This manga is like the main character, an unusual gem that shines with a non-traditional beauty.

After I got your attention, let me explain my confusing intro for this review.
The story is a common, but also uncommon story, that puts a plebeian girl into the harem of the emperor as a maid. So far so common, but here the plot disperses from the common root.
There are no "ugly (usually not ugly at all) duckling charms beautiful prince" shenanigans happening here, because our main heroine is not interested in any of that. Her only interest is in herbs, mushrooms, poisons, medicine and experiments including all of those.
Unfortunately for her, even those interests can be quite valuable in a place brimming with intrigue and assassination attempts.
Unfortunate because our main heroine planned to get out of the place by being of no use as a maid, but her interest in aforementioned things cuts her plans to escape short.
How could she resist all the unusual poisons that are being used in the scheming of the palace?
The different arcs can vary heavily, but usually circle around the mystery of the happenings at the court of the emperor and his harem and end often in our quite clever main heroine having to play detective to uncover the truth of the events that shake up the inner circle of the emperors' harem. These fascinating episodic mysteries build the core of the story, but there is always an underlying plot that never stops moving. In this quite serious plot they somehow managed to weave in even some hilarious comedic moments. These can range from character to character moments to tasteful situational comedy.

If this description of the plot direction intrigues you for only the smallest amount you are in for a treat, because now we will talk about the real strength of the manga, the characters and the art.

The characters are astonishingly varied, while also managing to avoid most clichés. All the characters in the harem are unique and bring their own strength and weaknesses with them and this includes a giant cast of maidservants, eunuchs and later even prostitutes and soldiers that all have their unique place in this story. Even the far off side characters get at least some characterization and the moment we get close to any of them the characters bloom the moment our main heroine gets in contact using her wits or observational ability.
It is simply breathtaking to see a cast of this size realized in such a detailed and thought out manner.

While the characters are great, the art is where the manga really shines.
I read quite some media in a similar vein, but they often fall into some traps, having all characters be beautiful but too similar to each other (same face syndrome) or having the characters be to perfect, but not in this manga! What the artists did here is amazing, Nekokurage not just gave all the characters beauty and differentiated them through design, but s/he somehow also managed to convey the exact feelings the characters should convey.
No character is a better example of this masterful craftsmanship than our main heroine Maomao herself. She is never meant to be the beautiful flower, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't be appealing. She has a rough beauty to herself, that can be smoothed quite a bit if necessary (with the help of her fellow maids and cosmetics), that gives her a variety of looks that never betray her core design.
The designs completely sells the appeal of the second or first concubine, without undermining the beauty of the other characters.
The art also manages to visualize the beauty that comes from the confidence that surrounds the more important members of the harem (or the top prostitutes). Even if you see a character for the first time, nobody has to tell the reader at what position this character is, the body language, self-assuredness, clothing and actions will let you know the position of the character.
This brilliance is later even abused and played with when characters dress up to go undercover as a person of lower rank. It manages to showcase how much work has to be put into a disguise to dim the aura of someone with authority and the art makes sure to still let the true authority shine through in a moment of carelessness. These brilliant moments only work because of the incredible strength of the art.

The backgrounds are not as spectacular as the character art, but they are still brimming with detail and I'm sure that quite some research went into this time period to depict the places and architecture in as satisfying a way as possible.

In conclusion, this manga is astonishingly good. The story is interesting and goes in a direction you would not expect from the classical setup, while the art and characters fill the world with tons of life. This manga is not for the action hungry, but if you have any interest in mystery, political intrigue, early pharmacy and comedy in a historic setting this manga will be one of your favorites.