The Verdigris House

Overseer: The Madam

Province: Central Province

City: Royal Capital

The Verdigris House is a high-class brothel in the red-light district of Li’s capital. Managed by the Madam, it is the home of the famous Three Princesses and the birthplace of Maomao.

Personnel

The Verdigris House has managing staff, menservants, courtesans, and "kamuro”(child apprentices and attendants of courtesans).

The Madam

Ukyou (Head manservant)

The Three Princesses: Pairin, Meimei, and Joka)

Zulin’s older sister (Courtesan)

Zulin (Apprentice courtesan)

Fengxian (Courtesan, formerly)

Maomao (Pharmacist)

Kokuyou (Pharmacist)

Sazen (Apprentice pharmacist)

Luomen (Pharmacist, formerly)

Management

Although owned by the Owner (Okan-san), the Verdigris House is largely controlled by the Madam, a former high-ranked courtesan who manages the brothel with the maximum possible stinginess and casual ruthlessness. The brothel is also managed by the capable head manservant, Ukyo.

Because of the Madam's strict management, waste is strictly prohibited. Meals for the personnel usually consist of a single bowl of soup and sometimes a side dish. There are strict rules about how much hospitality is to be extended to visitors even on business. For example, Gaoshun is a highly regarded guest to be served with the finest glass china, while Lakan is to not be offered anything more than stale water in a chipped teacup. The same treatment extends to the courtesans, whose status corresponds to the size and floor of their room, with the largest third-floor rooms belonging to the highest-ranking courtesans. In contrast, she has a "discipline room" reserved for punishing courtesans. All punishments, such as an open-handed slap, specifically avoid harming the appearance of the courtesans. For example, Zulin’s older sister was taken to the discipline room after she helped a thief break into Joka’s room.

Courtesans

Like other brothels in the red-light district, the Verdigris House is rank-based where courtesans start at the lowest rank. The better their ability to entertain customers, the more their rank rises. The Verdigris House holds middle and high-class courtesans who entertain customers through a variety of fine arts or games such as dancing, singing, music playing, poetry, and Go and Shogi.

They will also serve tea to customers. Most courtesans specialize in one or two specific areas, for example:

Fengxian: Board games (Go and Shogi) and singing

Pairin: Dancing

Meimei: Board games (Go and Shogi) and poetry

Joka: Poetry and music playing (Erhu)

The price of a visit from a courtesan varies based on the type of service and length of time. Merely having a cup of tea with a courtesan is far cheaper and staying an extended amount of time is more expensive. However, the rank of the courtesan is the highest factor: a low-ranked courtesan can be visited at a reasonable frequency and price. while the highest-ranked courtesan take very few visits each month and are nearly exclusively visited by wealthy officials, merchants or artisans. However, favors can be pulled in order to bypass payment; for example, Maomao was able to secure Lihaku a visit with Pairin in exchange for helping her visit the Verdigris House.

Courtesans may join the brothel as young adults. Because training and amenities take up time and money, courtesans owe the brothel a certain amount of money that is to be paid off through their service towards the brothel. Apprentices receive an initial training, then may receive further training based on their looks and the potential of their talents. Courtesans typically retire around the age of 30 before they lose their youth and beauty; however, there are notable exceptions: Pairin is well into her 30s and has not lost her beauty. Those who are unable to work are usually chased out, however.

Courtesans may be redeemed, or "bought out," by customers who favor them. The price of redeeming a courtesan is determined based on how much the courtesan still owes the brothel and how much money the courtesan could have made if they stayed at the brothel; it is because of the latter rule that a high-ranked courtesan is so expensive to redeem. The Verdigris House also takes into account the money required for the traditional farewell party that they use to send off courtesans. However, a courtesan's price can be lowered by the "quality" of the courtesan; for example, if a courtesan is perceived to have mental issues such as sleepwalking, her price will be considerably lowered or she will not be sold at all. A courtesan's price will also be lowered by the loss of virginity since an untouched courtesan is desirable for most buyers. Most significantly, if a courtesan becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child, she will essentially become worthless, even if she was extremely high-ranked.

Three Princesses

The Three Princesses are the three top-ranked courtesans of the Verdigris House who are well-known throughout the capital of Li including the Imperial Palace due to being considered the most beautiful and talented of the courtesans, much of the reason for the Verdigris House's fame. They are also all very endowed, with their outfits showing as much cleavage as possible.

It is said that a year's worth of salary is required to spend a single night with a Princess.

Pairin is the eldest Verdigris House princess.

Meimei is the second-oldest Verdigris House princess.

Joka is the youngest Verdigris House princess.

Once a Princess retires, the Madam trains another courtesan to take her place.

By Light Novel Volume 13, Meimei's contract was bought out by the Go Sage. With her departure, Zulin's older sister became the third best-selling courtesan of the Verdigris House, though she was not moved to the third floor.

Pharmacy

As a side business, the Verdigris House rents space for a pharmacy. It was previously run by Luomen, but since his return to the rear palace, Maomao has taken it over, with Sazen and Kokuyou as her employees. Its pharmacists treat the personnel of the brothel, and the surrounding brothels that can pay. In particular, STDs such as syphilis pose a threat to courtesans. Courtesans also take contraceptives and abortifacients to avoid pregnancies. However, despite serving a vital role to the Verdigris House, rent disputes between the Madam and Maomao have gained a reputation among the courtesans as a spectator sport.

Architecture

Main Building

The architecture is not fully detailed, but the main building has a grand entrance that can be entered from a prominent location off the main street of the red-light district. It is not clear if the baths and apothecary rooms are in the main building.

Annex

The annex was an outbuilding that customers were not allowed to visit and appeared to be much smaller than the main building.

