WRITTEN BY HYUGA NATSU
THIS STORY IS A FICTION AND ALL NAMES OF FIGURES AND ORGANIZATIONS ARE FICTITIOUS.
MOREOVER, THE STORY HAS NO RELATION TO REAL-LIFE INCIDENTS AND EVENTS.
Hey, look, Maomao.
That’s amazing.
Right?
I see, so you called me to show me this.
It’s an impressive mirror, isn’t it?
Do you know what it’s made of?
This reflection… is it made of glass?
That’s correct.
Wow, it’s like there are two of you, Lady Gyokuyou.
Glass mirrors are difficult to make,
and they can only be imported from the West.
They’re extremely high-end luxury items.
If you accidentally break it, I wouldn't even be surprised if you lose your head.
There was a glass hand mirror before too,
but Yinghua broke it.
Oh, stop bringing that up!
It’s a good thing that Lady Gyokuyou is so forgiving.
Maomao, are you interested in this too?
Yes. How is it constructed?
If it could be mass-produced domestically,
we could make a lot of money…
Yeah, that’s true.
This full-length mirror, you see,
is a gift from an envoy from a foreign country.
An envoy, you say?
Now that you mention it, that quack doctor did say something…
The large caravan that arrived was
supposedly the advance party sent to welcome a foreign envoy.
It seems they’ve sent gifts to other high-ranking consorts too.
Don’t say it like that.
Including Consort Gyokuyou, there are four high-ranking consorts.
Even as an envoy, they can’t show favoritism to just one person.
Bringing four such magnificent full-length mirrors,
whether crossing the desert or the sea, must have been quite the ordeal.
To go to such lengths to please the consorts,
they might be proposing some major trade deal with this country.
Xiaomao, do you have a moment?
Lord Gaoshun, what brings you here?
There’s something I’d like your opinion on.
Lady Hongniang, may I use this space for a bit?
Sure, I don’t mind,
but is it something private?
Lady Hongniang also joined us saying that it was not right for us to be alone,
but after finding that Lord Gaoshun has a wife and child,
she apparently lost all interest.
I’m not sure how helpful I can be,
but what is the talk?
Actually, a friend of mine is in a great deal of trouble,
and it’s quite an unusual story.
There were two daughters in a certain respectable family.
The two sisters, who were close in age and looked very similar,
were raised with love by their parents,
but by the time they were of age, their parents became overprotective.
Not only was one of them restricted,
but neither of them was allowed to go outside,
and they were assigned a maid to watch them.
The sisters spent their days confined to the house.
The maid, feeling sorry for them, occasionally took them out,
but when their father found out,
he placed a servant outside their room to keep watch.
At night, he locked the door,
so they couldn’t leave.
The originally introverted sisters
spent their days doing embroidery in their room,
but one day…
Father, my sister…
is carrying the child of an immortal.
That’s…
An odd story, indeed.
Perhaps the maid secretly took them out again?
No, the maid who allowed them to go out
was dismissed as a warning.
The new maid didn’t have much interaction with the sisters.
Then… although it’s a shameless story,
perhaps she had relations with the servant who was keeping watch?
That’s also difficult.
The servant wasn’t even allowed to
get close to the room for surveillance.
It is indeed a difficult story, but…
I don't think there is anything I can help you with.
If you'd like to know whether it's possible for a woman to become pregnant
without having relations with a man, I can see where you're coming from.
But is such a thing possible?
It is not the actual conception of a child,
but rather the body's illusion of pregnancy.
At a brothel, a young courtesan
once told me that she was pregnant
with the child of the man she loved.
She wasn’t actually pregnant?
That’s correct. Even so, her period stopped,
and her chest and abdomen swelled.
The effects of belief on the body can be significant.
Are you certain that the younger sister became pregnant?
Well… yes… probably…
Let’s leave it at that.
The issue is…
whether the younger sister managed to slip away unnoticed by the surveillance.
So, do you know how the sisters were being watched?
Yes, I have a floor plan here.
The sisters lived in
a detached building on the north side, which was connected
to the main house by a western corridor.
Where was the restroom?
It was inside the detached building.
If the younger sister were to escape…
The only exit would be the western corridor.
There are windows on the east and south sides,
but the servants were keeping watch.
Where were the servants stationed to watch?
The south-facing windows were being watched from the third floor,
and the east-facing windows were monitored from the first floor.
The visible range is quite limited, isn't it?
-The interior wouldn't be visible at all. -Yes.
However, it seems the sisters
often sat by the windows to do embroidery.
That’s quite an unusual hobby… embroidery, of all things.
It seems they were originally a nomadic family.
I wonder…
It feels like the key details are being left vague somehow.
The east and south windows seem to belong to the same room.
The bedrooms were arranged separately for the sisters.
Was this detached building originally meant for guests?
You’re quite observant, aren’t you?
-How many servants were watching it? -Two.
