Small bottles of curse-breaking medicine lined the shelf in a neat row. The Jade Forbidden City—the imperial harem quarters—had morning light streaming through its windows, and the chaos of last night seemed like a lie. The transparent liquid inside the bottles swayed slightly. Mao Mao picked up one bottle after another, counting on their fingers. (…Four hundred ninety-seven.) Finished counting. Counted again. The answer didn't change. The entire population of the Jade Forbidden City—concubines, attendants, eunuchs combined—was exactly four hundred ninety-eight people. One was missing. Mao Mao stared at that fact for a while. Then, without a word, pushed one bottle to the back of the shelf. Their own. As an apothecary, treating patients first was only natural. Nothing worth dwelling on. Just as they were about to start distributing the bottles on a tray, the door opened. It was Jinshi. Still in their feminized form from last night—long black hair, pale skin, eyes darkened with fatigue. But now they glanced at Mao Mao's tray, then let their gaze drift smoothly to the shelf. Their eyes stopped on the bottle pushed to the back. "[cold]…Mao Mao" "[cold]I'll begin distribution. Starting with the concubines" "[cold]What is that one bottle on the shelf" "[cold]A spare" "[cold]A spare, I see" Jinshi walked slowly to the shelf. They pulled out the bottle Mao Mao had pushed back and set it on the tray. "[serious]Drink it" "[serious]Treating patients first is an apothecary's basic principle" "[serious]If you don't drink it, I won't either" Mao Mao thought for a moment. "[cold]That would be problematic. If you don't return to your original body, it will disrupt the harem's operations" "[cold]The harem's operations will be disrupted whether you drink or not. We can't afford to lose our apothecary" "[serious]I can continue working in this body" "[angry]You can't! A female apothecary remaining in the harem in a male body—that's a problem in itself!" As the two of them glared at each other across the tray of bottles, a quiet voice fell from the corner of the room. "[serious]…Both of you, the medicine's duration is running out" When had they arrived? Koujun stood by the wall with arms crossed. Sharp features, unchanged by the feminization. Their eyes glanced briefly at the sundial. Mao Mao and Jinshi fell silent at the same time. A pause. "[sarcastic]…I'll drink this one" "[cold]No, I will" "[sarcastic]I'll drink it" "[cold]I'll—" "[serious]You two. Perfect timing" The door opened. A slender middle-aged woman entered. Or rather—Mao Mao could tell. It was Ramon, feminized. The adoptive father who'd brought that sea salt from the Jade Pavilion, the benefactor who'd delivered it last night. In the form of a refined woman with silver-streaked hair, holding a small paper packet. "[gentle]I still had some of yesterday's sea salt left. Seemed a shame to throw it away" Ramon held out the packet to Mao Mao. Opening it, white crystals poured out smoothly. Nankai sea salt. "[gentle]Should be enough for one dose" Mao Mao took the packet and immediately moved to the compounding table. The ingredients from last night's preparation were fresh in their mind. Peony root bark, jujube extract, licorice, ginger, cinnamon bark. Measured the amounts, added a pinch of sea salt. Repeated the same steps from last night as quickly as possible. Jinshi stood silently beside them, handing over materials. Koujun watched quietly. Ramon murmured, "Well, how skillful" . The liquid's color changed. From pale purple to transparent. "[cold]It's done" Poured the liquid into a fifth small bottle and added it to the tray. Now four hundred ninety-eight bottles. Exactly enough for everyone in the harem. Jinshi opened their mouth. "[serious]This time, you drink too" "[cold]…Understood" --- The curse-breaking medicine was distributed throughout the Jade Forbidden City. Attendants formed lines to receive it from the medicinal decoction kitchen, carrying it to their respective posts. In the eunuch quarters, in the concubines' residences, in the pavilions of the Jade Spring Garden. The apothecary made it, everyone would return to normal in one night—word spread, and morning in the Jade Forbidden City was wrapped in a warm, buzzing atmosphere. Mao Mao stood at the edge of the harem garden and looked at their own small bottle. Gulped it down. Sweet, with a slight bitterness. The saltiness of Nankai sea salt came through faintly at the end. After waiting a while, something deep inside their body warmed gently. The sensation of the body returning to female was strange—not painful, but like slowly sinking into warm bathwater. Voices began rising around the garden. "[laughing]My chest is back!!" "[crying]Thank goodness, truly thank goodness…!" "[excited]My hands are back to normal!" Voices of laughing and crying spread through the garden. Five days of tension released all at once. Mao Mao looked at their own hands. The fingers were becoming slender again. An apothecary's hands. Rough, stained by medicines, but their own hands. (…I'm back.) At that moment, there was a sharp intake of breath right beside them. Jinshi was standing there. Still in the middle of transformation, their face's contours shifting slightly. For just a moment, they held their breath and looked up at the sky as if confirming their own face. Then their original beauty returned. Long eyelashes, high cheekbones, a face so perfect it seemed almost unreal. Jinshi in their male body. Mao Mao stared at it blankly. "[cold]…Ah, so it's back to this face after all" Jinshi stopped dead. "[surprised]Just now—what did