Chapter Text
It was morning in Jinshi’s estate, the sun only just starting to rise over the horizon. Maomao carried Jinshi’s set of robes for the day into his room, taking note of the piles of paperwork that lay half-hazardly around the room.
That man is going to drop dead from sheer overwork sooner or later.
Before she worked for him, she never realised just how much work was foisted on him. He was always in the rear palace, always seemingly able to find her. But now he was spending more and more time in the outer courts. She couldn’t help but wonder why that was.
She placed his clothes down on a nearby table, turning to bow her head to him as he ate breakfast. The sight of him was near sin inducing. It wasn’t difficult to understand why he had so much trouble retaining staff. She wondered if he was aware of how he was acting, or if it was so ingrained in him that it was second nature.
Surely he should know that such tricks wouldn’t work on her. So why would he act so… nauseating in his own home?
“Xiaomao…” the sound of Suiren’s voice cut through the silence, the only other noise was Jinshi’s utensils. What was it now? Had she caught her staring again? Hopefully she won't get another scolding.
She inclined her head, “yes, Lady Suiren?”
“Would you be able to help the young master finish getting ready? There are some last minute tasks I need to complete.”
The smile on the older woman’s face was unsettling to say the least. Was this some kind of test to see if Maomao was like those other women? The ones that would sneak things into Jinshi’s room.
Either way, she did not want to be stuck in a room alone with him. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him of course. In fact, she figured she had to have trusted him to some degree since she let him buy her out.
And she had been alone with him before in the rear palace. But helping him get dressed? Well let’s just say she was a bit sick of Jinshi insisting on help getting dressed. I mean, what kind of grown man couldn’t dress himself?
She looked over to Jinshi, who seemed to have begun listening in to their conversation, though for the life of her, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Though, she was sure he’d prefer Suiren to her, a girl who until a month ago, had been living in the rear palace.
“If you would prefer Lady Suiren, I could complete those tasks for you, while you help Master Jinshi?” she folded her hands into her sleeves. It was rather chilly this morning.
Suiren only waved her hands, chuckling slightly “nonsense, I insist. Besides, it will be a good chance for you to learn just what goes into getting the young master ready.”
She sighed, that woman was scary when she was mad, and Maomao didn’t really want to feel her wrath this early in the morning.
“Very well.”
She clapped her hands together “perfect! Well I will be just outside, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call.” Then she took off, closing the door behind her.
The sudden silence felt strange, but with one more sigh, she turned back to face Jinshi, hoping he had finished his breakfast by now.
He came into view, and she was surprised to see him staring at her. Not even just in her direction, but right at her, into her eyes. She suppressed a shiver.
“Should we get you ready, sir?”
It was the only thing she could say without sounding grossed out.
“Yes, let’s.” Jinshi spoke to her for the first time that morning, but his voice sounded almost… strained.
He stood up, moving to the screen in the corner of the room, and Maomao handed him his inner robes. Though she hadn’t done this before, she understood the basics.
Jinshi would dress himself in the bare minimum, his trousers. Then she would need to help with the rest. Both the top half, and his outer robes.
He changed quickly, stepping out holding his night clothes, and she took them, placing them to the side to be dealt with later.
She placed his shirt around him. The top half of his body was impressive to say the least. No one would guess a goddess would have muscles like a seasoned warrior.
They felt hard underneath her fingers as she started on the ties of his shirt, and she could have sworn she heard his breath hitch.
“Are you cold, sir?”
“No.”
“Then stand still.”
His body became even more rigid than he already was, as if he couldn’t move. His breathing was too quiet in the already quiet room. She continued tying the layers together, more deliberately this time. As she moved closer to get a better reach she couldn’t help but feel the warmth radiating off of him. It felt… nice, especially with how cold it was. The smell of sandalwood, the incense he used, didn’t escape her either.
“So,” he started, his voice very casual, “what are your plans for today?”
She rolled her eyes as she started on the last tie. “Respectfully sir, I’ll be attending to your estate.” Her knuckles grazed his collarbone, “Once Lady Suiren returns, she’ll assign me-”
“Apothecary?”
She paused, “yes?”
“You’re pulling that too tight.”
She blinked, looking down, “no I’m not.”
“You are.”
