Volume 6, Chapter 10: Visit (1/2)
No more than a hundred women who hold the position of consort in the inner palace.
When high ranking consorts leave, they spur various rumours, but it is not uncommon for consorts of lower positions to remain unnoticed. Even when they get bestowed, they can also get returned to their families without getting a visit from the emperor.
There are many palace ladies who snort about leaving the inner palace, but Maomao thought that too was fine.
The room had a tag with a flower and a number. It was the room of a low ranking consort, but there was a black cloth hanging on the door.
A black cloth had the significance of mourning, that is, it signified that the consort, the owner of this room, had died. It was done the same way as the time the previous crown prince had passed away.
Maomao’s group had her dad, the quack doctor, and then Yao and En’en going around the inner palace together. This was their second visit to the inner palace.
“Could it be from illness?”
It was Yao who suddenly spoke. If it was from illness, her dad would have examined her the last time he came. The fact that it wasn’t the case meant—
“It would have to be suicide, huh.”
It actually wasn’t unusual. If this was clearly a suicide without incident, there won’t be a fuss in the inner palace. She won’t say that it was an everyday occurrence, but it wasn’t something that would cause a stir.
Although their kind of flower is different, many a consort who enter the inner palace come in boasting of their beauty being greater than anyone else. Thus there are also many who have high self-esteem, and there are not few who get stricken from the difference of their dream of after entering the inner palace and reality.
“I heard that she was dependent on alcohol.”
Maomao heard palace ladies chatting. They were so engrossed in their chatting, they didn’t seem to have noticed that they had walked close to the court physicians. When they noticed their white outer garment, they panicked and returned to their station.
(It is indeed a woman’s graveyard, no, battleground.)
Those who lose the battle could only disappear.
In a certain meaning, it is the overworked maidservants who still don’t have a defined term of service who have more freedom.
Today’s plans were that they will be going around to the low ranking consorts’ rooms and then head to Airin’s place last. Was it because she wanted to know the answer to the puzzle? It seems the consort had taken it upon herself to tell them that she’s feverish so she wanted them to see her
“There are no issues in particular.”
The consort who smelled strongly of perfume said as a maid fanned her. It was already summer, so when they got here they wanted to pinch their noses from the heavy fumes. Of all things, the room was closed up, so the stench wasn’t going anywhere.
(Even though her body shape is the emperor’s tastes.)
She possessed a full body—even with her collar completely done up, it was noticeable. Her features were a little sharp, but she didn’t seem dim-witted. It was probably within the His vigorous Majesty’s defensive range.
Maomao snuck a glance at the notebook the quack doctor was holding. The name of the low ranking consort who stunk like perfume, who was currently before them, was written on the page. The consort’s medical history was also noted there. And not just that, there was also a memo of the number of visits she got from the emperor.
(Ah, I knew it. She is his tastes.)
It was written that he had visited her once. He probably didn’t return because of the overwhelming stench of the perfume.
She thought it was frank and vulgar, but the records of the rooms in the inner palace were taken in detail. They were also obligated to report it to the court physicians. Rather than an obligation, it was honestly stringent.
(Yeah, like Empress Gyokuyou’s time and such.)
When Maomao was in the Jade Palace, his majesty came once every three days.
On whether they actually did it, they had to be on alert outside the room. The head maid Honnyan normally did it, but in the cases where it was tiring when he came in consecutive days, Maomao took over.
(Nah, I’m just used to it from the pleasure district.)
Even for Maomao, who got used to his majesty and Empress Gyokuyou’s snusnu to a certain extent, they were considerably advanced. Even just the sound through the walls was quite tough. She always thought it would probably be mortifying for Honnyan, the single woman in her thirties.
During that occasion where they noted it down several times like so, she thought that this place was already different from the outside world.
He probably wouldn’t visit this low ranking consort again if this present situation were to continue. Perhaps due to the fact that she had been chosen, she was strangely lofty, but Maomao, on the contrary, felt that was pitiful instead.
By being chosen, leaving the inner palace becomes distant.
(If she didn’t have this smell at least.)
Wouldn’t your nose go strange with this much perfume? Maomao thought.
No, she didn’t think wrong, it looked like it was that in actual fact.
The consort opened her small shapely mouth widely. Rather than a habit, it seemed like she breathed through her mouth.
Normally, living beings breathe through their noses. Cats, dogs, and so on. Humans too, also breathe that way, but.
Could her nose be blocked the reason she was breathing through her mouth? If she had a habit of breathing through her mouth since young, it could influence the shape of her teeth.
(Her teeth.)
Just that moment, her dad opened her mouth. The rows of her teeth weren’t bad. It seems her dad had the same thought as Maomao.
“Do you sneeze often?” he asked.
“Yes,” the consort replied.
“Blocked nose?”
“It is common from Spring to the beginning of Summer. It’s gotten quick bad since coming to the inner palace.”
“Is it difficult to sleep well?”
“I can sleep if my nose wasn’t blocked.”
He noted it down with a flourish.
The quack looked dazed, so Maomao passed the medicine box to her dad.
What her dad took out was medicine for nasal inflammation. “Please use this. Stop using it when it gives you insomnia. Also, it may increase the amount of urination, but that shouldn’t be an issue.”
Also, her dad added. “I believe the incense you are currently using isn’t good for the body. If you are to use it, it would be better to light a small amount. Your physical condition will improve.”
“I understand.” As if the consort was relieved that it was sinusitis, she answered meekly.
It was what Maomao had noticed; it wasn’t that her dad didn’t know. Furthermore, he had gently pointed out that the incense was strong. If she didn’t have a stuffed nose, how would she have known how strong the stench was herself?
When they left the consort’s room, her dad studied the tree. It was blooming with a lot of brightly coloured summer flowers.
“Where was the consort from?” he asked.
“It seemed she hailed from the north-west. It’s close to a desert, so the climate must have also been intense,” the quack said as he flipped open the notebook.
Her dad slowly turned around to Maomao and the others. “Well then, shall I ask you a question while we’re at it? What did you think is the cause of the consort’s nasal inflammation?”
He proposed them a riddle, eyes squinting gently. Maomao was going to raise her hand, but her dad stared her down so she slowly lowered them. The question wasn’t directed to Maomao, but Yao and En’en.
The one who raised her hand slowly was Yao. “Could it be the fact that her room was sealed shut?”