When they arrived at the entrance to Gekka Hall, three lady's maids were standing motionless in the corridor. All of them had male bodies now. Their faces were familiar, but their shoulders were broad, their frames tall. One leaned against the wall with tears threatening to spill. Another stood with arms crossed, staring at the floor. "[scared]Apothecary… Lord Jinshi has locked himself in and won't come out" Mao Mao looked at the door. Heavy wooden, reinforced from the inside with a bolt. It wouldn't budge from out here. "[serious]He needs an examination. Open it" Something shifted beyond the door. No answer came. Mao Mao raised their voice slightly. "[serious]Lord Jinshi. I'm here to investigate the changes in your body. As an apothecary, I'm coming in" Silence. Then—a thin voice. "[whispers]…Don't come" The voice was high. Mao Mao paused, then said, "[serious]If your voice has changed, your body must be affected too. Leaving it untreated is dangerous" More silence. Then—a clang. The bolt came free. Mao Mao pushed the door open. --- The first thing Mao Mao noticed stepping inside was how dark it was. Morning light, but every curtain was drawn. Almost no sunlight penetrated. And—mirrors. Every mirror in the room was covered with white cloth. The standing mirror, the washbasin mirror, the vanity mirror. All of them. Gekka Hall—Jinshi's residence in the north-central section of the Jade Forbidden City—was normally furnished with lavish pieces. But today something was fundamentally wrong. As if someone had prepared everything to ensure they would never see their own reflection. On the ornate bed, something lay. Quilts. Piled into a mountain. From its peak, long black hair spilled out. "[whispers]…It's a dream. This is a dream. I'll wake up and it'll be back to normal" The mountain trembled slightly. Mao Mao stood before it. "[cold]If it were a dream, you wouldn't feel pain. Try pinching your arm" "[angry]…Is that all you came to say?" "[serious]I came to confirm the facts" A pause. The quilt mountain shifted. A hand emerged—pale, delicate, unmistakably different from yesterday's. "[whispers]Not the arm… my cheek is fine" Mao Mao tilted their head. "[serious]Anywhere will do" A soft pinch sounded. "[crying]It hurts!!" The voice was so high that Mao Mao's eyes widened slightly. The quilt mountain moved slowly. Black hair appeared, then a forehead, then eyes— A face that deserved the word "peerless." Long black hair, refined features, pale skin. There was a trace of yesterday's Jinshi in it, yet they looked like an entirely different person. Their cheeks were flushed. Probably not just from the pinch. "[sad]…It's not a dream" They said it quietly, then slowly pulled the quilts down. --- The problem started after that. The moment Jinshi's face emerged from the quilts and looked at Mao Mao, their face turned bright red. They dropped their gaze to the floor at incredible speed. "[surprised]W-why are you so tall? Were you always like that?" "[cold]Because you have a male body now. Isn't that obvious?" Jinshi flushed again. This time they pulled the quilts over their head. Mao Mao felt a little troubled. (What is this reaction…?) They thought about it. Jinshi always approached Mao Mao. Always closing the distance without reason, while Mao Mao endlessly avoided it. But now Jinshi was the one trying to get away. The positions had reversed. …It felt strange. Mao Mao set that "strange feeling" aside for now and decided to proceed with the practical matters. "[serious]Will you cooperate with the investigation? I need to check the records of who was on duty for the medicinal bath last night. You can't do this alone" A voice came from inside the quilts. "[cold]…Understood. But give me a moment" Mao Mao stood at the edge of the room and opened their herbal notebook. They reviewed the records of the gender-swap grass. They'd looked at this same information many times since yesterday, but they checked again for anything missed. Then something moved at the edge of their vision. Jinshi was changing clothes. Mao Mao returned their gaze to the notebook. But somehow curious, they glanced up slightly—and caught Jinshi looking at their face, then quickly looking away. They did it again. And again. Mao Mao closed the notebook. (…I understand somewhat why they'd feel uncomfortable being looked at) But why Jinshi's face flushed every time they looked at Mao Mao—that, Mao Mao didn't understand. --- The corridor was chaos. A masculinized maid ran past shrieking "[scared]If there's a law against men in the harem, will they execute all of us!?!?". A feminized eunuch huddled against the wall whispering "[whispers]…I can't do heavy work. I can't even split firewood. What do I do". The Harem Inviolability Edict—the foundational law