'We 're trusting you to take care of our little sister. '

The words of the voluptuous courtesan played over and over in Jinshi 's head when he went to bed that night. The 'little sister ' he 'd been entrusted with now lived in his home. He 'd collected her from the brothel earlier that day. All she 'd cost him was a few thousand silver and something called

caterpillar fungus

. Gaoshun thought he 'd been overcharged, but Jinshi didn't care. He 'd have paid far more silver if that's what had been asked to secure the girl 's freedom.

He chuckled at the memory of when he 'd presented her with the caterpillar fungus. She 'd never specifically asked for it. He 'd remembered hearing her mention it with longing in her voice the day she gathered ingredients for making the aphrodisiac. She 'd been making a list of needed ingredients, and when she'd discovered the clinic didn't have any she'd sighed and said, 'I 'm not surprised, it's pretty rare, but I really wish I had some. I 've always wanted to see if it's as powerful as I 've heard. '

He 'd intentionally sought the stuff out. She 'd been correct about how rare it was. It had taken him months to obtain, and had arrived the day after she had left the rear palace due to him firing her.

He 'd given it to her with the thought it might serve as both an apology for the misunderstanding and as an extra incentive to convince her that coming back to live with him was a good idea. The way she 'd responded, one would've thought he 'd presented her with the very finest of jewels. Her eyes had lit up and a dazzling smile had curved her lips. She'd laughed and squealed in pure delight, and even did an adorable little dance upon seeing it.

In truth, he 'd give anything to see that smile again. It hadn't cut him the way her glares did, but it had been like seeing the sun break through the clouds after a thunderstorm. All his honeyed words and sweet smiles had no positive effect on her, but unusual medicinal ingredients did. Unexpectedly, he rather enjoyed the fact that something so unusual was what seemed to bring her true joy.

He 'd gone to pick her up that day expecting to see the apothecary. He'd expected the simple attire she favored, her emerald hair in its usual no-nonsense style, and her freckles firmly in place. He had not expected the exquisite petite princess that had been handed over to him by three of the top courtesans in the pleasure district.

He hadn 't been able to stop staring at her, and had only managed to stop once they got situated in the carriage. Well, he hadn 't actually stopped. He had turned his head just enough that he hoped it looked like he was looking straight ahead, but he was actually still able to sneak glances at her.

'I hope you know this is your fault, ' she 'd informed him a few minutes into their trip.

He 'd fully looked at her then, 'My fault? '

'All this unwanted attention, ' her voice had been flat and clearly unamused.

He had been aware of all the eyes that had been fixed on her in the short time it took to walk from the brothel to the carriage. Despite the fact he hadn 't wanted anyone else to stare at her, he understood why they had and tried to explain, 'That 's because you look 'uh ' ' All he had to do was tell her how breathtakingly beautiful she was but the words had lodged in his throat because she 'd looked at him midway through his attempt to answer.

'I look what? '

He hadn 't been able to say it. Instead, he 'd fully turned away and stared out the window mumbling, 'Never mind. '

The ride hadn 't really improved after that. Soldiers had stared at her when they reached the palace gates. He really hated anyone else staring at her. Anyone else seeing how truly lovely she was. He 'd seen it from the beginning, but apparently everyone else needed her to be

all dolled up,

as one of the courtesans had described her, to see her that way. The only positive of the soldiers staring was it gave him good reason to ask for something that he 'd wanted since the second he 'd seen her that day. He 'd tried to sound as casual as possible as he 'd said, 'By the way, while you 're here, you should wear your freckles. '

'Understood. '

Jinshi laid in bed, staring at the ceiling. She was in his house. He was going to be able to see her every single day. No more trying to catch a glimpse of her. No more being limited by how much Lady Gyokuyou thought was an appropriate time for him to speak with her. Even better? He wouldn 't have to wear his mask. He could just be himself. The thought of having such freedom around her gave him such a sense of relief. He just hoped she 'd still offer him her most select glares. He 'd be disappointed if she stopped.

There was a room next to his that would eventually be hers, but they were going to have to settle marriage details before he could move her in there. He 'd debated giving her the room across the hall for the interim, but ultimately decided on one near Suiren 's room. It was fairly spartan, and the girl deserved far better. He thought he 'd give her a night in it, and in the morning see if she 'd like to move to a better room.

He needed to start calling her by her actual name, at least in his head. He still didn 't dare say it out loud. Continuing to refer to her as

the girl

wouldn 't do, especially since she was now a member of his household.

