by Natsu Hyuuga
At length Maomao realized she was leaving this man in something of a dilemma. “Thank you.” She took the hair stick, and the man looked as pleased as a puppy who’d satisfied its master. A mongrel puppy, Maomao thought.
“Well, ta-ta, then. Nice to meet you. Name’s Lihaku, by the way.”
If I ever thought I was going to see you again, I might try to remember that.
There were still a dozen hair sticks tucked in the belt of the big dog now waving to Maomao. Presumably he was passing them out to everyone so as not to embarrass any ladies-in-waiting by omission. Rather polite on his part.
I guess maybe I was unfair to him, Maomao thought, looking down at the coral ornament.
“Did you get one?” Guiyuan asked, coming over to her with the other girls. Each was clutching her loot.
“Yes... A participation prize,” Maomao replied tonelessly. Maybe he was giving them to the girls who seemed to be standing around with no one to talk to.
“What a lonely way of looking at it,” said a familiar, refined voice from behind her. Maomao turned and was confronted with that well-endowed consort, Lihua.
She’s looking a little plumper. Still, though, not as robust as she had been before. The last of the shadows on her face, though, only cast her beauty into higher relief. She wore a dark-navy skirt and a sky-blue overgarment with a blue shawl over her shoulders.
Might be a bit cold for her. So long as Maomao was a servant of Consort Gyokuyou, she couldn’t directly help Lihua. After she had left the Crystal Pavilion, even updates on the consort’s health came to her only via Jinshi’s periodic remarks. Even if she had dared to try to visit the Crystal Pavilion herself, Lihua’s ladies-in-waiting would have chased her away at the door.
Maomao bowed the way Hongniang had taught her. “It has been too long, milady.”
“Yes, too long,” Lihua said, touching Maomao’s hair as Maomao looked up at her. She pierced something through it, just as Jinshi had done. It didn’t hurt this time. It just felt like there was something stuck in a bundle of hair. “Well, take care,” Lihua said, and moved elegantly away, chiding her ladies-in-waiting for their inability to hide their astonishment.
But the women of the Jade Pavilion were equally nettled. “Huh, can’t guess what Lady Gyokuyou is going to make of that.” Yinghua flicked the protruding hair stick with a look of annoyance.
On Maomao’s head, a train of three quartz ornaments trembled.
After noon, Maomao took Hongniang’s place behind Consort Gyokuyou, for now it was time to eat. At Yinghua’s insistence, Maomao had tucked the three hair sticks she’d received into her belt. The accessory Gyokuyou had given her was a necklace, so it would have been just as well for her to wear at least one of them in her hair, but whichever one she chose, it would have been perceived as a slight toward her other two benefactors. It was this constant need to be aware of how one’s actions would impact others that made it so much work to be a lady-in-waiting.
Now that she had the opportunity to observe the banquet from the vantage point of one of the seats of honor, Maomao realized it was really quite an impressive production. Military officers lined the west side, civil officials the east. Only about two out of every ten of them were able to be seated at the long table; the others stood in a neat line. In one respect, they had it worse than the serving women working behind the scenes: they had to stand like that for hours on end.
Gaoshun was among those seated with the military officials. Maomao realized he was perhaps a more important man than she had given him credit for, but she was also surprised to see a eunuch take his place among the officialdom with such nonchalance. The big man from earlier was there, too. He was seated lower than Gaoshun, but considering his age, perhaps it only meant that he was just now starting to make his way in the world.
Jinshi, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen. One would have thought someone so dazzling would stand out in a crowd. As there was not, however, any real need to look for him, Maomao focused on the job at hand.
Some wine came first as an aperitif. It was poured delicately from glass vessels into silver drinking cups. Maomao swirled the wine in the cup, taking her time, making sure there was no cloudiness. There would be dark patches if arsenic was present.
As she let the wine swirl gently, she gave it a good sniff, then took a sip. She already knew there was no poison in it, but if she didn’t try the stuff, no one would believe she was doing her job properly. She swallowed, then rinsed her mouth out with clean water.
