The Apothecary Diaries - Volume 12 - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Winery

Ten days after they had moved to the main house, Chue paid Maomao a visit at the medical office.

“Miss Maomao, Miss Maomao!”

“Miss Chue, Miss Chue, what is it? You seem even happier than usual today.”

Maomao was using a pair of scissors to cut up a large cloth—an old sheet that would soon be new bandages.

“Oh, I am! As a matter of fact, we’ve been given permission to go out!”

“Lucky us.”

“Yes, and so, here’s a riddle: What reason might be behind a person being given permission to go out, do you think?”

Maomao put down her scissors, then rolled up the shredded sheet as she thought. “Is it something medical? Maybe they’re shorthanded at the clinic in town and they need some help? Or maybe they need to improve the nutritional value of the food they’re handing out, or try to get some better drinking water?”

If Chue was coming to Maomao about it, it seemed likely to involve something health related.

“Oh, so close! Miss Chue doesn’t quite understand, herself, but the Moon Prince describes it as ‘our first case in a while.’”

“Ah. Yeah, okay.”

If this was coming from Jinshi—well, it had been a while. He’d had no end of such business for her in the rear palace. Boy, that took her back.

“What exactly does he want? Shall I go to the Moon Prince’s chambers?”

“I believe a guide will be arriving shortly to assist with that.” Chue looked outside just as Hulan hurried up.

“Lady Maomao,” he said. “Please pardon the intrusion.”

“Yep, yep,” Chue said, standing at the door and answering for Maomao. “What seems to be the matter, my dear Hulan?”

“I come on business from the Moon Prince. I see Miss Chue has already brought you the message.”

“Yes indeed I have, and I’ll thank you not to steal my job!”

Maybe she means not to steal her chance to slack off, Maomao thought, automatically translating Chue’s words as she heard them.

“I would never. That’s not my intention in the least. How much has she explained to you?”

“We didn’t get to the real meat of the situation,” Chue volunteered.

“I see. The matter is urgent, so perhaps I could explain on the way? The carriage is already waiting.”

That wasn’t a good sign, not least because once they were on their way, Maomao would be stuck even if it turned out to be something she wished she’d refused.

“I’ll thank you not to steal Miss Chue’s job, my dear Hulan,” Maomao said.

Still... If this assignment was coming straight from Jinshi, she was going to end up doing it anyway. She might as well give in.

“All right, all right,” she said. Lihaku must have overheard them, because he was already preparing to leave.

“Grab your medical equipment and come with me,” Hulan said.

“Have a nice trip! Be careful!” said the quack. He didn’t look about to come with them, so the other two bodyguards stayed at the medical office. That should be enough to keep him safe.

“Sure. Right. Off I go,” Maomao said, then she stuffed some tools into a bag and left the office.

The carriage took them to a building northeast of the western capital. On the trip, Maomao was told that there were some sick people there, and it would be appreciated if she could examine them, but when they arrived...

“I know what this is,” Maomao said breathlessly.

“You looked so disinterested until a moment ago,” Hulan said, mystified.

“The young lady does like her drink,” Lihaku said with affectionate exasperation.

“Hee hee hee! What do you think? Not a bad place, huh?” said Chue, puffing out her chest as if she were somehow responsible for this.

The smell of alcohol and grape wine was already filling their nostrils as they approached the building. If this wasn’t a dreamland, then what was?

They were at a winery! Maomao had tasted the western capital’s finest wine several times. Maybe the stuff Hulan had brought the other day was from here.

“Miss? You’re, uh, drooling,” Lihaku said, nudging Maomao with his elbow. She quickly wiped her mouth.

“Miss Maomao, let’s get a few bottles as a souvenir before we go home!”

“Sounds good to me, Miss Chue.”

“I like the idea, but will anyone be able to stop you two once you get going?” Lihaku groaned. He really was a necessary substitute when Lahan’s Brother wasn’t around to quip.

“A few bottles, I think we might be able to swing. My aunt runs the place, you see,” Hulan said. Happy news!

“Your aunt? Meaning...”

“My father’s younger sister,” Hulan explained.

“That would be Master Gyokuen’s third daughter,” Chue added.

“Er... The one that Master Gyoku-ou’s oldest son made so much trouble for?” Maomao asked, remembering what she had been told—how Shikyou, the rat, had sold fake wine under this winery’s name, eroding its reputation.

“Yes, I’m afraid so. But don’t worry. Auntie may be hard on my older brother Shikyou, but she’s relatively sweet with me.” Hulan smiled awkwardly. “Ah, that’s her.”

Maomao followed Hulan’s gaze and saw a woman who, while beautiful, made her think of a predator. The aura she projected resembled Taomei’s, but this woman wore more makeup and her outfit was less reserved. She looked young, maybe in her late twenties, but Maomao would have expected Gyokuen’s third daughter to be a bit older than that.

“I know my aunt looks young, but she’s in her late thirties, so please mind what you say and do,” Hulan advised them.

