The four ladies-in-waiting who had always attended Consort Gyokuyou were exceptionally hard workers. Granted, the Jade
Pavilion was not the largest place, but they kept it humming along neatly, just the four of them. Serving girls from the shangqin—the Housekeeping Service, those charged with keeping rooms clean— did come sometimes, but by and large the four ladies-in-waiting
handled all the cleaning and tidying themselves. That was not, for the record, something ladies-in-waiting typically did.
All of this meant that the new girl, Maomao, had little to possess her other than tasting the food. Besides Hongniang, none of the other ladies-in-waiting ever asked Maomao to do anything. Maybe they felt bad that she was stuck with the most unpleasant job, or maybe they simply didn’t want her intruding on their turf.
Whatever the reason, even when Maomao offered to help, they would gently rebuff her with an, “Oh, don’t worry about it,” and urge her to go back to her room.
How am I supposed to settle in here?
Cooped up in her room, she was summoned twice daily to meals, once to afternoon tea, and every few days to try one of
the sumptuous banquets offered when the Emperor came calling. That was all. Hongniang was kind enough to try to find little tasks for Maomao to do, but they were never anything difficult, and didn’t occupy her for long.
In addition to her tasting duties, she found her own meals became more elaborate. Sweet treats were offered at tea, and when there were extras, they would be sent to Maomao. And
because she was no longer working like an ant as she once had been, all those extra nutrients went to flesh.
I feel like some kind of livestock.
Her new appointment as food taster had brought with it another thing Maomao didn’t like. She had always been rather
slim, but this meant that if a poison caused her to waste away, it
would be hard to detect. What was more, the dosage of any given toxin that might be deadly was in proportion to one’s body size. A little extra weight could improve her chances of survival.
In Maomao’s mind, there was no way she could miss a poison so powerful as to make her waste away, and meanwhile she was confident she could survive an ordinarily fatal dose of many
toxins. But no one around her seemed to share her optimism.
They only saw a small, delicate girl being treated like a disposable pawn, and they pitied her for it. And so they plied her with
congee even after she was full, and always gave her an extra serving of vegetables.
They remind me of the girls from the brothels. Maomao could be cold, reticent, and unsentimental, but for some reason the
women had always doted on her. They always had an extra treat or a bit of something for her to eat.
Although Maomao didn’t realize it, there was a reason people were so inclined to look kindly on her. Running along her left arm was a collection of scars. Cuts, stabs, burns, and what seemed to be repeated piercing with a needle. That is to say, to others,
Maomao looked like a petite, overthin girl with wounds on her arm. Her arms were frequently bandaged, her face sometimes
pale, and once in a while she was given to fainting. People simply assumed, with a tear in their eye, that her coldness and reticence were the natural result of the treatment she had suffered to this point in her life. She had been abused, they were sure—but they were wrong.
Maomao had done all of it to herself.
She was most interested in discovering the effects of various medicines, analgesics, and other concoctions firsthand. She would take small doses of poison to inure herself to them, and had been
known to let herself be bitten by venomous snakes. And as for the fainting, well, she didn’t always get the dosage quite right. This was also why the wounds were concentrated on her left arm: it was preferable to her dominant limb, her right.
None of this sprang from any masochistic proclivity for pain,
but was fueled entirely by the interests of a girl whose intellectual curiosity inclined rather too much in the direction of medicines
and poisons. It had been her father’s burden to cope with her for
her entire life. Yes, it was he who had taught Maomao her letters and first instructed her in the ways of medicine, in the hopes that she would see a way forward in life other than prostitution, even though he had been obliged to raise her in and around the red-
light district. By the time he realized he had far too apt a student on his hands, it was too late, and the calumnies about him had already begun to spread. There were a few who understood, just a few; but most turned cold, hard gazes on Maomao’s father. They never for a moment imagined that a girl of her age might commit self-harm in the name of experimentation.
And so the story seemed to be complete: after suffering long abuse at the hands of her father, this poor child had been sold off
to the rear palace, where she was now to be sacrificed to discover poison in the consort’s food. A sorrowful tale indeed.
And one of which the protagonist was entirely unaware.
I’m going to be a pig at this rate! About the time Maomao began to fret about this particular possibility, her woes were compounded by a most unwelcome visitor.
