はようやく都に到着した。
「くわぁ、どっこいしょ!」
雨妹はおばさん臭い掛け声とともに、乗っていた荷車から風呂敷包を背負って地面に降り立つ。
荷物は元々多く持っておらず、道中の食事などは宮女を集めている人が出すらしいので、持ち出したのはこの風呂敷に包める程度の衣服のみだ。
大きなものは家ごと放置してきたので、きっと今ごろ誰かに貰われていることだろう。
それにしても辺境の村の名は伊達ではなく、ここまでの道のりは非常に長かった。
前世で「聖地巡りよ!」とか言って中国の地方をバスに揺られて旅した時も遠かったが、ここはもっと遠い。
なにせ移動手段がロバの引く荷車だ。
馬車ですらない。
そして道が悪い。
雨妹のお尻は早い段階から悲鳴を上げていた。
そのロバ車ともこれでお別れであるが。
雨妹が今いるのは、梗の都の隅にあるそこそこ大きな門の前だ。
ロバ車の中で聞いた話によると、梗の都は中国の長安などと同様に、碁盤の目状に都市設計されており、ぐるりと囲った城壁の東西南北に三つずつ入り口の城門が設けられているのだそうだ。
どの城門を誰が使うと決まっているわけではないが、真ん中の大きな朱塗りの城門は偉い人が使い、庶民は左右の少し小ぶりな城門を使って出入りするのが暗黙の了解だという。
というわけで雨妹が今いる都の隅にある城門は、外から梗の都に入る人たちでごった返していた。
雨妹たちの前を、綺麗な服を着た人たちがこちらをジロジロ見ながら行き交う。
こちらとしても田舎者なのは重々承知なので、特に視線を気にすることなく周りを観察する。
雑然とした人通りと、白い土壁と木造の建物。
――テレビや映画のセットって、かなりリアルに作り込んであったのね。
前世の記憶を掘り起こしながら、そんな風に感激している雨妹の周りでも、同じ荷車で田舎から後宮の宮女として集められてきた娘たちが目を輝かせている。
彼女たちも、恐らく一生を田舎で暮らすはずだった娘たちなのだろう。
――誰かがお嫁に貰うと言ってくれて、なおかつ皇帝からの許可が下りない限り、この景色は二度と見れないわけか。
そう考えるとしんみりするが、元々一生に一度も見ることがなかった景色だと思うと、この地に立てただけでもいい思い出だと言えなくもない。
他の娘たちも、初めての都にきゃあきゃとはしゃいでいる。
「いつまでも騒いでいるな、さっさと行くぞ!」
ここまで雨妹たちを連れて来たおじさんが、観光気分の娘たちに舌打ちすると。
「そこ、道を開けろ!」
男の怒鳴り声が聞こえたかと思ったら、騎馬が凄い速度で走り込んで来た。
「うひゃっ!?」
慌てて隅に避ける雨妹同様に、周囲の者たちも道を空ける。
そんな通行人に謝罪や礼をすることなく、騎馬が走り去っていく。
残るは、馬の駆け足でモウモウと立ち上がる土煙にまみれた雨妹たちだ。
「ちょっと、あれ危なくない!? 捕まえた方がいいんじゃない!?」
雨妹は舞い上がった土が口の中に入ったらしく、じゃりじゃりするのに腹を立てて文句を言う。
するとそれに、ここまで雨妹たちを連れて来たおじさんがとんでもないと身を竦める。
「馬鹿か!? あの鎧は近衛だぞ! 物言いをしてみろ、こっちの首がとぶじゃねぇか!」
「へー、近衛か」
雨妹は馬に驚いて、乗っている人の鎧なんて見ていない。
けれど人生初である生の近衛を見ておくべきだった。
今後見る機会はあるかもしれないが、宮城のエリートである近衛と後宮の最下層の宮女が遭遇する機会が、そうそうあるとは思えない。
――いや、これから先は長いんだから、じっくり作戦を練ればイケるかも。
野次馬根性丸出しの雨妹が一人ニマニマしているのを、他の娘たちは気味悪そうに遠巻きにする。
同じ田舎者仲間なのに、やはり雨妹は浮いていたが、本人は煩悩に浸るのに忙しいので気にしていない。
それからおじさんの後について宮城に行くまでの間、雨妹や他の娘たちは視線を通りのあちらこちらにさ迷わせるのに忙しない。
季節は冬の終わり頃で、辺境の村を出た時は山にしっかり雪が積もっていたのに、辺境より南に位置する都ではそろそろ春模様だ。
ちらほらと梅や桃の花が咲いているのが見受けられ、観光するにはいい季節である。
――まるで修学旅行中みたい。
雨妹はそんなことを考えながら、屋台で売っている美味しそうな揚げ饅頭に心惹かれる。
時刻は太陽がだいぶ高く昇っていて、丁度小腹が空く頃合いである。
あまりに雨妹がじっと見るので、他の娘たちまでつられて視線を寄越し、誰かが「美味しそうね」と漏らす。
はしゃぐ娘たちに、「これが最初で最後かもしれないしな」と小声で呟いたのを、雨妹の耳が拾う。
娘たちは、後宮で働くということの意味を本当に理解しているとは言い難いのかもしれない。
地方住まいの者が後宮の規則に詳しいとは思えず、雨妹同様に大した説明をされず、騙されるようにして連れて来られたのだろう。
事実、ロバ車の中でのお喋りでは、後宮で働くことへの不安など聞こえてこないで、ただ都へのあこがればかりを喋っていた。
雨妹も不安を煽ることもないと思い、後宮の宮女について語ることをしない。
雨妹は自ら宮女になるのだが、彼女たちの中には借金の形として売られた者もいるかもしれない。
辺境暮らしの雨妹が後宮事情に詳しいと、変に怪しまれると思ったのもあるが。
「都の饅頭は甘いなぁ」
辺境の村では甘味など簡単に手に入るものではなく、口にできるのはせいぜい野に咲く花の蜜だ。
今世ではめっきり甘いものを口に出来なかった雨妹は、口にした饅頭の甘さに頬を緩めるのだった。
Yui Mei finally reached the capital.