Trivia

While the Verdigris House is considered a reputable high-class brothel, Maomao's conception and birth had damaged its reputation for a time. This was because her mother Fengxian, the brothel's top courtesan, intentionally became pregnant in the middle of a massive bidding war to buy her out. Since her mother was a courtesan whose value came not only from intellectual skills but from her chastity, her birth brought her mother's "value" to zero while making the Verdigris House look untrustworthy.

Characters

The Madam

Appearance: Though she was once a high-ranking courtesan considered a peerless beauty with "the tears of a pearl", the Madam is now an old woman with a grumpy countenance. Her beauty has faded, leaving her with a stern looks and deep wrinkles. She possesses a small, stooped frame and a mix of gray and white hair, usually tied back neatly. Her long bangs loosely frame her face and are secured by an ostentatious golden hairpin adorned by gemstones just as bright as her robes.

Personality: The Madam's most prominent quality is her stinginess; she never wastes food, makes sure she collects all of her debts and frequently threatens her courtesans to bring in wealthy customers. As a result, she is easily bribed with the right amount of money. In order to seek fortune, she is very committed in making the Verdigris House thrive, which is why she buys high-quality amenities and ensures every courtesan in her charge has received some level of education. She can be cruel and heartless in her decisions to uphold the Verdigris House's reputation. For example, she forced Fengxian, her daughter she never raised, to become a street walker and attempted to make Maomao into a courtesan despite she prefers studying medicine. As much as Maomao disagrees with the Madam's actions, she has noted that the Madam isn't inherently cruel and that her actions aren't of malice but are actually the standard "laws" of the red light district. Since she has only known life in the red light district she knows no other alternatives. If anything, she is quite benevolent as most people in the red light district would not allow a courtesan to carry a child, allow the child to live let alone raise them, nor would they take care of a courtesan that has lost their value and was an invalid due to syphilis. While emotionally and physically abusive unlike the much kinder Three Princesses, the Madam has a softer side she suppresses. According to Pairin, the Madam was reportedly worried during the ten-month-long period Maomao was missing, but unlike the princesses and Luomen, she did not openly display affection or appear to actively search for her. In a moment probably born out of remorse, the Madam did not force Fengxian to get an abortion for her planned child and later allowed her to remain at Verdigris House and receive treatment for her syphilis, albeit in an isolated annex, which could be considered "generous" compared to what a courtesan who ruined her brothel's reputation would normally face.

Abilities: Finance: Being a miser and the manager of the Verdigris House, the Madam is very good at managing money. Dance: As a former courtesan, the Madam was proficient at dancing in her youth. Background

Background: Around fifty years ago, the Madam was considered one of the most prestigious courtesans in the Royal Capital. She was known for her otherworldly beauty and unusual height, and therefore was summoned to entertain a special envoy from another country. Her tall, well-proportioned figure made her an ideal candidate to represent Li, and she successfully captivated the audience with her dance performance. Captivated by her beauty, the envoy commissioned a painting of the Madam as the "moon spirit" once he returned home, and sent it to her with a caravan. Over the years, the Madam refused all offers to buy her out and became the manager of the Verdigris House after retiring. After Fengxian, the once top courtesan whom she gave birth to, was (seemingly) abandoned by her frequent customer Lakan and contracted syphilis due to streetwalking, the Madam allowed her to stay in an isolated room in the Verdigris House, ordered the other courtesans to keep silent about the rumours concerning Fengxian's daughter Maomao, and permitted her to be raised in Verdigris House by the Three Princesses until her paternal great-uncle, Luomen, adopted her. When Lakan arrived back at the Verdigris House to find Fengxian, the Madam informed him that Fengxian was no longer there, while beating him with a broom. Eventually, the Madam allowed him to pay back twice the amount of damages over the course of ten years. However, she prevented Lakan from taking Maomao, who resented her father. On Maomao's visit to her home, the Madam greeted her at the Verdigris House front door with a blow to her stomach, much to Maomao's indignation. On seeing Lihaku's muscular figure, the Madam called for Pairin to serve him, put the cost of his visit on Maomao's tab for housing her, and reiterated her request for Maomao to bring in more customers. After Maomao was dismissed temporarily from the rear palace, the Madam had her dressed up to entertain customers at a banquet, along with the Three Princesses. Once Lakan woke up after being brought to the Verdigris House, the Madam prepared several courtesans, including Meimei, in anticipation of him buying one out. Instead, Meimei opened a window to where Fengxian was kept. Fengxian was then chosen by Lakan. The Madam was summoned by Maomao to recount her previous experience entertaining a foreign envoy. While showing a painting gifted to her by the envoy, she explained that someone sabotaged her outfit by smearing it dead insects. Maomao later used the Madam's story to recreate another moon spirit. The smeared insects had turned out to be female, causing male insects to swarm the Madam, creating the illusion of an ethereal moon spirit cloaked in light to the envoy. Following the rebellion of the Shi clan, the Madam was paid to house Kyou-u, who had not regained his memories, so was renamed Chou-u.

Ukyou

Appearance: Ukyou is a man in his 40s and wears typical Linese clothing.

Personality: Ukyou is quite easygoing and sociable, being fond of children. Maomao compares Ukyo to a carrot (someone who motivates people using incentives) in contrast to the Madam being a stick (someone who motivates people using punishments). For example, Ukyo was perceptive enough to give Sazen a meal to eat in order to relax rather than letting him continue to undergo Maomao's interrogation.

Abilities: Diligence: As the head manservant, Ukyou is a capable bouncer and has earned the Madam's trust through discretion and dedication to his work.