“You’re imagining things, sir.”
“Right.” he exhaled sharply
She finished on the ties, moving to place his outer robe over his shoulders, then gestured to his empty seat. It was unfortunately time to comb his hair.
His hair was always silky smooth, how was it that she would wake up with her hair in a dozen knots and he would wake up looking like this? It wasn’t fair.
Even so, you’d think he would be able to at least brush his hair himself.
“What was that?” his voice cut through.
“What was what, sir.”
His eyebrow’s creased “That thing you just said! Something about me and getting dressed.”
Shit, had she said that out loud?
“U-um it was nothing sir. You must be imagining things, again.”
“Are you saying I hallucinated you speaking, apothecary?”
She cringed, it seemed that he was in a bad mood today “perish the thought, sir.”
He threw his arms up into the air, she could tell he was starting to get exasperated
“Then what did you say?” He paused, turning to face her, halting her brush strokes through his hair, “and don’t lie to me apothecary.”
She let out a loud sigh. She still wasn’t sure if he was the type of master to punish her for speaking out of turn. He had never done so before, but then again, she hadn’t been working directly for him for long.
“I said,” she began uneasy, “that you should be able to brush your hair yourself.”
She waited for him to yell, but he just turned to face her fully, pouting. What was he, a child? “I can brush my own hair.”
So he wasn’t mad at her. Yet.
“Respectfully , sir, you can’t. Or else I wouldn't be brushing your hair for you.” So maybe that was a little uncalled for. But it was true.
“I can do a lot of things myself… I just don’t want to.” he said that last part quieter, as if saying it out loud made him realise just how ridiculous he was being.
The glare she gave told him everything he needed to know. “You still don’t believe me do you?”
“Not particularly, sir, no.”
She tried to return to combing his hair, but he just stood up, still facing her. Her glare only increased. Why was he being so difficult today?
“I can do everything you can do and more!”
Her gaze remained passive, all he had to do was admit he couldn’t dress himself, but insisted on getting worked up.
“Really sir, so you’re saying you could do everything a servant does?”
He paused for a second, and she swore she could see a sparkle in his eyes. She could only hope whatever he was thinking wouldn’t get her into trouble with Suiren.
“You’re right.” he began after a moment, “I can do whatever a servant can do. I’ll even prove it to you.”
What was he talking about?
His eyes returned to her, trailing her figure up and down “say apothecary, let’s swap places.”
She froze, what else could she do when he had just said something so ridiculous. She opened her mouth to refute him, but nothing came out. Instead she landed on “what do you mean, sir.”
His eyes became serious, and he leaned slightly lower, closer to her height. “I mean exactly what I said, apothecary. I’ll be your servant, and you can be my Lady.”
She shook her head rapidly, who did this man think he was “That is an absolutely terrible idea, sir. What would Lady Suiren and Master Gaoshun say? They would have my head!”
He just stared at her, a smile creeping onto his face, this was bad.
“And, and what about your work? You can’t just abandon it! And I definitely can’t do it.” She was trying desperately to come up with an excuse, her mouth working overtime. But he just kept staring at her.
“Don’t worry, apothecary. I’m sure Suiren and Gaoshun will understand. Besides,” he ran his fingers through his hair, “I have a rare day off tomorrow, which means so do you.” He tapped her on the head.
She stood there, her mouth agape, as he went to leave the room, before pausing briefly at the door.
“Thank you for helping me get ready, apothecary.”
It wasn’t until she saw Suiren again, that she realised exactly how bad this was “Xiaomao…”
“Ah, yes?”
“Master Jinshi seems to be in a rather good mood this morning, did you say something to him?”
“Who, me?” she gestured to herself, “No of course not.”
Suiren simply nodded, but Maomao didn’t miss the way the corners of her mouth tilted up as she turned back around to finish polishing the plates.
~ * ~
The sun cascaded through the window, and Maomao couldn’t help but groan as she stuffed her head further into the pillow.
She wasn’t a late sleeper, but she also wasn’t an early sleeper. She had made the mistake during her first morning here to get up rather early, and she had been held to that standard ever since.
Her curtains did little to hide the sun, and it would only be a matter of time before she couldn’t take it anymore. But until then, she decided to savour the little time she got in her bed. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, no servant’s bed was. But after sleeping on a mat for most of her life, well it was at least nicer than that.
