Chapter 763: Forbidden City Journal (9)

The Forbidden City really did know how to treat its guests. Somehow, the number of people waiting on Qing seemed to increase by the day.

Of course, unlike Gabiya, whom Qing had personally picked, Lady Deokseong had looked more like she’d come on business with Princess Yeonsul rather than to play hostess.

So Qing figured this new one would be the same.

“Yes, come in.”

The door slid open with a soft rattle-rattle, carefully.

A palace maid stepped in with prim, modest movements.

And then—whoa...!

The instant Qing saw her, it took every ounce of will not to shout out loud in awe at that massive physique. Actually, no—she failed. Wow.

Her clothes really did look about to burst.

Central Plains clothing almost never revealed the body’s lines directly.

At most you got a hint of shape when a sash or belt was cinched around the waist, and even that required enough mass above and below to cross a certain threshold before anything stood out.

Of course, in out-of-spec cases like a certain Qing or a certain Chunbong, things got very blatant.

But this new palace maid, Haeryu, made her body’s shape stand out in a different way.

Her jacket was so small it clung skin-tight, and the well-developed, sculpted muscles underneath couldn’t hide their carved lines at all.

Her lats were powerfully built, her waist was narrow, and even with all that muscle she didn’t look blocky—she still had a beautiful, feminine curve to her frame.

In fact, the jacket was small.

Haeryu was deliberately wearing one that was too small.

This was why, even after losing her mistress’s favor, other maids found it hard to lay a hand on her and never bullied her directly.

Overwhelming strength.

It felt like if you messed with her, you’d get punched.

Her demure posture didn’t match that imposing frame at all.

Head bowed, arms raised so that her crown was between her two upturned hands, Haeryu entered the room.

Then she cautiously lifted her head, met Qing’s eyes, and flinched, her whole body trembling.

Seeing that, Qing thought, Mm.

Another acquaintance from Princess Yeonsul’s side, apparently.

Why did they keep multiplying like this? It was getting embarrassing...

Qing gave an awkward little wave.

“Hello?”

Haeryu snapped back to herself.

If My Lady had lived, she’d surely have grown into someone this beautiful—that was how much this woman in front of her resembled Yeonsul.

There was no way the Crown Prince had brought her into the palace without knowing.

So clearly he’d prepared her as a stand-in to replace the current fake.

His Highness had said as much.

He’d ordered her to find proof, under Heavenly Flower Sword, that someone was daring to impersonate the princess. There had to be a reason he’d brought in one of the Central Plains’ famed masters.

Haeryu looked at Qing with a firm face and burning eyes and dropped to her knees with a thump.

“If this girl is acting under My Lady’s orders, there is nothing I will refuse! Please tell me what this girl must do!”

Qing tilted her head at that.

Huh. So she wasn’t an acquaintance from Yeonsul’s side?

For someone from Yeonsul’s camp, she was... surprisingly straightforward. Probably just an overly enthusiastic, very strong maid.

Either way, it was awkward as hell.

What did she mean, “what should I do”?

It wasn’t like Qing knew how anything in this palace worked.

Even if Haeryu was asking to be given work...

Feeling embarrassed, Qing scratched her own cheek.

Haeryu’s pupils dilated.

Because a flicker of something overlapped perfectly with Qing’s gesture in her mind’s eye.

And then a great realization flashed through Haeryu’s head.

Ah! He really prepared this thoroughly!

Yes, if she’s going to be a stand-in, she has to master even the smallest habits of My Lady’s body—that’s just basic effort!

His Highness has been preparing to deal with that vile fake for a long time.

When the body is strong, the head rests easy.

A well-developed physique let the brain relax, gradually losing its function and becoming pure and simple.

So Haeryu was all the more fired up.

Exposing that fake’s true identity to the world and having her executed was a dream Haeryu had long cherished—and an unfulfilled wish to finally take down the fake Yeonsul and follow after her real mistress in death.

What was the point of hard training if she didn’t get a big mission like this?

“Please, don’t hold back—order me to do anything!”

“Eh? Well, even if you say that...”

“Please don’t hold back! Just tell me what to do!”

Haeryu crawled forward on her hands and knees, grabbed Qing’s skirt, and pleaded with desperate intensity.

So began a little physical scuffle between someone who had nothing to ask for and someone who refused to leave without being given a task.

Her stubbornness was incredible—if Qing didn’t give her something, she clearly wasn’t going to budge.

Then Qing’s eyes fell on Haeryu’s back, stretched out as she clung to the hem of her skirt.

A magnificent inverted-triangle back.

And the bulging, corded muscles along it.

Mm. She really does look strong...

“Uh, well. In that case, maybe... if you gave me a massage...”

Haeryu’s eyes flashed.

“Massage! This girl happens to be especially skilled at that! Please immediately remove your clothes and lie down! Remove all your undergarments as well!”

It was a very forceful order to strip.

And then—

“How is it, My Lady? Do you feel relieved?”

“Ah, you can go harder.”