that mean" "[cold]It means you've returned to your original face" "[angry]This face? Did you prefer the female one!?" "[cold]No. I meant it's good you've returned to normal" "[angry]Then why did you say 'after all'!?" "[cold]…I see. That was misleading" "It was misleading!" Jinshi's face was turning red. All the way to the tips of their ears. Just returned to their original face, and now it was completely flushed. Mao Mao tilted their head. "[cold]…I meant only that I'm more accustomed to seeing your original face. To clarify" "[sarcastic]…Y-yes. That's right. It's good to be back to normal" Turned away. Ears still red. A short distance away, Koujun let out a quiet sigh. A *there, there* kind of sigh. Mao Mao noticed their own pulse was faster. Probably an aftereffect of the medicine since their body had just returned. These things happened. Mao Mao concluded that and decided to think about the next task instead. --- Past noon, the south gate of the Jade Forbidden City opened quietly. Officials came from the outer court—the administrative district—a few of them. Serious-faced bureaucrats, faces Mao Mao didn't recognize. They were escorting away a southern merchant with swollen eyes and his subordinates. The ones they'd defeated last night using methods befitting an apothecary. As the merchant was being handed over, he glanced at Mao Mao. He seemed to want to say something, but the official urged him forward, and he disappeared beyond the gate. Under Lihao law, the Harem Inviolability Edict—the fundamental law prohibiting unauthorized entry into harem grounds—carried a death sentence for violators. The merchant's fate was left to the outer court's judgment. Leihua waited in another room for the officials' statement. The fact of their direct involvement in mixing the sex-change herb into the medicinal decoction couldn't be changed. Mao Mao returned to the medicine room that afternoon and sat at a small desk, spreading out paper. Began writing. How Leihua had been manipulated into moving by the promise of leaving the harem. The coercive conditions. How they'd voluntarily returned to the Jade Forbidden City and provided information. Their record of sincere work as the harem apothecary over these five days. Laid out the facts plainly. Wrote no emotional appeals. Only recorded facts with basis, as testimony from an apothecary. Just as they finished, Jinshi appeared in the medicine room. "[cold]…A petition for Leihua" "[cold]Yes" "[cold]You'd go that far" "[cold]They're my patient" Jinshi was silent for a while. Seemed to be studying the petition's characters. "[gentle]…You really are that kind of person" A quiet voice. Not accusing, not exasperated. Just saying it as it was. Mao Mao struggled for a response and replied, "Is that so" . Jinshi gave a small laugh and closed the door. --- Evening came, and Mao Mao was alone in the medicine room. They spread out the ledger and began compiling analysis records of the curse-breaking medicine. The ratio of peony root bark, the amount of jujube extract, the mechanism of action of sea salt. Recording the formula they'd arrived at over five days so it could be used again. While writing, they mentally reorganized the component ratios once more. The main component of the sex-change herb—the action that changed bodily sex. That much was clear. But as they organized it, another component caught their attention. Separate from the main component, a trace amount of volatile substance. It didn't act directly on the body, but seemed to lightly interfere with the brain's inhibitory functions. Mao Mao stopped their pen. (…This is…) Pulled out several herbal texts. Searched for records of similar components. Records on southern medicinal herbs, fragmentary records on Nankai regional herbalism. Found it. A notation remained, fragmentary, that it had the action of drawing out emotions normally suppressed by the drinker. Mao Mao stared at that description for a while. The sex-change herb contained not just the effect of changing the body, but a secondary component that drew out the drinker's true feelings. Which meant. Over these five days, Jinshi's blushing, their gesture of secretly grasping at sleeves. Mao Mao's own passionate outburst of "don't sacrifice my patient." All of it had been true feelings drawn out by the sex-change herb. Not created by the medicine's effects, but what was already there, brought to the surface. (…I see.) Mao Mao stared at that fact for a while. Organized it once in their mind, then organized it again. Then wrote in the ledger. "Sex-change herb—secondary effects confirmed—detailed investigation required" Closed the ledger. Wouldn't tell Jinshi. This was an apothecary's record. Mao Mao's own feelings were something Mao Mao would organize themselves. For now, they hadn't organized them yet. Was cleaning up the medicine room when there came a knock on the door. An attendant brought a letter. At the sight of the sender's name, Mao Mao's hand stopped. Nankai region—Tanli tribe chieftain. The tribe that managed the Shura dense forest where the sex-change herb grew naturally. Opened the seal. Written in awkward Lihao characters. A short message. "Sex-change herb still exists. Next time, more interesting things will happen." Mao Mao's expression tightened instantly. Beyond the Jade Forbidden City, the sun sank. The water of the Jade Spring Garden turned red with the sunset, swaying quietly. The five days of chaos had ended, and the harem was finally reclaiming its usual night. But staring at the letter's characters, Mao Mao knew one thing for certain. This wasn't over yet.