Hm? Maomao suddenly seemed to be the center of attention. The other food tasters hadn’t yet put the cups to their mouths. When they saw that Maomao had confirmed there was nothing dangerous, they hesitantly started taking sips.
Eh, understandable. Nobody wanted to die. And if one taster was willing to go first, it would be safest to wait for her and see what happened. And if you were going to use poison at a banquet, a fast-acting one would be the only way to go.
Maomao was probably the only one here who sometimes tried poisons for fun. She was, let us say, an exceptional personality.
If I had to go, I think I’d like it to be by blowfish toxin. The organs mixed into a nice soup...
The tingling of the tongue it caused—she couldn’t get enough of it. How many times had she vomited and purged her stomach just so she could experience it? Maomao had exposed herself to a wide variety of different poisons in order to immunize herself to them, but blowfish was something more like a personal preference. She knew, incidentally, that blowfish toxin was not one to which the body could be inured, no matter how many times it was exposed.
As these thoughts ran through her head, Maomao’s eyes met those of the lady-in-waiting who brought her the appetizer. The corners of Maomao’s lips had turned up; it probably looked like she was grinning unpleasantly at the woman. Like she was a bit demented, perhaps. Maomao slapped herself on the cheeks, forcing herself to adopt her accustomed neutral expression.
The appetizer that was served was one of the Emperor’s favorites; it was a dish that appeared sometimes when he stayed the night. Apparently the rear palace was handling the cuisine for this banquet. This dish was quite familiar. As the other tasters were all watching Maomao intently, she quickly brought her chopsticks to bear.
The dish was raw fish and vegetables seasoned with vinegar. His Majesty might be a bit oversexed, but his preferences in food tended toward the surprisingly healthful—thought the impressed taster.
They got it a little mixed up, Maomao thought as she noticed that the ingredients were different from usual. The dish was typically served with black carp, but today it featured jellyfish.
It was inconceivable that the chefs would make a mistake in the Emperor’s favorite recipe. If there had been a mix-up, it had to be that the meal prepared for one of the other consorts had come to Consort Gyokuyou instead. The culinary service shang at the rear palace was highly capable, and would even prepare the same dish in distinct ways to please His Majesty and his various women. When Gyokuyou had been nursing, for example, they had served her an endless array of dishes that promoted good breastmilk.
When the food tasting was over and everyone was digging into their appetizers, Maomao saw something that, in her mind, strengthened her speculation that there had been a mistake in who was given what. Lishu, the oblivious consort, was gazing at her appetizer and looking a little pale.
I guess she doesn’t like whatever’s in it. But as this was the Emperor’s favorite dish, it would be unconscionable not to finish what she was served. She was bravely working her way through the food, a slice of raw carp trembling in her chopsticks. Behind her, the lady-in-waiting who served as her food taster had her eyes closed. Her lips were quivering, and appeared to be drawing themselves up into a slight arch.
She was laughing.
I sort of wish I hadn’t seen that, Maomao thought, then turned to the next course.
⭘⬤⭘
If only it had been just a banquet, Lihaku thought
. He didn’t get along with these elite types who looked down on all and sundry from the lofty heights of the Imperial court. Where was the fun in having a party outside in the freezing cold, with the wind clawing at you at every moment?
A nice meal, that would have been fine. They should all imitate their ancestors, having a drink and a bit of meat in a peach garden with a few close friends.
But wherever there were nobles, there might be poison. Any ingredients, no matter how fine, no matter how exquisitely prepared, would have gone cold by the time the food tasters were done with them, and with the warmth went at least half the flavor.
He didn’t blame the people who checked the food for poison, but just watching the way they had to force themselves to bring a mouthful to their lips, their faces pale the entire time, almost cost him his appetite. Today, as ever, he couldn’t help feeling it was taking an inordinately long time.