Maomao.

His Maomao.

Just thinking her name made his entire body grow hot. It was a good heat. The same heat that he felt whenever she cast one of her signature glares at him. Thanks to the drink he had to force down every night, the heat wasn 't able to rage uncontrollably, but he did wonder what it would do if he skipped the drink for a night.

***

Suiren woke him the next morning, like always. As he blinked awake, he was met with the unexpected pleasure of seeing a beloved pair of sapphire eyes and a smattering of freckles. So, Suiren had brought the girl 'had brought Maomao, he corrected himself, to wake him up. Well, given his propensity to be quite cantankerous first thing in the morning, it was a smart move on Suiren 's behalf.

The gi 'Maomao wasn 't glaring. Instead, as he began to eat his breakfast, he was very aware of her watching him with a strange look on her face. It was the kind of look she had when she was trying to figure out a problem that she found particularly intriguing. He really wasn 't sure what to make of it, given it was a look she had never favored him with before. Rather than try to find out, he decided to broach the subject of her room. 'I was curious if you found your room to your liking. Will it suffice or would you prefer a different room? '

Her brow furrowed, 'My room? ' Several seconds passed while she considered how to answer, and finally replied, 'If possible, I 'd prefer a stable with a well nearby. '

He very nearly choked on his breakfast, 'I 'm sorry, I don 't think I heard you correctly. '

Completely unphased, she repeated, 'Stable and well. '

Heavens only knew what she would get up to with access to those things. He wasn 't about to encourage her experiments right out the gate. Though, he had no doubt, he was going to have to keep a careful eye to ensure she didn 't manage to poison herself secretly on a daily basis. 'Sorry, but the answer is no. '

He ate a little more and informed her, 'I 'll take you on a tour of the outer court after breakfast and then you 'll have time to study for the court lady exam. '

Beside him, Gaoshun coughed politely, but pointedly. Jinshi glanced at him, and the man stated, 'I will take Xiaomao on the tour. You have that meeting this morning that you 've already rescheduled twice. '

Jinshi tried not to let his annoyance show. He 'd been looking forward to escorting Maomao around the grounds, but Gaoshun was correct. It was a meeting he couldn 't put off a third time. Trying to remain pleasant, he simply nodded, 'Yes, I had forgotten about that. Well, then, I trust you to give her the full tour. ' Looking back at Maomao he added, 'Whatever you need for help studying, be sure to let any of us know. '

***

Three days into Maomao 's residence, he happened to overhear an exchange that was quite unexpected. He and Gaoshun were returning from visiting the concubines, when he reached a corner of his house and right before he went around he heard Maomao say, 'I see, so if I 'm understanding you correctly, you 're all jealous of me? '

He held out his hand to stop Gaoshun from fully going round the corner. They both peeked around, attempting to be discreet. A group of five court ladies, looking extremely miffed all stood in front of Maomao. The one in front struck her and spat out, 'You watch your filthy mouth, wretch! '

If not for Gaoshun literally grabbing Jinshi and holding him back, the court lady would 've met a quick punishment for the seemingly unprovoked attack. Gaoshun leaned in and whispered, 'Give Xiamao a moment, see what she does. '

Maomao didn 't back down. She simply looked at the women and said, 'Surely you 're not saying I 'm somehow getting special treatment. I must have misunderstood. After all, what could such a heavenly nymph possibly see in such a lowly wretch like me? Surely, someone so noble wouldn 't have such poor taste to fall for someone like little, insignificant me. When he has such a buffet of gorgeous and delicious abalone and boar meat, why would he desire chicken bones? I suppose that would make sense if he was given to having incredibly strange and interesting proclivities. Is that what you 're suggesting? Honestly, I don 't quite understand it myself, but he does seem to have quite the unique palate. '

It took everything in Jinshi not to laugh out loud as the court ladies blanched and protested at what Maomao had just said.

