Kusuriya no Hitorigoto / The Apothecary Diaries / Maomao's Murmurs

[Kraco]

That does not at all line up with her internal dialog. If she does know, she's refusing to admit it even to herself.

I'm not as certain she knows exactly as much as Ryll suggests, but I'm of the opinion she knows far too much. She's trying with her full willpower to pretend not to know. It's far easier to keep pretending if you convince yourself you don't know. It ought to be a way of life for her already. Kind of like the regular people in organised crime neighbourhoods never see anything when asked by the police. They may not be afraid of the police, but they are afraid of the mob even suspecting they said a single word too much to the police or behaved strangely in the presence of the coppers.

[Kraco]

Episode 22


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That was a whole lot of work for the sake of one party. As expected of the imperial court. At least Maomao seemed to get something in return.

The strategist is a damn nasty man. Who knows how he's still alive. He should have plenty of enemies and few people who would actually miss him.

[Buffalobiian]

Given that he seems to be able to read the flow of people well, I think he normally picks his battles. I think he's being particularly provocative here given that he's interested in Maomao and that he is leveraging the fact that he knows Jinshi's status. (Honestly Jinshi could just outright ignore him if this wasn't the case).

I'm guessing that by "My provocation was unsuccessful" he means that he wasn't able to make Jinshi/Maomao fail and have them approach him for the answer or something.

[Ryllharu]

It's not clear, but the one Lakan is trying to provoke is Loulan to a small degree, but particularly provoke/challenge her father.

Like Lishu's family installing her under two successive Emperors, Loulan's father is very powerful politically, and still retains a lot of his influence from the dead former Empress Dowager who watched over her pedo Emperor son.

(The current dowager Empress is who gave birth to the current Emperor)

[Buffalobiian]

E23

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Okay, that was just outright sad, even though I've been spoiled about that part of the story. The delivery still hit hard.

Interesting that Loumen is actually Lakan's uncle, and they're actually all one family.

[Ryllharu]

Interesting that Loumen is actually Lakan's uncle, and they're actually all one family.

If Fengxian was born into Verdigris House...I guess Maomao's whole biological family tree can be guessed at (or at least the likelihood increases dramatically). If true, suddenly a lot of things snap into place about how and why Maomao gets away with the things she did for so long without being expelled to the streets.

Lakan also chose to lose to Fengxian, since they showed previously that she always beat him at Go, while he was renowned for chess. Just like he chose to lose to Maomao to make sure she wouldn't die right away (not that she ever would have with her plan). He also just took the beating from the Old Hag until she was completely satisfied getting our her anger and left him.

Guess he's not such a bad guy after all.

Love me some Kuwashima Houko voicing characters in a period series.

[DarthEnderX]

Guess he's not such a bad guy after all.

Seems like it.

[Kraco]

why Maomao gets away with the things she did for so long without being expelled to the streets.

Like what? She's not doing anything strange to anyone but herself. Otherwise the Verdigris House depends on her skills, I suppose as an alternative to her old man. Other than that, she even arranges paying customers to the house.

[Ryllharu]

Like what? She's not doing anything strange to anyone but herself. Otherwise the Verdigris House depends on her skills, I suppose as an alternative to her old man. Other than that, she even arranges paying customers to the house.

Poisoning/envemonating/burning herself repeatedly, bringing strange things into the brothel, etc.

[Buffalobiian]

E24

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-Oh, so Lakan didn't even know Fengxian was alive? It'd make sense that Granny would have just denied her existence the entire time.

-Maomao said that Lakan could see Loumen's face, but during the previous clips Lakan only saw Loumen as a rook - so an important piece. I doubt having been kicked out of the palace would have changed Loumen's status in Lakan's eyes, though being Maomao's adoptive father might have.

-Maomao washed her face to apply makeup, but kept her freckles That part didn't actually make much sense.

