The Apothecary Diaries - Volume 13 - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Jinshi’s Shock, Maomao’s Resolution

The incense worked its way into Jinshi’s nose.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit strong?” he asked. He was talking with Suiren as he ate his dinner.

“Maybe you’re just not used to it anymore. You spent so long in the western capital, where we had to conserve incense.”

“You think so?”

Jinshi picked up some meat with his chopsticks. This dish used plenty of tender pork, and even though the meat was fatty, the spices gave it a clean, refreshing flavor. Other offerings included eel stir-fry, snapping-turtle soup, and more—in fact, there was noticeably more food here than usual, including many that boosted stamina.

“The meal seems awfully heavy tonight,” Jinshi remarked.

“Maybe you’re just not used to it anymore. It’s that long stay in the western capital. Go on now, eat up!” Suiren said, and chuckled. “Ho ho ho ho!”

This all struck Jinshi as very strange. Then he looked over at the guard at the door to his chambers.

“Wasn’t Basen on duty tonight?”

“Basen has some kind of gathering of the named clans tomorrow, so I sent him home. He’d talked about something with Maamei that left him very fidgety.”

“Basen and Maamei, talking about something?”

Jinshi began to suspect Maamei was plotting something. At the moment, however, he had a feeling the plot he should be worried about was Suiren’s.

“What’s with the flower petals floating in my bath?” he asked. They’d been a nuisance, sticking to his skin as he’d tried to bathe.

“Wasn’t the temperature just perfect? And I put in some herbs and minerals that promote good blood flow and metabolism.”

At this point, even Jinshi was starting to connect the dots. After all, he had made similar preparations for the Emperor during his time in the rear palace. If Suiren was doing all this, it meant someone was coming this evening.

And Jinshi had sent Maomao a letter a few days before.

“Suiren. Could it be...”

“Maomao is coming tonight. It’s been so long since we saw her! You wrote to her several times, didn’t you?”

It was true, Jinshi had sent her a number of letters—mostly pedestrian reports of his recent goings-on. He hadn’t sent her explicit instructions to visit him at his residence. He had, however, said he wished to see her and talk. Just whenever she had a moment. When work wasn’t too busy.

“Hold on a second. It’s just Maomao, right?”

It had been more than two weeks since they had returned to the royal capital, and this would be the first time Maomao was coming to Jinshi’s residence.

“The last time you saw each other was when you were getting off the boat, yes? Oh, everyone has been so busy ever since we got home! She sent word that she finally had a moment to catch her breath.”

“All right, but if Maomao is coming, then what’s all this?”

Jinshi looked toward his bedroom. Incense was burning—a stronger smell than usual—while the bedclothes had all been changed, rose petals—out of season!—scattered on top, and the normal canopy of his bed had been exchanged for a translucent woven one with a flower pattern. Vases of flowers and beeswax candles dotted the room, providing a sweet aroma along with a gently flickering light that gave the chamber a fantastical atmosphere.

Jinshi quickly put out the incense and candles and opened the window to change the air. He threw the flower petals in the trash and put away the vases.

“Huff... Puff...”

“Oh, goodness!”

“Don’t oh goodness me! What are you doing to my room?!”

Maomao had once attempted to entertain Jinshi at the Verdigris House—and what was happening here reminded him of that day.

“Well, ambience is so important to any endeavor. You and Maomao share the same feelings now, young master.”

“The... The same feelings!”

In a mounting panic, Jinshi began to look this way and that; he tried to affect nonchalance, but the corner of his mouth twitched.

“It did take such a long time. I can’t tell you how this old lady worried! To see my young master—our nation’s jewel, the man they call an immortal treasure manifested in the human realm, who attracts young and old, men and women alike—revert to acting like a child his age. Then again, many young men your age already have children of their own...”

“Erm, ahem, I don’t... That’s not...”

Jinshi hadn’t exactly hidden what had happened with Maomao from Suiren, but he hadn’t spelled it out for her either. There had been so many other people on that boat that they hadn’t had much—really, any—time to be alone together. He’d been so sure no one had noticed anything.

“I may be an old lady, but my woman’s intuition is still as sharp as ever!” Suiren said, with another chortle. “Ooh hoo hoo!” She squinted merrily, and Jinshi found himself truly afraid.

Jinshi scratched his head, looking as awkward as he felt. “All right, but...this is Maomao we’re talking about.”

“Yes, and Maomao is more than twenty years old, you know. She may be an innocent maiden, but she has knowledge. When a gentleman sends her a letter that’s not about work and asks her to come to his room, I’m sure she understands what that means.” Suiren smiled openly as she spoke.

“But... But this room!”

