The Apothecary's Hidden Ledger: The Villain's Conviction

In the opulent rear palace, where sandalwood incense and courtly laughter mask the rot beneath, Jinshi—the emperor's beautiful younger brother—wears the mask of a languid, flirtatious noble. But behind his fan and flawless smile, he is a man forged by the horrors of the Tenmei Famine, haunted by the memory of starving bodies and the fat officials who rode past them without a glance. Now, a new embezzlement scheme in the northern province threatens to ignite a second famine, and the trail leads