Background: Ukyou has been employed at the Verdigris House since before Maomao was born. When Sazen was caught selling encyclopedias in the Royal Capital, Ukyou took him under his care and assigned him menial work to determine if he could become a manservant. Ukyou then accompanied Maomao to treat Zulin, and later carried her back to Maomao's shack for further care. Ukyou generally helps to look after (and distract) Chou-u in Maomao's absence, or when she has errands to run.

Pairin

Appearance: Pairin is described as a good-looking woman standing tall in height. Among the bodacious courtesans at the Verdigris House, she has the largest breast size due to her galactorrhea. She has fair skin, almond shaped brown eyes and dark purple hair. Her hair falls to her waist and is otherwise sectioned - some being held back while the rest falls loose, and that her bangs are parted in the center to reveal a red Huadian that is in the shape of a flower, followed by two cheek length strands framing both sides of her face. For clothing, Pairin wears a cream colored hanfu that is accompanied with a pink and faux furred shawl. As for accessories, she wears blue dangle earrings and a blue flower on the right side of her head.

Personality: Pairin is a rather observant and thoughtful woman, which goes well with her line of work. Like the other princesses, she became more miserly with age, resembling the Madam in that aspect. But unlike many courtesans, she sells her own body not just for money, but also for pleasure. As Maomao puts it, Pairin is a sex demoness who will go after not just customers and manservants, but also her fellow courtesans and even some of the apprentices when she feels too pent up. She does have preferences for muscular men with large "frogs" and even has romantic dreams for her age, wishing to be carried away from her captivity by a "charming prince". Additionally, because of her loving and nurturing attitude towards Maomao, the younger woman suspects that Pairin genuinely longs for motherhood.

Abilities: Night services: Pairin's night services are said to be unparalleled, to the point where when one has had "a taste of the fruit", they will never be able to forget it. Dance: Pairin's specialty is dancing, a skill that she trained and perfected over time. She is said to be the greatest dancer in the Royal Capital.

Conditions

Galactorrhea: Pairin is able to lactate naturally since her teens, even though she has never been pregnant.

Background: Pairin has worked in the Verdigris House for more than two decades. When Maomao was born, Pairin became her wet nurse and primary caretaker before Loumen adopted her, despite the fact that Pairin had just become a full-fledged courtesan. As a result, although Maomao calls Pairin her "older sister", Maomao believes that she is more akin to a mother figure to her. Over the years, Pairin educated Maomao in the arts of a courtesan and worked hard to pay off all her debts to the Verdigris House. However, Pairin continued to stay there to keep earning money and to satisfy her sexual preferences. Her lust made her the subject of rumors, one being that she is a succubus-like character, said to suck the life force of men to retain her youth. When Maomao took Lihaku to Verdigris House, Pairin serviced him, which made him fall in love with her. Around the same time, the Madam began to consider Pairin's retirement; however, Pairin herself had no intention of retiring, instead waiting to be carried away by a "charming prince".

Meimei

Appearance: Meimei is a beautiful woman standing at average height and possesses a well-endowed figure. She has fair skin, dark purple colored hair that falls to mid-back length and is otherwise styled into a side ponytail, leaving a section of her hair to frame one side of her face, whereas the rest of her fringe frame the left side of her face, soft sea-green eyes, and a beauty mark beneath her right eye. For her outfit, Meimei wears a seafoam green, long sleeved top along with a long royal blue skirt and is usually seen with a coral-colored shawl. For accessories, she wears a gold necklace, pink colored flower earrings, and a magenta-colored flower pin on the left side of her head.

Personality: Meimei is an emotional person who is very attached to her fellow courtesans and the apprentices from the Verdigris House. Although she usually is kind, gentle and patient, she can short-tempered at times, especially when it is about games. Like the other princesses, she became more miserly with age, resembling the Madam in that aspect.

Abilities: Strategy: Meimei is very good at the strategy board games Go and Shogi, which she often played with her customers. She was taught by Fengxian and regularly played with Lakan, who considers her a capable player. Poetry: Meimei's ability to write poetry is another skill she showed to her customers. Dance: Meimei taught Maomao how to dance as part of her education as a courtesan.

Background: Meimei was the pupil to Fengxian, who taught her strategy games. When Maomao was born, Meimei helped raise and educate the girl in behalf of her mentor before Luomen took her in. After Fengxian became bedridden, Meimei and Maomao took turns in taking care of her. By the time Lakan was allowed to visit the Verdigris House again, Meimei was the only courtesan who entertained him regularly, though by games and conversations instead of sexual services. Once Lakan was taken to the Verdigris House to choose a courtesan to redeem because of his bet with Maomao, Meimei was among those present. Though he moved to choose Meimei, she instead opened a window to reveal an annex, which housed Fengxian, who everyone outside of the members of the Verdigris House thought was dead. While Meimei was sad that she had gotten her hopes up to be bought out, she was happy that Fengxian was reunited with her lover. A few weeks after Maomao returned to Verdigris House to run its pharmacy, Zulin was assigned to Meimei so she could learn the basics of Go. Over time, there were talks of a rich customer redeeming Meimei. However, she was displeased by the idea, partially because the man in question already had a wife and children, but mostly because she disliked the idea of no longer seeing her fellow courtesans at Verdigris House. When discussing this topic, Maomao wondered if Meimei harbored romantic feelings for Lakan, and if she knew that Fengxian had died. Meimei was eventually bought out of Verdigris House; not by a client, but by the Emperor's Go Sage. Concerned about Lakan's journey to the Western Province, the Go Sage had asked him if he knew of any other capable players, and Lakan recommended Meimei. After several months of matches, the Go Sage made an offer to buy Meimei's contract and take her on as his student.

