I opened my eyes, and something was wrong. The ceiling was the familiar one from the apothecary. The smell of medicinal herbs, shadows of small bottles lined on shelves, thin morning light. Everything as usual. But something was different. Mao Mao slowly pushed themselves up. Then tilted their head. ……Heavy. The shoulders felt oddly heavy. No, not heavy so much as——wide? I looked at my hands. Deep brown eyes reflected in them. The hands emerging from the white apothecary robes were larger than before, more angular, with prominent knuckles. I took my pulse first. Regular. Strong. No abnormalities. Next, I opened my mouth to check my tongue color, and an "ah" came out. Low. Too low to be my own voice. I checked my temperature with the back of my hand. Not hot. Normal range. After systematically confirming everything as an apothecary would, Mao Mao reached one conclusion. ——Not an illness. Except for the body being male, there was nothing wrong anywhere. Mao Mao grabbed the small bronze mirror leaning against the corner of the apothecary and looked at their reflection. Black hair, short, slightly wavy. Deep brown eyes. But the face was sharp-featured, the neck long, the shoulders unmistakably too broad. The height seemed about ten centimeters taller. Slender, but with muscle on the arms. ……A face that wasn't mine stared back from the mirror. "[serious]……Why did this happen" I muttered to the mirror. The low voice startled me again. But I didn't panic. Panicking wouldn't change anything. It was better to identify the cause first than prioritize emotion. It was like an apothecary's instinct. For Mao Mao, problems existed to be solved. Emotions could wait. (What did I drink last night) The answer came immediately. The medicinal bath. --- In the Emerald Forbidden City——the imperial harem section of the Liang Dynasty——medicinal baths were distributed to everyone each evening. It started 120 years ago when an epidemic swept through the harem and twelve imperial concubines died. Since then, a decoction made from licorice, ginger, jujubes, and cinnamon bark had been prepared in batches of 500 daily, distributed by three attendants. Mao Mao sometimes handled the mixing. But last night's duty wasn't Mao Mao's. Mao Mao searched the apothecary shelves for the leftover from last night. The medicinal bath preparation area——called the decoction room, adjacent to the kitchen——had left a small amount in a ceramic dish. I transferred it to a small bottle and began analyzing the components. Licorice. Ginger. Jujubes. Cinnamon bark. So far, normal. But there was something else. Mao Mao brought their nose close, checking the color against the 200+ medicinal herbs kept in stock, taking a small amount on a fingertip to examine. A pale purple powder, finely ground. No taste. No smell. Unknown. Even against my knowledge of 200 herbs, I couldn't identify it. Mao Mao frowned. An unknown plant was deeply unsettling for an apothecary. Then a faint memory surfaced. --- My foster father——Ramon——was an unusual person connected to the Jade Pavilion and also the teacher who drilled pharmacology into Mao Mao. In an old herbal text Ramon once owned, on a corner so aged it was barely legible, there was a scrawled note. Gender-Changing Grass. A plant that grew only in the deep jungles of the Nankai region. Consumption transformed the user's body into the opposite sex in a single night. Not recorded in official herbal texts. Only rumors that Nankai tribes used it in coming-of-age ceremonies. At the time, Mao Mao had thought that note was "probably just dubious gossip" and only half-read it. "[surprised]……So it actually existed" The muttering came out in that low voice again. I transferred the pale purple powder to a small bottle, sealed it tightly, and stored it deep in the shelf. This was evidence. I couldn't throw it away. (Someone mixed it into the medicinal bath) That was the problem. How. Who. Why. --- I decided to step into the hallway and opened the apothecary door. Then froze. The Emerald Forbidden City's hallway was in complete chaos. "[crying]No——! Facial hair!! I have facial hair!!" One attendant covered her face with both hands, crying. Faint stubble was visible through the gaps in her fingers. "[scared]You too!? I also!! My voice is low!! My voice is so low!!" Along the hallway walls, eunuchs stood rigid with arms crossed tightly, trying to hide suddenly enlarged chests. Their faces were crimson, eyes darting. The Emerald Forbidden City——600m east-west, 800m north-south, home to 40 imperial concubines, approximately 300 attendants, and about 150 eunuchs——was completely turned upside down. Male to female. Female to male. Everyone in a single night. Mao Mao stared blankly, thinking: yeah, that's what I thought. Then a particularly loud voice rang out. "[scared]If the Forbidden Harem Edict exists, don't we have to leave now that we're male!? Will we be executed!?!?" Crash——the sound of ceramic breaking. Someone had dropped a dish. That one sentence was the trigger. All the surrounding attendants' faces went blank, and the next moment they let out a sound like "hii." The Forbidden Harem Edict. The fundamental law of the Liang Dynasty prohibiting any adult male except eunuchs from entering the Emerald Forbidden City. Violators faced execution. Now the attendants——nearly all of them——had male bodies. That law couldn't possibly account for this unprecedented situation. The Emerald Forbidden City