Chapter Text
Looking as serious as always, Gaoshun carried a (quite big) pile of documents into Jinshi’s office and put it on the desk. Then he prepared brushes, ink, and paper, went for a carafe with fresh water and a cup, and finally positioned himself in front of the window, tucking his hands inside his sleeves and looking outside. The weather was nice and sunny.
With currently nothing else to do, Gaoshun merely stood there, enjoying the view of the new green leaves on the trees and feeling calm.
His master had gone out to visit the Jade Pavilion in the Inner Palace about an hour ago, something he liked to do whenever his work allowed it. The papers Gaoshun had just brought in weren’t that urgent for once, so if they sat on the desk for a bit longer than usual, no one would mind.
The corners of the aide’s mouth curved into a smile. No, it wasn’t the Jade Pavilion nor the consort living in it that were being honored by Jinshi’s visits (contrary to what the young man himself usually claimed)... but a certain apothecary girl working there. She was his primary reason to show up so often there. And everyone who was familiar with his personality was very much aware of that… except for the apothecary herself.
Gaoshun sighed softly. His lord really missed that peculiar young woman since he had to “lend” her to said consort. Not nearly as much as that time he had been growing mushrooms after letting her go due to a misunderstanding (oh, what a hard time it had been!), but it was still very much obvious that not seeing Maomao as often as he used to was affecting him negatively. He tried to hide it the best he could, but Gaoshun knew Jinshi basically since the boy’s birth. He knew him as well as his own three children.
But other than that, one had to be blind not to notice that Jinshi was basically bursting with anticipation every time he left his residence to visit her. Not to see how he was smiling whenever he returned home from those visits, a radiant smile with a hint of sadness and yearning. And the way he looked at her… he had clearly never looked at anyone else. Ever.
Yes, indeed. The aide had never seen that boy he raised act like that. The apothecary was, without any doubt, a very special person to him. Not a toy, not a pawn like most other women, but a person.
And even though he was obviously not just a beautiful face but a person to her as well, it looked like she was also the only one oblivious enough not to realize that. Hopefully, she would one day… not just for Jinshi’s sake, but also for her own.
“Ah, there he is.”
But enough with those musings. Through the window, Gaoshun spotted his lord walking towards the entrance. As composed and dignified as he always showed himself to others. But this time, something was different…
“Why is his face so red?”
This time, he seemed to be barely able to control his features. How odd… something must have occurred.
A bit later, Gaoshun heard hasty steps, and a highly excited Jinshi stormed into the office. Judging by his heavy breathing, he had run all the way from the entrance, something he hadn’t done since his childhood.
Gaoshun was already about to scold him, because such a behavior was very much unbefitting for someone of Jinshi’s position, but changed his mind, since it seemed to be about something really important. Something that didn’t allow the young man to waste even one second.
“Ga-Gaoshun!”
“What happened, sir?”
The young noble grabbed his aide’s shoulders, almost starting to shake him.
“Gaoshun! I need you to bury me under a ton of work during the following seven days! So much that I won’t even be able to think about anything else! And if I even mention the apothecary, you have to lock me up and hide the key! No, better tie me up! Don’t let me go to the Jade Pavilion under any circumstances! Got it!?” He was so agitated that his words came out a lot faster than usual.
“I… understand.” Well, in reality, Gaoshun didn’t understand anything at all, but still stayed calm. After all, he wasn’t the Imperial Younger Brother’s aide for nothing. He promptly put a hand on Jinshi’s forehead. “Do you maybe have a fever, sir?” That was the only reason he could think of that might explain the other’s strange behavior.
“Not at all! It’s a bet between me and Maomao! One I have to win at any cost!”
Oh, so it had something to do with Maomao, eh? Of course, that was to be expected. But still…
“A bet?” The older man gave his lord an “I will never understand young people”-gaze.
***
But let’s turn back time a bit, shall we?
