The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 2 (Light Novel)
- Anastasia Laiterhas quoted9 days ago
Gaoshun was in the room along with Maomao, as was a lady-in-waiting in the first flush of old age. They were the only ones allowed here, and Maomao could understand why. A woman might be driven mad with lust by what Maomao was currently seeing, and even a man might forget the boundaries of gender. This esteemed personage, she concluded, could be downright sinful.
He’s like a bug in heat. Some female insects produced exotic scents to attract mates. A single female could draw dozens or hundreds of males. Maomao herself had been known to take advantage of this characteristic to collect insects she needed as ingredients.
From that perspective, Jinshi’s constitution might be considered extremely interesting. If I could capture that subtle aroma and turn it into an incense, I bet it would sell. Such was the mindset with which Maomao regarded her potential love-potion ingredient—ahem, that is to say, Jinshi. It was an unfortunate fact that when Maomao was focused on a particular thought, something not having to do with the situation at hand, her attention tended to wander from the present moment. It frequently prevented her from following conversations going on around her, a tendency that was compounded by her habit of nodding along whether or not she was actually listening.
“If you wish, I shall have a new room prepared for you.”
Huh?
Jinshi, looking inordinately pleased with himself, was requesting more porridge from Suiren. She was one of just a few ladies-in-waiting ever to have served Jinshi. From her looks, Maomao guessed she was well past fifty. Suiren’s face remained impassive as she doled out a new bowl of porridge, topping it with black vinegar.
Maomao hadn’t exactly followed the conversation, but Jinshi seemed to be saying that he was willing to give her a nicer room; that much she understood. Then, though, her eyes met those of Gaoshun, who had his head in his hands again. Jinshi’s ever-weary aide seemed to want to communicate something to Maomao, but she only cocked an eyebrow in response.
If he wants to tell me something, he has to say it, she thought. I’m not a mind reader. She refrained from saying this out loud, though, because she knew that she herself frequently failed to be articulate enough.
“Perhaps a stable near a well, then,” she offered, and there it was: her true desire was out in the open.
“A stable,” Jinshi repeated.
“Yes, sir. A stable.” - Anastasia Laiterhas quoted9 days agoShe had been assigned a relatively nice room for the quarters of a live-in maid, but there was no getting around the fact that it was still a little cramped. Really no bigger than her quarters in the rear palace. The difference was that at the Jade Pavilion she had been able to ask for permission to use the kitchen, and combined with the abundance of available resources, producing her concoctions had been a simple matter—all of which had taken the sting out of the size of her accommodations.
What to do, what to do? Maomao regarded the paulownia chest she’d placed carefully on top of her wicker trunk. Tucked inside the chest, which was sealed with a silk cord, was the herb that grew from an insect. It was called dong chong xia cao—winter worm, summer weed—otherwise sometimes known as caterpillar fungus, and Jinshi had brought it with him along with the money when he came to the pleasure district. The mere sight of it had induced Maomao to sign the contract without a moment’s further reflection, but now she wondered if she had let herself go too cheaply. She could never have overcome her desire for this uncanny herb, though.
She opened the lid and looked at the fungus within, and an unconscious smile spread over her face. It turned to a grin, and her cheeks veritably started to twitch.
No, no, must stop. The day before, she’d let the twitch turn into such a great yawp that her neighbors two rooms over had come pounding on her door to object. Apparently you weren’t supposed to go shouting in the middle of the night. Allegedly, people were trying to sleep or something.
Maomao pressed her fingers into her cheeks to relax the smile, then lay down on her bed. A serving woman’s work started early, even before the cock crowed. The person she served might have been missing something very important, but he was still gorgeous and still of high station. One ought not to displease him.
Maomao pulled up her thin sheet along with several layers of outer clothing that doubled as bedding and closed her eyes.
“Is your current room not somewhat small?” the gorgeous eunuch inquired over breakfast.
Maomao blinked, then replied, “I dare say it’s more than generous for a serving girl like me.” Even she understood that she could hardly voice her true feelings. (“Yes, it damn well is small. If possible, I’d like to request a room with a generous fireplace, located next to a well.”)
“You mean it?”
This time she simply didn’t say anything.
The eunuch had just woken up and hadn’t entirely made himself up for the day yet as he enjoyed his breakfast. His otherwise tousled hair was held back with a simple tie. It was a bit problematic, how lurid it looked. - Anastasia Laiterhas quoted9 days agoThe ladies of the outer court were something like secretaries. Cleaning was certainly not part of their portfolio, and there was no need for them to do it. But that didn’t mean they shouldn’t. The government had ceased to own slaves during the time of the former Emperor, and bureaucrats began hiring menservants and maidservants to do odd chores instead.
Maomao was now such a maidservant, serving directly under Jinshi.
