The Apothecary Diaries - Volume 12 - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Southern Inn Town

Wonder where I am, Maomao thought. She sat staring at a candle in a two-room suite where Chue had deposited her about half a day before. Xiaohong slept in the bed that stood beside her, while Shikyou and Gyokujun were in the adjoining room.

There was more than just a way into the secret passageway between the main house and the administrative office; there was a way out as well. Maomao had done exactly as Chue told her as she shepherded them out of the tunnel, after which Chue had blindfolded Maomao, hustled her into a carriage, and then brought her here—wherever here was.

“Just play nice and don’t make any trouble,” Chue had requested, after which she had gone off somewhere and had yet to come back. At their destination, however, Maomao had found a change of clothes ready for her and was given food as well. Their treatment was, all in all, reasonably polite.

Wish I could say this was the first time this has happened.

As she thought back on another instance of being kidnapped, Maomao drank some highly acidic grape wine they’d been given in lieu of water. Chue knew her tastes well. There was even dried meat and fish to go with the drink.

There was also a bucket along with bandages, painkillers, anti-infectives, and more. Given that Shikyou was in the next room, this seemed to be an implicit command to treat him. Chue had confiscated the poison dart, so Maomao couldn’t investigate it at the moment.

Maomao didn’t even have it in her to try to run away. Did they think that she would never leave an injured person? Chue seemed to have covered all the bases, and even seemed to know exactly what Maomao was thinking, so running away was unlikely to be productive even if she had wished to try.

What do they want with us? Maomao wondered as she gazed at Xiaohong. The girl had followed them, albeit hesitantly. She had appeared quiet and calm, but her eyes were red and puffy. She had probably been crying, but as quietly as she could.

Gyokujun had cried, too, but not quietly. The moment he’d regained consciousness, he’d set up a terrible racket weeping and sobbing. He’d then dropped off to sleep, but Maomao’s ears still hurt from the howling.

Really, the only thing for her to do was to get down to drinking in earnest, but she was seized by the impulse to take a moment and try to organize what she knew.

First, she would bracket the question of Chue’s motivation. There were simply too many possibilities; she would only confuse herself. If she was going to try to get someone’s story, she should start with Shikyou in the next room—but unfortunately, he’d developed a fever from his wound and was out of it at the moment. She would have to wait until he was feeling better.

Let’s start with a simple question: Where am I?

Now that the children were asleep and things were a little quieter, Maomao took the opportunity to close her eyes. The room was closed off, but she could still hear sounds from outside. A medley of talking voices.

We’re in a town. So one thing we can say is that we’re not in an isolated shack in the middle of nowhere.

How long had she been in that carriage? Not very long, she thought, but it wasn’t a short ride either. More than long enough to get well out of the western capital. Assuming they hadn’t taken some roundabout route just to confuse her (which was doubly unlikely since her captors appeared to have other things on their minds), it seemed safe to conclude that they’d gone to one of the neighboring towns.

Their objective was probably to kidnap Shikyou. If they wanted him dead, she presumed they wouldn’t have left her bandages and medicines. If anything, this suggested a desire to protect Shikyou.

So, do Miss Chue and Shikyou know each other? Are they...partners? Or at least, two people who want the same thing?

And why had they dragged Maomao along? Did they not care if she realized they were in cahoots?

All right, is there anything else? Any other clues?

Besides the medical supplies and the food, there was an old book. It bore a design she only dimly recognized.

But I’ve seen it somewhere before. Where? She made a thoughtful sound and opened it. It looked like a textbook written in Linese. It contained moral instruction and the teachings of great people.

Is this some kind of scripture?

So the book contained religious teachings—and that discovery led Maomao to realize where she had seen the design on the cover. It was much like the one in the chapel where Chue had taught her a prayer in a strange, foreign language. Did this book belong to Chue, then?

Maybe not. Miss Chue seems like about the least religious person I can think of.

She was more likely to eat the food offerings right off the altar.

Maomao flipped through the book. Interestingly, it was written in several languages. Linese was first, but farther back she saw a language from the western reaches, along with other characters she didn’t even recognize.

