The Apothecary Diaries - Volume 4 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Seki-u

I feel like I’m being...stared at, Maomao thought. By whom? The three people in front of her.

Today’s snack was steamed buns. Some of them contained red bean paste, but others were plain, with no filling, and Maomao, who wasn’t very fond of sweet things, preferred those. Instead of the bean paste, she liked to eat them with leftover stewed vegetables.

In the Jade Pavilion, the ladies-in-waiting took their breaks in turns. Maomao was often on break at the same time as Hongniang or Yinghua, and recently she’d often simply been away from the pavilion entirely, but now she found herself on break with the three new girls.

To be quite honest, she was uncomfortable. Maomao wasn’t very good with people to begin with; it was a full month after the new girls had arrived, and she had only just started to remember their names. The three of them looked very similar. At first Maomao thought it might simply be because they shared a hometown—but in fact, they were sisters.

Haku-u, Koku-u, and Seki-u, she repeated to herself. The names themselves weren’t hard to remember. They simply meant White Feather, Black Feather, and Red Feather. Remembering which of the girls was which—that was the tricky part. She’d already mixed them up several times, until in exasperation the girls had each taken to wearing a hairband that matched the color of their names (somewhat as the special envoys had done), whereupon Maomao was finally able to remember who was who.

They weren’t triplets, but had each been born in successive years: Haku-u was the oldest, followed by Koku-u and then Seki-u. They had good looks, as befitted ladies-in-waiting to an upper consort; their flowing eyebrows suggested they had been drawn in with charcoal. They all had lovely, almond-shaped eyes, but it was the middle girl, Koku-u, who struck Maomao as the strongest of spirit.

“Not going to have any?” Maomao asked. She’d already sat down and started in on one of the steamed buns. Tea had been waiting; Guiyuan, who had been on break just before them, had prepared it for them. The leaves had already been steeped before, but it was still quite tasty.

“Sure...” The oldest sister, Haku-u, sat down, followed by Koku-u and then Seki-u.

None of them said anything. Maomao didn’t mind silence as such, but it made her feel funny to have people watch her eating. Maybe there’s something they want to say. If there was, she wished they would go ahead and say it. Maomao wasn’t interested in dragging it out of them. With superiors it was one thing, but when dealing with colleagues, she wasn’t going to go bending over backward on behalf of people she felt no special affection for.

They ended up eating their buns in silence. Maybe the new girls felt they couldn’t say anything if Maomao didn’t speak first. They should have just chatted among themselves, not minding her, Maomao thought.

She finished her snack and washed it down with the rest of her tea. Haku-u, the young woman with the white hairband, looked at Maomao and finally spoke: “I have a question. If you don’t mind.” Her speech was deliberate and careful. Maomao had heard that Seki-u, the youngest, was her own age, which meant Haku-u must have been about twenty this year. That would make her as old as Gyokuyou and older than Yinghua and the others; maybe that explained how composed she was. “How, if I may ask, did you come to serve in the Jade Pavilion?”

“How”?

Well, there hadn’t been enough hands at the Jade Pavilion, and Jinshi had pressed her into service as a food taster at what he found to be a convenient moment. Maomao assumed Yinghua or one of the others had told the new girls at least that much at some point.

“Yes, we know that,” Haku-u said. “But that doesn’t actually explain anything. Gyokuyou isn’t quick to trust anyone, but she trusts you. Why?” She grimaced as she said Gyokuyou, with no title or honorific.

I see, Maomao thought. Maybe Haku-u felt close to Gyokuyou, being the same age. It shouldn’t have been surprising if she was suspicious of an unknown person getting close to the consort. “I’m really only a food taster. If someone were to try to poison Consort Gyokuyou, I would be the one to suffer the consequences. I ask that you view me in terms of that role.”

It was the honest answer. There was no particular need to tell her about the incident of the toxic face powder that had led to Maomao’s introduction to Gyokuyou.

“They said you don’t mince words. Turns out it’s true.”

“Thank you.” Maomao wasn’t sure whether that was actually a compliment, but she bowed her head just the same. Haku-u might have been a newcomer, but she did outrank Maomao, after all.