“All right, thank you,” Maomao said, grateful for him clarifying exactly what she was wondering about.

“This is the apothecary you arranged for?” the third daughter asked, giving Maomao an appraising look.

“I am. My name is Maomao, ma’am.”

“I heard the master physician couldn’t come because of an injury, and that you’re here on his behalf. I wonder, are you going to be enough?”

At the moment, they were still giving out that the quack doctor was recovering from his injured leg. In point of fact, he was mostly better, but the excuse seemed likely to keep working for them for a while yet. The quack himself wasn’t eager to go out and about, anyway.

“I’m of course no master physician, but I’ll do everything in my power. I’m told you have several ill people here. Might I go ahead and examine them?” Maomao asked.

“Yes, all right. Come this way.” Without another word, the third daughter started off, and Maomao followed her, equally silent.

The third daughter brought Maomao to a break area of sorts. There were several beds—the place seemed to double as a nap room. Five people lay there, all of them sallow and thin. Each clutched a bucket into which they occasionally vomited.

“Everything seemed fine this morning, but by noon, they were like this. I had them isolated out of concern that it might be something catching.”

“A wise decision, ma’am.” Maomao put on a smock and covered her mouth with a handkerchief.

“What do you want me to do?” Chue drawled.

“Could you bring me drinking water, salt, and sugar? I’m going to have a look at these people, and I think they’re going to need hydration. If you can’t get all that, a thin soup would be fine.”

“Gotcha!” Chue said and trotted off.

“I’ll help Miss Chue,” Hulan said, following her.

“And I’ll keep watch at the door here,” said Lihaku.

“Thank you, Master Lihaku. I’ll call you if I need anything.”

If whatever this was turned out to be communicable, it wouldn’t do for all of them to pile into the room together. Lihaku seemed to understand that.

“Sorry, but I’ll wait out here too,” the third daughter said, observing from a safe distance.

It might look cold, but that’s the smart move, Maomao thought. The woman was apparently Gyoku-ou’s younger sister, but she acted nothing like him. If there was one thing the You family wasn’t short on, it was distinct personalities.

Maomao went into the room, starting her examinations with the patient who seemed to be in the worst shape. Of the five, the one who appeared to be suffering most was an elderly, white-haired individual.

Symptoms: vomiting, and the whole body seems hot. Head appears to hurt...

She inspected the person’s eyes and tongue, and took their pulse. They were listless and not very coherent, so Maomao tried talking to one of the patients who was comparatively better off.

“Could you describe your symptoms to me?”

“Yes... I feel terrible. My head is pounding, I get so dizzy any time I try to stand up, and the nausea just won’t go away.”

“Nausea? Any stomachache or diarrhea?”

“N...No. No, none. I just feel queasy.”

That could mean...

Maomao looked around the room. Everyone was showing roughly the same symptoms: some of them occasionally threw up in their buckets, but nobody went racing for the bathroom.

“One more question,” Maomao said. Then she asked the other patients the same thing. Based on their testimony, she was able to deduce the cause of the problem.

Well, well...

Maomao let out a long sigh and left the room.

“How was it? Did you learn anything?” asked the third daughter, keeping her distance for fear of infection.

“There’s no need to worry about the disease spreading,” Maomao replied.

“No? What’s causing this, then?”

“All five of those people were taste-testers for the wine. The oldest drank more than the rest, it seems.”

“Don’t tell me... My wine isn’t poisoned, is it?!”

Maomao shook her head. “No. It’s just a hangover. Or...well, maybe it’s a bit early to call it that. Maybe we should just call it a vicious case of drunkenness.”

Maomao took off her neckerchief and smock.

“Drunkenness? Not possible! No winery hand would get soused from a little taste test! They’d have to chug down distilled spirits to start feeling it!”

“Do you make distilled spirits?” Maomao asked, her eyes sparkling.

“They do, but they’re currently in the process of fermenting. Isn’t that right, Auntie?” Hulan broke in. He was carrying a large pot.

“Miiiss Maomao! We brought soup left over from yesterday, and some juice.” Chue, meanwhile, had a ceramic vessel full of fruit juice.

“Thank you.” Maomao opened the lid of Hulan’s pot, picked up the ladle, and stirred the contents.

“Let’s see here...” The balance of salt and water was almost perfect, while the ingredients of the soup included vegetables, mushrooms, and meat. “This is from yesterday? Did all the patients eat it?”

“Yes, I think so. But a number of other people ate it as well, so I don’t think the soup is the problem. I had some too, and I’m fine.”

Nonetheless, Maomao gave the soup a good, hard look. She fished up some of the ingredients with the ladle, picked them up in a pair of chopsticks, and inspected them. “And no one felt ill yesterday?” she asked.

“I don’t think so.”

“In that case, could you call someone who ate this soup yesterday?”

“All right. Give me a moment.” The third daughter summoned a servant, who soon brought several people to Maomao.

