The Perfumer

A faint fragrance drifted through the room.

Crimson moonlight filtered through the hanging curtains, casting blood-red shadows across the white bamboo mat.

The person seated with their head bowed behind the screen appeared as a graceful profile in the moonlight. A corner of their deep-purple robe showed beyond the screen, patterned with intricate Tang flowers that shimmered faintly.

Outside the screen, a young man in a coarse cloth tunic sat stiffly, holding a cup of clear, emerald-green tea in both hands. After hesitating for a long while, he finally spoke. “I am Liu San. I have come here to ask Young Master Zisu to bestow some incense upon me.”

“Bestow incense?” Behind the screen...