Ruyue

April 20, 1620, 6:30am————————

Maomao's peaceful sleep is interrupted by a someone knocking at her door.

She furrows her brows at the annoying constant knocking. (Who's at the door at this hour...)

She reluctantly gets up, not worrying about her appearance. Her hair is disheveled, her eyes swollen. Evidence that she had been sleeping, dressed in her sleeping garments. She opens the door, rubbing her eyes.

"Hello?" She says, annoyance in her voice. Her vision is still blurry since she's not fully awake. After a few more rubs, shes finally well awake. Her eyes meet with Jinshi's, who is standing before her. Her eyes widen. She wasn't expecting him this early. She didn't necessarily mind though.

The only thing she did mind was the maximum 3 hours of sleep she had last night, after spending most of it looking into the records with Jinshi.

(Oh it's Jinshi!)

"Look who's late now?" He says with a smirk.

"Jinshi...it's 6:30 in the morning...the birds aren't even chirping.."

"Yeah yeah, but I feel like the sooner we look at the files, the better. Besides, I wanted to see you."

(See me?)

"What do you mean...?"

"Come on, let's get going before people start to wake up."

"Alright, let me get ready."

They both stand there awkwardly.

(It'd be rude to leave him outside so...)

"You can come in"

Maomao turned around just when his face lit up. He followed her inside. He was quite suprised. Her quarters was really...cozy. Her quarters was small but still felt spacious. Her futon was next to the window and she had a bookshelf filled with herbal books in her quarters, next to that was a tiny desk, where it had instruments to mix herbs.

Maomao was walking over to her closet when she froze in her steps.

(Shit...I need to change... asking him to leave would be rude...)

"Um...Jinshi...would you mind looking away. I need to dress into my clothes and... I don't have an extra room to change in."

Jinshi's eyes widen at this and he quickly turns around.

"Uh- sure."

He faces the wall, trying to seem as casual as possible, failing miserably. His heart almost explodes at the thought of her changing behind him.

(There's not much to hide anyway but...I'd still like to spare him from seeing me in my undergarments at least)

Jinshi noticeably stumbles here and there, his eyes dart from one corner of the wall to the other, almost like he doesn't know where to look.

(He seems nervous...)

Maomao quickly changed while Jinshi tries his best to not look back. Not because he has an urge to look at her but because he tends to move a lot when he's nervous, so he's fighting his natural urge to move around.

"You can look now."

Jinshi lets out a deep breath, it sounded like he held it up until this point. Anyways, he turns around to see her in her usual purple-ish-pinkish skirt and green top, her hair brushed and tied in her usual style.

"Are-... you ready...?"

He does his best to hide his subtle red face. Maomao nods. She seems far more calm than he does.

"We should head out now" she says.

They both walk out of her quarters. The outside is a lot more colder than it was in her quarters. Perhaps the one-sided tension warmed up the room.

They both walk alongside eachother, accompanied by an awkward silence.

"So...how was your sleep, Master Jinshi?"

"I slept well. I only had a few hours of sleep though"

"Yeah me too..."

After that, they were once again in akward silence. They enter the inner palace through the large gates that separated it from the outer palace. They were immediately enveloped with the delicate feminine aura which always brought a sense of nostalgia and comfort to Maomao. She took a deep breath, as if trying to absorb all the energy the inner palace gave. Jinshi in the other hand was staring at the gentle sunrise, his skin absorbing the sun. He liked how pretty it looked.

"Hm, the records department shouldn't be so far from here. We need to take a left." He said. He knew his way around here.

Maomao doesn't say anything, instead she nods in agreement. They both take a left walking side by side. The fresh morning wind flowing with them. It was silent, but not as awkward as it was not so long ago.

Eventually, they both stood before a giant building, that seemed to be the official department for the inner palace.

"We're here!" He said excitedly.

"Yup. Let's get this over with."

Jinshi nods in determination and they both walk in. It was lended to them with permission from the emperor so, no one was in there besides them.

At the entrance, they are greeted with beautiful architecture and warm lights. The place was decorated with large and expensive paintings and vases. Maomao investigated the front desk, which had keys for many rooms. Jinshi silently stood behind her.

"They left keys for us to use. Most like for the records room"

"Ah I see, how nice of them"

The both headed behind the counter to see files of the people who worked there, at the department but that wasn't what they were looking for so they started to roam around the halls. They looked at the different labels each room and, Maomao holding the keys. It was quiet until Jinshi spoke up.

"Apothecary! I found the records room, come, hurry! Open it!"

"Alright, alright, I'm coming"

She hurries over to Jinshi and unlocks the door. Both of their eyes widen when they see a huge room filled with endless shelves with files and records. Luckily for them, it was all organized and labeled in alphabetical order.

"Woah..."

"Oh look, Apothecary, the 'R' isle is right there."He points towards the isle that contains records and files of those whose names start with R.

They both hurry to investigate it. Jinshi takes care of the left while Maomao takes care of the right. It's quiet, the only thing heard was the scattering of their investigations.

"Any luck?" Jinshi asks while looking trough a box of files.

"...no-"

Her words were unexpectedly cut, making it echo through the halls. She found a lost record of a private consort named Ruyue.

"Master jinshi I think I found it!"

His eyes widen in suprised and he quickly approaches her, standing behind her with he head lowered. It above her shoulder, right next to her face, but his chin isn't touching her shoulder. She can feel the warmth of his body on her back. They're aren't touching but they're close enough to the point the she can feel his warm breath.

She carefully unseals the folder, her hands steady but her heart racing. Inside, it had a picture of this beautiful, black haired woman. She had lots of make up. She seemed so feminine and delicate.

(I feel like I've seen her eyes before...)

