よ、とりあえず落ち着けや」
「ひいぃ、すまねぇ、すまねぇ」
将軍が声をかけても、全く立ち直らない。
どうやらこの場をどうにかするのは、
――仕方ないなぁ、もう。
雨妹は明の側まで行くと、両足を軽く広げて踏ん張り、その背中を前に大きく息を吸う。
「立ちなさぁーい!!」
雨妹のドスのきいている腹の底からの怒鳴り声が、室内に響き渡る。
「ひぃっ!?」
明が反射的といった様子で、涙と鼻水でグシャグシャな顔ながらも立ち上がった。
「よろしい」
それを見た雨妹は満足そうに頷く。
前世でどんなパニック状態でも一発で鎮めてみせた看護師長の一声は、今世でもちゃんと効くようだ。
李将軍は突然の大声で耳鳴りがするようで、しきりに頭を振っている。
けれど老女はなにかを察知したのか、いつのまにか部屋の外へと避難していた。
明は立ち上がったものの、何故自分が立ち上がったのか分からないらしく、きょとんとした顔をしている。
そして雨妹の方を見たのだが、もう先程のように怯えたりしない。
雨妹の怒鳴り声が怯えを吹き飛ばしてしまったのかもしれない。
「まず言っておきますが、私はその慧とやらではありません。
腕を組んでビシッと言い放つ雨妹に、明は呆気にとられている。
そして前回訪れた際もそうだったが、李将軍はこの
なにせ母は後宮という閉ざされた場所で生活していたのだから、会える相手は限られていたはず。
むしろ後宮に立彬として出入りしている立勇や、皇帝のお忍びのお供で出会った明が稀なのだ。
「私は楊おばさんの部下で、ただの新人下っ端宮女です」
「楊の、部下? 違う?
まずは今更の自己紹介をすると、ようやくこちらの言葉が耳に届いた明は戸惑っているが、雨妹はまた恐慌状態にならないようにと畳みかけるように語る。
「聞きましたよあなたの事情は。
「お前さん、辺境から......」
驚く明に、雨妹はさらに続ける。
「それに私は話に聞いたような境遇の女性を知っているという知り合いの話を、辺境で聞いたことがございます」
そう切り出したことに、明のみならず李将軍までもが、呆気にとられていた。
――これぞ話をする時の必殺技、『友達の話なんだけど』よ!
この話はあくまで、雨妹の知り合いの話。
先だってのあの宦官、
戸惑う男たちを前に、雨妹は語る。
「その知り合いが言うには、珍しくも辺境に余所の土地からやってきた女性が、尼寺にいらっしゃったそうです。
それは想像したこともない幸せであったそうです。
雨妹がざっくりと話した母の人生に、明の目が暗く沈む。
しかし、雨妹の話の本題はここからだ。
「その女性は辺境の尼寺で親身になってくれた尼に、こう申したそうです。
「なんと、なんという......!」
声を振り絞るようにして嘆く明に、雨妹は「しかし!」と叫ぶ。
「私は、その女性を可哀想だと思うと同時に、愚かだと思います。
雨妹はこれまで誰にも、尼たちにすら言えなかった母に対する憤りを、静かな声ながらも強い口調で告げる。
李将軍が目を見開いてそう漏らす。
明は声も出せずに、ポカンと口を開けて呆けている。
"Oy, Ming, calm down first."
"Hiii, sorry, sorry!"
He didn't come back to his senses even if General Li called him out.
In the end, the task of getting things under control fell on Yui Mei.
'Argh, can't be helped, then.'
Yui Mei approached Ming. She spread her feet and planted them firmly on the ground behind him, then she took a deep breath.
"STAND UP!!!"
Yui Mei roared threateningly with a deep voice, and her yell resounded throughout the entire mansion.
"Hiii!!"
Ming reflexively stood up, his face still messy with tears and snot.
"Good."
Yui Mei nodded, satisfied.
The head nurse's roar that could silence anyone in just a single attempt -- no matter how much of a chaos the situation was -- seemed to be effective in this world, too.
General Li was shaking his head heavily, apparently from the buzzing of ears that he got from the sudden roar.
The old woman, on the other hand, had already escaped outside. She probably sensed something would happen, as expected of the wisdom of age.
Although Ming stood up, he apparently didn't know the reason why he did, because he had a blank look on his face.
He also caught sight of Yui Mei once again, but he no longer trembled in fear like before.
All the terror must have been blown away after Yui Mei shouted.
"I'm saying this once and for all, I'm not that Hui or whatnot that you're talking about. Don't go around getting scared just because you mistook me for someone else, you're being a nuisance!"
Yui Mei crossed her arms and retorted, and Ming was taken aback.
General Li, on the other hand, couldn't seem to find the connection between the name Hui and Yui Mei's appearance. That was also the case when they first visited this place together.
Well, it was understandable, given that her mother lived in the Inner Palace, and the people she met were only limited.
Li Yong entered the Inner Palace by masquerading as Libin while she met Ming because he was the shadow guard of the emperor, but both of them were rare cases.
"I am just a novice low-ranking court lady and subordinate of Aunty Yang."
"Yang's subordinate? Different? Ah, now that you mention it, you're young...?"
Yui Mei's belated introduction finally reached the ears of the confused Ming. She then continued chattering nonstop in order to prevent Ming from having another panic attack.
"I heard about your situation. I heard how you escorted His Majesty the Emperor's Beauty to the borderland nunnery no matter what. It must have been a very difficult journey, given that the road that leads to the borderland from the capital is really terrible. I know, since I am from there."
"You came from the borderland..."
Ming was shocked but Yui Mei continued on.
"Back when I was still in the borderland, I also heard about a woman who had the same circumstances as the beauty in the story, and it was from somebody who knew that woman."
Both Ming and even General Li were taken aback by her sudden revelation.
'Of course, when I'm telling the story I have to use that special move -- "It's the story of my friend"!'
Thus, this story would then belong to somebody she knew.
It was the same technique that Du, the Eunuch, used earlier.
Yui Mei continued on in front of the stupefied men.
"According to that acquaintance, a woman came to the nunnery and she was from a place that was far from the borderland, which was pretty unusual. She was a person of lowly background, but by a stroke of good fortune, she entered the eyes of a noble person, and she also gave birth to his child.
That happiness was more than she could imagine.
Ming's eyes dimmed while Yui Mei told the story of her mother.
However, the main issue of Yui Mei's story started from here on.
"That woman told this to the nun that she became friends with. "I don't want to continue living like this, because I might eventually hate that person, so I want to carry this happiness within me forever", that's what she said. After a few days, she took her own life, so they said."
"What, what the...!!!"
Ming moaned as if he's straining his voice, when Yui Mei shouted "BUT!!"
"That woman is pitiful, but at the same time, I think she's a fool. Why did she decide that she would never be happy again? Was her child, who was definitely with her at that time, not enough to bring her happiness? Maybe that child could have brought her joy that would withstand all the pain of the past, and yet."
Yui Mei had never told anyone, not even the nuns, about her feelings of resentment towards her mother, but she did so now, in a quiet but firm voice.
General Li muttered, his eyes also widening.
Ming was thoroughly taken aback, and his jaw dropped wordlessly.
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