Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace

The man who had been watching Yui Mei and Libin’s conversation with a sidelong glance approached Xu.

“Setting this weird granny court lady aside, you shouldn’t merge your sins with the sins of others and take it all in. Thinking that you can change other people’s lives is nothing but a huge arrogance.”

The man remarked, and Xu gasped in realization.

“The only one who can change yourself is you, after all. Even if people are not willing to listen to others, it is still up to them to decide it so. In short, all responsibility lies in the person himself. In the first place, she wasn’t an infant that doesn’t know such principles.”

“…Maybe you’re right.”

Xu bowed her head lifelessly after hearing the man’s words.

The man’s words carried a different weight, as expected of a Ministry of Justice personnel dealing with criminals day by day.

At any rate, he was aware about what was happening within the walls of Jiaofang.

“Xu, if you see that unfamiliar merchant again, will you recognize him?”

“…I can recognize him…probably?”

Xu responded with those words to the man’s question.

If she cooperated with the Ministry of Justice’s investigation, Xu’s position, which had been in jeopardy because of this incident,  could turn for the better.

In that case, Yui Mei’s role was to grant Xu’s wish.

And so, she asked the man regarding what would happen to Xu from hereon.

“Xu needs to be examined by a doctor first, but will she stay here in the penitentiary?”

“Yeah.”

The man nodded in reply.

“Xu Zi will stay here in custody for a while. She’s a valuable informant, so we have to protect her so that she won’t be goner’.”

“Oh…”

‘Did I just hear something scary?’

Yui Mei replied with a stiff face.

‘Goner’ — was he talking about her status, or was it about losing her life?

It was a terrifying thought, so Yui Mei decided not to dwell on it.

“Then I’ll try asking the physician from the clinic if he can visit her here in the penitentiary. In the meantime, please sleep well at night, and please eat your meals properly. A healthy lifestyle is the best cure for this illness.”

“Meals…I got it.”

Xu’s face scrunched, obviously reluctant to do what Yui Mei said.

‘I wonder if the food doesn’t taste good?’

She was the daughter of a big-time merchant before, and she was probably used to eating banquet food even after becoming the palace courtesan, so perhaps her taste buds had been used to eating feasts.

It was the same with the confined patients who grumbled that hospital food was unpalatable.

Even so, patients who normally prepare lightly seasoned meals for themselves didn’t think the hospital food was so bad.

In short, Xu must not be used to eating food that wasn’t a dish from a feast.

“She had been given meals for criminals until today, but since she’s no longer a criminal, she will be transferred to another room, and the menu will be changed. She will eat the same food as the officials of the Ministry of Justice.”

The man remarked.

“Really!?”

Xu looked happy when she heard that.

The dishes for criminals were prepared with the minimum amount of nutrients apparently, so it must have been hard for Xu to swallow such food with her ‘feast-trained taste buds’.

On the other hand, this incident might have made the lightly-seasoned food taste better for her.

Nothing was ever in vain.

Afterward, Yui Mei told Xu how she must spend her days from now on before leaving with Libin in tow.

The following day, Yui Mei rushed towards Doctor Chen’s clinic.

“Doctor Chen, are you here~?”

Yui Mei called out as she entered the clinic. She found Chen resting while drinking tea.

“Hey, Yui Mei. What’s up?”

Chen cheerfully beckoned Yui Mei, so she excitedly sat across him.

“Here, have some of this first before we talk!”

Yui Mei handed the present she brought to Chen before getting down to business.

Sesame dumplings were inside it.

It seemed that Mei Na’s ideas were all about sesame dumplings, so she tried to come up with a lot of different things.