Chapter Text
Letting out a soft sigh of irritation, Maomao placed a hand on her neck and rubbed the place where she had unexpectedly been bitten that day. The pain was long gone, yet the feeling under her fingertips told her that the culprit's teeth had left marks on her skin that must still be plenty visible.
"Geez, he didn't have to bite me THAT hard..."
She had to be careful to not let anybody see them since she was nowhere in the mood to answer unpleasant questions, still remembering the teasing from her sisters after the banquet where she had agreed to be bought out.
Oh, how bothersome...
Maomao frowned and shot a glare at Jinshi who was now sleeping soundly as if nothing had happened, having chosen her lap of all places as his pillow for some reason.
"Damn, my legs are already going numb," she muttered and raised a hand to shake him awake and ask him to rather find himself a real bed for his nap. But then she hesitated and put her hand carefully on his head instead, remembering how exhausted he had looked. "Oh, well, whatever..."
Another sigh escaped her lips, this time one of resignation. Very well, if he was already sleeping that peacefully, then she would let him sleep a bit longer at this point. Her fingers combed through his hair that was as soft as always, and a little smile appeared on Jinshi's face as if he was feeling that gentle caress in his dream.
Maomao frowned even more at that, but still continued stroking his hair for about ten minutes before she finally stopped and reached for her mortar and pestle instead to keep crushing her herbs that were inside the former. She did have to use that time somehow, after all, didn't she?
While she was working, her gaze unconsciously fell on the scar on Jinshi's cheek. Her eyes narrowed a bit.
"I really believed I would never see him again... But here he is, appearing at the pleasure district out of the blue, biting me and then just falling asleep on my lap... I don't get at all what is going on in this man's head," she grumbled in her thoughts, however still didn't make a single move to even try to free herself out of that awkward position. "But... I have to admit that I am glad to see that, other than his exhaustion, he is doing well. Back at that fortress, I had no way of knowing..."
A few minutes later, the herbs were already finely crushed, and Maomao found herself with nothing to do yet again. She did have other herbs that were in need of being grinded as well, but they were currently out of her reach, no matter how much she stretched. Hah... just how long was Jinshi intending to sleep on top of her anyway?
The apothecary absent-mindedly reached for a few strands of his hair and started to tie them into a thin braid. Jinshi's sleep remained deep. She thought back of her time at the Shi-fortress.
"Come to think of it, that was actually the longest time we have been apart since the first time we met, wasn't it?" It suddenly occurred to her. "As it seems, I'll never be able to work at the Imperial Palace again, especially the Inner Court... but even if I hadn't been kidnapped, I would eventually have to leave the Inner Palace anyway, with Consort Gyokuyou becoming Empress and all..."
She absolutely couldn't imagine herself serving the Empress of the Nation, but despite everything, she was genuinely glad that the lady had given birth to a healthy child. That was all thanks to her father...
Her thoughts of the future Empress brought vivid images to her inner eye, the faces of all the people she would most likely never see again. She hadn't even gotten the chance to properly say goodbye to them... With another sigh, she tried to get rid of the unfamiliar heaviness in her heart that had appeared together with those images. It didn't work.
"And now that I have also found out who Master Jinshi really is, that only confirms the fact that we were living in completely different worlds all along... much too different for them to keep crossing..."
For some reason, that thought made her heart feel even heavier and herself more irritated than before.
"The Emperor's Younger Brother, huh... I should have known. No, I have actually already guessed that it would be something like that, to be honest. After all, who, apart from a direct relative of the Emperor, might have managed to work at the Inner Palace as a not castrated man for so long without being caught and punished? Then I wonder why he hid his identity and pretended to be a eunuch in the first place... What benefits would he get from that? No, it's fine, that's not my business. The last kidnapping was already more than enough, I don't want to get involved in some unpleasant matter yet again! No, I don't... absolutely not."
She even shook her head to emphasize that last statement. As if to convince herself that she didn't want anything to do with the Imperial Family anymore.
But despite her now more or less quiet and peaceful life, after everything that had happened, she still struggled to find her way back into her once familiar daily routine at the pleasure district. Especially with an annoying brat she now had to share her shack with and without her father by her side.
"I sure wish Pops were here... He's good with kids."
She missed the old man, imagining from time to time how he would smile at her and pat her head... But whatever. She sure hoped that he was well and that he wasn't putting too much strain on his bad leg.
Perhaps, she should ask Jinshi to check on Luomen and to deliver him a letter from her that asked him not to overexert himself while planting medicinal herbs at the Inner Palace (because she was sure that he was doing that again)... Ah, no, how could she bother a member of the Imperial Family with such a request? There was no way.
Jinshi...
She remembered having once said to him that he would always be Master Jinshi in her eyes. Well... but even if she did continue to call him that, "Master Jinshi" had actually ceased to exist. No, had never existed, in fact.
And now he was... oh. The man himself was lying right there with his head on her lap, yet she didn't even know his real name. But then again, even if she did, it wasn't as if she was allowed to use it anyway. And since she still had to call him somehow, then "Master Jinshi" it was.
Somehow, that thought brought her a tiny bit of relief. Why, she didn't know, though, since she wasn't working for him anymore, either. So why did she even care? Very soon, he would wake up and go home, while she would stay here. Of course. That much was more than logical. And still...
And still, she couldn't help feeling a bit lost... Why? She did have her own home, didn't she?...
But nothing was like it had been before. And would never be again.
That was somewhat unfair...
Her hand started to caress Jinshi's hair once more.