She wondered what kinds of chores she would be doing today. It was always a surprise for her. Sometimes she spent her days attending to Master Jinshi in his office, other times she helped Suiren clean the estate. How that woman had survived on her own was beyond Maomao.
Well, that’s enough sleeping in, time to get up.
She sat up, the sheets dropping from around her chest, leaving her exposed to the cool air. She shivered slightly, as she rubbed her eyes, trying to expel the sleep.
A knock sounded lightly at her door, it made her jump. Who could that be? Maybe Suiren, or even Gaoshun. Were they here to yell at Maomao for sleeping in? She hoped not.
She let out a rather tired “come in” as she continued trying to wake herself up, willing the sleep to leave her body.
The door opened softly, and a tall man entered. So it was Gaoshun.
“Good morning, My Lady.” That wasn’t Gaoshun…
“Master Jinshi? What are you doing in my room?” she took in his state “Why are you already dressed, and why did you call me that?”
Jinshi chuckled, “you mean you don’t remember our agreement?”
She paused, their agreement? What agreement was… oh. He had been serious. Well this wasn’t good.
“No…”
He crouched softly beside where she had laid back down, resting his chin in his hand.
“That hurts, My Lady. I thought it was quite memorable.”
She turned away from him, dragging the blanket back over her head. “Then I’ll choose to forget again.”
There was a pause, then the blanket was gently, but firmly pulled away.
She clung to it for a moment, it was like a tug of war, before he won as it slipped from her grasp.
“Give it back.”
“No.”
She tried again, “give it back.”
“It’s time to wake up.”
She glared up at him, her eyes still half lidded from sleep, “you’re insufferable.”
“And yet,” he smiled, “you’re still in bed.”
She sat up quickly, the sudden motion caused her to sway, a light dizziness coming over her. JInshi’s hand reached out instinctively, bracing her by the shoulder.
They both froze, as she looked over to glare at him. “Remove your hand, please.” though it sounded rather strained.
“R-right.”
She took a few calming breaths. “I thought it was a jest, sir. I didn’t realise you actually wanted to prove me wrong so badly that you would submit to acting as a servant?”
“Oh I was very serious.”
“Do you realise how improper this would be, sir.” She may have been speaking to him rather rudely, but it was his fault for barging into her room so early in the morning.
He huffed loudly. “I know exactly what it looks like. And would you stop calling me sir. I’m not your master today, remember.”
She groaned. Loudly.
He only smiled wider, “I’ve had a bath prepared for you. Then you can have breakfast and get dressed.”
A bath actually sounded rather nice. Even if the water was cold, it would be nicer than a bucket and a rag.
“Thank you.” she said softly, refusing to make eye contact with the man. This was such a bad idea on so many levels. She could only imagine how Suiren would react when she found out.
She started making her way over to the servants' wing, her mind getting more and more excited at the idea of taking a bath, when a pair of strong hands landed on her shoulders, stopping her.
“Where are you going?”
She turned to face him, tilting her head in confusion. “To the bath, I thought you just said you had it prepared.”
He laughed lightly, and her expression only turned more confused. “Today, you’re the Lady of the house. You won’t be taking a bath in the servants’ wing.”
Her eyes widened, surely he wasn’t being serious.
“You can’t be serious. I can’t bathe in your bath!”
“Well you can’t bathe in the servants’ baths either.”
“Yeah, well then I won’t have a bath. I’m not sure why you’re taking this so seriously anyway.”
He pouted as she crossed her arms.
“Stop being ridiculous. I’m just trying to show you I'm more capable than you think.”
“By forcing me to take a bath in your bath.”
He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “okay, so when you put it like that it sounds weird. But you have to see my vision!”
She exhaled out her nose “fine, lets get this over with.”
It was far too early in the morning to be arguing, and frankly, he was still her master. She couldn’t exactly disobey him. Hopefully Suiren was still sleeping.
His smile was far too giddy as he led them away.
The bath was still steaming when they arrived. Oils and scrubs lay around to be used. She had only ever been here a few times, usually just to clean after Jinshi was finished with his bath.