But in reality, it seemed that wasn’t what was happening. Normally, the food tasters would all glance uneasily at one another as they brought their utensils to their mouths. But today, there was a taster present who seemed downright eager. The petite lady-in-waiting who attended the Precious Consort took a mouthful of the aperitif from her silver cup without so much as glancing at the other women. She swallowed slowly, then washed her mouth out as if the entire thing was no big deal.
Lihaku thought she looked familiar—and then he remembered she was one of the women he had given a hair stick to earlier. She was not of any conspicuous beauty, neat and tidy but with no special distinctions. She was probably all but lost in the sea of serving women in the rear palace, many of whom were unmistakably gorgeous. And yet, the fixed expression on her face suggested a woman who could overpower others with a look.
His first impression was that she seemed rather detached, but no sooner had he judged her expressionless than she proved him wrong with a spontaneous, inexplicable grin—which vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. Now she looked rather displeased. In spite of all of this, she continued to taste for poison with complete nonchalance. It was very strange. It was also the perfect way to pass the time, trying to guess what kind of face she would make next.
The young woman was given the soup, and took a spoonful. She examined it critically, then slowly put a few drops on her tongue. Her eyes widened a little, then suddenly a rapturous smile spread across her face. There was a flush in her cheeks and her eyes began to water. Her lips curved upward, revealing white teeth and a plump, almost alluring red tongue.
This was what made women so frightening. As she licked the last droplets off her lips, her grin was like ripe fruit, like that of the most accomplished courtesan. The food must have been truly delicious. What could be in it that it could transform a completely average girl into such an enchanting creature? Or perhaps it was the preparation, by the palace’s inestimably talented chefs?
Lihaku swallowed heavily, and just then the young woman did something unbelievable. She took a handkerchief out of a pouch, put it to her lips, and spat out what she had just eaten.
“This is poisoned,” the lady-in-waiting said, the flat expression once more on her face. Her voice held all the urgency of a bureaucrat reporting on some mundane matter, and then she vanished behind the ladies’ curtain.
The banquet ended in utter chaos.
Chapter 19: After the Festivities
“A very energetic food taster you are.”
Maomao had just washed her mouth out and was staring vacantly into the middle distance when a most unexpected, and altogether underemployed, eunuch appeared. She couldn’t believe he had found her so far away from the banquet.
Not long before, Maomao had detected poison in the dish that was served just after the raw fish. She’d spat it out and retreated from the celebration.
I guess most ladies-in-waiting would be chastised for doing something like that.
She wished she could have been more discreet, but it simply wasn’t possible. This poison was the first she’d had in so long, and it was inviting and delicious. She could practically have just swallowed it. But if a food taster eagerly swallowed whatever poison she came across, she wouldn’t be able to do her job. Maomao had needed to remove herself from the situation before things got out of hand.
“Good day to you, Master Jinshi.” She greeted him with her usual expressionless appearance, but she felt her cheeks weren’t quite as stiff as usual; maybe a bit of the poison was still in her system. She resented that this might make it look like she was smiling at him.
“I daresay it’s you who’s having a good day.” He grasped her by the arm. He looked, in fact, rather upset.
“May I ask what you’re doing?”
“Taking you to see the doctor, obviously. It would be absurd for you to consume poison and simply walk away.”
In actual fact, Maomao was the picture of health. As for the toxin in that dish—as long as she didn’t actually swallow it, it could hardly hurt her. But what would it have done had she swallowed it instead of spitting it out? Curiosity coursed through her.
There was a good chance she would be starting to feel a tingle by now.
I shouldn’t have spit it out. Maybe it wasn’t too late to claim some of the leftover soup. She asked Jinshi if this might be feasible.
“What are you, stupid?” he said, scandalized.
“I would prefer to say I’m always eager to improve myself.” Although she recognized that not everyone would endorse that sort of self-improvement.