was completely dysfunctional, both legally and operationally. Crying increased. Screaming increased. The hallway descended into chaos. Mao Mao stepped forward. "[cold]……Crying won't change the situation" The voice was quiet, but it carried strangely well. Maybe because of the lowered pitch. Everyone in the hallway turned to look at Mao Mao at once. Attendants, eunuchs, those who'd been crying, those who'd been screaming——all eyes fixed on Mao Mao. ……Awkward. "[serious]……I'll investigate" With just that, Mao Mao quietly retreated back to the apothecary. The stares piercing my back hurt, but I said nothing and closed the door. --- The apothecary was quiet. The hallway chaos filtered through the walls, but this six-mat mixing room held its usual atmosphere. The smell of herbs. Shelves lined with small bottles. A well-worn mixing table. For Mao Mao, this was their place. The apothecary of the Emerald Forbidden City held the rank of lower-ranking court lady. But with specialized knowledge, even imperial concubines deferred. Separate from the palace physicians, the apothecary's work was poison-tasting, mixing, managing concubines' health——that was the job. Twelve silver taels monthly. Not bad. Mao Mao loved this work. Expressing emotion in words was difficult, and romance, human relationships——I didn't understand those. But medicine could be explained entirely through components, reactions, and knowledge. Problems had causes, and once you understood the cause, the solution became visible. That simple world suited Mao Mao. (If I understand the cause, I can find the solution) I murmured it like a thought, staring at the small bottle. The pale purple powder reflected light faintly. Gender-Changing Grass. Nankai region jungles. A forbidden plant. Nankai was about 1500km south of the capital, Linkai. A tropical coastal region, not directly controlled by the Liang Dynasty. Multiple tribes governed themselves in this frontier. Unique herbal knowledge had developed there, and it was said to be the only place where plants that "remade the body" grew naturally. Obtaining this plant was no simple task. Which meant someone had gone to considerable trouble and expense to bring it here deliberately. (Why) Mao Mao stood before the shelves, thinking about that for a while. Outside the window, morning light illuminated the vermillion walls. The Emerald Forbidden City's walls were six meters high, a closed space of 600m east-west by 800m north-south. Everyone inside had their bodies switched since last night. Someone had targeted all of them, mixing it into the medicinal bath. The reason——still unknown. Mao Mao absently noticed a small spider web in the corner of the shelf. When had that appeared? I'd need to clean it later. Then, suddenly, I thought of the hallway chaos. The attendant who'd cried about being executed under the Forbidden Harem Edict. What would actually happen? The law's text said "adult male except eunuchs." If someone originally female became male-bodied, did that apply? Unknown. No precedent existed. (The Emerald Forbidden City is completely lawless today) Something felt slightly amusing about that. Not laugh-out-loud funny, but something like it. Well, either way, what needed doing was clear. Investigate the Gender-Changing Grass more thoroughly. Find an antidote. Identify the culprit. One step at a time. --- That's when it happened. From deep within the Emerald Forbidden City, a high-pitched voice rang out. A woman's voice. Very distant. But it cut through the quiet morning air. "Someone help——!!" By direction——north-central area of the Emerald Forbidden City——near the Moonlight Palace. Mao Mao tilted their head slightly. The Moonlight Palace was Jinshi's residence. Jinshi. Officially a eunuch. But possessed the most beautiful appearance in the entire harem, with power far exceeding that of ordinary eunuchs. Why a eunuch held such power, no one knew. Mao Mao didn't fully understand either. In any case, they were Mao Mao's direct superior. And someone who had frequently approached them affectionately, which Mao Mao had always found deeply uncomfortable. That Jinshi was now screaming from the Moonlight Palace. In a woman's voice. ……Which meant. "[serious]……Quite noisy" The muttering came out in that low voice. Whether it was concern or exasperation, even I wasn't sure. Mao Mao placed the small bottle on the mixing table and straightened the front of the white apothecary robes. The newly male hands moved slightly awkwardly. The sensation was different. But the careful, feminine movements drilled in by foster father Ramon remained——the apothecary's techniques stayed in the body even as the body changed. Ignoring the hallway chaos, Mao Mao opened the apothecary door. The path to the Moonlight Palace wasn't short. But walking through the Emerald Forbidden City was routine. One foot stepped onto stone pavement. The sensation through the sole felt slightly more distant. The ground seemed farther away, proportional to the increased height. Morning light cast long shadows on the vermillion walls. Mao Mao's shadow was taller and broader-shouldered than yesterday. ……Well, fine. For now, to the Moonlight Palace. It was clear Jinshi had gotten into something terrible. If a superior was in that state, a subordinate had to act. As an apothecary, I'd determine the cause. That was what I could do now. The Emerald Forbidden City's hallway still echoed with chaos in the distance.