“I also hear you have a lot of outside friends, but I hope you won’t spend too much time socializing. My sisters and I are trying to figure out life in the rear palace. You must know we get lonely when our more experienced colleagues spend all their time visiting. My youngest sister, in particular.” Haku-u jabbed the youngest sister with her elbow; but Seki-u, the girl with the red hairband, looked away as if to deny it.

They weren’t wrong, Maomao reflected. She had been spending a lot of her time with Xiaolan and Shisui recently, and she realized now that hadn’t been entirely appropriate.

Ironically, though, she’d promised Xiaolan and Shisui that she would go see them later today. Doing the consorts’ hair removal had become Maomao’s job. If she dropped out now, the other two would have to scramble to cover for her. She was just fretting about what to do when she had a thought. All she really needed was someone to keep an eye on her, to make sure she didn’t do anything suspicious, right?

“Then why waste any time?” she said. “Let’s go to the baths today.”

“Huh?” Seki-u said, caught off guard by the invitation. The three sisters might look much alike, but their ages still made them distinct. Seki-u came across as rather innocent. So long as she wasn’t too brusque, though, Xiaolan and Shisui should be able to handle her easily enough. And Maomao would let them.

At the word baths, Haku-u and Koku-u looked at each other. Was it just Maomao’s imagination, or did they share a grin for a fleeting second?

“That might just be a good idea. Seki-u, it would do you good to spend time with other girls who aren’t your sisters.”

“But sister!”

“Yeah, you know, you might be right. Besides, Lady Gyokuyou ordered us to go to the baths sometimes.”

“That’s true.”

Scandal-hunting was a job itself, in some sense. Maomao beckoned Seki-u over to her.

“Koku-u, why don’t you come?” Seki-u ventured.

“Sorry, I have to work. Have a nice time.” The otherwise quiet second sister agreed with the eldest, leaving their younger sibling without much choice.

Maomao, meanwhile, thought she’d started to grasp the sisters’ particular pecking order.

“I’m Seki-u. Pleased to meet you,” Seki-u said nervously.

Xiaolan and Shisui, for their part, were bubbling with interest in Maomao’s new companion.

“Ooh,” Xiaolan said, “have you got a new frieeend, Maomao?”

“Well, I’ll be,” Shisui added.

The two of them managed to surround Seki-u all by themselves. Maomao ignored them and their quaking new acquaintance, instead making sure she had everything she would need. She had a beauty salve, in case the hair-removal process irritated someone’s skin, and a silk thread. She’d wanted to bring the leftover “textbooks” from the pleasure district in hopes of selling some, but had given up the idea: it would be too hard with Seki-u along.

Speaking of Seki-u, she was looking at Maomao pleadingly, evidently viewing her as her safe harbor now that her sisters weren’t around.

I suppose I should rescue her, Maomao thought. She pointed in the direction of the bath as if to say Let’s go, and Xiaolan and Shisui raised their hands and went jogging off.

“Who are those people?” Seki-u asked.

“They’re harmless.” I think, Maomao added mentally. Then she trotted toward the baths herself.

“Wait for me!” Seki-u cried, and rushed after her.

The work wouldn’t be that hard today, as a number of additional massage-givers had shown up recently. When they peeked into the baths, they could see another palace woman giving a massage. Maybe the other women had started to take an interest when they realized that Maomao and the others were receiving little indulgences from the consorts. The previous masseuse had evidently done a better job of keeping the fact hidden.

Maomao stripped down to her apron in the changing room, then proceeded into the bathing area with her bucket full of tools. Seki-u, though, just stood there fidgeting uncomfortably.

“What’s the matter?” Xiaolan asked earnestly.

“Is this all we’re wearing?” Seki-u asked.

“Yeah. It gets hot in the bath if you have too many clothes on.”

Seki-u, it would appear, was embarrassed. Shisui came up behind her with a wicked smirk, then grabbed her sash, tugging it loose. She pulled off Seki-u’s robe and held it up high.

