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Ning was insanely beautiful. When the Chinese woman was just brought to the palace, many people almost dropped their skates from holding their breath. Extraordinary beauty, facial features were so attractive that many court ladies were jealous of how Ning looked. Her thick raven-wing hair was blowing in the wind, and then one of the gentlemen came up to her, looking her up and down, and then gave her a bag of gold, explaining that she wanted to take Ning to herself as one of the geisha of her house.
The representatives of geisha were all from representative families: the best daughters of the best influential parents, the first beauties of their native corners, as well as girls with excellent behavior and a good track record.
Ning was not included in any of these lists, but her beauty overshadowed everything, because even being in the house of geisha, she still stood out from the others.
She was envied, hated, but also loved and idolized by many of the highest Japanese society. She was asked a large number of times to appear at routs, dinners, where Ning excellently showed the tea ceremony, her manners and presented her natural resources so that no one in the house could recover after her visit — they were so amazed and fascinated.
But too active activity sometimes led to the fact that the health of geisha was undermined, and had to lie down in the chambers or visit healers.
Madame, who took Ning to her, advised me to turn to the latter.
"Do not lie flat, I do not know what to do with your illness. My people will come. They will help you reach the healer and come back if necessary".
Madame's voice was even and calm. Ning agreed, nodding her head, and then turned it to the side to exhale heavily. It was necessary to get out of bed and start packing, because soon they were going to come for the Chinese woman.
Not to say that she dressed slowly, but it seemed to her that time dragged on for so long that a whole hour had passed since that conversation with Madame. Two young men were standing on the threshold, they introduced themselves to the girl, and only then all three went to the healer.
His house was not so far away — had to go to the end of the street and turn right. The second monastery belonged to the healer. On the way, the young men were silent, and Ning was thirsty and held on to her lower abdomen. A slight grimace of pain was reflected on her young face, and she dreamed of being in someone else's house to lie down again.
When they finally got inside, they heard another female voice from the next room. "Have a seat, I'll be right there. I ask everyone to leave the premises and stay outside".
So Ning was left alone.
A girl who looked ten years older than Ning herself came out to meet her a little later. She introduced herself as Minjeong and began to look around the Chinese woman to find out what was going on.
"What are your complaints?"
"The lower abdomen hurts a lot. I constantly want to lie, there is a weakness".
Minjeong chuckled. She roughly understood what the geisha was talking about.
"Is the bleeding severe?" the question seemed to be simple, but he put Ning in such a dead end that the youngest did not know what to say to her. She just asked again.
"B-blood..?"
Kim smiled softly. "Ah, you have the very beginning. I can tell you that you are completely healthy, just became a girl in the full sense of the word".
Minjeong brought some linen scraps — either it was another fabric, or it seemed to Ning that they were made of linen — and handed them to the youngest. "Go to the bathroom, see if you're okay and there's so much blood. If there is one, then put them on", pointing to the scraps. "I'll make you some soothing herbal concoctions in the meantime to numb the pain a little.
The girl left in the direction indicated for her, while the healer conjured with the preparation of decoctions and tinctures.
Ning returned quickly and lay down again, waiting for what Kim would tell her.
"I'll tell your people to go home. You need peace, you'll lie down and stay with me for now. Until you feel better".
"Will you take care of me?" The geisha's voice was so enveloping, causing Minjeong to immediately turn around and smile softly at him.
"Such a beauty is a pleasure to take care of", she murmured.
"It's nice to take treatment and decoctions from such a beauty", Ning was not at a loss, forcing someone else's cheeks to blush again after a long break.
Min advised Ning a lot; they spent pleasant evenings together, flirted an awful lot and realized that they were starting to get attached to each other. Ning promised to visit the healer after she was at home again, and Minjeong promised that she would be present at every Ning's appearance, wanting to see the geisha's tea ceremony and her cute walk and presentation of herself.
And both did not lie in their promises.
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