It was a beautiful spring day. The winter’s cold had become a distant memory, and the blooming trees and flowers pleased the eye, inviting to go outside and enjoy the view, to breathe in the floral scent.
In the Imperial fruit orchard, Maomao was kneeling in the grass and collecting herbs, something she had been looking for ever since the snow had started melting. A nice breeze tousled her hair. The weather was indeed perfect, and she felt the same warm happiness as always whenever she engaged in her favorite activities.
However, amidst all that joy, there was still something bothering her… a lot.
No. Someone. A really gorgeous someone with long silky hair, lively violet eyes, a beautiful melodious voice, an amazing perfume smell… cough, ahem, enough details.
With a sigh, she turned her head and glared at the nymphlike young man sitting right there, next to her in the grass and smiling sweetly at her. Looking like some kind of god straight out of a painting.
Nearly everyone else who wasn’t used to seeing such beauty would have probably melted away or even fainted on the spot at that sight, but Maomao was Maomao and merely narrowed her eyes. His smile actually wasn’t the problem here and neither his presence as such (even though she was more than sure that he was slacking off work right now, but since she had seen with her own eyes how hard he was working every day, she didn’t blame him at all for wanting a break from that). It was his behavior.
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. Her patience had run thin and had already reached its limit.
“Master Jinshi, could you PLEASE stop sticking flowers into my hair and collar?” she grumbled and looked at him as if he were a housefly flying through her room and buzzing into her ear when she was trying to read a book, but still did her best to sound as polite as she could.
Jinshi giggled mischievously and gently petted her hair as if to soothe an irritated cat that was about to scratch him, pulling out one of said flowers and putting it into her basket on top of her herbs.
“Why? I’m just decorating you,” he replied with pretended innocence.
“How stupid. Am I a vase or what?” she thought angrily and took the flower out of the basket. But something she couldn’t explain made her arm stop and prevented her from throwing it away. So she sighed and put it back in. Alright, fine…
Jinshi’s smile widened as he saw her accept his “gift”.
His eyes lit up, and he reached for something lying in the grass next to him. Something she couldn’t see from where she was.
“Actually, I have a little surprise for you, Maomao. It’s-”
Sensing that it wasn’t a rare herb or medicinal ingredient and therefore most likely not that important, the apothecary instantly interrupted him. Not very kind or polite on her part anymore, she knew that herself, but she was really annoyed at the moment. And besides, they were alone right now and whenever that was the case, she often started treating him in a slightly more familiar way without even really noticing it herself. Especially when he took off the mask he usually showed in public and behaved like an actual human being.
“It’s distracting me. Plus, you should better get up, sir. Grass stains on your clothes would get you in trouble with Lady Suiren.”
“Ignoring me, huh?” he muttered and pouted, yet still obeyed, getting up and positioning himself behind her with his arms crossed. Maomao hoped he would finally leave, but she could still feel his piercing gaze on her neck. She briefly thought about removing the remaining flowers from her hair and collar, but then changed her mind, assuming that it would make him pout even more and stubbornly pick them up and put them back.
Hah, sometimes she really felt as if dealing with him were akin to dealing with a capricious toddler…
However and despite everything, she had to admit that she found that behavior of his still better than his artificial smile that looked so disgusting to her. Was that because his childish actions were a part of his true nature? Yes, most likely.
But that aside, the biggest issue right now was that since she had moved back to the Jade Pavilion, he had become INCREDIBLY clingy, using every opportunity he could find to basically glue himself to her and follow her like a duckling followed its mother. It was almost comical, if one thought about it.
And as if that wasn't enough already, he also invented a new kind of nonsense to bother her with every time they were alone, almost as if he were testing her patience on purpose. Really like a toddler! No, worse!
It was too much!
She had recently asked him why he did all that (maybe his reason was sheer boredom, who knew?), but he had merely blushed, looked away, and muttered, “Because I cannot see you whenever I want anymore.”
Maomao had not understood that answer. But she wondered whether he was really that dense as not to notice how much he annoyed her. Or maybe he just didn't care.
