ORIGINAL STORY BY NATSU HYUUGA
THIS STORY IS A FICION, AND ALL NAMES OF FIGURES ND ORGANIZATIONS ARE FICTITIOUS.
MOREOVER, THE STORY HAS NO RELATION TO REAL-LIFE INCIDENTS AND EVENTS.
Maomao.
Can you deliver medicine to the Verdigris House?
Got it, old man.
A lot of women are getting kidnapped recently.
Be careful.
I'll be fine.
I'll stop by the farm.
All right. Thank you.
I'm off!
THE VERDIGRIS HOUSE
That's all you've got?
Come on, this is my whole fortune!
Out of the question.
That's one of the Verdigris House's prized Three Princesses,
the popular Pairin!
Don't look without paying!
It's not healing fast enough. I'll change the recipe.
Oh, Maomao.
Big Sis Pairin!
Look at those new scars!
Oh, this?
They're experiments for my medicine, like usual.
Are you eating properly?
Those things are impressive as always.
Maomao! If one of your little experiments
blows up this room, I won't forgive you!
Or would you rather work as a courtesan here instead?
Shoot!
Granny, I'm leaving the medicine here!
Say hello to the old man for me!
Geez.
I heard Maomao's voice.
-Where did Maomao go? -She ran away.
That sleazy granny…
She tells me to be a courtesan any chance she gets!
Could they be kidnappers?
Old man will worry about me.
The Eastern Palace heir is born!
Congratulations, Lady Lihua!
Her baby was delivered without issues.
I see. I'm glad…
THREE MONTHS LATER
I want to eat skewers from the market…
I hope the old man is eating properly.
So annoying. I don't know if I was sold off or used as a scapegoat,
but it's been three months since I got here.
The palace and the pleasure district are not that different.
I wanted to avoid getting involved in the rear palace if possible, but…
now that I'm here, it can't be helped.
Even though I had a pretty good life as an apothecary…
The rear palace is an all-female area for giving birth to the emperor's child.
Men are strictly forbidden from entering this area.
The only people who can enter here are high nobility and their blood relations.
Other than that, only eunuchs, or "former men"
who've lost their "precious parts" can enter.
All the consorts and palace women total 2,000.
Along with the 1,000 eunuchs, it is a large living area.
Unlike the high, mid and low-ranking consorts,
us maidservants doing menial tasks
can lose our lives at any moment.
SEVENTEEN
Next up is the shut-in low-ranking consort.
At least we get paid a salary.
Hey, Maomao!
Do you know which room this tag is for?
This is Wisteria Nine, so it's over there.
Thank you!
There are many maidservants who can't read.
Before working at the rear palace,
we are trained strictly in basic manners,
but it's different with reading and writing.
Even if you got higher salaries for your literacy,
the kidnappers would just take a higher portion of your pay.
But there are rare cases
where maidservants are promoted to low-ranking consorts.
Simply put…
it's looks.
Freckles, flat chest.
A figure with no curves.
So it has nothing to do with me.
If I stand out too much, my life could be put at risk.
I'd rather stay like this.
If I shut up and work, I can leave after two years.
I want to drink so bad!
-Hey, did you hear? -Huh?
There's apparently a really pretty eunuch in the central area.
That's all everyone's talking about these days!
I see.
If he's that beautiful, I'd love to see him once, don't you think?
A eunuch, huh?
-She's lost a lot of weight. -Yeah.
Xiaoling…
Unfortunately,
the physician is fully occupied with the Eastern Palace.
I see.
They're just three months and six months old, right?
Yes, both the Eastern Palace and Princess Lingli.
Do you think it's a curse, like they say?
What's this about?
You don't know, Maomao?
The entire rear palace is talking about this!
About the serial deaths of the heirs in the rear palace!
All three of the Emperor's children got
gradually weaker after their births and died!
It's strange, right?
All three babies?
It looks like the same thing is happening now.
The baby is sick?
Exactly! So this time, there are doctors in both Lady Gyokuyou
and Lady Lihua's residences!
The current emperor has no empress,
so Lady Lihua, who gave birth to the Eastern Palace will be empress!
That's obvious.
If the emperor has no empress, the consort with the Eastern Palace,
Consort Lihua, is at the top of the rear palace.
But it's rumored that the emperor's favorite
is Lady Gyokuyou.
People say that might have something to do with all this.
A political power struggle, huh?
I wonder if Lady Lihua's condition is more serious.
I hear the doctor is by her side day and night.
Lady Lihua is unwell as well?
Yes. Both mother and child.
I heard they have headaches, stomachaches, and nausea as well.
Headaches, stomachaches, and nausea…
I knew it! It's definitely a curse!
-A curse? You've got to be joking. -What?
Headaches, stomachaches, and nausea…
Could murder by poison be a possibility?
No. If they want the throne, there's no reason for the princess to be targeted.
It's highly unlikely they were poisoned.
It could be an illness, or…
Could it be in their blood?
Why am I getting so serious over rumors?
These are just speculations.
Just speculation. However…
I can check it out for a little bit.
As expected of a building where the high-ranking consorts live,
even a single pillar is more sophisticated
than the building we live in.