The record barely recorded a thing. The only things recorded were Consort Ruyue's birthday, the day she became a consort, which was September 15 1613, and the day she left. Which was January 24th 1615. 5 years ago.

"She left 5 years ago, but why?"

"There are many reasons as to why a consort might  leave, political problems, kicked out, her worth, unable to produce children, her age- no, that couldn't be the reason, she was young by the time she left, 17 to be exact. Could it be...jealousy?"

"Jealousy? Why that? She was a high ranking consort"

"I don't know."

Jinshi stands there, looking troubled as he quietly thinks to himself. He's clearly a bit stressed.

(I can't say anything based on how someone looks or their profiles, it's be better to rely on past actions but, her files don't have any records of anything, since she was a private consort. But, she does seem like the type to be petty.)

"Master Jinshi, people can change a lot in 5 years, so, if she is still in the palace, perhaps disguised as a maid or something, it wouldn't be as easy to find her since the picture we're looking at now was taken 5 years ago, she was also wearing make up and her hair is styled very elegantly. It'd be hard to find her."

"I see..."

Maomao takes a closer look, at the dates to be exact, then something clicks.

"Master jinshi! We need to find the late concubines records now."

He looks startled at first but immediately began to look for it. It wasn't long before they found her records. Maomao looked at the dates, her starting date and Consort Ruyues exit day, they matched up.

"Consort Ruyue left the day the late concubines started working."

(Coincidence?)

"Yeah but what does that have to with anything?"

"The concubine wrote in a letter about her paranoia. She mentioned how she was afraid of Consort Ruyue."

"Alright then, so it was Consort Ruyue, but we need more evidence and we also need to find out where she is right now."

"Yeah I know."

Maomao was about to close the folder when a note, which seemed to be hidden, slipped out. She picked it up curiously and looked at it. It said.

"I'm Ruyue, working as a private Consort starting today, September 15 1613. I consent to..."

The rest of the note contained what most new Consorts had to write on their contract.

"What's that?"

"It's her contract, every Consort has to write and sign one an- wait."

She pauses for a second.

"Wait, I've seen this hand writing before" she whispered.

"Huh?"Jinshi lookes ar her curiously. Impatiently waiting for her to figure it out.

Maomao thinks for another few seconds when her eyes widen. It's almost as if a light bulb had just sparked above her head.

"This is the same hand writing as the one left on the framed suicide note that was found with the late concubine on scene!"

"How do you know for sure?" He looked skeptical.

"The strokes and sizing. They're careful and precise, letters not to big but not too small. It's also tilted slightly to the left and every e is longer than the rest of the letters."

"First of all, how could you possibly remember all of that, and second of all, how can you be so sure? Dont you need to see it side by side?"He sounded more surprised than he was confused.

"Well yes, I could bring this contract to your office and we could grab the framed suicide letter and compare them side by side."

"Alright then."

They both eagerly walk out of the department. Opening the doors and the fresh air hits them. They have been in that building for a little over an hour now and the sun is fully up and bright. Maomaos squinted her eyes at the suns rays, but her eyes quickly adjusted to it as they both quickly walked off to Jinshi's office. Consort Ruyues files held tightly in Maomaos hands.

Once they had made it in, they wasted no time in grabbing the suicide letter, which was sealed away in one of his drawers as evidence. They compared them side by side to reveal that it truly was truly her hand writing.

"I knew it!"

"We could use this a solid evidence! I really can count on you, Apothecary!"

"Don't trust in me too much."

(His mood slightly dropped at that, almost disappointed but brushed it off anyway)

"Really? You had to say that right now? And how do we find her anyways?"

"Hm..."

Maomao looked at the files, studying it once again. The name Ruyue, most of the time, consorts would carry their clans last name and put infront of their name. In this case, her name would be separated, making it Ru-Yue.

Maomao suddenly got really close to Jinshi, face to face, eye to eye. He started to get nervous.

"Jinshi, does the name "Ru clan" ring a bell for you?"

"Umm..." he tired to ignore the sweat trailing down his face.

He's visibly thinking hard about it. You could see him try to process what he's thinking, digging deep into his memories. And then, his eyes light up. Something clicks for him.

"Yes! they're not a noble clan but are well known for their business. I remember meeting the head of the clan when I was little. But sadly he passed. Which means someone else is most likely running the clan. Why, did you find something out?"

She looked satisfied at his answer and backed away. He let out a breath which seems like he unconsciously held up to this point.

"I can't say I'm sure yet, but, a lot of consorts, with their titled names, usually have their last name infront of their actual name. So, if consort Ruyue was a high ranking consort, that could also mean her clan is of high ranking, and if you seperate her name, it becomes Ru-Yue."

"Ru-Yue...if she wasn't a consort wouldn't her name be Yue then?" He said. Blissfully unaware he might've just solved something.

(Wait- why haven't I thought of that before?)

Maomaos eyes suddenly widen. She finally connected all the puzzles. Yue, the maid she was working with when they were assigned to clean the halls.

(Could it be...no, it can't. They don't look alike at all- but she was wearing makeup in that photo. Come to think of it, they have similar features. Hair color, eye color, fair skin...eyes)

Maomao got up almost immediately, supporting her body with her hands that were tightly against his desk.

"Master Jinshi, I need to see the maids I've been working with, when you assigned me to clean the late concubines quarters. All of them. Please?"

Jinshi is suprised at first, but then smirked a few seconds later. Not out of arrogance but out of administration.

(She figured something out then?)

"Alright. I'll tell Gaoshun to summon them."

Maomao nodded in agreement, eagerly waiting for them to arrive, to see if this could help what she was trying to solve.

————————Sorry it's been a while since I published, also this chapter was a bit long but keep in mind I put a lot of thought into these chapters. Anyways, I'll try to post more and make sure you vote for my chapters, it motivates me to keep on going and encourages me!