The Apothecary Diaries - Volume 3 - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: The Hunt (Part One)

The next day, Jinshi and the others rode off to the hunt. Jinshi wore his disguise (though he looked annoyed to have to do so), and continued to call himself Kousen, the name it appeared he was going to use for the duration. The disguise was understandable. Having someone who looked like Jinshi wandering around would be an absolute distraction all by itself. This wasn’t the palace; nobody here knew he was a eunuch. With the incident at dinner fresh in her mind, however, Maomao couldn’t help wondering what exactly the eunuch was hiding. She chose not to pursue the question. She could only imagine what would have happened had Jinshi mingled freely during mealtime. No wonder he kept the windows shut.

So it was that Maomao followed the hunters in a carriage. Indeed, the carriage contained several household servants, along with firewood, soup pots, and an array of other cooking implements. It seemed they intended to cook whatever they caught right on the spot.

The carriage rattled its way past the gaoliang fields for a good half an hour, and then the mountains came into view. After that they traveled on foot up the slopes for another hour, until they arrived at a house built on an elevation with an astonishing view. The green all around was refreshing, and water could be heard in the distance; it seemed they were near a large waterfall.

The servants, used to all this, set about preparing a fire. Several of them went with jugs to go fetch water. Maomao wondered if she should do something to help, but the entourages of the other officials with her weren’t lifting a finger. They’d found a place under a canopy set up by some servants who had come early and were chatting together. The noble members of the party would eat in another location.

Probably safer not to do anything, Maomao thought. All too often, people did more harm than good when trying to help and only earned the enmity of those around them. The servants were probably just as happy to be left alone.

As she wandered, Maomao spotted a dog—one with a familiar keeper. So the mutt’s brought his mutt. It was Lihaku, who was something of a big, friendly dog himself. Wondering what he was doing there, Maomao went over and squatted beside him. He was busy rubbing the dog’s belly, but when he realized someone had approached him, a suspicious look crossed his face.

“Hello?” he said.

“Hello,” Maomao replied.

“Hm? That voice... Oh!” He clapped his hands and nodded. “Young lady, it’s you! What are you doing here? And looking so much lovelier than usual too!”

“So glad you finally noticed.” Between the fact that she had no freckles and that she wasn’t wearing her usual outfit, he seemed not to have realized it was her at first. He was a man who knew how to be rude, as ever.

“Yeah, but seriously, why are you here?”

“I was personally requested to attend.”

“Huh, that’s really something.” One of Lihaku’s good qualities was that he didn’t think too hard about things. Maomao had spoken to him without really thinking about it herself, but maybe this wasn’t the best time to be revealing who your acquaintances were. “You know, it was the same for me,” Lihaku said. “Somebody asked for me by name to be part of the guard unit...” He sounded somewhat put out about this, though he continued to stroke the dog’s belly. The animal wore a collar, and Maomao surmised from the breed that it was a hunting dog. Unfortunately for him, they would be hunting with hawks today; the dog would just have to cool his heels. That must have been why he and Lihaku were here holding down camp instead.

“‘You, you just keep an eye on the dog,’ they said.” Evidently, though he’d been asked for by name, the other bodyguards—themselves proud men all—had effectively ostracized him. Lihaku had been making his way up in the world lately, but the higher you went, the more fierce the resistance became.

Lihaku pursed his lips—but not because he was upset. He was making some ridiculous fssh fssh sound, pushing the breath out of his mouth. He seemed to think he was whistling.

“You’re very bad at that, sir.”

“Yeah, thanks. Pipe down.” He gave Maomao a smack on the head, then pulled at a string around his neck, producing a long, narrow tube that looked vaguely like a flute. Having given up on whistling, Lihaku put the cylinder to his lips and blew on it in the dog’s direction. The animal jumped up and looked right at him. With a series of long and short blows, he could make the dog sit and stand on command.

“He looks very smart.”

“Sure is. When I need him, I can get him to come running from kilometers away.” Then he gave three short bursts on the whistle, followed by four longer ones. The dog came over and sat in front of him, wagging his tail.

“He’s so smart, but they want to use that.” He looked at the sky. Maomao couldn’t help following his gaze, and above them in the blue she saw a tiny black speck circling. Personally, she thought when hunting in the mountains, which were full of physical obstacles, it was probably wiser to use a dog than a hawk, but maybe hawks carried more prestige. Maomao wouldn’t turn down some wild rabbit, though she dearly wished she might have some boar meat instead. But they weren’t going to catch a boar with a bird.

Maomao contemplated what a good forest this was. A wide variety of trees grew here. And that likely meant a wide variety of fine medicinal herbs and mushrooms.

I guess they probably don’t want me going in there, she thought. She was feeling fidgety. She glanced around: Lihaku was completely absorbed in playing with the dog. She didn’t think anyone would notice her. But still... Still. She started looking around, and almost before she realized it, the sun had passed its zenith.

