ORIGINAL STORY BY NATSU HYUUGA
THIS STORY IS A FICION, AND ALL NAMES OF FIGURES ND ORGANIZATIONS ARE FICTITIOUS.
MOREOVER, THE STORY HAS NO RELATION TO REAL-LIFE INCIDENTS AND EVENTS.
-Are you serious? -Of course.
Maomao came back, so now's our chance, right?
All done. Unlike the rear palace,
there are no good medicinal herbs in the outer palace.
I have to keep growing more bit by bit.
Xiaomao.
Didn't I ask you to clean the office?
Right away, ma'am!
Go easy on the gardening, alright?
She's a tough opponent.
-What does this mean? -I don't know…
CRYSTAL PAVILION, LIHUA JADE PAVILION, GYOKUYOU
Excuse me, sir.
You know about the new Pure Concubine in the Garnet Pavilion, yes?
Yes…
The successor for Concubine Ah-Duo, who left?
The rear palace wants to educate this new concubine.
They want you to be the instructor.
INSTRUCTOR - MAOMAO
You must be joking.
Why would I make such a joke?
Here's the name of the person who recommended you.
Recommended me?
THE PRECIOUS CONCUBINE: GYOKUYOU
And there's another one.
THE WISE CONCUBINE: LIHUA
Lady Lihua…
It must be that…
So, I'm counting on you.
I can't ignore the request of two concubines…
They even listed how much I would get paid.
Grams really ripped them off, huh?
Now's the chance…
Are these teaching supplies you'll use for your lessons?
Yes. And here's the bill.
Just this?
The color of the ink is different here.
She's really tough!
With her around, I can't be ripping off Young Master.
What's inside?
I can't have him seeing my precious teaching supplies!
Hiss!
Fine, I won't look.
Should I help you carry these?
No thank you.
If I have to do this, I'll go all in!
It's been a while being in this environment.
The feminine atmosphere calms me.
-It's Sir Jinshi! -He's as beautiful as always.
There are a lot of spectators today.
They probably heard rumors about the lessons.
Listen up.
The classes are only open to high-ranking concubines.
If that's not you, step back.
Is this eunuch some kind of supernatural figure?
You mustn't!
Why?
You said yourself that the lessons are for high-ranking concubines only.
But…
He's stronger than he looks!
Beyond this point is a top-confidential secret art only for women!
Lady Gyokuyou is as beautiful as ever.
Looks like Ms. Hongniang is doing well, too.
Lady Lishu seems to be nervous.
Well, it can't be helped, with three other high-ranking concubines here.
As long as the food taster attendant is there, she should be alright.
Lady Lihua, too.
Her rich figure has returned, and she seems to be doing well.
That attendant is from the face powder incident…
She doesn't need to be that scared!
Finally, the successor to Concubine Ah-Duo.
The new Pure Concubine, Concubine Loulan.
Does she prefer those southern-style flashy clothes?
Her facial features seem more northern,
but I can't really tell…
Based on her age, the Emperor will probably visit her at night.
Looks like the rear palace's balance will be maintained for now, but…
Whatever. That's not my business.
I'll be your instructor for today.
My name is Maomao.
What I'll be teaching you today
is a secret art to be used in the garden of women.
Please keep it confidential.
Now, I'll hand out the teaching supplies.
What do you think is going on?
I can't tell…
All done… Huh?
Good work. You took a while.
He must've been eavesdropping.
What's going on?
What happened here?
You gotta change things up, you know?
Touch this like this…
I can't. I can't do it.
Lady Lishu!
I just gave my lesson, like you asked.
Looks like the two recommenders were satisfied with my lesson.
I couldn't tell what she was thinking to the very end.
Use that any way you'd like.
What kind of lesson was it?
You can ask the Emperor for his opinion later.
Hey!
I'm so tired…
I'm so excited to get paid!
This way!
I'd better not. So cold!
Sir Lakan? Sir Lakan!
Sir Lakan, I looked all over for you!
Does something bother you?
No. It's nothing.
What was the commotion last night?
He's a eunuch, but he also has work
for the outer palace, too?
Seems like he can't ignore proposed laws, no matter how silly they are.
It's good paper. Selling it would make some money.
What a waste to burn these.
The garbage incinerator is near the military base…
Xiaomao.
It's cold outside.
Thank you, sir.
He's watchful, as always. What a waste that he's just a eunuch.
This is from Sir Jinshi!
I merely handed it to you!
I see.
He even needs permission to hand over one padded gown to a maid?
Must be tough.
Thank you, Sir Jinshi.
Don't worry about it.
The outer palace is several times bigger than the rear palace,
but I can't find many medicinal herbs.