And thus she couldn't help thinking: was there perhaps a way to free herself from him for at least a few days? Hmm…
Seeing that she didn't pay him any heed anymore and just quietly continued to mind her own business, completely immersed in thought, Jinshi frowned, pouted even harder, and put his hands on his hips in a gesture of reproach. Then he sighed and bent down, picking up what he had meant to give her earlier. Clearly not intending to give up yet.
“This is for you… I… I made it while sitting in the grass.” He blushed a bit and clasped his hands behind his back, having set his gift where it belonged.
“Huh?”
Maomao opened her eyes wide when she felt something being put on her head. It was quite light, but slightly heavier than the singular flowers he had used to annoy her with. She raised her hands, placing them on top of the object, seized it and took it down, looking at it with surprise.
“A flower crown?”
It was made out of different flowers growing near where they were, bound together a bit clumsily here and there, but otherwise pretty neat and certainly not bad. Look at that… she hadn’t even noticed him being busy making something like that.
Jinshi scratched his head and then kneeled down next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder (and obviously forgetting her warning about getting stains on his clothes). Since he was closer than before, she could now smell his perfume even better than the blooming flowers around her.
“Do… Do you like it?”
“Why is he so nervous all of a sudden?” she thought, a bit confused by that rare and highly unusual behavior, as she continued to examine the flower crown in her hands, still slightly taken aback.
“You know how to make flower crowns, Master Jinshi?” was, however, what she asked him instead of answering his question.
The young lord furrowed his brows at being ignored again, but still replied.
“Why wouldn't I? That's not that difficult of a skill, isn’t it? Quit acting as if I were born just yesterday!” That last statement was accompanied by him poking her cheek with his index finger.
“Says the guy who needs his chief lady-in-waiting to help him change clothes and peel his fruit for him at his age,” she thought, but kept it to herself. A wise decision.
“A-Anyway…” he continued, having cleared his throat rather awkwardly, and took the crown out of her hands, putting it back on her head. “I think it suits you pretty well.”
Maomao opened her mouth to thank him in a disinterested voice, but before she got the chance to, he said something else. Something truly unexpected.
“You look really… beautiful.”
The apothecary froze, not having a clue how to react to that. But how could she, if it was the first time he told her something like that? Or no, rather the first time someone told her something like that in her life.
Just where did that come from? She was just a servant, so there was no reason for him to compliment her like he always did with the women at the court. But then again, it had not sounded like his usual compliments to other women at all…
Feeling lost, Maomao put her hands that were dirty from the earth she had been digging in on her knees.
“Is he joking?” she mused. “Does he want to mess with me again?”
Of course it must be a joke… What else could it be?
Oh, she was so tired of his pranks…
“Thank you, sir,” she then finally replied after a while in a tone devoid of any emotion and gazed up into his face. Jinshi looked kind of troubled when he spotted the look in her eyes. He seemed to have understood that she didn't take his words seriously.
Good. His joke had not worked out.
Sadness showed on his face.
“You don’t believe me, do you? But I really mean it…” His voice was thin, and it seemed to her as if his violet eyes had taken on a slightly darker hue.
Maomao hesitated and then shook her head. No, that couldn't be. She wouldn't fall for that. It was just too absurd.
She didn't reply. Instead, she took the flower crown from her head again and stretched her body to put it on his, making him widen his eyes.
“You are the beautiful one here, Master Jinshi. Not me.”
Then she kept collecting herbs as if nothing had happened, not noticing his hurt expression.
For a few moments, all he did was to watch her in silence, too overwhelmed to say or do anything. Then he gritted his teeth, removed the crown from his head, crushed it with his hands and let the flowers it had consisted of fall to the ground. Snorting with frustration and anger, he grabbed a few small ones.
“Fine… then I will try to make myself clearer.”
Maomao pretended not to hear him, even though she couldn't believe that he still hadn’t had enough of messing with her. Just when would that finally end?