One of the court ladies in the back of the group stepped forward and said, 'Fine, what 's the real reason he hired you? '

Maomao hesitated for a moment, then said, 'Fine, if you really want to know, I 'll tell you. '

She held up her bandaged arm, and to Jinshi 's disappointment, she was positioned so he couldn 't make out what exactly was under the wrap that she undid. Whatever it was must 've been truly horrifying, it looked like the women were on the verge of vomiting or passing out. Maomao quickly redid the wrap and stated, 'He 's a heavenly maiden with a heart to match. Were it not for his everlasting kindness, I 'm not certain how someone like me would be able to make a living. I 'd be out on the street for certain without his generous and gentle heart taking pity upon me. '

She 'd laid it on thick, and it certainly seemed to do the trick. The court ladies hesitated a moment, seeming to debate whether to continue harassing her, but ultimately turned and hurried away. As soon as they were out of sight, Maomao 's shoulders sagged and she muttered, 'Hope that takes care of that. '

'Strange and interesting proclivities? ' Jinshi made his presence known, and Maomao instantly tensed upon hearing his voice and spun around to face him. He took note of the bright red mark on her cheek and asked, 'Are you getting harassed like that regularly? Also, what were you showing them on your arm? '

Rather than answer either question, she simply replied, 'Begging your pardon, sir, I have to get back to my work. '

Without him granting her leave, she hurried away and he called out after her, 'And by work you mean studying, right? Because you 're supposed to be studying. '

He sighed and looked at Gaoshun, 'She shouldn 't be getting harassed like that. I should do something. '

Gaoshun shook his head, 'I 'll keep an eye out, but I doubt anyone is going to be bothering her like that again anytime soon once word spreads amongst the court ladies about what happened. Intervening may cause more harm than good at this point. '

Jinshi didn 't necessarily agree, but he trusted Gaoshun. 'Fine, I 'll leave it be for now, but if I find out it 's continuing, I will step in. I want you and Suiren to report back to me any harassment you observe or are informed of. '

'Very good, sir. '

***

'How did you fail? ' Jinshi looked up from the exam report to stare at Maomao in disbelief. She 'd been studying. He knew she 'd been studying. There had been multiple late nights where he 'd wandered halls of his house and seen soft candlelight streaming from under her door. The circles under her eyes had been getting darker day by day. Both Suiren and Gaoshun had assured him she regularly had her nose buried in test preparation materials.

She simply shrugged, 'What made you think I 'd pass? '

'I just ' ' He stared at the report, 'You 're so smart. I thought this would be simple for you. '

'Maybe if it had been more focused on medicine and types of poison instead of laws that change constantly I 'd have done better, ' she retorted. A second later, she went pale, 'Apologies, sir, I spoke out of turn. '

So much for his plans to make her a court lady, they 'd have to be put off for the time being. He despised the idea of having her perform servant duties, but at the moment it seemed to be the only option. Especially since he highly doubted broaching the topic of marriage the same day she failed her court lady exam would go over very well. He sighed, 'Well, I suppose it can 't be helped. For now, Suiren will be in charge of your training. When the exams next take place, we 'll make sure you 're better prepared. '

Maomao looked less than thrilled at the thought of being put through the exams again, but at least she didn 't argue. Suiren took her out of the room and left him alone with Gaoshun. 'I suppose we should 've kept a better eye on her studying, ' the man said.

Jinshi nodded, 'I suppose so. It never occurred to me she might have difficulty. '

'Nor I. Though, now that I think about it, she doesn 't seem to pay much attention to anything if it doesn 't involve something she finds particularly interesting. '

Jinshi grimaced. Did that mean she didn 't find him interesting? She never seemed to pay him much attention, except when forced to. He pushed the thought away. He 'd rather not think about that possibility.

***

Maomao really was quite difficult to get a good read on. As the days passed, he started to feel like he was getting better at it, but it was still next to impossible. It seemed that she wasn 't being harassed anymore, at least not as far as any of them could tell, and the one time he tried to broach the subject, Maomao had simply shrugged and said, 'I 'm sure you have far more important things to concern yourself with. How a servant is treated by those above her is hardly worth your notice, sir. '

It was frustrating how seriously she took rank and that she wouldn 't let him bridge that gap and take care of her the way he longed to. So much of what he wanted to do, he ended up putting into action without her knowledge. Things like her wardrobe.

He 'd had Suiren see about getting clothes made for Maomao, but he wasn 't sure how to give them to her without it turning into a whole thing. Suiren had suggested that the clothes not be given all at once, and that when a piece was given, it would be presented as being something that had belonged to Suiren 's daughter. As far as Jinshi knew, Maomao had no idea Lady Ah-Duo was Suiren 's daughter. If she did know, she 'd never believe that tall and lithe former concubine had ever worn things that fit her tiny frame so well.