Joka

Appearance: Joka is described as a beautiful woman with a well-endowed figure. She stands at average height, possesses fair skin, calf length indigo colored hair that's styled both elaborately and is otherwise sectioned, sharp amber colored eyes, and is typically seen with a flat expression on her face. As a courtesan, Joka wears a maroon colored hanfu with blue accents. She wears a silver tiara on her head and red, flower-shaped earrings. She is also seen with two small lilac colored dots for makeup above her thin eyebrows.

Personality: Compared to the other two Princesses, Joka is much colder and more aloof to customers. Despite being a courtesan, she does not like men, whom she sees as untrustworthy. She is, however, generally gentler with her fellow courtesans. Her words are often elegant but harsh, to the point the letters she writes while being angry must be checked before being delivered to her customers. Like the other princesses, she became more miserly with age, resembling the Madam in that aspect.

Abilities: Poetry: Joka has specializes in poetry to entertain customers, a skill which makes her popular among court officials. She has memorized the Four Books and Five classics, the foundational texts of the civil service exam, and can recite any passage from them by memory. Several of her regular patrons are tutors, seeking her opinion on the readiness of their students. Being an excellent judge of both character and preparation, her assessment is a consistent predictor of success or failure on the civil service exam.

Music: In the anime, Joka plays the Erhu for customers, a skill she teaches to apprentice courtesans.

Background: Joka's father seemingly tricked her mother into believing that he was a member of the Imperial Family of Li. As a result, her mother believed that Joka was a member of royalty. This is the reason Joka named herself with the Imperial Family's character, Ka, which would become an aspect of her mystique as a courtesan at the Verdigris House. She also possessed a jade tablet, which her father had given to her mother as proof of his status. The heirloom was clearly high quality but broken in half and scratched to remove the former carvings. She sometimes showed this object to her customers to subtly encourage the rumors of her royal blood. Joka had worked for the Verdigris House for more than a decade, being one of the courtesans who helped raise and educate Maomao before Luomen took her. She specialized in poetry to entertain her customers and could recite the Four Books and Five Classics verbatim. Her talent was so legendary that she not only successfully prepared Maomao for her court lady exams but she also worked as a consultant to students preparing for the civil service exam, who treated her as a superstition to pass the exam. As she aged, she began to withdraw from work as a courtesan, intending to succeed the old Madam as manager of the Verdigris House. After a burglary incident at the Verdigris House, Joka asked Mamao to investigate the heirloom she had inherited and gave it to her, feeling no grief or emotional attachment to the object. Jinshi was able to identify it as a segment of a signature stamp belonging to the disinherited prince Kada, proving that Joka is in fact a blood member of the Imperial family.

Zulin

Appearance: Zulin is a young girl around Chou-u's age. When she was poisoned, she became paralyzed, and her fingertips starting necrotizing. She was able to walk unsteadily once she recovered, but remained mute.

Personality: In contrast to her older sister, Zulin has a timid streak, easily flinching when someone glares at her. When she saw Jinshi painfully eating a grasshopper, she curled up on the floor and cried. She generally tags along with Chou-u on whatever misadventure he is up to, with him referring to her as his 'henchman'.

Abilities: Strategy: Zulin was assigned to Meimei to learn the basics of Go.

Background: Zulin is a mute girl from a poor family who was poisoned after eating cakes made from contaminated grain. She recovered with Maomao's assistance, but Maomao had expected that her help would go unpaid and had insisted on a formal IOU upfront, which entitled her to take possession of Zulin when her father failed to pay her. However, Zulin's older sister wanted to protect her from the courtesan lifestyle and offered to become one voluntarily. Zulin currently lives at Verdigris House with her older sister as an apprentice courtesan (albeit only in the artistic side), due to not having a safer place to stay since her loving mother had died from the poisoning and her father attempted to make her a beggar for his own benefit.

Fengxian

Appearance: Fengxian was beautiful in her prime, with a fair complexion, dark plum eyes and dark green hair. She has red lips, red eye shadow and a marking on her forehead. As a courtesan, she wore brightly colored robes. Her hair was styled with golden ornaments, though a key piece to her appearance is a lock of her hair tied with a red ribbon. She also used red earrings with yellow pieces extending from them. She is noted to have a cold and proud demeanor, which gave her an untouchable aura. Tragically, Fengxian's good looks would fade greatly. She was missing a pinky finger, having cut it off herself. Untreated, her syphilis infection ravaged her body caused her to lose her mind and appearance: she became much thinner, her hair became long and unkempt, she lost her nose, and her skin became covered with rashes and gummas. Far from the finery she wore as a prized courtesan, in the late stages of syphilis she wore only pale robes.

