151話 どこから来たもの?
***
が「くれぐれも身辺に気を付けて」と注意を促し、立勇は付き添って送り帰すようにと申し付けられた。
雨妹が発見したモノの危険度から、どこで誰に見られたかわからないので、安全に気を配るに越したことはないという考えなのだろう。
そんなわけで立勇が雨妹を送り届けている間に、明賢は雨妹との話で押していた予定を大急ぎでこなしていたようだ。
立勇が戻ってくると、室内は結構な散らかりようであった。
とりあえず見苦しくない程度に室内を片付けたところで、
ちなみにあの箱の中に入ったケシ汁の燃えかすは、貴重な証拠物ということで、臭いが漏れないように二重に箱に入れて保管している。
「は、特に誰かにつけられることもなく、普通に行って帰ってまいりました」
立勇の報告に、明賢が眉をひそめる。
「それはよかったけれど、拍子抜けなのが不気味でもあるね」
明賢の懸念に、立勇も頷く。
一体誰が宮妓に危険なものを渡したのか、そこが問題であるからだ。
さらに、明賢が疑問を口にした。
「雨妹の説明を聞く分だと、都の近辺の里でケシ汁を作っている可能性は低いのかな?」
これに、立勇は考えながら意見を述べる。
「相当大規模に花を育てる必要があるようですし、そのような広大なケシ花畑があったら、食べられもしないのにと噂になりそうなものかと思われます」
立勇の言葉を聞いて、明賢も同じように考えていたのか否定しない。
「わたくしも、そのような花畑の噂は聞いたことがないですわね」
秀玲も首を捻りながら呟く。
花というものはこの国では、飾るのも庭に植えるのも余裕のある家でしか買われない贅沢品である。
第一、花を植える花壇のある家とは、貴族や裕福な商人の家くらいだ。
普通の家では、花を植える場所があるならば野菜を植えるだろう。
「もしうまくだまして農家に育てさせようとする者がいたとしても、農家からすると花なんて本当に金になるか不明であるのに、臭さで具合を悪くしてまで育てるものかと疑問ですね」
そう話す立勇は、近衛の仕事で城壁内の見回りをするので、多少は市場の動向を知っている。
花を育てることだって、上手く貴族や富裕層相手に商売をすれば、大成功をして大金を得られるだろう。
しかし、農民たちにはそうした花を買う者たちへの伝手がない。
だからといって仲介を商人に頼めば、商人は花を「食べられもしないものだから」という理由で安く買い叩き、それを客に高額で売って大もうけをする流れになるのが目に見えている。
故に、一般的な農家にとって花栽培は「儲からない仕事」であるのだ。
今出回っている花類は、商人がお抱えの農家に野菜のついでに育てさせている物だと聞いたことがある。
そのような事情であるのに、農家がケシ汁の材料である花の栽培に、無知のままで手を出したがるとは思えない。
「安い仕事の上に臭いとなれば、ケシ汁は好んで加工のために育てたいものではないですわね」
「一応国内での製造の可能性にも気を配るとしても、やはり他国から入って来たと考える方がよさそうだ」
明賢がケシ汁について、そう結論付けた。
だが雨妹が言う陳医師の意見だと、ケシ汁は他国からの輸入品だったか。
そのケシ汁を邪な目的のためにひそかに取引するとしても、そのような輸入物の薬を買える者となれば限られるだろう。
――輸入となると、近いのは佳の港か......。
立勇は夏に訪れた佳の街を思い浮かべる。
ケシ汁の中毒者という連中がどのようなものなのかは想像するしかないが、かなりおかしな酔っ払いだというのが近いのかと考えている。
けれど佳でそのように妙におかしな酔っ払いが多いと感じたことはない。
雨妹が言うには、酒でそこまで害がある程に酔うためには、庶民が手に入れられる酒では無理だという。
ならば船乗りたち程度の酒量では問題ないはずで、その上でおかしな連中を見なかったとなると、佳の街でケシ汁のようなものが流通していないという希望に思える。
立勇は佳に長逗留をしたためにそこそこ愛着がわいているので、そこが無事であればいいと願うばかりだ。
Chapter 151
* * *
.Yui Mei said, so Ming Xian warned her to "be more vigilant of your surroundings" before telling Li Yong to take her home.
