は昨日と同じように落ち葉に火をつけながら、ではどうするべきかを考える。
あの女が皇帝のお気に入りなら、太子であればなにかを知っているだろうか? そしてその太子の側近である
のことが思い浮かばなくもないものの、雨妹としてもさすがにあちらに突撃する勇気はなかった。
――アレは回避不可能の天災みたいなものよ、うん!
「よし、立彬様に手紙で聞いてみるかな」
雨妹は焼き芋の出来上がりを待ちながら、そう独りごちるのであった。
というわけで、戻ったら早速手紙を書いて、出した翌日。
なんともう立彬が掃除先まで訪ねてきた。
――ずいぶん早いな、立彬様!?
手紙の回収と反応の速さに、雨妹はビビる。
そして相変わらず仕事先情報を知られていることにもびっくりである。
「雨妹よ、どうしてお前の手紙はこうなのだ?」
そして出会って初っ端から、立彬から苦情をもらってしまった。
「『こうなのだ』とは、なんでしょうか?」
その言わんとすることがわからず首を傾げる雨妹に、立彬がため息を吐くと、懐から紙切れを出した。
「あ、それって私が書いた手紙」
雨妹が指差したその手紙には、「噂の琵琶弾きの宮妓の情報求む」とだけ書かれている。
――うむ、我ながら要点を押さえた簡潔な内容!
「うむうむ」と一人満足顔な雨妹を、立彬がジロリと睨む。
「お前は、軍の通達書でもあるまいし。
しかしどうやら、立彬はこの書き方に不満であるらしい。
「別の者への手紙では、きちんと長文を書いていたではないか。
「だって、詳しくは会って話した方がいいかと思いまして」
立彬の指摘に、雨妹はそう返す。
この違いは、簡単に会えない相手に書くか、気安く会える相手に書くかの違いだと自身でも思う。
立彬はしばし眉間に皺を寄せていたが、やがて「まあいい」と告げる。
「で、なにを聞きたい?
「ふむ、なるほど」
雨妹の話を聞いて、立彬が顎に手を当てて考える仕草をする。
雨妹の推測通り、やはり立彬はあの女の事を知っていた。そして徐子という女の名前もようやくわかる。
「その徐さんって、どういった方かご存知ですか?」
尋ねる雨妹に、立彬が微かに眉を上げる。
「ある時突然素性も知れぬ女が宮妓に加わったという、変わり種だな」
そしてそう告げる立彬に、雨妹は驚く。
――ある時突然って。
雨妹の華流ドラマ知識だと宮妓入りの状況としては、他の氏族から贈り物の一つとしてという場合や、潰れたお家の生き残りの娘である場合だったりであったはずだ。
それがそれらとは違い、素性の知れない者が宮妓になるとは、あるのだろうか?
「......雨妹、お前詳しいな?」
「噂で聞きまして、なにせ宮女はそういう噂に事欠かないものでして」
立彬の追及に、雨妹は笑いながらそう言ってごまかす。
「その徐は、皇帝陛下の一声で百花宮入りが決まったようだ」
「皇帝陛下、ですか」
最近、なにかと雨妹の周辺の会話で名前が上がる人が、ここでも出てきた。
Just like yesterday, Yui Mei lit the dried leaves while contemplating what she should do.
If that woman was a favorite of the emperor, then maybe the crown prince knew a thing or two about her? Libin was a close aide of the crown prince, so he probably had some information about this.
Actually, she couldn't help but think of Eunuch Du since this matter was related to the emperor, but she couldn't muster the courage to charge at him.
'That will be like an inevitable natural calamity waiting to happen, yup!'
"Alright, let's try sending a letter to Libin-sama."
She murmured to herself while carrying the freshly baked sweet potatoes.
And so, she immediately wrote a letter as soon as she returned. The next day --
Libin was already at her working place, surprisingly.
'Aren't you too fast, Libin!?'
Yui Mei was shocked at the speed of the letter delivery and the immediate response.
She was also surprised that he also got the information about the place she was assigned to clean.
"Hey Yui Mei, why is your letter like this, huh?"
And then Libin started complaining right from the get go.
"May I know what you mean by 'like this'?"
Yui Mei looked perplexed, obviously ignorant of what Libin was pointing out, so he just sighed and took the letter out of his bosom pocket.
"Ah, that's the letter that I wrote."
The letter that Yui Mei referred to only contained the words "Asking for information regarding the rumored lute player courtesan".
'Yup, I did a great job of just putting the gist in it, if I say so myself!'
Yui Mei was nodding her head, obviously pleased with herself, so Libin glared at her.
"It's not like you're writing a military directive. There's a better way of writing a letter than this thing."
Libin was not satisfied with it, apparently.
"Didn't you send a proper letter with a better writing style when you wrote to other people before? So why did your words become so curt when it's me you're writing to?"
"Well, I just thought it'd be better if we talked about the details in person."
This was Yui Mei's reply when Libin commented on her letter.
She thought that it was different writing to someone you couldn't easily meet versus writing to a person who was within reach anytime.
Libin scrunched his brows for a while, before giving up, saying "No matter."
"So, what is it that you wanted to ask? What happened for you to be curious about 'the rumored lute player courtesan'?"
"Hmm, I see."
Libin placed his hand on his chin after listening to Yui Mei's story; it was a gesture that he frequently did whenever he was thinking.
Yui Mei's hypothesis was correct; Libin did know something about that woman. He even knew that her name was Xu Zi.
"Do you have any idea what kind of person Miss Xu is?"
Libin raised a brow at Yui Mei's question.
"Oddly enough, a woman with an unknown lineage suddenly became part of the palace courtesans at a certain time."
Yui Mei was surprised to hear what Libin said.
'Suddenly, at a certain time, he said.'
Based on Yui Mei's knowledge of C-drama, women entered the palace to become court courtesans under two circumstances -- either as gifts from other clans, or else they were last surviving daughters of a fallen family.
"So she was not gifted by someone else, nor was she a surviving daughter of some fallen family?"
"...You're familiar with this, Yui Mei?"
"It's just hearsay. Court ladies don't lack those kinds of rumors, after all."
Yui Mei glossed it over with a laugh when Libin tried to probe further.
"So that's also from rumors, huh. Anyway, that Xu was said to have entered the Hundred Blossom Palace just because of a single word from His Majesty the Emperor."
"His Majesty the Emperor, is it."
The person whose name had been coming up in conversations around Yui Mei was also brought up here.
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