9話 呪いとはなんぞや?
「妃の元へ間に合ってくれて嬉しいよ、
太子はそう言うと、熱で顔を赤くしている女の頬を優しく撫でた。
――この人、太子殿下の妃嬪なのか。
は女の正体に納得する。
考えてみれば女が溺れていた所は、太子宮だと教えられた場所に近かった気がする。
「こちらが先んじられて、本当によかったです」
を太子が振り返り、驚きの発言をした。
「陳先生、彼女をここで預かってもらえないだろうか」
子良は眉をひそめる。
「宮に連れ帰らないんで?」
「連れ帰っても、世話する者がいなければ可哀想なことになる」
子良の疑問に、太子が表情を陰らせた。
――世話する人がいない?
頭を上げる間がわからずにずっと下を向いていた雨妹は、「そんなわけないだろう」と内心ツッコむ。
「呪いのせい、でございますか?」
「そう、忌々しいことにね」
一人話についていけない雨妹は、とうとう顔を上げた。
「あの、さっきから言ってる呪いってなんですか?」
「なんだお前、知らないのか?」
「最近入った上に初っ端から忙しくて、井戸端会議に参加する暇がなかったんです」
呪いについて知らないと言われた子良が驚いた顔をするのに、雨妹は正直に答える。
子良が大きく息を吐いて、語ってくれた内容によると、そもそもの始まりは風邪の大流行だという。
「この冬の時期に風邪が流行るのは毎年のことだが、今年のは酷くてな」
いつもの風邪にくらべて高熱になりがちで、全身の倦怠感や吐き気を訴える者が多いらしい。
「出入りの商人が持ち込んだ風邪が、あっという間に広まったのさ」
それでも医局で事前に風邪の薬を大量に用意していたらしいが、その薬の効きが悪く、それも流行の歯止めができない要因だという。
――ちょっと待ってよ、なんか覚えがある流れじゃない?
子良の話を纏めると、今年の風邪は感染度が高くて重症化しやすく、主な症状は風邪よりもひどい高熱に倦怠感に吐き気。
これはまさに、インフルエンザの症状ではなかろうか。
風邪は接触感染なのに比べて、インフルエンザは場合によっては空気感染もあり得るので、広がるのは一瞬である。
「それで、呪いの話はどこから出たんですか?」
前世の日本だって、大昔に病気は鬼の仕業だとされていた時代があったが、この崔の国はそれよりも近代的で、医療もそれなりに発達している。
この雨妹の疑問に、子良が肩を竦めた。
「熱に浮かされておかしな行動をとるのは、医者の間では昔から報告されていることだ。
「そこにしゃしゃり出てきた道士たちが『呪いだ』と言い立てて、皇太后陛下がその意見を支持したんだよ」
――うわぁ、最悪な人!
雨妹は内心の吐露をなんとか喉元で寸止めした。
皇太后とは皇帝の母、後宮の女たちの頂点にいる人である。
――むしろその助かった人って、早く薬を飲めていれば軽い症状で済んだんじゃないの?
さらに悪いことに、道士に呪いと認定されるのが怖くて、症状が出ても隠しておき、手遅れになって発見される例が増えているという。
「そのせいで、薬が間に合えば死ななくてもよかったであろう者が、大勢死んでいる」
おかげで宮城全体がインフルエンザで大打撃を受け、いろいろなことが機能していない状況らしい。
――道理で慌てて宮女を集めるはずだよ。
今回の宮女募集は美女狩り的なものではなかったのだ。
Chapter 9
"I am glad that you reached the consort just in time, Doctor Chen."
The crown prince gently stroked the face of the woman, which had turned red with fever.
'So this person is the crown prince's concubine.'
Yui Mei grasped the true identity of the woman.
Now that she thought about it, the place where the woman drowned was near the crown prince palace, or so she was taught.
"We are also gratefully relieved. It was all due to this person's foresight."
