As there was still a short time before the Garden Party begins, Consort Gyokuyou and the maids went to pass the time at the garden's gazebo.
Rainbow carp splashed in the lake, and the few remaining autumn leaves dyed in red scattered through the air.
"All this was thanks to you."
Though there was enough sunlight, the winds were cold and harsh. Normally, they would be shivering in the cold, but because of the underwear with the pocket warmers, no one suffered to that extent.
Even Princess Rinrii, who everyone was worried about, was curled up in a ball inside the basket. Heated stones just like what they had were inside the basket with her.
"As you can get low temperature burns, when you remove the Princess' heated stone(hand-warmers) occasionally, please wrap it with a cloth when you replace it. Also, please take note of any stinging in the mouth if you eat too much of the candy."
Maomao placed the replacement heated stone inside the hand-basket. The princess' diapers and change of clothes were also inside. The brazier to warm the heated stones was already requested and brought in by a eunuch.
"I understand. That saying,"
An impish giggle leaked out. The other maids were also smiling wryly.
"You are my maid after all."
Saying that, she pointed at the jade necklace.
"That is certainly true."
Maomao decided to capture the moment of those words.
○●○
Gaoshun gazed at his master who was inquiring about the Virtuous Consort's mood.
Jinshi, who had heavenly nectar and a celestial maiden's smile, was more bewitching that the Virtuous Consort, who was admired as a beauty in spite of being young.
The consort, clad in luxurious and gorgeous clothing, her hair adorned with a silver kanzashi, could only be overshadowed before the ordinary plain official robes with some embroidery.
Having come this far, he was a disagreeable existence, but seeing how the overshadowed consort herself was entranced, her eyes glazed, it didn't seem to be an issue.
What a sinful human.
After visiting the three consorts, they headed towards Consort Gyokuyou's place next.
They found them at the gazebo in the direction of the lake.
Though Jinshi had equal contact with the Four Consorts, nothing could be done lately about Consort Gyokuyou's strong backing. Well, as far as she was called the Emperor's Favoured Consort, it shouldn't be viewed as a problem, but it was clear that there were other reasons to it too.
He bowed to the consort. Praised her well-fitting red outfit.
Certainly, she was fittingly beautiful. The Barbarian Princess' mysteriousness and her natural fascinating elegance was saturated in the air about her as well.
It was likely that, in regard to the brilliance inside the Inner Palace, the person who could be favourably compared to Jinshi is Consort Gyokuyou.
While it may be true, it wasn't that the court ladies around him were not beautiful. It's just that each one of them paled in comparison to his personal charm.
The amazing part of Jinshi was that he could say that precisely.
Everyone had parts of themselves they were pleased with that they want to be admired by others. That was aptly reached.
Jinshi does not lie.
It's just that he doesn't speak the truth.
He feigned serenity, but the left corner of his lips were slightly raised. As his attendant, who served him for many years, he understood. It was an expression a child would make in front of a toy. How troubling.
Pretending to look at the princess' face, he approached the short maid.
But.
Standing there with expressionlessly, looking down somewhere while making an excessively disrespectful face, was an unfamiliar maid.
○●○
"Pleasant day to you, Jinshi-sama."
She was careful to not let her 'Here again, you leisurely rascal?' expression come out.
As Gaoshun was watching, she wanted to be gentle as much as she could.
"Are you wearing make-up?"
"No, I'm not."
She wasn't wearing any make-up aside from the rouge on her lips and the corner of her eyes.
There were still some light spots around her nose, but she didn't mind it.
"Your freckles are erased."
"Indeed, because I erased them."
What remained was a tattoo she gave herself by stabbing with a needle a long time ago. Without stabbing deeply, the pale dye will disappear within a year.
Although, since the act was the same as a criminal's punishment, even if it does disappear, her dad had indicated his disapproval.
"You erased it with make-up, didn't you?"
"I erased it when I removed the make-up."
(Ahh, I should've just said 'yeah sure' at the right time…)
Maomao noticed too late that she made a mistake in her reply.
"What you said is strange. There's a contradiction."
"No. There is no such thing."
Make-up isn't just used to beautify. There were also cases where middle-aged women specifically used make-up to make themselves look unattractive.
The product made of dried clay and mixed with dye, Maomao applied around her nose every day. She skillfully obscured the tattooed freckles by turning it into spots. What she did was by no means unintentional; it was that no one noticed it.
A woman with freckles and spots, with a face that doesn't particularly stand out.
That was why she was called a plain-looking woman.
To put it another way, if she didn't have the freckles and spots, her face would just be said as uncharacteristic, in other words, an average, neat face.
With even a little bit of rouge, she can change the atmosphere. The ordinary-looking Maomao can look completely different.
Jinshi clutched his head at Maomao's explanation, as if he somehow couldn't understand her.
"Why would you do that kind of make-up? Is there any meaning to it?"
"Yes. It is so I won't be taken into the back alleys."
The prostitution quarter – being what it is – had those who hungered for women. Most of those guys don't have money, they are violent, and mental illness was common among them.
Of course, she would want to excuse herself from that.
The flabbergasted Jinshi, for some reason, timidly asked her.
"Have you ever been taken?"
"They tried."
So he could understand what she said, she glared at him with narrowed eyes.
"Instead I have been kidnapped by human traffickers."
It was better for the women disposed at the Inner Palace to have good looks. In those time, she would go out to harvest the medicinal herbs for the dyes of her faded tattoo, accidentally forgetting her make-up.
"I'm sorry. The management wasn't thorough."
"It's fine. There isn't much distinction between selling someone as kidnappers and selling someone to reduce the number of mouths to feed. It's all the same."
The former was criminal, the latter was legal. Even a kidnapper couldn't be punished if the person they bought didn't know that distinction.
Right now, the reason to her using this sort of make-up in the Inner Palace was the same as her hiding her ability to write. Although it now no longer mattered, her sudden no make-up face was only just a matter of not knowing the timing.
"Ahh. I'm sorry."
(He's unusually meek.)
As he was looking up, he stuck quickly something on her head.
"That hurts."
"Does it. Have this."
He wasn't smiling his usual saccharine smile. His face was also mixed with embarrassment and gloominess.
When she felt her head, she felt something cold and metallic in her hair even though she wasn't wearing anything.
"Well then, I'll see you at the assembly place."
Jinshi turned his back and left the gazebo just like that.
Stuck in her hair was a man's silver kanzashi.
"Ahh, how nice."
Maomao thought to give it to Infa who looked like she really wanted it, but the other two had the same expressions so she had no choice but to draw in her hands.
Honnyan made a wry smile.
"Aw, he broke the promise so quickly."
Consort Gyokuyou looked peevish.
She took the kanzashi from Maomao's hand and neatly fastened it in her tied-up hair.
"It looks like you're not just my maid now."
For good or evil, Maomao was especially estranged from the talk of the upper echelons of the Imperial Court.
She didn't know about the significance it represented.