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.
It was around the first spring breeze
that Lady Gyokuyou’s pregnancy became a certainty.
Hi!
How mysterious. Can she tell that there’s a baby inside?
So cute!
I should start thinking about marriage…
Even if she gets proposed to, they’ll try their best to stop it.
Being too good at your job can be a problem.
When your days are busy, time passes quickly.
Although the two months I spent with Sir Jinshi felt like forever.
Do you want to draw again?
Yeah!
This is woolly milkcap. It's a poisonous mushroom.
Draw a regular flower.
A regular flower, huh?
Blue roses?
Yes. You don't know them?
The blue petals stimulate the eyes.
They're very beautiful.
They used to be decorated all around the court.
Perhaps you were dreaming.
Blue roses don’t exist.
But they do.
I’d love to enjoy them again.
What do you think? Could you pull it off?
I thought there was nothing you couldn't achieve.
I understand.
If such roses exist, I’d love to see them myself.
So it’s decided.
I'm truly looking forward to it.
Good day, sir.
I’ll see you at next month’s garden party.
You’re already so busy.
-Did you need to take this on? -Don’t talk about that.
Start by talking to flower shops around the country.
The flower shops explained that roses are out of season right now.
I’m sorry for calling upon you so suddenly.
There’s a plan to view blue roses soon.
Blue roses?
I work with medicine.
Yes, I know that.
Is he in some kind of trouble? He looks tired.
Roses, huh?
I have some knowledge, but…
I’ve worked with roses
to earn pocket money from courtesans. However…
He really said he saw blue roses?
Yes.
He didn’t use any hallucinogens?
If such a thing was common, the empire would fall apart!
Sir Jinshi.
Is it impossible?
What do I need to do exactly?
Can you have them by next month’s garden party?
Next month?
Roses don’t bloom for at least two more months.
You’re right.
I’ll tell him I can’t.
Sir Jinshi’s reaction.
This impossible task and pushy tactic…
Could it be that this request came from a certain military man?
That’s right.
All right. I accept this job.
Really?
I don’t know if I can do it, but I’ll do what I can.
I don't want to be running away from him forever.
I'd love to crack that smirking monocle of his.
Sir Jinshi.
Can I request some items from you?
Thank you for giving me permission to use these,
-Lady Lihua. -It was no trouble.
It was originally something you had made.
It brings me back.
I requested a steam bath to be made
to help Lady Lihua recover from poison.
I'll be borrowing the bath for this job,
but I would feel bad borrowing it for free.
This is the Emperor's favorite text.
Thank you. This will help.
I'm glad I had it delivered from the brothel.
-Take care of that. -Yes, sir!
Sir Jinshi.
Oh, you're here.
I had this made, like you asked. But what is it for?
I'm going to confuse the roses.
Confuse the roses?
What does that mean, Apothecary?
I'll add some sunlight
and add some steam into the shed from there.
We'll grow the roses in a warm room.
The flowers may bloom ahead of season this way.
So that's what you mean by confusing the roses.
I'm not certain this will work, though.
Maomao!
-Xiaolan? -I'll help too.
How's your injured foot?
Is he a chaperone?
They kept saying
not to push myself repeatedly.
I'm all right. Thanks for coming to help.
Not at all. It's been so long since I worked with you!
You're right.
We carried in more than 100 pots of roses.
This is the last one.
Wow, there are so many!
We got different types of roses,
and selected species that bloom earlier in the year.
You think they'll all bloom?
I hope so.
We take great care in maintaining the temperature.
A few people were sent to help us,
but it's a hard task to leave to someone else.
If you make a mistake
and all the flowers die, then everything is over.
We put the flowers out on sunny days so they can absorb sunlight.
Looks like they like the sun!
Yeah.
How is it going?
I brought some food.
Thank you.
This is great! I don't have to work, and we get snacks!
This is work too.
What's wrong?
I don't know. Maybe they're just curious.
Or, are they trying to see something scary?
What should we do next?
If there are seedlings with too many buds,
can you pluck some out?
That way, the nutrients gather in one spot making it easier to bloom
and protects it from diseases.
It's totally fine!
-Thank you so much. -Not at all!
Hurry up!
They're not budding yet.
On the days the cold returns,
we keep the shed warm all night.
The weather is unpredictable.
You didn't sleep again yesterday?
I slept at dawn.
That was only moments ago!
I'll do what I can here, so you should sleep just a little.
I should keep an eye on them.
What?
They're looking over here again.
They do this every day! Don't they get tired of it?
It's very distracting.
If only I could divert their attention…
Wow!
So these are rouge nails!
Everyone at the pleasure district does these.
