The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 12 [Parts 1 to 5] by Natsu Hyuuga

Author:Natsu Hyuuga
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter 5: Third Son, Second Son, Eldest Son

Hulan’s work often brought him into the orbit of Maomao and her companions.

“I’m terribly sorry, but perhaps I could ask you to arrange a carriage for me?” he asked a servant in a hallway of the main house. The servants seemed used to Hulan’s humble demeanor; apparently it wasn’t just an act he put on for Jinshi.

“You think he’s really Master Gyoku-ou’s son?” Lihaku asked, squinting as he watched Hulan walk down the hall. The hulking soldier had a hoe in hand and was working a field. It was no longer just the annex; they had received permission to turn the garden of the main house into farming fields as well, and Lahan’s Brother had wasted no time beginning cultivation. Lihaku helped, on the grounds that just standing around as a guard would cause him to go soft and this work doubled as exercise.

Then there was the main house’s gardener, watching the field come together with tears in his eyes. The greenhouse gardener was giving him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. Maomao was no longer the gardeners’ only enemy.

“Plenty of kids are nothing like their parents,” said Maomao. She was drying cucumber slices in the sun. The greenhouse gardener was glaring especially hard at her, but she contrived not to notice.

With Gyoku-ou gone, the political face of the western capital had changed substantially. With Jinshi now taking a more public role, the move toward military expansion was much slower, and the main focus of attention had become how to stabilize the food supply.

The hated grasshoppers had assailed the western capital repeatedly in the past several months. Humans, however, can get used to almost anything, and as the episodes went on, they learned to live with the insects.

They’re growing numb, Maomao thought. Still, whenever she saw a grasshopper, she tried to kill it, and it sounded like the people were trying to plow the areas where grasshoppers seemed likely to lay eggs. There was even a suggestion that the plains should be torched while the larvae were still young and couldn’t fly, but unlike in the royal capital, there was scant rain here and no way to know how far the fire might spread. It was deemed too dangerous.

Instead, a simple battle of attrition proceeded. Cultivation of fields went on, complete with “fall plowing.” The past months had seen a number of merchants go out of business, and priority was given to hiring them.

I wonder how much we can actually harvest before winter.

That would be the real question, Maomao suspected. She touched each of the cucumber slices, picking up the ones that were dry. That was when she saw someone rushing through the hall of the mansion.

“Lady Maomao!” It was Hulan. Maomao always felt weird being addressed with such high respect. “And Master Lihaku. You must pardon me.”

“Oh, you’re Master Hulan, aren’t you? You don’t have to use a title of respect with me; I’m just a bodyguard. In fact, it makes things a little awkward.

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