Maomao got déjà vu when she saw where Chue was taking her, and it was very unpleasant.
This is—
—a place Maomao would find hard to forget.
A place of nightmares!
It was a private area for the use of the Imperial family, where Maomao had found herself with the Emperor, Jinshi, and Empress Gyokuyou—the very place where Jinshi had burned a brand into his own side.
The unpleasant premonitions got stronger.
Empress Gyokuyou wasn’t there this time; instead, Ah-Duo was present. Maomao sure hoped this encounter wouldn’t end with another secret that she would have to take to her grave.
“Okay, gotta check you over!” Chue said, patting Maomao down before she was allowed to enter the hall. She had to make sure Maomao wasn’t trying to smuggle any weapons into the Imperial family’s presence.
“Goodness, Miss Maomao, you do keep the most eclectic stuff tucked away wherever you can fit it! You’re like a squirrel,” Chue said as she observed the growing pile of herbs, sewing implements, bandages, and more.
“I could say the very same thing about you, Miss Chue,” Maomao replied. She never knew what Chue was going to come up with next. Even Maomao didn’t produce doves from her robes.
“There’s a lot of stuff here that I think you could have assumed you could leave behind. What do you do with it all?”
“It’s just, I don’t feel right if I don’t have a certain heft. Don’t you ever feel that way?”
“Wellll, I suppose I know what you’re talking about.”
Maomao had gone from the medical office back to the dormitory so she could take a bath and change her clothes. She would soon be meeting the Emperor, He of the Inimitable Facial Hair, for the first time in quite a while, and she was trying not to be rude. But still...
Ugh! I don’t wanna gooooo!
It was all she could think.
She wished she could be allowed to do some griping at least to Chue.
“And what’s this?” Chue drawled, producing a cloth-wrapped package from among the goods she was inspecting.
“Stomach medication,” Maomao replied.
“Hoh, hoh, stomach medication,” Chue repeated. She tried the medicine on her tongue, made a sour face, and handed it back to Maomao. “This, you can keep.”
“Thank you. It was the one thing I didn’t want to have to go without, so I appreciate it.”
Maomao’s steps were heavy, which Chue tried to remedy by giving her a push from behind.
“Are you going to join us, Miss Chue?” Maomao asked.
“Sadly not! Miss Chue is on guard duty!”
Chue’s very presence was enough to make any situation slightly less oppressive, but that thin ray of hope was now lost.
“What about Master Gaoshun?”
“My father-in-law? Not sure. Probably on guard too. But don’t you worry! I’m a good wife who brings her father-in-law’s favorite snacks so that we won’t get bored no matter how long your chat goes on!”
Chue showed Maomao a bamboo steamer she produced from who-knew-where. Even if she could have kept it hidden, it seemed like the steam would have made things awfully warm.
There were no windows in this long hallway, but it wasn’t dark either. Flames flickered at their feet, providing illumination. Gaoshun stood at the far end of the hallway along with another guard.
Have I seen him somewhere before?
At the sound of Chue’s distinctive footsteps, the guard stepped forward.
“Older Brother-in-Law! Would you like some snacks?” Chue asked.
When she heard “older brother-in-law,” Maomao clapped her hands. It was Maamei’s husband, Ba-something-or-other.
“No, thank you,” he said.
“Have a drink of wine?” Chue drawled.
“I’m not much of a drinker.”
“Maybe juice, then?”
“Where on earth would you get it?”
Ba-something-or-other had the very same question as Maomao. It looked like it was safe to presume he shared the Ma clan’s sense of what was, well, common sense.
“Chue, we’re on duty,” Gaoshun said.
“Duty we may be on, but it’s important to keep your energy up! Don’t you worry—Chue will take a bite first so you can see there’s nothing wrong with it!”
Clearly exasperated, Gaoshun turned to Maomao. “Xiaomao. Don’t mind her.”
“Yes, sir.”
At Gaoshun’s invitation, Maomao entered the room.
The furnishings look even more elaborate than usual.
Last time, there had been a bunch of herbs there, but not this time. Maomao was conflicted: Was that disappointing, or reassuring?
As she entered the room, she found herself walking on a carpet that looked like it had probably taken a year to weave three centimeters of. The Emperor and Ah-Duo sat on a couch on the far side of the room.
Here we go...
She had, unfortunately, arrived after His Majesty. It was what it was, but it made her uncomfortable.
It was not the Emperor but Ah-Duo who spoke to her. “I’m sorry for summoning you here.”
“Not at all, ma’am. I must apologize for my tardiness.”
“No Yue yet? Isn’t he with you?”
“No, ma’am.”
Jinshi’s absence was perhaps her one saving grace here.
Ah-Duo motioned Maomao to sit, so she picked a small stool and sat down. There was another chair, one with a backrest, which she assumed was for Jinshi. It was quite helpful, actually: The difference in the chairs made it obvious where Maomao should sit.
There was one couch and two individual chairs. The Emperor and Ah-Duo occupied opposite ends of the couch. It was not flirtatious, nor was it a sign of alienation from each other. It showed they kept the perfect distance.
Right in the middle of the chairs was a round table with two bottles on it. From what Maomao could see of what was in the glass cups that accompanied them, one bottle contained grape juice, the other plain water. There were four cups in total, and two of them were empty. That fact, and the similar number of places to sit, made it clear that only four people were going to take part in what was to follow.
Maomao let her gaze drift to the Emperor. His facial hair was as imposing as ever, and his pallor seemed decent enough.
✦ ✦ ✦
