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Looking like thin, translucent threads, a cold rain was falling from the sky and soaking the ground, while an icy wind was blowing the colorful leaves from the trees and making them fly through the air. There was definitely not much time left until the arrival of winter. Not much time until that rain would turn into snow and bury the surroundings under a layer of white flakes. With his long hair slightly tousled by the wind, Jinshi was walking calmly through the Outer Palace under his umbrella. Careful to not step into any of the puddles in order to not get any stains on his clothes. He had just completed a task at the Inner Palace and was now on his way back to his residence, where Gaoshun was probably already waiting for him with the usual paperwork. But despite that, Jinshi wasn't really in a hurry. He was sure that his aide would be able to wait a few more minutes, and if not, then a scolding was nothing the young lord wouldn't be able to handle. It wouldn't be the first time, anyway. Jinshi used said few minutes to make a brief stop and inhale the scent of the rain, filling his lungs with the fresh, cold air that was making his face burn slightly and reddening his cheeks. Since his nose was finally unclogged once more, he could take deep breaths to his heart's content now and perceive all the smells around him. What a blessing! It certainly was true what people said: only after having lost them, you learn to truly cherish the things in life. And Jinshi had already more than once confirmed through his personal experience just how much truth these words were holding. An experience he would really prefer to never have to go through again. After having cast a brief gaze towards the cloudy sky, the man known as a "celestial nymph" put on a little smile and resumed his way. Neither the bad weather nor the thought about the mountain of paperwork on his desk was currently able to dampen his mood. He had to admit that, thanks to Maomao's attentive care, he felt absolutely great and was bursting with energy. Perhaps now, his state of health was even better than before his cold. The apothecary was truly a master in her field. Not that he had ever doubted that fact. Two days had passed since the young lord had returned to his work, after having ended up spending three days in bed until Maomao had determined that he had fully recovered from his cold and allowed him to leave his chambers. Since he really had no desire to find a laxative in his food, he had been doing everything she said without any objections (Even though he did secretly wish for her to give him one of these menacing gazes of hers again. Sometimes, he wondered whether there was maybe something wrong with him. Hm, well...). The young noble chuckled when he remembered the sheer amount of medicine she had prepared for him and made him take during these three days. A fever remedy, a cough remedy, something to boost his immunity, the inhalations... nothing had been left out, and everything had been working wonderfully. When that young woman was doing something, then she was doing it with total diligence, that he had to admit. Very admirable, in his opinion. Not to forget that her mere presence was already a kind of medicine on its own... Jinshi let out a little sigh. Unfortunately, she hadn't slept in his bed again since that one time, but he understood that this would have really been a bit too much to ask. After all, she had already done everything in her might and spent so much time nursing him back to health. And he was deeply grateful for that. He grinned at the memory of her beaming with joy when he had expressed said gratitude after his recovery by giving her the bottle of wine he had promised her. A big one. Almost two liters. Then, the next morning, Suiren had reported to him that the bottle was now standing on the apothecary's table, completely empty. Having heard that, the young noble couldn't hold back and burst out laughing, so hard that tears were running over his face. So his little drunkard hadn't been able to resist, after all, and had drunk it all at once, huh? He had still been laughing, when Maomao had entered his chambers a bit later and wished him a good morning with a frown on her face. But despite all his gratitude, during the days he had spent in bed, he still couldn't help but regularly complain to the apothecary about the fact that he was bored. But how could he not, if, since his childhood, there had been barely any real occasion for him to do absolutely nothing? Thus, it had felt to him as if time hadn't been passing at all. Maomao's reply to that had mostly been a glare as if he was a huge fly that was buzzing around her and getting on her nerves, but when there weren't any other tasks for her to do, she would sigh, pull up a chair and sit down beside his bed. Then they would have a conversation and Jinshi would always hold her hand, caressing it gently. Maomao had let him do it without any complaint, as if it had become something completely normal to her. During these moments, Jinshi had wished for time to pass as slowly as possible. Luckily, the embarrassing incident from the first night hadn't repeated itself, however, Suiren had later told Jinshi that, every evening, when he had already been sleeping, Maomao would still come to check his temperature and to make sure that he was really sound asleep. Only then would she retreat to her own room to sleep as well. When he had heard that, Jinshi's jaw had dropped from astonishment, and his heart had been about to melt from cuteness once again. His smile widened as he recalled even more of their moments together, while he had been sick with his cold. For example, him taking advantage of the fact that she had come to listen to his lungs every morning and evening, in order to wrap his arms around her and squeeze her tightly to his body. Although Maomao had always squirmed a bit and complained that he shouldn't bother her, otherwise she could miss some suspicious sounds in his lungs, she hadn't really tried to put up any resistance. Or the moment when his nose had finally unclogged after several inhalations: *** "Apothecary!" Maomao raised the towel from Jinshi's face she had covered