In any event, Jinshi now had little of his characteristic glitter, even though he had replaced the stick in his hair and he was wearing the same elegant clothes as earlier. Wait—was his collar ever so slightly askew? It was! So that was it—the scoundrel! He’d no doubt claimed he was cold as a pretext to do something smarmy.
At the moment, there was no honey in his voice, and no lilting smile on his face.
Is that sparkle something he can turn on and off? Or was he simply tired after all that had happened? Maybe the reason for his absence from the banquet was because he had spent the entire time accosting—or being accosted by—ladies-in-waiting and civil officials and military men and eunuchs. Yes, that’s what Maomao would go with. Talk about a man who kept busy.
I wouldn’t want to be in his position.
Beautiful he may have been, but from where she was standing he looked much more like the young age she suspected he was. Younger, perhaps. She would have to ask Gaoshun to make certain that from now on, when Jinshi visited her, it was only after he had been up to something indecent.
“Let me tell you something. You walked out of there looking so spry that one person actually ate the damn soup wondering if there was really poison in there!”
“Who would be that stupid?” There were many different kinds of poison. Some didn’t manifest their effects for quite a while after they were consumed.
“A minister is feeling numbness. The place is in an uproar.”
Ah, so the future of the nation was potentially at stake.
“I wish I’d known—we could have used this.” She produced a cloth pouch from around her neck, something she’d hidden just under her chest padding. It contained an emetic she’d quietly concocted the previous night. “I made it so strong it’d make you cough up your stomach.”
“That sounds like a poison itself,” Jinshi said skeptically. “We have our own medical officer here. You can leave everything in his hands.”
Suddenly Maomao thought of something and stopped in her tracks.
“What is it?” Jinshi asked.
“I have a request. There’s someone I’d like to bring with us, if possible.” There was a matter Maomao was desperate to clarify. And there was only one person who could help her do it.
“Who? Give me a name,” Jinshi frowned.
“The Virtuous Consort, Lady Lishu. Would you call her?” Maomao replied, calm and confident.
When Lishu answered the summons, she gave Jinshi a smile as pleasant as springtime, whil
e on Maomao she bestowed only a look of total contempt. Who is this? she seemed to want to know. She restlessly rubbed her left hand with her right. She was quite young, but she was still that creature called a woman.
They tried going to the medical office, but because all the puff-brained important types felt they had to be there, there was an impossible crowd, and Jinshi, Maomao, and Lishu were forced to go to an unused administrative office instead. It gave Maomao a chance to appreciate how the architecture differed between the rear palace and the outside. The room was unadorned but vast.
Consort Lishu wore something of a pout. Maomao requested Gaoshun to usher away most of Lishu’s attendants, who had followed them in a gaggle, so that only one was left with the consort.
Maomao took an antitoxin to help cool her head. She would have been perfectly safe without it, but she felt like being sure, and anyway, she was intrigued to see how someone else had gone about making the drug. In this case, it caused her to vomit powerfully enough to bring up the entire contents of her stomach, a delightful emetic. Unlike the quack in the rear palace, the doctor of the main court was eminently competent. Jinshi watched Maomao grin the entire time she retched as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. She thought it was rather rude of him, though, to stare at a young lady while she was vomiting.
Now looking quite refreshed, Maomao bowed to Lishu. The consort regarded her with a squint.
“Pardon me,” Maomao said, approaching Lishu. The consort reacted with astonishment when Maomao took her left hand, rolling back the long sleeve to reveal a pale arm. “I knew it,” Maomao said. She saw exactly what she had expected: a red rash stippling the normally smooth, unblemished skin. “There was something in the fish course that you shouldn’t have been eating.”
Lishu refused to look at Maomao.
“What precisely do you mean by that?” Jinshi said, his arms crossed. The heavenly comportment had quietly returned, but he still wasn’t smiling.
“Some people simply can’t eat certain things. Not just fish. Some can’t stomach eggs, or wheat, or dairy products. I myself have to avoid buckwheat.” Jinshi and Gaoshun both looked amazed. This from the girl who casually ingested poison!