This is a revision of the Epilogue arc of The Apothecary Diaries.
Court Arc 1 compiles the story up to the tale of Rakhan from the Epilogue arc, with approximately half the content revised and expanded. It has already been posted.
Court Arc 2 is planned to be approximately ninety percent rewritten, starting from the story of Consort Loulan from the Epilogue arc.
I would appreciate it if you could read with this understanding.
The old Epilogue arc can be found here.
The rear palace was vast. Far vaster than any ordinary town.
The court ladies who resided there existed for the sole purpose of serving the consorts, maintaining the rear palace's buildings, and—with odds so slim they were practically nonexistent—becoming intimate with the emperor.
Due to the peculiar nature of their environment, their way of life differed greatly from that of ordinary townsfolk. Given that the court ladies divided duties such as cleaning, laundry, and cooking among themselves, it might be more accurate to think of them as living in one enormous household rather than a town.
And so, something that ought to have existed in a place this large was entirely absent.
That something was—
"Looks like fun."
"Does it?"
A court lady who still carried a youthful air—
Xiaolan—
had made the remark, and Maomao answered with a question of her own.
In the plaza, court ladies walked cheerfully past rows of large tents. There were many of them lined up, but with two thousand court ladies in the rear palace, the junior ones had no room to squeeze in. Unable so much as to glimpse the goods on display, all they could do was watch the senior court ladies enjoy themselves.
Maomao and Xiaolan, too, watched from the balustrade of the room where the junior court ladies lived. Today, with the senior court ladies—including the consorts—in high spirits, the low-ranking ones were effectively shut out.
"I wish I could get some new clothes and things."
Xiaolan rested her chin on the balustrade and pouted her lips.
"You wouldn't have anywhere to wear them."
"I know, but I still want them!"
The court ladies' uniforms consisted of only the bare essentials: three sets of work clothes in summer and two in winter. Replacement garments were issued only when clothing was thoroughly worn out. Hair ribbons, undergarments, and other daily necessities were all provided as well.
Meals were served daily in the dining hall, so there was no need to prepare food for themselves.
If one was a court lady of somewhat respectable birth, parcels would arrive from home along with letters.
If she were a lady-in-waiting to a consort, she'd receive garments and accessories gifted by the consort, as well as
confections.
Those too could be had.
So if that was the case, what was missing was a marketplace.
For Xiaolan, who had been brought in without a shred of backing, clad in nothing but the clothes on her back, opportunities to accumulate personal belongings were exceedingly rare — and when they did arise, this was the state of things. She had no choice but to sift through whatever the other court ladies left behind after their spending sprees and try to find something from her own meager purse.
The rear palace normally had no shops. It felt strangely peculiar.
(So that meant there were nothing but quack doctors and no apothecaries either.)
And yet, with such a large population, if someone fell ill, it would surely spread.
Hygiene management was thorough. Cleaning made up a large portion of the court ladies' duties, and what's more, waste disposal was handled effectively. Taking advantage of the water in the moat, waste was carried away by the flow. One might think the moat would reek, but it had been designed so that the current never stopped, preventing any buildup of odors.
The architecture reportedly employed aqueduct techniques transmitted from the west, built during the reign of the previous emperor.
Proper sanitation alone could prevent most illnesses from arising. Court ladies who fell seriously ill were permitted to leave the rear palace without having to complete their term of service.
(Even so, something still nagged at her.)
Maomao gazed absently at the court ladies enjoying their shopping, lost in thought.
When she returned to the Jade Palace, she found herself meeting the eyes of the contented-looking court ladies.
During the time Maomao had been slacking off — or rather, while the shops had been shut for business,
merchants had apparently come to the palace.
There was no need to trek all the way to the tents — the merchants came directly to the high-ranking consorts.
Because they were entering the rear palace, all the merchants were women. Even so, as a precaution against the unthinkable, more eunuchs than usual had been stationed as guards.
"He said to pick out whatever His Majesty would like."
Yinghua
said with a smile as though it were her own personal joy. A beautiful jade necklace — the color of Consort Gyokuyou's eyes — sat displayed on
the table,
along with glass cups and mother-of-pearl inlaid trinket boxes.
Toddling along
was Lingli.
The princess seemed overjoyed to have obtained the beautiful silk ball. Along with the consort's garments, small kimonos for the princess hung in neat rows along the wall.
"Perhaps I splurged a little too much?"
Consort Gyokuyou tilted her head slightly.
"No, you could have bought even more."
The head lady-in-waiting,
Hongniang,
said, slightly breathless with excitement.
"The other consorts are probably buying even more."
Hongniang had restrained her tone somewhat, but Maomao could easily imagine the rest.
In the Crystal Palace, those smooth-tongued ladies-in-waiting of Consort Rifa would be shopping up a storm. Consort Rifa always had deep pockets no matter what, so of course they'd be buying.
In the Vajra Palace,
Risu
would be flattered into buying things she personally liked, Maomao surmised.
And in the Pomegranate Palace, given that Consort
Loulan
was such a spendthrift, it went without saying.
Thinking about it that way, Maomao felt that Consort Gyokuyou, whose shopping fit neatly into a single room, was remarkably economical for a favored consort.
The consorts each received a salary for holding the position of "consort," and the clothing and furnishings they used within the rear palace were deducted as necessary expenses.
There were over a hundred consorts in total, spanning the upper, middle, and lower ranks. Maomao couldn't help but worry whether the national treasury could handle it.
"Anyway, new places will be coming tomorrow too, so let's put today's away for now."
As Hongniang took down the garments hanging on the wall one after another, Maomao received them. Each had a wonderful feel, and the dyeing was beautiful.
(Hm?)
Suddenly, Maomao noticed something. The garments seemed to differ slightly from the style Consort Gyokuyou usually preferred. The consort's
suspenders
of
Long skirts
She preferred pairing them with wide-sleeved outer garments, but this time most of the outfits were kimonos with proper sleeves and long skirts with the obi tied just below the chest.
The reason wasn't hard to fathom. For Consort Gyokuyou, it was approaching the stage where clothing that bound the lower abdomen with an obi would start becoming uncomfortable.
"...Other than this
style,
were there no other clothes?"
"Huh?
They said it was
all the rage, but..."
The maids exchanged puzzled glances. It really had been nothing but this one style, hadn't it?
The maids of the Jade Pavilion had purchased the clothing with Consort Gyokuyou's needs in mind. But normally, wouldn't they have chosen more...
...different...
...designs?
And given that, if these were the clothes the merchants had brought...
Was Maomao overthinking it?
(She wanted to think she was.)
But the moment she considered the possibility that someone had deliberately selected only this type of clothing and brought it to Consort Gyokuyou, a very bad feeling crept over her.
And Maomao's premonitions had a knack for coming true.