The Apothecary Diaries Book 9

Yao's Request

Utterly exhausted or not, morning still came. And with morning came the need to go to work.

Maomao was so tired, she didn't want to think. She was dogged by sleepiness, but the insuperable proposal she faced forced her mind to work.

I wonder if I'll be summoned after I'm done today. I have to think about what medicines I need to treat a burn...

She pondered as she organized a cabinet drawer. The end of the year was approaching, and the apprentice physicians as well as the court ladies assigned to the medical office were cleaning the place top to bottom.

"Phew! Boy, am I tired!" said Yao, giving a big stretch. She had a rag in her hand and was diligently cleaning the shelves.

"You think that about does it?" En'en asked. She wrung out the cloth that she, likewise, was using. The apprentice physicians were mostly handling the heavy lifting; cleaning the room itself was left to Maomao and the others.

"Oh, it's fine," Maomao said, returning the drawers. When they were done cleaning, they would be off of work. Court ladies got vacation over the end of one year and the start of the next. The doctors took shifts staying at court, but there was no need for Maomao and the other women to stick around. Word was that if the young ladies weren't given time off, their families objected vociferously.

Most of them are just here to learn to be decent homemakers, anyway. Or find a husband.

Yao and En'en, however, were here to work, so Maomao doubted they would spend their vacation at home. Yao's father was dead, and control of her family had passed into the hands of her uncle, who was bent on marrying Yao off. En'en, who lived for her young mistress, regarded him as an archenemy.

"Maomao, what are you going to do on your vacation? They said you were called home yesterday. Are you going to help out with work there?" Yao asked as she dried out her rag and washed her hands.

Being "called home" was a convenient cover for being summoned by Jinshi. The story, she surmised, was that an emergency case had turned up at her father's apothecary shop and she had been called away to help. After all, there had to be something to excuse Maomao's late-night disappearance and predawn return.

So he was planning this all along! She felt anger bubbling up in her, but she knew she had to stay calm for the moment.

The answer to Yao's question was no. Maomao could only wish she was going home for a few days—she would be lucky to get a day trip. A certain idiot nobleman had inflicted a major burn on himself. In fact, he seemed likely to come for her this very day once work was over.

The honest answer, unfortunately, was not one Maomao could give. She tried to think of what she could say instead. Probably best to pretend she would be going back to the pleasure district.

"Yeah. In fact, I expect us to be raking it in this time of year," she said.

"You do?"

"Not every lord with a bulging purse goes home. The more customers who show up, the more the shop profits. We could be very busy."

Yao looked perplexed, but En'en took Maomao's meaning and glared at her. With her information network, she probably knew very well what Maomao's "family home" did. Maomao hardly expected the two of them to show up at a brothel in the pleasure district anytime soon.

"Maomao, if you'd kindly refrain from saying uncouth things in the young lady's presence," En'en said.

But it's true!

In simple terms, men with ample salaries would come to spend them on the butterflies of the night—and because doctors took this time off just like everyone else, the madam insisted that the apothecary shop remain open. Maomao had been planning to go home, since she didn't know if her father would be able to. So much for those plans.