In Maomao’s experience, women who served in the rear palace were widely referred to as palace women, while those who worked in the outer court were frequently called court ladies. She might or might not have been exactly right about that, but it was a distinction Jinshi and others like him seemed to observe when they spoke.
All right, what’s next? She turned toward Jinshi’s office. The room was large but not luxurious; in fact, it was quite spare. Its chief occupant was a busy man; once he left his office, he rarely returned to it quickly. That made it easier for Maomao to do the cleaning, but there was one problem.
“Excuse me, but what precisely do you think you’re doing?”
She registered that a number of unfamiliar ladies had surrounded her. They were all bigger than Maomao; one among them stood a full head taller than her.
The better they eat, the bigger they get, Maomao thought, her glance unconsciously taking in both the girls’ height and their bustlines. The one who had spoken to her was noticeably tall, implying an excellent upbringing.
“Are you listening to me?” the woman demanded while Maomao entertained these somewhat untoward thoughts.
In a word, the ladies were upset that Maomao was serving Jinshi personally; they wanted to know why she should have received such a privilege. Unfortunately, she wasn’t privy to the inner workings of Jinshi’s mind; she only knew that he had hired her. If Maomao had been a well-connected foreign gentlewoman like Gyokuyou, or if she had been as luscious as Lihua or as sexy as Pairin, no one would have objected, nor would they have had grounds to. But Maomao looked like nothing more than a scrawny, befreckled chicken. The girls couldn’t stand it. It drove them mad to see Maomao by the side of the gorgeous eunuch; they would have given anything to trade places with her.
Hrm, Maomao thought, what to do now? She was hardly the world’s fastest talker; often, in fact, she would think hard but ultimately leave her mouth shut. But silence seemed likely to irritate these ladies as much as anything Maomao might actually say.Дами зовнішнього двору були такими, як секретарки. Прибирання, звичайно, не входило в їхні обов'язки, і в цьому не було необхідності. Але це не означало, що вони не повинні були цього робити. За часів колишнього імператора уряд перестав утримувати рабів, і чиновники почали наймати слуг-чоловіків і служниць для виконання разової роботи по дому.
Маомао тепер була такою служницею, яка служила безпосередньо під керівництвом Цзінші.
З досвіду Маомао, жінок, які служили в тилу палацу, часто називали палацовими дамами, тоді як тих, хто працював у зовнішньому дворі, часто називали придворними дамами. Можливо, вона мала рацію, а можливо, і ні, але це була різниця, яку Джинші та подібні до нього, здавалося, помічали під час розмови.
Гаразд, що далі? Вона звернулася до кабінету Джинші. Простір був великим, але не розкішним; насправді він був досить просторим. Його головний мешканець був зайнятою людиною; покинувши свій кабінет, він рідко повертався в нього швидко. Це полегшило роботу з прибирання Маомао, але була одна проблема.
"Вибачте, але що саме, на вашу думку, Ви робите?”
Вона помітила, що її оточили кілька незнайомих дам. Всі вони були більші за Маомао, а одна з них була на цілу голову вище її.
"Чим краще вони їдять, тим більше стають", - подумала Маомао, мимоволі відзначаючи поглядом зростання дівчат і їх бюст. Та, що заговорила з нею, була помітно вище ростом, що говорило про прекрасне виховання.
"Ви мене слухаєте?"- запитала жінка, в той час як Маомао віддавалася цим дещо неприємним думкам.
Одним словом, дами були засмучені тим, що Маомао особисто обслуговує Цзінші; вони хотіли знати, чому вона отримала такий привілей. На жаль, її не посвятили у внутрішні справи Джінші; вона знала лише, що він найняв її. Якби Маомао була знатною іноземкою з хорошими зв'язками, як Геокую, або такою ж спокусливою, як Ліхуа, або такою ж сексуальною, як Пайрін, ніхто б не заперечував, і у них не було б для цього підстав. Але Маомао був схожий на худу курку у веснянках. Дівчата не могли цього терпіти. Їх зводило з розуму, коли вони бачили Маомао поруч з чудовим євнухом; вони б все віддали, щоб помінятися з нею місцями.
Хм, подумала Маомао, що ж тепер робити? Навряд чи її можна було б назвати найбільш балакучою жінкою у світі; насправді, часто вона напружено думала, але в кінцевому підсумку тримала рот на замку. Але мовчання, здавалося, дратувало цих дам так само, як і все, що Маомао міг сказати. - Anastasia Laiterhas quoted9 days agoHer chuckling older sister looked a bit like the old madam who ran the place, Maomao reflected. A girl had to look out for herself to survive in this line of work.
Ultimately, Maomao found herself sent on her way with a large bundle packed to bursting with clothing and cosmetics. She worked her way back to her simple house, stumbling under the load.