Fiddling with the flowers, Jinshi snorted again and turned his back to her, still on his knees. That way he would end up getting grass stains on his clothes for sure… but that was his problem, wasn’t it?
Her curiosity slightly piqued despite everything, the apothecary couldn’t avoid giving him a sideways glance, but wasn’t able to see what he was doing. Well, at the very least he was quiet for now… even though Maomao did have a bit of a bad feeling she couldn’t shake off. As though everything until now had merely been the quiet before the storm…
A few minutes later, Jinshi finally turned back around to her, still frowning and with a determined expression on his face, and suddenly grabbed her hand. Not roughly at all or anything, but still firmly, showing that he had something to convey to her and that he wouldn’t allow her to run away. As it looked like, he didn’t mind the dirt on her palm and under her fingernails in the slightest. His hand was big and warm, like always.
Maomao looked at their joined hands and then into his face. The young man was blushing again for some reason. In fact, he was bright-red.
“What the hell is it this time?” she complained in her thoughts.
“What is it, sir?”
“I want to put this on your finger,” he said, presenting to her a little ring… made out of flowers. And then did exactly that, sliding it onto her thin finger, very carefully so that it didn’t fall apart. Her fourth finger.
The size fit her well.
Maomao stared at it, not understanding anything. Again.
“Why?” she finally asked, wondering about the reason for his strange behavior. First a crown and now a ring? What was the meaning of this?
Jinshi looked at her with more frustration than ever. Shortly after that, his expression, however, was replaced with another one: resignation.
“Hah… of course you wouldn’t get it,” he grumbled with a sigh, “if you don’t even know the meaning of giving hairsticks… Seriously, what have I even expected?”
“What are you talking about, sir?”
“Geez, excuse me for failing to reach your expectations… whatever they are,” she thought, a new wave of irritation washing over her.
At her question, Jinshi gulped audibly, took both of her hands this time, and looked right into her eyes. Just now, Maomao noticed that he was wearing a very similar flower ring on his own finger.
“Hear me out! Just hear me out at least this once! This is a custom from the West I’ve read about. When two people wear matching rings on that finger it means that…”
Out of nowhere, there was a soft hiss coming from the grass right beside them. Nervous as he was, Jinshi got distracted, and his gaze wandered to the side…
And before Maomao could get even the slightest chance to realize what was going on, she suddenly heard a panicked “Maomao! Watch out!” and found herself grabbed under her arms and picked up in a hurry.
“Master Jinshi!” she protested, kicking her legs, but didn't receive any answer. Instead, Jinshi who had jumped up to his feet, started running while still carrying the confused and annoyed apothecary. The still remaining flowers he had “decorated” her with earlier, landed in the grass.
The ring, however, stayed on her finger.
“Phew… it should be safe here.”
Finally stopping, Jinshi set Maomao down and glared at the spot where her basket had been left behind.
“What has gotten into you, sir? Have you spotted a horde of court women looking for you?”
Maomao knew that he didn't always enjoy being surrounded by huge groups of women who fawned over his beauty, the type of people he constantly attracted like a magnet, she had seen it in the small gestures of impatience he often showed when he secretly wished for them to leave him alone, like, for example, slightly tapping his foot against the ground while he gave them his usual bright smile.
Gestures that, for some reason, no one else seemed to notice. Because those other women tended to look only at his face, perhaps.
And she also knew that he did, in fact, actively avoid his “admirers” from time to time whenever he truly couldn't bring himself up to deal with them. So maybe that was the case this time as well. But why hadn’t he just run off on his own then instead of dragging her along? Oh, how troublesome…
Jinshi gave her a slightly confused look.
“Huh, what? No, there was a snake in the grass, crawling right next to you! Good that I have spotted it just in time.” He took a deep breath, sighing with relief.
“A snake?”
Maomao frowned. So what if there was one? Why was he making such a fuss over a simple snake? But then an idea occurred to her.
