Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

"Jis.h.i.+n-sama didn"t mean to go overboard with his prank. Can you forgive him?"

Gaoshun was guiding her to the Diamond Palace, Consort Riishu"s residence. His master, due to the incident just then, was at the Jade Palace getting severely lectured by Consort Gyokuyou.

"I understand. Then, it"ll be fine if Gaoshun-sama does the licking from now on."

"L, licking…."

"It"s fine if you understand."

Maomao walked briskly, pouting.

He was truly a pervert. A nasty person with only looks.

Extremely shameless.

If he wasn"t a big shot, she would have kicked him between the legs. Or so she thought, but there was no point kicking something that wasn"t there, so she decided to let it go.

And so like this, they reached the brand new palace that was set up under the southern sky.

Consort Riishu was dressed in a sakura-coloured dress. Her soft hair was bundled up with a flower kanzas.h.i.+.
Maomao thought that this cute outfit suited her more than the extravagant outfit she wore at the garden party.

After Consort Gyokuyou entered, Maomao asked her for permission to meet with Consort Riishu to clarify something she was curious about.

Consort Riishu, noticing that Jis.h.i.+n was not around, looked clearly dejected.
Only his outward appearance is good, so it can"t be helped.

"The thing you want to talk to me about, what it is?"

She was eased comfortably on the couch, covering her mouth with a fan. She didn"t have the majestic bearing like the other consorts. Hesitating somewhere, the consort who was still young.
She only had the beauty expressing a beautiful maiden. She has yet to express a womanly charm.

Behind her were two of her personal maids, standing listlessly.

Consort Riishu had looked at the court lady with freckles she"s never seen before with displeasure, but upon taking a closer look, she seemed to notice that Maomao was the maid she saw at the garden party. Her eyes widened, and she looked a little calmer.

"Do you hate honey?"

It would have been fine to follow up with some small talk, but that was a pain so she went straight to the point.

"How did you know?"

"It shows in your expression."

(You know with just a look.)

Her bewildered look gradually turned sulky. She was really easy to read.

"Was there ever a time you got stomach aches from honey in the past?"

Moreover, Consort Riishu puffed out her cheeks*. An affirmation.  [T/N: not too sure about this one, literally it says "…expanded her face."]

"It isn"t unusual to become unable to take in food after food poisoning."

Consort Riishu, having been seen through for everything, made a combined look of bewilderment and irritation.

"Aren’t you rude. Suddenly coming here, and speaking so bluntly to Riishu-sama."

(You"re one to say?)

She was one of the maids who didn"t stick up to her honey-hating master at the tea party the other day.

(By doing this, she"s acting as an ally.)

Sometimes, they pretend to be allies of Consort Riishu to make outsiders into villains. The young consort, who was ignorant of the ways of the world, is convinced that everyone is her enemy. They persuade the consort into thinking that only they are the consort"s ally, and make her isolated.
The consort then has no choice but to depend on her maids. It is a vicious circle.

If the person herself didn"t noticed that she was being bullied, there was no means this will be known to the public. It seemed they overdid it at the garden party though.

"I am here under Jis.h.i.+n-sama"s orders. Do you have a problem with that?"

While she was at it with borrowing the authority of a tiger, let"s add some trouble.
Doing this much should be fine.

The maids, faces flushed in heat, are looking forward to getting close to the pervert eunuch for some reason.

"And one more thing."

Maomao, expressionlessly, returned Consort Riishu"s gaze.

"Are you ever acquainted with the Pomegranate Palace"s head maid before?"

Her surprised expression was answer enough.

"They have what she asked me to look for."

At Maomao"s behest, Gaoshun was in the Imperial Court"s Archives.
Maomao, who was an Inner Palace court lady, is fundamentally unable to leave the Inner Palace.

Let"s see. What did she realise?

Her composure and her unexpected knowledge beyond her seventeen years was astonis.h.i.+ng. He thought, with her rational way of thinking, and her ability to deal with things, it was regrettable that she was a girl. Of course, this talk excludes one part of her characteristic though.

She was a chess piece that was extremely easy to use.

It would have been fine to treat her like so.
The person herself too, had reluctantly accepted it.

"I did something bad."

He grumbled to himself.

Should he have really stopped his master"s overboard prank?
What would have happened if he stopped it?

Recalling Maomao"s resentful eyes, anxiety swept past him. She might serve him something from now on.

(Sixteen years ago. He was born at the same time as the emperor"s brother huh)

In Maomao"s hand was a single volume of a book bound in cord.

Gaoshun had brought it over to her at her request.

A single child was born when the current emperor was the crown prince. The mother was the crown prince"s milk sibling, the future Pure Consort.

The child died in infancy, and afterwards, until the new Inner Palace was made at the previous emperor"s death, no child was born.

(The consort from the crown prince"s time was always alone huh)

It was surprising. She thought that as he was l.u.s.ty old man he would have many concubines from his crown prince days. To think that he was married to one consort for more than ten years.

Absolutely, it is also necessary to not rely on rumours and hearsay, but accurately recorded information.

Sixteen years ago.

Infant deceased.

And then.

"Medical Officer, Ruomen, banished."

She discovered a name she recognised.
The emotion that surfaced wasn"t surprise but understanding. Some way or other, she already had a feeling about it.

All the medicinal herbs that grew in large numbers in the Inner Palace were something that Maomao used often.
They don"t grow in nature. She guessed that someone had transplanted them before.

"Dad, what did you do?"

The man who dragged along with a gait of an old woman.
Maomao"s medicine teacher was an ex-eunuch with a bone in one of his knees extracted.