“Please lower your form of address. It’s hard for me to bear. Hm, like this?”

“A little more?”

“How about this?”

The firm, kneading pressure of her hands was wonderfully solid.

Honestly, even if she’d used internal energy on top of her raw strength and really mashed Qing’s body, it wasn’t like she could damage muscles as tough as millennial iron.

In the end, Qing was satisfied.

Yes. This is how a massage is supposed to be.

Gabiya called that thing a massage but only lightly scratched Qing’s skin. Sure, there’d been a certain strange pleasure to it, but to call it a proper massage was a stretch.

You go to a full-course restaurant, you expect a full course. No matter how tasty a meat sandwich is, it doesn’t feel like you had full-course cuisine if that’s all you get.

Mm. Full-course. I could eat.

“Ahh, that hits the spot.”

“I’m overjoyed that My Lady is pleased.”

Haeryu wiped her brow with a proud look.

“Then, may this girl withdraw for a bit? I’m not in a fit state to attend you. I’ll put my clothes in order and return.”

Massage was not light work.

In the middle of a hot summer, she’d poured her full strength into it for the first time in ages, so she was drenched in sweat, her soaked jacket clinging to sharply defined muscles.

“You’ve worked hard, so rest up for now. I’ll call you later when I need you...”

“My Lady is truly kind. Then I will wait eagerly for when you summon me.”

Haeryu bowed at the waist.

With her muscles outlined so clearly, even that simple motion looked incredibly precise and disciplined.

Then she retreated backward with tiny steps, all demure grace.

clack...

The door closed, and Qing let out a long breath.

Mm. She seemed like a good person, but maybe a little too enthusiastic. Kind of overwhelming...

Still, whether it was the effect of finally getting a proper massage or not, a pleasant, languid relaxation spread through Qing’s whole body.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she flung herself onto the bed.

Qing went limp.

Her body was loose and lazy; the bedding was soft and fluffy.

She flailed her arms and legs, stretched out fully, arched her back and shook as she let out an extravagant yawn.

Sleepiness trickled over her in a wonderfully comfortable way.

Mm, it was a relief that this palace maid Haeryu didn’t seem to know Princess Yeonsul personally.

Lady Deokseong was the same way—hard to deal with.

Even if this body was Yeonsul’s, Qing wasn’t Yeonsul, had no intention of becoming Yeonsul.

She didn’t want to, she couldn’t, and she must not.

So she’d really rather not get tangled up with Yeonsul’s old connections...

It was at that moment.

CRASH!! BANG!!!

With a thunderous noise, the door was flung open as if it were about to shatter.

In fact, maybe it had shattered; the door had come loose from its frame and was slowly tilting backward, falling.

Qing blinked in surprise, and there, outlined against the light, stood a solid, powerful figure.

In shadow, the muscles looked even more massive.

“Haeryu? Haeryu, is that you?”

Sniff! Sniff!

Rough snorts like an enraged bull.

A huge, tense aura, like a bull on the verge of charging a matador.

Then, with a heavy thump of a footstep and a weighty leap—

“My Lady!!”

“Ghk.”

Qing’s breath whooshed out as Haeryu landed on top of her.

She only lost her breath, that was all.

Qing was lying on a soft bed, and even if it had been a stone floor, a single palace maid’s body weight wasn’t nearly enough to injure her.

Honestly, she could’ve rolled aside easily.

But she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“Uwaaaah! This girl had you right before her eyes and still failed to recognize you, My Lady, huuuk, how hurt you must have been! My Lady, My Lady...!”

Haeryu wrapped herself around Qing and bawled, burying her face in the softest part available.

Those rough snorts hadn’t been announcing a bull’s charge, but an emotional outburst choked with tears.

“This foolish girl, even when I saw the moles during the massage, didn’t put it together, huuuk, My Lady, huuuk, you were alive, uwaaah...!”

Qing swore inwardly.

Oh great. She is on Yeonsul’s side.

What was she, some landmine buried in the floor?

This sneaky delayed attack, letting Qing relax and then ambushing her.

“Waaah! Waaaahhh! Waaaahhh, uwaaah, uwaaahhhhh!”

And why the hell was she crying this much?

Qing suddenly had a bad feeling that she really shouldn’t just leave this alone.

And if it was going to be like this, shouldn’t it have started with “may I cry?”

With no idea what to do, Qing’s hand ended up gently stroking Haeryu’s head and back.

She was a bit damp—hadn’t washed yet, clearly...

Haeryu only hugged her tighter, as if she’d never let go again.

Mm, but this woman—

Her back muscles really were amazing.

Haeryu’s one-beat-late recognition of Yeonsul’s identity had a very simple explanation.

For the first time in a long while, she’d worked up a good sweat from giving a real, wholehearted massage.

How long had it been?

Back then, My Lady had praised her endlessly, saying Haeryu’s massages were the most refreshing in the world. It had been that long.

That detestable fake Yeonsul, on the other hand, had screamed the moment Haeryu squeezed once, her body seizing up in convulsions.