She felt the corners of her mouth go up a bit while Jinshi put his hands into his sleeves, nodding with a serious expression.
“Yes, just a bit and it might have bitten you… Hey, where are you going!? Stay here! Maomao!”
Maomao had dashed off so fast, she created a dust cloud behind her.
Jinshi instantly hurried after her, screaming.
But Maomao wouldn't have been Maomao if she had actually listened to him, so she kept running towards the spot he had fled from with her. Having finally reached her basket, she bent down.
The young lord had longer legs than her and was otherwise considerably faster (not to mention that she also still had a bandage around one of her legs), but since he had been so taken aback by her highly unexpected action, he had not reacted in time.
Thus, he was too late.
“MAOMAO! STOP!”
All he could do was to keep screaming. In vain, of course. At long last, he caught up with her, but before he could reach out for her again and pull her away, he froze with shock at the sight that was presenting itself to his eyes.
“Do you mean this one?”
The apothecary held up a green snake, right at its head. The animal squirmed and hissed in her grip, but she didn't let it bother her. She really had no clue why people feared snakes so much, to be honest.
The color drained from Jinshi's face, and his eyes opened wide while his pupils shrank.
“Gah! What are you doing!?”
“Everything is fine, sir. It's not venomous.”
He seemed to calm down a bit and smiled, relieved. His face color returned to normal as well.
“Really?”
Maomao grinned at him.
“Really. Oh, but on second thought…” She rubbed her chin, pretending to think. “...I’m not that sure. Should we check, just in case?”
Pressing on the snake's head, she made the poor animal open its mouth wide, making it look as if she were about to ram its fangs into her other hand. Well, if she really had her doubts about that snake, she would have done that little “experiment” without any hesitation, most likely without even announcing it, but in this case, she just wanted to mess with Jinshi a bit. As a little revenge for all his pranks and annoying behavior, so to say.
“What!? NO!”
The young lord looked as if he were about to lose his mind. Or more precisely: the way he always looked when she was intending to do something to herself that he deemed harmful. Horrified, he grabbed her wrist, snatched the snake from her, and threw it as far as he could, as if the animal were going to explode any moment now.
With an indifferent expression, Maomao looked into the direction the reptile had flown into.
“Who would have thought I would ever see a snake fly through the air,” she thought. “That's too bad… I could have still used it… it looked delicious.” She hadn’t had snake meat for quite a long time after all.
Jinshi wiped his hand with his robe and then seized the apothecary's shoulders.
“Alright, there he goes…”
She sighed and braced herself for the usual scolding… that didn't come.
“Are you alright? It didn't bite you, did it?”
“Huh?”
To her utter surprise, he instead knelt down in front of her and desperately examined her arms and also her legs below her knees with trembling fingers. Next, he proceeded to check the bandage on her leg as well.
“There's nothing… And your wound doesn't seem to have opened up again either. I’m so glad…”
Having said that, he got up once more and hugged her tightly. Maomao was so baffled that she didn't even resist in any way. She could feel his heart pound.
He must have been truly frightened…
“Oh… maybe I shouldn’t have done that…”
Now, she started to feel a bit bad. She truly hadn't wanted to scare him that much… she wasn’t a monster, after all.
“Don’t ever do that again!” Jinshi started scolding her after all, once he regained his composure and glared at her, squeezing her one last time against his body before finally letting go. His gorgeous face was twisted in anger. “That was dangerous! I almost died from fear and worry! Hey, are you even listening to me?”
His lecture tore Maomao out of her thoughts. She bowed before him.
"I'm sorry, sir..."
Maybe she should just forget wanting to get back at him. After all, Jinshi wasn’t a bad person. He was annoying and clingy, doing things she didn’t understand, that much was true, but never actually meant any real harm, she could tell (well, maybe except for the honey-incident that went a tiny bit too far.. but he had already apologized for that, and she had forgotten the whole thing more or less). He was just used to messing with women due to his position, she assumed.