Personality: Fengxian was described as a cold and proud woman. Although her livelihood relied on the patrons she could attract, she acted much differently compared to other courtesans. Whereas her fellow courtesans would charm their patrons with smiles and sexual services, she carried herself with a distant and arrogant disposition and sold her art rather than her body. Her standoffish behavior endeared her to fewer patrons than the other courtesans, but earned her the very fervent admiration of a few patrons who were willing to spend exorbitant amounts of money to spend time with her. While generally cool, she was not devoid of warm feelings and was well-regarded by her juniors, especially Meimei, who acted as her pupil and attendant before she became a high-ranking courtesan herself. The only person who drew romantic emotions out of Fengxian was her most fervent patron, Lakan. Theirs was a true meeting of the minds and each respected and enjoyed the other's rare intellect and focus of strategy. Upon realizing she was becoming too costly for him to continue visiting, she made a calculated move to physically seduce him during one of their games. During their sexual encounter, she noted she would have rather kept playing chess, a sentiment he agreed with. Her goal was to become pregnant with his child while destroying her value as one of the highest-priced courtesans, which would enable him to purchase her, and then the two could live out their lives playing each other in endless strategy games. Fengxian's plan succeeded, but sadly, she miscalculated her timing with horrific personal results. She had to sell her body at the streets and became mentally unstable, violent, and eventually insane from the failure of her plan, her new, reduced reality, and from the affects of her untreated syphilis. She emotionally and physically abused the infant Maomao, the planned daughter for whom she sold her body. She even mutilated Maomao's finger along with her own in order to send a gruesome message to Lakan. Fengxian's lack of maternal love was such that Maomao later remarked that Fengxian had no memories of ever being a mother, let alone that she bore a child. The late stages of syphilis reduced Fengxian to a child-like state. She was unable to recognize the people around her and care for herself, relying solely on members of the Verdigris House to take care of even her most basic needs. However, she still remembered her beloved arts from her time as a courtesan and would try to play Go against herself using pebbles. She would later recognize Lakan seventeen long years later after reuniting, which briefly left her lucid. They finally got married, though it remains a mystery as to how exactly he was treating her syphilis as she remained on borrowed time. However, his strong love for her is such that the strategist continues to dote on her and brag about her exceptional Go skills.

Abilities: Strategy: Fengxian was exceptionally skilled at strategy-based board games; she was particularly good at Xiangqi (Shogi in the light novel), but the best at Go. She taught the games to Meimei and was able to beat Lakan, another very skilled player, frequently. Even after having her mind robbed by late-stage syphilis, she still remembers how to play Go.

Herbal medicine: Like Maomao, Fengxian was quite versed in the properties of poisons and medicines within herbs; namely Cat's Foot to cure insect bites.

Singing: Fengxian had a beautiful voice. Even after having her mind robbed by late-stage syphilis, she was capable of singing lullabies, despite she cannot recollect who she sang them to.

Background: The Madam gave birth to Fengxian shortly after she retired as a courtesan. Fengxian would remark that although the Madam gave birth to her, the Madam was not her mother: in the red light district, courtesans were not allowed to become mothers. Nonetheless, Fengxian followed in the footsteps of the Madam by becoming a high-ranking courtesan and was a vital tool for her mother to change the reputation of the Verdigris House from that of a poor, common brothel, to a high-end luxury establishment. She attracted patrons not through sexual services, but through her artistic and intellectual merits, specifically her skill with strategic board games, and their obsession with being the one to finally take her virginity. She was attended by apprentice courtesans of the Verdigris House, such as Meimei, with whom Fengxian forged a very close and loyal sisterhood. Fengxian met Lakan for the very first time after he and his colleagues visited Verdigris House to have him play a game of Go with her as a joke. Having gone undefeated in both strategy-based board games and his military career up until his game with her, he suffered a resounding loss at her hands, much to his delight. Her being on equal intellectual footing with him made her the first person he could see the face of. This meeting would be the beginning of a long-lived relationship between the two, with his visits becoming one of the few things she looked forwards to in life. However, her value as a courtesan rose significantly as suitors began competing more and more for her affections, eventually reaching the the point where he could only afford a meeting once every three months. In an attempt to escape her existence as a courtesan and live out her life doing what she loved with someone whose intelligence she enjoyed, Fengxian made a very risky gamble: she had seduced Lakan and purposefully became pregnant by him. Since most of her worth came from her virginity and untouchable demeanor, her pregnancy destroyed her value as a high-tier courtesan. Unbeknownst to her, Lakan was sent to a far away post by his father for three years and did not receive any of her correspondence, simply because he was close to Luomen, a brilliant physician who was branded a criminal by the Empress Regnant. During Lakan's absence, Fengxian willingly carried the pregnancy to term and gave birth to her and Lakan's illegitimate daughter, Maomao, in hopes her lover would return to buy her freedom. However, she lost her status and patrons, and without the pretext of remaining chaste for a bidder, she was demoted to the lowest tier of courtesan and forced to engage in the sexual acts she found repugnant - possibly by the Madam, out of anger at the loss of her investment in Fengxian's education - in order to care for herself and Maomao. She eventually contracted syphilis from a random client, and although the disease was treatable by the time Luomen arrived in the pleasure districts, he did not have an established reputation among the courtesans and madams. As such, when he initially showed up at Verdigris House, he was not trusted enough to be made privy to her illness. Fengxian became violent and unstable from her hardships and the ravages of her disease, which bled into the way that she treated her daughter. She treated Maomao rather cruelly, going as far as to scream in horror every time she saw Maomao as a child. Angered at Lakan's percieved abandonment and losing her sanity from her illness, Fengxian would sever her pinky finger and part Maomao's pinky in an act of yubikiri (pinky promise) and send it to Lakan's residence. This act is viewed as an attempt to curse someone, since it is seen as a dark and vile way of severing her red threads of fate tying her to the destinies of her lover and daughter. Some time after contracting syphilis, Fengxian entered the late stages of the disease: rashes and gummas began appearing all over her body, and her physical and mental faculties began declining. Losing her health and beauty because of the visible aspects of the disease, she was unable to sell her body. Instead of being thrown to the streets as others in her position would typically have been, the Madam sheltered her in the Verdigris House's annex. Fengxian would eventually receive some treatment, but by that point the disease had progressed past the point where even Luomen could do anything besides delay or provide some relief from the symptoms. The progression of the disease would eventually leave her in a child-like state: unable to take care of herself, and only barely cognizant of her surroundings. Members of the Verdigris House, such as Meimei and Maomao, took it upon themselves to personally take care of her. While the members of the Verdigris House were aware that Fengxian was still alive, her existence was concealed to outsiders. Three years after being sent away, Lakan was able to return home, and after finding her gruesome message, immediately went to Verdigris House, but was lied to and told that she was gone. In a twist of fate, Fengxian would have her wish to escape Verdigris House and spend the rest of her days playing strategy games against Lakan fulfilled when Maomao, at the age of eighteen, won a bet against Lakan, now a wealthy and high-ranking military official. As part of their bet, Maomao forced her biological father to redeem a courtesan from Verdigris House. The Madam, recognizing Lakan's significant wealth, allowed him to select any courtesan, provided he paid whatever price she asked for. Although Maomao wanted Lakan to redeem Meimei, who helped raise her, said courtesan tipped Lakan off to Fengxian's presence within the House, allowing him to reunite with the woman he had loved for decades. He begged the Madam to allow him to redeem Fengxian, offering an exorbitant fee to do so. The Madam granted his request, allowing him to finally take Fengxian as his wife after nineteen long years of separation.

