Chapter Text
It all started with one request.
Of course, said request came from the emperor himself so perhaps that wasn’t surprising.
The emperor leaned back in his chair, or more accurately Jinshi's chair. It set Maomao on edge, they were in the his office but the man was conspicuously absent. Had the emperor asked to meet with her without the other knowing or was the information just that sensetive? “There’s recently been talks of rebellion. Jinshi speaks highly of you, not just regarding your pharmaceuticals but also your deductive abilities." His expression seemed to become grave "That's why I'd like to request your support in quenching a possible insurrection.”
Dear lord, how did she end up here?
“I see” Maomao bowed politely, careful to keep her emotions under a tight reign.
“Unfortunately what I'm about to to request is rather drastic but it'll put you in a very favorable position to keep an eye on people”
She felt a stab of dred at those words. That couldn’t bode well for her.
“…I was hoping access to a state of the art pharmacy would be enough to enti-.”
…Wait what?
She snapped her head up quickly to look at him, rational thought shoved aside in favor of a one track obsession. A laboratory! “I’ll agree to whatever you want!”
“You’ll become a Royal concubine then?!”
Maomao could swear she felt her heart explode from shock.
…
“Maomao have you heard the rumors?!” Xiaolan asked excitedly as they shared steamed buns.
“About what?”
“The Royal consorts! I was expecting a new one because of Lady Ah-Duo’s departure but I hear there’s actually two!”
“Oh really?” Maomao said, trying to hide a combination of awkwardness and sheepishness at those words.
Xiaolan nodded enthusiastically “One's supposed to be the only daughter of the prime minister from the Shi clan. Apparently he dotes on her a lot and pulled strings to get her the position. The other is the daughter of the head of the La clan. She’s almost on the completely opposite side of the spectrum, I don’t think anyone knew General Lakan had a daughter until the announcement. They’re saying the Emperor couldn’t afford to alienate either of their fathers’ and came up with this as compromise.”
“You sure know a lot about this.”
“Well it’s the only thing the other girls in the wash house have been talking about. They’re both so mysterious, the Shi clanhead’s daughter is named Loulan but we don’t know what the girl from the La Clan is named. No one can stop trying to guess what they’re going to be like!”
“I’m curious, what do you think of the La Clan girl?”
Xiaolan tapped her chin in thought. “Well his nephew turned adopted son is said to be a genius and there’s rumors his uncle was too. If the trend continues then I think she’ll be too. I don’t suppose they have a great relationship though. The fact that no one knew about her means that he’s either stifling or dislikes her for some reason and since he isn’t married yet it makes me lean towards the second option.”
Maomao smiled and patted Xiaolan on the head making the other girl giggle "You're getting better analysis!" the world was bathed in red and orange. Dusk, the end of something and the start of another,“They’re both arriving in a week huh?”
Xiaolan took a bite out of her steamed bun. leaned against her friend's shoulder, they watched the sun dipped below the horizon.
“Yeah”
…
“So Maomao, how are you enjoying your last few nights as an attendant?” Gyokuyou asked.
She sighed exasperatedly “This is all so troublesome. At least people already think my old man's insane. Maybe they’ll do me a favor and assume I’m crazy too.”
The apothecary being the mad fox's child had been an unexpected plot twist but one that made a strange sort of sense to Gyokuyou in hindsight. What didn't make sense however was was why he'd suddenly pushed the girl, who he seemed to have no contact with, into suddenly becoming a concubine. Even more perplexing was that she'd gone along with it.
'No.' she amended somewhat bitterly. More likely Maomao had no say in the matter. The daughter of a powerful family, suddenly married off and thrust into a foreign situation. It was a tale she knew all too well.
She ruffled Maomao's hair in the same sort of way she occasionally did to Lingli. “I’m sad to have to give up my prized poison tester.”
Maomao turned to look at her. “Why would I stop being your poison tester?”
Gyokuyou chuckled “it’s improper, that would be an insult to you.”
“But in private no one needs to know,” Maomao pouted.
“Actually I’m quite curious, what are you doing for your own poison tester?”
The cheshire grin stretched across Maomao's face inspired no confidence “I’m not. I don’t think anyone in the inner castle has a better chance of surviving poison than me. I’m already immune to the most common ones.”
