Gyokuyou - The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) - Collection

Empress Gyokuyou's Forbidden Night: A Scent of Desire, a Touch of Ecstasy, and the Unveiling of Her Deepest Passions in the Rear Palace's Secluded Embrace

The night air, thick with the scent of jasmine and the distant murmur of the Rear Palace, settled around Gyokuyou like a silken cloak. She sat by the open window of her private chambers, the moon, a sliver of silver, casting long, dancing shadows across the rice paper screens. Her mind, usually a fortress of calm and dignified composure, was restless, a gentle current swirling with a yearning she rarely acknowledged, even to herself.