WEBVTT

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ORIGINAL STORY BY NATSU HYUUGA

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THIS STORY IS A FICION, AND ALL NAMES OF
FIGURES ND ORGANIZATIONS ARE FICTITIOUS.

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MOREOVER, THE STORY HAS NO RELATION
TO REAL-LIFE INCIDENTS AND EVENTS.

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No... My Lady is being bestowed?

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I understand.

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- Lady Fuyou!
- Please wait!

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Oh! So cold...

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It's been a while
since we came to the capital,

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but it's hard to get used to
the chilly mornings.

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I miss our homeland's sand and sunshine.

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The Western Capital was also chilly
in the mornings and evenings.

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The Western Capital, huh?

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It feels so nostalgic now.

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It feels like we arrived just yesterday

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for Lady Gyokuyou to enter the court.

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That reminds me.
Father was pleased in his letter.

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Commerce between the Western Capital
and the central area is increasing.

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It's because Lady Gyokuyou is loved!

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It's the homeland of
the Emperor's favorite.

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Even the central area can't ignore that.

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Are you cleaning the kitchen?

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We'll help too.

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We'll never finish unless we split tasks.

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We can't ask the other palace women.

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Remember when we found
poisoned needles in her clothes?

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It was especially bad
when she was pregnant.

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Part of that may be
because she's a foreign princess.

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It'll be okay.
We have a new attendant, remember?

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Maomao, what are you making?

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Cold medicine.

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You can make that?

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Our new attendant is talented.

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Hey, do you need my help with anything?

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Are you eating well?

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I am, thank you.

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You can always talk to me, all right?

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Yes...

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Hey, have you heard?

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There's a new rumor going around recently.

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No.

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There's a ghost in the rear palace.

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A ghost?

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I know! It's the white lady ghost!

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So it's famous?

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All the palace women, eunuchs,
and concubines are talking about it.

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It's been about two weeks.

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They say a ghost of a white lady

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has been seen dancing
in midair under the moon.

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It's every night by the castle walls
at the Eastern Gate!

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I see.

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The castle walls surround
the entire rear palace.

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<i>You can only enter and leave
through the gates</i>

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of the four directions,
East, West, South and North.

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Yeah, right.

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<i>There's always guards at the castle gates,</i>

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<i>and there's a deep moat outside.</i>

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<i>It's impossible to escape or sneak in.</i>

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<i>It's said that
buried deep inside the moat are</i>

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the remains of a concubine
who tried to escape the rear palace...

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In other words, a typical ghost story.

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What should I do if I see a real ghost?

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It's just a rumor.

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Excuse me. Will you look at my medicine?

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Oh, it's you, miss! Give me a second.

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<i>It's almost like he was wasn't
suspicious of me just the other day.</i>

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<i>Ever since he realized
I can make medicine,</i>

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<i>he lets me prepare it.</i>

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<i>He even shares with me
the ingredients I need.</i>

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<i>He even gives me tea.</i>

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<i>Is he allowed to be this laid back?</i>

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Sorry for the wait.

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Wow!

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You like salty things more than
sweet things, right?

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I'd like some of those too.

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Right away!

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Thank you for your hard work.

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It's not that bad.

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<i>Does this guy have nothing to do?</i>

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<i>A eunuch should be
at the Domestic Service Department!</i>

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<i>Instead, he just wanders around</i>

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<i>as if he's keeping watch
over the entire rear palace....</i>

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<i>In that case, he's higher up</i>

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<i>than the Matron of the Serving Women!</i>

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<i>He could be the guardian of the Emperor,</i>

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<i>but he's too young for that.</i>

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<i>He must be the Emperor's lover!</i>

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I feel like you're thinking about
something very rude.

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You must be imagining it.

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Doctor, I'm very sorry.
Can you get these for me?

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So, what do you want to discuss?

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Do you know about the ghost incidents?

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I've heard the rumors.

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And what about somnambulance?

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<i>Somnambulance?</i>

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So you are interested.

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How does one heal that?

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I don't know.

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It's not something to heal with medicine.

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So you can heal it without medicine?

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I only work with medicine.

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I'm at a loss.

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I'm truly at a loss.

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<i>So annoying! What a stubborn man!</i>

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I'll try my best.

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<i>He's different from the other eunuchs.</i>

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Miss Maomao.

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No need for honorifics.

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Your position is much higher than mine,
Sir Gaoshun.

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In that case, Xiaomao.

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<i>Xiao? So now I'm a little girl?</i>

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Will you stop regarding Sir Jinshi

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as if he's a caterpillar?

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<i>Shit! He knows!</i>

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Just today, he came back

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<i>and told me in a happy state
that you regarded him</i>

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<i>as if he were a caterpillar.</i>

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I'll be careful from now on.

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Anyone without enough practice

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could get dizzy and collapse.

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<i>People have all kinds of kinks, huh?</i>

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Here we are.

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A Chinese hibiscus under the moon...

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You have a keen eye.

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That is Concubine Fuyou,

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a mid-ranking concubine

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who will be bestowed
to a soldier as a reward next month.

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I think it's been two years.

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She's a very timid princess.

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She's a good dancer,

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but made a mistake
performing in front of the Emperor.

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She's had no visits from the Emperor
since entering the court,

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and stayed shut inside her room.

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It's no one's fault, but even so...

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<i>- To be bestowed... The poor girl.</i>
- Lady Fuyou!