The day when the gorgeous noble had appeared in the pleasure district two weeks after Maomao’s departure from the rear palace was still fresh in her memory. The eunuch, with his very particular proclivities, had—thankfully—heard the words Maomao had spoken half in jest and taken them in earnest. He had confronted the madam with more than enough money to cover Maomao’s debts and had even had the decency to bring a rare medicinal herb as a gift. It hadn’t taken even thirty minutes to stamp the contract.
So it was that Maomao was to resume her employment at that most renowned of workplaces. She was somewhat reluctant to leave her father again to go live in her place of employment, but the conditions imposed by her new contract were, as far as she could tell, much more lenient than before. Moreover, this time, she wouldn’t be simply disappearing without a trace. Her father had told her with a gentle smile to do what she wished, but then his face had briefly darkened when he looked at her contract. What had that meant?Її хихикаюча старша сестра була трохи схожа на стару господиню цього закладу, подумала Маомао. Дівчині доводилося самій піклуватися про себе, щоб вижити на такій роботі.
Врешті-решт Маомао був відправлений у дорогу з великим пакетом, наповненим одягом та косметикою доверху. Вона повернулася до свого скромного будинку, спотикаючись під вагою вантажу.
День, коли чудовий аристократ з'явився в кварталі задоволень через два тижні після від'їзду Маомао з заднього палацу, все ще був свіжий в її пам'яті. Євнух, з його дуже специфічними нахилами, на щастя, почув слова Маомао, сказані наполовину жартома, і сприйняв їх всерйоз. Він запропонував мадам більш ніж достатньо грошей, щоб покрити борги Маомао, і навіть виявив порядність і приніс у подарунок рідкісну лікарську траву. На підписання контракту не пішло і тридцяти хвилин.
Отже, Маомао довелося відновити свою роботу на цьому найвідомішому робочому місці. Їй не хотілося знову розлучатися з батьком і переїжджати жити на своє робоче місце, але умови, передбачені її новим контрактом, були, наскільки вона могла судити, набагато м'якше, ніж раніше. Більш того, на цей раз вона не збиралася просто безслідно зникати. Батько з ніжною посмішкою порадив їй робити те, що вона хоче, але потім його обличчя на мить затьмарилося, коли він подивився на її контракт. Що це означало? - Anastasia Laiterhas quoted9 days agoYou’ve got a plum job now. Save up all the money you can make.” The wood-strip-flinging woman of a moment ago was gone, replaced by Maomao’s sweet, caring older sister. She stroked Maomao’s cheek with a manicured hand, tucking some errant hair behind her ear.
Ten months before, Maomao had been kidnapped and sold into service as a maid in the rear palace. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that after successfully making her way back to the pleasure district, she would once again go to work there. To those around her, it must have seemed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Hence the stern look in Meimei’s eyes.
“Yes, Sister,” Maomao said obediently after a moment, and Meimei smiled her graceful courtesan’s smile.У тебе тепер відмінна робота. Копи всі гроші, які зможеш заробити". Жінка, яка щойно кидала дрова, зникла, і її замінила мила, турботлива старша сестра Маомао. Вона погладила Маомао по щоці наманікюренной рукою, заправляючи за вухо вибилася пасмо волосся.
Десять місяців тому Маомао викрали і продали в служіння в якості покоївки у віддалений палац. Навіть у найсміливіших мріях вона не могла собі уявити, що, успішно повернувшись до району розваг, вона знову піде туди працювати. Оточуючим, мабуть, здавалося, що така можливість випадає раз у житті. Звідси і суворий погляд Меймей.
"Так, сестро", - слухняно відповіла Маомао за мить, і Меймей посміхнулася своєю витонченою посмішкою куртизанки. - Erikahas quoted12 days ago
The rapid change in the eunuch’s expression from annoyance to amusement reminded her how immature he could seem. But then again, she found him easier to talk to that way, she thought, as she rocked in his arms. - Erikahas quoted12 days ago... Please give me my ox bezoar.”
Jinshi’s head connected with Maomao’s with a thwack, and she saw stars.
A headbutt! Right out of the blue! - Erikahas quoted12 days agoWhen they reached the ground, she assumed he would put her down, but instead he continued to carry her, though he shifted her somewhat in his arms.
“What are you doing that for?” she asked.
“It was getting hard to hold you.”
“Then put me down.”
“And let you make it worse?” Jinshi pursed his lips. He had his arms around Maomao, and she found it most uncomfortable how close her face was to his. - Erikahas quoted12 days agoDon’t worry, I’ll sew it right back up.” Maomao rooted among her discarded overgarments and came up with some disinfectant alcohol and a needle and thread.
“Why are you so prepared for this exact situation?!”
“You never know.” - Erikahas quoted12 days ago“Oh, shit,” she said and grabbed up her skirt.
“Wh-What are you doing?!” Jinshi cried, his voice scratching.