his head with, so that he could inhale the chamomile-and-salt-concoction prepared by her, while sitting on his bed. "What is it, sir?" He smiled at her and pulled at the towel, until it was lying on his shoulders. "It's working! My nose isn't stuffed anymore! I can finally breathe normally again!" Without changing her neutral expression, the apothecary picked up the tray with the bowl containing said concoction and put it on the table next to the bed. "That's hardly surprising," she replied nonchalantly. "This is a highly effective remedy when you have a cold." But then Maomao suddenly stopped in her tracks when she felt Jinshi's hand tug at her sleeve. She turned back to him and gave him a questioning look. He was still smiling. "Could you please sit down with me?" Maomao frowned upon hearing that request, which seemed to have come out of nowhere, and raised an eyebrow. Her gaze turned slightly suspicious. "What's he up to this time?" was almost written all over her face. "What for?" "Please!" She looked at him for another short while and then sighed, about to stretch out her hand to grab the chair. But Jinshi was still holding her sleeve. With his free hand, he patted the bed next to him. "No, here." What followed was another gaze of mistrust, mixed with annoyance. But in the end, the apothecary refrained from saying a word and obeyed, sitting down on the bed. "Gah!" Her eyes widened, and before she knew it, she was already in Jinshi's arms. He buried his nose against her neck, inhaling her scent. "Hah, still the same herbal smell..." "Master Jinshi!" Maomao got angry and grabbed his shoulders. "What are you doing?!" If she were a cat, she would have probably hissed at him and scratched him. "Sorry, I'm just so happy to be able to smell again! Please let me stay like that for a bit longer! Just a little bit!" She grimaced for a moment, but then let out a snort and removed her hands from his shoulders. "Very well." She didn't say anything else. However, Jinshi's head started to slowly slide down during that hug until it ended up lying on her lap. Maomao froze for a second and opened her mouth again in order to say something. But changed her mind. While pressing his forehead against her stomach, the young noble heard another sigh coming from the apothecary and then felt her relax again. But what she did next was quite a surprise for him. A very pleasant surprise: She placed her hand on his head and started to stroke his hair. "Like a little kid..." he heard her mutter a few minutes later while falling asleep on her lap with a big smile on his face. Once again calmed down by her warmth and her caresses. *** So, seen in that way and not taking the first day into account, his cold actually hadn't been that bad. He very much preferred being healthy, of course, but if, one day, he should get sick once more, he hoped that Maomao would take care of him that time as well. And while he was walking in silence and indulging in his memories with an expression on his face that really didn't fit the bad weather at all, he suddenly turned his head to the side, and his eyes widened. About a dozen meters away, he spotted the back of his cute apothecary, who was kneeling on the ground, and stopped again, briefly rubbing his eyes with his free hand, as if he couldn't really believe what he was seeing. It was almost as if he had summoned her with his memories. But what was she doing there, under the pouring rain? Slightly concerned, Jinshi made a few steps into her direction and could now see that she was digging in the dirt with both of her hands. As it looked like, she was about to pull a plant out of the ground. The young lord frowned. Hah, Maomao and her plants! He knew perfectly well how much she loved her medicinal herbs (Oh, how he knew!), but it really wasn't the right weather to go pluck some now! What the hell was she thinking?! Actually, he recently had heard her mutter something about needing to plant a few more herbs in the Outer Palace. Well, as long as she didn't turn the Imperial Palace into a gigantic herb garden, Jinshi didn't mind at all. Especially not after having been cured of his cold thanks to the medicine the apothecary had made him precisely out of these herbs. He believed that it would be, indeed, quite useful to have some more grow directly nearby. But that didn't mean he would allow her to damage her own health because of them! Jinshi resolutely approached her and already opened his mouth in order to scold her and command her to go inside at once. But as soon as he got close enough to see her face... ...all the words he had wanted to say got stuck in his throat. His eyes widened from surprise, and his cheeks turned red. Not due to the cold, this time. There was an expression of pure bliss on Maomao's face, as if she had landed in paradise. Her mouth was curved into a big, sincere smile, and her deep-blue eyes were shining like a cloudless sky that was illuminated by the sun. At that very moment, it was her who looked like a celestial nymph to him. A real one. Jinshi had the impression as if his heart had gotten struck by lightning and stopped beating for a second. It was by all means not the first time for him to see her that happy (he just had to think of her behavior when he had arrived to buy her out and brought her that strange insect), but certainly the first time to feel so heavily fascinated by the sight of her. Said sight was attracting him almost magically, like a moth being drawn by a burning lantern, and his feet moved nearly on their own until he was standing right behind her. His mind was blank, making him unable to produce any clear thought. At least, any clear thought that didn't have anything to do with Maomao. He bent down a bit into her direction to watch what she was currently doing. Still being fully concentrated on getting the plant's roots out of the soil, she didn't seem to have noticed his presence at all. Well, but how would she even be able to notice him, if she looked as though she had immersed herself into a world that only consisted of her and that plant? A world where there wasn't any room left for Jinshi. That thought caused a painful sting in the young lord's heart. He sighed. If, one day, she were to look at him the same way