He crossed his arms, willowy brows knitted in gloominess.
Jishin would be called a courtesan if he was a different gender, but if the person himself want to do it, the question of gender wouldn't even matter.
Today as well, he had to consecutively listen to a middle ranked consort and two low ranked consorts from the Inner Palace, and a military officer and a civil official from the Palace. The military officer, having eaten a dim sum spiked with a tonic, will return to his own room in the palace and won't be attending his night shift today. For the sake of self-defence, he was not skipping out on work.
With a rustling sound, he wrote the names on the scroll on the desk.
The names were the consorts he heard today. They were severe cases, like seducing another man into their room and saying that it was because the emperor didn't visit. Although there was no formal report, Sata is to step down from now on.
自分の美貌が女官たちの試金石だということを籠の小鳥たちは幾人わかっているだろうか。
Will her own beauty become known by several people as the birds in a cage [T/N: another way to call a prostitute? shackled person? I can’t figure out what this refers to, help] as the touchstone for the court ladies?
A consort's rank is first chosen according standards of intelligence and beauty, as well as her parent's pedigree. Intelligence was harder to determine compared to looks and pedigree. They were required to possess the appropriate culture to become an empress. Additionally, they must also have a sense of virtue.
His ill-natured emperor decided to use Jishin for the selection criterion.
It was also Jishin who recommended Consort Gyokuyou and Consort Rifa. Consort Gyokuyou was prudent and deeply modest. Consort Rifa may have an emotional personality, but she also possessed the appropriate spirit of one who bowed down to no one.
Consort Rifa, in particular, adored him with her whole heart.
Jishin’s master was a cruel person.
The emperor arranged for consorts convenient to the country to produce children for him, and if they didn't have that ability, he cast them away.
From now on, it will be Consort Gyokuyou who will continue to receive his favour.
The last time he visited Consort Rifa, who is now emaciated like a ghost, was when the crown prince passed away.
Aside from Consort Rifa, there were also several other consorts who became unnecessary. Those ones, he returned to their family when he saw the chance, and had them bestowed.
Jishin extracted one sheet from the piled documents.
The other day, this consort was bestowed to a military officer who was merited with the repelling of a foreign tribe.
"Well, would it turn out smoothly?"
There shouldn't be any problems if it was carried out according to the plan in his head.
For that, maybe he could get some corporation from that unsociable doctor.
Though there were no shared feelings between them, it was the first time someone looked at him as though he was a pest.
The person had probably planned to conceal it, but she wasn’t able to completely mask that faint contempt in her eyes.
He involuntarily burst out laughing. Like nectar that fell from the heaven, his laughter also contained a trace of inner evil.
Though he didn't really have a taste for oppressing people, it was strangely amusing. It felt like he got a new toy.
"What shall I do after this?"
Jishin, after leaving the documents under the ink stone, decided to sleep.
He firmly locked the door so there will be no issues about visitors coming in at the dead of the night.
○●○
Though the expression for panacea exists, there really isn't such an omnipotent medicine.
Those were the words Dad also told to Maomao when he was against her actions.
She wanted to make medicine that was effective for any illness and any person. For that reason, she made wounds that turned people's eyes away. And though she had developed new medicine, perfecting an omnipotent medicine was not her aim right now.
The topic Jishin brought up was interesting enough to Maomao, though she couldn't stomach it.
The best thing about moving into the small room was for that reason.
Maomao went out to gather ingredient supplies, bringing the laundry basket along to mask her intent. This was something she can do this now as Honnyan had put her in charge of laundry duty.
She entered the medical office she was told about before while pretending to come deliver laundry. Inside was that flustered doctor from before and the eunuch who often accompanied Jishin.
The doctor appraised Maomao with his eyes, touching his thin loach moustache.
It was as though he was saying, why is this little girl invading my territory.
(Please refrain from staring at this plain woman.)
Compared to the doctor, the eunuch courteously guided Maomao as if he was receiving a master.
Maomao let out the widest smile since coming to the Inner Palace when she walked into the room, which was enclosed by three walls of medicine shelves. Her face flushed, eyes glistened, and her normally pursed lips drew a soft arc.
She didn't care that the eunuch was looking at Maomao in surprise.
She surveyed the labels on the drawers, making a weird dance whenever she found rare drugs. She was overflowing with joy. The inside of her mind was not completely satisfied.
"What curse? So what?"
She repeated this for nearly one hour.
Jishin, who appeared without her noticing, looked at Maomao strangely.
–
She assembled the ingredients, which were managed in drawers ordered from the edge. She bundled them into their separate medicine bags, and wrote down their names with a brush. It was extravagant to use paper so luxuriantly when wooden slips were still used.
When the loach moustache doctor came to peek, as if to wonder who she was, the eunuch closed the door in his face. The eunuch's name was Gaoshun.
Gaoshun was the one who fetched the things from the high drawers for her. His boss did nothing. Go somewhere else if you're not going to do anything, Maomao thought expressionlessly.
Recognising the name on the highest drawer, Maomao leaned up towards it. Gaoshun made a wordless expression when he saw what he handed over.
Some kind of seed laid on her palm.
"This amount isn't enough."
"In that case, the only thing we can do is to prepare it."
The good-looking man, who did nothing but smile and watch on uselessly, told her simply.
"This is something from the west, in particular the southern regions of the west."
"You might find it if you search the imported goods."
Jishin pinched a seed. It looked like an apricot seed and emitted a peculiar aroma.
"What is this called?"
Maomao answered the young man's question.
"It's cacao."
She said.
T/N: This webnovel is tagged r-15. Just mentioning this here first so no one gets too surprised. Not for any other reason.