“I left a robe for you to put on when you’re finished. Then you can get dressed after you're done with breakfast. Feel free to use anything here. It’s yours for today.
He left quickly after that, leaving Maomao alone in the hot room. She could only shrug, there was no point in wasting a perfectly good bath. Even if this perfectly good bath could cause her head to part with her neck.
The water felt soothing on her skin, and she felt her joints relax the longer she sat there.
She could help but wonder about this behaviour. Jinshis acted strange before, she knew that long before she began working for him, but for him to act like this, she wondered why?
Was this seriously only about her comment? She couldn’t see why something she had muttered had caused him to change so drastically. Did he really value her opinion to the point of needing to change it?
If he really insisted on acting as her servant for the day, she could only imagine how awkward everything would be. Though, perhaps it wasn’t all lost. If he was her servant, he couldn’t tell her off! She could use this time to do some drug experiments!
Ever since she had started working for him he had been weirdly annoying about her experimenting on herself.
The bath was quick, Maomao not one to spend too long sitting in the water. As she dressed herself in the robe, she couldn’t help but notice the quality of the silk, and it was seemingly just her size. Strange.
After she finished, she tried to find Jinshi. Eventually she found him in his room. A tray of food sat on his low table as he stood before it, and there beside him was Suiren.
She gulped as the older woman turned to her. “Oh! Xiaomao, how good it is to see you.” she gestured to the tray of food “Your breakfast is ready.”
So she was in on this too then. How did Jinshi manage that?
She walked over to the seat slowly, as if at any moment they would tell her this was all an elaborate prank.
The food smelled delicious, no doubt Suiren’s cooking. Usually she would be given the leftovers once Jinshi had eaten but it seemed this dish had been cooked especially for her.
She reached for a savoury bun, her favourite, but her hand was quickly batted away. She looked up scowling.
“I have to test your food for poison first, My Lady.
She raised an eyebrow. “You can’t be serious, this is Suiren’s cooking is it not. There won’t be any poison.”
“I insist.”
She sighed, leaning back in the chair as he took the first bite, humming as he did so. How annoying.
Then a knock sounded at the door, and Gaoshun walked in. Good perhaps he would talk some sense into his master.
He greeted Jinshi before bowing to her, “My Lady.”
She groaned loudly, “you too, Gaoshun? Just how elaborate is this joke?”
The poor man was about to open his mouth, no doubt to spew some nonsense Jinshi had told him, before he was interrupted.
“There’s no poison,” he said rather happily, “please eat My Lady before it gets cold. Or if you prefer, I can feed you myself?”
She scowled, grabbing the bun she had been eyeing earlier, biting into it. Jinshi just smiled as he stood up.
She had to admit, it felt rather weird. The three of them all stood up around her, as she sat down on the comfy chair. As if she were the most important person in the room.
“So, Gaoshun…” Jinshi drawled “what’s on the schedule today?”
Maomao eyed them as she ate.
Nothing, because we all have the day of thanks to you.
“Well Jinshi,” god that felt weird, “there are a few meetings our Lady must attend and she should make her rounds in the rear palace, but after that she is free for the rest of the day.”
She almost choked “I’m sorry, what?”
Jinshi looked over to her, smirking, “well I assumed that if we are to see if I can do all of your daily tasks, then it is only fair if we see if you can do all of my tasks.”
Great! So she was being evaluated here too! Well she wasn’t going to let him win! She was going to be a far better manager of the rear palace than he was. At least she wouldn’t flirt with everyone in her path.
All she could do was glare as she continued eating. Suiren whispered something to Jinshi, causing them both to leave the room. Maomao was left alone with Gaoshun, a good chance to speak to him alone.
She looked up wearily “Master Gaoshun, why is he doing this?”
The man sighed, she felt sorry for him, “he seems to want to prove you wrong, that he is more capable than you give him credit for.” he paused, “but I believe there are other reasons as well.”
“Like what?”
“He seems to enjoy trying the simple life, away from all of his paperwork. There are other reasons as well, but that is all I can tell you. Please humour him Xiaomao, it is only one day.”
She sighed, he was right, it was only one day. Surely she could put up with his nonsense for one day.
As she finished eating, Jinshi returned. He was carrying some sort of garment, Suiren, right behind him. Gaoshun excused himself, leaving rather quickly.