“I simply thought it might be best to be open about it.”

“It’s too open! The atmosphere should be more subtle, more thoughtful—no, no, that’s not my point!”

Jinshi sat on the edge of his bed and tore at his hair. He was beginning to feel something, something more than just embarrassment. He took a swig of the water by his bed, trying to distract himself.

“Oh! That’s—”

“Pbbbt!”

It was very strange-tasting water. In fact, the smell, however faint, was alcoholic.

“Suiren. What did you put in this?”

The water wasn’t poisoned, as such, but what was in it was not unlike what had been in his dinner. He felt his pulse quicken and his body grow hot.

“Heavens, I only put in the slightest bit, and you still noticed? I promise it’s not poison.”

“Of course I noticed! And Maomao’s going to sniff it out the minute she gets close.”

Suiren reluctantly collected the carafe.

“Phew...” Jinshi took a deep breath, trying to calm his pounding heart. What was an adult man, already more than twenty years old, doing feeling so shaken by this? More than one woman had sneaked into his bedchamber, after all. He’d found himself pressed to their generous chests, moist red lips coming toward him. He’d been nauseated by the overpowering smell of incense. He remembered the guards dragging those people away by the hair as they screeched. He’d tried to ignore them, but he felt he knew womankind through and through.

But he had been, as the proverb had it, a frog in a well.

“A frog...”

It was an unpleasant word to remember. He unconsciously glanced down between his legs, then realized he’d been poisoned by Maomao. He was sure that wasn’t an ordinary word for...that part of the anatomy.

“Calm down, calm down!” he repeated to himself as if intoning the words of a sutra. Maybe he should do some training.

Jinshi was still thinking himself in circles when his visitor arrived.

“Ah, hello, Maomao, it’s been much too long. Please, come in.”

“Yes, Lady Suiren.”

Jinshi heard her voice, tired and sluggish. He straightened his collar and took a deep breath. Then he headed for the living room, trying to act as if nothing were amiss.

Maomao, as usual, looked like she was already half asleep. She was holding a large cloth sack.

“It’s been quite a while,” he said.

“Yes, Master Jinshi.”

“Do you want something to drink?”

This was normally the part where Suiren would put out tea, but today was different. Instead there were beautiful glass vessels filled with fragrant distilled spirits. They were powerfully alcoholic; even when Jinshi wanted such a drink, she never let him have one, because it would impact his work the next day. Now there it was before him, and in some quantity.

“Oooh! Ooooh!” Maomao, her eyes shining, was entranced by the amber liquid. The way she began to drool revealed exactly how much she did want a drink.

Still, it wouldn’t do for her to completely forget Jinshi was there, so he pointedly put some snacks in front of her. “Alcohol alone is bad for the body,” he said.

The snacks were a mixture of walnuts, peanuts, and pine nuts, gently toasted and lightly salted. They were accompanied by dried figs and longan, but Maomao had eyes only for the alcohol.

“How is work?” Jinshi asked.

“The first day back, a corpse was discovered in the freak strategist’s office and we had to investigate the death.”

She jumped right in with the most astounding thing.

“Did the strategist do it?” Jinshi asked, just to be sure.

“That old fart wouldn’t dirty his own hands. Not physically. Anyway, as it turned out, it was garden-variety jealousy. If it had been him, surely you would have heard about it, Master Jinshi.”

“Fair point.”

Physically—she seemed to be implying that Lakan didn’t have the strength. That was true enough, he thought, calling to mind Lakan’s total lack of physical prowess. The one thing he did have was initiative. With that thought in mind, Jinshi looked at Maomao. She was frail, but utterly audacious. In spite of her tendency to lack motivation, when she got the bit between her teeth, she was formidable.

He was reminded anew how much father and daughter resembled each other. At the same time, the question of whether Lakan was aware that Maomao was at Jinshi’s residence at this moment was a terrifying one.

Maomao was drinking the alcohol and obviously enjoying it. Suiren had prepared some for Jinshi as well, though unlike Maomao’s, it was cut with water. Jinshi could hold his liquor reasonably well, but Maomao could drink him under the table. If he simply started gulping down distilled spirits, he was going to pass out.

“And what about you, Master Jinshi? How is your work?”

“The same as always. I made my report to His Majesty, but my position remains much as it was before. I always seem to have to entertain the most absurd petitions. Still, I’m not as busy as I was in the western capital.”

“You’re still young, sir, and you’ve got plenty of stamina. That’s the only reason you’re still alive. Most people would have worked themselves to death by now.”

Maomao accompanied this comment with an “oooh!” and smacked her lips at the alcohol.

“Did you have dinner before you came?” he asked.

