145話 教坊にて
教坊は百花宮の宮城に近い場所にあった。
この教坊を挟むようにして四夫人の宮がそれぞれ位置しており、そこから城壁に向かって下位の妃嬪たちの屋敷が並んでいる。
壁により近い妃嬪が、位が低いというわけだ。
宮妓たちを各宮の宴席に派遣するための移動のことや、最もお得意さんであるのが四夫人であることを考えると、教坊の場所は自然とここになるのだろう。
――私ってばなんだかんだで、こっちの方ってあんまり来ないよね。
四夫人の宮周辺は、やはり高位の宮女しか出入りをしないものなのだ。
となると、その近くに位置する教坊の出入りにも、四夫人の宮に近いことを憚って、やはり高位の宮女が選ばれていたのだろう。
「まあそんなことは置いておいて、掃除だ掃除」
なにをするにも、まずは仕事をこなした後の話となる。
というわけで早速掃除に取り掛かった雨妹なのだったけれど、教坊内は想像していた通りにやっぱり汚れていた。
必要最低限の掃除しかされておらず、生活に困ることはないが、住み良くはないという状況で維持されているようだ。
――王美人のお屋敷の時よりもマシなんだけど、でもこの中で暮らすのは嫌だなぁ。
雨妹はそんな風に思うものの、あの時と違って今回は一人きりでの作業というわけではなかった。
他の掃除係も教坊のどこかにいるはずだが、その気配を感じない。
恐らくは離れた場所にいるのだろう。
楊からは特に連携をとって作業をするように等のことは言われなかったし、教坊側からなにか言ってきたわけでもないため、雨妹のやり方で掃除をしていくことにした。
とりあえず外回りから掃除しようということで、いつも通り埃落としの作業からやっていると、わかったことがある。
「なんか、掃除がきちんとされているところと、手付かずっぽいところがまだらにあるなぁ?」
雨妹は立っている位置から前後を見渡して、首を捻る。
そう、それなりに掃除されていて埃があまりない箇所と、どのくらい掃除されていないのか謎な箇所とに分かれているのだ。
どうしてこんな面倒な掃除の仕方をしているのか、掃除をサボるのならばサボる場所をもっとざっくりと分けた方が、楽にサボれるだろうに。
前任者の掃除の仕方を謎に思っていると、やがて。
――なんか、臭くない?
雨妹は掃除用布マスクのせいで気付くのが遅れたが、どこからかツンとした臭いが漂ってきていることに気付く。
「クンクン、どっからしているの? この臭い」
雨妹は布マスクを外して、風に乗ってくる臭いを嗅ぐ。
いい香りとはお世辞にも言えない刺激臭であり、台所が近い場所でもないので、生ごみ臭ではないだろう。
それに、生ごみの臭いとは違う種類の臭さだ。
雨妹はその妙に鼻につく、嗅ぎなれないような、それでいてどこかで嗅いだことのあるような、妙に意識に引っかかる臭いを追っていく。
すると建物の外れにある空き地の地面に、穴が掘ってから埋められている跡を発見した。
「この穴から特に臭いが強烈にするなぁ」
どうやらこの場所が風上になっていて、風が吹くと臭いを拡散させているようだ。
それが建物の構造で風の流れの道ができて、臭い場所とそうでもない場所とが出来ているのだろう。
――なにを埋めたんだか、ごみは埋めないでちゃんとごみで出してよね!
雨妹は憤慨しつつ、箒の柄で穴をほじくり返す。
「お、なんだこれ」
すると出てきたのは、なにかを燃やした燃えカスだった。
――煙草の燃えカスかな?
でも、煙草の燃えカスなんて、他のごみと一緒に処理してもらえばいいだろうに、何故こんな風に埋めているのか?
Chapter 145
The Jiaofang was located in a place near the Hundred Blossom Palace.
The Four Consorts' palaces were located on each side of the Jiaofang. The mansions of the low-ranking concubines were all lined up towards the castle walls.
The closer the mansion was to the wall, the lower the status of the concubine.
It was only natural that the Jiaofang's location was here, considering that  the most important clients would be the Four Consorts, and the courtesans had to be dispatched to the venue where the banquets were held.
'Yeah, I don't really come here because of a lot of things, I guess.'
Only the high-ranking court ladies were allowed to venture in the area around the palaces of the Four Consorts.
In that case, given the proximity of Jiaofang to the palaces of the Four Consorts, it's highly likely that only the high-ranking courtesans were permitted to enter and leave that building.
"Okay, let's just leave that thought behind. Time to clean up, clean up."
No matter what she wanted to do, she could do that after she was done with the job she was sent to do.
And so, Yui Mei immediately immersed herself in cleaning the place. The Jiaofang was far more dirty than she imagined.
Only the bare minimum cleaning was done to the place, and they maintained it so that it wasn't really difficult to live in it, but it wasn't comfortable to stay here, either.
'It's a bit better than Lady Wang's place, but I don't want to live here.'
That was what Yui Mei thought. This time, she didn't have to clean the place alone unlike back then.
Unfortunately, there should be other housekeepers in the Jiaofang, but she couldn't sense their presence.
They were probably staying in a separate place.
Yang didn't specifically mention that she had to cooperate with them to do the work based on the ranking. The monk didn't tell her anything, either, so Yui Mei decided to just clean the place with her usual method.
She decided to start outside the building, and began dusting as usual when she suddenly realized something.
"Not really sure, but there are lots of places that are neatly cleaned, and there are some that looked like they hadn't been touched. They're all over the place, huh."
Yui Mei took the whole place in, staring back and forth from where she was standing before shaking her head.
Indeed, there were areas that didn't have a lot of accumulated dust, seemingly been cleaned quite reasonably well. There were also some patches that looked made her wonder just how long they hadn't been cleaned.
She didn't know what to make of this troublesome method. If they're gonna laze off, then they could've just divided the place so that they could skip their jobs easily.
Yui Mei was perplexed at her predecessor's system of cleaning, when --
'Hm? Isn't it quite stinky?'
Yui Mei didn't notice it right away because she was wearing her cleaning mask, but now the smell was sharp as it wafted in the air, towards her.
"Sniff, sniff, Where is this smell coming from?"
Yui Mei removed her mask and sniffed the scent that came with the wind.
It was nowhere a pleasant smell, more like irritating. They weren't anywhere near the kitchen, so it certainly wasn't rotting trash.
Besides, it had a different odor from biodegradable waste.
Yui Mei followed the smell that strangely stuck to her nose; she couldn't pinpoint the scent and yet it was strangely familiar, tugging at her consciousness for some reason.
She finally spotted a hole that looked like it was dug then buried again in a vacant lot at the edge of the building.
"That's quite an intense smell coming from this hole."
Apparently, this place was upwind, so when the wind blew it also diffused the smell.
The structure of the building created a path for the wind, making some places stinky compared to other spots.
'What on earth did they bury here? Trash must be properly disposed, not buried!'
Yui Mei was filled with indignation as she tried to dig the hole with her broom stick.
"Oh, what do we have here?"
The ashes of something that had been burned were exposed.
'Tobacco ash?'
But then, if it's tobacco ash then they could've just disposed it along with the other trash, so why did it have to be buried here like this?
Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace
百花宮のお掃除係～転生した新米宮女、後宮のお悩み解決します。
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/housekeeper-of-the-hundred-blossom-palace/
Fantasy Romance Shoujo Slice of Life
Adapted to Manga Ancient China Complex Family Relationships Different Social Status Female Protagonist Imperial Harem Love Interest Falls in Love First Reincarnated in Another World Royalty
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n4104ev/
黒辺あゆみ