The Apothecary Diaries Book 8

The Expedition

Dry air brushed Jinshi's cheeks. As it had the past several days. Still, he hadn't been on a proper excursion since his trip out west. Watching the scenery go by as his carriage rumbled along wasn't a terrible way to pass the time, but he couldn't deny a desire to ride out across the fields on his own horse.

"You can just leave things here to us. Don't worry, our world will keep turning without you for a few days," said Maamei, who stood with her chest out proudly. Jinshi pretended he couldn't see Baryou (whose look said Are you really leaving me here?). Instead, with Maamei's proverbial push, he headed out to do his observations. His destination: a village where the crops had been ravaged by insects.

It meant a day and a half of riding along in a rattling carriage. In an effort to get the job done as fast as possible, Jinshi planned to change horses and drivers at each town. Despite the stiff pace he meant to set, he had at least ten people with him including his bodyguards. A relatively modest number for an expedition involving someone of Jinshi's status, but traveling large would only make things take longer. He pressed ahead with his comparatively small band in hopes of reaching the village that much quicker.

Likewise, in order to ensure that things went smoothly, he'd decided to be a bit...demanding about who would be on his staff.

"You're not uncomfortable simply sitting for so long, sir?"

"If you're so worried about it, let me ride."

"I'm afraid not, sir."

Sitting beside him was not Basen but Gaoshun. Basen was present, on horse among the guards. With apologies to him, Gaoshun was still more capable when it came to serving as Jinshi's aide-de-camp. Hence Jinshi had borrowed him from the Emperor. It was also, as it were, Jinshi's little revenge on His Majesty, who'd been making his own life easier by having Gaoshun do his work.

"Are you sure Baryou is going to be all right? Even with Maamei?" Jinshi asked. He was concerned. "I know he's always been somewhat frail. I thought I'd heard he was on bed rest at home on account of an illness."

Admittedly, it was Jinshi himself who had nonetheless pushed for Baryou to enter his service, but he quailed at the thought of the man getting sick again.

"It was only his usual complaint." Gaoshun offered Jinshi a tangerine, already peeled—but not before he took a single segment and put it in his mouth. Jinshi wasn't sure it was really necessary to check such a trivial thing for poison, but making the practice habitual would discourage people from thinking about trying to poison something that might slip through the cracks.

"I know the gist of his story, but perhaps you could tell me the rest?" Jinshi gave Gaoshun an inquiring look as he took a bite of fruit. It was still sour, the perfect thing to wet his dry throat.

"Yes, sir. He never got along with his supervisor in his department, to the point that Baryou ended up with a hole in his stomach. The matter climaxed with an incident of copious vomiting on the supervisor's desk, after which Baryou was taken to the medical office and soon thereafter withdrew from his duties. That would have been about three months ago, as I recall."

And this was the man Gaoshun claimed was going to be just fine? Jinshi had known Baryou long enough to know that he wasn't always very comfortable around people—and that people he really didn't get along with could, well, give him the runs.

Gaoshun must have seen the concern on Jinshi's face, because he added placatingly, "There won't be any trouble. Maamei is with him. Ever since she had children, she's become a much more well-rounded person."

"Well-rounded?" She seemed just as forceful as ever to him. She must be, to come up with an idea like foisting the eccentric strategist's own work back on him.