129話 冬到来
中秋節が終わったら、冬が駆け足でやって来る。
「うー、さぶっ!」
は突然吹き抜けた北風に、ブルリと震える。
寒いけれども、ここでは住まいもすき間風がビュウビュウであるわけでもないし、綿入りの服もあるので、麻の服を着ていた辺境での冬に比べると快適なのだが。
辺境での暮らしだと綿が手に入らず、防寒と言えば毛皮であった雨妹は、百花宮で今生初の綿入り服を手に入れることができた。当然、自作である。
この国では都などの人の大勢集まる場所だと既製服が売られているものの、他の里では防寒着も含めて服というと自作である。
そのため百花宮では、実家から送られてきた綿入りの服を喜んだり、逆に実家の家族に贈る綿入りの服を作ったりで、誰もがせわしなかった。
雨妹は家族と綿入り服のやり取りをしている宮女たちを見ていると、「家族っていいなぁ」とちょっぴり羨ましい気持ちが湧き上がらなくもないものの。
立彬が「これを使え」と綿を持って来たのは、辺境育ちの雨妹のことを「コイツ、この冬を毛皮で過ごすのでは?」と心配されたわけではないはずだ。
ちなみに辺境から着てきた毛皮は、都だと着ないことはわかっていたので、全て再利用に回してしまったのだが。(※書籍1巻参照)
その再利用品の一つが、雨妹の腰のあたりにぶら下がっていた。
小さな入れ物になっていて、中に温石が入るようになっている。
「はぁ~、温かい。これを思い付いた私ってばエラくない?」
雨妹は自画自賛しながら、中の温石でホカホカになっている毛皮に頬ずりする。
温石入れを毛皮で作ったら、ものすごく温かいのでは? という考えは当たったのだ。
温石が零れ出ないように釦で留めてあるので安全だし、これを腰にあたるように腰布に挟めば全身が温まる。
元の毛皮で色々作って余った端切れだが、有効活用できてなによりだ。
小さな三角耳をつけて、鼻や口の刺繍をして狼っぽくしているのが要点だった。
そんなわけで、今世の冬では最高に暖かい格好をしている雨妹だが、それでも首筋を襲う風の冷たさはいかんともしがたく。
その上、北風に翻弄される落ち葉に手間取らされながら、やっと掃除を終えた。
「は~、冬の掃除は大変だなぁ」
拭き掃除に使う水は冷たいのも難点だし、とにかく落ち葉が嵩張って仕方ない。
早く落ち葉が落ち切ってしまうのを祈るばかりだ。
――ま、落ち葉で焼き芋をするっていう楽しみもあるんだけどね!
雨妹は一人でにんまりと笑う。
早速落ち葉を燃やそうと、空き地に向かう。
ちなみに、落ち葉ゴミなどを燃やすための空き地は、百花宮のあちらこちらにあったりする。
なにせ広大な敷地な上に、ゴミを運ぶのに前世のように便利な収集車などなく人力なので、掃除区画ごとに設置されていないと間に合わないのだ。
その内の一つに、雨妹は落ち葉を抱えてやってきたのだが。
――およ?
そこには、先客の女がいた。
こういう場所を使うのは、雨妹のような掃除係か、各宮のごみ捨て係くらいだろう。
そして今雨妹がいるのはどの宮からも遠い庭園のど真ん中で、ゆえに誰かとかち合うことなどないはずなのだが。
けれど実際、こうして先客がいて、しかも掃除係でもごみ捨て係でもなさそうだ。
なにしろ、宮女ではなさそうなのだから。
そこにいたのは格好が宮女のお仕着せではない、それでいて女官でも妃嬪でもない女だった。
Chapter 129
Winter was fast approaching once the autumn season ended.
"Ugh-- so cold!"
Yui Mei shivered when the cold north wind blew suddenly.
It was cold, but it was not that drafty, and her clothes were made from cotton, unlike the linen that she wore in the borderlands, so this winter was more pleasant compared to the ones she spent there.
It was only here at the Hundred Blossom Palace that she obtained cotton for the first time in her life; back in the borderlands, she couldn't get cotton so she made do with pelts as protective wear against the winter cold. These were handmade, of course.
In urban places where a lot of people gathered, ready-made clothes were frequently sold, but in the other villages, all clothes were handmade, including winter wear.
Therefore, most of the people in the Hundred Blossom Palace were busy preparing cotton winter wear for their families back in the villages, or else were happily receiving them from their natal home.
Yui Mei watched the court ladies who either give or receive cotton clothes from their families, and she felt a pang of envy, thinking "having a family is so nice". Regardless, instead of dwelling on that, she knew she should be grateful to her sincere acquaintance who gave her the cotton.
When Libin brought the cotton cloth to Yui Mei, he told her to use it. It certainly wasn't because he thought that "is this girl going to spend the winter in pelts?", because she grew up in the borderlands.
By the way, she already knew she couldn't wear those pelts in the capital, so she recycled all of them.
One of those recycled pieces dangled on the level of her waist.
It was a pouch with a heated stone inside.
"Haa~, so warm. Aren't I such a bright girl for coming up with this?"
Yui Mei was singing her own praises as she rubbed her cheeks with the fur pouch that had been warmed by the heated stone inside it.
If I make a fur pouch for the heated stone, won't it be super warm? -- that was her idea, and she was right.
She put a button to secure the stone inside, and inserted it in her loincloth so that it would be at her waist, warming her entire body.
It was just a scrap of cloth left from after she finished making various things out of the original pelt, but she was happy that it turned into something useful.
The highlight of the pouch was the tiny triangle ears and the nose and mouth that she embroidered to make it look like a wolf.
And so, this winter was the warmest for Yui Mei thanks to the clothes that she wore, although the cold wind chilled her bare neck and it was quite unbearable.
Moreover, it took a lot of time and effort sweeping all the fallen leaves that had been tossed around by the north wind, and finally, she was done with her cleaning duty.
"Haa~ cleaning duty is so hard during winter, huh."
The water used for cleaning was freezing, and it couldn't be helped that the fallen leaves were all piled up together, at any rate.
She could only pray for the leaves to finish falling.
'Oh well, it's also fun looking forward to roasting sweet potatoes with the fallen leaves!'
Yui Mei grinned broadly on her own.
She headed towards a vacant place so that she could burn the fallen leaves at once.
By the way, there were vacant lots for burning fallen leaves throughout the Hundred Blossom Palace.
Aside from the vast area,  they had to manually collect all the garbage because there were no convenient garbage trucks like those in her past life, so they wouldn't be able to make it unless they set a designated place for each cleaning block.
Yui Mei finally reached one of those places while carrying the fallen leaves on her arms.
'Oh?'
A woman was already there.
The people who usually used this place were either housekeepers like Yui Mei, or else the person-in-charge for throwing trash in each palace.
Right now, Yui Mei was in the middle of the garden, far from any of the palaces and residences, so it was highly unlikely that she would bump into anyone else.
However, there was actually somebody else here, and she didn't seem like she was a cleaner or a person in charge of garbage disposal.
She didn't look like she was a court lady, after all.
The lady wasn't dressed in the uniform of the court ladies, nor was she wearing the garb of palace maids. She wasn't donned in the outfits of a concubine, either.
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