Maomao sighed as she prepared the late-night meal. A newly arrived lady-in-waiting nearby watched her. Maomao was not yet close with any of the new attendants. Given that she went out so often and never initiated conversation herself, it was only natural.
On their end, too, perhaps having one unfamiliar outsider mixed in among them felt odd enough that they didn't approach her much either.
(That's fine, though.)
More than that, Maomao's mind was full of other thoughts. Why oh why had that troublesome attendant gone and said something so troublesome to her?
(It's not like I intend to tell anyone, but...)
Still, wouldn't it be better not to let any more information slip out?
Could there perhaps be some reason for it?
As she was mulling this over, the late-night meal arrived from the kitchen. Maomao arranged the food on the prepared dishes.
Amid all this, Maomao noticed something.
She picked up what looked like a root with her chopsticks.
At first glance it resembled burdock root. Maomao eyed it suspiciously and set it on a small plate.
"What are you doing?"
The new lady-in-waiting watched Maomao with puzzlement as she took apart whatever it was on the small plate. Maomao put the pulled-apart root into her mouth, then spat it out.
"...Hongniang— — could you call her, please?"
It wasn't burdock root, but rather Chinese lantern— the root of the plant.
"It does feel rather belated, doesn't it?"
Maomao said, glancing at the contents of the plate.
"It certainly does feel that way."
Hongniang replied, lowering her lashes.
Chinese lantern was sometimes used as an abortifacient. In the early stages of pregnancy it could cause a miscarriage, but at this point, even feeding it to Gyokuyou would have little effect.
Gyokuyou's pregnancy, though never made official, had spread throughout the rear palace as an unspoken understanding. Rifa's pregnancy was rumored about just as widely.
If Gyokuyou's continued to progress smoothly, the child would be born in about a month. As for Rifa, there was probably only a few months' difference.
Whichever one was being targeted, slipping poison in now felt oddly pointless. If they were going to do it, they should have done it sooner.
But then again, if it really had been mixed in...
Maomao felt like tearing her hair out, but with Hongniang right in front of her, she held back. Gyokuyou was not present. It was probably out of consideration for the pregnant consort, but knowing that particular consort, she had likely sensed something already.
Seeing Maomao looking troubled, Hongniang stared at her.
"Is something bothering you?"
"......"
Saying no would be a lie.
"The late-night meals were prepared in the kitchen together with those of the other consorts, correct?"
She asked as if seeking confirmation.
Hongniang affirmed it.
"Judging from the way the flavor had seeped in, it was mixed into the other consorts' food as well, wasn't it?"
"Judging by your expression, you ate it."
Hongniang said with an exasperated tone.
Well, how else was she supposed to find out? Maomao thought. If she was going to eat it anyway, something with more of a kick would have been preferable.
(Something about this...)
Maomao sank into thought.
Something was nagging at her.
What was it? What had caught her attention first?
It felt like things were somehow connected.
(Whatever happened with that, anyway?)
When it came to abortifacients, there was that incident.
A merchant caravan had come through, and among their wares were many ingredients used to make abortifacients.
Rifa's former head handmaiden had purchased them, intending to brew an abortifacient. For Rifa.
The reason she, with her limited knowledge of medicine, tried to make one was that she had happened to pick up a scrap of paper listing the ingredients.
And the original owner of that scrap had not been identified.
Was the former head handmaiden shielding someone?
(No.)
Would someone of that haughty demeanor really go that far? Or was it meant to harass the officials conducting the hearing?
(It could be someone from the inner circle.)
If that were the case, though, and the target was Rifa, the story wouldn't add up. Honestly, it would be hard for that head handmaiden to win the Emperor's favor — if so, Rifa, as an insider, would have been the priority.
(If she truly just found it lying around.)
Then there was someone in the Rear Palace brazen enough to do such a thing.
Or perhaps the whole story about the scrap of paper had been a lie from the start. But Maomao did not think so.
(They went out of their way to list only hard-to-obtain ingredients.)
There were easier methods to prepare an abortifacient close at hand.
Whether from white powder flowers or Chinese lanterns.
(!?)
Where had she last seen white powder flowers?
And who else had been there at the time?
What was that woman's purpose?
"Maomao, what's wrong?"
It was Hongniang's voice that pulled her out of her thoughts, making her realize she had been lost in contemplation.
"It's nothing."
