Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

It was still at the height of summer. A notice had arrived for the court physician assistants who had been washing and sterilising bandages over and over for days on end despite their exhaustion.

For me?

It was Enen who tilted her head. The notice that came was only for her.

What could this be about? Yao studied it in wonder. Including Maomao, she had the best physique out of the three, but her inquisitiveness made her look younger.

It looks like a notice of personnel change, Maomao said.

After seeing the contents, the three scrunched up their faces. Then they looked at the court physician who had brought in the notice.

And so, this is where Enen will be working temporarily, he said.

To say who contorted their face the most from the court physicans words, it was Enen herself.

My apologies, but I would rather not separate from Yao-sama, she said.

Do you think you can oppose this person? the court physician asked.

The phrasing was polite all in all, but it seems he wasnt giving her a direct answer.

Speaking of what was written on the notice

Ummm, so its about working for His Highness the imperial brother, for a fixed term, Yao summarised the letter. In other words, being in charge of assisting Jinshi.

May I ask a question? Why me? If you review the results and such, wouldnt Yao-sama be considered the more excellent choice? Enen asked.

(Nah, thats because you undermined your performance, no?)

It was Maomaos kindness that she didnt retort despite her wanting to do so.

Besides, when you consider parentage, I think Im unfitting.

While Yao was a different matter, Enen was a commoner. It would be natural to select someone with a good pedigree to become the maid of royalty.

However, Maomao felt that she understood the reason Enen was chosen. (T/N: The webnovel had Yao, which sounded really off imo, so I checked the light novel versionEnen made more sense.)

Rather, he is avoiding people with good parentage, the court physician said, putting on some airs. If he was to carelessly select someone from a good family, there wont be few suspecting that person to be His Highnesss consort candidate.

Jinshi was one year older than Maomao, twenty-years-old. He looked older, but it wouldnt be strange for him to even get a concubine soon. Rather, it would be strange if he didnt have one.

Also, I was notified that it would be troubling to get someone unskilful due to that face of his.

It was as she predicted. If it was Enen, though it was somewhat twisted, since she lived for her young lady, she probably wouldnt get infatuated with Jinshi. Rather, it was written on the court ladys face that she was against transferring.

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Maomao was also among the candidates, but The court physician peeked outside. There was monocle weirdo stuck to the window. Just when she thought she hasnt seen him recently, he was back at it again. Everyone was already used to it. I got a notice from a certain gentleman stating she was unsuitable, so she has been exempted.

As that gentleman stared in, a pair of people who looked like his subordinates were behind him, dragging him back by his hands. She wished for him to never return, but he would probably be back a little while later.

(Which reminds me.)

She had caught sight of the weirdo tactician, but his adjutant, Rikuson, was nowhere to be found. That man was treated as a priceless treasure with his ability to never forget a face he has seen once, but could he have other jobs?

Its abrupt, but I want you to go starting from tomorrow, the court physician said.

Enen was expressionless, but she was releasing an absolutely reluctant aura. She stared at Yao for help. And that Yao accepted it, saying that if you say parentage, then it cant be helped. Maomao had thought that the other court lady would be jealous, but she was surprisingly fine for that part. Yao might have known that Enen was the power behind the throne.

If its Enen, it wouldnt be strange wherever you go. Good luck, Yao said with a sparkling smile. Instead of what Maomao had normally expected her to do, to retaliate in response to giving Enen away, there were no signs of that air whatsoevershe was giving her blessings. She couldnt read Enens cues at all.

Enens face twisted. She couldnt say anything since her master had completely sold her off even though it would be better for her to speak out here.

Then, Ill leave it to you. Clapped on the shoulders by the court physician, Enen hung her head, crestfallen.

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With one less person, it indeed got busier at work, Yao said as she cleaned up the medicine in the shelf. She was speaking more frequently to Maomao, but this was due to Enens absence.

I guess so. Enen works a lot after all. Maomao checked the medicines as she sorted them. There were occasions where unusual medicines would be mixed among those, but the ones brought here today were pretty much only additions to normally used medicines.

I want to believe that it will be okay, but itll be great if theres no blunder, Yao said.

Theres nothing to worry about, Maomao replied.

Thats true. Its Enen. Shell be fine.

(No, even if you make some blunder, you wont get beheaded.)

Rather than Enens ability, it was a judgement based on Jinshis character. It wasnt Jinshis specialty to punish people willy-nilly. Of course, hell punish if its unavoidable, but she didnt think Enen would commit such a terrible mistake.

(Limited to not committing treason.)

Anyhow, Maomao worked as she normally did.

There were more people in the office than usual. With documents in one hand, Jinshi looked at the civil official, military official and court lady who had been referred to him.

Normally, with Jinshis position, he wouldnt have face to face meetings with newly assigned people. However, it was Jinshis consideration to purposely confirm it.

It will get busy from here on, so do your best at work. Jinshi smiled. It really wasnt that he wanted to show courtesy, nor was it to make the subordinates feel anxious.

All the people here stood without a change in their expression.

The act of smiling is used to give a good impression to the other party, but for Jinshi, on the contrary, it commonly called for disaster.

It was during the first day he entered the inner palace as a eunuch. When he greeted another eunuch with a smile, he was dragged into the thicket the moment Gaoshun looked away for an instant. It wasnt as if ones libido is erased completely with the tool gone, the eunuch had tried to treat Jinshi as the boy in a pederastic relationship. Jinshi had no idea how it was going to work, but that moment, his body had been in danger.

