Work Text:
Autumn. Such peaceful times. With the beautiful brown leaves decorating the gardens. With the chill air, but not cold enough to need additional layers.
Such quiet times. The kind Maomao knew were easily broken.
With winter fast approaching, the medical office was rushing to stock up: fever, coughs, colds, and with the officers trying to prove how the cold weather was not an impediment to their soldiers, medicine to prevent infection, as cuts were to be expected, all while the officers themselves stayed near a cozy brazier.
For Maomao, however, these were great times. With all the required medicine, she was exempt from other activities, such as boiling bandages, cleaning, and whatever else was required to be done.
It was an all-the-medicine-you-can-make buffet! Could she be any happier?!
Bitter-smelling roots, tear-inducing leaves, skin-burning mushrooms! Paradise on earth!
Maomao slightly woke up from her medicine-making trance when a heavy object was placed on the desk next to her.
"It sure is nice to be inside this warm office all day, right, Maomao?" Yao sighed, with a bit of a cold glare directed at Maomao.
Her colleagues, apparently, were not as happy.
“I am preparing medicine. Doctor Li´s orders”, Maomao replied, keeping her voice flat to hide the small, involuntary smile tugging at her lips. Yao, of course, noticed.
But it could not be avoided! Medicine-making with all kinds of ingredients! At least, available ingredients. There were still some supply issues due to the locust plague.
"Well, we are back from boiling bandages," Yao continued, rubbing her hands together. "It isn't even winter yet, but the well water is already freezing."
"Lady Yao, please let me handle the washing and boiling next time," En´En politely interjected. “You can stay here with Maomao, cutting new bandages, right, Maomao?”
Maomao could only bring herself to answer a short “Sure”, while she continued with her job.
This small banter stopped when an annoying pest, looking like a walking corpse, showed up to the office.
"Nyan-Nyan... En'En... Yao..." Tianyu could barely grunt, while taking the closest chair to the door. With all those lashes after his failed role in the Emperor´s surgery, no salary, and therefore, barely any food, and no access to surgeries or dissections, Maomao was honestly impressed that we was still able to walk.
"Nyan-Nyan... do you have any painkillers?"
"I haven't gotten to those yet," Maomao said bluntly. And if Tianyu was going to be the first recipient, she would make sure to take her sweet time with the other remedies first. In fact, they may be out of some ingredients for them…
"Please, Nyan-Nyan! I'll even let you in on my next surgery!"
"The surgery that's scheduled six months from now?"
Tianyu could only squeeze out a pained sound, before slamming his head on the desk.
All was in order. All was peaceful.
But as Maomao well knew, asking for things to stay that way in this court was asking for too much.
The door swung open with a loud slam, and a chaotic force of nature burst into the office.
“Miss Maomao! Miss Maomao!”, a short woman, dressed in orange, screamed, as she waved her good arm wildly.
“Miss Chue! Miss Chue! What happened? I am busy, and this is a medical office. You cannot just barge in.” Maomao answered, still not raising her eyes from the smelly root she was working on.
Ignoring everyone else in the room, who looked a little shocked with the sudden intrusion, she squirreled her way to Maomao´s side. Leaning closer to Maomao´s ear, and in a shouted whisper, she relayed:
“We have an emergency, Miss Maomao!”
Still with her eyes glued to the workstation, Maomao could easily tell this was not a real emergency. So she answered in her typical deadpan tone. “What is the emergency, Miss Chue?”
“It´s about the Moon Prince, Miss Maomao!”
Yao´s brow raised, En´En looked slightly annoyed, and Tianyu looked a little less dead.
Maomao stopped working for a fraction of a second. “I must ensure I am not overdoing the grinding, she told herself”. Silence fell over the small room.
“And what is this emergency that is related to the Moon Prince, Miss Chue?”, Maomao answered, as she continued grinding.
“His Highness is getting too close to a young lady!”, Miss Chue answered in a voice that was much louder than necessary. Everyone in the room was clearly listening on this “secret emergency”.
Another short silence fell over the office.
