The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 7 (Light Novel)

Finally he managed, “Now listen to me, y—I mean, Maomao! Listen close! I am going to make you my wife!”

He took a sip from the pitcher by the bedside in an effort to bring down the flush.

“For you, I will remove every obstacle that keeps us apart. One day. Just know that.” With that, Jinshi buried himself under the covers. “I won’t let what you fear come to pass. I swear it.”

Finally he managed, “Now listen to me, y—I mean, Maomao! Listen close! I am going to make you my wife!”

“So I should be clear, should I? Unequivocal? I should say what I mean? If I did, would you actually listen to me? Is that what you’re telling me? I’m going to hold you to that! Right this minute. I’ll say it all. Don’t plug your ears—listen to me!” He grabbed her hands as she was in the process of trying to put her fingers in her ears.

He took a breath. He was looking at Maomao, but somehow he seemed almost embarrassed.

Finally he managed, “Now listen to me, y—I mean, Maomao! Listen close! I am going to make you my wife!”

riticize? Everything you say to me, everything you do, it’s like it’s calculated to save you from ever having to actually say what you mean! To make me figure it all out! You know, you remind me of someone. You act exactly like a man who used to come by our brothel all the time. He was in love with one of the girls, but he would never just come out and say it. He thought it should be obvious from the way he acted. He was so sure he had a good thing going with this woman that he never sent her so much as a letter. I remember how forlorn he looked when someone else swooped in and snatched her away! He kept coming to the brothel after that—to get drunk and whine to the ladies. Well, in my opinion, he could have avoided all that heartbreak if he’d told the woman how he felt. Clearly, unequivocally, so that she knew where they stood. It was the least he could have done!”
Everything came out in a torrent. She felt like she’d said it all in one breath. It was strange, she thought, to hear so many words come out of her own mouth. She was mystified. Jinshi was no less startled, but the shock soon left his face, replaced by something else. He got up off the bed and stared down at Maomao.
Shit. Now I’ve done it. She’d given him a piece of her mind, and he was about to give her one back.
“So I should be clear, should I? Unequivocal? I should say what I mean? If I did, would you actually listen to me? Is that what you’re telling me? I’m going to hold you to that! Right this minute. I’ll say it all. Don’t plug your ears—listen to me!” He grabbed her hands as she was in the process of trying to put her fingers in her ears.
He took a breath. He was looking at Maomao, but somehow he seemed almost embarrassed.
Finally he managed, “Now listen to me, y—I mean, Maomao! Listen close! I am going to make you

“If anything, I think he’s avoiding ladies whose status is too high,” the doctor said, looking somehow pleased to know this. “Pick someone of high status, and there’s every chance she’ll just be angling to make him her husband.”
Jinshi was twenty, a year older than Maomao, and he looked older still. Certainly a reasonable age to find himself a wife or consort. Indeed, it was starting to seem odd that he hadn’t.
“With that face of his, the wrong person could make his life a living nightmare,” the doctor said.
As Maomao had suspected, then. En’en could be warped in her own particular ways, but she was unstintingly devoted to her mistress. She wouldn’t pull anything outrageous with Jinshi. She was so dedicated to Yao, in fact, that it was written plainly on her face that she had no interest in taking up this position. How rude of her.
“Word is that Maomao was in the running...” The physician glanced outside, where a freak with a monocle was pressed up against the window. Evidently he was back from his hiatus. Everyone seemed to be used to him by now. “...but some highly ranked individual insisted she wasn’t fit for the position, so she was dropped from consideration.”

the paperwork. This man seemed good enough at his task, and on top of that, he never looked at Jinshi like he had any funny business in mind. All Jinshi needed was for the guy to do a decent job until Basen got back.

“At first, when His Majesty sought Lady Ah-Duo, I thought it must be some kind of joke. She was his milk sibling, practically one of the boys. They still played games of tag until who knows when.” Yes, Jinshi had heard people say that if she’d been born a man, Ah-Duo would have been the Emperor’s right hand. “With all possible respect to Empress Gyokuyou, I must say His Majesty was deeply disappointed to realize that the one he truly wanted by his side was in no position to be there.”
“What are you getting at?” Jinshi finally said.
“Oh, nothing. Just the ramblings of an old woman. I simply hoped you might choose a path that would leave you without regrets.” With that, Suiren picked up the plate, which had a lone slice of pear still on it, and left the room.
“Without regrets,” Jinshi mumbled. That would not be easy.

When Suiren began speaking of consorts, there was only one person Jinshi thought of. He knew she considered the whole idea nothing but trouble.

Ah, how I wish Maomao would come back!” Suiren said.
You and me both, Jinshi thought,