In the Land of Qin (5)
"Hm. Not exactly the breathtaking beauty I was expecting."
It was still connected to the river, and something about it felt too ambiguous to call a proper lake.
Still, the water was calm enough that plenty of people were out floating boats for fun.
"Your bathwater, my lady."
"Yes, bring it in."
So Jeomsoi hadn't been the one carrying it after all — apparently there were other maids working here too.
「Splashhh」
"Hah... hah..."
「Splashhh」
"Hoo... hoo..."
「Splashhh」
"Huuuh... huuuh..."
Six of them were hauling it up the stairs, and every one of them looked half a breath from passing out. I'd have to go easy on ordering bathwater from now on.
"That's enough, thank you."
"Hehe. Thank you, my lady."
Half a tub was plenty. I'd just call it a half-bath.
"Go on, hop in."
"The water will cool, so we'll have to keep bringing more. Hehe."
Your legs are shaking, girl. A few more trips and you're going to tumble right down those stairs.
"I like cold baths too. It's fine — just get in."
"Oh! Thank you so much!"
Did girls like this actually earn wages? Surely they weren't slaves... right?
「Sliiide, splash」
"Wow..."
What now? Aren't you going in? Everyone else is down there and you're just standing at the edge gawking at me!
"You can get in, you know."
"If I go in, I'll only have work waiting for me. Once your bath is finished, I have to drain the water. Hehe."
Oh, so she was slacking off?
"It's been hard, hasn't it?"
"It's just part of the job. Though I'm glad you don't seem like the type to keep asking for fresh hot water over and over."
Apparently the custom here was to place an entire tub in your room and keep replacing the water for as long as you soaked. One bath, and the servants would be run ragged.
"I won't be ordering bathwater anymore, so don't worry about it."
"Oh... you really don't have to do that."
"I don't usually bathe much anyway."
Huh? Did that come out wrong? Somehow it sounded... off.
"But you're really so beautiful..."
This is what I always notice — even women fall under my spell? Her? Her? Snap out of it, girl!
"Thank you."
"You don't even look human!"
Oh, that stings. Honestly, sometimes *I* can't tell if I'm human or not...
"How can your skin be so pale without a single vein showing through?"
"Well, if you stay out of the sun indoors, your skin turns white but the veins do show."
I'd seen plenty of that on my trip to the Aegean.
"Then how about you, my lady?"
"I was just born this way. Nothing to be done about it."
"Oh..."
She'd clearly been hoping to pick up some beauty tip. Sorry — there's no method for this. Everywhere you go, women want fair skin.
Pale skin was probably seen as a badge of not having to work. Though honestly, a healthy bronze tan looks far better.
So that's why everyone smeared themselves with lead-based white powder despite the poisoning... wait, no. They wouldn't even know lead was poisonous.
"What are you thinking about so hard?"
"Hm? Nothing."
"My lady, do you travel a great deal?"
"You could say that. I've even been all the way out West."
I wondered what that part of the world was up to these days.
"The West? Do many people live out there too?"
"Mm. A year on foot or horseback, six months by ship? Go that far and you'll find great nations in the West as well."
"Eek! How far away is that?!"
Right. She couldn't possibly grasp the distance — the farthest she'd ever been was probably the neighboring city a few days' journey away.
"Just understand that it's farther away than circling this entire country."
"Gasp..."
Maybe ignorance really was bliss? Her dazed expression reminded me of Helene, back when I used to spin her travel tales.
There had been a bit of noise, but I'd slept well last night. Turns out I'm immune to upstairs neighbors — my sleep switches on and off like a toggle.
"Yes?"
What are you so shocked about — never seen someone drink in the morning before?
"For breakfast, I keep it light. Just one jar of liquor."
"A whole jar, not a bottle?"
The room service seemed to be handled by the girls, because the one from yesterday was trailing after me from first thing in the morning.
"Bottles are too small!"
"Wow..."
What on earth was there to be amazed by now?
I did feel a little bad watching her grunt and groan hauling the liquor jar up, but if I went downstairs, trouble would find me the moment I arrived. That much was certain.
「Gulp, gulp」
"Ahhh~ sweet~"
"Wh-what? The liquor is sweet?"
Is it not? Tasted sweet to me.
