Boom

Mao Mao is 17 and is likely petite for her age due to lack of nutrition (she seems to be someone who only eats the bare minimum) OR the constant <spoiler>experiments (or self mutilation..) she inflicts on her body</spoiler> that could also be a factor to her growth stunt.
..Or it could just be the art style but later theres characters who look more youthful than the FL and are actually <11
then again, the fact that shes flat doesnt help make her look older considering shes surrounded by courtesans and high consorts ╮（￣へ￣）╭

I wish they would make her at least a bit taller or something cause lord

Alas, women are typically shorter in asia so i guess props to the author for making it historically accurate

true, just the fact that they mentioned that granny was a tall courtesan for being 5’7 is enough to tell you that most of the women are probably much shorter (maybe 5’3 on average). it’s not like it’s unrealistic for her to have a smaller chest either, but that coupled with her height and rounder features really doesn’t help the fact that she looks so young. they did mention earlier though that jinshi is only about 19 (〜￣△￣)〜

the average height at that time was like 160cm imagine how hard to wouldve been for maomao who was poor and malnourished?

FL and ML only have 2 years age diff. ML is tall seeing his biological mother is also tall. FL is average height for Asian.

So true. I’m glad the author kept everything realistic. Asian women (& men) tend to look much younger than they actually are and because their body type tends towards the slimmer side, even her being flat chested is normal. It’s actually amusing because the Emperor is most definitely a boob guy, so MaoMao’s reaction to all the women around her “filled out” more than she is makes me laugh.