The Apothecary Diaries - Volume 12 - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Disguise

Maomao guessed they had been in the wagon for nearly four hours. They weren’t moving very quickly, but even so, the horses must have been getting tired. The wagon had to be a heavy load, even though there were two animals drawing it along. On any ordinary trip, it would certainly be time to let them rest. A rest of which, at the moment, Maomao saw no sign.

Did that mean there might be someone chasing them?

“Are we there yet? Are we there yet? I’m tiiired!” Gyokujun groused. He was lying with his arms and legs spread out in the middle of the wagon.

“Uh-huh,” Maomao said, ignoring him and looking outside.

That was exactly when the wagon came to a clattering halt.

Maomao caught her breath. The lady biaoshi asked the driver, “Why’d you stop?”

“Surely we can let the horses rest for a spell? You see them staring at us—they’re desperate for a drink,” the driver replied. Maomao looked out and found that the two horses pulling the vehicle did indeed seem to be giving them dirty looks.

“All right,” the biaoshi said. She came into the back and told Maomao that they would rest at the next village. “The three of you will go into the village. Your cover story is that you’re a mother and her children.”

“Why should we have to play pretend? Take me home! I command you!” Gyokujun said, agitated. He’d managed to dress himself, which was great and all, but he’d folded over the front the wrong way, and Maomao had had to make him take it off and do it right.

“You won’t be able to go back to the western capital for a while. I mean, you could, but they’d tie you up and throw you in jail. Do you want that?” The woman spoke politely, but her eyes said she was telling the absolute truth.

“Y-You think they could do that to me?! My father would never let them get away with it!”

“It’s on Master Shikyou’s orders.”

Gyokujun went silent, but his eyes brimmed with tears and he stuck out his lower lip.

Much as it satisfied Maomao to see him squirm, she was in the same position as he was. “Will people believe that these two could be my kids?” she asked with a look at Xiaohong and Gyokujun. Not only did they look nothing like her, she wasn’t old enough to have two children their ages.

“Women commonly have children at a younger age in I-sei Province than in the central region. If anyone says they don’t look like you, just say they take after their father.”

Hmm.

They might have different-colored hair, but Gyokujun and Xiaohong were cousins, so they somewhat resembled each other at least.

Wasting no time, the lady biaoshi pulled out some cosmetics. “Another thing women do here is wear makeup. A little bit will go a long way in helping you blend in.”

She started working with a practiced hand; she was an artist and Maomao’s face was her canvas. The base she used wasn’t pure white, but had a red tint, making Maomao’s skin look a bit more like the locals’.

“Question,” Maomao said. “Would it really not be better for us to go directly back to the western capital? I can’t imagine our going home would have that much of an impact on anything.” She was very curious what these people had been so desperate to hide that they would confine her for days on end, but she couldn’t imagine what it might be—which meant she couldn’t tell Jinshi what it was either. Maybe Chue had put in a good word for them and that was why they hadn’t been killed to shut them up.

“There’s a reason we can’t send you home right now, but it’s not for Master Shikyou’s sake. It’s for the Moon Prince’s. For what it’s worth, I do sincerely regret that you got wrapped up in this.”

It’s for Jinshi?

That left Maomao even more confused, but there was nothing to do but go along.

Thoroughly made up, Maomao now looked several years older than her real age, while some careful work to her eyes and eyebrows gave her a passing resemblance to her “children.” She had to admit—she was impressed.

When they got to town, they not only changed their horses for two new ones, but got an entirely new wagon. They acquired a second driver as well, a burly man who probably doubled as a guard. As for the wagon, it bore the biaoshis’ crest. “It’s a pleasure to serve you, ma’am. Young master. My young lady.”

“All right,” the lady biaoshi said. “I’m going to go into town to buy what we need. Do you think you can wait in the wagon?”

Gyokujun promptly stuck his head out. “I’m going too!”

Maomao grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. “You’re definitely waiting here.”

“I’m going toooo!”

The little shit flailed and fought. Just when Maomao was seriously considering tying him up, the biaoshi took her hand. “If he’s that insistent, then I’ll take him. We would be much worse off if he ran away the moment I was out of sight.”

Maomao looked at Gyokujun and Xiaohong. Xiaohong, she suspected, would wait patiently in the wagon—but Gyokujun?

Yeah... He would run away. For sure.

“All right. Thank you,” she said, choosing to trust the woman. Gyokujun gave her a triumphant look as they left. Then he turned back to the biaoshi. “Buy me some snacks while we’re in town!”

“I’m afraid there won’t be time.”

Gyokujun looked shocked to be so firmly rebuffed, but that wasn’t Maomao’s problem. She had to admit, though, that it was going to be pretty boring just sitting here in the wagon.

“Xiaohong, you don’t need to use the toilet?”

“No. I’m okay.”

“All right.”

Xiaohong had started playing marbles by herself.

You know, that reminds me...

“That place where your uncle was hurt, that’s a hidden tunnel, right? Did Gyokujun tell you about it?” Maomao had been wondering ever since the day of the attack.

“Nu-uh,” said Xiaohong.

“A family member, then? You don’t normally tell just anyone about a passage like that.”

“Uncle told me.”

“Your uncle? You mean Shikyou?”

Xiaohong shook her head. “Uncle Hulan.”

“Hulan?” Maomao repeated.

“Uh-huh. He said Uncle Shikyou was in danger and I should help him.”

“What?!” Maomao said, breaking out in a sweat.

“Luckily Gyokujun was there. He showed me where to go.”

Wait... What does this mean?

Why hadn’t Hulan helped Shikyou himself? Why had a child like Xiaohong come to summon Maomao? Who had attacked Shikyou?

That son of a...

She didn’t know what Hulan was playing at—but she knew he was in deep.