They're very beautiful!
You do your nails too, Maomao?
They're so cute!
They're very trendy these days.
Yes, they are.
High-ranking concubines who receive the Emperor's affections
are the creators of fashion trends.
They're very inefficient.
Ms. Hongniang cares more about work than fashion.
I'm done with the food testing, so I'll head back to the Crystal Pavilion.
So soon?
There's not much time left until the garden party.
That's true.
That reminds me.
Lady Gyokuyou will not be attending this party.
She'll be giving up her seat so that Lady Loulan can introduce herself.
It must be to hide her pregnancy.
I understand. Goodbye.
Hey, are you all right at the Crystal pavilion?
You're getting skinnier by the day!
Don't push yourself, all right?
Thank you.
Maomao!
Maomao, come quickly!
It's budding.
I found it just now.
It's our first one!
If everything goes as planned,
maybe they'll start to bloom…
Maomao?
Any messages from the Apothecary?
No.
I haven't been able to drop by for a few days.
We were both busy preparing for the garden party.
Sir Jinshi.
That must be Sir Shishou's daughter, Concubine Loulan.
How glamorous!
For Concubine Loulan.
If she has any shortcomings,
please let us know.
-Anything at all. -Oh, dear.
-Blue roses? -Could it be?
Perhaps it'll be agreeable
to enjoy these buds and imagine what they will look like
when they bloom.
Yes. They are beautiful.
These glances that are thrown at "Jinshi."
No matter how beautiful he may be,
no official is so unselfish that they'd enjoy a young eunuch
showing off his abilities.
Lust is easy.
You can use it to your advantage.
Jealousy is easy. It's easy to manage.
What's bothersome is
when you can't read the emotion behind those eyes.
Shishou. Concubine Loulan's father,
and the man who won the empress's affection.
The emperor still owes much to him.
That's why our side continues to smile.
And right now, we have someone more concerning than Shishou.
It's that man, Lakan.
My, how disagreeable.
Are you awake?
Ms. Yinghua…
Don't go to the Crystal Pavilion anymore.
You always come back all skinny and tired.
I'm sorry.
You're awake?
I'll be going now.
Stay seated.
It was very hard.
We couldn't get them to bloom in time.
But it's not like you wanted to impress me, did you?
Huh?
It's nothing. It was more than enough.
How did you achieve this?
I just dyed them.
You dyed them? But there's nothing there.
It's not dyed on the outside.
It's dyed from the inside.
These roses were all originally white.
We used different types of colored water
and soaked the white buds in them.
So that's why there were many colors, not just blue.
Yes. The leaves get muddy and dark when they're dyed,
so we plucked them all in advance.
After that, we fixed some cotton soaked with colored water so that
the color doesn't come off during the garden party.
It's very simple.
In actuality,
The truly hard part was getting the roses to bloom in time.
Yes, it's very simple.
That's why there may be
officials who complain and make accusations.
I explained the trick to the Emperor in advance.
He seemed to enjoy knowing the secret beforehand,
and listened to me explain it with interest.
So why did he say he used to see blue roses in the court?
There must've been some bored person
soaking blue-colored water into the roses every day.
Why would they do such a thing?
Who knows?
Maybe they wanted something to flirt with women with.
I haven't seen you with dyed nails before.
It doesn't suit me.
If I had some balsam or wood sorrel, the dye would apply more evenly.
Balsam are known as "rouge nails,"
and sorrel are known as "cat's feet."
If you rub these plants together, it makes a vibrant red color for your nails..
Though a little nail dye wouldn't change this…
At least it's better than it used to be.
Sir Gaoshun, do you have the requested items?
Yes, just as you asked.
Thank you, sir.
Now, the stage is set.
All that's left is to
blow away that despicable man.
I didn't think that the challenge would end in failure.
Most humans look like Go pieces to me.
Men are the black stones, and women are the white stones.
Even the men who work for me in the military
are all just xiangqi pieces.
Most are soldiers, or pawns.
As they rise up the ranks, they become horses, or cannon.
Working in the military is quite simple.
You simply have to place the pieces where they belong.
Everyone has their roles.
That's how you win most wars.
It's not difficult at all.
Even if you are unskilled, as long as the pieces fulfill their roles,
they'll finish your job for you.
My eyes hurt more than usual.
I keep noticing red flickering around in my vision.
Rouge nails, huh?
The rouge nails I remember aren't a distasteful, flashy red.
It's a subtle red, dyed from balsam.
MINISTER - SCHOLAR
PREVIEW OF NEXT EPISODE
Next Episode, "Balsam and Wood Sorrel."
Subtitle translation by: Yukimi Ohashi