"Maybe you just don't know what liquor's supposed to taste like?"
"Well... people usually say it's bitter."
"Want to try a sip?"
"No, thank you. I'll have this instead."
Huh, she had more money than I'd thought? They'd brought up an absolutely enormous spread of food.
Leaving it half-eaten would just be waste, so I asked Sibi to eat with me — and she latched on with delight.
But wait. If I leave leftovers, do they just... recycle them? That's kind of unsettling.
"Hey, um... what happens to food that gets left over?"
"..."
The silence said it all. Confirmed!
"Ugh... I can't eat this."
"Oh! No, no!"
"No, what?"
"Ack! I mean... it does get taken back and served again, but not to guests staying in the special rooms like you, my lady. Don't worry!"
Damn. Then what about all those shabby little inns I stopped at on the way here? Keep this up and I'm going to develop a real distaste for the Chinese...
"Oh, and if you ever go near the kitchen — it's said that if anyone touches my food, someone will bring the whole building down."
"Gasp..."
Laugh all you want, but I'm an enormously powerful figure. Strong, too. I only just had an audience with your Emperor, you know!
...Huh? Now that I think about it, didn't I tear quite a few pillars out of the palace?
"Oh, right. Any strange rumors going around lately?"
"Rumors?"
"Yeah. Strange ones."
"Something about a fairy visiting an inn on the Yangtze River, I suppose?"
What fairy? A ghost, more like?
"Anything else?"
"Hmm. Oh! That the fairy capsized the water bandits' boats on the river?"
Hm... something about that overlaps with the route I traveled?
"And? What next?"
"Well... oh, right! The fairy — they say her ship had no sail and no oars, yet it moved faster than a ship with full sails!"
There it is. At least they're calling me a fairy instead of a ghost. I'll take it.
"Oh! One more!"
"Let's hear it."
There couldn't be anything bigger than what she'd already said, could there?
"They say the imperial palace collapsed!"
Ah. And there it was — the biggest one of all.
"How did that happen...?"
"The Emperor's been conscripting enormous numbers of people for labor. They say Haneul grew angry and sent a fairy, or... huh?"
"Another fairy?"
"You're right, that doesn't add up..."
Heh. Well then. I've apparently become the source of all the strange rumors in China? At this rate, every folk tale in the country is going to have my portrait in it.
"But the Emperor really conscripts people for labor?"
"Yes... They say he dragged off a staggering number of them to build city walls, and recently to rebuild the imperial palace."
Heh. No wonder the palace walls were so high. Was it because I'd just vaulted right over them?
Why do I get into trouble everywhere I go? I mean, I feel wronged too, you know? I was just minding my own business — they touched me first.
That's right. I did nothing wrong!
"What are you brooding about now?"
"Uhh... nothing."
"You do get lost in thought rather... vividly, sometimes."
Vividly? What's that supposed to mean?
"It's such a shame. Honestly, staying in your room like this might be for the best."
"R-right?"
Every time I go out, something seems to happen. Better to stay put.
Mm. And yet. Even staying in, fate finds a way.
「Clatter clatter」
Food stalls and outdoor tables had sprung up in droves in front of the Phoenix Inn lately. More and more people were dining outside — which was fine, except...
"Is my face the side dish?"
"I'm so sorry. We can't exactly stop people from staring at you from the street."
I mostly ate out on the veranda, and every mealtime, without fail, a crowd would gather to gawk.
"Can't even eat in peace."
"I'm terribly sorry. But please keep staying with us — we won't charge you a thing for room or board!"
Isn't this exactly like that? Letting women into clubs for free — and paying the pretty ones on top of it!
「Crash」
"Hey! Where do you think you're looking!"
"And where are you looking, huh?!"
Both of them were staring elsewhere. Caught glancing, and now they're at each other's throats. Honestly, that was a bit of theater too — I'd noticed them angling to catch my eye.
"Honey! Where are you looking?!"
"Uhooo?"
"I said, WHERE are you looking!"
"Nowhere! I wasn't looking at anything!"
"Kyaaaa! Just now — one eye on me and the other wandering off somewhere else!"
Whoa. Terrifying couple. Is the man a chameleon? It genuinely sounds like his eyes move independently.
