ORIGINAL STORY BY NATSU HYUUGA
THIS STORY IS A FICION, AND ALL NAMES OF FIGURES ND ORGANIZATIONS ARE FICTITIOUS.
MOREOVER, THE STORY HAS NO RELATION TO REAL-LIFE INCIDENTS AND EVENTS.
A letter from Concubine Gyokuyou?
Yes. I was asked to deliver this directly to her.
Lady Ah-Duo is currently at a tea party.
I need to talk to you about something, Ms. Fengming.
All right.
She's packed her things.
So that means...
Here you are.
So, what brings you here today?
We're all set with the New Year's cleaning.
When are you moving?
You're perceptive.
The New Year's cleaning was just a front for the real purpose.
Once the New Year arrives,
Concubine Ah-Duo must leave this pavilion
to make space for the new high-ranking concubine.
Lady Ah-Duo can't have children anymore.
What happened during the birth?
I don't think that's relevant to you.
It's not totally irrelevant.
It was my father who attended the birth.
The unfortunate thing was that the birth by Lady Ah-Duo, the concubine for
the Eastern Palace, coincided with the former Empress's delivery date.
The physician hasn't returned yet?
He's still with the Empress.
Lady Ah-Duo! Lady Ah-Duo, it'll be all right!
Fengming is by your side.
Compared to the Empress,
Lady Ah-Duo's birth was less of a priority.
Lady Ah-Duo!
That must be when
Lady Ah-Duo lost her uterus.
After that, the child born to Lady Ah-Duo
lost his life at a young age.
Perhaps you feel responsible for what happened, Ms. Fengming.
You must have been the one looking after the baby
while Concubine Ah-Duo was unwell.
So you know everything, huh?
You, the daughter of the worthless doctor who couldn't save Lady Ah-Duo.
That's true.
LUOMEN
They say the baby's cause of death
was the same as the poisonous face powder from before.
But that's not true, is it?
The "worthless doctor," as you put it,
must have forbidden the use of the face powder.
Someone as intelligent as you
wouldn't let the baby die from such a thing.
The true cause of death was...
This.
There are many flowers with poison.
Like aconite and azalea.
And its syrup contains poison as well.
I know that.
But you didn't know.
You didn't know that regular honey without any poison,
medicine said to be good for nourishment,
could be poisonous for babies.
Thank you for your help, Fengming.
Not at all. You should rest, Lady Ah-Duo,
and focus on your recovery.
Later, Concubine Ah-Duo's child passes away.
The cause of death was unknown.
My father Luomen, a court physician at the time,
was banished from the rear palace
due to his repeated mistakes, including
his treatment during the birth.
After that, by chance, you happened to learn
the cause of Lady Ah-Duo's child's death.
A certain person told you that honey is poisonous to babies.
You wanted to prevent Concubine Ah-Duo from learning
that you caused the death of her only child.
That's why you tried to get rid of them.
That person was...
Concubine Lishu.
During the reign of the former Emperor,
Lady Lishu was attached to the older Lady Ah-Duo.
Lady Ah-Duo also cared deeply for Lady Lishu.
A young girl who left home
and a woman who will no longer have children.
Perhaps there was a type of codependency forming.
One day, you learn from Lady Lishu
that she ate some honey as a baby and almost died.
To prevent Lady Ah-Duo from hearing this,
you started to turn Lady Lishu away from the Garnet Pavillion.
Eventually, the former Emperor died,
and Lady Lishu entered the temple, not knowing why she was turned away.
You must've been relieved, Ms. Fengming.
You thought you'd never see Lady Lishu again.
But she returned to the rear pavilion.
As another high-ranking concubine.
As someone who would replace Lady Ah-Duo's position.
The pushy girl continued to visit Lady Ah-Duo
again and again, as if in search of a mother figure.
To protect the position of Lady Ah-Duo, who can't have children,
and to hide the honey incident,
you placed poison in Lady Lishu's soup.
What is it that you want?
I don't want anything.
I'll get you whatever you'd like.
You know more than anyone that threats like that are pointless.
Have you ever known the most cherished thing
of the person you most hold dear?
Ever since I met Lady Ah-Duo for the first time,
I knew I wouldn't serve anyone else.
Though she was a woman,
she had a strong will, and could converse on equal terms with the Eastern Palace.
I respected Lady Ah-Duo from the bottom of my heart.
I was just a girl
who blindly followed her parents to become a maid.
Meeting her changed my life.
But I...
I used these hands to take away Lady Ah-Duo's most cherished thing...
I did that to her!
The baby that Lady Ah-Duo cherished like a precious diamond!
With these hands...
Do you know
what Lady Ah-Duo said to us then?
Do not sadden yourselves over this.
A child's life is never certain until the age of seven.
A small illness can quickly take their lives.
My son simply followed heaven's orders.
Even though I knew Lady Ah-Duo
cried herself to sleep every night!
How did she feel as she served her lady these past 16 years?
Without even having a husband,
she worked tirelessly for Concubine Ah-Duo...
I would never understand.
I don't have the heart to care for someone this deeply.
If I tell the truth,
Sir Jinshi will capture Ms. Fengming for sure.
Regardless of the circumstances, she won't escape the death penalty.
She's intelligent. She must know all of this.
I have an idea.