Maomao

Appearance: Maomao is a petite teenage girl with a short stature. She has dark forest-green hair and blue eyes. Her hair is typically tied back with a light blue ribbon, though two strands are left to frame her face. These strands are decorated with small red and sky-blue beads. Her curiosity and passion for medicine often have physical consequences. For example, she hides self-inflicted scars on her left forearm under a bandage—the result of testing various remedies and poisons on herself. Maomao’s outfit is an aoqun (a style of hanfu). It consists of a light green robe over a white inner robe with a dual-toned green collar, long burgundy skirt, and simple dark green flats. She prefers simple, practical clothing and generally avoids jewelry and makeup. Because of this, most people view her as plain. However, she intentionally applies clay-and-oil "freckles" across her nose using a needle to disguise her appearance as homely.

Personality: Maomao's approach to life is very practical, focused on learning to survive and thrive in whatever way her environment demands her to. She is rarely tricked or charmed by others: she is one of the few to be unaffected by the beauty and charm of Jinshi. Her mindset has helped her come to terms with matters that many would find scarring; for example, she considers her near-rape and her kidnapping as enraging situations, but also as inevitabilities of living in the red-light district. She is simply a pragmatic individual who is well aware of her position in the world as someone with no status who can be considered expendable at a moment's notice if it means to protect a noble. She often follows direct commands without outward protest and forces herself to not acknowledge and even withhold significant events she had witnessed in the Imperial Palace as a form of preservation to herself and others, such as the fact that Jinshi is not the Emperor's brother but his son by Ah-Duo. In part because of her own self-preserving attitude, she finds people who will help others to their own detriment painful to watch. Despite her pragmatism, Maomao's insatiable curiosity often leads her to involve herself in the problems of others. It is also implied that she has a strong sense of justice, empathy, and compassion, which makes it very hard for her to ignore misdeeds and injustice once she has witnessed them. The first examples of this tendency of hers is subtly revealing the truth behind the illness of Gyokuyou's daughter and interfering when Lishu was being harassed by her ladies-in-waiting. Fortunately, Maomao is well-equipped to expertly navigate the inner palace, which she herself notes has more or less the same nature as the red light district she was raised in. She is sharp-witted, calm and mature enough to know how to read people and situations, and how to placate or intimidate aggressive peers and superiors without making them direct their ire at her. At the start of the series, Maomao was an extremely detached individual who avoided making any sort of close connection or deep attachment with the only exceptions being her adoptive parent and mentor, Luomen, her "older sisters" (known as the Three Princesses of the Verdigris House: Pairin, Meimei, and Joka), and her fellow servants Xiaolan and Shisui. She refused to accept the fact that she is highly favored by the High Consorts or utilize any special treatment, such as assistance for a current "case" she is working on or wanting to return home for a few days, despite that the consorts are happy to extend some of their power to her for her accomplishments. She maintained a firm wall between those around her, refusing to reciprocate any attempts of people trying to get close to her and appearing to prefer having transactional relationships rather than those built on kindness. She was very stubborn in her willful denial about people's obvious sincere concern and affection for her, be it platonic or romantic. She notably refused to acknowledge her close friendship with Loulan and her own attraction towards Jinshi due to inevitable political trouble those feelings caused, even trying to literally run away in the latter case because she particularly finds romantic dreams as foolish and more likely to lead to someone's ruin rather than bring true happiness. As the series goes on, however, she begins to, slowly but surely, open up to people. She even went so far as to shed tears and try to stop Loulan from enacting her self-sacrificing plan as she did not want to lose her. A large part of Maomao's perspective and hesitancy towards accepting kindness and forming relationships is due to being raised in the red-light district where she never received unconditional love, as well as the knowledge that someone sincerely loving another doesn't ensure that they won't be tossed away if it is necessary. While she was well-loved by her adoptive parent and "older sisters", she realized that she came second to their jobs. As an infant, her cries would not be answered until they have completed their work for the day, to the point so she eventually stopped crying and asking for help as she knew no one would come. Even the "Madam" or "Granny," as Maomao refers to her as, had no qualms about charging her for taking care of her and trying to force her into becoming a courtesan. She has stated she does not believe she has the capacity to love somebody or let them get close to her. This experience is what caused her aloofness-to-a-fault personality and resistance to forming close relationships as a defense mechanism to protect herself from the (unfortunately high) possibility of that despite being close confidants, the members of the inner Court would throw her out, even kill her, for something as small as being associated with the wrong person. The red light district, as well as the tragic events surrounding her own conception, gave Maomao a skewed, although fairly accurate, view of romantic relationships. She would often see women being sold as property, the horror of cheap brothels, courtesans being madly in love with clients who promised them the world only for it to end in lies and cast them aside once they ran out of funds, the abandonment and abuse of unplanned or "inconvenient" children, and how even high-ranking courtesans who brought fortune and fame to their brothels would be tossed out back to be common prostitutes the second they lost their economic value. Her hesitancy to hope for something more lest she be hurt if it fails was heavily influenced by the fate of her own mother Fengxian, who intentionally conceived Maomao with the clients she was in love with in order to bring her price down to one he could afford. However, he had (seemingly) abandoned her for many years and it forced her to work on the street for the lowest paying clients to feed her daughter and herself, which led to her getting syphilis. As a result, she took her anger and frustration out on Maomao, which only got worse as the illness ravaged her brain, going as far as yelling in horror every time she saw her and even cutting her pinky off. Maomao came to view her mother, who was wasting away in a back room, as stupid and foolish for her actions, as her pursuit of love had turned from the highest-ranking courtesan showered with luxury to a rags clad walking corpse. This experience presented her with the harsh reality of how expendable people can be and how even being loved doesn't guarantee safety. Having been personally taught by the genius pharmacist Luomen, Maomao is fascinated by medicines, especially poisons. She adores venomous animals more so than with any commonplace pet like cats; such as snakes, spiders and centipedes due to their unique medical properties. She has the habit of experimenting with substances to observe their effects, primarily on her own body. Due to her passionate love of poisons and her enjoyment when consuming them, as well as her incredible high intellect and ability to master anything as long as she is interested, she is considered uniquely talented, eccentric, creepy and obsessed by many characters in the series, traits she shares with members of her father's side of the family: the La Clan. Her obsession over medicines is a major motivation for her actions throughout the series, as Jinshi learns to bait her to solve court mysteries with the promise of giving her rare medical ingredients. Maomao is implied to be agnostic due to her grounded belief in science. She doesn't believe in superstitions or religion, reasoning that people make up stories to explain phenomena they cannot understand. As a child, she was once obsessed with the idea of finding the panacea to heal all diseases, which motivated her excessive self-experimentation, but later she became cynical of the possibility.

