Risu
The former consort's brother
Bojun—
that was his name.
Maomao
had spotted him once before. Together with Risu's real father,
Boryu—
alongside—
Mahen—
he was the man who'd gotten clobbered.
(Come to think of it, she felt like one of his teeth had been broken or something.)
Of course, Maomao's head didn't retain much besides medicine, and she had long since forgotten what he looked like.
(I think he's probably Risu's brother.)
But then again, wouldn't she
Rahan—
confuse him with Brother Rahan? Then again, it took Maomao ages to remember other people's names. Or rather, she had no real intention of doing so.
(But what if it overlapped with Brother Rahan?)
After much deliberation, out of respect for Brother Rahan, she carved Bojun's name into her mind. As for the rude patient's name, she had already forgotten it.
Once Bojun finished treating the patient, he left.
"This has turned into a pain."
"What's so troublesome about it?"
Doctor Li
scratched his head.
"Didn't I tell you the skirmishes have been getting more intense lately? Why am I being told to hear both sides—the injured person and the one who did the injuring? Even if it's just sparring practice."
"I've heard one side of it now. That should be fine, shouldn't it?"
If Former Consort Risu was the cause of the argument,
Bashin,
then it wasn't hard to understand why he'd taken action. If Maomao's intuition was correct, Bashin apparently had some particular thoughts about Risu.
"I'd like to think I understand Bashin to some extent. He couldn't very well turn a blind eye to someone mocking a woman—let alone a former senior consort, could he?"
Maomao said something that sounded perfectly reasonable.
Risu was already a former senior consort. The moment she stepped outside the inner palace, she was no longer a flower of the court. For Risu, wouldn't it be far more relaxing than sleeping with the Emperor, who was like a father to her? That is, if not for the eyes of those around her—
"Even so, I need to put this in writing, but Bashin, of all people. I can't exactly summon him here in person."
"..."
Maomao found herself thinking. In her mind, Bashin wasn't particularly scary. He was the son of a diligent little servant who loved cute things—
Gaoshun,
and he couldn't stand up to his father. Nor could he stand up to his mother, or his sister, and his sister-in-law kept teasing him. A charging bull of a man, a bear wearing a human skin—but he wouldn't lunge at you unless you gave him reason to.
(Why am I being so cautious?)
Maomao thought this, but in general terms, Bashin was an elite who served directly under the Imperial Brother—
an elite
warrior.
"Would it really be all right for someone like me to go hear his side of the story in person?"
(Come to think of it, Dr. Li didn't have much contact with Bashin, did she?)
In the Western Capital, Dr. Li had been running a clinic in town. Bashin had visited the clinic once, but it had been in the form of a consolation tour, standing in for
Jinshi
as his proxy. Even so, he'd been fulfilling a role on behalf of the imperial family, so perhaps he'd wanted to keep his distance.
(He did seem harder to approach than usual back then, now that she thought about it.)
"I don't think he's someone you need to worry about that much. If you tell him it's just work, he won't wring your arm off or anything."
"If he's the arm-wringing sort,
Tenyu—"
'll do it."
"Haha, you really might get your neck wrung."
Maomao thought that Doctor Li did occasionally make amusing jokes. His eyes, however, were not laughing.
"But that last patient was terribly rude to Lord Ma Sen, wasn't he?"
"Ah, he does come from a clan with a surname, technically. He just hasn't received one himself."
"I see."
So that was why he'd been so high-handed toward Maojun and Ma Sen, both of whom also bore surnames. He seemed to be from a branch family — no need to ask which clan.
"But you held your own quite boldly against both of them, Doctor Li."
"Family background aside, in terms of rank I'm above those two. The rule in the medical office is to never let patients look down on you — that's what"
"Liu"
"the doctor taught me, I suppose."
That's exactly right, Maomao agreed to herself. It was a real problem when meddling amateurs made it impossible to carry out proper medical treatment.
"Still, that attitude is truly unforgivable. The Mao clan has been declining steadily ever since Lady Risu left the Inner Palace. But to go that far even with Lord Ma Sen..."
Doctor Li let out a sigh as he tidied up the instruments.
"The Ma clan serves as direct protectors to the imperial family. They hold no rank and are always at their master's side. And yet some clueless fool mistakes their lack of rank for incompetence and picks a fight."
"Hahaha. It's a good thing his innards didn't get crushed."
Maomao put away the remaining cheesecloth on the shelf.
Today, though, Doctor Li was being unusually talkative.
"Um, Doctor Li."
Maomao had seen Doctor Li carefully setting down a report — he was trying to approach her.
"Could it be that you don't want to go take Ma Sen's statement?"
"Th-that's not it, exactly..."
Doctor Li's gaze was shifting about.
"Could it be that going to see Ma Sen is a bother?"
"If it's work, I'll go, but..."
She didn't seem too keen on it.
Maomao clapped her hands together.
"If it's an order from the court physician Li, how about I go in your place?"
"Oh, you'll go?"
Physician Li's voice sounded as if he had been waiting for exactly this.
If it were anyone else, this would be an opportunity to act magnanimous, but this was Physician Li. She owed him plenty for all his help over the years, so she couldn't help herself.
"Very well."
Even Maomao occasionally did as she was told without complaint.