“It’s rather late for you,” Consort Gyokuyou said as a newcomer entered the room.
The caller in question was the nymph-like eunuch, this time
with one of his compatriots in tow. The gorgeous youth evidently made routine rounds of the chambers of the upper consorts.
Maomao tasted the sweets the compatriot had brought for poison, then withdrew discreetly behind Consort Gyokuyou where she
reclined on a chaise longue. Maomao was standing in for Hongniang, who had gone to change the princess’s diaper.
Eunuchs these men may have been, but they were still not
allowed an audience with the consort without the presence of a lady-in-waiting.
“Yes, there’s been word that the barbarian tribe has been successfully subdued.”
“Has it? And what’s to come of it?” Gyokuyou’s eyes glowed with curiosity; this subject was more than enough to excite the interest of a bird trapped in the cage that was the rear palace.
Though she was the Emperor’s favorite, Gyokuyou was also still young, not more than a couple or three years older than Maomao
herself, as Maomao understood it.
“I’m not certain it’s appropriate to discuss in front of a lady such as yourself…”
“I wouldn’t be here if I couldn’t endure both the beautiful and the terrible in this world,” Gyokuyou said boldly.
Jinshi glanced at Maomao, an appraising look that swiftly vanished. He insisted there was nothing interesting about the subject, but proceeded to speak of the world outside the
birdcage.
⭘⬤⭘
Some days before, a band of warriors had been sent out, on information that a tribe was once again plotting ill. This country
was largely a peaceful one, but issues such as this did sometimes mar its tranquility.
The warriors successfully drove back the barbarian scouts who had ventured into the territory, with hardly a casualty to speak of.
The trouble started on the way home. The food in the
encampment was compromised, and almost a dozen men came down with food poisoning. Many more were deeply demoralized. They had obtained the provisions at a nearby village just prior to coming into contact with the barbarians. The villages in this area were technically part of Maomao’s nation, but historically they were not without their ties to the barbarian tribes.
One of the soldiers, armed, arrested the village chieftain.
Several villagers who attempted to resist were killed on the spot for conspiring with the barbarians. The rest of the villagers would learn their fate after it was determined what would happen to their chief.
⭘⬤⭘
When Jinshi had delivered this précis of events, he took a sip of tea.
That’s outrageous. Maomao wanted to grab her head in her
hands. She wished she had never heard the story. There were so many things in the world one would be happier not knowing. The eunuch saw the furrow in her brow and turned his fine
countenance on her.
Don’t look at me.
Ah, if only wishes made things so.
Jinshi’s lips formed a gentle arch as he took in Maomao’s expression. He almost seemed to be testing her with his smile. “Something on your mind?”
It was as good as an order to say something, so she had to find something to say.
Will it even matter? she asked herself. But one thing was for certain: if she said nothing, then at least one village would disappear off the map of the frontier.
“I offer you only my personal opinion,” Maomao said, and
picked a branch out of a nearby vase in which some flowers had been arranged. This branch, which had no blossoms itself, was from a rhododendron. The same kind of branch upon which Maomao had left her message. She plucked off a leaf and put it in her mouth.
“Is it flavorful?” Consort Gyokuyou asked, but Maomao shook her head.
“No, ma’am. Touching it can induce nausea and difficulty breathing.”
“And yet you’ve just had it in your mouth,” Jinshi said with a probing look.
“You needn’t fret,” Maomao said to the eunuch, setting the branch on the table. “But you see, even here on the grounds of the rear palace, there are poisonous plants. The rhododendron’s poison is in the leaves, but others contain their toxins in the branches or roots. Some release poison if you so much as burn them up.” These hints, Maomao suspected, would be enough to lead the eunuchs and the clever Gyokuyou where she wanted them to go. Despite doubting it was necessary to continue, she did so: “When encamped, soldiers make their chopsticks and campfires from local materials, do they not?”
“Ah,” Jinshi said.
“But that—” Gyokuyou added.
It would mean the villagers had been punished unjustly. Maomao watched as Jinshi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. I don’t know how important this Jinshi is…
But she hoped that he might be able to help in some way, however minor. Hongniang came back with Princess Lingli, and Maomao left the room.