she looked at her herbs, he would indeed be the happiest man alive. He slightly shook his head to chase the unpleasant thoughts away and focused on her face and the movements of her hands once again, holding his umbrella over her to shield her from the rain. A little smile found its way back to his face when he saw her take a little worm, that was crawling over one of the plant's leaves, into her hand without batting an eye and set it down on the ground before continuing to dig around. Her hands and skirt were already full of dirt and mud. Jinshi didn't even want to picture his chief lady-in-waiting Suiren's reaction to that. He already felt a bit sorry for the apothecary, even though she had naturally brought everything on herself. But he had to admit that it was fascinating how things most other people considered worthless or even disgusting, were real treasures for Maomao. She really was a very special young woman. In every way. And even more fascinating for him was the fact that, even being dirty and soaked, she was the most beautiful woman he knew. Even though she was calling herself plain, Jinshi believed that she surpassed each and every one of the other palace women by far. None of them could hold a candle to Maomao. Just her eyes alone were... something. He would never forget the moment he had seen her at the garden party without her freckles for the very first time and been so baffled by her looks that it had made him speechless. No matter what kind of beauty he was to encounter around him, Jinshi's eyes were seeing only Maomao. Just like she was currently seeing nothing but that plant, for him, Maomao was the only one who existed, and it was his biggest wish to create a little world on his own, where he could be together with her. With her alone. But suddenly, a loud sneeze tore the air and abruptly snatched the young lord away from his daydreams, bringing him back into reality. Approximately five minutes had passed since he had approached her. His gaze fell on Maomao once again, and his mouth opened with shock. The sight of her had captivated him to such a point that he hadn't properly realized until now just how drenched she was and how she was trembling from the cold. Not believing his own stupidity, he gritted his teeth. He was such an idiot! How couldn't he realize it earlier, something as obvious as that?! Hah, but you could certainly ask the same question to Maomao herself, who was so focused on her plant… With his free hand, he grabbed her arm. “Hey, apothecary! What in the world are you doing outside in this rain and without an umbrella?! You're soaking wet!” Maomao flinched and opened her eyes wide when she heard his voice right behind her. Then she returned into reality as well when he suddenly yanked her to her feet and made her get up from the ground. She was holding the pulled-out plant in one of her hands. As it seemed, the apothecary really had been completely oblivious to Jinshi’s presence until now. She turned her head into his direction. “Master Jinshi? Oh, it’s raining. I haven’t noticed,” she stated calmly, looking up into the sky. He stared at her, completely baffled. As if he couldn’t believe his ears. “What?! You haven’t noticed?! Are you kidding me?!” Yes, that young woman was, indeed, more than just a unique one. Which, unfortunately, didn’t always have to mean something positive, just as in times like these. “Well, I’ve spotted this plant and…” Jinshi pulled at her arm and forced her to turn around to him. “Forget the plant! Come here!” he commanded and put the open umbrella briefly on the ground in order to take off his cape and place it around her shoulders. “Just look at how cold you are! And you complain that I’M neglecting my health! Tsk!” Clicking his tongue with anger, he picked up his umbrella and took the apothecary by the hand. “Let’s go home!” And started walking with big, hurried steps. Maomao, who must have understood that he was right, allowed him to guide her away without any objection, but Jinshi was walking so fast that she could barely keep up with him due to her considerably shorter legs. While dragging her behind him like that, he had some kind of déjà-vu. Ah yes, that’s right: he had done exactly the same thing at the garden party back then, huh? After she had tasted the poisoned soup. Jinshi sighed in irritation, thinking not for the first time that, despite all his feelings and affection towards her, she was sometimes driving him insane with her actions. But then suddenly an idea occurred to him, and he stopped so abruptly that she bumped into him. Maomao frowned and rubbed her nose that had collided with his back. “Master Jinshi! What’s wro-” But before she managed to finish her sentence, Jinshi quickly looked around, and, once he had made sure that there was nobody else outside nearby (surely due to the heavy rain), he turned around without a word and a with a determined expression on his face and wrapped his arm around her waist out of nowhere. Carrying Maomao under his arm, he then hurriedly resumed his way. The apothecary protested and kicked her legs. The young lord tightened his grip around her so she wouldn’t fall down. His arm and hip got wet during the entire process, but he didn’t care. “Stop squirming,” he reprimanded her in a strict tone. “It’s faster like that. You’re soaked to the bone, so there isn’t any time for us to waste!” Maomao obeyed and held still. She might believe that he was exaggerating a bit, but seemed to have realized that she wouldn’t be able to do anything anyway in that situation, thus decided to let him do as he pleased. Finally, the young noble reached the entrance of his residence and tossed his wet umbrella carelessly to the ground, not giving a damn whether he would receive a scolding later or not. He put down the shivering Maomao (who was still holding that damn plant in her hand) and wrapped her more tightly into his cape. She sniffled. “Wait here,” he indicated to her. “I’ll go fetch Suiren and ask her to take care of you. You’re in urgent need of a hot bath and dry clothes.” And with these words, Jinshi sprinted away in order to look for his chief lady-in-waiting. The apothecary let out a few more loud sneezes behind him. Jinshi had a very bad feeling about that.