It's your fault!
Lady Gyokuyou!
Because you gave birth to a girl,
you intend to curse my son to death!
You know that that's impossible.
Xiaoling is suffering just as much as your son.
Lady Lihua is furious.
How unfortunate for Lady Gyokuyou.
Sir Jinshi….
That's why I want you to examine my daughter as well.
Yes, but… Well…
Is that flustered eunuch in the middle, the physician?
That quack doctor, is he stupid?
He spends all that time with the two consorts, and he really hasn't realized?
Or… could it be, he doesn't even know?
Deaths of infants. Headache, stomachache, and nausea.
And even more, the haggard state of Lady Lihua.
This isn't a curse at all.
The problem is how to tell them.
If I can find something to write with…
Not a month had passed when the news about
the Eastern Palace's death got around.
It looks like you want to ask me something.
This is…
It was the day I visited the Crystal Pavilion
to ask for my daughter to be examined.
This was placed by my window after that.
It was tied to this branch.
A rhododendron?
"The powder is poison. Don't let the baby touch it.
Ignorance is sin."
A court physician wouldn't leave such a cryptic message.
Yes, it looks like he never figured out how to treat the Eastern Palace.
Who wrote this letter?
I want you to find that out for me.
Now that I think about it, that time…
If I can find something to write with…
Understood.
Could I keep this with me for a little while?
The Emperor is cherishing the princess who survived,
so he's been visiting Lady Gyokuyou often.
What about Lady Lihua?
I don't hear about that at all.
How convenient for him, huh?
Oh, I finally found you!
You're to head to the Matron of the Serving Women's office right away.
What?
You've been summoned?
I wonder what this is about.
All right, everybody who gathered here should enter.
Maidservants being summoned by a higher-up?
I have a bad feeling about this.
Are they just short on staff?
Sorry to call you all like this.
Who is this bossy palace woman?
I'm the manager of the rear palace, Jinshi.
He's a man?
I guess the "really pretty eunuch" Xiaolan mentioned was this guy.
What a waste for him
to be this beautiful and not be able to have children.
THE FRECKLE WOMAN OVER THERE, YOU'RE STAYING WITH ME.
Freckle… Woman…
Oh, shit!
We're done for today. Go back to your rooms.
Huh? What's going on?
Did I make some big mistake that got his attention?
Could it be the letter from that time…
I see! I'm the only maidservant here that can read.
He wrote that sentence to figure that out!
Shit, I have to run…
You can't run. I told you, you're staying.
Shut up and come with me.
I got played…
This is strange.
I looked at my records and it said you can't read.
Yes, I was born of low class.
This must be some sort of mistake.
Why would I tell you?
The world is easier to get around if you pretend to know nothing.
Anyways, how did this man find out about my letter?
I was careful of my surroundings!
Why is he so suspicious?
He has way too much time on his hands!
-Come in. -Excuse me.
What will they yell at me for?
I hope I can make it out alive…
I have come with the girl.
Come in.
I'm sorry for the trouble.
I'm so glad…
So you are…
You've saved my Lingli's life.
Thank you.
I'm not of a position for you to do such things!
No. I can't thank you enough.
My child owes you her life.
You're mistaking me for someone else.
You've probably made a mistake.
I'd hate to get beheaded for contradicting her,
but I don't want to get involved!
I have something from Consort Gyokuyou.
You know that this fabric is used in the uniform of maidservants, right?
I guess it looks similar…
Yes, it's used by maidservants in Wardrobe Service.
For example, a laundry girl like you…
Maybe you ripped off a hem from your skirt.
He even knew about that?
Tell us.
Why did you place a rhododendron branch by the window?
Because I found out about the truth behind the incidents.
It was caused by the face powder.
In the pleasure district where I grew up,
there were many courtesans who used expensive powder.
Most of these women
were consumed by the poison contained in the powder
and lost their lives.
They weighed their lives against beauty,
and ended up losing both.
I was an apothecary,
so I know a lot about poison.
That face powder…
This was used by my child's wet nurse.
She said the white of this powder stood out the most,
so she liked using this.
The wet nurse was also ill, so I placed her on leave.
I gave her plenty of money as well.
I see.
Ignorance is sin.
I should've kept a closer watch on what my child puts in her mouth.
I should have as well.
If we had realized this earlier,
we could've saved many lives. Even the Eastern Palace…
After finding this letter,
I told Consort Lihua about the powder as well, but…
She wouldn't listen to anything I had to say.
So…
What should I do?
Starting today, you will be my attendant!
What?
What Maomao can't hold back
is her curiosity and her appetite for knowledge.
That, and a little bit of a sense of justice…
Shit, shit, shit!
If I had just stayed put and worked.
-I could've… -Welcome back, Maomao!
How did it go?
This is how Maomao became the lady-in-waiting for
the Emperor's beloved Consort Gyokuyou.
In other words, she got a promotion!
LI
Hey!
This is poison!
PREVIEW OF NEXT EPISODE
Next episode, "Chilly Apothecary."
Subtitle translation by: Yukimi Ohashi