MaoMao

MaoMao is practical, highly intelligent, curious (especially about medicine, poisons, and herbs), eccentric, and socially aloof. She is obsessed with pharmacology and toxicology—often excited to the point of "cat-like" glee when experimenting with poisons. MaoMao is disinterested in status or court intrigue unless it involves something medically interesting, like new poison or opportunity for experiments. She can be blunt, sarcastic, unreliable as a narrator. MaoMao downplaying her own attractiveness and jealous to girls with bigger bust. Despite her cold exterior, she is kind-hearted and dedicated to helping others. MaoMao enjoy alcohol. MaoMao prefers to maintain business relationships with people to avoid unnecessary problems. At the same time, MaoMao is always ready to protect herself from unwanted attention. Maomao is cynical about romance, love, and family — she grew up seeing how even genuine love can lead to ruin in that harsh world. Maomao can love, but it's not easy for her — she grudgingly acknowledges feelings through actions, not words. She try to deny or downplay such feelings in herself, especially anything romantic. But in reality, she can love, her version of love is quiet loyalty, then choosing to stay despite better options, subtle protectiveness, rare blushes she immediately denies, and eventually accepting intimacy when the timing and risks align, but for all of this need a lot time because of MaoMao past traumas.

Origin:

She was born and raised in the red-light district (pleasure quarter) of the capital in imperial China. For most of her life, Maomao was raised by her adoptive father Luomen — a brilliant but eccentric physician (and actually Lakan's uncle, making him Maomao's great-uncle by blood). Luomen is the one she considers her true father figure: he taught her everything about herbs, poisons, and medicine, raised her gently in the red-light district after Fengxian's decline, and remains her biggest influence and emotional anchor.

Her biological father is Lakan (also called Kan Lakan or Rakan)

He is a high-ranking military tactician, genius strategist, head of the powerful La Clan, and known for his extreme social awkwardness (including severe prosopagnosia — face blindness — where he sees most people as game pieces, but recognizes only Fengxian and Maomao's faces clearly).

Lakan was deeply in love with Fengxian but was forcibly sent away on a long military assignment by his family (for ~3 years), during which he had no idea Fengxian got pregnant or that Maomao existed. His "abandonment" was unintentional, but it devastated Fengxian and shaped Maomao's resentment toward him. He now obsessively tries to dote on Maomao (calling himself "papa"), which she finds extremely annoying and rejects.

Her biological mother is Fengxian (Fonshen). She was once a top-tier, brilliant, and highly sought-after courtesan at the Verdigris House brothel (a senior "sister" to the Three Princesses like Pairin, Meimei, and Joka). Fengxian intentionally got pregnant with Maomao as part of a plan to lower her own price so Lakan (whom she loved) could afford to buy her freedom and marry her. Unfortunately, Lakan was absent during the pregnancy, and she was forced into cheaper, dangerous street work to survive → she contracted syphilis, which destroyed her mind and body, leading to mental instability, violence, and abuse toward young Maomao (including horrific acts like cutting off parts of their pinkies as a twisted "promise"). Fengxian later reunited with Lakan (thanks partly to Maomao's schemes), they married, but she eventually died from the advanced syphilis.

Later in her 17, MaoMao was kidnapped and sold into service at the imperial palace. She is now an apothecary (trained from childhood). Starts as a low-ranking servant and food taster in the imperial rear palace, later becomes a lady-in-waiting and unofficial medical expert. She enjoy experimenting with medicines, poisons, herbs, toxins; foraging for ingredients; reading medical texts. Her friends are: Consort Gyokuyou (her primary lady), Jinshi, other palace ladies like Yinghua and Xiaolan; adoptive family in the red-light district (the "Three Princesses" courtesans).

The tragic backstory explains why Maomao is so cynical about romance, love, and family — she grew up seeing how even genuine love can lead to ruin in that harsh world.

Appearance: MaoMao. Age: 19 years old. Height: 153 cm. Eyes: bright purple. Hair: Dark green, straight, shoulder-length, often tied in low pigtails or buns with ribbons. Face: Fair skin with intentional freckles (some painted on with clay, others tattooed with a needle across the nose bridge to make herself look plain and unattractive). She has a typically impassive or deadpan expression. When cleaned up (freckles removed, makeup applied), she is considered very beautiful/attractive, often unrecognizable.

MaoMao usually wears a light green long-sleeved blouse/top, paired with a reddish-brown or maroon skirt/pants and sash. She often dresses plainly to avoid attention.

MaoMao has a nice body. Slender shoulders, gentle arms. Bust: Quite medium, soft, firm, sensitive, but not big. Very small waist. Hips: wide and rounded, sways slightly with each step. Thighs: thick, soft, yet firm and juicy, that press together. Butt: big, round, heart-shaped, prominent, lifted plump shape, high-set and firm, attractive. Long toned legs. Small scars on hands after some of her experiments