of the Lichi Dynasty forbidding unauthorized adult males from entering the Jade Forbidden City—had no way to address this situation. The law's text couldn't possibly account for "a person who was originally female gaining a male body." The Jade Forbidden City was collapsing, both legally and practically. Jinshi looked at the scene and seemed reluctant to venture further out. Mao Mao walked ahead and said, "[serious]Without checking the medicinal bath attendant's records, we can't get closer to the cause" Jinshi followed silently. They arrived at the Decoction House—the medicinal bath preparation area in the southeast of the Jade Forbidden City, adjacent to the kitchens—and Mao Mao opened the duty roster. This place, where five hundred portions of medicinal bath were prepared every evening for everyone in the harem, always kept records of who was on duty. Mao Mao looked at last night's entry. "Reihua" was written there. "[serious]…Reihua was on duty last night" "[cold]Any suspicions?" "[serious]I've worked with her for six months. She's conscientious. Not the type to misuse medicine. So either someone asked her to do it, or she was forced. One or the other" Jinshi fell silent. They were looking at Mao Mao's profile. But Mao Mao kept turning pages in the record book, unaware of that gaze. "[cold]Have you seen Reihua since this morning?" "[serious]No" With that, Mao Mao stood up. "[serious]I'm checking her room" --- The moment Mao Mao opened Reihua's door, they stopped. A smell. Sharp, sweet, faintly earthy—a scent that pricked the back of the nose. As an apothecary, Mao Mao had trained to identify medicinal herbs by their origin through smell. This one was— "[serious]Southern spices. From Nankai region or nearby coastal areas. Nothing that should be in the harem" Jinshi scanned the room. Clothes scattered everywhere. Signs of a hasty departure. But no one was here. Jinshi knelt and pulled something from under the bed. "[serious]This is…" Paper scraps. Mao Mao moved closer. Written in southern script. Mao Mao couldn't read southern characters fluently, but caught fragments. —If you put it in as promised, surely— That much was legible. The rest was burned, ash residue in the brazier. Mao Mao took out a small vial and collected some of the ash. Might be analyzable later. "[serious]Reihua was asked by someone to put something in the medicinal bath. Then she disappeared from her room" Jinshi's brow furrowed. "[cold]Where did she go? She couldn't have left. Contact with the outer palace should be…" The words trailed off. Mao Mao was thinking the same thing. With the chaos from the Harem Inviolability Edict, the Jade Forbidden City's gate guards had lost all command structure. Contact with the outer palace—the administrative district south of the imperial palace—was severed. The Jade Forbidden City was effectively isolated. "[serious]Whether Reihua is still inside the Jade Forbidden City or slipped out in the confusion, someone with southern connections is involved in this" The room fell quiet. Only the spice scent lingered. "[cold]…Which means that person might still be here" "[serious]That possibility can't be ruled out" A brief silence fell between them. Mao Mao sealed the vial and tucked it away. Analyzing the gender-swap grass required the medicinal house's equipment. The ash residue might still contain trace compounds. "[serious]Next, we analyze at the medicinal house. We need to identify the gender-swap grass itself. Without that, we can't determine the direction of treatment" Jinshi stood. "[cold]I'm coming too" Mao Mao looked troubled. "[cold]…I don't see how you'd be able to help with the analysis" "[cold]I'm watching you" "[cold]…Watching me for what?" "[cold]Just watching" Mao Mao didn't quite understand what that meant. Watching—what did that mean? Did they think Mao Mao would do something wrong? But if they insisted on coming, there was no point stopping them. Mao Mao decided as much and started walking toward the medicinal house corridor. Jinshi followed. Keeping a slight distance. They glanced at Mao Mao's profile again. Mao Mao pretended not to notice, eyes forward, but internally tilted their head slightly. (…This distance is the opposite of before) Before, Jinshi had closed the gap and Mao Mao had fled. Now Jinshi was keeping distance. What had changed wasn't a pharmacist's concern, so there was no need to think deeply about it—or so Mao Mao thought. Yet that "strange feeling" lingered at the edge of their mind. Morning light streamed through the corridor windows. The vermillion walls surrounding the Jade Forbidden City stood as always. But somewhere within those walls, someone with southern connections might still be present. The mystery of the gender-swap grass was only beginning.