And once again, Maomao continued grinding the root. Are these ingredients of the normal quality? They are softer than usual, and they are crumbling faster than they should…
“I do not believe that qualifies as an emergency, Miss Chue. It is also a subject that has absolutely nothing to do with me”, Maomao replied, continuing her work, avoiding looking at anyone in the room. She had to focus on the important task in front of her, right?
Yao and Tianyu got a little closer, full of curiosity at this reaction of Maomao. En´En got closer to her mistress. To protect her, of course. No other reason.
“His Highness and this young lady were having tea, Miss Maomao! And she even served him the tea, and he drank it without waiting for a poison tester!”, Miss Chue kept parroting, entirely too cheery for this supposed emergency
“Serving tea to His Highness is the expected thing to do, as etiquette dictates, and if he did not wait for a poison tester, it must have been tested prior to reaching the table”, Maomao answered a little too quickly. Perhaps the root fumes were having an effect on her; her chest felt oddly tight and uncomfortable.
“Yes, miss Maomao. But what is not expected is for His Highness to praise her beauty and grace so openly!” Miss Chue kept informing Maomao of this dire emergency
And Maomao remained entirely focused on her task.
“She must be very beautiful indeed”
Grind. Grind. Grind.
A small noise, not unlike that of glass breaking, echoed through the room.
The pestle Maomao was using now had some new cracks. Not enough to be unusable, fortunately. “Whoever bought this pestle and mortar was clearly scammed, if it starts cracking with such light pressure. Such low quality.” Maomao thought.
She needed some more ingredients in the mortar, so she switched to a cutting board next to the mortar and started chopping some leaves.
“And His Highness was praising her artistic abilities! The lady showed him a portrait she painted of His Highness, and he looked incredibly happy! He even asked if he could keep it to display in his office!”, Miss Chue continued with her disclosure of information.
THUNK
The knife Maomao was using suddenly plunged deeply into the wooden cutting board. So deeply, Maomao was unable to retrieve it to keep using it. Yao looked terrified. En´En glared angrily at Maomao for scaring her mistress. Tianyu looked very entertained. “These knives are really sharp. Whoever sharpens them should receive a raise. They did an excellent job!” Maomao praised in her mind.
“This lady must be quite talented to receive such praise from a member of the imperial family”
Miss Chue, without a care for the violence being displayed, kept rambling on, on how the lady was talking to the prince, and how he was laughing and smiling with her.
Maomao, of course, did not care for this information. She had a task to complete, so she grabbed the ingredients from the cutting board, surprised at how soft they were that day. They were being squashed between her hands, turning to a pulp.
She puts them back in the cracked mortar to keep working.
“And that is not all! The young lady kept praising the prince, how he is so handsome, and tall, and strong, and kind! Did you know he sends gifts to her quite often? Like moon cakes and candies!” Miss Chue said, as she got closer to Maomao´s ear, all while maintaining her not-so-discreet volume.
Maomao, of course, was unaffected by this information. She simply kept grinding the leaves and roots. This was, as she suspected, not an emergency.
Another crack in the mortar, bigger this time. This really is a low-quality mortar.
“And the lady kept pushing her luck! She even asked His Highness to marry her! And Miss Chue was shocked when, without a moment´s hesitation, he answered that they should definitely get married!” Miss Chue ignored the poor, cracking mortar, as she relayed this very important information.
Maomao, without a care in the world at this information, remaining completely calm, with no sign of being affected, kept preparing her medicine.
The mortar made some ugly noises as it kept showing cracks, and the pestle started making some awful grinding noises. “Whoever bought these mortar and pestles should be fired. Or at the very least, receive a pay cut. The quality is extremely low. They are even worse than the ones I used in the pleasure district.“
“His Highness is at an age where he should have married years ago. It is good he has finally found someone that can fulfill that role.”
“And finally, before I had to rush here to relay this important information, something truly shocking happened! The young lady approached His Highness, and without any sign of shame, climbed onto his lap, and kissed him on the cheek! And what's more, His Highness hugged her and kissed her cheek right back!”