The frail little thing had even teared up.

Haeryu realized, thinking back, that that had already been a thick, heavy clue of fakery.

Of course. How many years had she served her mistress?

It might be monstrously presumptuous and irreverent even to say aloud—but she was closer than a blood sister.

How could she not know the real thing from a fake at a glance?

“Mm? Isn’t that Haeryu?”

At that voice, Haeryu straightened and bowed deeply, face bright with joy.

“Ah! Lady Deokseong! Have you been well!?”

“You’re as spirited as ever, it’s good to see. So, what brings you here—ah, could it be? Haeryu, are you serving My Lady again?”

Lady Deokseong’s eyes lit up.

If Princess Yeonsul was here, then of course Haeryu should be her first maid.

“Yes, His Highness the Crown Prince, um, khmm.”

Haeryu hesitated.

Was she allowed to say this or not?

Lady Deokseong leaned in and whispered.

“His Highness? Did he, by any chance, say something about Princess Yeonsul being a fake?”

“Yes, that’s right. His Highness ordered me to help My Lady gather proof to punish that fake over there.”

“His Highness? Ahh. So His Highness has opened his eyes at last. Of course. What blood relative could fail to recognize their own? Not with how close the two of them were.”

“Eh? They were? Since when?”

“Child. Brothers and sisters grow up fighting together. Ahh, I must thank His Highness. Those Indian witches have been slinking around, and it had me uneasy. But with you here, I can rest easy. Take good care of the princess.”

“Leave her to m—eh? The princess?”

“Mm? I mean Princess Yeonsul, of course. You just saw her, didn’t you?”

“What? The person I saw was... ah. Oh!”

“Child, where are you rushing—hm, still overflowing with energy, I see. Well, My Lady always had you running around at her heels.”

So, with that delayed epiphany—

With endless joy and ecstasy at realizing that the Princess Yeonsul she’d thought dead was actually still alive—

and with crushing guilt that she hadn’t even recognized her when she’d seen her face to face,

it was as if that huge block of muscle that was Haeryu’s body had been filled entirely with tears.

They poured out without end as she sobbed her heart out, soaking Qing’s chest with sweat and snot and tears.

“Heehee. My Lady. You may have lost your memory, but still, heehee, it’s so good that you’re here like this...”

Now her eyes were swollen to twice their size, and she clung to Qing’s hand, just wouldn’t let go.

Qing was uncomfortable. Mm. But what could she say to a girl like this?

“And then, you know how hard it’s been for me? That fake bitch replaced all your maids... Chuhwa got sent over to the Office of the Stables, Jangmi went to the Guard Office... all these vixen-bitches poured in, and the Indian bitches...”

Haeryu rattled off every detail of her life, down to the tiniest grain of rice.

Her way of speaking had completely changed from their first meeting.

Her vowels stretched out, strong nasal tones mixed in, and her voice was packed full of cutesy wheedling.

“It’s all those Indian barbarian bitches’ fault. The Eastern Six Palaces are a mess right now. They’re blatantly up to something shady. You know what they do? They lace the incense with drugs—an aphrodisiac, I’m sure of it. I’ve been sticking to the training we did together, My Lady. Oh, right, I kept at it, really hard. If I ran my body ragged I could at least pass out like I was dead. Heehee. But now, heehee—no, that’s not it. On nights when the incense is especially strong, there are madwomen in the maids’ quarters who don’t even realize what they’re doing and just—khem—this mouth, such a naughty mouth, heehee, anyway.”

Qing’s ears perked despite herself.

Uncomfortable was uncomfortable, but there was something she couldn’t just gloss over in that stream of nonsense.

Doing what? What were they doing?

She didn’t know why, but she had the strong feeling this was information she must absolutely not let slide.

Qing’s expression turned serious.

“Tell me that part again, in more detail.”

“Ah, I’m not good with words, you know that... oh, right, you lost your memory. Anyway, His Majesty hasn’t visited the Eastern Six Palaces in ages, right? So the consorts are lonely. And the maids are always like that to begin with. Those Indian barbarians took advantage of that to win favor—with some kind of ‘perfumed-oil method’? A perfumed-oil massage method? Something like that. They call it the perfumed-oil method, but hell if it is. Every time they do it, all you hear is moaning echoing through the halls—oh! Heehee. Right, you know who I am? It was all too suspicious, so when they went to Heavenly-Maiden Temple, I snuck after them, like this, you know? Jaehwa—oh, Jaehwa is the medical woman of the Western Six Palaces—anyway, I asked her what drug it was and she yelled at me, said, ‘You crazy bitch, you want me to make you an aphrodisiac or something?’ Ah, and there I go running my mouth again, heehee, anyway.”

She really wasn’t good with words.

And it wasn’t even the part Qing had wanted to hear!

What was happening in the maids’ quarters on those nights when the incense was especially strong?!

But before that curiosity, there was something else—

Something that snapped Qing fully awake, something she absolutely could not filter out.