“What is that?”
“Your clothes for the day. I know there a little different than what you normally wear,”
“A little is an understatement.”
He continued, “but if you will be acting as the lady of the house you must dress the part.”
She sighed, she’s been doing that a lot lately, as she grabbed the dress and moved behind the changing screen. Unlike him, she could actually dress herself.
The dress was nice, but impractical. The soft greens and silvers layered perfectly, giving off the impression that she was far more important than she really was.
It was obvious she was copying his usual routine, which meant that next was hair. She shuddered at the thought of him combing her hair. She liked her hair, she would prefer it if she could keep it in one piece.
Walking out, she took a seat back in the original chair, looking up at Jinshi. She couldn’t quite make out his expression. He seemed almost… unsure.
“Jinshi,” Suiren’s voice rang out, “would you like to come and comb out lady’s hair for her?”
He continued to stare at them, before letting out a breath and walking over. She smirked, this little bet of his wouldn’t last very long, not with how he was acting now.
He took the comb from Suiren, and she left the room. He hesitated, before finally bringing the comb to her hair. The first pass was so light it barely caught anything at all.
Maomao blinked. Was he… afraid of her hair? Another pass, equally useless. She let out a small, involuntary laugh. The comb paused midair.
“What’s wrong?” he muttered.
She tilted her head slightly, not enough to disrupt him, but enough to glance back. “If you continue like that, you’ll finish sometime next year.”
“I’m trying to be careful.” he grumbled
“You’re combing air.”
“…I am not.”
“You are.”
He paused. “Am I?”
She sighed. “Give it here.”
Without thinking, she reached up behind her, taking his wrist and guiding it slightly closer. “More pressure.” The moment her fingers wrapped around his wrist, he went still again.
“Like this,” she continued, oblivious to Jinshi’s strange expression. She released him and he swallowed uneasily, though she didn’t seem to notice.
“Understood.”
This time, the comb sank properly into her hair. And it got caught slightly in a knot. He froze again. This was beginning to get annoying.
“You can pull through that,” she sighed.
“But…it will hurt.”
She turned her head just enough to give him a look. “Jinshi.” It felt strange using his name without his title, but it seemed the only way for him to listen to her.
“Fine.”
He carefully worked through the knot, far slower than necessary, but when it finally gave way, his shoulders visibly relaxed.
“There,” she said. “See? Still alive.”
“For now.” What was with that ominous threat?
By the fourth pass, his movements grew more confident. His free hand came to rest lightly against her head, steadying her as he combed through the length.
His fingers brushed against her hair more often now. It was soft. Warmer than he expected. Maomao, meanwhile, felt herself sinking further into the seat despite herself.
This was… nice. Annoyingly nice. She was sure she had gotten enough sleep, so why did she suddenly feel so tired.
Her eyelids drooped.
The steady rhythm, the gentle pressure, it was dangerously close to lulling her to sleep.
Her head tipped slightly.
His hand adjusted instinctively, supporting her without thinking.
“Don’t fall asleep,” he murmured.
“I’m not,” she mumbled, already half gone.
“You are.”
“Am not.”
“You just stopped responding.”
“Thinking.” she half mumbled, it was getting harder to stay awake.
“You just snored.”
“I did not-”
She jolted slightly as the comb snagged again.
“You did that on purpose.” she grumbled, but it was half-hearted.
“I did not.”
“You absolutely did.”
“Maybe.” She could hear the smile in his voice.
After a moment, he reached for something. A hairstick.
His fingers hesitated briefly before sliding it into place, securing her hair. She was surprised he knew how to do such hairstyles, especially if he was afraid to comb hair, but it held in place.
“I hope you don’t mind,” he said quietly. “I found it in your room.”
She reached up, touching it. The one he had given to her at the garden party. Interesting.
“It’s fine,” she said. “I forgot I had it.”
She couldn’t help but notice he seemed to deflate at her words. “I see.”
Well if she was going to be forced into this, she was going to do it right. She turned to him.
“What’s first on the agenda, Jinshi?”
He smiled, though it wasn’t honeyed like all the others.
“Well My Lady, there is a meeting with a bureaucrat we need you to attend.”