"Huff, heave-ho!"
With a grandma-like shout, Yui Mei secured the bundle on her back as she alighted from the baggage cart.
Her possessions were already meager from the start. Since meals were provided by recruiters for the court lady selection, all she brought with her were the few clothes she wrapped in a square scarf*.
She left the big items back at home. Somebody should have taken those things by now.
Nevertheless, the name "borderland village" was not just for show. Their journey had been extremely long.
In her previous world, she traveled to China's countryside by bus, and she declared back then that she did it in the name of 'pilgrimage'. That was also a long trip, but the capital was definitely a lot further.
To be fair, she was riding a cart drawn by a donkey this time around.
It was not even a carriage.
Besides, the road was terrible, too.
Yui Mei's bottoms were racked in pain from the stair-like bumpy path.
Finally, it was time to part ways with the donkey cart.
Yui Mei was standing in front of a relatively huge gate, in a corner of the city of Kyou.
Kyou's city structure was similar to China's Chang'an, with the grid pattern resembling that of a Go board. The perimeters were surrounded with a wall. The north, south, east, and west ramparts had three entrance gates constructed in each of them.
There were no rules as to who can use which gate; however, there was a tacit agreement that the vermilion-lacquered gate in the middle was reserved for great personages. The ordinary citizens had to use the other two smallish gates beside it.
And so, there was a crowd of people milling about in front of the city gate, where Yui Mei was. They also wanted to enter the city of Kyou.
People clad in gorgeous clothes scrutinized Yui Mei's group while pacing to and fro. It must have been quite a rare sight for them to see country bumpkin girls appearing in the capital.
However, Yui Mei and the girls paid them no heed, since they had already accepted the fact that they were country bumpkins, indeed. They just continued observing their surroundings.
They saw the disorderly pedestrian traffic, white earthen walls and the wooden buildings. Far off in the distance, an enormous vermilion building stood. It must be the home of the emperor.
'So those TV and movie sets were made quite realistically, huh.'