“Huh!” Maomao and Xiaolan exclaimed in unison. They both seemed to be thinking the same thing: that Seki-u had nothing to be embarrassed about. (Xiaolan, like Maomao, was only modestly endowed.)

“Aw, it’s fine,” said Shisui, who herself was considerably more than fine.

“Fine, indeed!” Seki-u exclaimed. “I wish I was flat as a board!” She looked at Maomao and Xiaolan. Xiaolan was beginning to look angry, and the eyes of several of the women nearby glinted as well. She was going to make enemies at this rate, Maomao thought.

Shisui seemed to have the same intuition, for she passed Seki-u an apron in lieu of her robe. “Sure. Sure, I hear you. Come on, let’s get to the baths,” she said, giving Seki-u a couple of encouraging pats on the shoulder.

I knew she’d be easy to tease, Maomao thought, but I never imagined it would be this easy. She followed Seki-u and Shisui toward the bathing area.

Seki-u’s reticence in exposing her body suggested she came from somewhere without a custom of bathing regularly. She was from the same village as Consort Gyokuyou, which would mean she was from the dry lands to the west. Water was a precious resource there; no wonder Seki-u wasn’t accustomed to bathing. They had saunas, but probably not any large bathhouses like this one.

“How have you been managing all this time?” Out in the desert it might be one thing, but around here, your body odor would turn noticeable very quickly if you didn’t bathe routinely. Especially now, in the hot season. Just wiping yourself down almost certainly wouldn’t be enough.

“My older sisters come here, but I asked Lady Gyokuyou for special permission, and...”

Apparently she’d been allowed to use the bath in the Jade Pavilion. Such amenities were ordinarily reserved for the lady of the house. His Majesty sometimes used them as well, but, er, not for bathing as such. (Hence, we’ll omit the details.)

Maomao realized that she had in fact seen Seki-u heading for the Jade Pavilion’s bath on several occasions. Even if she was only using the place after her mistress was done with it, she’d been intimidated enough to try not to draw attention to herself. It explained, though, why the other sisters, seemingly so loyal to each other, had been so ready to sell Seki-u out to Maomao. Since the youngest girl had Consort Gyokuyou’s permission to use the private bath, they felt they couldn’t drag her to the public one. But when Maomao had invited Seki-u along, they saw their chance.

“Sounds like you’re embarrassed,” Maomao said. “But there’s not going to be any time for that once we get started here.” Then she dipped a hand towel in a bucket and started cleaning herself off.

If Seki-u was reluctant to even let her chest be seen, what must she make of the consorts lying on the stone table without a thread on them? Gyokuyou insisted on doing virtually everything for herself, so Seki-u had probably never seen the like of it before. She looked like the whole thing was making her head spin—but Maomao didn’t have time to worry about her.

“Here, take this.” Maomao passed her the perfume oil. “You can at least rub it on them, right?”

“R-Rub it on them?!”

“Uh-huh. Pretend you’re marinating some chicken.” Maomao added in a whisper that this would cause the women to relax—which would make them more talkative.

Seki-u frowned intensely, but slowly, fearfully, began to daub the prone consort with oil. Xiaolan, who was getting quite good at this, took some of the excess and began to work it into the woman’s skin.

Maomao was still in charge of hair removal, which, unlike massage, wasn’t something one necessarily needed every day. Hence, she was finished before Xiaolan and Shisui, leaving her with little to do. She was sitting on the stone platform, waiting for their next customer, when she spotted a hesitant figure.

Well, look who it is... Consort Lishu was back. She had her chief lady-in-waiting with her again and was looking around uneasily. Wonder what’s going on. Each of the upper consorts had her own bath at her pavilion. Lishu didn’t need to come all the way to the public bathhouse.

She was so busy looking around nervously that she didn’t notice the bucket near her feet and nearly tripped over it. It was very characteristic of her, somehow. Lishu was one of the four upper consorts of the rear palace, but she was something of a sheltered princess, still just fifteen years of age and having never received a visit from the Emperor.

Her chief lady-in-waiting was trying to hold her up, but the floor was just too slippery, and Lishu came tumbling down. Maomao wondered if she didn’t have any other ladies she could rely on—but then she thought of the women at the Diamond Pavilion and realized there was simply no one trustworthy among them.

