はその日、薬を貰いに医者を訪ねていた。
明は医者が大嫌いで、それは幼い頃に遊んでいて足の骨を折った際に掛かった医者の、治療が痛かったのと態度が怖かったのとが、未だに心に残っているからなのだが。
挙句の果てに李将軍に見張られる上、皇帝直筆の文が送られてきて、「元通りの健康な身体に戻して再び相まみえる日を迎えることが、そちの役目である」と書いてある始末。
こうまでされて、医者が怖いから逃げたいだなんて言えるはずもない。
もし言ったとしたら、李将軍あたりが乗り込んできて、医院の牀にでも縛り付けていきそうだ。
であれば極力医者の顔を見ないように、いっそのこと治るまでの薬を一気に欲しいものだが、薬を出してくれる医者が数日分しか寄越さず、「必ず己で受け取りに来い」と言われてしまったのだ。
なんでも明がきちんと治療に打ち込んでいるのか、数日おきに確かめるためだという。
どうやら明は信用されていないらしい。
それもこれも、誰のせいかと言えば。
――畜生、あの小娘め!
明は心の中でそう罵倒する。
全ては李将軍と一緒にやって来たあのお節介な小娘と、その小娘が連れてきた宦官の医者のせいだ。
明が最初に小娘を見た際には、
しかししばらくして改めて見ると、明らかに慧ではないと落胆する。
確かに二人は似たような青っぽい髪であるけれども、思えば世の中にあの髪色の人間が慧一人のはずもなし。
慧にだって親兄弟がいて、そのまた親兄弟がいて、そのまた親兄弟......と、つまり大勢の青い髪の人間が世の中にはいるのだ。
その中の一人が、たまたま宮女になりに都に出てくるのはあり得ることだ。
慧とてその手合いで都に出てきたのだから。
――あんな怖い女と慧を間違うだなんて、我ながらどうかしている。あれはきっと、酒が見せた幻だ。
そう結論付ける明だが、ちなみにその小娘とはっきりとした意識で相対したのは二度切りで、二度目も酒が抜けていく際の揺り戻しで集中力が極端に減少していた。
そのせいで、小娘の実際の容姿がではどのようなものであったか? ということは、よく見ていなかったりするのだが。
まあ、この話はともかくとして。
明にはあの宦官の医者のことにも不満がある。
現在明が薬を貰っている医者は宦官医者の師匠であり、その医者に引き合わされる際に、あの小娘と宦官医者があることないことをペラペラと吹き込んだのだ。
医者とはもっと出来た人間なのだと考えていたのに、あの小娘の悪ふざけを止めないなんて、どうかしているとしか思えない。
いや、あることないことというか、あること「たまに」あること、かもしれない。
――けれど、連中が言うほど自分は酷くない、はずだ、たぶん。
明はそう己に言い訳をしながら、行きたくなさ故に重たい足を引きずりながら、医院へ向かっていると。
「うん?」
明は道すがらに倒れている男を見つけた。
「おうぃ、どうしたぁ?」
明が声をかけるも、反応はない。しかし生きてはいるようではある。
身なりはボロボロで、長旅をしてきたのがわかる程に汚れていた。
――さて、なぁ......。
明はこの男をこのまま放っておくのもどうかと思い、どうせ向かうのだからと男を背負って医院へと向かう。
That day, Ming visited a eunuch physician in order to get some medicine.
When he was just a child, he broke his leg while playing. He could still vividly remember the pain of the medical treatment and how frightened he was of the doctor, so that probably made him deeply hate doctors.
On top of being watched by General Li, he also received a letter with the words "your duty is to nurture yourself back to health so that you can once again return to serve", personally written by the emperor.
With things reaching to this extent, he could no longer say the excuse that he wanted to run away because he was scared of doctors.
If he did say those things, General Li would definitely march into his house, take him away and tie him to the doctor's bed.
And so, he requested to get all the medicine he needed until he could fully recover all at once. However, the physician dispensing the medicine only gave him enough for a few days, and told him to "come here and get the medicine from me yourself".
He probably wanted to see Ming's progress every few days, and whether he was really devoutly following his medical treatment plan
He didn't trust Ming, apparently.
And all of this was due to --
'@&$#(*, that wench!'
Ming inwardly cursed.
Everything was that all because of that meddlesome wench who came with General Li, and the eunuch physician that she took with her.
Ming initially thought that Hui was brought back from the dead when he first laid his eyes on that wench.
However, when he looked at her anew after a while, he discovered that she was not Hui, much to his disappointment.
It was true that both of them had bluish hair, but then, when he thought about it, Hui was probably not the only one who had blue hair in this wide world.
Hui also had her own set of parents and siblings, and those people also have theirs, and so on... in short, there were definitely many people with bluish hair in this world.
Thus, it was understandable that one of them coincidently entered the capital and became a court lady.
Even Hui entered the capital with the same circumstances, after all.
'Something must be wrong with me, mistaking that scary wench with Hui. It was just an illusion caused by wine.'
That's the conclusion that Ming arrived at, but then, he only met her twice when he was conscious, and his concentration had been extremely low because of the shaking of his body brought about by drunkenness. Because of that, if someone asked him 'what does that girl look like?', he wouldn't be able to answer because he hadn't seen her appearance properly.
And thus, he didn't even notice that the girl's eyes were blue.
Anyway, this story must be set aside for now.
Ming was also dissatisfied with that eunuch physician.
The physician giving Ming's medicine happened to be that eunuch physician's master. That wench and that eunuch physician blabbered on and on about everything when they introduced this person to Ming.
He had regarded physicians to be people with ability, but they must be nuts for allowing that wench to continue on with her evil antics.
Ah, rather than trying to pinpoint whether that was indeed true or not, maybe it was just something that occasionally happened.
'Still, my body isn't as bad as they say, I'm pretty sure, probably."
Ming was still trying to convince himself with that excuse while dragging his feet unwillingly. He trudged on towards the clinic
"Hm?"
Ming discovered a man lying along the road.
"Hey, what happened?"
Ming called out to him, but there was no response. Nevertheless, it seemed that he was still alive.
His entire body was ragged and extremely dirty, and he could easily see that this guy must have traveled a long way.
'Well, now...'
Ming couldn't leave this guy alone, and because he was already on his way to the clinic, he decided that he might as well carry him on his back and head there.
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