Abilities: Intelligence: Having been raised by courtesans in the red light district, Maomao is very good at dealing with people, sometimes bordering in manipulation. Along with her experiences and her knowledge of medicine, she is able to deduce and solve problems more effectively than most people. In spite of this trait of hers, while she confidently recognizes her cleverness, she doesn’t consider herself as highly intelligent by academic standards as the only thing she can bring herself to properly study is medicine.

Medicine: Having been taught by Luomen, one of the best physicians and pharmacists in the country, Maomao is an excellent user of herbs for numerous medical purposes, and she often experiments with the intention of creating her own unique medicines, which she often tests on herself. For example, she prepared many cold remedies and anti-chapping ointments for Gyokuyou's attendants to help them weather through the winter. Similarly, she prepared antidotes for Zulin and her family, who were food poisoned. She has recently read her mentor's books about Western medicine and learnt all the trades of a physician including surgery, a skill in which she became capable enough to treat the Emperor.

Cooking: Maomao is knowledgeable in cooking as it shares similarities with making medicine, and her good memory for poisons also makes her good with food ingredients. This is seen in various instances such as when she prepared chocolate bread, ice cream, and grilled matsutake mushrooms and snakes.

Dance: Maomao was taught how to dance by Meimei as part of her education as a courtesan.

Conditions: Poison Resistance: Because she constantly experiments with poisons on her own body, Maomao has developed a mithridatic resistance against drugs and poisons, whether afflicted by large quantities of alcohol, poisonous snakes, aphrodisiac, and hallucinogenic mushrooms, or even two of these substances mixed. She has even administered rescue breaths on a poisoned victim's drooling mouth. Despite her many resistance to poisons, her immunity doesn’t extend to her buckwheat allergy, which she has given up attempting to overcome.

Alcohol Tolerance: Maomao has an unusually high metabolism for alcohol and stimulants compared to most people in the setting, including Basen and her own father. She once proposed and won a drinking contest with the sole intention of crushing her opponent, who was thrown off guard due to her lightweight appearance.

Kokuyou

Appearance: Kokuyou is a young man with a pockmarked face. The pockmarks on his face roughly form a ying-yang shape, which he hides with bandages. He possesses dark eyes with differently sized pupils; one of which looks hazy and unfocused, likely due to him being blind in one eye. He has curly brown hair, willow-branch eyebrows, and a high, firm nose bridge to go with it. He is said to be quite handsome with the scars hidden. When dressed as a woman, he was rather attractive, drawing stares from nearby men.

Personality: Kokuyou is described to be a bit of an odd character, being endlessly cheerful and talkative, contrary to his mysterious appearance. He always talks in a lighthearted tone and sounds like an old lady gossiping despite talking about grim subjects such as his past. Sazen often complains about his obnoxious personality.

Abilities: Medical Knowledge: Kokuyou has extensive knowledge of Linese medicines.

Background: Kokuyou was taught by a physician who came from a country farther west of Shaoh, who later died from smallpox. Although Kokuyou also caught the same disease, he survived, albeit with pox scars. While heading toward the Imperial Capital after being driven out of a village, Kokuyou was denied entry onto a boat due to the sailors believing him to have smallpox. Maomao helped clarify that he did not have smallpox, and Lahan got him onboard the ship after hearing about his seasickness medicine. Kokuyou later departed to travel on his own. Because of his appearance, Kokuyou was still unable to find work in the capital. While he was being chased out of a clinic, Kokuyou met an elderly physician, who after quizzing him on medical knowledge, hired him as a helper. He then bumped into Maomao and Chou-u when they were looking for the same elderly physician near Golden Lake village. With his employer retiring from medical work soon, Kokuyou restarted his job search. On hearing about a job opening for an assistant in the Imperial Palace medical office, Kokuyou dressed up as a woman and prepared to take the test. However, the test was already over by the time he arrived at the testing center. He again met Maomao there after she finished, who recognized him. Maomao offered him a part-time position as an apothecary at the Verdigris House, to teach Sazen and make medicines in her absence, which Kokuyou accepted.

