"
Lord Jinshi
also just
took his little prank
a bit too far, so couldn't you perhaps forgive him?"
The one escorting her to the Konkou Palace,
the residence of
Consort Risu,
was none other than
Gaoshun.
His master should be getting thoroughly chewed out
by Consort Gyokuyou and the others
at the Jadeite Palace
over the earlier incident.
"Understood. From now on, as long as Gaoshun
licks
it, there should be no problem."
"Wait, licks..."
"As long as you understand."
Maomao
walked briskly with her lips still pursed.
She was a complete pervert.
Her good looks only made her all the more dangerous.
She must have lured many people in like that.
Disgraceful.
Utterly and completely.
If they weren't
someone important,
I'd kick them right in the groin — or so I thought, but I concluded there was no use kicking what wasn't there.
While I was mulling this over,
we arrived at the newly built palace, where
Nanten had been planted.
Consort Risu wore cherry-blossom-colored robes, her soft hair
gathered with a flower hairpin
and pinned in place.
Maomao thought this delicate outfit suited her better than the lavish attire from the garden party.
After Gyokuyou's visit, Maomao had requested a meeting with Consort Risu to get to the bottom of what was bothering her.
When Risu noticed that Jinshi wasn't there, her disappointment was plain to see.
Well, he was only good-looking, so it couldn't be helped.
"
What is it
you want to ask me?"
She covered her mouth with a fan and
lounged on a chaise,
but she lacked the dignity that other consorts possessed. She was a nervous, still-youthful consort.
She had enough beauty to be called a beautiful woman, but she hadn't yet acquired a woman's allure.
Two attendant maids stood behind her, looking thoroughly unmotivated.
Risu had been eyeing the unfamiliar freckled lady-in-waiting with displeasure, but upon closer inspection she seemed to realize that this was the maid from the garden party. Her eyes widened, and her expression softened just slightly.
"Do you dislike honey?"
I could have prefaced my words with some sort of preamble, but that sounded tedious, so—
I cut
to the chase.
"How could you tell?"
"It's written all over your face."
(It's obvious if you just look.)
Her puzzled expression gradually swelled. She really was easy to read.
"Have you ever had your stomach go bad from honey?"
Risu puffed out her cheeks even further—in the affirmative, presumably.
"Food poisoning can easily lead to a loss of appetite, you know."
Risu's expression was a mix of bewilderment and irritation—everything about her had been seen through.
"That's not the issue. You just barged in and started prying into Lady Risu's affairs—"
(You're one to talk.)
At the tea party the other day, she was one of those who didn't even try to defend her
mistress—
the one who hates honey.
(So this is how they do it—pretending to be on her side.)
From time to time, they would cast an outsider as the villain while playing the part of Risu's loyal supporters. The naive, sheltered young consort was made to believe that everyone around her was an enemy. They insisted that only they were on her side, driving her into isolation.
The consort had no choice but to rely on her attendants—a vicious cycle.
As long as she didn't realize she was being bullied, it was unlikely to come to light. At the garden party, though, they had overplayed their hand.
"I am here on
Jinshi's
orders. Is there a problem?"
Might as well throw his name around and stir up some trouble while I'm at it.
That should be fair game.
He was rather looking forward to seeing what excuses the flushed maidens would come up with to get close to the perverted eunuch.
"One more thing."
Maomao turned her expressionless gaze back to Risu.
"Are you acquainted with the head maid of Pomegranate Palace?"
The surprise on her face was answer enough.
○●○
"There's something I'd like you to find for me."
At Maomao's request, Gaoshun made his way to the palace archives.
As a court lady of the inner palace, Maomao was generally unable to leave its grounds.
Just what had she figured out, exactly?
The depth of knowledge and composure that belied her seventeen years were truly remarkable.
Her capacity for rational thinking and handling matters
made him feel that leaving her as just a woman
was almost a waste.
Of course, that was only setting aside one particular... preference of his.
An exceedingly convenient pawn.
If only he could treat her as one.
She herself would likely agree, however grudgingly.
"I did something terrible."
He murmured softly.
His lord's
excessive
prank —
perhaps he should have stopped it after all.
But would stopping it have changed anything?
Whenever he thought of Maomao's resentful eyes, a worry crossed his mind that she might start slipping something into his food.
○●○
(Sixteen years ago. Was the imperial brother also born around the same time?)
In Maomao's hands was a single volume bound with cord.
It was a compilation of events that had taken place within the rear palace.
She had asked Gaoshun to bring it.
The current emperor had sired one child during his time as Crown Prince. The mother was the Crown Prince's
milk sibling,
and would later become Consort Shuku.
The child died in infancy. After that, until the previous emperor
passed away
and a new rear palace was established, no more children were born.
(Had the Crown Prince's consort truly been just one woman all that time?)
He found it surprising. Given that his father was such a lecher, he'd always assumed the man had taken numerous concubines since his days as Crown Prince. To have stayed with a single consort for over ten years.
As expected, properly written records were necessary — one could not rely solely on rumors and hearsay.
Sixteen years ago.
Infant death.
And then.
"Medical officer,
Luomen,
exiled."
She found a familiar name.
The emotion that welled up was not surprise, but rather a quiet understanding. She had always had a feeling about it.
The medicinal herbs growing in abundance throughout the rear palace were all ones Maomao frequently used.
They had not sprung up naturally — she could imagine that someone had transplanted them there in the past.
"Old man, what are you doing?"
A man who dragged his legs like an old woman.
Maomao's medicinal teacher was a former eunuch who had the kneecap of one leg removed.