Maomao, a pharmacist in the red-light district, is abducted and enslaved at the emperor's palace. Hearing rumors of a "curse" killing the emperor's heirs, her curiosity propels her to investigate. Driven by her insatiable curiosity and expertise in medicine and poison, Maomao decides to take action.

Maomao tries to settle into her promotion to lady-in-waiting and food taster, but struggles to fend off both boredom and the overly-familiar Jinshi; that is, until she gets an assignment of her dreams: to concoct an aphrodisiac.

Tasked with investigating a ghostly woman dancing nightly on the palace walls, Maomao finds a sleepwalking Concubine Fuyou; but with no medicinal cure for sleepwalking, she's forced to dig deeper to find the real reason behind Fuyou's affliction.

Under direct orders from the emperor himself, Maomao tries to care for an ailing Concubine Lihua, but finds her work impeded by Lihua's own ladies-in-waiting.

A eunuch stricken by a curse comes begging for aid; the rear palace buzzes with excitement as everyone prepares for the upcoming garden party and Gyokuyou's ladies-in-waiting aren't about to let Maomao get away without dressing her up.

Maomao does her best to navigate the complex social situations at the garden party, including meeting the other Upper First rank concubines. But once she settles down to do her work as a food-taster, she discovers a surprise in a bowl of soup.