One morning while sweeping the yard, Maomao is approached by Lihaku. He has an update about the warehouse fire: it was apparently a distraction to burgle another warehouse of ceremonial tools. The manager of one warehouse was the older man who died of salt poisoning. The current manager got food poisoning. And the expensive pipe? The owner didn’t want it; it was given to him by a tall court lady who smelled of medicine.
Like Maomao, my first thoughts were that all these seemingly disparate mysteries she’s been investigating seem to be connected, and that Suirei may be involved. She reports all of this to Jinshi, who concurs with her theory that it could be a series of traps, and there may be more to come. When Jinshi observes that Maomao doesn’t seem that enthusiastic, he turbocharges her enthusiasm with the promise of a rare ox bezoar.
Thus motivated, Maomao digs deep into the archives, whose administrator is happy to assist her with his knowledge of ceremonial division, of which he was a part until he talked back to his superiors and was demoted. His grievance was the fact that a large, heavy pillar used to carry festive messages in the ceremonial hall didn’t seem the most structurally sound.
The metalwork inherent in the design of the pillar brings the metalworking brothers into this whole web of mysteries. When Maomao hears that there’s a ceremony scheduled for today, she suddenly realizes that this cold be a plot to assassinate the person of high noble birth performing the ceremony.
She runs as fast as her little legs can carry her. Even if she’s totally wrong, it’s worth it if she’s able to save a life and thwart the plot. But when she reaches the entrance to the hall, she’s stopped by a hulking guard. Maomao, who is a servant with no authority, can only hope she can sway the man with her words, but fails.
Then she tries to stir up enough of a commotion that it stops the ceremony in progress. She does so by accusing the guard of being in on the plot. He responds by striking her in the face with a metal club almost as big as she is. She falls down the steps in a heap, and her face immediately swells up as her nose bleeds.
Even so, she gets back to her feet, desperate to save the target of the plot. When the guard still won’t trust her word, he is brought to heel by Lakan, who accuses him of excessive force against a girl, and then vouches for Maomao. He’ll take responsibility for letting her through.
Maomao doesn’t want to turn around to see her apparent benefactor. All she knows is the timing of his arrival is far too neat to be coincidence. It also means she’s in this man’s debt, whoever he is. But for now, she takes the opportunity he gave her and rushes into the hall.
Maomao arrives and dives into the man under the pillar just in time, as one of the cables gives out and it slams to the ground, cracking the floor with its weight. It is only here and now when it is confirmed that the man performing the ceremony, and has likely performed many before, is none other than Jinshi.
He’s not just a eunuch administrator. He probably isn’t even a eunuch. But not only is Maomao punch drunk, but one of the cables badly slashed her leg. Her first thought is that she needs to stich it up, and her second thought is to ask Jinshi, now that she has him here, if he’ll give her the ox bezoar.
She passes out in his arms, and everyone around bows in deference to Jinshi as he gathers her up, carries her out of the hall, down the stairs, through various gates and down various paths to get her medical treatment. He’s not treating her like a mere servant girl under his employ, but as someone precious to him.
Whatever ceremony he was performing can wait, and his carrying of her through the palace grounds has the feeling of a different ceremony entirely. Like Maomao herself, Jinshi may owe Lakan a debt, for it was his authority that granted her access to the hall . But first thing’s first: seeing to Maomao’s safety. She saved his life at great cost to her person; now it’s his turn to save her.
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