Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

Chapter 29

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Tea parties are a legitimate job for consorts.
Consort Gyokuyou also performed her job as she did every day. There were times she performed it at the Jade Palace, other times she was summoned to another consort"s place.

(It"s a very important way to see what the consorts are doing.)

Maomao wasn"t very fond of tea parties.
All they talk about were the latest clothing fads and cosmetics.
They probe each other as they conversed about trifling things. No doubt, the miniature of the Inner Palace extends from there.

(And they look so gentle too. Truly consorts.)

A middle-ranked consort from the west was talking to Consort Gyokuyou.
Though she didn"t know the specifics, it seemed that Consort Gyokuyou"s parent"s home would be an important place after this, no matter what relation it will become.
It is common for many of the other consorts to inadvertently spill out information when they chat with the cheerful Consort Gyokuyou.
Writing up a letter on that, was one of Consort Gyokuyou"s jobs.

(Even though she stayed up till very late last night. Could it be she can"t sleep?)

The emperor frequently visits the Beloved Consort Gyokuyou"s place for three days. He comes to see his daughter who started to walk with help, but well, it goes without saying that is not the only reason he comes to visit.
He asks about various lively topics to not neglect the afternoon job too.

At the end of the tea party, she received a huge amount of tea snacks from Infa. She was going to eat them, but there were just too much. So, she sent them forward to Shaoran as usual.

Shaoran, who occasionally spoke with a lisp, talked to her about rumours, keeping her up to date as usual.

About the maidservant who committed suicide. Her relation to poisoning incident. And, for some reason, about the Pure Consort.

"Well, age is just age for the Four Consorts."

Consort Gyokuyou is nineteen. Consort Rifa is twenty-three. Consort Riishu is fourteen.

Consort Ah Duo, the Pure Consort, was thirty-five. One year older than the emperor.

Consort Ah Duo is still able to give birth to children, but based on the Inner Palace system, her cus.h.i.+on must be slipping.
In other words, it is impossible for her to become the empress dowager hereafter.

It seems that the talks of her stepping down for a new high ranked consort had come up.

It was something that had come up quite a while ago. She had been a consort since the time the emperor was the crown prince, and had been the mother to a male infant once, so she had a considerably strong start.

(Was she the mother of the male infant who died previously?)

At this rate, would Consort Rifa end up the same way, having fallen pregnant with the emperor"s child too?
Not just that. It can"t be declared that Consort Gyokuyou will always continue to receive his favour.
After all, beautiful flowers too will someday become withered.

There is no meaning for the flowers of the Inner Palace to be truly tied together.

Although she had gotten accustomed to it, she thought that the Inner Palace was truly beneath the muddy dregs.

Maomao brushed off the crumbs of the mooncake she ate, and looked up to the heavy clouds that covered the sky.

The hair colour of today"s tea party companion had changed a little.

The companion was Consort Riishu, a member of the Four Consorts just like Consort Gyokuyou.
It was rare to have a tea party with a consort with the same rank, especially so for high ranked consorts.

The youthful Consort Riishu had looked nervous, and brought along four maids with her.
That food taster was also there.
It seems that she didn"t receive punishment, as far as Maomao"s worry was concerned.

As it was cold outside, the tea party was taken inside.
The eunuchs were used to prepare a couch for the maids in the parlour.
There was a round table inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The curtains were exchanged with a new embroidered one.

Honestly, they didn"t pay this much attention when the emperor visited, but it would be women who would stand on guard against the same gender.
The make-up was also imbued with fighting spirit. Maomao"s usual freckle make-up was cleared off. The corners of her eyes were lined with red, as if to intimidate.

Maybe it was wisdom from age; Consort Gyokuyou was talking constantly and Consort Riishu did nothing else save nod timidly.
The maids who were waiting behind wasn"t looking at their own master. Rather, they glanced around the room as if they were curious about the furniture in the Jade Palace.
Only the food taster stood behind the consort in a way that she was facing Maomao. Before, she had looked at Maomao, who was threatened, imploringly.