Each of them had the same assigned position throughout.
He seems to know an awful lot of details.
Yet, he's not sharing everything.
This feeling…
Is this really a story about a "friend"?
Should I say something or just keep quiet?
I almost forgot, Xiaomao,
I have something from Lord Jinshi.
It is an apology for the delay in the delivery of the ox bezoar.
Ox bezoar! Now that you mention it, I haven’t received it yet.
I kept quiet to avoid getting headbutted again, but the delivery is late!
My apologies, but it seems the demand has suddenly increased.
Why all of a sudden?
Recently, I’ve heard that…
many people have been sending rare elixirs to Lord Jinshi.
It’s rumored that he’s been eagerly searching for them.
Well, that’s the gist of it.
Anyway, here you go.
What is that?
-It's bear bile. -It’s the dried gallbladder of a bear.
Although it has a bitter taste, it is a valuable herb used in digestive ailments!
I’m glad you’re pleased with it.
Originally, Lord Jinshi wanted to hand it to you personally.
So, did you notice anything from what I mentioned?
Understood.
Could you please wait for a moment?
Assuming these nuts represent the sisters,
does this match where they usually sat?
Yes, that’s correct.
There were two servants watching.
Each of them always kept watch from the same position.
So…
What if we place a mirror like this?
It's as if there's another nut.
Similarly,
what if there was a large mirror near this eastern window?
From the watch position, it would be too far away and
hard to notice, even if it seemed a little unnatural.
In other words, only one person was actually in the room,
and the other was simply a reflection in the mirror?
If the sisters look very similar,
it might have been difficult for the servants to tell them apart.
But, Maomao, what about the embroidery?
Weren’t the two working on different pieces of embroidery?
Yes, I’ve heard they were embroidering animals.
I think it was a bird and a rabbit.
For example…
what if the picture looked something like this?
If you flip this picture upside down,
doesn’t the smiling face look like an angry face?
So, you’re saying the embroidery was also an optical illusion?
If it were reflected in a mirror and reversed left to right,
the pattern might have looked like something entirely different.
While one of them was embroidering by the southern window,
the other could have slipped out through the western entrance.
I think that's possible.
I see…
Certainly, with that method,
it would be possible to sneak out for a secret meeting.
The mirror brought by the foreign envoy…
since it reflects so beautifully,
it would be easy to mistake something when seen from a distance.
Long ago, my father studied abroad in a western country
and he said that embroidery was a high-class privilege for children.
Lord Gaoshun said
that a young woman from a good family
snuck out of the house and became pregnant.
I'm skeptical about how much of that is true.
What he is actually hiding…
might be a completely different secret.
There are times when someone suspected of being a spy
is welcomed as a guest.
However, I don’t dig too deeply into matters like that.
Rather…
I’m more curious about what I could make with this bear bile.
The most beautiful woman who sheds tears of pearl?
The high-ranking officials in charge of reception begged me to bring her.
Lord Jinshi, you don’t have to go out of your way to add extra work.
I know!
What were those envoys thinking,
bringing those mirrors and all?
Apothecary. Have you heard the story of
a beautiful woman shedding tears of pearls?
What is it?
If it's a beautiful woman, she’s right in front of you.
I wish I could say that.
What does "tears of pearls" mean?
I don’t know the details, but…
She was a beauty like the moon spirit,
and when she danced,
light would swirl as if to bless her,
and her tears turned into pearls, which then fell.
Apparently, she was a courtesan from the pleasure district.
A moon spirit? Why the sudden mention of that?
It’s the wish of the envoy who is here now.
Envoy, you mean from the West?
When the envoy was young,
they often heard stories from their grandfather about the moon spirit.
So, they asked me to find her because they want to meet her.
Their grandfather, huh? That must have been a long time ago.
It’s an impossible request, but
they’re an important diplomatic figure.
I want to do everything I can.
Have you heard any rumors about it?
Fifty years ago…
A dancer from the pleasure district…
The moon spirit…
Of course, this is a story from decades ago,
so I don’t even know if she’s still alive.
She’s alive.
Is that true!
True or not,
you’ve met her, Lord Jinshi. In the pleasure district.
-Me? -Yes.
I don’t recall meeting anyone who fits that description.
It’s understandable that you can't remember her right away.
-Could it be…? -That's right.
It’s the Granny. From the Rokushoukan.
Well, who is she?
I believe she’ll come immediately if money is offered.
-What will you do? -No, no, I don't think…
But the other party knows that she’s a person
from 50 years ago, right?
Isn’t a replacement beauty fine then?
About that…
I already arranged a banquet with beauties.
They may not be as beautiful as the moon spirit,
but I gathered quite a selection.
Yet the other party didn’t seem satisfied,
and in fact, they laughed derisively.
What kind of people are they?
Excuse me, but those beauties…
-Did they accompany them at night-- -Maomao!
That approach didn't work.