「Clang, clash」
"Move aside, you dogs!"
"We were here first — who do you think you are?!"
Was this some martial-arts world or what? Every now and then people would actually draw blades at each other. That said, they never seemed to actually spill blood.
"Haha. But it is entertaining!"
"Yeah. Something new happens every day, so it's not so bad."
Well, the money's secure, so maybe I'll just chalk it up to "no harm, no foul." All in all, not a bad arrangement.
"Mmm~ liquor tastes good~"
"I tried a sip once and it was bitter. I don't understand how you enjoy it."
"You'll understand when you're older."
"You're only a few years older than me, though?"
That's only because I look twenty-something, you little rascal! I'm over two thousand years old!
...Wait. Wasn't there something about dragons ascending to heaven after a thousand years? Am I about to get suddenly summoned somewhere?
"I'm glad you think so highly of me."
"How old are you, really?"
"Secret. You never ask a woman her age."
"Huh? Is that a rule somewhere?"
"Right here!"
If anyone found out, they'd call me a monster and come chasing me again. Knowing your Emperor, he's probably already beside himself hunting for me as we speak.
Hm? The war?
"By any chance — no news of a war?"
"I haven't heard anything like that."
Well, a war would be big news. Everyone would know.
"Though there is a rumor that the Emperor is burning books and burying scholars and Taoist masters alive."
"What?!"
Burying them alive? Not just killing them, but burying them? That's harsh, even for him.
"Why?"
"Well, we common folk wouldn't know the details. But I've heard whispers about the elixir of immortality."
Huh? Er... wait. Is it me again? Because he lost track of me? If so, that's a lot more dead than any rumor would suggest.
Not like they'd find any immortality herb if they carved me up. They should really just give up.
"Oh, by the way~"
"What? Now what?"
Now that we'd gotten close, she'd started sticking to me awfully persistently. Ordering whatever she felt like eating, too.
"My lady, do you never ride on boats?"
"What's so fun about boats?"
"Well, just... eating good food out on the water and having fun?"
Water fun means jet skis and wakeboarding! Grr! I want to ride a banana boat.
"What's fun about that?"
"Wouldn't it be about the same as it is here?"
So would people stop brawling in the streets and start brawling on boats instead?
"But there's no boat. How would we ride one?"
Isn't that the biggest problem? Renting one, or someone bringing their own?
"Well, actually, there's a great sect called the Gonghwa Gate? Their eldest young master said he'd very much like to escort you sometime?"
"What great sect?"
Is this an actual wuxia novel?
"There's no official government here, you see. There are people who punish the bad gangs around this area."
Ohh. In other words, the biggest gang in the neighborhood? Nothing good ever comes from tangling with types like that.
"Pfft, forget it. Boats aren't my thing."
"I see..."
If you're going to sail, it ought to be across the open ocean, no? Floating on some placid little lake is no different from riding a raft.
Still — why on earth were there so many boats out on the water?
"What do they all do for fun out there?"
"I wouldn't know. I've never ridden one."
Well, what passed for music was all thump-thump, clang-clang. They weren't dancing, and it wasn't like anyone was putting on a show? Should I start a brawl?
"The lanterns on those boats are all lit, and nobody's doing a single thing — looks boring to me."
"I see..."
Why did she look so suddenly downcast?
"Wait. Could it be...?"
"Yes?"
"If I took you along, would you want paying?"
"Wh-what..."
Well, well. The trusted axe comes down right on your own foot, doesn't it? Why, though? We'd been eating well and getting along so nicely.
"Do you need money?"
"It's just..."
"Tell me. That's how I decide whether to help you — or whether to replace you starting tomorrow."
"No! No, my lady! I'm sorry! I only wanted to help pay for my mother's medicine! I'm so sorry!"
This is what happens when you're nothing but kind and generous to people. They start taking you for granted.
"How much do they pay you?"
"Th... that is..."
"Spit it out."
"Ten liang... they agreed to pay me ten liang..."
「Jingle」
I pulled a generous handful of coins from my pocket and tossed them to her.
"Don't ever do that again. I'm scary when I'm angry. If you need money, just say so."
I would have given her any amount, thinking of her as a friend. And somehow, that made it a little sad.