed to it, she didn't dare sit carelessly in the chair—those raptor-like eyes would surely flash, and that was too frightening. However, today—
Sparrow—
seemed a little less on guard, and—
Tomoe—
was nowhere to be seen.
"I received a feeler from Lord Taikai about whether we should relocate our base."
"Our base?"
What could that possibly mean? Maomao tilted her head.
"Well, it's nothing major. Apparently he's asking if we'd like to move from the secondary residence to the main one."
"I see."
"It's nothing major, right?"
"You're the one who said it was nothing major, Lord Jinshi."
With Tomoe absent, Maomao couldn't help but slip and call him just "Jinshi."
The distance between the secondary residence and the main residence was close enough to walk while humming a tune.
"When you go to the main residence, next door is—"
the government office.
Right? It might make it easier to add various tasks, don't you think?"
"I suppose so."
"Also, if I suddenly take you to the government office, you'll get wary, so I thought maybe I could ease you into it gradually."
"Am I a stray cat you picked up?"
Jinshi had his guard down too. No — he'd simply given up trying to hold himself together from sheer exhaustion.
(Makes sense.)
Jinshi's room was buried in documents and materials. In the Western Capital, sheepskin parchment was commonly used, so the files were bulkier compared to those from the capital, yet they were still stacked up like mountains.
Maomao glanced at the materials, but they didn't seem to be about practical matters — more like background knowledge needed to handle the actual work.
If she were speaking as a citizen to Jinshi, she should probably tell him to get to work faster. However, Maomao was a medical practitioner, and she needed him to relax at least somewhat, or he'd destroy his health.
"Then you should simply decline the transfer of your base, shouldn't you?"
"I'd love nothing more than to decline — but do you know what they're calling the imperial brother in the Western Capital right now?"
"...When he's easy on the eyes, the women go all squeal-squeal, but at the same time, there are conspiracy theories that he carried out the assassination of Lady Gyokuyo."
"Mm."
"Did you do it?"
"I did no such thing!"
(That's what they all say.)
Jinshi didn't seem cut out for covert operations like assassinations. He did seem to have been quite ruthless in matters of romance during his eunuch days, but lately he'd regressed to the point she'd call him infantile.
"They're saying you came here to seize control of the Western Capital."
"Oh, please. If I were going to come to such a dry, barren land, I'd have been far better off staying in the capital and scraping together profits bit by bit. If it were up to me, I'd have just shut myself inside the palace, hoarded grain, and sold it off at inflated prices to line my pockets."
Behind Jinshi, Suzume was surreptitiously mimicking his voice.
"Suzume, I'll tell Toumi about that."
"Oh, please, Master. Anything but that."
Suzume trotted back the way she came.
"Then if you go to the main residence, won't they say you're trying to seize it?"
"The main residence houses Lady Gyokuyo's sons and Lady Gyokuyo's younger sister. From a security standpoint, it would be safer to stay in the main residence rather than splitting off to a separate one."
"No one's going to stab me while crying about avenging their father or anything like that, right?"
"I'd like to think not. We've met a few times, and he seemed to have some idea who killed Lady Gyokuyou."
If she wouldn't be stabbed out of the blue, then maybe moving was the right call. Considering the trips she'd need to make to the government office, being based at the main residence would be far more convenient.
"Also, one more thing — the main residence has a greenhouse."
"Oh, a greenhouse!"
Maomao's eyes lit up involuntarily.
"When you come to the main residence, I've been asked if you'd use it for growing medicinal herbs—"
Jinshi glanced at Maomao and broke into a smile.
"You're perfectly free to stay at the separate residence, you know?"
"W-what are you saying, Lord Jinshi? I'll be right there with you, so please don't worry."
Maomao thumped her chest confidently, only to choke on her own momentum.
The move to the main residence went smoothly. The quack doctor who made no difference whether he was there or not came along too.
Still, there were those who remained behind at the separate residence.
"A greenhouse, huh? That's outside my field."
Those were unexpected words from Raohan.
"I figured if it were you, Raohan, and it was about crops, you'd go, 'Leave it to me, the—'"
"—professional—"
"'—will take care of it!'"
"Who's the professional?! It's not that I can't do it, but I can only take on what I can take responsibility for. At the end of the day, all I can do is trace over what I've been taught."
Maomao thought that being able to admit what you couldn't do was itself the mark of a true professional, but she kept quiet.
"Besides, grain is my specialty. When it comes to medicinal herbs, you know more about it than I do."
"That's true."
(He said "specialty.")
Maomao was kind enough to pretend she hadn't noticed.
"Well, it's not far. If anything comes up, just send for me."
"Yes, please take care of that when the time comes."
Maomao bowed to Luo Ban's brother and headed for the main residence.
The main residence was a size larger than the annex, and the medical office they were shown to was spacious as well.
(If I remember right,
Li —
this is where Doctor Li was assigned, wasn't it?)
Most of the medicines had been taken away, but the shelves were arranged for easy use, and the beds and chairs were neatly lined up. Maomao and the others didn't have that many tools to bring in, so it should be tidied up in no time.
"Hey, little lady, shall I help you clean up your room too?"
For some reason, the quack doctor had sparkling eyes and was holding an
embroidered
curtain in his hand.
"No, I can manage on my own. Why don't you go tidy up your own room, Doctor?"
Maomao had absolutely no intention of letting him into that frilly room again. Next time she ran short of cheesecloth, she was half-mindful of just tearing up that curtain and using it as a substitute.
"Hey, missy."
"What's the matter,
Master Li
Bai?"
"I need to use the restroom — is it alright if I step away for a bit?"
"That shouldn't be a problem, should it?"
Li Bai was diligent despite his appearance. Another guard was already stationed in front of the new medical office.
"Sorry about that. Had to go take a leak during the break."
"No, it's quite alright."
Even with breaks, there were times the work stretched on long enough that you'd be standing for half the day straight.
Li Bai asked the other guard to take over and went to find the restroom. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be anywhere near the medical office.
For now, Maomao busied herself carrying tools inside and was about to load in the last of the supplies.
That was when it happened.
"Ow!"
The quack doctor's voice rang out.
Wondering what had happened, Maomao headed toward the quack doctor. She found him rubbing his shin while a child clutched a wooden practice sword.
The guard had been watching Maomao, so his line of sight apparently hadn't reached the quack doctor.
"I got you, you pesky bug!"
The child was a boy of about seven or eight. He wore fine clothes, and his hair was neatly groomed.
Maomao crouched down and examined the quack doctor's shin. Even from a child, a solid blow with a wooden sword could leave a bruise.
Maomao glared at the child.
"Young master, you mustn't do that!"
A female servant rushed over and grabbed the child.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!"
The servant scooped the child into her arms and bowed over and over.
"Hey, let go! I'll kill every last one of you!"
The foul-mouthed child was carried away just as he was.
Maomao clenched her fist tight.
The servant should have pulled him away sooner. Maomao would have slapped the child regardless. A kid who didn't know restraint was the worst kind.
"I'm terribly sorry."
The guard who remained looked pale.
"Skip the apology—just carry the doctor inside."
"I-it hurts..."
When Maomao touched his shin, the quack doctor reacted far more than necessary. It wasn't bad enough to be a fracture, but he probably wouldn't be walking for several days.
*(Judging by those clothes and the servant's manner...)*
There was no doubt the child was a relative of Gyokuen. Given his age, he was probably one of Gyokuyou's grandchildren.
Right from the start, this was nothing but trouble waiting to happen.