163話 結局、どういうことだ?
ここまでの隣の部屋の様子を見た
「いや、あの宮妓は徐に可愛がられている妹分だと聞いた覚えがあるのだが......」
「そうなんですか?」
雨妹の目には今のところ、あの宮妓と徐がそんな愛し愛されの関係にはとてもではないが見えない。
「御前に出たところで、陛下に所望されるのはアイツが作った曲ばかり!
彼女は卓を叩いて蹴ってと騒ぎながら叫ぶ。
――徐さんは、作曲もするのかぁ。
雨妹は「すごいなぁ」と感心した直後に、違和感を覚えた。
徐は手が痛んで琵琶が弾けなくても、そちらの仕事ができるのであれば教坊も邪険にしないだろう。
けど初めて雨妹が徐と会った時、ごみ捨て場で腹を空かせていた。
「アイツはいいわよね、手が動かなくなったっていうのが、衰えのいい理由になって!
こうやってがなり立てる宮妓はまだまだ徐への悪口を続けているが、同じ話を何度も繰り返すようになり、新しい情報はさっぱり出てこなくなる
あの宮妓にそれだけの自信があるのであれば、誰を憚ることなく堂々と胸を張っていればいい。
けれど、それができないなんらかの引け目があるからこそ、ケシ汁煙草による多幸感に溺れてしまったのだろう。
もしくは、彼女が完璧主義であったかだ。
他人が実力を認めていても、自分自身が想定している実力を越えていないと満足できないという人もまた、心の弱り目に付け入る輩に狙われやすいものだ。
ケシ汁煙草にさえ出会わなければ、彼女は琵琶師として輝いていたのだろうに。
それを想うと雨妹は憐れに思う。
「あれ以上話が進展しそうにないな、ああも会話にならないのでは益にならん」
そう言って「フン」と鼻を鳴らす男に、雨妹は注意を促す。
「あの方はだんだん暴れ方が酷くなっていますから、ケシ汁が切れてきて禁断症状が出始めているんじゃないですかね?」
そうであったならば、このままさらに時間が経つと退薬症状が出てもっと酷いことになってしまう。
指笛を鳴らし、この音が聞こえたらしいあちらの部屋の刑部の人たちが一斉に動き出し、宮妓を再び拘束してしまう。
「ああ放すさ、牢の中でな」
抵抗する宮妓に、そう刑部の人が応じる。どうやら彼女は牢行きであるようだ。
楊とも中毒者の拘束には牢に入れるしかないのではないか? という話になったことだし、罪人の拘束という意味合いも相まって一石二鳥なのかもしれない。
Chapter 163
Yui Mei said 'hmm', deep in thought after witnessing the situation in the other room.
"No, if I remember it correctly, Xu doted on that palace courtesan, treating her as a sister..."
"Really?"
With things currently being like this, she couldn't believe that Xu and that palace courtesan had such a loving relationship, no matter how much she looked at it.
"His Majesty would only request the songs that person made whenever I perform before him! I'm just a substitute for her in the end. Do you know how great this humiliation is!?"
The woman shrieked while hitting the table, kicking and making a racket.
'So Xu also wrote music, huh...'
Yui Mei was filled with awe while thinking how amazing she was. But she recalled her uneasiness.
Even if Xu couldn't play the lute because her hands hurt, the Jiaofang shouldn't have any reason to maltreat her if she could also write songs for her job.
However, she was obviously famished the first time Yui Mei saw her at the dumping site.
"That woman has it easy, saying her hands can't move anymore and using that as a good reason for her decline! It's just an excuse for sure! Just hurry up and retire already if you're getting old and you're no longer skilled! She kept hanging on, forever lording over me, I'm so fed up! I'm the number one performer now!!"
The woman kept on screeching insults towards Xu, but she was just repeating the same things over and over again, so they couldn't get any new information.
If that palace courtesan was really confident with her skills, then she should've just held her head high without mulling over what others say.
However, if she couldn't do that, then it's precisely because she had that sense of inferiority that she relied on the poppy juice tobacco to drown in euphoria.
Otherwise, she must be a perfectionist.
Even if other people recognized her skills, she would be unsatisfied with herself if she couldn't cross the skills that she had assumed she possessed. Such people were susceptible to being taken advantage of by other people during their times of weakness.
She should have been a brilliant lute player if she didn't encounter the poppy juice tobacco.
Yui Mei was filled with pity at the thought.
"I don't think we're going to get much further than this. They can no longer hold a conversation so it's useless."
The man snorted. Yui Mei then gave a warning to him.
"That person is becoming more violent, so the poppy juice must've run out and she's starting to exhibit withdrawal symptoms, don't you think?"
In that case, the longer this went on, it would turn into a more terrible situation as she displayed drug withdrawal symptoms.
He then whistled with his fingers, and the Ministry of Justice men in the other room apparently heard it, because they simultaneously moved to restrain the palace courtesan once again.
"Yeah, will let you go inside the prison."
The person from the Ministry of Justice replied when the palace courtesan resisted. She would be taken to prison, it seemed.
Didn't Yang also mentioned that the the only way to restrain those addicts would be to put them in jail? In that case, this might be killing two birds with one stone, since they would also detain the criminals at the same time.
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