Yui Mei was moved by the sight as she delved into the memories of her past world. The girls surrounding her also looked around with shining eyes. They were also recruited for the court-lady selection, and had travelled with her in the same donkey cart from the countryside.
Supposedly, these girls would spend their whole life in the rural areas; but from now on, they had to spend it inside the inner palace, instead.
'Even if someone proposes to take us as brides, unless the emperor gives his consent, we will probably never see this cityscape again.'
It was a disheartening thought. However, that scenery was originally something that she wouldn't have a chance to see in her lifetime, so she thought she already made a great memory just by standing there.
The other girls were also chattering in high spirits. It was also their first time to go to the capital.
"Stop dilly dallying and making a racket! Hurry up and go!"
The middle-aged man, who had accompanied them until now, clicked his tongue at the excitement of the maidens.
"Move aside!"
Just when they thought they heard a man's angry yell, somebody on horseback came charging with great speed.
"Whoa!"
Yui Mei hurriedly moved out of the way, and the surrounding people also opened a path.
The horseback rider galloped on without bothering to apologize or give thanks, with clouds of dust rising in his wake.
All that was left were the footprints of the horse, and the dirt-covered girls, including Yui Mei.
"Wait, isn't that too dangerous!? Shouldn't we capture him!?"
Some of the dust apparently went into Yui Mei's mouth. It felt gritty, but she couldn't stop muttering angrily.
The mister, who accompanied them as their guide, suddenly grabbed her and ducked.
"Are you an idiot!? That was the armor of the Imperial Guards! Stop spouting nonsense or else our heads will fly!"
"Heh, Imperial Guard - is it?"
Yui Mei was shaken at the sudden arrival of the horse earlier, so she didn't see the appearance of the rider, much less his armor.
She could have seen a real life Imperial Guard for the first time in her life.
There might be opportunities to see one in the future, but chances were slim. After all, it was nearly impossible for an Imperial Guard, one of the palace's elite, to cross paths with a court lady, who was at the bottom rung.
'No, we still have a long way to go. It might be possible as long as I carefully plan for it.'
Yui Mei's curiosity burned. The other girls saw her grinning widely on her own. They were creeped out, so they backed away from her.
Yui Mei was excluded from their group even though they all came from the countryside; however, she was too immersed in her passionate thoughts that she didn't mind being left out.
Afterward, Yui Mei and the girls followed their guide. Their eyes were roaming restlessly, taking in all the sights around them.
It was nearing the end of winter. The mountains were still thickly covered with snow when they left the borderland village. The capital was in a more southern location, so it was already spring there.
It was a great season for sight-seeing, as they could see cherry and plum blossoms blooming here and there.
'It's as if we're on a field trip.'
Just as she was thinking so, Yui Mei was drawn to the delicious-looking fried manjuu* sold in a stall. A mouthwatering aroma wafted; the buns must be filled with red bean paste.
The sun was already high in the sky. Usually, one felt hunger around this time.
Yui Mei was staring at the stall too hard until the other maidens also noticed. They followed her line of sight. Someone finally blurted out that it looked delicious. Since they obviously slowed down, the mister leading them sighed.
"It might be the first and last time, after all."
This was hard to say, but apparently, the girls didn't know what 'working in the inner palace' truly meant.
People living in rural areas were not well-informed regarding the rules of the inner palace.
In fact, nobody expressed anxiety regarding their upcoming job. Based on the conversations they had back at the donkey cart, all they had was admiration towards the capital.
Yui Mei did not want to incite anxiety, so she decided to keep mum about the matter of working in the inner palace.
Yui Mei made the decision to become a court lady herself, but some of the girls could have been sold as collateral to debts. They might be hiding their anxiety behind their cheerful demeanor.
They would find it suspicious if Yui Mei knew too much about the Inner Palace, since she was also living in the remote village, just like them.
"The capital's steamed buns are so sweet."
It was not easy to obtain sweets and confections at the borderland village, so she could only eat the nectar of the flowers that she gathered herself.
Yui Mei, who had never tasted the confectionery of this world, can't help but smile broadly at the sweet taste of the steam bun.
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