“Oh, suuure you are. You’re always saying that.”
He gazed down at her, still angry, looking like he was lecturing a cat that was always scratching the furniture.
Maomao suppressed the urge to sigh deeply.
“I am truly sorry, sir. That was not a lie.”
“But you're still not planning to listen to me, am I right? My warnings always go into one of your ears and right out of the other.”
The apothecary flinched and pressed her lips together, looking at the ground. He got her there.
Seeing her reaction, Jinshi sighed and briefly rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.
“There, I know you after all. Oh well, whatever… Then I will just continue doing my best to stop you from accidentally killing yourself. I don’t have any other choice, anyway. Even though I do admit that I am tired of constantly telling you the same things over and over.”
“Then just stop. You’re talking as if I weren’t capable of taking care of myself… Just relax and go pester someone else, I’ll be fine,” she thought in annoyance, conveniently “forgetting” that she was getting herself into truly dangerous situations from time to time without thinking. Especially when it was about medicine and medicinal herbs… in that case, almost nothing could stop her and her curiosity. But why did he care so much? If she got hurt, it would be her own fault, wouldn’t it?
But whatever. Even though she was aware that she was quite dense when it came to feelings, she was still a warm-hearted human and recognized that her little “vengeance” with the snake had been a bit too much. And since she had already apologized for it, she didn’t know what else to do, so she just stayed silent until he was done scolding her, waiting patiently. While doing so, her gaze unconsciously wandered towards his hands, and she saw that his flower ring was still on his finger as well.
“I now have all the herbs I needed, Master Jinshi,” she eventually said, heaving her basket onto her back.
Jinshi, who had calmed down again, nodded and gave her a little smile.
“I see. Let’s go then. You want to take this basket to your shed, right? I’ll accompany you.”
“Of course, how would he not…” she thought, having seen that coming, but decided not to argue. Instead, she bowed once more and intended to start walking.
But before she could take even one step, she suddenly felt his hand on her shoulder and looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, wondering whether he still had to say something to her.
Seeing her quizzical gaze, the young lord gave her a grin and shrugged.
“And because it’s nearly impossible to let you out of my sight, I will keep an eye… and my hand on you so that you don’t even think about going after that snake,” he explained. “I saw how you constantly sneaked glances into the direction where it landed.”
“Tsk!” Maomao clicked her tongue in disapproval, unable to control herself anymore. Just why the hell was that man always so perceptive when it came to these details but so oblivious about his own clinginess?
Yes, she had considered running after that snake, she admitted it, but did he really think that she would actually do it?
…Well. Yes, she definitely would. No doubt about that.
Jinshi giggled at her reaction and then blushed a little, scratching his cheek.
“You know, I… I actually want to hold your hand instead while walking… but if someone happens to see us, that wouldn’t probably end too well… so I figured that it’s better like this.”
“Ugh…”
She sighed, yet still didn’t shake off his hand.
“Yes, perhaps I really should constantly keep an eye on you. Who knows when you might want to poison yourself again.” He sounded as if he were talking to himself, thinking aloud.
Hearing those words, Maomao’s neck hair stood on end.
No, she definitely had enough. The annoyance inside her welled up stronger and stronger as they walked, and she clenched her hands that were hidden inside her sleeves into fists while Jinshi had seemed to have regained his good mood again and was humming softly to himself. As it seemed, he had already forgotten what he went through thanks to her just now.
His hand stayed on her shoulder until they reached the shed and stopped in front of its entrance.
Forgetting all her recent pangs of conscience, Maomao decided to get back at him after all. She had to think of a new, better plan. One that would allow her to play a prank on him without going too far and, in the best case, grant her a little break from his clingy self.
And to her joy, such a plan was already taking shape in her head. It was a good one. A really good one.
She merely needed to think of something he might really want. Hm, not an easy task at all… But then she got an idea.
