Manga Chapter 006

## The Garden Banquet ①

**The Garden Banquet ①** (園遊会 (その①), *Enyuukai (Sono ①)*?) is the sixth chapter of Nekokurage's *Kusuriya no Hitorigoto* manga.

## Summary

When Maomao left her room to do her daily tasks, she found the atmosphere of the Jade Pavilion oddly chaotic. She then came upon Yinghua who presented her a dress. After putting on the dress, Yinghua and the rest of the maids begin to explain to Maomao that she needed the dress for the Winter Garden Party. It is an event where the emperor invites his civil and military officials along with his high consorts to a garden feast. Since Lady Gyokuyou only has a few lady attendants, Maomao is expected to attend as well.

Hearing that she's going to attend the Garden Party, Maomao decided to make preparation for the cold. She sewed an under garment filled with pockets so that she can stuff warm rocks inside to warm herself. It is a technique that poor people utilizes to remain warm over the winter. Upon learning of this, all the maids and court official within the Jade Pavilion and even those that are outside begin to bombard Maomao with requests for her to make one for them as well. With her days filled with requests, Maomao wasn't able to prepare for anything else before the Garden Party came.

On the day of the party, Lady Gyokuyou was dressed up by her maids elegantly with a magnificent red dress and flashy decor. She then went to her jewelry box and gave each of her maids a jewelry that signifies her symbol. It is a symbol to show that they are her attendant and anyone messing with them will be messing with her. Of course, Maomao is included in this as well. Although Maomao herself didn't know what the jewelry signifies. The jewelry that Maomao obtain from Lady Gyokuyou was a gold necklace decorated with jade. With the jewelry done, next is the cosmetic. Yinghua and the other maids excitedly hover over Maomao as they smile in delight. But upon wiping her face, they discovered that Maomao's freckles were fake. And that the muddy look that Maomao has put on all this entire time was actually a ruse.

While Maomao and the maids prepare for the Garden Party, Jinshi was roaming around the inner palace, visiting all the high consort as he goes. As the manager of the inner palace, Jinshi is obligated to be impartial and fair to all the high consorts. But lately, he's been visiting the Jade Pavilion a lot. Not because he fancy Lady Gyokuyou but because he fancy the newly appointed maid that has been selected there. As Jinshi quickly greets Lady Gyokuyou and Princess Rinrii, he made his way to Maomao who left him in awe.

The Maomao whose face was filled with freckles now has the charm of a dazzling princess. Seeing her like that left Jinshi speechless for a moment. After regaining his composure, Jinshi made an off comment about how good the make up that she had on was. That is when Maomao explained to Jinshi that her current look is because she took the make up off. She explains to him that not all make ups are for the purpose of looking pretty and that her freckles were fake. When Jinshi asked why she would put on fake freckles, she explained that it was for protective measures. The Red Light District is filled with bad men who will rape defenseless women. If she has the appearance of an ugly woman, the chance of her getting rape will be low.

Worried, Jinshi asked if Maomao has ever been raped. Maomao replied that it was only attempted. But then she replied that instead of being raped, she was kidnapped and sold into the inner palace instead. Jinshi apologizes in reply for having a hand in her kidnap. Seeing Jinshi's sad expression, Maomao casually reply that it wasn't his fault. Even though it is illegal to kidnap people for sell, it is legal to sell a person if that person was your child. And even if you were to get kidnap and sold, unless the person who buys you report it, no measure is taken. Such is the situation that Maomao has found herself in.

After listening to her story, Jinshi remove his hairpin and place it into Maomao's hair. With a blushed face, he told her that she can have it and quickly left. After Jinshi left, Maomao removes the hairpin was stuck into her head to exam it. It was a high class fancy ornament made for males. She then look towards Yinghua and the rest of the maid servants who looked like they wanted the hair pin for themselves. Seeing their expression, Maomao didn't hesitate to offer the hair pin but the dilemma is that there was only one hairpin and there was three of them.

Seeing that Maomao is giving the hairpin away, Hongniang quickly steps in to prevent Maomao from doing so. For the hairpin is not only a present but also Jinshi's symbol. Seeing that Maomao has received a jewelry from Jinshi, Lady Gyokuyou slowly steps forward to tie the hairpin into Maomao's hair. Lady Gyokuyou then made a sad smile towards Maomao, saying that now, Maomao is not only her attendant anymore. Maomao, who still didn't understand the significant of these jewelry, can only speculate to herself as they left for the Garden Party.

## Characters

* Maomao
* Hongniang
* Yinghua
* Gyokuyou
* Jinshi
* Gaoshun
* Guiyuan
* Ailan
* Lishu
* Kanan
* Ah-Duo