Glass House (Jinshi x Reader)

Maomao & Y/N

Your POV

As Maomao and I were picking the herbs from my garden, her father called out to us, "Maomao. Y/N."

"Hm?" Maomao hummed as we both turned to face him.

"Could you deliver some medicine to the Verdigris House for me?"

I pulled myself to stand and dusted off my loose pants as I replied, "Sure, Luomen. We'll get right on it."

We quickly grabbed the medicine packs and were about to leave. Luomen called out from inside, "Try to be careful out there. They're saying abductions are on the rise."

"I know, I know. Don't worry, Y/N's here to protect us," Maomao rolled her eyes, "We'll stop by the herb plot, too."

"Thank you. Don't be long," he said.

I smiled, calling over my shoulder, "We won't!"

We walked quickly through the streets until we reached the busier part of the town. It was very lively today, just like every other day. We quickly ducked into the brothel, avoiding the men at the counter as they pleaded and haggled with the older woman who ran it.

We set our baskets down and kicked off our boots before crawling over to the counter where our medicines were. Maomao was the truth apothecary of the two of us. I was an herbalist. I knew plants and their medicinal properties, but Maomao was a bit better at making medicines than me.

She pushed her sleeve back, revealing the awful injuries on her forearm. I tried time and time again to get her to stop, but she just wouldn't listen. So, I gave up and just did my best to help her mix the right medicine to heal them.

"Hm. It's taking to long to heal," she groaned, "Recipe's not right."

Before I could make a suggestion for what to change, Pairin entered the little room. "Oh, Maomao! Oh, Y/N!"

"Oh, hey Pairin," she greeted. I waved, reading over the notes Maomao had written about her recipe.

Pairin suddenly gasped, "What? Have you been wounding yourself again?"

"Well, yeah," Maomao replied nonchalantly, "I needed something to experiment on."

Pairin came around the counter and threw her arms over Maomao's shoulders, "You're so thin. Are you eating?"

"Feels to me like you're well-nourished enough for the both of us," Maomao retorted, her head pressed against Pairin's chest. I giggled a little under my breath as I finally looked up from the paper.

"Maomao! Y/N!" I cringed, hearing the old woman's voice, "If I find you playing around with the combustibles near the good mahogany again, I'll box your ears." She took a drag from her pipe before smirking, "Or maybe we find another way to have you pay us back."

Maomao's and my eyes went wide as we scrambled up and out of the brothel. "Your medicine's there on the counter, Granny!" Maomao shouted over her shoulder.

"Say hello to your old man for me!" She yelled back.

As we jogged through the streets, I grumbled under my breath, "That woman tries to turn us into courtesans every chance she gets." Maomao mumbled in agreement.

We quickly reached the herb plot, and our eyes lit up upon seeing all of the herbs. I looked around, and gasped when I spotted a particular plant by the tree line. "I'll be right back! I think I see Gingko tree over there!"

I ran towards the trees and sure enough, I was greeted with the fanning leaves of a Ginko tree. I began plucking the leaves and putting them into my small pouch.