She had no conclusion yet, and speculating out loud would do no good.
Still, if Maomao did not act now, something far worse might happen.
"A wicked worm brings calamity."
She didn't know what that meant.
But standing still here wasn't going to help her figure it out.
Maomao stared intently at Hongniang.
"Hongniang."
"What is it?"
Hongniang looked back with a puzzled expression, reading Maomao's face.
For a moment, Maomao grimaced, then spoke the words she needed to say.
"I have a favor to ask. Could you have me reassigned back to Jinshi's staff?"
"!?"
Hongniang slammed her hand on the table. The stacked plates clattered, hovering briefly in midair.
"What's this all of a sudden!"
Just as expected. Maomao let out a small breath.
"You know Gyokuyou is entering a critical period, don't you!"
By the schedule, there should still be about a month's leeway. But that was merely the schedule — there was always the possibility of a premature birth.
If she were to give birth within the inner palace, relying on nothing but quack doctors was hardly reassuring. They would need a far more capable medical officer with ample practical experience before anyone could feel at ease.
However, Maomao replied to Hongniang with her expression unchanged.
"I am a pharmacist. I have been present at childbirth, but I have never delivered a baby myself. Rather than having someone like me with only half-baked knowledge, wouldn't it be better to bring in someone with proper expertise?"
As she spoke, Maomao traced characters on the table with her fingertip.
"There is a former medical officer and eunuch working in the pleasure district. That person has extensive experience in delivering babies."
"..."
"He was once expelled from the inner palace, but he would be more dependable than the current medical officer."
Sorry, quack doctor, Maomao apologized in her head as she spoke.
"You don't need to ask the Emperor directly — perhaps you could try going through Jinshi?"
"Being expelled from the inner palace doesn't make him a criminal, you know."
Hongniang looked at Maomao with a cold gaze.
She already knew. Everyone would have that reaction.
It was only natural, after all.
"He may be a criminal, but his skills are undeniable. Besides, if you were to fixate on things like that, I wouldn't be able to be here either."
Maomao raised the corner of her lips.
"I was raised by that criminal."
She thought of it as a game of strategy.
If she were to show open disgust toward her criminal father, that would make Maomao his daughter—a criminal's daughter who couldn't serve as the consort's poison taster.
Maomao recalled that she had had some kind of exchange with Hongniang before. That time, she felt she had been outmaneuvered, but this time she couldn't afford that.
Hongniang's mouth twisted into a deep frown.
Hongniang was a capable head lady-in-waiting. What tipped her scales was determining which party would be more beneficial to the principal consort.
"...What about the poison testing? Those ingredients were just mixed in right here, weren't they?"
"This wasn't targeting Consort Gyokuyou."
"...Then, Consort Rifa?"
Maomao shook her head.
If that were the case, then by process of elimination, there was only one high-ranking consort left—excluding Consort Risu, who had yet to be visited by the emperor.
(What in the world...)
Maomao thought of the insect cage kept in the room.
Inside it was an insect that produced a wing-beat like the sound of a bell.
She recalled that ghost story. What tale had the girl still calling herself Shisui told? A story involving bell crickets. Something had been eaten in place of the monk. Just what had the phantom consumed?
Among insects, some eat the male after mating is complete. When Maomao had first seen the praying mantis cannibalize its mate, she had thought how disgusting it was.
But it was the same here.
When a woman bore the child of a powerful man, she sometimes came to resent the father.
To give the child power, she would sometimes eliminate the father.
Just like insects.
(Bad insects bring calamity.)
She repeated once more the words she had ruminated over so many times.
"So that's how it is," Maomao exhaled.
The girl who had once doted on insects likely had no interest in power or politics — she probably just wanted to leisurely carry on playing the part of a servant.
While making sure no child would take root in her belly.
It wasn't as though they shared some long-standing bond. She had probably only ever exchanged idle chatter from time to time.
It wasn't really Maomao's place to stick her nose in, and yet she couldn't simply stand by and do nothing.
"May Consort Gyokuyou be blessed with a healthy child. As for me, I shall go outside and test for poison."
Maomao was searching for a solution that only she could provide.
"...Fine."
"Thank you."
After offering a brief word of gratitude to Hongniang, who had said only that much, Maomao picked up a morsel from the dish before her and popped it into her mouth.
Needless to say, she was immediately slapped by Hongniang and forced to spit it out.