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<i>So the somnambulance is caused by
her agony over being bestowed?</i>

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<i>The illness is said to be caused
by a loss of balance in the mind...</i>

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<i>No, I need more information.</i>

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<i>I'll go see her one more time.</i>

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Where is Concubine Fuyou's room?

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Her outbuilding is to the north.

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Thank you very much.
And for the tea, also.

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You're already going?

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I hope she cheers up.

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She's a princess
from a small vassal state.

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She may not want to go back.

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Go back?

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Oh, the thing is...

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Poor Concubine Fuyou.

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Yes. To be bestowed to a soldier.

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Just thinking about it scares me!

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She has a very different impression than

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when she was dancing on the castle walls.

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Yes.

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I was surprised myself
when I saw her dance for the first time.

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She's usually more simple-looking.

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She's really like
a Chinese hibiscus flower.

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- A flower?
- Yes.

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<i>Chinese hibiscus flowers</i>

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<i>blossom into a large white flower
in the morning.</i>

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<i>However, in the evening,</i>

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<i>the color changes into a dark pink color.</i>

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So it's a flower that has many faces
in a single day?

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Exactly.

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The ghost story?

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Yes. I wanted to hear more about it.

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Do you know anything?

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Now that I think about it,

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I heard the ghost appeared first
on the northern side.

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- The north?
- Xiaolan? Here's your laundry!

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- Coming!
- She moved from the north to the east?

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Oh, the thing is...

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I see, I thought so.
So Concubine Fuyou is...

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Old man would tell me
not to act on speculation.

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Somnambulance is a mysterious illness.

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It's said to be caused by
an unbalanced heart.

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A patient acts as if they're awake
even when they're asleep.

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Back at the brothel,

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there was a courtesan afflicted
by the same illness.

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<i>She was a cheerful courtesan
talented at poetry.</i>

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<i>There were talks of her being bought out.</i>

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This offer was eventually rescinded.

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She started wandering around the brothel
every night,

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as if she were possessed by
a ghost or demon.

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Oh. What's wrong, everyone?

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The courtesan in question
had no memory of the night at all.

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So, what happened?

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Nothing. She stopped wandering around

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when her offer was rescinded.

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So you mean that the courtesan didn't

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want to get bought out?

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Most likely.

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The man was a large store owner.

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He not only had a wife and kids,
but even grandchildren.

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And she only had a year left
in her term of service.

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Maybe it's the same with Concubine Fuyou.

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Is that really all?

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Yes.

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Really?

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Calm down!

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I'm going back to work.

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<i>After that, Concubine Fuyou
was prohibited from going outdoors.</i>

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<i>She was to be guarded by an eunuch</i>

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<i>until the day of her bestowment arrived.</i>

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I hope this goes well.

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Isn't Maomao acting a bit strange
these days?

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Is she?

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I knew it. There's something else to this.

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Is today Concubine Fuyou's
day of departure?

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That's what I heard.

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- Hey.
- Huh?

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Don't you think you could at least tell me

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what the real story is?

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I'm the one asking you. I won't get angry.

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These are just speculations.

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Please don't tell anyone about this.

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I'm very tight-lipped.

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Do you remember the story of
the courtesan I told everyone?

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- The one with the somnambulance?
- Yes.

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There was one other courtesan
whose proposal was rescinded

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due to the same illness.

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That courtesan ended up

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receiving a new proposal to be bought out,

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but because she was a courtesan
with an illness,

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the total sum was half the silver
of the original proposal.

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But this was all an act.

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An act?

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The two men who proposed to buy out
the same woman

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knew each other.

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The woman pretended to be ill

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so that the first proposal
would be rescinded.

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Later, the man who was truly interested
bought her out

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at half the original price.

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For them to be together,
he didn't have enough silver,

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and she still had a long term of service.

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You're saying Concubine Fuyou is the same
as that courtesan?

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The soldier who'll be with Concubine Fuyou

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is her childhood friend who grew up

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in the same homeland.

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I heard that this childhood friend
was praised for his valor

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for defeating foreign troops
in the recent battle.

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He was offered a reward

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and strongly wished for the bestowment
of Concubine Fuyou.

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He was probably hoping for this

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since he was living in his homeland.

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A soldier doesn't have the social
standing to propose to a princess.

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Even so, she ended up
entering the rear palace...

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The princess loved her childhood friend
as well.

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<i>That's why she purposefully messed up
her dance</i>

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<i>so that the Emperor wouldn't be
interested in her.</i>

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<i>As planned, she had no night visits
from the Emperor,</i>

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<i>and she remains chaste.</i>

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But there was no guarantee that the
Emperor wouldn't prevent Concubine Fuyou

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from falling into
the hands of another man.

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So she pretended to have somnambulance...

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That was a possibility with the Emperor.

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You never know with Him.

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The battlegrounds with the foreign troops
are to the east.

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And Concubine Fuyou was dancing
every night at...

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The Eastern Gate?

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She was probably praying
for his safe return.

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Though this is just speculation.

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- Hey, Maomao.
- Yes.

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<i>If I said I feel jealous of
Concubine Fuyou,</i>

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would I be a terrible woman?

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<i>Concubine Fuyou was beautiful that night.</i>

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<i>Almost as if she was a different woman</i>

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<i>than the simple princess I saw
during the day.</i>

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I don't think that at all.

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- Let's go.
- Yes, ma'am.

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If love makes a woman beautiful,

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what kind of medicine would it be?

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We would like to request something
from the rumored apothecary.

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PREVIEW OF NEXT EPISODE

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<i>Next episode, "The Threat."</i>

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Subtitle translation by: Yukimi Ohashi