Jinshi and Maomao Short Stories Collection

Medicine for the Apothecary

And here's the probably longest story of this countdown, reserved for the last day of the year! :)

This one was entirely my own idea.

Happy New Year, everyone!

10 days left until the second season!

So exhausted, he could barely keep his eyes open, was Jinshi lying in his bed at night and staring at the ceiling with an empty gaze in his eyes. Slowly caressing the slightly disheveled hair of the apothecary, who was resting in his arms with her head on his shoulder and sleeping deeply and peacefully.

Perceiving the pleasant weight of her warm body on his.

A heavenly feeling, indeed. Yet still mixed with a hint of hell.

After a while, he let out a deep sigh as it became clear to him that he just couldn't stop thinking about what had happened during the last few hours. Yes, she was luckily alright now, but the last traces of his worry for her still refused to leave his mind for good...

***

But let's turn back time and see what had been going on about four hours ago...

One late evening, the calm and serene atmosphere reigning in the residence of a certain young noble got interrupted by quiet, pained groans coming from one of its rooms. Moonlight was faintly entering through the window and shining onto the young woman, who was lying curled up on her bed and holding her stomach with both hands.

Maomao's breathing and heartbeat were accelerated, while she was doing everything in her power to endure the quite intense pain and cramps she was feeling, but at the same time, her lips were still adorned by a blissful smile, as though she was enjoying it a lot.

Which... was not too far off from the truth, actually.

She raised one of her still slightly trembling hands and looked at it with sparkling eyes, while cold sweat was dripping down her face and soaking the blanket under her.

Oh, what a poison that was! Worth every stomachache in the world! Especially after all that time without her being able to have any at all, due to Jinshi watching over her like a hawk.

She had stumbled upon that poisonous plant, that she had never tested before, purely by chance, during an errand the chief lady-in-waiting Suiren had sent her on, and couldn't resist plucking a few of its leaves and hiding them in her sleeves. Yes, just a few leaves, since, despite everything, it was naturally not her intention to kill herself with it.

And in the evening, when all her tasks were finally finished, she had retreated to her room in order to leap into action... in the name of science!

The memory alone made Maomao's smile even bigger, and a giggle escaped her lips.

"Haha! Ouch! Haha! Ow!"

Seeing and hearing her like that, one could certainly assume that she had lost her mind.

"Damn, but this does really hurt, even with me not being sensitive to pain. Oh well, then I'll just sleep it off. If I manage to fall asleep tonight at all, that is."

After having eaten the plant leaves, she had enjoyed the tingling in her mouth for a while, then swallowed an emetic, that had made her almost puke her guts out, and taken a painkiller, but the latter wasn't showing any effect yet. Well, as it seemed, a tiny bit of that poison still remained in her system, despite everything.

"Interesting!" she thought, analyzing her symptoms. "I have to memorize this. Perhaps this information could be useful one day."

Still retching a bit and curling up even tighter into a ball, Maomao was grinning into the darkness.