The crown prince turned his head in surprise at Ziliang as he replied with a solemn expression.
"Doctor Chen, can she stay here?"
Ziliang knit his brows.
"Your Highness will not bring her back to the palace?"
"Even if I did, no one would be there to take care of her. She will be pitiful."
The crown prince's face clouded over upon hearing Ziliang's question.
'Nobody will take care of her?'
Yui Mei had no idea when to straighten up, so she had bowed her head all this time.
"Is it because of the curse?"
"Yes, a very troublesome matter, indeed."
Yui Mei, who was not supposed to interrupt, couldn't keep it anymore. She raised her head.
"Excuse me, what is this curse that you had been talking about since a while ago?"
"Why, you didn't know about it?"
"I just entered the palace, and have been very busy from the start, so I don't have the time to join in idle gossip."
The crown prince was stunned that she didn't know about the curse, so Yui Mei answered him honestly. The eunuchs were stupefied at her ignorance, while the crown prince looked at her with deep interest. She exasperatedly thought that they were too strict; it was true that she was very busy until yesterday, so she couldn't help it.
Apparently, it all started in a large outbreak of colds.
"We always have an outbreak of colds yearly at winter time, but this year was exceptionally harsh."
The fever was higher, and most of the patients experienced fatigue and nausea. To make matters worse, it turned into pneumonia, and many commoners died due to delayed treatment. They tried to prevent the cold from spreading into the Inner Palace through strict control, but it was as if this epidemic had a life of its own. There was no way humans could completely control it.
"The regular merchants brought the colds, and in a blink of an eye, it spread."
The clinic had already prepared large amounts of medicine for the common cold, but they were ineffective. They couldn't eradicate the primary cause. They were currently trying to mass-produce a drug that effectively treats the symptoms.
'Wait, isn't this familiar?'
To summarize Ziliang's story, this year's infection was worse, and it was easy to exacerbate the condition. Symptoms included fevers that were higher than normal, fatigue and nausea. If it worsens, it would turn into pneumonia, and there had been casualties among the commoners. Cold medicines were not effective, and abnormal behavior could be observed.
'Isn't these the symptoms of influenza?'
Colds were transmitted through hand contact, whereas influenza infection could be an airborne infection, so its spread was instantaneous. The reason why those medicines were ineffective was because it was a different disease altogether. Be it western or Chinese traditional medicine, colds and influenza were treated differently.
"Then where did that story about the curse come from?"
In her previous world's Japan, there was also an era when people blamed ogres for the spread of diseases. However, this Sai Kingdom was relatively more modern than that period, and medical care was considerably developed.
Ziliang shrugged his shoulders at Yui Mei's query.
"It was already known that when a patient has high fever, he may exhibit abnormal behavior. This knowledge has been passed down among physicians since a long time ago. However, those folks can't get used to it, and they thought it was creepy. That bunch of idiots made a ruckus, saying they were possessed, and the story spread."
"And then those Taoists came butting in, saying it was a curse, and the empress dowager supported their claim."
'Whoah, what a horrid person!'
Yui Mei stopped herself from voicing her true opinions.
The empress dowager was the mother of the emperor, and she stood at the pinnacle of the imperial harem. Apparently, she was a devout person, and had always participated in religious activities.
'If they just gave them the right medicine promptly, then wouldn't their symptoms be mild, instead?'
To make matters worse, people were terrified of being acknowledged by the Taoists as having the curse. The number of people hiding their symptoms increased, so many were discovered too late.
"Because of that, a large number of people who could have recovered had they taken the medicine died."
The Imperial Palace sustained heavy damage due to the influenza, and a lot of places stopped operating. Of course, the Inner Palace also lacked manpower.
'It's no wonder they were anxiously gathering court ladies.'
So the court lady selection was not done to lure beauties into the palace. Yui Mei's misgivings about her father being a womanizer somewhat eased, and she was a little bit relieved.
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