“O Lord, do You see us, Lord?”

Maomao recited the words Chue had forced her to memorize. Had Chue herself learned them from this book?

Doesn’t feel very relevant right now.

Maomao set the book aside and picked up some dried fish instead. She toasted it over the candle, then took a big bite.

A candle’s kind of an indulgence. Of course, if it was a fish-oil lantern, I’d probably be choking from the stink... Hm?

Maomao stopped and listened to the sounds outside. She focused on the cacophony of chatter, desperate to pick out a single subject of conversation, anything, but she couldn’t. Which only made sense.

Because...it’s not Linese?

There were foreigners outside.

Maomao gave a great sniff. She couldn’t be too sure, but she thought she caught a hint of salt.

A town near the western capital where there were foreigners, and salt on the air...

“This must be the southern inn town,” she said.

“Exactly,” said a voice from behind Maomao, startling her. She turned to find Shikyou standing there, hand pressed to his side. So he was awake. His whole torso was soaked in sweat.

The inn town to the south—this was where Maomao had come to treat the young woman with the rotten tooth. It was populated by many foreigners who weren’t yet able to go home.

Shikyou’s color was much improved. The brute of a man came over and stood before Maomao, then grabbed the bottle of wine.

“Don’t drink that,” she advised.

“I’m thirsty.”

“Your bleeding finally stopped. You want it to start up again?”

Alcohol encouraged blood circulation.

Shikyou put the bottle down, thoroughly annoyed, and instead drank from the earthenware pot of water in a corner of the room. He choked it down, wiped a few droplets from his mouth, then looked at Maomao. “I take it from the look on your face that you’d like me to explain how I know where we are.”

“If you’d be so kind.” Shikyou had barely been conscious when they were brought here; he should be even less sure of their location than Maomao was. How could he be so certain she was right? “Did you and Miss Chue agree ahead of time that this was where you would come?”

“Chue and I want the same thing.”

“So you’re coconspirators?”

Curse you, Miss Chue!

Maomao had been sure she was hiding something—but she had never imagined it was a connection with Shikyou. At least that would explain why she wanted Maomao to take care of him.

“And what is this thing that you both want?”

“Peace for I-sei Province.”

I smell bullshit, Maomao thought—although it was exactly the sort of thing Chue would say with a joke in her voice.

“Interesting aspiration coming from someone who seems so desperate not to govern this very province.”

“Haven’t you heard that everyone has a job they’re best at? Get the right person in the right position; that’s what makes things run smoothly.”

That was Shikyou’s way of saying that he believed he didn’t have the capacity to govern I-sei Province.

Not that I can’t see why he would think that. What she couldn’t see was...

“Why did you drag me along?”

“Eh. Not mine to say. You should ask Chue yourself.” Shikyou took another swig of water, then set the dipper aside. He patted Gyokujun where he lay in the bed, and Xiaohong too. “I’ve done these kids a bad turn,” he said. “Yinxing must be out of her mind by now.”

Yinxing. From the way he said the name, Maomao surmised that she was Xiaohong’s mother—that would make her Shikyou’s younger sister.

“What about Gyokujun’s mother?”

“She’ll be surprised, but she won’t make a scene. Exactly the kind of bride they were looking for.”

Maomao tried to picture Gyokujun’s mother in her mind’s eye, but she could only summon the haziest image; the woman seemed little more than a silhouette.

That’s some way to talk about a woman who ended up going through so much. Maybe the marriage was a political match, but Maomao still felt a bit bad for the woman to hear Shikyou talk about her like that.

Once Shikyou was satisfied that his son and niece were safe, he started going through the shelves. Maybe he was hungry. He found some flatbread and stuffed it into his mouth. He was looking pretty energetic for a man whose abdomen had been torn open. Maybe he was acting on a deep-seated instinct to replenish the blood he’d lost. The man lived up to his name; he was like a wild animal.

“I think they’ll be making a fuss over my disappearance too,” Maomao said. It had been more than half a day since she’d said she was going to go to the greenhouse to get some air. Chue would have known what a disturbance would result from Maomao’s abrupt vanishing, yet she’d brought her anyway. Why?

