Maomao

Maomao is a young woman with a sharp mind and deep knowledge of medicine and poison. She grew up in the pleasure district of the capital, raised by Luomen, a skilled apothecary (a person who makes and sells medicine). She learned his trade as a child and became an expert in plants, drugs, and toxins. She is so curious about poisons that she likes to test them on herself.

Her quiet life changes when she is kidnapped and sold into service at the imperial palace, in the rear court where the emperor's consorts live. She plans to keep her head down and wait out her time. But she cannot ignore a problem when she sees one. She secretly warns that the makeup the consorts use contains poison and is making their babies sick. This catches the eye of Jinshi, a beautiful palace official. Soon she becomes food taster and lady-in-waiting to the Precious Consort Gyokuyou.

Maomao is blunt, practical, and rarely impressed by people with power. She is one of the few people who is not charmed by Jinshi's good looks, and she often treats him with open annoyance, which only makes him more interested in her. Using her knowledge like a detective, she solves cases of illness, poison, and death around the palace. As the story goes on, she also learns hard truths about her own birth: her real father is the military strategist Lakan, a man she wants nothing to do with.