CRACK
An awful, splintering noise filled the room, and then everything went quiet.
The mortar completely broke down, splitting in half, and all the ingredients Maomao had been so diligently and calmly working on spilled all over the working station.
No one dared make a noise. Not even a breath was heard.
“Definitely the worst mortar I have ever worked with. I will have to file a complaint. And such a shame that these precious ingredients were wasted”, Maomao, very calmly, completely in control, quietly thought. Her mind a perfect picture of peace, of course.
“Do you wish to know the name of this daring lady?”, Miss Chue asked innocently, with the biggest grin on her face.
As it was entirely not her business, Maomao grabs a rug, and starts cleaning the mess she has made, all while Yao and En´En stared at her in complete horror, and Tianyu looked at her with a smug expression, apparently knowing something she did not know.
“It is none of my business, Miss Chue.”
It really was not her business. It was high time for him to forget about her anyway, and to marry someone with the appropriate status. Perhaps he had just been waiting for her to accept his feelings, and now that the game was over, he could finally move on.
That was good. She really was not suitable for him. Maybe she should have accepted his feelings years ago if this was the end result.
“Really, Miss Maomao? Are you not curious? Not even a little bit? Do you not wish to know who the future wife of the Moon Prince is?”, Miss Chue singsonged behind her back, so close that Maomao could feel her body heat.
“No, Miss Chue. It is not my business who the Moon Prince marries”, Maomao declares in an emotionless monotone. She kept cleaning the mess with one hand while gripping the edge of the desk with the other to keep it from shaking.
A terrible screech filled the room, like nails dragging across a hard surface.
“My nails are longer than normal. I should trim them today. I should also prepare some stomach medicine. Today´s breakfast was heavier than I thought”, Maomao mussed while continuing her task, ignoring her white-knuckled grip on the wood.
“Well, since we are such good friends, Miss Maomao, Miss Chue will share this secret information with you! The lady who has conquered the Moon Prince´s heart is…” Miss Chue´s smile turned thoroughly wicked “… Princess Lingli!”
Complete silence.
Maomao froze. No sounds within the office. Even the birds stopped singing and the practice swords stopped clashing.
“Yes, Miss Maomao. The Moon Prince is an excellent uncle! He showers Princess Lingli with mooncakes, and candies! She loves them! The princess also enjoys drawing, and her uncle is her favorite subject! Every new drawing, he hangs it in his office, replacing the last one! He keeps them all! And you must know how children are, proposing marriage to the first person of the opposite sex that they find attractive. And who would not find the Moon Prince attractive! Such a sweet uncle he is. He hugs her and kisses her cheek! He is excellent with children in general. He also visits the Crown Prince and Lady Lihua´s son quite often too!”
Perhaps Maomao should extinguish the brazier. The room was suddenly too hot.
“Miss Chue…”
“Yes, Miss Maomao?”, Miss Chue answered, wearing the meanest, most satisfied grin Maomao had ever seen.
"You said this was an emergency…”, Maomao reminded her, with a quiet voice, barely audible to the rest of the people in the room.
“Did I? My mistake. Poor Miss Chue got confused!”, Miss Chue replied, with a playful tone, while slightly tapping her head with a fist.
“Miss Chue…”
“I apologize, Miss Maomao! Miss Chue would love to stay and chat, but Miss Chue has so much work to do! Miss Chue keeps getting pressured to pop out another heir! Miss Chue must leave! I will see you later, Miss Maomao!”, Miss Chue shouted that last part, as she ran away at full speed, quickly disappearing from view.
Yao did not dare move. En´En held onto her mistress´s shoulders, in case she fainted, of course.
Tianyu, on the other hand, suddenly looked completely cured of his whip wounds. And with the biggest, meanest grin he had ever worn, he asked “So, Nyan-Nyan, what was that all about?”
Maomao simply looked at him as if he had personally driven every medicinal plant and animal on earth to utter extinction.
She looked terrifying. And she simply uttered three words. “Not. A. Word”
Ah, the peaceful autumn season. It really could be plunged into chaos so easily.