“I’d like to ask you some questions. First, could you tell me in detail what you’ve had to eat and drink for the last several days?”

The winery staff who had been brought to her were puzzled by the request, but they told her. One of their number was looking a little pale, so Maomao questioned him closely.

The third daughter looked less than pleased to discover that one of her employees had been concealing an illness. “Why didn’t you say anything?” she demanded.

The man only said, “I’m sorry...” It seemed he had been thinking that if he took off from work, he would be paid less.

“Please do not hide things like this from me! You know that hiding a problem only makes it worse!”

While the third daughter was busy upbraiding her employee, Maomao went over the list of food again.

“I knew it,” she said.

“Knew what?” The third daughter looked at her, perplexed.

“This isn’t an illness and it isn’t poison. Everyone really is just hungover.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Was this soup prepared on-site here?”

“It certainly was!” Chue chirped.

“And everyone suffering from this condition had the soup, yes?”

“Yes, as I believe I told you. Wine production requires constant attention, so people take turns sleeping here. That soup was last night’s dinner. But it obviously didn’t lay everyone low. I ate it myself!”

Maomao fished up the ingredients again. “You see this dried mushroom? These were presumably put in here to make the stock.”

“Mushrooms? We don’t see many of those around here.” Now the third daughter was genuinely puzzled. In I-sei Province, it was typical to use meat or bones to make stock, or maybe fish in the coastal areas.

“I don’t know everything about every kind of mushroom, of course. But I strongly suspect this is the cause of the vomiting,” said Maomao.

“But why? I ate that soup myself, and I feel fine.”

“I think this mushroom includes a component that, in effect, makes people unable to hold their alcohol.” Maomao had heard of cases like this more than once before.

“A mushroom can do that? Really?” Hulan asked, surprised.

“Yes, it can. It interferes with the body’s ability to metabolize alcohol.”

Mushrooms, indeed, held many surprises. There were so many kinds, and a great many of them were toxic when eaten raw. Moreover, in many cases the toxic effect was delayed, with onset anywhere from several hours to several days after consumption, so people sometimes ate mushrooms without realizing they were taking in slow-acting poisons.

“Anyone who has alcohol within several days of eating this mushroom, even the strongest of drinkers, is going to get very, very drunk, or so I’m told.” She had to hedge her language because this was, after all, just something she had heard. She didn’t want to be so irresponsible as to say something with certainty that she wasn’t actually certain of. “Admittedly, I’ve never consumed this mushroom myself. I only speak on hearsay, and don’t personally know if it really does what they claim. As such, I’d like to be sure.”

With that, she dunked the ladle into the soup, pulled up some mushrooms, and slipped them right into her mouth.

“Do you have any wine?” she asked.

“Wine?”

“Yes. Preferably something dry, please.”

She thought she felt the third daughter giving her a particularly hard stare, but she decided to ignore it. The other woman called to a servant to bring a drink, and the man soon appeared with a jar of wine.

“All right, here I go. Aaand gulp.” Maomao stuck out her tongue. “It’s a very round flavor. There’s just a hint of fruity sweetness left over, but only enough to give it a pleasant accent...”

She ate another mushroom to go along with her drink. Then she had another cup of wine. And another.

“Er... Now she’s just drinking, right?” Hulan asked Lihaku.

“She does like her wine. But she likes poison just as much. That girl drinks like a fish. I don’t think even I could outdrink her.”

He hadn’t really answered Hulan’s question.

I can hear you, you know.

Let him talk. The wine was so good, she couldn’t stop drinking it. She felt her body getting warmer, her mood getting brighter.

Oops, careful.

She observed her hands and saw that they were bright red. The warmth spreading throughout her body started to become uncomfortably hot, and then she pitched unsteadily. That pleasant floaty feeling intensified until her head was spinning.

“Whoa! Hey, miss!” Lihaku held her up. He sounded so far away.

“Hullo, Ms. Maomao! Pardon me!” Maomao registered Chue flexing her fingers—and then jamming them into Maomao’s mouth.

“Bluuurgghhh!”

There was a collective gasp of dismay.

Chue offered Maomao some fruit juice to leaven the sour taste in her mouth. She slowly started to feel like her body was coming back to earth. Dizzily, she lifted her head. “I’m usually quite a strong drinker, but... Well, you see.”

The third daughter and Hulan looked aghast at Maomao, who was covered in vomit.

“Your employees should recover from their hangovers soon enough.” Maomao wiped the sick from her lips, still feeling unsteady.

“Y-Yes, all right. But may I ask you one thing?” The third daughter had begun to take a more polite tone with Maomao. It didn’t seem to be an expression of respect so much as a way of verbally keeping her distance.

“Yes?”

“Was there some reason you had to eat the soup yourself just to prove your point?”

“Yes, of course,” Maomao said.

“What could it possibly be?”

“Oh, you know.”

It was the perfect excuse to drink some wine, obviously!

Even Maomao knew she couldn’t say that out loud. She settled for a pleasant smile.