The only thing I can do
is to reduce the two motives into one.
The result will be the same.
Please tell me if you will accept.
I'm so tired.
I don't have time for a bath. But I can get changed, at least.
I layered some oil paper just in case,
but I'm glad I didn't need it.
Being stabbed is painful.
So, Fengming turned herself in.
Do you know anything?
I have no idea what you're talking about.
I heard you had Gaoshun gather some documents.
Yes. I thought I could learn something,
but it was pointless.
Fengming's motive, as you guessed, was for Concubine Ah-Duo.
She did it to protect her position amongst the Four Ladies.
I see.
But it's already been decided that Lady Ah-Duo will step down.
She'll live in a villa in the south after leaving the rear palace.
Was that decided because of this incident?
No. It had been decided for a while.
- It was the Emperor's decision. - I see.
This flower...
I saw Hongniang decorate those earlier.
Yes. They're blooming out of season.
- It's sweet. - It's poison.
You won't die. Don't worry.
The proposal I made to Fengming...
The poisoning of Lady Lishu, and the cause of death of the baby.
If I reduce the two motives into one,
Lady Ah-Duo will never know the cause of her baby's death.
Though she cannot prevent her own death...
That was the most that I, a girl with no power at all,
could do in that situation.
I can't sleep...
I'll take a walk.
Fengming's execution was completed.
Tomorrow, Concubine Ah-Duo will leave the rear palace.
Oh. Looks like it's occupied.
You're the maid who came to help the other day.
- I'll leave right away. - That's all right.
Won't you have a drink with me?
Alcohol!
Thank you very much, ma'am!
I'm like a man, right?
It looks like you're trying to act that way.
You're honest, aren't you?
After my son left me, for many years,
I wasn't a concubine, but the Emperor's friend.
No. More like, I went back to being his friend.
I never imagined I'd become a concubine.
I was just a concubine for decoration, because he pitied me.
I wanted to hand over my position as soon as I could.
Why did I obsess over this for so long?
No matter who was with her tonight,
she would've said the same thing.
It must've been cold inside the water.
She must've suffered a lot.
I think so.
Stupid, right?
Perhaps.
Everyone. They're so stupid.
That might be true.
I think I know now.
That maid must have killed herself.
Concubine Ah-Duo knew this.
Perhaps Fengming played a part in her suicide.
The maid who jumped into the cold water
so that Concubine Ah-Duo wouldn't be suspected.
Fengming, who stepped onto the gallows willingly
to protect a secret she wanted to keep.
It doesn't matter what Lady Ah-Duo's wishes are.
She has women who risk their lives for her.
I should climb down soon.
What are you doing?!
Who is it? You surprised me!
Sorry about that.
Sir Jinshi, why are you here?
That's my line.
I'm sorry. I'll get out of the way.
Will you let me go?
Let me go, please.
It's cold. I don't want to.
You'll catch a cold without a coat.
You should go back.
Are you drunk?
It's a part of my job. I have to.
A part of his job, huh?
The head of the house invited me for a drink,
made me drink as much as I could, then went off somewhere.
When she finally returned,
she said she felt much better, so I should go home.
I didn't know there were people in this rear palace
who could treat him that way.
But that's neither here nor there.
I don't have the time to be around this clingy drunkard!
Wait. Now that I think about it,
he caught me because I fell down.
Maybe it's rude to ask him to let go of me
without thanking him first.
Sir Jinshi...
Just a little longer.
Warm me for a little bit more.
Looks like they're not dealing with a hangover.
In order to leave the rear palace,
Lady Ah-Duo will hand over her Pure Concubine crown.
After a while, that crown will be given
to the new girl who will enter the court.
Oh, I see. I thought she looked like someone.
It was Sir Jinshi.
They'd look better if they swapped clothes...
"Swapped?"
After my son left me, for many years...
After he "left" her? Not "died"?
That could be interpreted to mean that he's still alive.
Lady Ah-Duo's child and the child of the Empress, born at the time...
What if those two babies were swapped?
Concubine Ah-Duo must've experienced in her bones that...
What are you doing? I'm not done with Lady Ah-Duo...
The Empress is the priority!
No!
...She's merely the daughter of a wet nurse.
That rather than the child of the step-sibling concubine,
the child born to the Empress at the time
would have more protection.
Perhaps she couldn't judge right from wrong at the time.
But if her own son would be saved as a result...
That would have been Lady Ah-Duo's only wish.
Suppose that it was found out that the babies were swapped.
If this was after the baby had died,
it would make sense that old man received corporal punishment
for not noticing the swap.
That would explain why the Emperor's brother is in an unstable position,
and why the gracious Lady Ah-Duo stayed in the rear palace
without making efforts to leave...
This is all pointless. It's just a crazy fantasy.
Please wait!
Lady Lishu!
They haven't changed, it seems.
For an isolated concubine to have an attendant she could confide in...
What a relief that must be for them.
Lady Lishu!
In that moment, that handsome face that could pass for a young man
looked like a loving mother's face.
These are the names of Fengming's family and those connected to her.
I heard that she was kidnapped and sold off, but...
JADE PAVILION: MAOMAO
PREVIEW OF NEXT EPISODE
Next Episode, "The Eunuch and the Courtesan."
Subtitle translation by: Yukimi Ohashi