The only way he 'd been able to let himself feel okay about Maomao being stuck doing servant labor, was by instructing Suiren to give her plenty of time off during the day to pursue whatever her little heart desired. The only stipulation he made was that Suiren keep an eye on her to make sure she wasn 't poisoning herself. He had no doubt her experimenting was continuing whether he wanted it to or not. That was just the way Maomao functioned and unless she seriously damaged herself he decided discretion was the better part of valor.

When Maomao had been living with him for a few weeks, he received two letters that he was unable to ignore. One was from Lady Lihua, the other from Lady Gyokuyou, and they both were about Maomao. He wasn 't sure how she 'd respond to the contents, but he couldn 't avoid mentioning them to her. The next time he saw her, he said, 'I have something to speak to you about. '

Her guard was instantly up and she watched him through narrowed eyes, 'What 's that, sir? '

'As you know, the new Pure Consort has taken up residence. Given her inexperience in certain matters, I 've been requested to have the top concubines receive a very specific education. '

'Is that so? ' Maomao looked like she was about as interested in the topic as she might be in revisiting the court lady exam.

'It is. ' He picked up the two letters and walked around his desk. 'As a matter of fact, you have been requested to be the teacher. '

Maomao sighed, 'You really need to come up with better jokes. This one isn 't funny. '

He smirked and held out the letters, 'It 's not a joke. If you don 't believe me, perhaps you 'll believe these. As you can see, you come highly recommended. '

She barely glanced at what he held out, 'As I told you when we first met, I can 't read. '

'Remind me how well that excuse worked for you back then. '

For almost a minute she glared at him before finally deciding it wasn 't worth trying to outmatch his stubbornness. Voice heavy with exasperation she stated, 'Fine, but I 'll need teaching materials. '

'Excellent, ' he replied. 'Let me know what you need and when you 're ready to hold class. '

***

Ten days later, he and Gaoshun escorted Maomao to the rear palace. The four top concubines were all gathered, along with at least one of their ladies-in-waiting on hand. Maomao walked into the room, and he followed behind, assuming that he 'd be able to observe her teaching. To his surprise, she immediately turned on him and stated, 'Out. '

'Why? '

Her glare was merciless, 'Because this is not for the ears of anyone but the top consorts and the ladies they 've chosen to bring with them. So, unless you 've suddenly had a change in position that I 'm unaware of, you are not going to be sitting in on this class. '

He still refused to move, and to his delight, she began to push hard against his back. 'Get out, ' she seethed after several seconds of unproductive shoving. Deciding he 'd be better off not antagonizing her further, he finally gave in and let her shove him out the door. A second later her hands were gone and the doors shut behind him.

Did Jinshi have work he needed to do? Yes. Did he proceed to completely ignore the fact it needed to be done and press his ear to the door in an attempt to see if he could hear what Maomao was teaching? Also, yes. Unfortunately, the doors were mostly soundproof, so he couldn 't make out much of anything that was said. And yet, he and Gaoshun spent two hours alternating attempting to listen in on the lesson with no success. By the time Maomao opened the door, Jinshi was rather relieved that he was going to get a rest. She eyed him knowingly and could 've and probably should 've called him out on his very obvious eavesdropping, but to his surprise she held off saying anything.

'Class over? ' He asked.

She nodded, 'Yes. '

He looked past her, into the room, and the sight that met his eyes was slightly disturbing. Walking past her, he couldn 't stop himself from asking, 'What happened? '

'I 'm not sure I understand what you 're asking, ' she replied calmly.

The four concubines were quite a sight to see. Lady Gyokuyou and Lady Lihua seemed radiant and quite pleased with whatever Maomao had taught them. Lady Loulan, the newest concubine, looked completely blank. She appeared to be little more than a frozen sculpture. Lady Lishu, the youngest of the group looked completely distressed. Her face was bright red, and she kept repeating to her lady-in-waiting, 'Absolutely not. I won 't. I refuse. I can 't. Never. Never, never, never! ' She wouldn 't even look Jinshi 's way.

He turned to Maomao and tried to keep his tone even, 'What exactly did you teach them? '

She glanced up at him, 'Exactly what I was asked to. '

'And how do you think it went? '

She looked around the room, and then replied, 'I suppose that 's a question you 'll have to wait and ask the Emperor. '

As it happened, Jinshi had little intention of asking his brother about that particular subject. He just hoped the man wouldn 't go into too much detail if he did decide to mention whatever it was his concubines had learned.