The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 12 [Parts 1 to 3] by Natsu Hyuuga
Author:Natsu Hyuuga
Language: eng
Format: epub
After Hulan had left, the quack told them about Gyoku-ouâs children.
âThey say Master Gyoku-ou had four children. Young Hulan is the youngest of them.â
Maomao and the others lost no time turning Hulanâs gift of steamed buns into their snack.
Got to make sure thereâs nothing in them, Maomao thought, her old habit of checking food for poison rearing its head. They were filled with meat, and she was perfectly happy to make them her lunch. She was only sorry she couldnât have the wine with themâbut she was on duty, after all.
âThe oldest is twenty-five, and then the rest of the children were born in successive yearsâexcept Hulan; heâs a little younger. About eighteen. Isnât that right, Miss Chue?â the quack asked as he poured tea into some cups.
âOh, yes, very right. Master Gyoku-ouâs children go: eldest son, eldest daughter, second son, and then the third son bringing up the rear at eighteen years old.â
Chue was putting out some soup sheâd reheated. Maomao took a bowl and passed it to Lihaku, who stood slightly apart from the quack doctor. The quack prepared the tea without getting up, while Lihaku was as vigilant as ever. After spending more than six months in each otherâs company, each knew their role.
âThatâs an odd collection. Do they perchance have different mothers?â Maomao asked, sitting in a chair and breaking open a bun. The filling spilled out, meat and mushrooms and bamboo shoots.
âNot at all. Unlike his father, Master Gyoku-ou only had one wife.â
âHuh! That is quite different from Master Gyokuen,â the quack said, sounding surprised. It wasnât unusual for men in Li to have more than one wife, but eleven was enough to make Gyokuen the subject of talk. Even the Emperor only had enough wives to count on one hand. Yes, there were two thousand consorts and ladies in the rear palace, but between considerations of family background and resources, they werenât necessarily all people His Majesty could easily take to bed.
Lihaku spoke up. âYou know, I heard a rumor. About Master Gyoku-ouâs wife.â His ears and mouth were participating in the conversation, but his eyes continued to scan the area outside the medical office.
âWhat kind of rumor?â Maomao, having carefully studied the bun, now popped it into her mouth. The seasonings were characteristic of the central region, and she was surprised to realize it made her a little bit homesick.
âI heard sheâs always had good business sense, that she used to be a real go-getter. After the birth of their second son, she boarded a foreign trading vessel for a business venture, except it was involved in a shipwreck. Unluckily, things werenât very good in the country where she wound up, and she had to stay there for several years.â
âThatâs quite a story. Iâd expect to see more of someone like that, though,â said Maomao. So far, she hadnât seen Gyoku-ouâs wife even once. Sheâd assumed that meant she was just a chaste, retiring woman who spent her time supporting her husband, but it seemed strange that Maomao hadnât so much as seen her face since Gyoku-ouâs death.
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