Time does not flow equally. Happy times are short, and painful times are long.
And the time until the dinner party was just as brief as they say — gone in the blink of an eye. The days pressing toward something unpleasant were short as well.
Maomao had insisted on one thing: she didn't want to have to go to the eccentric's place any more than necessary until the day of the event. Yao, unlike Maomao, was excited about the fact that the work was largely a solo assignment. She had been staying at the shrine maiden's palace for several days already. As for the dinner party, the plan was for Yao to actually share meals with the shrine maiden in order to observe what kinds of food she normally ate.
The meals had been checked in painstaking detail, but the shrine maiden herself had requested it, saying she was worried something might be overlooked.
As for Maomao, she had been curious about what exotic dishes might be served — but every last bit of this was that eccentric's fault.
So on the day of the dinner party, she had to report to work half an hour earlier than usual.
(I don't wanna go.)
How many times had she thought that?
She lazed through changing her clothes, checked the time — cutting it dangerously close — and slowly left her room.
"Maomao."
"Oh, well, long time no see."
The person she bumped into in the hallway was En'en.
Since being dispatched as one of Jinshi's attendants, she hadn't been back to the dormitory and was staying somewhere else entirely.
(Not enough Yao, I take it.)
Her face was obviously exhausted. Her eyes were vacant and unfocused, her lips dry and chapped. The way she drifted about was like a wandering ghost.
"Maomao... where is my lady?"
"Huh? Um, Yao is..."
When Maomao told her that Yao wasn't here, En'en's face went blank as though a star had fallen from the sky and struck her on the head. Dizzy, she leaned against the wall and then slowly slid down to the floor as if melting.
"Are you all right?"
She was clearly not all right, but it was only polite to ask.
"My... my lady..."
(She really loves her, huh.)
Maomao poked her with her fingertips, thinking about what to do. She didn't want to go to work, but she also couldn't afford to be late for something this important, so she couldn't very well keep entertaining En'en forever.
"What's wrong? What about work? Aren't you supposed to be glued to his side all day today?"
"Ugh, ugh. This was the only chance I could slip away… The head attendant of Lord Ka's household keeps a tight watch…"
"Oh."
Maomao understood. So Lord Ka was indeed Jinshi. Jinshi did have a proper name as the Imperial Brother, but practically the only person who could say it aloud was the Emperor himself. That was why everyone used a different name for him.
And when it came to imagining Jinshi's head attendant, Suien came to mind — an elderly maid who was no easy person to deal with. Even En'en, resourceful as she was, apparently couldn't get away from Suien all that easily.
"If you don't go back soon, won't you get in trouble again?"
"…You're right. It's fine, really. I just wanted to smell your scent up close. Just wanted to make sure you'd properly combed and tied your hair. No matter how silky it is, I never want to style a man's hair again…"
The fact that she was entrusted with styling even Jinshi's hair meant Suien must have taken quite a liking to her. For reference, back when Maomao had gotten used to working under Jinshi, she'd been asked several times to tie his hair, but she refused every time on the grounds that she'd never done it before.
En'en slowly rose to her feet. She was shuffling back when, as if remembering something, she turned around to Maomao.
"Oh, that reminds me — I still haven't delivered the reply to your letter. Because of the aforementioned reasons, I couldn't even send it."
If you exchanged letters carelessly, spy — that was the risk. The fact that she'd come here at all was suspicious enough, and if anyone got the wrong idea, Maomao would have to vouch for her.
"Thank you for going to all this trouble."
Maomao accepted the letter. En'en had seemed knowledgeable about medicines for women's ailments and beauty, so Maomao had asked her about them.
When she opened the letter, it was written in considerable detail. Much of it covered things Maomao already knew, but there were even a few entries where she found herself impressed — *Oh, so it has that effect too?* "…?!"
One line in the letter caught Maomao's eye.
"Um, this—"
She grabbed En'en, who was wobbling away, and questioned her.
"It says snow frog. Is this for real?"
"…Yes."
"Wait — you knew about this and still fed it to him?!"
"It is for the purpose of raising Lady Yao beautifully."
En'en's eyes flashed sharply for just an instant, but her expression soon returned to its usual emptiness.
Maomao felt sympathy for Yao, but decided to get to work herself.
Maomao didn't know the full schedule leading up to the banquet. Apparently something like a festival was involved, but there were various stages and she honestly couldn't remember them all. Above all, it was held in a place where only those involved were permitted entry, so until then she was stuck on standby. Being on standby was one thing, but being made to come in half a shichen early was hard to swallow.
Maomao was thinking she might browse the medicine cabinet in the medical office and enjoy herself, when she was summoned by one of the court physicians. When she went to see what it was about, it turned out to be an errand.
