Volume 3, Chapter 35: Shenmei (1/2)

Monotonous days are boring. Maomao was unable to put up with that, unfortunately.

With that in consideration, Maomao was, in a sense, thankful that half of this room was being used for storage. Fishing around the pile of goods yielded some rather interesting things.

(Th-this is!?)

Under the lacquer bowls and plates, there was a paulownia box crammed with books. The box had signs of damage in various places; it looked quite old.

Though the silverfish damaged books were tattered, it could still be read. And above all, the contents made her eyes shine.

The books dealt all the way to flora and fauna that were originally foreign in this country.

The books, which were about one sun[note]~3cm.[/note] thick, were labelled Insect, Bird, Beast, Fish, Tree, and Grass. They were numbered like there were continuations, but there were only ten volumes here. It seems that there were at least several volumes still missing.

Maomao flipped through the pages of the book that was labelled Grass. There was one genus per page, included with explanations. The literary style was a little antiquated, so it was hard to read.

(Woodblock printing huh.)

These are quite old, Maomao thought. Paper seems to have become valuable within these couple of decades. Due to that, she had heard from her dad that the woodblock printing technique that prints a large quantity of paper is greatly unusual nowadays. Novels for amusements aside, honestly, the demand for illustrated books had been restricted, and furthermore, if they were to publish continuations, it must be before the regulation of lumber at least. She wouldnt think they would get their moneys worth.

(The content is good though.)

Maomao, who cant get tired of reading it, flipped through the pages, her eyes blazing.

When she did so, she raked in the small text or something that were here and there. The characters were slightly quirky. It seems like they were supplementary to the illustrations.

Maomaos eyes blazed brighter. She carefully flipped through the book page by page, flying through it. She only looked over the pages that had the supplementary text carefully.

Her whole body got goosebumps. The contents were unexpectantly so exciting she got goosebumps.

Some parts of the description were mixed in with a script that wasnt this countrys characters. It was the same script as the foreign medical book that was burned in the past so that Maomao couldnt read it.

But not only that, the handwritten passages of that script were all on the special characteristics of the plant and its use as medicine. She understood that the person who had owned these books took part in medicine, and additionally, he had studied abroad in a foreign country like her dad.

(To think that were such a person aside from dad.)

She was super excited to meet him.

However, that reminded her of something.

Why were that persons things in this kind of place? Then she arrived at a certain possibility.

Dont leave them around.

Since when had Suirei stood here? There was a basket containing food in her hands.

Since when?

About the time when you started to wriggle your body with a strange smile and your hands on your cheeks.

.

Maomao slowly averted her eyes and closed the book with overwhelming sorrow. Thinking that she will continue reading when Suirei wasnt around, she stroked the book as she returned it to the paulownia box.

Just saying, these are my grandfathers things so please dont lose them.

Murmuring that, Suirei set up the dishes on the table.

(Grandfather.)

Maomao recalled Suireis personal history.

The medical officer who was banished from imperial court for laying his hands on a court lady. And Suireis mother would have to be the child who left the inner palace with that medical officer.

Supposedly, if there was something different, Suireis mother would have been a blue-blooded princess who was raised with the butterflies and flowers[note], a child brought up with tender care and affection.[/note]. However, the words supposedly were actually distant from the empty reality.

In order to hide the emperors peculiar inclination, what happened to the medical officer who had the crime blamed on him? And then, this Suirei who called that person grandfather would have to be.

(Theres no point bearing a grudge.)

Was the reason for her being in this fortress now from that? Maomao didnt understand the women called Suirei. Similarly, she didnt understand Rouran either.

Even if she thought hard on this, Maomao wasnt Suirei nor Rouran. She figured that it was a given that she didnt understand.

And more than that, there was something she was more interested in.

Can I meet that person you call grandfather?

She made a request that didnt read the atmosphere. Maomao understood, considering her current situation, that even if she said such a thing it was futile.

But she couldnt not ask.

hes no longer around. He was always confined in this room, and passed away five years ago.

Maomao dropped her shoulders, crestfallen, at the smooth reply.

(Confinement huh.)

In other words, after he died, his room became a storeroom. Thats why her grandfathers things were left underneath. Speaking of that, she also understood the reason why there were grids on the window and the toilet connected to the room.

He was told to make the elixir of life for the mistress here.

Maomaos eyes once again shone at those words.

There was no omnipotent medicine; the elixir of life was also the same. Her dad had already told her, but she couldnt help getting interested when she heard it.

Suirei took out the Insect and Fish books from the box and read over it adeptly.

Did he achieve it?

He wouldnt be dead if he achieved it.

She said the plausible. Maomaos personality was also on the cold side, but this woman called Suirei was even more so.

If he made it, he can make up properly to the mistress here.

Saying that, she passed the book over to Maomao.

Also, please dont make a racket. Your voice went all the way outside just then.

Maomao covered her mouth with her hands.