Maomao - The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) - Sketches

Beneath the Plum Blossoms: Maomao's Scientific Curiosity Ignites a Passionate Awakening with Jinshi Amidst the Imperial Harem's Secret Gardens

The late afternoon sun, a lazy orange ember, cast long, dancing shadows through the lattice of the imperial garden. Maomao sat on the edge of the veranda of her modest apothecary, meticulously grinding herbs in a mortar. The air, usually thick with the various pungent aromas of her medicinal compounds, now carried a softer, more insidious perfume: the heady sweetness of plum blossoms, their delicate petals drifting like pink snow onto the stone path.