"I'd like you to deliver these to the consorts."
Garden parties, banquets, that sort of event was one of the few occasions the flowers of the Inner Court could go outside. That was probably why, even though it was just an errand, they couldn't send a man. Yao and En'en were both absent, so Maomao had no choice but to go.
When she checked the cargo, she found incense sticks inside. The reason they were in the medical office was that they were also used for medical purposes. The smoke had an insect-repelling effect, and the fragrance helped calm the mind.
"They say they want a substitute for mosquito-repelling fires. Regular mosquito fires are so smoky it's unbearable, apparently."
Normally, when people spoke of mosquito-repelling fires, they didn't mean something as refined as incense—they burned tree branches with insect-repelling properties for all they were worth. The smoke alone had some effect, but it was indeed smoky.
"I wonder which consort is making this demand."
"You know, that new consort who came from some foreign land."
How unexpected, Maomao thought.
That Airin woman—the one with the light pigmentation and tall stature typical of foreign women, not to mention a voluptuous figure.
(She still hasn't reported anything useful yet, has she.)
She hadn't told Yao or En'en. It was only Maomao whom Rahan had instructed to investigate.
(Has the priestess ever given birth to a child?)
In the end, she would probably leave without ever finding out.
"She's from Sa'ao, so she's new, but apparently she's been squeezed into the banquet. Make sure to pass these out to the other consorts as well, and don't get the delivery order wrong."
The court physician carefully provided a list of the attending consorts' names along with a map showing where their residences were located. Of course, Empress Gyokuyou was among them, and among the high-ranking consorts, Rifa High-ranking consorts, followed by consorts of the middle rank—besides Airin, two others were in attendance.
Getting the order wrong would be terrifying.
(That said) Maomao headed out on her errand, thinking she really didn't understand the power dynamics of Sha'ou all that well.
(Airin had been granted asylum, a woman named Aira or something was her political rival, and while Airin was supposedly on the shrine maiden's side, she was trying to get ahold of the shrine maiden's weakness) That was roughly the web of connections as Maomao's simple mind could piece it together.
It was concerning, to be sure, but if she stuck her nose in too deep, she might get caught up in it and lose her head—literally. The best approach was to keep quiet, do as she was told, and back off at the first sign of danger.
Each consort had been given her own waiting room. Only Empress Gyokuyou was stationed elsewhere. Protocol dictated that Rifa should be visited first, but showing her face there would likely lead to a long conversation.
Maomao waited in front of Rifa's waiting room for a familiar face among the maids to appear. The worthless maids had all been dismissed, which was good, but the remaining ones still had a habit of looking strangely terrified whenever they saw Maomao, and she wished they would stop.
She quickly moved on, delivering to the next, and the next.
She arrived in front of Airin's room. Without thinking, Maomao's nose twitched.
(What's this?)
There was a faint, unusual scent. She felt as though she almost recognized it but couldn't quite place it. For now, she knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Hearing that distinctive accent, she opened the door. Inside, Airin was alone—not a single maid in sight.
Airin was pressing something firmly against her chest. As Maomao drew closer, the strange scent grew slightly stronger.
"I've brought the mosquito repellent."
"Thank you ever so much. Would you mind setting it down over there? My maid has just stepped out at the moment."
Probably the privy or something. The maids assigned to consorts were partly there as watchdogs, but this waiting room had only one small window, a single entrance, and guards posted outside. Airin must have judged it safe enough.
"Well then, I'll be on my way..."
As she turned to leave, Maomao's sleeve was grabbed.
"Wh-what is it?"
"You've been to see the shrine maiden too, yes? How is the shrine maiden's condition?"
(How should I answer this?)
Maomao hesitated for a moment, then decided to just answer.
"She doesn't seem to be suffering from travel fatigue either. As for her illness, we are examining her thoroughly here, so please rest assured."
She gave such a safe, uninspired answer that she almost laughed at herself.
"I see. I had heard you were particularly excellent among the court ladies, so I have high expectations."
The pressure was applied so casually. As the person drew closer, the scent grew stronger again.
(What is it really... this scent.)
Hmm, thinking to herself, Maomao left Lady Airin's room.
(What is this unsettled feeling?)
It wasn't just the scent from earlier; there were other nagging thoughts piling up. It was about the various things that were bothering her regarding the Sha'ou. Probably, there were plenty of clues gathered to find the answer, but she couldn't connect them into one. Or rather, it felt like she was missing a few pieces necessary to reach the conclusion.
(If it were the old man, he would have drawn out the answer long ago.)
Maomao let out a light sigh at her own immaturity and headed back to the medical office.