“That’s a real shame. But it’s not my fault.” Shikyou summarily disavowed all responsibility and continued turning the place upside down. He was rewarded with cheese and more dried meat from the shelves.

So Shikyou and Miss Chue had some connection. That suggested that it wasn’t the central government that had attacked Shikyou, but some other power. If the attack had come from either the main house or the administrative office, the chances that it was someone on the inside seemed high.

And again, Chue had brought Maomao along with them...

Was it to hide her connection with Shikyou?

No, no. That explanation felt so close, and yet so far. She sensed there was another reason. Throw in the fact that Shikyou apparently knew this was the post town, and...

Were Shikyou and Miss Chue originally supposed to meet here?

Was that why Chue had seemed so busy? Maybe she’d dumped all that paperwork on Maomao in order to keep her from wandering around outside. Yet this was hardly the easiest place for Chue and Shikyou to meet. So why here?

Was he originally planning to meet someone else? And had he been attacked before he could meet them? Whoever attacked him, maybe they were trying to stop him from getting to whomever he was supposed to see.

Someone he was supposed to meet here in a town full of foreigners.

The answer practically appeared of its own accord.

Shikyou watched Maomao pondering. “Looks like you’re as sharp as you’d expect Grand Commandant Kan’s daughter to be,” he said.

“That old fart is a complete stranger to me.”

“Ha ha ha! I guess young women push back against their fathers in every family.” Shikyou laughed merrily and took a bite of meat. “Like I said, you seem like a clever girl. If you figured out that this is the inn town, then you can probably also guess what I’m here to do.”

“I’m afraid not. Incidentally, do you think I could go home soon?” Maomao was very interested in leaving before things got any further out of hand. She didn’t want this turning into another “Shi clan” thing.

Jinshi has his hands full already anyway!

“Don’t worry; no one’s going to hurt you. Anyway, just wait until Chue gets back. It won’t be long.”

Shikyou commenced eating ravenously, quite unbothered by Maomao’s presence.

On the cot, Xiaohong’s eyes drifted open. “Un...Uncle?”

“Oops, did I wake you? I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“You were hurt! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m all better now. Thanks to you, I’m all right. Hah! And Gyokujun was too scared to move a muscle. Well, you showed him!”

“Hee hee!”

Shikyou patted Xiaohong’s pale hair. “We might not see your mom for a while, but you’ll be with your uncle, and that’ll be fine, won’t it?”

Xiaohong thought about that for a second, then nodded. “Yeah!” She did seem to like Shikyou a lot. At the same time, Maomao thought she saw another reason Gyokujun tormented Xiaohong. Who wouldn’t be jealous if their beloved, nearly absentee father liked their cousin better?

Shikyou lightly toasted some cheese and put it on some bread, then gave it to Xiaohong. She looked hesitant at first, but her uncle had given it to her, after all, so she started taking little bites.

“All right, fair enough,” Maomao said. “When is Miss Chue supposed to get here?”

“Within a few days. It won’t take longer than that for everything you’re imagining to be over. But during that time, you cannot go outside.”

“It’s a shame I don’t have anything to do here.”

“It’s not like we were planning on having you. I’m assuming you spoke up when you should’ve kept your mouth shut.”

Maomao didn’t reply immediately to that. Yes... Yes, she had. If she’d pretended not to know anything instead, would Chue have let her walk placidly back to the medical office?

I’m not actually sure.

One thing looked increasingly certain, though: Chue had been acting with a great deal of freedom. Oh, she’d always shown autonomy, but she was Baryou’s wife, so Maomao had always assumed she was acting more or less on Jinshi’s orders. But she would never have brought Maomao all the way to this town if she was serving him directly.

Whoever her boss is, it’s not him.

And there was something else.

There’s a very good chance that their motives and Jinshi’s aren’t the same.

All right. If Chue and Shikyou wanted the same thing, did that mean Chue was on I-sei’s side?

What am I supposed to believe now?

Maomao heaved a sigh and opened the weathered holy book. She just happened to open to the page that said O Lord, do You see us?