Looks like the only usable herbs are dandelions and mugworts,
which I can find anywhere…
It's winter, so plants are hard to find, but still…
I should plant some seeds around here.
Red spider lily!
Here, and here!
The bulbs taste so good when you soak them in water!
If you mess up removing the poison,
you'll suffer from a stomach ache, but…
Sir Lihaku? His ribbon is a different color than before…
Did he get promoted?
Oh, hey, miss!
Sir Lihaku.
Are you here with a concubine?
It must be unusual, leaving the rear palace.
He doesn't know I was fired?
This is Sir Lihaku. He's in love with Big Sis Pairin, one of the
Three Princesses of the Verdigris House.
He's a loveable idiot,
trying to get promoted for a woman.
To call for Big Sis Pairin,
you need about half a year worth of salary for the common man.
She's too expensive to call upon frequently.
I hear he comes to the Verdigris House often to have tea with apprentice girls.
But he never ran into her.
Now that he tasted the heavenly syrup,
he visits frequently to get at least one look at her.
He's a hard worker, huh?
-Huh? What's wrong? -Nothing.
I don't work in the rear palace anymore.
I work as an assigned live-in servant for someone.
An assigned servant? That person has some strange taste!
I agree with you.
You must be on some business.
Yeah, that's right.
It's a small fire. Not rare at this time of year.
They don't know the source, so I'm here to investigate.
A mysterious fire, huh?
The commotion last night must be from this.
Anyone injured?
Just the warehouse guard. His life isn't in danger…
Hey, don't get too close.
Got it!
He tells me all that,
and then he tells me not to get involved?
The coal reached all the way to the next room.
The debris scattered all around the building.
This isn't a fire. It's an explosion.
I see.
So they suspect it might be arson, huh?
Now I know why Sir Lihaku, and not just some
lowly official, is here to investigate.
If it's just some warehouse, they may not care.
But this happened in the Emperor's Court.
This country is relatively peaceful,
but not everyone is satisfied with the current state of things.
Foreign troops sometimes attack us,
and there have been some famines and droughts.
We don't know for how long peace with other nations will continue.
There must be foreign countries dissatisfied with the status quo.
Is this charcoal? No, it's a burnt potato. How wasteful.
This must be a food storage space, then.
Is this ivory work? Looks like a pipe.
Don't just wander around!
A smoking pipe…
Explosion, food storage warehouse,
a smoking pipe…
Oh…
Hey!
Are you listening?
I can hear you.
But not listening.
Was the burned warehouse arranged like this room?
Yeah. Looks like the old stuff goes in the back.
Can I have this?
That's probably fine.
Also this. And I'd need a hammer, a saw,
and some nails.
What are you planning on doing?
Just a little experiment.
All set.
You're weirdly good at this.
I grew up a peasant. I'm good at making things we don't have.
That's flour, right?
Yes. It was in the storage.
Is this good?
And the kindling coal I asked for?
-It's right here. -Thank you, sir.
What the heck is going on?
We're all ready to go. It's dangerous, so please step back.
Oh, alright.
Be careful, Sir Lihaku.
What's so dangerous?
No matter what you do, miss, I'm a soldier. I'll be fine.
Fine. Do what you'd like.
It's dangerous, so be careful.
Run away quickly, alright?
What? What do you mean, run?
Erase it right now!
Didn't I tell you?
So, what did what to cause an explosion?
This is the cause.
Flour?
Yes. Powder like flour and buckwheat is highly flammable,
and when it scatters in the air, it can catch fire.
And this started the fire.
A smoking pipe?
If you sneak inside for a smoke,
the outside air flows inside, causing the flour to scatter.
If you light the smoking pipe in that environment…
The flour that filled the entire warehouse will ignite,
causing an explosion.
You should tell the guards not to smoke inside the warehouse.
How did you even know that?
I've accidentally blown up a room I was renting in the Verdigris House.
You…
You stupid girl!
Grams was so scary then…
But it's strange to think
that powder can explode.
There are very few strange things in this world.
If you think it's strange, it just means you didn't know.
Be careful not to catch a cold.
If you do, Luomen's medicines in the pleasure district will work well.
Old Man is bad at selling.
I have to contribute sometimes.
He can stop by when he visits Big Sis Pairin.
-I'll be going back to work, then. -Okay.
I brought this by accident.
If I clean this up and add a new mouthpiece, would it work?
It could sell for a good amount of money.
This is too nice for a warehouse guard to own.
Maybe it's something precious.
I should polish this and return it to him.
Shit!
I can do it too… Shit…
PREVIEW OF NEXT EPISODE
Next episode, "Raw Fish."
Subtitle translation by: Yukimi Ohashi im.