The tall new court lady
Yao
was persistent. Maomao eventually gave in and agreed to meet on a day they were both off duty.
Since Yao was a new court lady from a different department—one who was easy to include or leave out when making headcounts—coordinating a day off was simple.
The other new court lady,
Chousha,
was quieter by comparison. Maomao, too, was fundamentally passive in conversation, so the two of them naturally fell silent.
(Maybe I should have arranged to meet in the pleasure district instead.)
They had agreed to meet at the dormitory, so they spent the entire walk in silence. The pleasure district was quite a distance from the dormitory, but Maomao's stinginess wouldn't let her spring for a carriage.
(But I can't very well leave a young woman waiting alone in the pleasure district.)
Unlike Maomao, who had been born and raised in the pleasure district, a respectable girl wandering near the area could easily be accosted. She would just have to put up with a little awkwardness.
They passed through the main avenue, walked beside a canal lined with swaying willows, and caught glimpses of small street stalls—and gradually, the kind of people around them began to change.
They passed through a grand, glittering gate. On either side, guards fixed them with hard stares. One of them was a familiar face, and when Maomao raised a hand in greeting, he gave a nod.
"What's this,
you playing
at being a procurer?
Kitten
?"
"I'm not out buying people."
Yao was visibly nervous about the exchange between Maomao and the guard. She eyed Maomao sideways with suspicion, but Maomao wished she would relax—she wasn't going to sell her off.
Still, if an uninitiated woman tried to walk through the gates of the pleasure district knowing nothing about what lay within, she'd have no outcome other than selling herself.
A distinctive fragrance mingled with languid sighs hung in the air. Courtesans seeing off clients returning at dawn. The shaven-headed attendant
tidying up the lanterns,
and from second-floor windows, the chirping of pet songbirds.
Maomao walked boldly down the main street of the pleasure district, while Yu trailed along timidly beside her.
"Don't look around too much—keep your eyes straight ahead. If someone suddenly grabs your hand, scream as loud as you can."
"Y-yes, ma'am."
After a short walk, they arrived at Rokusyokukan.
"Oh, Maomao. It's been a while."
The head of the male attendants—
Ukyou
called out to her. He was the longest-serving male attendant at Rokusyokukan, and he also looked after Sazen and
Chouu,
taking care of their needs.
"Did you put in a good word for that girl there?"
"I'm not selling her. More importantly, is Sazen around?"
Why did they always assume Maomao had brought a young woman back to sell?
"Hmm, not yet. At this hour, he's probably out back in the garden or somewhere."
"Got it."
Yu still looked anxious.
"Um... He seems to be someone senior to you, but is it really all right to speak to him that way?"
Yu asked worriedly. Maomao did admit her manner of speaking was rather rough.
"Rough or not, that's just how I was raised. If anything, the way I usually talk is reserved for work."
"For work."
Because she drew a clear line between work and everything else, she generally made a point of using polite speech with everyone, regardless of age. It was simply easier than trying to casually break her tone in an unnatural way.
"He's here."
Maomao headed toward the back of Rokusyokukan. Near the fields by the ramshackle house where she used to live, there was an average-built man.
"Hey, Sazen!"
Maomao waved her arm high, and Sazen slowly got to his feet.
Garlic
She had been harvesting garlic. Beyond its restorative properties, garlic was an indispensable medicinal herb in the pleasure district for its nourishing and strengthening effects. The plump, well-grown bulbs would likely be delicious in cooking, too.
"What is it? Here to check the ledgers?"
"No, I brought a guest to see you."
Maomao placed Aya in front of Sazen.
"For me?"
"...Who is this?"
Maomao glared at Aya.
"A dubious fellow who set up a medicine shop sometime in the past few years."
"Am I not being insulted here?"
Sazen fixed Maomao with a hard stare.
"No, not like that. More of a good-looking man—lanky, you can never tell what he's thinking, hiding half his face behind a suspicious air!"
"Am I not being told I'm not good-looking?"
She deliberately ignored Sazen's protest.
"..."
Maomao stroked her chin and tilted her head.
"Then maybe over there?"
Maomao quietly glanced to the side.
From the brothel, a refined-looking man with half his face hidden emerged, yawning. He looked utterly slovenly, his sash not properly tied, with his loincloth flashing into view.
"
Keyou!
"
He was a bright but bedraggled man who had known his share of hardship.
"He came by late last night, so I let him stay. Maybe you weren't looking for me—maybe you needed him—"
"A doctor!"
Yu rushed straight toward Keyong, and then—
"—?!"
Yu punched Keyong with all her might. A dull sound echoed. Could it be that his teeth had shattered? That her own fist had shattered? It was that kind of sound — one that knew no restraint.
And if it had only been punching, that would have been one thing. Yu mounted him and beat him senseless.
"Hey, stop it!"
*(What is she doing! This girl! What did she do! This girl!)*
Maomao and Sazen pried Yu off of him. Yu was teary-eyed, sniffling.
"Oh. Could it be, Yu? You've grown up, haven't you."
Keyong was laughing with blood dripping from his nose. The cloth that had been covering half his face had come undone, revealing ugly smallpox scars. Even after being punched he kept smiling — typical of Keyong, but eerie at the same time.
"The fact that you're in the capital means—"
"Yes. That's right. Things have turned out just as you said."
Yu's fists were wet with Keyong's blood, trembling.
"The village was destroyed."
Yu said something unbelievable.
On her turned-back sleeve, the same smallpox scars as Keyong's were visible.