"Yes, I heard that was what the doctor saw that upon entering."
Maomao listened intently as she sipped her soup. There were several hundred maids eating breakfast in the vast dining hall. It consisted of a soup and a cereal porridge.
The maid sitting diagonally before her continued to gossip. Though she was making a pitiful expression, the depths of her eyes were gleaming with curiosity.
"It was the same with Gyokuyou-sama and Rifa-sama too."
"That's right. It has to be the curse."
The names mentioned were the favoured consorts of emperor. Half year and three months were the ages of their respective children.
The rumours spread quickly in the inner palace. They were hottest stories about the court ladies picked by the emperor and the heirs, on their bad reputation of bullying and prejudice.
“I guess so. Otherwise there's no reason for those three to pass away as well.”
The ones passed away were the consorts' children, in other words, those who were chosen in the future as successors. When the emperor was the crown prince there was one, now as the emperor, two. Any of these infants were being watched. Though it is obvious that the mortality rate of infants are high, having three children from high ranked people to die was strange.
As of now, only Gyokuyou and Rifa’s children are left.
“Could it be poisoning?”
Maomao reached a different conclusion as she clutched the hot water.
Among those three children, two had been princesses. While only boys can be bestowed succession rights, there were no reasons to kill princesses.
The two sitting in front of her continued to speak curses and calamities without raising their chopsticks.
(I said already that there is no curse.)
This thing could be boiled down to a single word, pointless. Maomao's thoughts on the method of killing of an entire clan just because of a curse was pretty much heresy. However, Maomao's head had knowledge she could assert her basis on.
(What kind of illness? Could it be genetic? How did they pass away?)
It was then the quiet and unsociable maid spoke to the talkative maid.
The regret from losing to her curiosity, was something that happened a little while later.
–
"I don't know the details but, apparently they all gradually got weaker."
The talkative maid, Shaoran who spoke with Maomao had an interest on the topic. Afterwards she also told her about the rumours.
"I thing it's worse from Rifa-sama's side, seeing how the doctor has been seeing her more often."
She said as she wiped down the window frame with a wrung dust-cloth.
"What about Rifa-sama herself?"
"Mother and child both."
The fact that the doctor is seeing Consort Rifa more often suggests that it was the crown prince that was sicker. Consort Gyokuyou's child was a princess.
The emperor favoured Consort Gyokuyou more, but it was clear with the gender of the children who was the more important one.
"While I don't know the specifics of the symptoms, of course, I heard there were things like headache, stomach aches, and nausea."
After Shaoran spilled everything she knew to her hearts content, she went to her next job.
Maomao gave her tea with liquorice as an expression of gratitude. It was made from the ones that grew on the edges of the courtyard. It had a strong sweetness. The maid who rarely tasted sweetness was overjoyed from that.
(Head ache, stomach ache and nausea…)
As she recalled the symptoms, she could not form an answer.
（ちいとばかし、行ってみるか）
(????, try going there.)
Maomao decided to finish her work quickly.
Though maids like Maomao were crammed into large rooms in groups of ten, low ranked consorts had their own rooms, middle ranked consorts had buildings and high ranked consorts had large palaces that were larger than towns complete with a dining hall and garden.
Therefore, Maomao cannot leave her station in the east side. She had no free time to leave as long as she is called to work.
(If I have no tasks, I can just make do with something.)
Maomao talked to a court lady who was holding onto a basket. The basket in her hands had high quality silk that must be washed in the pool on the west side. It would be damaged if it was washed in the east side, whether it be due to the water quality or washers being different.
Though Maomao knew about the difference of drying it in the shade on the deterioration of silk, it wasn’t something she needed to say.
"I heard that you can see an extremely beautiful eunuch in the center palace."
Overhearing that from Shaoran, she eagerly took over.
Here where the incentive for romance is scarce, it appeared that even eunuchs can be a target. After court ladies resign, you can sometimes hear that some become the wives of eunuchs. That they still have a healthy lust for women, is still something that tilts heads.
(I wonder if I will turn out like that?)
Maomao groaned and folded her arms when she asked herself that.
–
After swiftly delivering the laundry basket, she looked at the red building that was situated in the center palace. It was an elaborate palace, more refined than east.
As of now, the one who lives in the largest room in the inner palace was the crown prince's mother Consert Rifa. While the emperor is lacking an empress, Consort Rifa with the only male child is the most influential person.
Inside that palace, the sort of spectacle she saw was not much different to the town.
A scolding women, a women who hung her head in shame, flustered women and a man who was acting as the mediator.
(It's not much different to a brothel.)
Maomao the third party, who held an extremely calm expression, joined the onlookers.
The scolding woman was the inner palace's most influential person, The one looking down in shame was the next powerful. The flustered ones were their attendants. And the one who came into mediate was the doctor who used to be male. That was what she gleaned from the surrounding whispers.
"You’re wrong. Just because you yourself gave birth to a daughter, you wanted to curse the male infant to death, didn't you!"
Her beautiful face that was distorted to something terrifying. The one with white skin like a ghost and the look of a demon, faced the beauty with her hands drawn up towards her cheeks. (???)
"You know that sort of thing is impossible. Shaorin is also suffering in the same way."
Red haired and jade eyed woman replied coldly. Consort Gyokuyou with her western features gazed up towards the doctor’s face.
"As you said, I want to see your daughter's condition as well."
Although he acted as the mediator, the reason for the outburst seemed to be about the doctor.
The doctor had just came in from the east palace; it seemed she raised a protest about him not seeing her own daughter.
She didn't understand mothers, but it is a given that male infants came first in the structure of the inner palace.
Looking at the doctor, she saw he had a face that said that he had nothing to speak of it.
(Is he an idiot, that shrub.)
That he didn't notice with the two consorts standing so close to him. No, he didn't even know about it before that?
The death of the infants. Head aches. Stomachaches. Nausea. And Consort Rifa's white skin and unsteady body.
Maomao left the place of strife while muttering and grumbling to herself.
While thinking,
(What can I use to write?)
Consequently, she took no notice of a passing person.