[DarthEnderX]

-Oh, so Lakan didn't even know Fengxian was alive? It'd make sense that Granny would have just denied her existence the entire time.

It still caused a lot of unnecessary grief.

-Maomao said that Lakan could see Loumen's face, but during the previous clips Lakan only saw Loumen as a rook - so an important piece. I doubt having been kicked out of the palace would have changed Loumen's status in Lakan's eyes, though being Maomao's adoptive father might have.

Maybe Loumen is the only one that appears as a Chariot to him. So even if he can't see his face, he's still able to recognize him.

[Ryllharu]

-Maomao washed her face to apply makeup, but kept her freckles That part didn't actually make much sense.

She put them back on. Her face was clear after she washed it.

[Kraco]

Maybe Loumen is the only one that appears as a Chariot to him. So even if he can't see his face, he's still able to recognize him.

That or their shared past was enough for Lakan to act as if he could see Loumen's face, leading Loumen to believe he can, incorrectly.

[Buffalobiian]

She put them back on. Her face was clear after she washed it.

That's weird. I don't see why she should do that. The last time she did makeup like this she didn't.

[Ryllharu]

That's weird. I don't see why she should do that. The last time she did makeup like this she didn't.

Because there weren't four other maids, a head maid, and a high-ranked consort to stop her from putting them back on! Hahaha.

My guess is that Maomao has been doing it so long, she feels the most "herself" when she has the freckles on.

She didn't do it the time she went out with Jinshi because she was disguising herself as a higher-ranking lady.

[shinta|hikari]

She is also dancing around where she lives and works, so if people see her in her maximum pretty state, that may cause rumors about her not having freckles at all or her being really pretty, which would attract the attention she hates.

In fact, she was seen by someone who knows her and reported it to Jinshi.

[Buffalobiian]

She is also dancing around where she lives and works, so if people see her in her maximum pretty state, that may cause rumors about her not having freckles at all or her being really pretty, which would attract the attention she hates.

In fact, she was seen by someone who knows her and reported it to Jinshi.

Now, would they have recognised her without her freckles?

[David75]

Now, would they have recognised her without her freckles?

Works like Clark Kent's glasses?

[KrayZ33]

Watched this today and yesterday.

Great show, can't wait for season 2.
It's the right mix of mystery and comedy and I'm gonna be quite honest, I usually don't like the chinese/korean periods but this one was actually rather cool. It was actually quite interesting due to all the mannerism and customs shown and spoken about in great detail.

If I were to badmouth something, it would've been the start of the show (that kidnapping stuff was just way too abrupt and casual - no matter what) and the chess battle against her father, which was a huge letdown even if I actually liked the resolution of it all when he bought the courtesan.

edit: oh and I hope the "resurrection medicine" she is looking for actually has a meaning - I don't know/didn't get or understand for whom she wants it, but it would be boring if it's just for the "mad scientist" persona she inhabits.

[Ryllharu]

edit: oh and I hope the "resurrection medicine" she is looking for actually has a meaning - I don't know/didn't get or understand for whom she wants it, but it would be boring if it's just for the "mad scientist" persona she inhabits.

I think it is that simple. Maomao (and her adoptive and biological fathers by extension) were outclassed by Suirei. That means that there is someone out there with better knowledge of medicines and poisons and Maomao is now aware of them. It's either Suirei herself acting alone or Suirei's masters. Maomao wants to rip every ounce of knowledge out of them once she find them.

It's not something mythical. Suirei used it on herself to escape.

Maomao will not let stand the existence of someone who knows how to formulate something that lets you fake your own death and then "revive". She wants to learn the recipe from them before they get caught and killed. Nothing more or less than that. Maomao has remarkably straightforward ambitions, primarily the pursuit of knowledge.

Maomao knows part of the recipe is morning glories because Suirei told her, but she doesn't know the other ingredients, the proportions, or the proper administration of it to get the intended effect without killing yourself. Not knowing about something this fascinating is not a state that Maomao can tolerate.