Blue Lips

April 17 1620

The wind carried the light scent of  a rose fragrance as the sun hammered down and the unpleasant heat hit the back of her neck. It was supposed to be a nice day, a smooth one, yet there she was. Maomao found herself kneeling before a corpse of young woman, a crowd full of commotion surrounding them.

Hmm...her lips have a soft hue of  blue.... Nice and clean garments, of good quality...

Maomao examines the young lady again, noticing the tips of her fingers were a blue-ish-purple-ish color.

As she examined the corpse, she notice the crowd around her started to part a bit as if making room for someone, she lifted her head up to make eye contact with a long haired eunuch, who was known for such ethereal features. A face that could topple nations and start wars.

(Oh...he's here...) Maomao thought to herself, she was tired of seeing him everywhere.

"She was a concubine, if you didn't already know"Jinshi said

"I'm aware"

Maomao noted the corpses hairpin, representing her rank. She's careful not to touch the corpse, since she promised her teacher she'd never do so, because she'd let her curiosity get the best of her.

"Apologies but, I'm not able to perform an autopsy, but from what I can tell... this wasn't a suicide"

The crowd surrounding them gasp in surprise. All the evidence left behind said otherwise, the slit wrist and the note that was left behind, which contained the writing of any "love motivated" suicide note.

Everyone assumed it was a suicide since all the puzzles connected, she had signs of self harm, and a motive, so why is this ugly, skinny, short girl saying otherwise.

Jinshi's eyes widen in confusion.

"How do you know this wasn't a suicide?!"

"Based from what others told me, her body is cold, she must've passed over night, the slits on her wrist happened after her death"

Maomao points at the bright red lines that framed on her wrist.

"These wounds are so fresh that the healing process hasn't started. I'd say these cuts happened a few hours ago, before or during dawn"

(She looks peaceful...too peaceful to ever commit self harm...)

The crowd went silent, paying close attention to what was happening before them. Jinshi looks taken aback for a second but quickly gains his composure with a smirk. Jinshi is a smart person and he's aware that Maomao is too, if anything, smarter than he is.

"Surprised you were able to build up a conclusion so quickly"

Maomao sighed and stood up from her original kneeling position, brushing dirt off her knees.

"It's in your best interest to order for an autopsy, since what I said was just a theory. At the end of the day, I don't want to be responsible for any charges"

"I'd thought you'd say something like that" He said with a grin.

Eventually, palace officials shooed away the large crowd, leaving Jinshi, Gaoshun, Maomao, Palace officials, and experts at the scene. Maomao looked up at Jinshi. He was ordering around palace officials before he got to her.

"Meet me at my office later afternoon, we need to discuss this situation. We can't let another political enemy occur if we don't drop this case soon"

Maomao nodded and wandered off. She never really cared for other people, or so she tried to convince herself, but her mind kept thinking about the late concubines and many theories.

She dropped by her own quarters to wash her face, trying to not think to much of the case but it's as if her own mind is betraying her. After a while, she saw the clock and realized it was 5 minutes before afternoon, so she quickly got up and headed towards Jinshis office.

At Jinshi's office

Maomao stood infront of Jinshi'a desk, her body stiff and the awkwardness didn't help a bit. Mr. Gaoshun stood next to him, quiet as always. The tension was unnecessarily thick.

(It's stuffy in here...)

"Apothecary, since the passing of the concubine, I've chosen you to clean her quarters. Make sure it's squeaky clean!" He had an unsettling fake cheeriness tone to his voice.

(This guy...)

"Alright, well if that's all, I'll be taking my leave"

Maomao turned around to exit, but just as she was about to, jinshi quickly stood up.

"Apothecary, wait"

"Hm?"

Jinshi approached Maomao, leaning in to her, his head right next to her ear, his voice in a low whisper. Maomaos eyes widen. (WHAT is he doing NOW)

"I want you to look into this, gather as much as you can...any detail or hint. This case has become a rather large one and needs to be dropped, quietly. Could you do that for me, apothecary?"

He said with a tone that only made Maomao cringe. She backed away and gave Jinshi a rather disgusted look.

"Right, as you say"

(To be fair, it's not like I have choice, he's only disguising his order as a favor, but again, who am I to say no, who knows what punishment would be granted upon me)

She nodded and bowed with her hands hidden in her sleeves.

"I'll be taking my leave then"

"Bye bye Apothecary, good luck! Your duty start's tommorow!" Jinshi said with a look on his face that was a bit too sweet.

"Until later, XioMao" said Mr.Gaoshun, with a look of high respect. He admired Maomao, the way she was sharp and swift, and how she's the only one who dosent seem affected by Jinshis appearance.

Maomao respectfully bowed before quickly and quietly exiting his office

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The rest of the day dragged on with a bunch of cleaning tasks around the palaces. A lot of dusting, sweeping and mopping. She'd meet up with Xiolan here and there through out the day when she was tasked for laundry work, Xiolan was her source of gossip.

Maomao found herself thinking about the Concubine. How much her death hurt, if poison was really the cause of her death. Why was she killed? And who did it?

Before she knew it, the sky had went from a bright soft blue, to a dark starry night. She had just entered her quarters, standing there contemplating for a moment.

"Finally...some time for me"

She stripped from her day clothes and replaced them with a sleeping gown, letting her hair down and loose, combing it with her fingers.

(So dirty...) she thought to herself. (Too late for a shower...I'll take one in the morning)

She crawled in under the covers, warming herself up from the cold night.

(This concubine...blue lips and fingertips...faint floral smell and framed evidence of self harm...poison? It wasn't a suicide obviously, but why was she murdered. Was she a threat, rude or...perhaps she knew too much? Many reasons and questions)

Hm...who knows.

"None of my business anyway- oh wait, master jinshi is making me look into this...I suppose it is my business...either way, I won't be responsible for any possible outcome so..."

Maomao found it hard to gather up all her thoughts, all the clues and conspiracies, it excited her.

She always had a thing for solving unsettling puzzles, it ran in the family.

She thought to herself and after a while, she had fallen asleep. Next to her window where there laid a clear view of the sky.—————————————————————————

Alright, so I don't expect this to get any attention so 😭😭😭 but I will still continue on with this series, this story does not follow the canon story btw!!! Also for all the lemon thirsty readers, there will be lemon but not until later on, this is a slow burn after all but not that that slow, yk? Anyways, don't expect for chapters to release everyone once a week since I'm lazy, also I really want to put in a lot of thought into this storyline so yea! 😼