Finally, Maomao felt compelled to head over to Lishu. Some perfume oil or something had spilled on the stones; Maomao poured bath water over them so there wouldn’t be any more tripping.

“Oh, thank y—rgh?!” The chief lady-in-waiting’s words of gratitude turned to a strangled shout as she saw Maomao. For some reason, Lishu shared her expression of horror. Maomao gave them both a bit of a scowl, but they were shaking like newborn foals. She wished they wouldn’t look at a person as if she were some kind of monster. She could take a hint, though, and she was about to go back to the massage table when she noticed something. There were places all over the quavering Lishu’s body where the hair hadn’t been removed properly; it looked as if someone had tried to shave her with a razor, but they’d left plenty of scratches and even some cuts here and there.

“Would you prefer to try a different way of removing hair?” Maomao said.

“Wha?” Lishu appeared taken aback by the offer, but she didn’t resist when Maomao pulled gently on her hand. That was close enough to assent. Maomao thought she still detected some faint trembling but was determined to ignore it. The shoddy shaving bothered her. (Maomao was sometimes bothered by rather unusual things.)

She urged Lishu onto the stone platform—the consort seemed to have the same reluctance as Seki-u to expose her chest—and then began to apply lotion, though she frowned a little as she did it. Xiaolan noticed the cowering consort and the lady-in-waiting who stuck close to her and promptly understood what was going on; she helped pin the consort on the table.

“Don’t worry,” Maomao said. “I’ll be gentle.” She was bent on doing the best job she could.

Seki-u, meanwhile, could only watch, her eyes full of sympathy for the consort.

After the hair removal, Lishu’s skin was silky smooth. Almost without realizing it, Maomao hadn’t stopped with her arms and legs, but had gone over every inch of her body. Xiaolan was diligently doing the aftercare, daubing the consort with perfume oil. Shisui had needed to help another “customer,” who then gave her some juice that she was now enjoying. Xiaolan was looking at her enviously. Hmm: should they try to ask Consort Lishu for an honorarium? Maomao wondered. Looking at the consort, though, who was plastered to the table looking like her soul had left her body, she thought better of it.

“Is this sort of thing new to her?” Maomao asked the chief lady-in-waiting.

“Y-Yes. At the, uh, pavilion, most of the women don’t pay much mind to these things. And before that, she spent quite a while in a convent.”

“Ah, yes, that’s right.”

In fact, Lishu’s story was rather a sad one, when you thought about it. Married off to a pedophile emperor as a political pawn at an early age, sent to a convent after his death, then forced back to the rear palace by her family. And once there, surrounded by good-for-nothing ladies-in-waiting.

The chief lady-in-waiting had been among the consort’s tormentors once, but now she was her mistress’s staunch ally, a fact that impressed Maomao. Since she was here anyway, Maomao thought she might as well make the chief lady’s skin nice and smooth too, but while the woman submitted to having her arms and legs done, she fiercely resisted when it came to her most sensitive parts. Maomao didn’t see the problem: they were all women here, after all.

Once they had finished with Consort Lishu and her chief lady-in-waiting, their work was mostly done for the day. They put on loose robes and tried to cool off from the heat of the baths. Lishu suggested some juice, and while it was altogether possible that she was simply being polite—that she really hoped they would turn her down—the other girls eagerly accepted. Xiaolan was openly joyful, while Seki-u didn’t really understand what was happening but went along anyway.

Other ladies were attending the other consorts, while Shisui had slipped outside where one of the consorts was treating her to a puff on a pipe. She did know how to play the game.

“If I may ask,” Maomao said to Lishu’s chief lady-in-waiting once they were settled in the consorts’ cooling-off area, “what brings you here? I thought the Diamond Pavilion had its own bath.”

“Yes, well...” the lady-in-waiting said uneasily. She looked at Lishu, whose face glowed with the warmth of the baths but had begun to regain its composure. In fact, if anything, she looked a little pale. “That’s where it appeared. In the bath...” Now the lady-in-waiting looked as pale as her mistress. “A ghost...”