The envoy is a woman, after all.
Oh, so that’s how the conversation ended up with Lord Jinshi.
He possesses a beauty that would captivate anyone,
and his gender is technically male.
He is more than capable of making women fall for him,
a truly exceptional talent.
However, trouble may also arise.
If his charm is taken seriously and they ask for a night together,
there’s nothing he can do.
Of course, despite being a woman
with her position as envoy,
she likely wouldn’t engage in such a foolish act,
but it's better to avoid it all together.
How important is this "envoy," I wonder?
She controls the trading posts in the West and North.
Does that give you an idea?
The reason this caravan is so large,
is that both sides want to advance discussions on new trade.
I see.
I’ve heard that in distant countries, inter-country marriages are common,
and there are beautiful men and women everywhere.
For someone from such a country to call that Granny a "moon spirit."
Do you think they mixed some kind of hallucinogen into the incense?
Would they really do such a thing?
I don't think so, but it's probably the easiest way.
If you did that, it would become a diplomatic issue.
At this point, anything will do.
Do you have any information from back then?
He must be really troubled.
Well, if he's that desperate…
I’m sorry to have you come all the way here.
This is quite an odd story you’ve brought.
This place is pretty grim, huh?
Don’t you offer a cup of tea or something?
Well, this is a meeting room.
Old woman,
you hosted an envoy from a foreign country long ago, didn’t you?
Ah, yes, I did.
It was over 50 years ago, I think.
It was during the reign of the previous, previous ruler.
Originally, there was a town built using ruins,
and many people came for sightseeing.
Because it was a place with a lot of people coming and going,
there was apparently a bit of a conflict
when it was suddenly decided to make it the capital.
The capital had just moved and there was no great castle,
so there was no place to host visitors.
The ruler was quite troubled,
and in the end, it was decided to use the remaining ruins to host them.
It used to be some kind of ceremonial hall.
And near the fruit orchard, there was a beautiful pond and buildings.
Is that…?
On the north side of the rear palace which I visited recently,
there was a ruined fruit orchard.
It wouldn't be surprising if the venue
for the banquet at that time was now inside the rear palace.
As the lead dancer on that stage,
I was chosen from the pleasure district.
Why were you chosen?
Well, that's because…
I was the highest-ranked courtesan at the time.
I danced with a dozen or so others as the main star.
Now, you look more like a withered branch
than a flower.
But well, the main reason was probably my physique.
Huh?
I was tall…
and had a well-defined body.
Certainly, if you're going to stand on stage as the lead,
a larger body would be better.
But you know,
since it was an improvised setting,
I struggled with the preparations.
I even calculated the phases of the moon,
and to improve the view from the banquet,
I removed any obstacles.
Since the orchard was nearby, there were lots of insects,
so I had to remove every single caterpillar
from the leaves beforehand.
In the end,
the insects still gathered around due to the torches.
Even though I prepared all that,
on the day of the event, there were people who played pranks on my outfit.
They rubbed insect corpses onto it.
But I was not weak.
I hid it with fabric and managed to pull it off.
The result was a great success!
The person who played the prank was regretful.
I've heard that story many times. Isn't there something else?
You're not a cute one, huh!
Ouch…
It's a beautiful painting. It's the first time I've seen it.
The old woman must have cherished it.
For this fantastical beauty
to become a slave to gold.
It seems that the envoy
went all the way back to his home country to have it painted by a painter.
He named this painting "Moon Goddess."
I see. So this painting has been beautified as well.
Did you say something?
Nothing.
That envoy never set foot on this land again,
but he entrusted the caravan to deliver it.
But, old woman,
you just did your usual work, right?
Why were you so well-liked?
I don't know that either.
The old woman is someone who can view things objectively.
There’s no exaggeration in her words.
However…
No matter how beautiful the old woman was back then,
why did they call her a Goddess?
I don’t understand.
Well then, shall we search for someone who resembles the woman in this painting?
That’s all I can think of…
Honestly, it’ll be hard to find a tall beauty
who resembles this painting.
Why don’t we try finding a tall woman,
even if her face doesn’t resemble hers?
Although she’s quite shrunk now,
back then she was said to be 175 cm tall.
She was quite tall.
Yes. Since she was good at dancing,
having long arms and legs made her look even more impressive.
However,
when it comes to finding a tall beauty to match her,
that is quite a challenge.
The envoys are about that height as well,
so if the beauty is too small, she might look like a child.
Envoys?
It's not just one?
Yes, they’re said to be cousins who share the same grandfather.
The way he phrased that earlier,
the envoys must also be quite beautiful too.
If that’s the case,
they must find someone who is over 175 cm tall
with beauty so striking that they could silence the envoys.
I found a very fitting person.
A beauty who is over 175 cm tall, right?
What are you trying to say?
NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW
The next episode is "Moon Spirit."
Subtitle translation by: Abhishek Chand Ramola the envoys.