Chou-u needs warmer clothing, so Maomao takes him shopping. At a store, they hear a story about a man finding a lost woman in the forest — a lost woman who was pale and blonde. Was she really lost, though? You don’t just end up in the woods alone, far from your home and family. I find this rather suspicious, and Maomao would eventually share the same sentiment. As for her features… hmm, I’m not super familiar with the ethnicities around China at the time. It would be tempting to assume that the woman might be Russian, but it was most likely someone from the Yenisei Kyrgyz. But again, I’m no expert.
So what is the moral of the story? If you kidnap foreign women, they will sew you a kick ass garment that is nonflammable. There are stories of a cloth that would turn white after being set on fire. I noticed how the “heavenly garment” was initially red in the merchant’s story. Since most people couldn’t understand why it wouldn’t burn, it was easy to attribute it to magic or the gods. It’s just asbestos fiber, though. Back in reality, Maomao realizes that she’s not looking at any regular piece of clothing, so she makes a bet that she could sell the garment for ten times what the merchant is asking for. She then pretends to burn it with a piece of coal only to fail in front of a gathering crowd, proving that it is impervious to fire. She leans into the “heavenly” bull crap, and just like that, everyone is clamoring to buy it.
Done with their shopping, Maomao speculates to Chou-u that the maiden in the story may have tried to reach out for help by hiding messages in the garment’s embroidery. I guess our modern equivalent would be finding a message in a cheap, factory-made item from China or any other distant country. Still, why are we even getting this story anyway? What does a foreign woman and an nonflammable cloth have to do with our current predicament with the impending locust plague? Well, Maomao recalls seeing one such foreign woman during her time with the Shi clan. Man, I completely forgot about this. Still, this is how you build up a mystery, Clevatess.
Finally, we get what most fans (i.e., not me) are begging for: Maomao and Jinshi in the same room once more. Naturally, they need to take care of business first, so she fills him in on everything: how she stumbled upon some of the books, what the apothecary from the Shi clan might know, and what they should do next to find the rest of the tomes. Do I think they will find a solution to the locust plague if they pursue this? Personally, I doubt it. Even now, we can’t completely prevent locust outbreaks. The best we can do is contain them so that they don’t turn into a full blown plague. Still, one flimsy lead is better than nothing. Maomao and Jinshi might as well try.
What follows next is (un)comedy hijinks. Maomao notices that Jinshi hasn’t been getting much sleep. After all, the entire government could be overthrown if their situation turns ugly. So what does the girl do? Over and over again, Maomao keeps trying to offer Jinshi a woman or several to sleep with. She even gives him an “invigorating” tonic. Meanwhile, Jinshi probably thought he could at least share a bed with her. I’m sure those hopes were quickly dashed as Maomao kept lining women up in front of him.
I know the young apothecary doesn’t harbor those feelings for Jinshi (yet), but does she really have to be like this? Is this amusing to her? Maomao isn’t stupid; I know she knows how he feels about her. So what is this? It could be as simple as, “Other men feel refreshed after sex with a beautiful woman, so I’m doing Jinshi a favor in the most direct way possible.” But again, Maomao is smarter than that. Maybe she’s hoping to distract him, because it’s easy to write men off as facile, carnal creatures at the end of the day. This way, she can stop worrying about him chasing her. Still, if she was truly his friend, she would just let the guy sleep because he is truly and honestly tired. But no, Maomao seems to be in the mood for a bit of deadpan trolling.
In the end, she has to sing him a lullaby anyway. Feels like we took a few extra unnecessary steps just to get to our inevitable destination. All of those women were called here, thinking they might land a rich client. Did they get reimbursed for their troubles? They got all dolled up and everything. We can’t forget that these are working women, just hoping to earn a living. Also, when Jinshi finally departs the next morning, Pairin asks Maomao, “Why don’t you accept it already?” Not for several more light novel volumes, I’m afraid…
Stray thoughts & observations:
— Did the show always have this warning? Probably. I still find it funny, though. The show draws so much on the Tang Dynasty, but sure, sure, there are no specific connections.
— So wait, how long has it been since Maomao and Jinshi have seen each other?
— Fibrous stone? Is that another term for asbestos fiber? Shrug.
— We all know asbestos was used in houses for a long time, but fun fact, it was also commonly used to line the inside of firefighter suits. Sure, it can give you lung cancer, but you know what’s worse? Burning to death.
— The merchant lets Maomao know the price by simply holding up an abacus. Y’know, these days, I only ever see an abacus if I pay a visit to one of those shady stores peddling Chinese herbal medicine.
— Right before the episode ends, we again see the hooded woman peddling her bizarre medicine to desperate, hungry commoners. Damn, this is going to be a recurring scene for quite a while, huh?