“No, sir. It’s too much trouble to make by myself, so I skipped it.”

“I have leftovers from mine. Would you like them?”

Just drinking the alcohol without even touching the snack wouldn’t be good for her. Suiren had been so excited about dinner that she’d made a great deal of it. Maybe she’d deliberately made enough for Maomao.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t...” Maomao looked conflicted. It was unusual; she of all people never had to be asked twice.

“Is there some reason you wouldn’t eat it?”

“I’m not sure I’d call it a reason as such...” She looked at the ground. “But I’ve made some preparations of my own.”

Jinshi put down his drink. Maomao looked much the same as she always did, but he thought her skin glowed a bit more than usual. The tan she’d gotten in the western capital was slowly fading. She hadn’t drawn in her freckles; instead, she’d used just a touch of whitening powder.

Mingled with the scent of the incense in the room, Jinshi thought he could catch a whiff of scented oil that Maomao was wearing. Her hair seemed the slightest bit damp—she must have bathed before she came.

Maomao emptied her glass. “May I go rinse my mouth?” she asked.

“Of course.”

Normally he might have expected her to empty the bottle, then ask for another one.

“Then perhaps we should go within, Master Jinshi.”

“Er... Yes, of course.”

What was this? He felt like he was dreaming. No, no. He shouldn’t expect too much. She would check the brand on his flank like she always did, and that would be it.

“Is it just me, Master Jinshi, or are you a bit out of sorts tonight?”

“Wh-Who, me? No, no.”

Maomao, usually so calm and collected, almost looked self-conscious.

“May I ask something, Maomao? Just to be sure?” Jinshi swallowed hard. He had to be clear about this. “You know what it means to enter my bedroom at this moment, don’t you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“It’s not about caring for any illness or treating any injury.”

“I’m aware, sir—that informed the preparations I made.”

She showed him what she had brought with her, and Jinshi’s face got hotter than ever. He was desperate to look calm; in an effort to seem composed, he turned away.

Suiren was suddenly nowhere to be found, and his guards could and had read the room. Basen wasn’t there.

“You don’t need a bath?”

“I’ve bathed. Although if you wish, I’ll do so again.”

“No, it’s all right.” From the way Maomao smelled, Jinshi had known that she must have bathed.

He put his hand on his heart in an effort to slow it down; it was beating so hard he was sure she could hear it.

It was Jinshi who wished he could take a bath—he’d done so earlier, but between the alcohol and...everything else...he was sweating profusely. However, he couldn’t beg leave to wash himself at that moment; instead, they headed into the bedchamber.

The room had aired out, and the suffocating smell of incense was gone. The flower petals on the bed had vanished, as had the water with the strange medicaments.

Now, what would happen next?

He couldn’t wait for his heart to stop pounding anymore. His cheeks were still flushed, but it was a little late to be worried about that.

Jinshi gently picked Maomao up. She’d gained a little weight since the last time he’d held her, but still she was light. Her hair smelled of camellia oil.

“Are you sure about this?”

“I told you I came prepared for this, didn’t I?” She averted her eyes as if begging him not to make her say it again. He found it a little annoying, but very Maomao-esque.

He wasn’t the only nervous one; she was too. Realizing he wasn’t alone gave Jinshi some relief.

“What kind of preparations did you make?” he asked her.

“I skipped breakfast and dinner.”

That, he hadn’t expected. “Why? Were you so busy experimenting that you forgot to eat?”

“I also stopped drinking water half a day ago. I suppose I should have abstained from alcohol too, but the drink earlier was so delicious, I had to have just one cup.”

“Water too?” Jinshi couldn’t imagine what would be the point of such measures.

“Ideally I should skip food for three days and water for an entire day. I’m sorry I couldn’t do better. I have tomorrow off, but today I had work, so I needed some energy.”

“Seriously, what are you talking about?”

“It’s what we do at the Verdigris House when an important customer buys someone’s first time. There can’t be anything to spoil the moment. Better to starve and thirst for a little while than to taste an enraged client’s fist.”

“I’m not sure buy is the word I would’ve chosen for this...” Jinshi scowled. No matter the context, he didn’t want Maomao to torment herself that way.

“I’m not sure I’ll be very skilled at any of this. And I’ll shame myself if I fail.”

Maomao’s eyes were serious. He’d learned that she had the soul of a craftsperson, bent on doing her very best at anything she attempted, no matter what it was.

Still confused, Jinshi let out a breath. The point was, she wasn’t going to try to finagle a way out, like she had last time. She was being proactive, which made him very happy.

“Also, may I have some boiled water?”

“Feeling thirsty after all?”

“No.”

