Spoiler
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Mao is allergic to wheat and she used that to rile up Rakan. He got this amazing talent where he cannot see people's faces but their talents and mao figured that Rakan can see the people that does not belong to the board of royal family, which actually the people that are planning to betray them... It is just Rakan is not saying anything coz it is none of his business but if mao gets involved as she is a poison taster for the brother of the emperor then Rakan will point out the person who might had put the poison... Tho it is just allergic reaction but a really horrible. mao can literally die just for a bit of wheat. Because of this stupid idea of her, she was hospitalized, well more on, she was bed ridden. And that is why she got kidnapped. Mao was taken to a shed and was almost rape :(
Rakan and Jinshi knew right away that someone took mao. The one who took mao is the new concubine, and people are right, she is the new friend of mao who loves bugs. She actually took mao coz she knows the coup d'etat that her dad is planning will be an utter failure and will cost their whole family to get executed. She is really smart, she saved all the young ones and that one lady that disappeared in her coffin. She saved them by making them dead for couple hours and making mao to figure out how to reverse the poison. It was the best part of that arc. Jinshi and mao hide the fact that the kids were alive, or else they will still be executed.
With jinshi's face, the new concubine actually hates jinshi so much... I forgot why, or she hates the royal family so much... I believe her mom was raped by the former Emperor at really young age, i dunno if they will say it in the manga , but he was a disgusting pedophile. He only do it with kids... Nasty old man, good thing he is dead in the novel. Her mom got pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl, and that is that girl who likes medicine too like mao and act dead and disappeared in her coffin. So basically that girl is the sister of the current Emperor. New concubine loves that girl so much and hated that her mom turned crazy and the girl had to suffer....so... She said she will die anyway, and scarred Jinshi's face... It was around his eye area.
People saying it is getting boring lol... This is actually the calm before the storm... The saddest arc is coming soon. Soooo many shit gonna happen unless mangaka still divert from the novel