Sazen

Appearance: When he was found at the Royal Capital, Sazen was quite dirty, emaciated, and beardless. He soon recovered after getting employed, but returned to being dirty and emaciated once left in charge of the apothecary shop, due to an influx of customers. Maomao notes that Sazen has an unremarkable appearance, but can't be called ugly.

Personality: Sazen is sometimes indecisive and stubborn, but takes responsibility when necessary, such as when he managed the apothecary shop in Maomao's absence. He is often exasperated at the behaviors of Maomao and Kokuyou.

Abilities: Medicine: Sazen initially was taught several medicines from Suirei’s adoptive grandfather. He later learned more from Maomao and Kokuyou.

Diligence: Sazen is a quick study when learning medicine and dutifully serves customers who come to the apothecary shop.

Background: Sazen was in charge of guarding Maomao’s room in the fortress in the Northern Province. When Kyou-u tried to create a distraction for Maomao to escape, he was caught by Sazen, who alerted Suirei. The commotion then attracted the attention of Shenmei, who sent Maomao to the taibon after she covered for Kyou-u. Later, with urging from Suirei and Kyou-u, Sazen was sent to rescue Maomao from the torture chamber. To his surprise, he discovered her eating snake meat instead. He gave her directions for exiting the fortress and warned against going downstairs, which Maomao ignored. He escaped during the Forbidden Army’s attack on the fortress, bringing encyclopedias on insects with him. A few weeks later, Sazen appeared at the Royal Capital and was apprehended by soldiers when he sold the encyclopedias for money. Recognizing Maomao from their past interaction, he was questioned on the whereabouts of the books, two of which he had already sold. He also identified a possible future insect plague based on differences in locusts. After renaming himself Sazen, Ukyou, the head manservant of the Verdigris House, took him under his care. Once Maomao realized Sazen recognized several medicinal herbs, she began training him as an apothecary. He temporarily took over the shop when Maomao left for the Western Capital. After Kokuyou was hired by Maomao, he replaced her as Sazen’s teacher at the shop.

Luomen

Appearance: Due to being a eunuch, Luomen has the appearance of an old woman, with gray hair and a gentle smile. Because one of his kneecaps was removed, he walks using a cane with one leg dragging.

Personality: Despite being a genius physician born in a noble clan, Luomen is kind, humble, and passive to the point of being a pushover and being described as a "kind grandmother" by Maomao. He often undercharges for his services or even fails to charge altogether, to the distress of those who care for him since those traits are the reason why he and Maomao lived in a shack before his return to the Inner Court. As a parental figure, Luomen treats Maomao with respect, patience and kindness but, as a teacher, he does not hand out accolades or praise unless it is truly warranted. In turn, Maomao respects Luomen deeply and wants very much to not only impress him, but have him see her as a true equal instead of his student or his foster child.

Abilities: Medicine: Luomen is considered one of the best physicians in the country. He is very knowledgeable in both herbal medicine and western medical practices, and is an outstanding surgeon.

Perception: Like many La Clan members, Luomen is very perceptive. With his vast experience, he is even more skilled at solving mysteries and puzzles than Maomao, who notes that he can deduce ten more facts from only one. His perception is so good he is the only person who can humble his nephew Lakan. That said, Luomen firmly believes that conjectures that lack evidence are better off not said.

Background: Luomen is the younger brother of the former head of the La Clan. During his youth, he studied medicine in the west along with Dr. Liu, who helped Luomen escape back to Li when he was discovered with the dissected body of his teacher, a woman Luomen loved deeply. Upon his return to Li, Loumen passed both the civil service and medical exams, before choosing to become a court physician in the Imperial Palace. Unfortunately, he was forced to become a eunuch as part of a cover-up by the Empress Regnant, who pinned the birth of the Former Emperor's illegitimate daughter onto another physician and forbid non-eunuch men to enter the Rear Palace. He helped deliver the Emperor (then the Crown Prince) by cesarean section, leaving the young Anshi's womb intact. Luomen had a difficult case to attend when both the then-Empress Anshi and Ah-Duo, the Crown Prince's sole consort, gave birth at the same time. Deemed a lower priority despite Luomen's protests, Ah-Duo was denied the proper medical care and left near-death. Both her and her baby should have died, but he removed her womb to ensure their survival. Though the babies were delivered safely, the Imperial Brother (publicly believed to be the Crown Prince's son) later died under the care of Ah-Duo's lady-in-waiting Fengming. As a result, Luomen was held responsible; one of his kneecaps was removed and he was banished from the Inner Court. Angered at the shame Luomen brought to their family, his older brother chased him out of their home. During that time, Luomen learned of the existence of his great-niece Maomao, who was recently born to Fengxian, a Verdigris House courtesan his nephew Lakan was very fond of, so Luomen moved to the red-light district. He treated Fengxian's ailing body, though the medication had little to no effect since she was already in the final stages of syphilis. At the end, he decided to adopt and raise Maomao, whom he taught to become an apothecary so that she could pursue a career outside of being a courtesan. At Maomao's request, Luomen eventually returned to the Inner Court to assist both Consorts Gyokuyou and Lihua during their pregnancies, especially the former, who struggled with a possible breech birth. After he successfully delivered the current Crown Prince, Luomen was permanently re-employed as a physician at the Imperial Palace.