The Secret Medicine of Spring Pavilion

Bianjing, Northern Song dynasty. On the surface, it's an age of peace and prosperity. Beneath it, officials and merchants collude, the canal transport system is riddled with corruption, and the imperial examinations are rigged. A woman's fate depends on her father at home, her husband after marriage, and her son in old age. A woman without a father, husband, or son can barely stay alive.

Shen Shuying's shop, the Unsolvable Pavilion, is the only place in Bianjing that belongs exclusively to women. Here, women can cry, curse, and discuss how to deal with men. Shen Shuying doesn't sell love potions. She sells