The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 14

“No, I had my encounter with smallpox before I came to their village. Dangerous business, smallpox, huh? I thought for sure I was gonna die!” As usual, he didn’t sound the least bit concerned about it.

“We lived in a small pioneer town far to the northwest of the capital,” Yo volunteered. “We cut down the forest to make fields, but it was a very new village, and the fields weren’t enough to sustain us yet, so we sold the wood we cut down to buy food from outside.”

“I see. One of those frontier towns,” Maomao said, beginning to understand why the village had been lost. “You’d be the first to be hit when there was a shortage of food.”

Many pioneers were poor folk who had no land of their own.

Then a plague of locusts occurred.

Food got more expensive.

The undersupplied pioneer village could no longer afford it.

They starved.

That made everyone weaker.

Which made them sick.

A place like theirs would be the first to be abandoned during an outbreak of communicable disease. It would vanish before its name could even be added to the maps. Soon everyone would forget them, and it would be as if they had never existed.

Hence no word would come to the central government, and there would be no problem.

“Okay, buddy. Here, have one of these.” Lihaku tossed a rice cracker into Basen’s mouth. He looked shocked for a moment, but didn’t spit it out; instead, he started chewing.

En’en’s a good cook, isn’t she? What vegetables do you think I could whip up that would make her happy?” Lahan’s Brother asked Maomao

Jinshi gazed at Maomao, then gently reached toward her. He looked like he was going to take her hand, but he stopped just short.
“You’re not going to touch me, sir?” Maomao asked, and he looked awkward.
“I want to. More than that. I want to hold you close, as tight as I can.”
“And yet you don’t,” she said teasingly. This from the man who had never hesitated to put his hands on her no matter how many times she told him not to.
Then again, lately, he’d almost seemed to avoid her, if anything. Even when he’d been hauling her around like a sack of rice earlier that day.
“I’m holding back. Otherwise I fear I won’t be able to control myself.”
“You won’t, sir?”
“No. It won’t stop at holding you close—I’d bite you, I’d lick you.”
“A chill just went down my spine...” Maomao gave him a mild glower. She had goosebumps.

“Master Jinshi,” Maomao said—no one was close enough to hear them, so she didn’t bother to call him “Moon Prince.” “Do you think this is any way to carry a person?”
“I don’t.”
“Then why am I being carried this way?”
Jinshi pouted for a moment before replying, “I’m not supposed to touch you too much, am I?” He’d chosen the means of carrying her that minimized the amount of physical contact between them.
“Uh, you can’t make babies just by touching a girl.”
“Dammit, I know that! Here I am trying to be delicate—don’t just go and say it!”
“Understood, sir.”

“Do you remember a physician named Tianyu?”
“I do. A young man with a...quirky streak, yes?”
So Jinshi did remember him. He took some peach on his spoon and put it into his mouth.
“He’s also a descendant of Kada.”
“Brrf?!”
Maomao found herself with bits of peach on her face.
“Oh, my goodness gracious.” Suiren was wiping Maomao’s face in an instant. There were certain people who might have considered it a privilege to have a gorgeous nobleman spit food on them. Maomao, however, could sum it up in one word: unhygienic.

“We’ll have to be careful not to get dizzy,” Maomao agreed.
She was thinking about what happened in the retreat area some years before. Jinshi had gotten heat stroke—then, to make matters even more complicated, had been targeted by an assassin.
And that was how I learned about the frog...

“Aren’t you going home, Master Lihaku?”
“Ah, well, I figured I should stick around to finish what I started. I’ll go home tomorrow morning.”
“You really saved a lot, didn’t you?” Maomao said, nudging him with her elbow.
“Oh, stop,” he said, but he didn’t exactly look unhappy.
“Hee hee hee! I guess I can look forward to another night,” said Pairin, draping herself over him.
“Ha ha ha ha!” he laughed. She would be draining him dry for a second night in a row.

“I never dreamed you would do so much for my lady Yao. Truly, thank you...Master Junjie.”
“J... J-J-J...”
Lahan’s Brother was rocked by En’en’s words. They could see his entire face turn red.
Guh? Maomao froze.
“Is something the matter, Master Junjie?” En’en asked.
“N-No, pardon me. Ahem, er, would you say that again?”
“Of course. I’ll thank you as many times as you wish. Thank you very much.”
“No, not that part! The Junjie part!” Lahan’s Brother shouted, still beet red.
Lahan joined Maomao in a slack-jawed stare.
“It’s the name of a young man at your estate, isn’t it?” En’en said. “I know you don’t usually give your name out of consideration for him. I don’t mean to cause any confusion, but it seemed inappropriate to thank a man to whom I owe so much without using his name. Oh—do you not like people to say your name? I can call you Master Lahan’s Brother if you’d prefer.”
“No! No, that’s perfect! I’m not Lahan’s Brother—I’m Junjie!”

“Let’s find out whether there was any proof or not,” Maomao said. From the folds of her robe she produced a hair stick, one in...unique taste. It was the one the freak strategist had given her earlier, with the amethyst skull dangling from it. She plucked the skull off.
“Little sister,” Lahan warned. “No matter the circumstances, I really don’t approve of destroying a gift in front of the person who gave it to you.”
“Oh, Maomao! You only wanted the skull? Next time I can make a whole rosary of crystal skulls for you!”
“Please don’t!” Maomao and Lahan said in unison.