The Apothecary Diaries Book 10

Return to the Western Capital

Maomao wiped her brow as she looked out of the carriage. The sun pounded down, baking the earth. The people who followed behind the vehicle on foot wore conical traveling hats, but it wouldn't save them from the reflected light, which would still be strong enough to tan the skin.

So, a year later, and I'm back, Maomao thought. The last time she'd come, it had been a little earlier in the year, and not quite so hot. At least there was no humidity—the sweat she wiped at dried quickly—but it was still blazing.

The quack doctor had promptly succumbed to the heat and was curled up in a corner of the carriage.

"What this place needs is a little greenery! That would make things better," Chue observed. She held out a leather pouch of water flavored with the rind of some sort of citrus fruit. Even the lukewarm drink was better than nothing on Maomao's parched throat. "You've been here before, right, Miss Maomao?"

"Yes, last year."

She certainly hadn't expected to be back again this year. Most commoners never took a trip this long in their entire lives.

"But you weren't here very long, right? Let Miss Chue show you around this time! You can see the sights! Enjoy yourself!" There was a gleam in her eyes. The less something had to do with work, the more eager she was to do it.

"No, thank you, I have a job to do." Maomao would have loved to go sightseeing, to finally see the entire city and sample all the medicinal herbs and other plant life for sale at this nexus of trade. But there was one person she had to keep an eye on at all times. Jinshi.

That son of a...!

Even now, the memory made her blood boil, and she suspected it always would.

"Miss Maomao! Miss Maomao! You look tense," Chue said and began massaging Maomao's cheeks. It seemed like somehow, someone always ended up doing that.

"O-Oh, do I?"

"I'm sure they'd be perfectly happy for you to go out all day if you told them it was to inspect your surroundings. Just make sure you call me when you do!"

She just wants me to be her excuse!

Chue was easy to talk to, and better than any of the other potential minders who might be assigned to her, but still...

"Oh me, oh my! We've been talking so much that we've arrived!"

A town of stone and brick came into view. It was dotted with green trees, and a lake sparkled in the distance. Awnings fluttered here and there to keep off the sun. The carriage rolled right on, toward a great mansion. For a moment, Maomao thought they were going to the same house she'd been to last year, but then she realised it was the one next door to that.

"So this is the administrative office!" Chue said, looking at a stone plaque on the front of the building.

The carriage stopped at the gate. The other physicians were already waiting inside.

"Ah, is that everybody?" said the dark-skinned Dr. You, waving to them.

"Okay, Miss Maomao, Miss Chue has other things to do. So!"

"Right. Thank you very much."

"Don't mention it!" Chue pitter-pattered away, into the administrative building.

"Over here!" Dr. You called. He was standing with Tianyu and one of the other physicians. Maomao and the quack went over to him, with Lihaku following at an unobtrusive distance.

"Have you been here before, Dr. You?" Tianyu drawled.

"Yes, plenty of times. That was back before this was a bureaucratic office, though. I'm from the western capital myself, you know. A native son of I-sei Province. I know where the eastern villa is, more or less."