Maomao opened the large cloth package. Out came packets of medicine, along with all sorts of other things Jinshi didn’t recognize.

“What’s all this?”

“They have lantern plant root, whiteblossom, and balsam berries in them, among other things.”

Jinshi recognized all those names, and the combination meant something to him.

“Those are all plants you said to be wary of in the rear palace!” he exclaimed, more loudly than he’d meant to.

“That’s right.” Maomao was completely blasé.

The rear palace was a place for giving birth to and raising the Emperor’s children. It had to be purged of anything that might be harmful. Hence all of these plants were forbidden there.

“Why do you have those here?”

“Lady Suiren has already vetted them. Don’t worry, sir, I’m not going to use them on you. They’re for me.” Once again, her eyes were completely serious. “I have tools that can do physical damage as well, but they aren’t very effective, and I know you don’t appreciate that sort of thing, Master Jinshi, so I thought it might be best not to use them.”

Next Maomao took out some kind of cylinder carefully wrapped in paper. “This is made with ox intestines, and I wasn’t sure how that would sit with you...” She gently put away the thing made with the intestine of an ox—whatever it was.

“I get it. These are all to prevent pregnancy?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So when you said you had worked hard to prepare...”

“I gathered everything I could get my hands on in the pleasure district.”

Jinshi promptly blanched. He felt cold all over.

“Having accepted your feelings, Master Jinshi, I also accept what comes with them, even having relations. But I must draw a bright line when it comes to that agreement: I will not become Empress Gyokuyou’s enemy.”

Jinshi bit his lip hard. He’d been thoughtless. Had he forgotten who and what he was? To Maomao he might be Jinshi, but what did everyone else call him? The Emperor’s own younger brother, Ka Zuigetsu—the Moon Prince.

Empress Gyokuyou’s son, the crown prince, was still very young, and moreover, he resembled his mother. Most Linese had black hair and eyes, and more than a few might look askance at one with red hair and green eyes standing atop the whole nation. Thus, there were those within the court who called for Consort Lihua’s son to be made crown prince, or for Jinshi to be returned to the position.

In those circumstances, for Jinshi to conceive a child with a young woman to whom he was not even married—imagine what that would mean. Imagine what people would do if they found out the young woman was Maomao, Kan Lakan’s own daughter. Because Lakan was currently neutral, people would perceive that a new faction had been formed at court. The ambiguous nature of the relationship would invite misunderstanding and pushback, and, very much in spite of what Jinshi or Maomao might wish, a tiny snowball would start rolling down the mountain, growing until it became unstoppable.

Maomao might not be one for politics, but she had a keen nose for danger.

“I’ve also charted the course of the month, and I think this should be a relatively safe night. However, please don’t concern yourself even if there should be an accident. I know how to deal with it.”

It was almost certainly true. If a child was conceived, Maomao would take care of the matter. She would certainly not raise it in secret. It might sound cruel, but it was right: Any child might be a spark that lit a conflagration. This would be cruelty in the pursuit of peace. And the damage would be kept to an absolute minimum.

Jinshi hugged Maomao tight. Not out of the animal lust that had been building in him until moments ago. He felt such guilt and pain that he thought he would shatter his own teeth for clenching his jaw.

“I’m sorry to make you be the careful one.”

He rested his chin on her shoulder. She gave him a soothing pat on the back. “It’s all right, sir.”

Jinshi felt it was something close to a miracle that he had met a woman like Maomao. That was why he didn’t want to let her go. He’d gone so far as to press a brand into his own side, all to keep her.

“Sorry,” he said again, and then although he hated to do it, he let her go. He pushed down his desire to simply hold on to her forever and sprawled back on the bed.

“Master Jinshi?”

He covered his face with his hands. “You can go home for today. Take some dinner with you, if you like. You must be hungry. If it’s gone cold, you can reheat it in a bamboo steamer.”

“I understand, sir.” Maomao gathered up her things and went to leave the room. “If you’ll excuse me, then,” she said, but as she left the bedchamber she murmured something.

“This is all right,” Jinshi mumbled. “This is enough for now.”

He needed to be clear on his own position. He couldn’t remain the Emperor’s younger brother forever. He would have to demonstrate that he was no enemy to Empress Gyokuyou or Consort Lihua. A brand on the flank wouldn’t be enough. He needed to do something clearer, more public.

Cast aside his position as His Majesty’s brother and give up the Imperial family: That was the only way.

“What do I do?” Jinshi pondered, thinking so hard he wondered if his hair might start to fall out.

He was so busy thinking that he missed the last thing Maomao said as she left: “I also planned for the possibility that nothing would happen.”

She knew Jinshi just had too much on his mind.