Maomao, Jinshi, and the others finally return to the royal capital to discover that life went on while they were away: Lahan is still working his abacus, Maamei is still pondering the future of both the Ma clan and her little brother Basen, and Yao and En'en are still pursuing their dreams (to become a doctor and to geek out over Yao, respectively). Maomao might have hoped that things would quiet down now that she no longer has to deal with locust swarms and succession crises, but it turns out things are livelier than ever as she reconnects with people and places she hasn’t seen in almost a year. Meanwhile, the seeds of a new mystery are being planted...
So matter of fact about her romantic advances. Truly a gem.
I think it speaks to the strength of the characters that Maomao takes a bit of a backseat for much of this volume but it still manages to be engaging, with lots of intrigue and development happening along the sidelines of Maomao's life. But even in the backseat it really shows how central she is to so much of life in the royal capital.