The air was full of the fragrance of sizzling meat. They were at the mountain retreat, where the wine flowed freely and women brought the cooked game around. About ten officials sat in chairs, and a table nearby held more side dishes. The room had been designed for good airflow, and buckets of water had been placed at their feet. There were servants with large fans present, and every effort had obviously been made to relieve the stultifying heat of a summer hunt. Shihoku-shu had a cooler climate, as befitted a place people went to beat the heat, but today the fine weather and the damp breeze conspired to make everything feel warm.

Servants solicitously came by with food. Additional meat had been cooked to supplement the catch from the hunt, which wouldn’t have been enough for everybody. Anyway, unlike fish, game wasn’t necessarily at its tastiest immediately after being caught.

Maomao stood behind Gaoshun, watching the proceedings with detachment. Gaoshun had a seat of his own; attendant girls and palace women stood at attention behind the various officials.

You know, now that I think about it... Outside of his master’s room, Gaoshun didn’t spend much time in Jinshi’s company. Instead, Basen attended him, and Maomao naturally fell in with Gaoshun.

A strange-looking man occupied the seat of honor. His face was hidden behind a mask, and he hadn’t so much as touched his food. Nor the wine either. Basen stood attentively behind him.

He has to wear that thing even here? Must be tough, Maomao thought. She didn’t feel it particularly concerned her, though. The girls serving the alcohol kept stealing glances at the masked visitor—who was, of course, Jinshi. However odd his choice of accessories might have been, he was the most important guest here. Becoming the mistress of some high official would almost by definition bring more security than to end up married off in some mediocre match. And all the ladies here appeared shrewd enough to know it.

It wasn’t just the women whose attention he commanded—the corpulent man sitting next to Jinshi was forever whispering to him. It was quite an intimate way of speaking—so maybe it was Maomao’s imagination that made the tone of his voice sound faintly impertinent. Jinshi kept responding with quick little nods of his head.

So is that Shishou? Maomao wondered. She’d heard his name but didn’t know his face very well, or at least didn’t remember it. The location of his seat, though, was a strong indicator of his identity. Wonder what they’re talking about.

Shishou stopped talking and leaned away from Jinshi. Jinshi’s hand continued to tremble, and Basen’s pallor had gone bad.

Something he said? She leaned over and whispered to Gaoshun. She was well familiar with Jinshi’s ways. Think what she might about his personality, his outward appearance was unflappable. It was very strange to see him acting that way. She told Gaoshun that she thought there might be something wrong with him. Gaoshun, though, only shook his head and instructed her not to do anything.

Jinshi stood up, claiming he had a bit of “minor business” to take care of. Basen was about to go to him, but he was delayed by some high officials around him.

Gaoshun tugged on Maomao’s sleeve. “It’s time to trade off,” he said.

Maomao understood what he was getting at. She nodded, then called one of the other servants waiting outside the room. Then she followed Jinshi, who was walking unsteadily. He left the residence, taking care that no one should notice him, then headed toward the trees.

Maomao was going to have to follow him, but first there was something she needed. She picked up a long-necked bottle full of water. “May I take this?” she asked a servant who was preparing food.

“Sure, go ahead.” The servant, obviously harried, answered without really looking at her. Maomao used a spoon to add a little something to the water. Then she took it with her toward the woods.

Shortly after entering the trees, she spotted a figure leaning against one of the trunks.

“Master J—”

She was about to say Jinshi, but clapped a hand over her mouth before the name could get out. She didn’t know why, but he was using a pseudonym here. What was it, again? She tried to remember.

“It’s you...” a strained voice said from behind the mask before she could call the name to mind.

“You need to take this off,” she said, and made to pry the mask off his face, but Jinshi resisted fiercely.

“I can’t.”

“Of course you can. There’s no one here.” Wasn’t that why he’d come all the way out here? There was nowhere to be alone in the residence. Jinshi had his own quarters, to be sure, but palace women were always there, perpetually ready to meet his every need.

“But someone might come.”

Argh, this is so damn frustrating! Maomao leaned the wobbly man against her shoulder and began to pull him along. “If you’re that worried about somebody seeing, then you just need to go somewhere nobody will.”

Deeper into the woods they went. She could see a cliffside now, with a beautiful, massive waterfall. The spray was captivating; it looked like a white feather cloak such as one of the gods might wear. The fall cascaded down several steps, forming a scene that must have been overwhelming even from above. Realizing this was where the water must have been gathered from, Maomao dipped her handkerchief in the river, then slipped it under Jinshi’s mask, hoping to cool his face.

Then the ground around their feet exploded.

What?! There was a noisy flapping of wings as birds scattered. It was Jinshi who reacted: he grabbed Maomao in his arms and started running. But again the dirt at their feet spat into the air. The breeze carried a distinctive sulfurous smell.

“Could that be a feifa?!” Jinshi hissed, still moving unsteadily. He seemed strikingly calm in the face of what was obviously an unexpected development. The feifa: meaning “flying explosion,” it was a weapon that utilized fire powder. It was sometimes used in hunting—but it would be very hard to claim that this particular incident was simply a mistake.

Jinshi thought for a beat, then tightened his grip on Maomao. “Sorry. This is going to get a little dramatic.”

He started running with Maomao in his arms—then he leaped for the waterfall.

A little, my ass! Maomao thought as they plummeted into the spray.