(This is somehow…)

She would prefer that these maids and the maids from the Crystal Palace would stop treating her like a monster.

(They look like very normal maids at a glance.)

Maomao had previously reported to Gaoshun that they bullied their consort. It would be slightly troubling if she was mistaken, but it would be a happy thing.

Maomao, comparing them with the select few Jade Palace maids with a peek, thought their movements were slow, but they did their job. Well, since today"s tea party host was Consort Gyokuyou, their work itself was scarce.

Airan brought in a ceramic jar and hot water.

"You like sweet things, right? Since it"s cold today, I thought maybe we could have this."

"I like sweet things."

At Consort Gyokuyou"s words, Consort Riishu replied.

The content of the jar was citrus peel boiled in honey. It warms the body and soothes the throat.

(Oh?)

Even though she just said she liked sweet things, Consort Riishu paled.
The food taster, who was looking at the honey that was being poured into the bowl, also seemed like she wanted to say something.

(Is honey also no good?)

The maids waiting at the back were saying nothing.
They were just looking at Consort Riishu with amazed faces. As if to say, "stop being picky".

Maomao let out a small breath and whispered into Consort Gyokuyou"s ear.

Consort Gyokuyou, widened her eyes with an "oh my", and called for Airan.

"I"m sorry. This looks like it needs a little more time to pickle. We took out the wrong thing. Can you drink ginger soup?"

"Yes. That"s fine."

Her complexion somewhat returned to normal. It seemed changing the tea was the correct answer.

And so, Maomao"s guess unfortunately turned out to be true as well.

Though it was for an instant, she met the gaze of the maid who faced her with a bored look.

Appearing in the evening was the usual beautiful eunuch. Following along at the back of the celestial maiden"s smile was Gaoshun. Recently, she thought the wrinkles on his brows have increased, but perhaps it increased no matter what anxiety he had.

"You had the tea party with Consort Riishu, didn’t you."

"Indeed. It was fun."

This eunuch seemed to rotate around to the Four Consorts at fixed intervals. Maybe he had the standpoint of one who supervises the inner palace.Property of © Fantasy-Books.live; outside of it, it is stolen.

Today"s tea party gathering was somehow strange, but it seemed that this guy was involved with it.
Before she got caught into something troublesome, Maomao was going to withdraw from the room, but of course, she was stopped.

"Shall we talk?"

"The talk is already over."

Even if the celestial maiden"s gaze was looking at her, Maomao could only lower her gaze at the bed. She was sure she was making the eyes of a dead fish.

"Ufufu, you"re quite good friends."

"Gyokuyou-sama, it"s good to ma.s.sage around your eyes when you have eyestrain."

Because Consort Gyokuyou was laughing so merrily, she unintentionally replied with sarcasm.
Not good. Not good.
If she said something rude, she would be stopped by Jis.h.i.+n.*

"Did you hear that the perpetrator of the poisoning a.s.sa.s.sination commotion the other day was the maid who committed suicide?"

She nodded. From his tone, he was talking to Maomao, not Consort Gyokuyou.

Consort Gyokuyou looked like she noticed something and left the room herself.
Remaining in the room was just Maomao, Jis.h.i.+n, and Gaoshun.

"Did the perpetrator really commit suicide?"

"The one who decided that wasn"t me."

The power of an influential person can change lies into truth.
They didn"t know who it was who laid down the decision, but Jis.h.i.+n should have some considerable influence to do that.

"I"m like the maidservant at best, but was there a reason to poison the Virtuous Consort"s dish?"*

"I don"t know myself."

Jis.h.i.+n smiled. He could use people aptly using that alluring smile.

Unfortunately, it was ineffective on Maomao. Even if he did such a thing, he should know that she can"t refuse if he ordered her.

"Will you come a.s.sist me at the Pomegranate Palace from tomorrow?"

Even if he phrased it as a question, what does it become?
Maomao could only reply with "By your will".

This is a four parter, and it is long…. Final arc start o/

And I’m changing poison taster to food taster. You guys convinced me.

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