The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 1

She must have been much admired for her beauty in those halcyon days before she had arrived at the palace, but when she got here, she discovered she had known as much about the outside world as a frog who had spent its life in a well.

Maomao was a relatively objective thinker for a girl of seventeen, but she had a few qualities that continually dogged her. For one, curiosity; and for another, a hunger for knowledge. And then there was her budding sense of justice.

It was always possible he was the current emperor’s guardian, but considering Jinshi looked to be about twenty years old, it was hard to imagine. Maybe he was the son of the Emperor or something, but then why become a eunuch?

find herself confronted with the almost blinding smile of the nymph-man.
“Now, now, mustn’t do that,” he said. “I want you to stay behind.”
That smile—so bold, so bright—wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Jinshi saw one person walking along as if the uproar didn’t concern her. She was a petite girl with freckles peppering her nose and cheeks.

She was so busy thinking it, in fact, that she didn’t even notice the person passing by.

I’m just dying to get a look at that gorgeous eunuch they say lives in the central area,” Maomao said

For one, curiosity; and for another, a hunger for knowledge. And then there was her budding sense of justice.

there was no toxin so terrifying as a woman’s smile.

At a brothel? Wait... Don’t tell me you...”

Maomao gave Jinshi a glare. So he liked to question people’s chastity, did he? “I don’t take customers myself,” she informed him. “Yet.”

“Yet...”

Maomao didn’t elaborate. What could she say? It certainly wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that the madam would finally manage to force a customer on her before she was able to pay off her debt. Although thankfully, under the influence of her father and sisters, it hadn’t happened so far.

“How about if I bought you?” Jinshi drawled.

“Huh?” Maomao was about to tell him not to joke when an idea flashed through her mind. “You know, that might not be half bad.”

Jinshi caught his breath, startled. It was the face of a pigeon spooked by a peashooter. Apparently the lack of sparkle opened the door to a great wealth of expressions. Lovely though the ethereal smile was, it almost didn’t look human. It was nearly enough to convince Maomao that he must have two hun spirits within a single po spirit: