Chapter Text
Maomao, as she knows from the words of the others, has a sharp and pungent smell, like a hissing cat screaming "stay away from me." She herself had stopped paying attention to human’s smells a long time ago, ever since her father brought her to the pharmacy and opened up to her a world of medicines and poisons, a better world than the alleys of the red light district. Despite this, she mixes clay and oil, and then draws a scattering of freckles with the tip of a brush for a long time – even for an alpha, it is not safe to walk if she is a thin girl who is not too capable of defending herself on her own. The destitute poor, distraught from hunger, misery and poverty, or completely devoid of conscience, will not disdain such things – it is not surprising that most women and omegas, who do not get anything more, hide in brothels. Someone, however, is being sold by their parents – and sadly, this is completely legal. But Maomao is a little lucky – her father cherishes her with the tenderness of a mother, the princesses of the Copper House mess with her like a doll when they don't have to work, and even the old hag doesn't seem so bad. Although he constantly threatens to take Maomao away as a courtesan for "special" clients who are not to the taste of ordinary prostitutes.
(Maomao does not want to remember the woman who gave birth to her once again – her little finger hurts, her nose twitches from the phantom sickeningly sweet, like the scent of rotting, the smell of omega going crazy. As a child, her nose was still as sharp as it is now, and tears ran out of her eyes. Back then, she really, really wanted Pairin to be her mom. But the sisters are busy during the day, and after several times she realized that no matter how bitterly she cried, no one would come to her.)
Perhaps in better conditions she would have grown taller and stronger, but now she makes do with what she can afford. The princess sisters feel sorry for her, they say that she is pretty without freckles, but the smell is so sharp - she was unlucky to be born an alpha. Maomao believes that on the contrary, she is grateful for this fact, because she is a little more tenacious, will last a little longer, will attract a little less attention, will experiment more. Spend more time with Dad.
Maomao does not build castles in the air – where she is now, there are not many ways she can go. She doesn't want to become a courtesan – she wants to be a doctor. Her hand is covered with scars and wounds, traces of experiments – not the best sight for anyone but herself. She remembers every blade of grass that her dad told her about, remembers every plant that can help.
For some reason, neither freckles nor a pungent smell save her this time – the kidnappers don't seem to care, even though they wrinkle their noses. She lets out a low growl when she is being knitted, but immediately falls silent, with a dissatisfied hiss – it's useless. How is everything wrong – and what about dad without her?
And now she is in the palace, where only tea and an infusion of medicinal potions are given to all alpha girls to suppress "innate fervor." Among the servants of the "flower garden of the Emperor" are exclusively women – "their natural nature is softer, they will not cause any harm to the flowers." The infusion is strong, it discourages the instinct of all others and almost takes away the smell – but Maomao has tried so many things that the medicine for her is only bitter water. She doesn't care about the Emperor's concubines anyway, but she needs a nose as sharp as a cat's. She still dreams of being able to continue making medicines – but for now, all she can do is wash clothes and make tea.
There are almost no men in the "flower garden" – only rare eunuchs and "empty flowers", omegas, who are naturally unable to have children. (It is rumored that the previous Empress Regent allowed the creation of "empty flowers" artificially. Now it is forbidden, as well as the creation of eunuchs. It seems that the current Emperor did not like his grandmother too much). It's probably sad – Maomao doesn't know how to sympathize, but most likely people don't like when something is taken away from them forever.
The current Emperor accepts only omega women - apparently, he is not attracted to men. Maomao finishes his modest portion and listens to the chatter about the curse.
There are no curses, there is poison. She certainly knows that.
As she runs, confident in her guess, silk hair flashes before her eyes for a moment. The nose is filled with the smell of someone's expensive light and sweet perfume. Unlike the others, for some reason this smell is not suffocating.
***
When he was six, he and his mother were visited by a stern old woman - now he realizes that it was his grandmother, the regent for his helpless father. Then he was afraid of her, and after bowing, he hurried to hide behind his mother's back – the Dowager Empress looked very stern and terrible when she looked at him. He did not remember what they were talking about – he only understood that in the end his mother could barely restrain herself from screaming, and after the woman left, she pulled him into her arms and burst into bitter tears, hugging him to her chest. He didn't understand anything and the only thing he could do was try to calm her down by stroking her silky hair.
After that, he clearly remembered that his favorite toys disappeared and did not return – the first time he sobbed so much that Gaoshun, confused and scared, eventually called his mother, who wiped his tears and sat him down in front of her, intending to say something important.
"You must learn to let go of what you love, my little moon,"- his mother's soft voice was unexpectedly sad and serious. She smoothed his hair out of place and gently ran her hand over his tear-stained cheek. She smells of longing and her favorite marigold flowers - "That's our nature. If you get attached, it will hurt a lot later. And I don't want you to get hurt. "
It didn't hurt him – he was sad, he missed his toy, but his mother was so sad that he didn't want to upset even more and stopped crying. The next time, tears still flow from his eyes, but his mother no longer comes to comfort him. So he cries himself into Gaoshun's sleeve and longs in silence.
When he grows up, he learns that the man who sometimes came to play with him and stroked his head is actually not his father, but his brother. And that strange feeble old man who smelled scary and sad is the Emperor himself. It's strange and scary for him – he grows up fast, seeing the inside of the imperial palace in front of him, and wants to be away from all this.
He grows up quickly – Suiren hastily throws a translucent veil over him one day, and Gaoshun begins to walk very close, looking around intently. But even so, he feels the concentration of other people's eyes on him – and in the evening, in a copper mirror, he looks at his reflection, hoping that his eyes are deceiving him.
His social circle is drastically reduced – only Suiren remains of the maids, the rest look too closely when they smell him, their voices become velvety. The guards, even the most persistent, behave restlessly – as a result, they are all replaced by Gaoshun when he is not in the service of his brother. His foster siblings remain unchanged – it is a relief and a joy, but he remains lonely when locked in the inner palace during the "flowering". His mother pats him on the head, but she doesn't stay long.
At twelve, he receives his first gift with an aphrodisiac – from a noble official who caught a glimpse of a celestial nymph. Then he doesn't know what it is – and spends the next night delirious and half-asleep, desperately wanting something that he doesn't need to wish for yet. In the morning, he refused to leave the room and looked at himself in the mirror for a long time, dreaming of turning ugly sharply. He wants to be more than just his face, but he's not gifted-he's desperately looking for a way out.
At thirteen, he wins a bet with his brother – he doesn't want to, he's afraid to be his Imperial brother. Once he comes out into the world, the combination of his position and appearance will raise a storm – and no matter how favorable the Emperor is to him, the day will come when his value will outweigh the price that will be offered for him. His brother looks at him carefully and for some reason allows what he has in mind, only sticks a heavy silver hairpin into his bun. For some reason, he remembers that he did not see that official anymore.
At thirteen, he becomes a Jinshi, a "hollow flower" of eighteen years old. He has a sweet smell trailing behind him, deep almond-colored eyes, a gentle voice and a beauty that makes everyone lose their mind. He hides among the flowers, takes other people's hands away from him with a smile and does not see what will happen next in his life if the Emperor does not get an heir.
Now Jinshi wrinkles his brow, grieving for the dead children, and hurries to the place of the concubines' showdown. Suddenly, a pungent smell hits his nose, a shadow sweeps past him – and he turns around. This smell sobers him up, makes him wake up.