Volume 6, Chapter 6: The Unchanging Inner Palace (2/2)

“Today, we will be heading to Consort Rifa’s place, then the middle ranking consorts.”

The high ranking consorts in the inner palace were Consort Rouran who had passed away due to the rebellion, and Consort Gyokuyou who became an empress and left the inner palace, And then, there was Consort Riishu who was still retired to religion. In essence, there was only Consort Rifa.

(I heard she had given birth to a boy, but how is she?)

It’s really been a long time since she met Consort Rifa. She was a consort that she had various feelings about, seeing how she had once nursed her constantly before. Though it wasn’t to the point of Consort Riishu, Consort Rifa also had various baggage on her. Apparently, the good-for-nothing maids were all fired in one clean sweep, but how was it now?

And then, speaking of the middle ranking consort, she was also bothered about the woman from Sha’ou who had newly entered, Airin. She originally became a court lady assistant to court physicians for this woman.

“For the time being, shall we go to the Crystal Palace?”

And so, they will be going to meet Consort Rifa.

Upon reaching the high ranking consort’s place, there were eunuchs that were different from the usual court physicians standing guard. Along with being escorts for the court physician, they were also guards for consorts to keep her out of harm’s way. Faces don’t change that way, so these were also faces that Maomao were familiar with. They were devoted to their work, and so didn’t talk to Maomao’s group who were outside their required realm, thus she didn’t know their names either. Maomao was fine with that, and the other party would be better off not troubling them too.

As usual, the palace of one of the high ranking consorts, Able Consort Rifa, was gorgeous. Maomao had borrowed a room once before to cultivate roses. The roses left over from that time had been planted all over, so the palace garden was full of roses. Maomao’s roses had been white, but the gardeners might have felt that the colours were a little dreary. It was now vibrant with reds, yellows and hybridised greens. It was a little wasteful that the flowering season was already over.

“Eek!”

The maid who came to receive them at the entrance of the Crystal Palace cried out when she saw Maomao.

It appears that there were still a number of old-timers left, seeing how there were those who blatantly contorted their faces at the sight of Maomao. As usual, they were treating her like a demon-she wanted to them stop.

She felt that Yao and En’en were giving her strange looks again.

On the contrary, even her dad looked at Maomao. His eyes were uneasy, asking, Did you do something here too?

They were led to the interior of the palace. Not the bedroom, but the parlour. A short while later, with the sound of clothes rustling, the consort that was like a rose appeared. In her arms, there was a chubby infant who was smacking his lips. He had a slight milky smell—his mother might have just been breastfeeding him just now.

Consort Rifa wasn’t wearing face powder, she had only applied a light amount of rouge. Her skin was naturally beautiful, so she was fine even without face powder.

Following after the quack and her dad, Maomao and the others greeted her as well. It’s a good thing the consort I haven’t met in a long time looks healthy, Maomao thought. The infant in her arms also had a good complexion. He was already a lot older than the crown prince who had passed away.

The legal wife Empress Gyokyou’s son was currently the crown prince, but the successor was Consort Rifa’s child. Considering the issue of succession, they will get a little uneasy in the future, but it’s good enough that he is being raised soundly now, Maomao thought.

“We can keep the greetings short. More importantly, can you check his condition?”

Consort Rifa gently passed the baby over to Maomao. To be suddenly given the baby, she got a little bewildered, but the baby wasn’t shy, squinting his eyes as he sucked his thumb.

(I’m not that good with kids, though.)

Consort Rifa probably wanted to show to Maomao this. That Consort Rifa, who was a hollow shell after losing her previous child, had now given birth to a son and was raising him. When Maomao thought of it that way, there’s no way she could say that the baby wasn’t cute at all.

The maid who had joined the Crystal Palace was outstanding. She prepared a chair for Maomao to sit on so she could hold the infant properly.

Her dad asked Consort Rifa questions about her health, then took her wrist and measured her pulse. The quack doctor did nothing, only smiling as he stood beside them. Instead of him, it was En’en who took out the tools.

Maomao examined the baby.

Perhaps due to the considerably warmer temperatures, there was a light amount of sweat on the baby’s head. Aside from that, there was nothing to worry about, he was the picture of health. She whispered into the ears of the quack who was smiling with his eyes, and he passed the message for her to her dad. It seemed to be within his expectations, so the quack was told by her dad to take out medicine for heat rash from the medicine box they had brought over.

It was the best thing that he was being brought up in good health, but the whole time Maomao carried the baby, Yao and En’en were glaring at her.