Gyokuyo laughed awkwardly, “That’s what I was worried about.”
…
“Maomao! I need to talk to you right now!” Xiaolan yelled as she saw her friend approaching in the crowd.
‘Ah, so she finally got it.’ Maomao thought, slightly amused.
“The La Clan consort wants ME to be her head lady in waiting!!” She said while shaking Maomao’s shoulders in emphasis.
“Oh wow! Have you decided if you’re gonna take it?” She asked, careful to keep any suspicious emotions off her face.
“I-I don’t know. It’s such a huge decision and I’ve never even met her. What if she’s terribly mean or something. Besides, why me?? I’m not even literate, what could I have ever done to get her attention?”
“Well, does the letter have a deadline?”
“Uh, I don’t think so.”
“Well there you have it. You can wait to meet her before you choose.”
But Xiaolan continued looked discomfited. “I guess so, but isn’t waiting too long unreasonable? It’s usually implied to get back in a timely manner. What if she thinks I’m being rude?”
“Well, I think it would be her fault for writing such an ambiguous letter but if you’re worried about it then I suppose you could write back asking for more time to decide. If you lay out your reasoning and she’s still upset about it then consider it as having dodged a feifa.”
The other girl stilled her the nervous fidgeting, stewing over the words. The longer she thought about it, the more tension seemed to dislodge itself from her ridged figure. Then, in a sudden frenzy of movement she almost bowled Maomao over in a hug. "Yeah, you're right! I knew I could count on you."
For a second Maomao was stiff as a board, unsure how to respond, but slowly she let herself melt into the hug. The smile that adorned her face was a soft one, tender and vulnerable. Yes, Xiaolan had been the right choice.
…
With the ever unconventional lady Gyokuyo’s permission the Jade palace ladies were given the chance to dress Maomao up for her big debut.
Yinghua bounced with excitement “It’s just like when we dressed you up for the garden party!”
“I guess this is the last time I’ll see you with freckles huh?” Ailan sighed.
Maomao narrowed her eyes, displeased by even just the thought “No way. They're not going anywhere.”
“Ehh but you're a Royal consort now!”
“Unless the complaint is coming straight from the Emperor’s mouth it doesn’t matter to me.”
…
It was with delicate grace that La Mao made her first appearance. If she hadn’t seen the way she transformed with her own eyes Lady Gyokuyo herself would hardly be able to believe this was the same Maomao she knew. Her hair was pulled back with elaborate hair pins and the silks she wore were delicately embroidered, befitting of a woman of her standing. Even the way she stood had changed, now there was an air of regal power to her that she usually lacked (unless of course she was lecturing about medicine).
In that moment she was as refined as any of the other royal consort, no hint of the girl who smiled as she ate poison.
Maomao kneeled before the emperor alongside Lady Loulan. Though she tried to keep her face neutral Gyokuyo couldn't keep her gaze from drifting towards her former lady in waiting. She mentally chastised herself, She had to stop thinking of her as anything other than the new royal consort. She doubted Maomao would care about an overly casual greeting but, from the perspective of an outsider, misaddressing the new consort could be interpreted as passive aggression.
“To Lady Shi Loulan I present the title of the Pure Consort of the Garnet Pavilion” the Emperor said, while offering her an expertly made hairpin encrusted with deep, wine red jewels.
Lady Loulan accepted it and with deft hands placed in her hair. Soon after, the attention turned to Lady La Mao.
The Emperor presented her with a similar hairpin but peppered with black stones. “To Lady Kan La Mao I gift the title the Humble consort of the Obsidian Pavilion.”
She took the pin into her hands but once she had a good look at it she couldn’t help but linger on it. Rather than the more abstract design of Lady Loulan’s pin, at the end of hers was a flower. To anyone else it would’ve been just that. However the pin was crafted with such care that, to her, it was unmistakable. A flower with long, thin leaves and 5 pinwheel shaped petals. The buds were dusty magenta and the blooms were a vibrant cool-toned pink.
She smiled as she placed it in her hair, any grace in the movement a result of much practice under Lady Gyokuyou and Hongniang’s patient tutelage.
Oleander, extremely poisonous.