He probably thought that since they weren't sure whether somebody saw her, it was better to be safe than sorry by being cautious given the danger of the thing that Yui Mei discovered.
And so, while Li Yong sent Yui Mei home, Ming Xian finished the work that he had pushed back for their conversation with great haste.
When Li Yong returned, the room was in a mess with several things scattered around.
After cleaning just enough of it so that the room wouldn't be too unsightly, Xiuling brewed tea and they took a break while continuing their earlier conversation.
By the way, the box that contained the ashes of the poppy juice was placed in another box to prevent the stench from leaking out.
"Yes, no suspicious person seemed to have followed her, and she went home safely."
Ming Xian knitted his brows when he heard Li Yong's report.
"That's good, but this lack of action seems uncanny."
Li Yong also agreed with Ming Xian's concern.
That's because the problem was in the identity of the person who brought such a dangerous thing into the imperial palace.
Ming Xian then voiced out a query.
"Based on Yui Mei's explanation, the probability of poppy juice being manufactured in the capital's neighboring villages should be quite low?"
Li Yong then replied with his opinion on this matter.
"Apparently, there is a need for a spacious land to cultivate those flowers, besides, if somebody did plant a wide field of poppies, gossip should abound because they're planting something that cannot be eaten."
Ming Xian didn't negate what Li Yong said, apparently because he was thinking the same thing.
"Yes, I never heard any rumors of such a flower farm before."
Xiuling also shook her head while mumbling those words.
Flowers were also considered a luxury item in this world, and they could only be bought, planted and used to adorn the gardens by affluent families.
Only the nobility and the wealthy merchants possessed properties with flowerbeds in the first place, after all.
In ordinary homes, people would rather plant vegetables if they had the space to spare for flowers.
"Even if there is somebody cunning enough to trick the farmers into planting these flowers, those commoners will probably be suspicious if the flowers are really worth the money and it will be unsure whether they're going to grow them when their stench is enough to make them sick."
Li Yong would also do rounds within the castle walls as part of his work as an imperial guard, so he was quite knowledgeable about the trends in the marketplace.
Growing flowers could also be a successful venture, fetching a lot of money if the deals with the aristocrats and affluent people were done well.
However, farmers didn't have access to customers who would buy those flowers.
Even so, if the peasants requested a merchant to become the middleman, he would just brush them off and buy their flowers for dirt cheap by reasoning that "these things aren't edible". That merchant would then sell them to customers for a high price, and he would be the one to reap a huge profit.
Consequently, ordinary farmers considered growing flowers to be an "unprofitable, thankless job".
He also heard that the flowers available in the market now were grown in addition to the vegetables by the farmers hired by the merchants.
Under such circumstances, it would be highly unlikely that farmers would want to cultivate the flowers while remaining ignorant about the manufacturing process of poppy juice, especially since it's one of the ingredients.
"If the labor is cheap and the work stinks, folks naturally won't be that eager to grow those flowers for the sake of making poppy juice."
"Even if we are to cautiously consider the possibility of its production within the empire, maybe it's really better to assume that it is came from the other countries."
Ming Xian arrived at that conclusion regarding poppy juice.
According to Yui Mei, Physician Chen believed that this poppy juice was being imported from another country.
Even if people secretly smuggled for evil purposes, the people who could buy imported medicine would be limited to a handful.
'If it's imported, then the nearest place will be the port of Kai, huh...'
Li Yong recalled the city of Kai that he visited during the summer.
He could only imagine how a poppy juice addict would possibly look like, but he remembered seeing a few people who looked like they were strange drunkards.
However, there didn't seem to be many of those in Kai.
Yui Mei said that getting drunk to the point of harming the body shouldn't be possible with the kind of liquor that the commoners could get their hands on.
In that case, then the amount of alcohol that the seafarers consumed shouldn't be a problem. Moreover, they didn't see any crazy people among them, so they could hope that this poppy juice wasn't being circulated among the residents of the city of Kai.
Li Yong also felt some kind of attachment to Kai, having stayed there for an extended period of time, so he also hoped for that place to be safe.
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