Theres no way that would give a good memory, at this stage, he inadvertently muttered to himself. He had kicked that place and ran away. In truth, it wasnt unusual to have such relations between eunuchs; apparently, they are officially known as sworn brothers.

He didnt want to think about it.

Whats wrong, Jinshi-sama?Basen, who was finally back, healed of his injuries, tilted his head. His body was shattered all over, but apparently, he trained every single day without fail. Even Gaoshun, as a father, was shocked by his sons sturdiness.

No, its nothing.

The people selected this time didnt seem bad. He was a little uneasy when he heard that there had to be a young maid, but there didnt seem to be an issue in that respect.

However, with the incident where he got served poison last time, it was better he braced himself. He had to be vigilant. Jinshi personally wanted to employ an old friend, but who he got this time was the co-worker of that old friend. In other words, it was about the court physician assisting court lady.

For a person from a newly constructed post, the exam in and of itself was created to be difficult. He heard that among their numbers, those who were deemed unsuitable by the court physicians were quickly expelled, so he would think that her ability was assured.

Due to the crown princes debut, he will allocate work to each of them from now on. Jinshi also had to start on his work, so he decided to promptly dissolve the meeting here.

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When everyone was gone, Jinshi gave a big sigh. Basen, being the only person in the room, would overlook this much for him.

Basen also tried his best at work for the time he spent in his break. Jinshi was delighted that the other man tried his best on the paperwork he was weak in.

Jinshi-sama, what shall we do about the matter about the Shaou Priestess in the villa?Basen asked, a document in hand.

Politics is truly a pain. What would be faster to speak out is sent around through letters. Certainly, he had a feeling that the other party had shown up at the villa quite some time ago. At this point, it was also troubling to inquire through documents. If he remembered properly, Jinshi had greeted her once, but that was all. He had thought that someone else was interacting with her, but it was unforeseen that it would come around to Jinshi now.

Am I doing it? He could only sigh when he saw the mountain of documents. Work related to the inner palace was still coming over, and he had a feeling that everything from the gap with the Shi Clan out of the equation was coming around to him too. I wonder if everyone hates me.

No, I would believe that you are beloved instead, Basen said.

Stop saying that with a straight face.

Is that so? Whats with everyone coming here wanting to see Jinshi-sama then?

It was because the man was saying it with no sense of malice whatsoever that it was troubling.

The reason court ladies were forbidden entry was that there were too many who purposely drop their documents to prolong their work. There would be the occasional civil official who would such a thing, so he could only forbid anyone who drops their documents from entering ever again.

Thanks to that, for a portion of people, it is seen as a place where you get punished the moment you fail.

Nonetheless, the documents do not decrease.

The matter is about what we should do about the Shaou Priestess, but she has yet to meet the court physicians, right?

Yes. Those going will be Court Physician Kan and the court physician assistants.

The other party is a leader of a foreign country, a person with the title of Priestess. Be as it may that she was here for medical treatment, she wasnt someone who was fine to be readily touched by males, so the former eunuch, Court Physician Kan, in other words, Kan Ruomen, Maomaos adoptive father, Rakans uncle, will be going. Those touching and examining her will be the court ladies, and Ruomen will probably by examining the priestess illness through their information.

It was drawn-out, but it was the other partys wish, so it cant be helped. Although there were two court ladies left as he had just headhunted one of them, Maomao was there, so it would probably go well with her cooperating with Ruomen.

Well then, ask about the circumstance of both parties. Along with whens convenient for the Priestess, report to the medical office so she can visit, Jinshi said.

Certainly.Basen promptly wrote up a document and make use of the messenger who was waiting outside the office.

Anything else? Jinshi wanted to get the important matters over and done with first. It was fine to postpone the trivial matter that kept coming back.

Theres nothing in particular, but, ah, theres one if you say theres one, Basen said.

What is it?

I was given a request for immediate transfer.

. Jinshi accepted the quickly scrawled transfer request. It would have to be someone among those he had met up with just now.

Return me to be a court physician assistant, the court lady called Enen had requested, Basen said.

There was indeed a saying, birds of a feather(lit. badgers of the same hole), apparently, there are a lot of peculiar people among those who seek a slightly peculiar profession.

The young maid didnt want to stay for as much as possible, so if the other maids learn the job it shouldnt be a problem if the numbers decrease, Jinshi thought, so he was going to respond to her request if she bore with it for a bit longer.

This Enen court lady, what kind of recommendation did she get? Jinshi asked.

She is careful, good at lifting people up at work. Also, she has been trained as a maid since the age of ten, so there shouldnt be a problem. She also has agood memory, but her inability to go ahead on her own accord is a strength and counts as a weakness.

That is certainly not bad.

And also theres something else, thats unrelated to ability, thoughBasen turned his face away from the document, somehow at a loss as to what to say.

What is it? Speak up.

yes. In the remarks, dislikes men, its not that she hates them, but.. he hesitated a little, then went on. It seems, just a little, shes inclined towards lilies.

Lilies, that is, she preferred getting along with those of the same gender over the opposite gender. (T/N: Lilies, as in Yuri. Lesbian.)

EMPLOY!Jinshi threw away the transfer request.

J-Jinshi-sama!

It has nothing to do with ability, right? Shes a good talent. I wont let her escape me, Jinshi said to Basen, grinning, and started to resume working.