Yes, that could work. Perhaps. Or not? Well, it wouldn't hurt to just give it a try.
“Maomao?”
She flinched when she suddenly heard his gentle, beautiful voice and felt his warm breath right next to her ear, and then noticed that she had been standing in front of the shed’s door all that time, deep in thought. And now she looked up and met Jinshi's direct, quizzical gaze. He had briefly bent down and whispered into her ear to attract her attention. Not the first time he did that, yet Maomao couldn't help but shudder slightly every time it happened. Not because it was unpleasant to her, though… quite the opposite…
“Yes, sir?”
“Don’t you want to bring the basket inside?”
“I do, Master Jinshi. But may I ask you something first?”
He raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“Of course. What is it?”
“Could I propose a bet to you, sir?” she asked quietly, carefully observing his reaction.
Jinshi crossed his arms and then smiled.
“Oh, that sounds interesting. What kind of bet?”
Maomao took a deep breath…
“I dare you to completely stay away from me for seven whole days… to not visit me, not summon me, not talk to me at all.”
He stared at her, completely taken aback. Surely not having expected something like that in the slightest.
Then he narrowed his eyes.
“Oh, do you want to get rid of me that badly?”
“Perish the thought, sir.” Maomao decided to play innocent.
“Stay away from you for seven days… Haha, no way. And what would I get if I achieved that?”
Maomao smirked.
"A kiss.”
There. It was out. She had said it. Even though she knew perfectly just how stupid it was. Why would he want such a “prize”? And even if he did, then hardly bad enough to agree to such a bet.
Jinshi’s eyes opened as wide as plates. In fact, she had never seen him being THAT surprised before.
"A-Are you serious? I’m not dreaming, right?" he asked in a choked voice.
"Quite serious, sir."
"So you really mean it!?"
"I do.”
He held his head in his hands.
"So you have understood what I was trying to tell you earlier after all?" he muttered, an incredulous yet happy smile on his lips, and then started to laugh. “And now you want me to prove that I’m truly serious about it, yes?”
"Eh? What?" The confusion was written all over Maomao's face. She had no clue what he was babbling about.
"Has he lost his mind?" Did he want that kiss for real? And so badly at that?
Oh, but on the other hand… How convenient for her.
So that meant the bet was on, then.
What she didn't know, however, was that Jinshi's eyes weren’t the only ones that had widened.
For a lady-in-waiting named Infa, who had been sent by her mistress to call the apothecary inside the Jade Pavilion had heard every single word. And right now, she was standing there, next to the shed, and blushing so hard that steam was threatening to come out of her ears.
***
Jinshi had to make use of his entire willpower to not break out in a huge happy smile like a child who was promised a wonderful gift as he hurried back to his residence about fifteen minutes later.
Very few were the moments where he found it so difficult to remember the lessons that had been drilled into him as the Crown Prince of the nation to always remain dignified and composed in public, no matter what. In fact, the only other occasions had been when he had fired Maomao from the Inner Palace due to a misunderstanding and also that one time he had carried her, unconscious and injured, out of the building where she had saved his life from that falling beam.
Yes, in the end, it was always about Maomao, huh? Well, no wonder. No other person had ever made his heart flutter like she did.
That girl was truly one of a kind. He would never meet anyone else like her for as long as he lived.
The young man cleared his throat as he passed other people on his way (barely looking at them, merely registering their presence, even though he was smiling like always). Only his shining eyes revealed his true feelings as his thoughts wandered back to the flower rings both he and Maomao were still wearing. Yes, she hadn’t taken it off yet, even after having reached her shed, he had seen it on her finger before taking his leave.
Oh, what joy!
His head was spinning, and his brain was still processing the words he had heard from the apothecary's lips.
"So does that bet mean she has really understood my feelings and has accepted them? It sounds like a miracle… Isn't that too good to be true? Only wishful thinking of my part? But on the other hand, she said she was serious about it... so she really doesn't mind kissing me... oh, Maomao..."
