Manga Chapter 22: Working in the Outer Court

Working in the Outer Court
Name
Japanese	外廷勤務
Romaji	Gaitei Kinmu
Information
Format	Manga
Volume	Volume 5
Chapter No.	22
Pages	28
Adaptation
Light Novel	Volume 2 Chapter 1
Anime	Serving in the Outer Court (season 1, episode 13)
Chronology
Previous	← Chapter 21
Next	Chapter 23 →

Working in the Outer Court (外廷勤務, Gaitei Kinmu^?) is the twenty second chapter of Nekokurage's The Apothecary Diaries first manga adaptation.

Summary

Gaoshun takes Maomao on a short tour through the outer court, where most government offices are located, and where she will be working. Maomao notes a lack of medicinal plants compared to the inner court. She also notices a group of five women behind her, four of whom are visibly angry.

Maomao takes a test to become a court lady in the outer court but fails due to the study material not being related to medicine, to Jinshi and Gaoshun’s frustration. As a result, Maomao is assigned to be Jinshi’s personal maid.

While rinsing the water out of a cleaning rag, Maomao raises her head and bumps into a woman’s chest. She sees the group of five women shrieking angrily at her, most of which she tunes out. Maomao then deduces out loud that the court ladies are jealous of her and is slapped in response. As the group slowly backs Maomao into a wall, she puts her hands up and denies that Jinshi had any special interest in her.

One of the court ladies, who Maomao notes looks rather plain and has remained calm throughout, questions her on why Jinshi employed her. Maomao unrolls the bandage on her left arm, revealing burn scars (from a recent experiment for a burn treatment), to the ladies’ disgust. She then praises Jinshi for pitying her while crying, to which the group quickly leaves. Relieved, Maomao later notices Jinshi and Gaoshun at the end of the hall. She brushes off Jinshi’s concerns on the bullying, stating that the inner court is worse.

At night in her room, Maomao hangs up the medicinal plants she picked to dry. Though she is disappointed in the lack of variety, she becomes elated on seeing her caterpillar fungus again.

The next morning, Maomao wakes to Jinshi enjoying his breakfast, attended by Gaoshun and Suiren, his maid. Jinshi then asks Maomao whether she is satisfied with her living quarters or not. As it lacks the amenities that she previously had in the Jade Pavilion, Maomao considers requesting for a better room, but is given a warning glare by Gaoshun. Not understanding his expression, Maomao requests a stable near a well, but is immediately denied.

Under Suiren’s instruction, Maomao cleans the dishes and prepares to scrub the floor. Suiren discusses when other maids were in this residence, items appeared more often than they disappeared. This included underwear woven out of human hair, to Maomao’s disgust.

After cleaning the floor, Maomao takes a stroll in the outer court. She considers going to the east wing, where the military is situated, but refuses when a man comes to mind.

Suddenly, someone hits Maomao on the head from behind. She turns around and sees the plain-looking court lady from earlier, carrying a package. The court lady claims that the east wing is off-limits to her. While Maomao apologizes, she realizes that the lack of makeup makes sense, given that the court lady came from the east wing. As the court lady leaves, Maomao smells some sandalwood and another bitter scent off her. She walks back to Jinshi’s residence when the noon bell sounds.

Characters

• Maomao
• Gaoshun
• Various court ladies
• Jinshi
• Plain-looking court lady
• Suiren
• Unknown man with monocle (imagined by Maomao)

Notes

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Light Novel

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Anime