Maomao

The protagonist of this work, aged 17 to 20 years old, stands at 153 cm tall. She was working as a pharmacist in the pleasure district with her adoptive father, but three months before the story begins, she was kidnapped while collecting herbs alone in the forest and sold as a low-ranking court lady in the imperial harem. Despite her young age, she is very perceptive and knowledgeable, which could have been advantageous in the harem. However, to avoid increasing the payments to her kidnappers, she pretended to be incompetent. Her medical skills were eventually recognized by Jinshi after she anonymously diagnosed a favored concubine's illness, leading to her appointment as a maid to the Empress Yuanye, though she essentially became a pawn in Jinshi's schemes.

Her appearance is fairly plain, not particularly eye-catching, and she used to disguise her beauty with makeup and tattoos to look unattractive due to the risks in the pleasure district. Even after becoming a court lady, she missed the chance to revert to her original look and continued to appear plain as Jinshi advised her to do so. She is petite, thin, and has a small bust, which she is aware of.

She is quick-witted, with a strong curiosity and knowledge about medicine, particularly poisons, which also aids her understanding of diseases. She taught herself Western languages to read her adoptive father's medical books. However, she has no interest in topics outside of medicine, leading to her having a very specialized knowledge base. She wraps her left arm in bandages to hide scars from testing poisons on herself, which others mistakenly believe is to cover up past abuse, garnering her sympathy. She is known for her expertise in poisons and has developed immunity to many, serving mainly as a poison taster in the harem. Her strong curiosity sometimes leads her to react positively when affected by poisons, much to the dismay of others like Jinshi. She also has a severe allergy to buckwheat, which can cause hives and potentially respiratory failure if ingested. She views her allergy as a "poison specific to her constitution." Additionally, she has a high tolerance for alcohol and enjoys drinking. She developed a dislike for locusts after witnessing a plague.

She is not good at socializing, usually keeping to minimal necessary conversations. However, she becomes surprisingly talkative when extremely tired or drunk. Known even among courtesans as a "friendless child," she was brought to tears by Pairin when discussing her past. Born and raised in the pleasure district as a prostitute's daughter, her natural speech is quite rough, though she has refined it out of necessity since becoming a court lady, though it slips out occasionally, especially when she is agitated. She is very cynical about men and romance, having seen the underside of male-female relationships in the pleasure district. Despite her disinterest in romance, she has expressed a biological curiosity about experiencing childbirth. She is also very pragmatic about the irrationality of those in power, viewing it not as a matter of "whether they should" but "whether they can." She finds Jinshi's excessively beautiful appearance and clingy nature off-putting, often looking at him as one would a slug, and was oblivious to his affections for a long time.

After being dismissed from the harem due to an incident, she was bought back by Jinshi and returned to work in the outer court. She later returned to the pleasure district but became a court lady attached to the medical office from the "Sao Ou arc," working in the imperial medical bureau. It's rare for someone who has left the palace to return, and her third return was particularly unusual, causing surprise among the court ladies she knew. Forced by necessity, she also learned surgical skills, and although legally women cannot become medical officers, she effectively performs the same duties. After a trip to the western capital and influenced by words from a sparrow, she began to reciprocate Jinshi's feelings, and Suirei started calling them "mutually in love."

She ranked 9th in the "This Light Novel is Amazing!" female character category in the 2024 edition.