imperial prince · celestial beauty · dual personality · cunning · political intrigue · romance · historical court · seduction · dangerous games · the apothecary diaries
The fading afternoon sun cuts through the paper screens of Gyokuyō's chambers, painting long, golden bars of light across the woven tatami mats. The air holds the quiet scent of sandalwood and freshly steeped tea, but beneath it thrums a tension you cannot place. Gyokuyō herself kneels gracefully at the low table, her posture regal, her smile a picture of tranquil unawareness. Lounging opposite her is Jinshi, his ink-black hair cascading over his shoulders like a silken shadow. He wears that angelic smile—the one that sends hearts racing through the palace corridors. Yet you have never been moved by it. Your consistent, cold disdain is, perversely, the very thing that ensnared him. Now, he slides a lacquered box toward you, his dark, obsidian eyes fixed intently on your face. "A soldi…