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Maomao has a bad feeling.
Someone told her the emperor himself was calling for her. It, of course, happened before, but at the time it was to ask her to take care of the high-ranking concubine, Lihua, who was terribly ill. However, this time, there wasn’t any special event that could explain her summon. So why did the emperor ask for her ?
She opened the door of the emperor’s room. It wasn’t his bedroom but more of a waiting room with a table and chairs in the center.
"Hello, Maomao, it has been a while" he has a spreading smile on his face, the one that makes you run a chill down your spine."I greet your majesty. May I know why you have summoned me ?" she asks, her head bowed behind her hands. "Of course. I want to ask you to be more careful when you’re dealing with herbs"
He knows?!
It’s strictly forbidden for a woman to even approach medicinal herbs. She knows Jinshi-sama was letting go of this law for her, but the emperor ? ‘I’m getting involved in things; that’s not good. I should keep a low profile’
"I sincerely apologize for my actions and will accept any punishment you have chosen." She doesn’t want to die, but what can she do? She’s not the one to decide—"Well, punishment won’t be necessary; after all, you have helped us greatly, me and my concubines. Plus, they seem to be really fond of you"
Huh?
"And if I would even touch as much as a strand of your hair, these two would definitely come for my throat" Maomao knows exactly who he was referring to but ignored it; it wasn’t the time to think about this.
"I’m not sure I understand, your majesty," she needed to be sure to not have misunderstood.
"You are free to touch as many medicinal herbs as you want within the palace, as long as you keep a certain level of discretion." She had understood right. "A eunuch has seen you dealing with poisonous herbs and reported it to me. I, of course, see no problem with the affair; however, it would be troublesome if the word spread through the entire palace"
This is officially the best day Maomao ever had.
"This is a big honor, your majesty. I cannot accept it unless I give you a favor in exchange" More like I don’t have a choice if I want to stay alive. He already granted me the right to practice medecine, better play it humble.
"Well, I don’t see the necessity of it, but if you insist. It would be greatly appreciated if you could give another lesson to the high-ranking concubines. Thinking of it, you should also expand it to the lower concubines. They could use your teaching"
Ah… So that’s what he wanted.
Well, Maomao is going to need to place another order to the old hag again.
"Of course, your majesty. The equipment will be ready in a few days, as they are from the Verdegris house"
"The Verdegris House ? Ah, so that is where your knowledge comes from. I was surprised by your knowledge since I was told you were living with a rather old person before coming to serve here"
"His majesty knows about the Verdegris House ?"
"I never went there myself; however, its reputation has reached my ears" Well, that’s actually not that surprising considering the popularity of the house among the high-ranked men. "Very well, you’ll be given a place in the rear palace, and all your expenses are to be on my account"
His demeanor changed; he seems happier now. Truly this man is very fond of doing it.
With this, Maomao left the room, only to find a very angry Jinshi who showered her with tons of questions.
A week later, rumor spread that the emperor was in such a good mood that even the empress dowager didn’t recognize him.
Maomao glances outside of the room at the sounds of women’s complaints and sees multiple women, who she assumed were low-ranking concubines, complaining about back pains.
Maybe she shouldn’t have given those lessons.