Casting every shred of doubt aside, Jinshi accelerated his steps even more. He could not lose! Under no circumstances!
***
“Xiaomao… are you sure that this is such a great idea?”
The very same day Maomao had suggested that daring and very risky bet, she received a visit from Gaoshun who wanted to talk to her. In private. And very urgently.
Of course she immediately understood what it was about. How could Jinshi not have informed his aide about that issue? So she guessed that it couldn't be helped…
In fact, she did feel a bit bad for Gaoshun who had been dragged into this nonsense on top of his other numerous duties, just she couldn't exactly take back her words now either.
But she was still willing to hear him out.
Thus, the two of them had headed to one of the free reception rooms of the Jade Pavilion where no one would disturb them. The apothecary served tea, giving the clearly worried man a calm gaze.
“I just wanted to motivate Master Jinshi a little and help him concentrate on his work,” she said, shrugging. Not really a lie, but it wasn't like she could tell him her real reason, even if it was Gaoshun, right? “Because I noticed that he’s been spending way too much time here.”
The aide sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He could not deny that last fact and she knew it.
“Well, and I wanted to inform you that the young master is highly determined to win your bet.”
“Oh, is he?” As if they were merely talking about the weather, she drank a sip of tea, perfectly calm. Determined, huh? How great!
“He asked me to… tie him up…” Gaoshun whispered.
Was that merely Maomao's imagination or did she truly see him shudder?
“What did you say, sir?”
He cleared his throat.
“Uhm, nothing, Xiaomao. But what if he manages to endure? Would you really not mind giving him his ‘prize’?”
“Not at all.”
The apothecary let out a derisive snort in her thoughts. Endure seven whole days? Jinshi? Yeah, right.
“I… see…” The man was puzzled, but refrained from asking further. “Then I hope he wins…”
The last part had left his lips in a whisper that she once again couldn’t hear.
***
And right after Gaoshun had left, Maomao barely got enough time to let out a sigh and clean the teacups, for she was immediately summoned by her mistress.
Thinking nothing of it, the apothecary obeyed and went to the room where the lady was waiting for her. On the way, she saw two other ladies-in-waiting whispering to each other with a blush on their cheeks… until a pretty irritated (and also blushing) Hongniang showed up and dragged them back to work.
The chief lady-in-waiting also directed a very intense gaze at Maomao, looking like she wanted to slap the back of her head, but eventually just left with a deep sigh.
Maomao didn't understand. As far as she remembered, she hadn't done anything wrong recently. Or had she?
Having reached Lady Gyokuyou’s chambers, she entered, closed the door behind her, and took a bow before the consort, who was sitting on a couch, smiling. Princess Lingli was lying on her lap, taking a nap.
“You have called for me, madam?”
“Indeed, I have.” The consort's smile got wider. “Let me get straight to the point, Maomao. I have heard that you have quite an… interesting bet going on.”
Maomao’s eyes went wide.
"Huh? How does she know!?"
Then her gaze fell upon Infa who was standing behind the lady with a guilty expression on her face and refusing to look her in the eyes.
“Oh, I see. She must have overheard me and Master Jinshi talking about it. Well... nothing I can do about that.”
"This is right, milady.”
"Oh, how exciting!”
Lady Gyokuyou looked like a young girl reading a romance novel. Granted, the Inner Palace didn't offer a lot of distractions, so it wasn't very unusual for her to be that interested. Even the apothecary understood that.
She tried to show herself as calm as possible and bowed once more.
"I ask you to please keep it a secret.”
The lady covered her mouth with her sleeve and laughed.
"But of course! The only one I will tell about it is His Majesty. I think he'll be very delighted about this news!”
“Urgh… great. Exactly what I needed.”
Maomao pressed her lips together, doing her best not to show on her face what she thought about that. She was already starting to regret having proposed that bet at all.
Oh, damn...
The only thing she wanted was a little peace and quiet for just a few days! Was that really that much to ask!?