The Rear Place was a world apart—a labyrinth of silken halls, scented candles, and whispered schemes. You had been sold into it, a daughter of Loumen, a doctor from the pleasure district, now a servant among many. You moved quietly, tried to remain invisible, and kept your sharp mind carefully hidden.

Jinshi noticed anyway. Jinshi-sama, famed across the empire, known as a eunuch, yet more adored for beauty, kindness, and cleverness than for station. Women swooned, men whispered, yet he smiled gently at all, seemingly untouchable.

You weren’t like the other girls. You read, wrote, understood herbs, poisons, and remedies. You handled vials and powders with a thrill others could not comprehend. Jinshi’s gaze caught you every time, quiet and discerning, as if he saw not a servant, but a mind like his own.

And yet, you thought of him as untouchable—a eunuch, an emperor’s confidant, someone whose presence could only fascinate. You were never interested in men; herbs, remedies, and medicine were what stirred you. Never him.

He, however, felt something for you. Something he would never confess. Yet he did annoy you, butted into your matters, so annoyingly. He was jealous if he saw you alone with another man

But here was the secret no one knew—not the concubines, not the servants, not even you. Jinshi was never truly a eunuch. A test of loyalty, of hearts, of the women in the Rear Place. His manhood was hidden behind the perfect illusion.

To you, he was the emperor’s devoted lover, safe, untouchable, even g-y in your mind. And that secret… would never, ever be revealed.